Now that I’m out of the birthday-season, I can make my usual, annual, attempt at starting Christmas cards early. Since I only have a few birthday or special-occasion cards to make between now and September, I try to use the time to prevent having to rush festive cards while also keeping up with the birthdays.

And, for once, I actually had an idea for a Christmas card without having to rummage through the magazines and stare at all the festive stamps. Especially now that I have an embossing machine I can work with, and therefore full access to all the embossing folders I’ve gathered.

Starting with this holly berry background, which I got from Hobbycraft a few years back in the after-Christmas sales. The robin (stamp with matching die) and sentiment both came from RSPB winter bird sets. I can never resist an RSPB set. It has also since been tidied up and neatened. And stuck down.

In digging out this embossing folder, I rediscovered the rest of the festive stash. I’m optimistic that, this year, I might just manage to make at least half of the needed Christmas cards over the summer. Especially now I can use embossing folders to make backgrounds. Some of the others are more focal, which might be a bit trickier for lazy me to work with, but I shall persevere.