Mid-December Podcast and Christmas Project Progress

Because of my lingering cold, I won't make the December 15th podcast. If my speaking improves, I hope to publish one by the 20th. I apologize, but I'm sure you don't want to listen to me coughing!

I have started my mother-in-law's shawl and I think I might actually get it done by Christmas Eve. The pattern, as I mentioned previously, is the very simple ripple pattern, which is just the same row over and over, double crochet, and a couple of skipped stitches here and there. It's very pretty, and not really as boring as it sounds.

My Christmas cards are in the works, too. Everything is printed, and now I just need to trim and layer the card. Here it is.

I cannot remember where the silhouette image is from. I've had it in my image collection for years. I subscribe to a service called ClipArt.com, a repository for royalty-free images, and I think it might be from there. The sunset is another from my digital collection. It is an actual photo that I digitally enhanced to really make the colors pop.

I used Photoshop to make the background of the silhouette transparent, and then I digitally layered it on top of the enhanced sunset image. I printed it on premium photographic paper to make it look really rich, and then I layered the image on plain white card stock and folded it into an A2-size card (4.25 x 5.5 inches). Finally, I added just a tiny amount of yellow glitter on the star to give it sparkle (the image above doesn't have the glitter yet). The inside of the card contains the lyrics of "Silent Night," and a Christmas greeting.

My friend Kathie sent the coolest Christmas card ever! She created a quilt design (nine patch in a nine patch) with individual squares of Christmas paper, and then machine sewed in a zigzag around the edges of the pieces. It is so pretty and effective. If she gives her permission, I will share her card on my blog.

My sister Karen also created a beautiful card this year (as she does every year). This one is very involved, with a lot of fussy cutting and hand embellishment.

Hand-made cards are so special. I save every one I receive. My mom did, too. After my mom's death in 2000, we went through her things and found a box filled with every hand-made card she ever received -- some of my early cards were pretty primitive!

I hope you're all healthy this holiday season. It's so frustrating to be under the weather.

I'll keep you posted about when my mid-December podcast will be published.

'thann