Print, stick, write, seal; print, stick, write, seal; print, stick...

This year the little Japanese Gocco printer went to work on these single-sided greetings, printed in silver, powder blue and dark green and finished with a real Swarovski crystal on the bauble. I say 'the Gocco' got to work - the troops were in for their usual annual overtime, hunched over the printing machine and wondering about the next tea break.

The design is a simple silhouette of a little girl and her toy reindeer on wheels, reaching for the sparkly bauble hidden among the sharp nib icicles. It's evocative of a lot of the work I've done this year - silhouettes have featured heavily, with the work for the Robert Burns Museum (on the following blog) and the Harper Lee cover, to name but two, and since I'm a traditionalist who loves Christmas, it had to reflect the childlike wonder I still feel at the rustling of parcels and tree branches, and that feeling that 'something is different' on Christmas Eve.

Hand-printed on 700gsm GF Smith Colourplan, in white, with a rubber-stamped reverse, mostly stamped by Anne. John did most of the crystals, with startling accuracy.

They took hours and hours, covered all the desks, cost a lot to post, and used a silly amount of ink. But e-cards? It'll be a hot day in December before you see any of those emerging from the Mole HQ.

And with that rather rash statement, it's Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Inkymole!