Every year I promise myself that I’m going to be ready for Christmas season, but it rolls around and suddenly I’m not even close to having completed everything that needed doing. That’s why this year I have come up with a list of all essential things I have to do this Christmas.

1. The first of all – Christmas Cards

Do you even know where your Christmas Cards are? I don’t want to think about how many times I have purchased cards in January, only to have no idea where they are months later when it comes time to send them out. I’m going to look for them today. But if you haven’t purchased your Xmas cards yet your friend and family are sure to love these lovely handmade Christmas cards from Lotus Art Studio.

2. Holiday Stamps

We spend so much time on the internet; we seldom send anything by post anymore. You might want to write down “picking up stamps” on your to-do list for the weekend. It’s definitely on mine. I can’t remember the last time I bought a pack.

3. Choose Your Gift List

How many people do you have to buy for this Christmas? Any ideas what they might like? Actually, the best way is to simply ask them. I asked my daughter for a list of what she wanted this year and she certainly gave me one. And some of the items on the list I would never have thought of! (Check out www.notonthehighstreet.com for a list of unique gifts)

4. Christmas Stocking Fillers

Now this has to be the hardest area of all for me. When the kids were small, stuffing their stockings with little goodies was easy. Now that they are grown up, those little goodies cost a small fortune. I can’t get away with crayons and colouring books any longer. To save time and money – I found my Christmas stocking fillers online on http://www.prezziesplus.co.uk for under £3 each!

5. Family get-together

For a few hours of visiting, there sure is a lot of work to be done. There is menus planning, activities to do before dinner and probably a zillion things that haven’t even occurred to me yet. I’m going to need a list for that too.

6. Holiday Baking

I have collected Xmas recipes all year long with the best of intentions (a lot of them found on Family Fun). Now is the time to go through them, decide what I want to bake and then buy the ingredients. My family can go through cookies like there is no tomorrow.

7. Wrap some gifts
This is the part I hate the most. If there is anyone who enjoys wrapping, I have tons for you. Personally, I would like nothing more than to buy gift bags for everything. Unfortunately, my kids don’t like the idea very much. According to them, it’s simply not very exciting.

8. Replenish Liquor Cabinet

Over the year, certain bottles take more of a beating than others. Now is the time to take a peek and see what bottles need replacing.

9. Indoor Decorations

Do I have enough Christmas lights? Am I going to feature more than one tree? Are they going to be real? And if I go with multiple trees, do I have enough ornaments? What has ever happened to just one tree?

Now I’m hearing that we are supposed to have a warm Christmas. I will get everything ready to go and then sit back and keep my fingers crossed…

Regular visitors to our website will notice that there has been a big change to the look and feel of our site.

Our customers wanted a fresher design, along with secure online shopping, and after several months of of research and hard work we are proud to unveil you our new website which we hope will help to bring you a better shopping experience.

We hope you like our fresh looking website so please do not hesitate to let us know any feedback, good or bad, because your opinion is very important to us.

We have launched our new collection of exclusive handmade florist cards for all occasions such as birthday, thank you, anniversary and a like. The new line features beautiful selection of black and white florist cards which can be personalised at your any requirements.

Florist message cards which arrive with flowers people will normally keep longer than anything else, but handmade cards people for sure will keep even longer time. We genuinely believe if more effort is put into creating a really nice card, the chance of it to be thrown to the bin can be reduced. And with a peak time of Christmas, Valentine’s and Mother’s day just around the corner, the need for unique cards is all set to increase with this year promised to be a bonanza for people looking for an extraordinary card to go with their special gift.

All our handmade florist cards are coming in luxury silver gift box in pack of 12 with white envelopes.

‘Stylish’, ‘elegant’, ‘high class’ and ‘high quality’ – these words can be used to explain the big popularity of handmade greeting cards. But do handmade cards deserve the place in such small word as ‘art’? In our opinion, it’s obviously yes. The description ‘handmade card artist’ represents what very talented card designers do – their put their artwork (whether it is textile, illustrative and graphic art) on their cards.

However, can we classify all handcrafted cards as an Art? There plenty handmade cards on the market than have been mass produced on Far East and sold in shops and supermarkets for under £2. Those cards are not viewed by people in the same way as a true handmade card – they are the same as ordinary printed cards. In contrast, UK handmade card artists are almost creating ‘designer labels’. And people buy these beautiful cards more like a gift then a card…

Are you on the look out for your Festive cards? Here, at Lotus Art Studio, we offer our range of beautiful and unusual handmade Christmas cards for 2007 season. And the best news are that now you can buy you Christmas cards in bulk and receive a huge discount. Whether you need 6, 12 or 100 cards we have got something for everyone…

For, such a small word ‘art’, it is very difficult to divide what is ‘art’ and what is not – especially when it comes to greeting cards. Greeting card can be the one of the most visible and widely available presentation of ‘art’ in its widest sense. From fine art cards to photography, to handmade, the greeting cards symbolize art in every aspect.

But when the real world of art continues to grow and grow, the discussion about what actually constitutes art in the greeting card scene is becoming more heated. There are those who argue that the commercial nature of greeting cards muddies the water of where art stops and pure commercialism begins. These people say that the art should be created just for the sake of art itself, not for the profits to be made. However, does this mean that artist that spends hours, if not days, creating the most wonderful piece of art for a greeting card is no longer producing art?

The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes art as ‘The use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects or experiences that can be shared with others.’ By definition, then, every greeting card is a work of art. Before, art was often seen as rather old fashioned, upper class and out of reach. Nowadays, art is everywhere, on mugs, notepads, bags, T-shirts and, of course, greeting cards…

We have launched a new collection of hand-decorated modern Christmas wreaths produced from natural materials.
All our Christmas wreaths are available to by online.

It is a Big Day… And you will not find better way to congratulate that newly married couple than with beautiful designs from our Wedding & Anniversary Collection – a superb selection of handmade wedding cards to celebrate this very special occasion…
All our wedding and anniversary cards are available to buy online.

Whether you are looking for a unique Birthday card for your friends or family, for your mother, sister or brother, we have a great selection available. And you can be sure that these luxury Birthday cards will delight any person who receives them…

Our Wedding Anniversary Hearts will be a very unique and special gift idea for these special occasions. These beautiful Wedding Anniversary presents are truly handmade and hand-decorated using unusual materials so each one is unique and has its own personal touch…