Fabric Christmas Postcards

It has been some time since my last post, a post which was ranty and for that I have to apologise.

However I am back and have a whole list of post to write, so fingers crossed you won't have to wait long for updates. Many of the post subjects I have jotted down on my little post-it here were Christmas presents and so I am finally able to share them with you without spoiling any surprises. My creative juices have been flowing this last month and I have made loads... be prepared for the flood of creativity that will follow.

So, the question is - Where to start???

Christmas!! Let's do Christmas before we are too far into the new year and it because the unspoken subject again.

A bit of background - Back in October (doesn't that feel like a long time ago already), I joined a group on Facebook called 'Raggedy Ruff Free Motion Embriodery' (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1046433398787278/) and is run by a wonderful lady called Andrea. It's a group where lots of people are learning to Free Motion Embroider/Quilt (FME or FMQ). Andrea provides lots of support and a monthly pattern for everyone to have a go at and share. --> There will be more about this in a future post - look out for Free Motion Embroidery/Quilt.

Off of the back of joining the above group I became aware of a group called  'UKqu xmas postcard swap 2016', intrigued I looked a little closer and found that it is a group in which people sign up and make a fabric Christmas postcard. At the beginning of December they receive an address to post it to and in turn receive one in the post. I decided I couldn't pass up such an exciting opportunity and signed up. It was a lovely experience and a great group to be part of with everyone supporting and encouraging each other.
Here is the postcard I created:

I'm rather proud of it for a first attempted.
 
Diamond challenge & a bit more sewing - Inspired by this and my recent visit to receive my Gold Duke of Edinburgh award - another post coming soon. I decided to take up the Diamond Challenge (set up for this year to celebrate the 60th year of the scheme). The challenges asks/requires each participant to raise £60 to go back into the scheme. I thought for a bit about what I could do, it was a bit short notice to organised a sponsored something and I wanted my donors to receive something in return. I spotted my postcard prompted up on my desk awaiting its address and an idea sprung to mind. For a £5 donation I would create a one off postcard and post to the donor as a thank you. (I later extended this to include different Christmas gifts for different donation amounts - another future post will show these.)

I received 2x £5 donations in turn for postcards and can now show them without spoiling the surprise.

A little dancing penguin - happy chap!

Naked or hidden - There was a whole debate in the swap group about whether postcards should be posted 'naked' for all to see or hidden in an envelope for safe keeping. I decided to split the difference and posted in a clear plastic card sleeve - although this offers the best of both worlds - visible for all to enjoy along the way and all protected from rain/mud etc, I will have to consider this in the future as it's not exactly environmentally friendly.

I loved making these so much (also made a Christmas Pudd one, but seem to have been in a rush to post it and not taken a photograph), and am thinking I might try and get a head and get some made ready for next year - is that being too organised?? Maybe 1 a month, I have plenty of scraps of Christmas fabric now. Will keep you posted....


A belated Merry Christmas to one and all xx