Rachel Drewer – Milliner Extraordinaire (who I know from Twitter) said it was cheating, but I did it anyway. The cake did come out well, but I have to admit, that having everything measured out and packed into neat little packages for you did take all the fun out of it – apart from seeming terribly spoiled.

I used ready rolled icing and marzipan and had my heart set on some  hellebore sugar flowers for the decorations. For the life of me, I could not find anyone who could make me some hellebore sugar flowers….. Is this a dying craft?

I went off to a store in Hedge End in a last ditch attempt to find something – The Cake and Sugarcraft Centre is a veritable treasure trove of baking and decorating paraphernalia and I came away with some delightful Christmas roses as well as the ubiquitous holly and poinsettia.

They had stuff I had never even heard of …. I did get a little bit carried away with the champagne coloured edible glitter…..

Houdini Cards:

“My handmade card creations use original, although mostly Victorian, images which I enhance using 21st century technology. Every card is unique with images on both the front and reverse, individualised by hand-stamped lettering. Each card can be custom made to order with lettering of your choice – and choice of envelope colour if preferred.”

Contact Houdinini Cards through Etsy, Facebook or Twitter.

Nyoki Handmade London:

Nyoki Handmade London label is inspired by a mother and daughter duo that combine each of their talents to create exquisite handmade gifts and greeting cards with love and care.

“Our style is eclectic – a combination of vintage, traditional and contemporary. Eco-friendly and unique, each item will stand the test of time and they come in a wealth of beautiful and natural colors.

Our products are designed in London and handmade in both the UK and Kosovo.  Nyoki works closely with job creation programs in Kosovo, giving female survivors of the war the confidence and the financial means to support themselves and their families.  When you buy one of our products, you are helping to rebuild their lives.”

Contact Nyoki through their online shop, Facebook or Twitter

Nithria:

“Nithria is a new cottage business bringing you special cards and gifts for friends and loved ones, or as a treat for yourself. All products are made by hand and produced from various sources.”

Nithria can be contacted through their Folksy shop or their online store

Rhiannon Thomas

“My cards are prints of my colourful pen and ink paintings. This is the third year that I have sold the Christmas cards, each year a third of the profit from my cards is donated to the Vietnamese Charity Hue Help. I spent the summer of 2008 in Vietnam volunteering for Hue Help; a charity set up to provide assistance to the large numbers of people still living in poverty in central Vietnam. The funds support children’s orphanages and mobile health clinics.”

View Rhiannon’s work on her site or her cards can be purchased through her Folksy page

Penny Lindop

“With a background in archaeology, I now design and produce a huge range of cards and artwork, including many Christmas designs. The business was started 12 years ago, and I am continually amazed by the wonderful comments made about my work. With quirky animals, flowers and cakes, hand finished with my “signature” of woolly additions, the designs are charming and touched with gentle humour.”

Penny Lindop’s cards can be found on her site , or you can contact her on Twitter or Facebook

Storeyshop

“I’m Helen. I love making cards – especially bespoke, personalised ones. I individually hand cut lots of my designs to order, so they are unique and really say what you want to say. Christmas is one of my favourite times of year too, so here’s to a cosy festive season and special Christmas cards a-plenty! ”

Storeyshop cards can be purchased through the Etsy shop. You can also keep up to date with Helen’s creations through her blog.

Georgina Kay Designs

“Georgina Kay Designs are a mother and daughter team who specialise in everything Christmas related! From gifts, to cards and decorations we have it all. We have cards for all ages and they range from traditional scenes through to more modern contemporary images.We especially love Custom orders and relish every opportunity to work with individuals to create their perfect Christmas card.  Our shop is on etsy ”

You can also follow Georgina Kay Designs  via their blog

Cards by Sophie

“Cards by Sophie started in 2009 creating unique, handmade wedding stationery and has since grown to provide other greetings cards. This is Cards by Sophie’s first range of Christmas cards, they can be easily personalised and are available with a variety of ribbon and crystal colours. Each card is made by hand for that special touch! A range of Christmas cards and other greetings cards, baby and wedding stationery will be available from the Cards by Sophie online shop from the end of October. Contact Sophie in the mean time if you wish to purchase any!”

Sophie can be contacted through her site, on Facebook or on Twitter

If you would like to be included in the list please send me your contact details and and image of your cards.

I love Christmas, I love the long dark, cold nights, the twinkling of Christmas lights (the Winchester ones are by far my favorite) and the decorating of my home. I always make my own crackers and last year.. I even made my own Christmas cake – honestly … iced and everything! I am a handmade girl.

Before I get carried away, the point of this post is this: As well as everything I have already said, I love Christmas cards dropping through my letterbox, and I love sending them too. I always go to a lot of trouble finding the perfect ones. Last year, I chose this one, from The Little Dog which I loved 11/10. This year, I am tempted to find something bespoke, there are wonderful handmade card artisans out there, who might well do something special just for me … or for you…?

I am compiling a list on my blog of handmade card artists – who have christmas offerings . Let me know if this is you, send me a photo and your details and I will put you on my list. And if you would like to support handmade Christmas in the UK, please keep checking back on my blog, who knows, you might just find that perfect Christmas card!

See the Handmade Christmas card list here.

This year, in Cologne, I came across this beautiful shell pearl bauble (Note the Twinkleberry pink and brown colours…)

I could not resist this delicate little felt Pansy Fairy…..

But the star of the show has to be this glamorous reindeer!

I bought these handblown glass baubles last year, they are a plum colour with beads of gold – and lets face it, you can never have enough gold at christmas time!

A handmade red glass star. An absolute classic.

This is a glamorous fabric and bead creation, handmade by a very talented sister-in-law.

These were a dime a dozen a couple of years ago, but I still loved mine, it’s such a whimsical Santa and his shy reindeer.

A dragon – what do you mean you don’t have a dragon? It’s a must, an absolute must! Trust me – go an buy yourself a dragon now! Every tree should have one!

The most beautiful angel on my tree – a vintage, handmade lovely, bought for me, many years ago by a very dear friend.

I bought these beautiful feather birds many, many years ago at the fabulous V&A gift shop (an absolute must when in London) – they are much, much nicer than the ones you can buy now.

And lastly, a child for whom Christmas is still a magical time!

I love the early evenings, log fires, mulled wine and mince pies (this year I am going to make my own!) and the Winchester christmas lights – which are beautiful. Mostly I love getting our christmas tree and decorating it, Dave and I have our annual argument about how big the tree should be – I want the biggest one I can fit into the house.

I’ve made a range of Swarovski crystal decorations to hang on a tree or in a window, I don’t know if we will manage to get them onto the site, so contact me at jenni@twinkleberry.co.uk for info.

This one is a very large star – 28mm and there is a larger one available too – 40mm. They can be strung on the ribbon colour of your choice.