Crochet Christmas Card

Yesterday, I decided the time was right to begin working on an idea that has been gently bubbling away inside my Creative Mind for a few weeks now. As with many of my creative endeavours, I had already visualised the design and could see it very clearly in my mind. So clearly in fact, that all I needed to do was assemble some colourful oddments of merino yarn and get busy hooking.

Oooo look, I made an owl, hoot-hoot! This happy little chappy kind of hatched in front of my eyes and positively flew off my hook, he did not hang about (I think he really needed to get a life outside of the mess in my Creative Mind). Now before you ask, I have to confess that I didn't even touch a pen whilst making this owl (there wasn't time, he needed to fly!) and so there is no pattern here to share. However, there is a very large parliament of owl patterns which exist in cyberspace, loads and loads and loads of them. All you have to do is go to Google images and type in "crochet applique owl" and you will see what I mean. They are quite easy shapes to interpret in crochet, have a look at  Jacquie's fantastic tutorial if you fancy making yourself a cutesome, wide-eyed little owl.

Part of my idea was to give my owl his very own Christmas stocking. I drew out the basic stocking shape to use as a template, creating dinky little rows of colourful dc stripes to fit the shape on the paper.....

....the stocking came out a little bit thin and wobbly, but it does at least look like a sock type thing. I used my Jolly Holly pattern from three years ago to make some festive greenery, with some teeny little red berries (red yarn on a 3mm hook, chain 2, then 6 dc into 2nd ch from hook, sl st into 1st ch and fasten off).

The hardest thing of all was making the branch, I didn't just want it to be a plain brown shape, so I used three different browns to make stripes. It was fiddly changing colour so many times, and decreasing to make the pointy twigs at the end was tricky. Although not my best or neatest work, I think it turned out OK.

This morning at the studio, I started the glorious job of bringing the whole thing together. I used a sheet of blue felt for the background (a bit smaller than A4 size) and made a little string of felt bunting to hang along the top. I simply glued the small felt triangles in place, then made a line of stitching along the top using white yarn.

The rest of the crochet shapes (owl, stocking, holly leaves and berries) were stitched in place using sewing thread.

I absolutely love stitching, it is such a slow and gentle thing to be doing on a sunshiny morning with the radio playing and a cup of coffee to hand.

Pretty soon, everything was stitched in place. The owl had his feet sewn and his eyes popped in. The branch had grown it's leaves and berries and the stocking was tied with a small bow.

I was actually quite desperate to do more embroidery at this point (I was itching to stitch), but truthfully I couldn't think of anything to stitch! So I decided to leave it be and keep it simple, adding just one more little detail.....

.....a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy little smattering of bling......

.....awwww!! The tiniest silver stars you ever did see! These stars are literally a couple of millimetres across and came in a very tiny tube as part of a Christmas glitter set. I simply sprinkled them onto the felt, no glue or anything as they only needed to be temporary for photographic purposes.

The stars really pleased me, they added just the right finishing touch. Luckily, the light today in my studio was fantastic and the sun was streaming in through the front window. So I set up my hooky picture and took a gazillion photos, just to be sure that I would end up with exactly the right sort of image.....

.....to make into a Christmas card. Ta-dah!

I'm pleased with the finished piece, I think it looks suitably homemade and not too perfect (the owl is a wee bit cross-eyed, but maybe he's just excited about his stocking).

I made my first woolly Christmas card two years ago, printing out the photographs at home and simply gluing them to folded white card. The finished Christmas cards were truly handmade in every sense of the word.

This year I've decided to splash out and have a go at using Moo.com to get some proper printed cards made. It's quite expensive to do this (they work out at just under £1 each), but oooo there is a heap load of pleasure coming my way when the cards drop through my letter box. I am SO excited to see what they look like all printed up, I'll show you when they arrive (only two days to wait!), yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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Comments

[Carol Fieldhouse]

Could you just give us a few clues as to how you get that lovely red surround with the little catch stitches....??

[SANDY BALCH]

Hello Lucy..
Just happened on your page "ATTIC24"... How wonderfully creative you are, such inspiring designs and I love your infectious enthusiasm !! I am from a little town in Zimbabwe... please tell me how I can join your group and follow your patterns !
Sandy ..

[Lizy Tish]

Catching up on your blog so this is a late comment, but WOW! What a great Christmas card. Your crochet talent just amazes me.

[Antje]

Oh, this is gorgeous! I really love this cute owl. And I'm wondering what it might find in it's stocking....
:)

Cheers
Antje

[alise]

Oh! So lovely card!

[Maria Ibanez]

Wonderful work! Can you please tell me where can I get a needle book like the little house that is on the pictures?

[jen]

I've followed your blog for a year or 2 but never commented til now...love this card and the idea of it. "greedy for colour" does these too and she sells them...there's definitely a market for them. All the best and merry Christmas from an Australian/Otley lass.

[Adina]

Gorgeous colors and such a funky little fellow. :) He makes me smile.

[Maria Ibanez]

Very pretty! I love the little case next to the card where can I get one like that?

[crystal wall]

Love it! Too cute. Great blog.TY!

[Sharon]

Oh, this really made me smile! How sweet, fun, and festive!

[Alison]

I love your creations and I'm following one of your tutorials currently and have more planned. If you ever consider requests then, since colour really is your thing, I would love to see how you would put together a blanket that was kind of like a beautiful stained glass window. I would like to make something like that, but I just don't know how! Anyway, it's just a humble little idea.
:)

[Nancy Marchefka]

Wonderful Lucy your talented is unending Bravo!!!!! I hope you sell some at the yarn store or on your blog I love birds please let us all know I know I will not be the only one buying them Nancy In MA USA

[Denise]

Are you aware that there's been a malfunction in the view of comments? Typepad detsails have been revealed and a commenters personal email address is shown.

This may be an error on the part of Typepad but if you regularly checked your comments you could have prevented this from happening.

When readers make a comment it does state quite clearly that their email address will NOT be displayed with the comment.

[Jo]

So inspiring! I love it!

[Jo Hyde]

Hi Lucy,I just want to thank you for sharing your inspiring crochet and wonderful pictures with us all. On a dull drizzly day just to feast my eyes on all those fabulous colour combinations lift the spirits and set the old brain thinking about the next project!! Thank you, thank you thank you! from another happy hooker.

[Vikki]

I love the little owl....great job and using up odds and ends too. Great idea! Cheers!

[Ruth]

Hey check you out with your modflowers cat and mice in the background, I see you lol!! xxx

[Cara]

That is freaking awesome! :D

[SOL]

I am not creative and this is why I never would have thought to place the branch horizontally on the background. But if I were an owl, I am sure I would only perch on a horizontal branch. If an owl can think of that, why can't I?

[Mandy]

Love your card, it's gorgeous :) a very talented young lady

[cristina]

As every year, the Christmas card is more beautiful than I see network! the tree you did last year was beautiful but this year I like a lot your Christmas card. Have a Merry Christmas., Lucy! Kisses from Catalonia!

[Jess]

Such a cute idea!!

[Rachel]

Lucy where do you get your eyes from? I want to make a little family of owls but I need eyes - I've had a look on line but can't find any I like xx

[Natasha]

Wow, that is stunning Lucy! I would LOVE to buy some if you did decide you wanted to sell them!