A letter to Santa

A few years ago, I was looking for a card topper with a pillar box on it to make a card for a friend who is potty about pillar boxes. I spotted a topper sheet on eBay, bid for it and was successful. It cost a little more than I would normally expect to pay for a topper sheet, but I didn't mind. However when it arrived, I found out that what I'd been bidding on was not a single sheet but a whole pack of them, about 20 identical sheets. So I've been using them up, one or two every year, ever since. Each card has a pillar box topper, a robin tag and a selection of layers and embellishments, so given the size, each sheet makes at least two cards.

The trouble is, the main pillar box image is HUGE - it practically fills the whole of the front of an A5 sized card, and the tag is pretty big too, filling most of the front of a 15cm square card, so it's very difficult to add the personal touches that make the difference between a hand made card and simply a hand-assembled one. There's very little scope for creativity - pretty papers and stamping are hidden, and most fancy folds don't leave enough space for the images.

This time I've made a fold back card with the pillar box topper, adding a festive greeting in the backing paper and some silver layering and candi to brighten it up and glitter "snow" to the top of the pillar box.

I've been able to do a bit more with the tag, thanks to a pad of festive papers that was lurking  in my stash.

I'm popping my Pillar Box card into Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - something beginning with P
And the robin tag card into
Ooh La La Creations challenge 166 - Use a Bow
and Completely Christmas Challenge - Anything goes with the optional twist of a tag
Christmas Card Challenges - #45 Layer It Up
and I'm also playing along with
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - October