I was really pleased this year as I managed to get all my cards made by the end of October and had them all addressed and stamped by the first weekend of November. I was determined to be organised this Spellbinders bought out some great dies this year.
I took the idea for the cards from Sue Wislon but made a few changes such as the holly motif behind the ornaments.
I used Creative Expressions Embossing Folder Lattice to emboss the background and and used the Spellbinder Holly Motif topped by the 2011 Heirloom Ornament.
The crinkly edge ribbon was put the width of the card and the bow made out of the same ribbon was then added. I tied the bow and to get them flat I put them in an old notebook then sat on them at work for a couple of hours to flatten them.
I added a sentiment to one of the Grommet tags and then attached onto the ribbon. I used three different sentiments so that not all would get exactly the same. I then finished the card off by adding pearls made from Cosmic Shimmer PVA Glue in Berry Red.
I was really pleased with the result and glad that I had got them out of the way early. I was unsure of the postage so took them to the Post Office to get them to check on the postage and was told that they would be normal 2nd class postage. I thought I would make sure that I got it right. I sent them all off and most of them seemed to get through but to my consternation, a couple of them required extra postage.
It seemed that the Royal Mail didn't like the bow on a couple of them so charge the recipient extra postage. Seeing as they were all the same as I had made sure that they were flat, it was very annoying and embarassing that extra postage was charge on a couple. Next time I put bows on, I will ensure that I put a large second class stamp on the envelope rather than the normal, despite what the Post office tell me.
