holiday card swap!

i absolutely love getting mail. it's an obsession. sometimes i order little trinkets off of etsy that i can look forward to opening the mailbox and seeing something other than chinese food circulars and (bleh) bills. when i was at my grandmother's for thanksgiving this year, she got her first christmas card in the mail - and she was so genuinely excited about it. i figured that it might be nice to surprise friends and family with some holiday greetings in snail mail form this year.

as i was working out our card design for this year, i thought that it would be really fun to exchange cards with other bloggers this year too. you guys are so creative, and i'm sure that you could whip up some gorgeous paper goods. i'm handmaking ours with our gocco (i used it for our save the dates, too). gocco is a japanese form of screenprinting that was just discontinued in 2008, but you can still find supplies on ebay (yudu is the same idea). anyway, i'd love to switch cards with you this year! if you're interested, post below with your email, or send me an email (veronikaplacek [at] gmail [dot] com) and we can exchange addresses. definitely don't think that you have to go out and buy a gocco or anything - a simple illustration and a little glitter (who are we kidding, a lot of glitter if you're in my shoes) or a couple of pom-poms are just perfect. i'm so excited to send them out!

here are some of my favorite handmade cards from etsy. if i wasn't such a control freak about my craft projects, you can bet i'd be all over these.

joyeux noel tree bonnet cards by the craft pantry

holiday doodles card by beauideal

happy holidays by kikdesign

caped crusader.

cape: handmade by my mama from a 1960's pattern
dress: forever21
cardigan: vintage
earrings: someplace? i forget.
tights: urban outfitters sale
shoes: steve madden
bag: unknown, from loehmann's

i totally forgot about this cape until i read all of the hullabaloo going on about this zara cape. my mom made this cape for me three years ago from a 1960's pattern that i fell in love with. i feel like puss in boots, except a little more like puss in giant-wedges-that-are-not-surprisingly-difficult-to-balance-in. the lining is this gorgeous paisley silk, and the buttons echo the same paisley patten. the coat itself is made of a very lightweight navy wool - perfect for layering. as you know, i'm not a giant fan of pants but i'd love to wear this with a pair of fitted cropped trousers, preferably in a tan or khaki color.

these will do just fine. minus the price tag.