Birthday Card for a One Year Old

Birthdays are good for you.  Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.  ~Larry Lorenzoni

I created this sweet little peekaboo card for a precious little one year old, the third child of a friend of mine.  Neither of us can believe that she has turned one and in a couple of months my cherub will be two.  Wasn't it just the other day we were both sitting watching our older children play talking about having more babies?  Indeed it was.  Time flies!  There is no doubt about it.

This little card, combined with a set of these little puppets also handmade by myself, should serve to be a lovely little gift for this precious little one.  We hope she enjoys them for many days to come.

Handmade Gifts

But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy something, which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith's.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Gifts," Essays, Second Series, 1844

A lovely friend of mine turned 40 the other day and we visited her bearing a bagful of handmade gifts.  Yes, these gifts "represent my life and talent".  I know she appreciates them, she is wonderful like that.  Truly a great friend to have - one who appreciates you for just who you are.

She received a handknitted dishcloth, the pattern for which I found here.  Along with some olive oil soap sadly not made by myself but purchased at our markets.  I hope to do some soapmaking of my own when I don't have littlies in the house.  This just seems too risky when you have little ones around - what with caustic soda and heat and needing to get it exactly right!  I'd love your advice any of you who are experienced in this.

There is one of my cards and one from my daughter which incorporates some lovely felt hair clips (inspired by Mel) to give to her daughter (Ess' best friend).  I think I'll make a few more cards with clips attached for gifts for other little girls this year.

I also gave a basil plant which I have been nurturing from seed.  This one was pulled out of the crop of tiny seedlings, potted up and doted on since before Christmas in order to be able to give her a lovely full plant. I know she will prepare lots of lovely meals incorporating this.

I love handmade gifts - giving them and receiving them also but am not so certain this sentiment is shared.  What are your thoughts on the matter?

Christmas Books

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work.  I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw.  She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget? ~ Howard Ikemoto

A couple of simple little Christmas books have been wonderful inspiration for Ess and Eee to do some drawing in the lead-up to Christmas.  It is simply a blank book filled with a few pages to be drawn on, wrote in and simply enjoyed in the days before Christmas.  We cut some red A4 cardstock to two A5 size pieces and folded them.  We cut some A4 paper trimming both the long and short sides to ensure the paper was just smaller than the cover.  The paper was folded in half and one page was stuck in Eee's book with adhesive just near the fold.  A few more pages were placed into Ess' book by threading lovely gold embroidery thread through two skewered holes in the spine of the card and tying with a pretty bow.  (Sadly this is not clearly seen in the photo).

 

So far little Eee's only has a little red line in it.  She is preferring to place crayons and pencils in and out of the container these days.  Thank goodness she is getting the idea that the floor is not a good place to draw on.  She does love scribbling on big pieces of paper laid out on the floor for her to scribble as she sits.  Hopefully the book will contain some lovely 15month old baby scribbling soon. 

Ess however is very taken with her Christmas book and has drawn in it each day.  She then places it on her dressing table in her room each evening.  Mummy then takes it out in the morning, putting it in a prominent place to remind her to enjoy some drawing activity when she wakes.  (That's on the rare occasions that she doesn't beat me out of bed in the morning!).

I might start a little tradition with these books, making one each year for the girls to fill in.  We can pack them away with the Christmas decorations and enjoy them again once another year has past before adding to the collection with a new book containing drawings and stories of a child a year older.

Card Designs with Cloud 9

I have designed and made a new range of cards!

Those of you with birthdays coming up in the near future will have the pleasure of seeing one of these arrive in your mail box.

I like this collection very much. It will be sad to see them leave my desk. However that is what they are for. I am glad knowing that their departure will result in an arrival which will delight the receiver. Enjoy!