Antique "Xmas" Greeting from Santa?

Perfect for last minute Christmas projects, here is a lovely antique Santa Claus.  I love old Santa postcards.  He was certainly a popular subject for Victorian Christmas cards -- we have over 200 Santa images on my Lunagirl Victorian Holidays Vol 1 CD!

This particular card is especially interesting because of its greeting:
"All Xmas Joys Be Thine."

You might be surprised to see "Xmas" on an antique Victorian-era card, but actually the use of Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas goes back to the Middle Ages.

The "X" is a CROSS and is a symbol or abbreviation for "Christ."  It's not a modern invention, and it was definitely not an attempt to "take religion out of Christmas" as some seem to believe.  It's just an old traditional abbreviation.

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this lovely old image of Santa!

Snow Angels from the Moonbeams

Well, I don't have any snow yet but I do have lots of snow angels.  The entries in the blog challenge gallery are so pretty!  And the Lunagirl Moonbeams DT has been inspired and busy creating more gorgeous samples for you!  I'm sure you'll enjoy them.  You can always see more of the DT's work at their blogs.  And I hope everyone will link up their own angels for the Snow Angels challenge, which continues until Sunday...

This very Christmas-y card was created by Michele Storms.  Lovely details ~ see the little heart the dove is carrying?

Petra Berendsen created this beautiful snowflake ornament featuring a snow angel with glittering gold wings ...


and the pretty Winter Wonderland tag below!

Vicki Romaine sent this sweet little angel card:  "This card puts a Lunagirl Snow Angel on a Cheery Lynn diecut. which has been placed on a piece of designer cardstock.  The flourishes are cream-colored which works well with the beige designer cardstock.  They are made of thick acrylic."

 

And from Mandy Chilvers, two pretty star shaped snow angel ornaments.  

I love the soft vintage pink colors.

Pretty Snow Angel Tag by Michele

Gold and silver seem to be popular this Christmas season, and Michele Storms has used them well in her snow angel tag:

"i covered a green tag base with this cool embossed kind of vellum-y pale white paper and decorated it with the vintage snow angel, a golden snowflake and golden stars.  it seemed right to keep it sweet and simple."

Now it's your turn!  Submit your snow angel creation to the current blog challenge and win a $10 Lunagirl.com gift credit!

Need some snow angels to work with (and need them quick?) I offer a set of five snow angel images on etsy for just $2, instant download!  They will charm and inspire you!

New Blog Challenge: SNOW ANGELS

For my next blog challenge, I've chosen a theme that highlights one of my favorite types of Victorian images: the lovely little Snow Angels.

You've probably seen these sweet little angel children, bundled up against the cold, holding candles or flowers, Christmas gifts or bells, maybe even a bird's nest.  I have 27 of them available on my Lunagirl Angels Fairies Fairy Tale Art CD ~ and a little download pack of 5 snow angels on etsy!  Plus photos of Angel Children and more... Or maybe you will create your own style of Snow Angel.  Whichever way, I love these little symbols of warmth and hope in the winter, and I hope you'll have fun with this theme!

Don't miss the samples from the Moonbeams Design Team below, for your inspiration!

GUIDELINES:
This challenge (#16) will end at Noon (Central Time) on December 15.

The winner will be selected randomly to win a $10 coupon for Lunagirl.com!

Any craft or medium is OK,
No more than 3 entries from one person in each challenge, 

Vintage style is encouraged but not required, and
Please link to my blog and Lunagirl.com on your site if you have one.
 
Of course I love if you use at least one Lunagirl product, and I hope you'll go take a look at my collection... but that's not a requirement!  Most important is have fun, get creative, enjoy vintage. 




LUNAGIRL MOONBEAMS DESIGN TEAM
Find out more about the Moonbeams DT and visit their blogs!

This little charmer is by Vicki Romaine:
"I love this Lunagirl Snow Angel.  It is one of my many favorite Lunagirl images.  I placed her on a card on which I have decorated with a number of embellishments.  There is sequin waste, cloth ribbon, silk flowers and snowflake stickers.  This is really the first Christmas-looking card I have made for this year.  I need to get busy."

Michele Storms uses two snow angels on this pretty winter card.

 And here is an altered notebook by Mandy Chivers, with sparkly snow angel. Gorgeous, don't you think? 

I hope you'll get inspired and get creating!

Retro Gals gift boxes by Annie Claxton!

Hello all!  One of our regular challenge players, Annie Claxton, just missed the deadline for the Retro Gals challenge, and her gift boxes project was so cute I wanted to share her link anyway!  Very creative and pretty, and great pics in her post...  http://artyfartyannie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/little-boxes.html

Retro Gals Challenge Winner!

Our Retro Gals blog challenge has closed, so it's time to announce the winner.  We had just a few entries this time, so everyone had really good odds!  I asked my Random Number Generator for the winning number and it gave me #4 Karen of Karen's Crafty Playground!

Congratulations to you, Karen!  Please be sure to email me at info@lunagirl.com to claim your prize: a $10 coupon to use at Lunagirl.com!

And to everyone who played this time ~ THANK YOU! Come back again to share your wonderful work ~ my next theme will be Snow Angels!  And please do spread the word...