It is now nearing the end of January and sadly all traces of Christmas seem to have disappeared. Now I have been called Queen of Christmas. I love it. No moaning about it from this neck of the woods and if any high street store feels the need to start decorating in July then I am all for it. However, when the twelve days of Christmas are over and the decorations (sob) are put back into their boxes I do have a crisis of conscience when I take a look at the cards I have been sent. Of course, like many hoarders I keep a Special Pile - World’s Best Auntie (naturally), Most Wonderful Daughter (of course), Dearest Pumpkin (have tried to re-educate other half but he insists I am not of the Princess or Sweet Pea variety). The remaining cards, the Non-Special ones, always fill me with a sense of guilt at the thought of throwing them away. Double-edged guilt at that.

On the one edge there is the ‘green’ issue which has fortunately been resolved of late by a certain supermarket offering to take them off my hands and recycle them. But the other edge bothered me too – the fact that someone had taken the time to actually send me a card but with all the best intentions in the world between wrapping socks and planning menus, it merely elicits an “Aww, that’s nice. From Auntie Sue.” as it is waved it in front of generally disinterested other half. It is then left to dangle disconsolately on a length of string for a couple of weeks, in the full knowledge it will never make the Special Pile.

Well this year, on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany I experienced one … an epiphany that is. It dawned on me that I could indeed recycle the sentiments of the Non-Special cards, if I took the first bite of the recycling cherry. So this weekend, armed with scissors, punches and tweezers I will be dismantling the cards. Any 3D toppers will be carefully pulled off, gold, silver or glittery pieces of card will be punched out in the shape of stars, bells and trees and all the beautiful embossed or gilded words carefully cut out as little banners. So not only am I feeling all up-to-date with my green credentials; not only do I have a gorgeous little selection of festive bits and pieces ready to be re-applied to my own Christmas card designs next year; I also have a warm, gooey feeling inside knowing that lots of little bits of love I received in 2006 will be forwarded to family and friends in 2007. And you never know, second time around one of them might just make it into a Special Pile.

Craft Addict?



Calling all Craft Addicts and members of Craftaholics Anonymous. Hello and welcome to the GetCrafty Blog at the Daily Echo. Oh I know, you’re not really interested, just passing by. Thought you’d take a look. Admitting it to yourself is always the hardest part, so let me help you. Just take a look at the following questions:

1) Have you or any members of your family had to eat dinner off your lap because the dining table is otherwise engaged?

2) Do you come over all peculiar when in the vicinity of 12” x 12” papers, glitter glue or die-cuts?

3) Are you regularly harassed by family and friends requiring a special card in time for yesterday?

4) Do you know who Dawn Bibby is?

5) Are you still here, nodding your head and feeling full of hope in the realisation you are not alone? (Incidentally, if you answered ‘no’ to all of the above then my advice would be to leave now before it’s too late!)

You know, I actually haven’t seen my dining table for about two years and I have also lost a bedroom to my craft addiction; shelves burgeoning under the weight of cards, papers, boxes of embellishments, die-cutting equipment and various other ‘must haves’ and ‘can’t live withouts’. In order to appease other half who lived in constant fear of being stamped, glued or glittered if he sat still for too long, I was under orders to either give it up or turn my addiction into a small business. Well of course, giving up wasn’t an option. A week without a craft fix – you are of course joking! I’d rather give up chocolate, cheese, caffeine and shoes and run naked across Southampton Common than hand over my eyelet setter and brad collection as I passed through the doors to the Crafters Rehabilitation Unit. And so GetCrafty was born, a small but beautiful website from where I deal my wares… and of course the perfect guise for my addiction. You can drop by at www.getcrafty.co.uk to take a peek and maybe get some inspiration from our projects. GetCrafty has proven a wonderful way to meet like-minded addicts and swap tips, share ideas and generally have a good time doing what I love.

This GetCrafty blog will hopefully reach out and find those of you who are still hiding your creative light under the dining room table and secretly panicking because you aren’t quite sure how to stick your vellum to your mulberry paper or need someone to let you into the secrets of scrapbooking. A little diary of sorts from a fully-fledged addict who may be able to help or at least point you in the right direction. From a slightly more self indulgent perspective it also gives me yet another crafty avenue to wander down in the hope of find like minded souls, who, in the wee small hours are waiting for the glue to dry so they too can get just one more card finished before bedtime.