http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fOJ4XdIzOh8/UIRJlEWONGI/AAAAAAAAAMA/rHCjuINcGHY/s1600/Lottie%2BJohansson.: CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS & CARDS

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS & CARDS

I know, it's far too early to be thinking about Christmas! But I'm doing several Christmas Fairs shortly and I've spent the last few evenings making gift tags and Christmas cards, in preparation for the events. I have endless discussions with friends about if people still really send Christmas cards, but I have many friends who love to receive them and would be most affronted if I stopped sending cards or, heaven forbid, pinged off an eCard instead. So I'm going heavy on the gift tags, which are always popular, and being a bit more cautious with the cards this year, in terms of the numbers I'm producing. In any event, the kitchen table currently looks like a production line most of the time...

I sourced the 'Happy Christmas' stamp in the States last year and the font looks lovely hand-stamped onto simple luggage tags and plain white cards. I have a weakness for beautiful calligraphy and that's why this stamp fits the bill. Anything I stamp with it always sells well and I'm planning to embellish some stark white carrier bags with this one, too, to keep the theme going.

Spent hours last night bundling the tags into packs of six and bagging them in tiny cellophane bags that I found at my local floristry wholesaler. Originally designed for those little cards that accompany bouquets, they are the perfect size for my gift tags. The plaster Santa (above) is part of a set of miniature vintage cake decorations I unearthed recently - I like the pop of shiny red against the buff luggage tags.

Above are packs of correspondence cards and Christmas cards in the making - tied together with sleek black 3mm ribbon. I always leave the cards and tags for about an hour after I've stamped them, just to ensure the ink has dried properly.

The dressmaker's dummy stamp (above) is another firm favourite and these cards look lovely on my unit at The Old Flight House (below), as they compliment the vintage clothing and accessories, and the silhouette reminds me of my Stockman mannequin. Let's hope that people are still interested in buying and sending Christmas cards this year!