Starting To Think About Christmas

Anne Harwell's Holiday Interior Cards

Usually around mid November I start to think about my Christmas theme for the year. When I say theme, for me, it's usually mostly about what wrapping paper and gift cards I am going to use and which ribbons I will use to re-thread all of my mismatched Christmas ornaments which I have been collecting since my husband and I got married.

This time each year I love pulling out my collection of Christmas decorations as they always bring back so many happy memories especially the little ornament one of my girlfriends gave me when Harry was born. I also have ornaments I have found overseas in special places like Venice, Paris, Hawaii, San Francisco etc. etc. I'm always on the lookout for special Christmas decorations!!

Bird Ornaments available from Black & Spiro

Bunny Ornament available from Black & Spiro

To keep my collection growing I like to buy 2-3 new decorations a year. We are selling these two gorgeous decorations {above} at Black & Spiro this year and I have decided to add some of these to my collection at home. One day I will pass on my collection to Harry and hopefully he will get as much joy out of it as I do and maybe he too will carry on the tradition with his children by adding a few new ornaments each year.

Our 2006 Christmas Tree

Another thing I changed about my Christmas theme last year was the tree. Whilst I have always gone for a white tree {above}, last year, as it was time for me to replace my tree, I went for a traditional green tree. This year however, I have decided to go back to a white tree as I just feel that a white tree looks much prettier with my colourful decorations and because the green tree I purchased last year has somehow been damaged in our store room....I'm thinking a little 5 year old I know may be to blame!!

Just this week I came across these pretty, colourful Christmas napkins from Cath Kidston. When I spotted them I knew straight away that they would be my inspiration for my Christmas theme this year. In particular I love that they look vintage and the pretty colours really caught my eye.

Image - Whatever Blog via La La Lovely Things

I then went about trying to find some pretty ribbon, cards, paper etc. After having a little hunt around I started to think that maybe I could try to be a little more creative this year and instead of spending lots of money on expensive wrapping papers I decided that Harry and I will make our own Christmas wrapping paper. I will purchase a large roll of butchers paper and then get out the paint brushes and maybe even make some vegetable printing blocks!

I love these pretty yellow and white polka dot cards which we sell at Black & Spiro. I think they work so beautifully with my theme so these are a definite.


I have a roll of this grosgrain ribbon at the shop too so I think I will use it up with some of the other ribbons I already have in my present drawer at home. I also love to make ribbons out of some of my fabric remnants at the shop...I just tear them up into strips and tie them onto my gifts...a great way of using up small pieces of fabric.

Vintage Tea Tin from Etsy Seller Sohn

This Christmas I am challenging myself to try to be a little less extravagant and a little more creative. Therefore another way to meet this challenge is to do some baking. I thought I might look for some vintage tins and then use them to package up some home made biscuits to give to my family & friends.

What are your plans this Christmas??

Claire Stening {Artist}

I love the work of Brisbane based artist Claire Stening. A few years ago I saved up and purchased one of her paintings which I have hanging at our Straddie house. Claire emailed me today to let me know about her upcoming exhibition at Rushcutters Bay Gallery in Sydney. Click HERE to see the exhibition.

Her work is so beautiful, precise & so, so realistic. Today when I was looking through her latest pieces I had to take a double check as some pieces looked like they were photographs. This orchid painting above is one of my all time Claire Stening favourites.

You Can Type

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. All the same, a layout with lots of pictures and no type is like a cupboard full of spices with no labels – if you can’t remember what each one is by sight, you’ll end up putting curry in your apple pie. But type does more than just label and date your photos! Page titles, captions, and “journaling” capture what your photos may not: what you felt and thought when they were taken.

Still, the decorative scrapbook papers available today are meant to showcase your pictures, not long blocks of text. But it’s not just the length of type on your page that’s important. The size, font, and placement of your type, and also the words you use, can make your text the perfect compliment to all your memories.

So how do you avoid distracting readers with unsightly type? Here is a list of a few things to keep in mind:

1. Choose words that have meaning.

• I’m probably going to offend some people when I say this, but certain words have become unfortunate hallmarks of cookie-cutter scrapbooking, such as “Cherish!”, “Dream!”, “Discover!”, etc.
  
• The best scrapbook titles and captions come from familiar (not cliché) phrases, like “Jingle All the Way!” for a layout about sleigh rides and Christmas caroling. Or, “Snips & Snails, and Puppy Dogs’ Tails” for a young boy’s layout.
• If you want to use a single or double word title, avoid obvious nouns, like “Christmas Tree” with a photo of a family picking out what is obviously a Christmas tree. To capture the frosty, pine-scented mood of the evening, perhaps “O Tannenbaum” would be better (“christmas tree” in German, but people fondly associate this with the famous song).
  

2. Pick fonts that are appropriate to your content.

• If you’re using your computer to generate type, avoid over-used fonts, like Papyrus, Comic Sans, Vivaldi, Times New Roman, Brush Script, and Curlz. Also, if you’re worried that a font’s letter forms may seem over the top, they probably are. Pick something similar, but a little more modest.
• If you’re buying chipboard letters, rub-on words, and other type embellishments, be selective! With so many choices out there in scrapbook elements, if you spend the time looking, you will find the perfect font for your project.
• Looking for more free fonts for your computer? I recommend www.dafont.com.
  

3. Keep your type readable.

• Our eyes are governed in large part by habits and patterns, especially when it comes to reading text. In western cultures, our eyes are trained to read from left to right, top to bottom. In general, then, titles, captions, and journal entries should follow this format.
• Avoid breaking words up into their individual letters, and for the most part, keep all the letters of a word on the same line.
• Our eyes also prefer smooth, even patterns in text. Every once in a while it’s alright to break the mould, like using an elegant cursive capital letter to start a word in a plain text (serif) font. But using several fonts on a single layout, or worse yet, using several fonts in a single word, makes it hard to read. The designer’s general rule of thumb is preferably two fonts per layout, and no more than three.
  

Well, that covers a few of the basics. There are more guidelines to successfully using type in your scrapbooking, but we can cover those later. The most important thing is to trust your own design instincts – do what looks good. After all, as any artist or designer will tell you, it’s important to learn the basic principles, so you know when and just how much to break them!

If you’re interested in follow up type tutorials, please comment.