Making to give..part 1

I love making things that are going to be given to friends / family as gifts, it means I take extra special care, use my favourite things and dig out parts of my stash that I have been saving as 'special' - why do we crafter's do that? I guess it's a bit like saving shoes for 'best'?

As well as trying out new things this weekend, I also started making some things to give to friends / family - for no particular reason. I am just hooking up with lots of people I haven't seen in a while and I like to give gifts, even more than I like receiving them. Also the bonus of handmaking stuff for people is no matter how much they hate it, they don't have the heart to tell you :)

First up is today's main picture, which is of a set of 6 cards, that I made for my friend Lucy (not my Sister-in-Law). She quite likes earthy tones and so I wanted to make something for her that reflected that. When I was re-arranging the craft room, I stumbled upon a box of embellishments that I had bought about 5 years ago when I started crafting! I love them, but they have always been difficult to work with.

I decided that what the embellishments needed was a bit of a fussy background which I felt would tone them down a bit. I used my Martha Stewart punch around the page loopy border set and some over elaborate V&A papers and I think the results are simple but impressive. Below are a few more photos for you.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting part 2 of my making to give activities - using an old favourite - the Martha Stewart Crab punch - yay!

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