Silent Night White Christmas cards and bulb growing

For years and years, I've been wanting to make my own Christmas cards to send to friends and family, but apart from the odd card, I've usually ended up sending bought ones in the last moment. But this year, I was determined to make them myself, from start to finish. As the easiest way to get the same motif on a number of cards is by stamping it, I had to make a stamp first. I haven't really carved a whole stamp before, so I decided to go with a simple design. A bit rustic, reminding of an old wood carving.

And here's the pile of finished cards, all coloured in. Now comes the hardest bit. Writing them. I'm not good at all at writing cards. It always makes me happy to get beautifully written Birthday and Christmas cards, and I always marvel at the eloquence of the writers, wishing I could do it too. But I can't. I'm just rubbish at it. I never know what to write. So I hope that this year, the cards will make up for the writing. And then I just hope that the recipients will enjoy the receiving the cards as much as I enjoyed making them.

I've also caught the bulb bug. A few weeks ago I read about the different bulbs you can use to grow lovely flowers for you home in winter in a magazine, and decided to try it out myself. Now of course, amaryllis bulbs aren't anything new at all. But I think I had one once, years and decades ago, and I can't even remember if anything ever came out of it. So I thought I'd give it a try this year. I bought one called Aphrodite, a white one with pale pink around the edges, that came ready planted in a pot. I'm totally enjoying watching it grow from one little green tip just visible, and I've been drawing the stages in my sketchbook every week. And they grow so quickly! And there's definitely a flower pod beginning to appear. Can't wait until it starts blooming! I bought another, smaller, white one, too, and I'm thinking about getting a couple of crocus bulbs too.