Christmas in the Antipodes

When I saw TGIF's Challenge #173:

I thought of Christmas - because, since I'm in New Zealand, it could well look something like this. I loved that rainbow umbrella and wanted to use those uplifting colours, as well. 

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up! ink (Real Red, Tangelo Twist, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, Pacific Point, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Pool Party), card (Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Whisper White, Gold), Stamps (Making Every Day Bright), Punch (Christmas Bulb Builder).

Other: Simon Says Stamp Merry Christmas Dies (SSSD111305), Kaisercraft DSP (Coastal Escape)

Merry and Bright

It's been a while since I had time to make a card for a challenge - very annoying when your job gets in the way of making cards!
I thought CAS(E) this Sketch's challenge #196 was great, and suited a very simple colour scheme, which I'd been wanting to try. As I did once before here, I used New Zealand's Christmas-blooming pohutukawa blossom, both as the main image and embossed into the lower half of the card.

Made using:
Stampin' Up Whisper White and Real Red paper
Craft Creations Pohutukawa Dies and Kiwiana Christmas Pohutukawa embossing folder
Rosies baker's twine
Simon Says Stamp Christmas Greetings

Freshly Made Christmas Card

I'm on a bit of a mission to make Christmas cards, and so the first thing I think about when looking at a new challenge at the moment is if I can imagine a Christmas card using it. Freshly Made Sketches' #257 gave me this idea. I was pleased to be able to use my new frame die from My Favourite Things.

Made Using:

Stampin' Up's Very Vanilla paper, Early Expresso, Watermelon Wonder and Emerald Envy ink

My Favourite Thing's frame die

Simon Says Stamp!'s Merry Christmas die and Christmas 3x4 stamp

Kaisercraft's Christmas Wishes stamp

My Mind's Eye's Christmas on Market Street Designer Cardstock Paper

Southern Christmas

I loved this week's CAS(E) this sketch challenge - #193 (see below) , and used it to give shape to my thoughts about Christmas cards here in the Southern Hemisphere. I do love 'traditional' Christmas cards with snow etc, but it always seems a bit odd to be exchanging them while wearing togs (a swimsuit to all you non-New Zealanders!) and eating summer foods.
I gave this card a New Zealand flavour by including the five stars (four big and one little) of the Southern Cross, which appear on our flag (also see below). I sponged the background with various shades of blue to suggest the light shining from the stars, but otherwise kept the colours very simple.

Made using:
Stampin' Up: Night of Navy and Whisper White paper, Pictogram Punches stamp set, silver embossing powder, Delicate Ornaments Thinlits dies, Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Dapper Denim and Night of Navy Ink
Other: Versamark Embossing ink, Simon Says Stamp Christmas 3x4 stamp set

Joy!

This card, a response to  Global Design Project's GDP#054 sketch Challenge, represents something of a  learning curve for me and since learning how to do new things is one of my favourite activities, making it was a pleasurable experience.

The first thing I learnt was that it's extremely tricky to emboss watercolour paper. I was happy with my lightly sponged background and muted green/brown tree, and wanted to finish it off with a gold star and baubles. The gold star went okay, but the baubles just didn't stick. I was going to throw it out and start again, but then paused, looked at what I'd done and realised I'd ended up with a light dusting of gold on the whole image, which I really liked - so I went ahead and heat embossed it anyway. (I assure you that is gold dust and not dirt, but I know it didn't photograph very well.)

My next issue was what to mount my tree on. Nothing seemed to work, until I hit upon the idea of making my own background (a JoMo DSP!) by layering two Kaisercraft clear stamps - a square music one in stamped-off Cherry Cobbler, and  'Script' embossed in gold.

My last barrier was when I realised I don't really have many sentiments that are Christmassy - (a problem I intend to remedy forthwith!). For the last 25 years, my Christmas cards have been a very simply mounted photo of our two children. I've had a copy of each photo mounted in similar frames and they're on the wall in a big 5x5 square that, as I'm sure you can imagine, tells the story of how they've grown up.

Now, however, my son has moved to England and so I have to make actual Christmas cards (and live with getting a bit tearful whenever I think he won't be home for Christmas). Anyway, I found this little Heidiswapp 'joy' in a 2013 set of 9 stamps and thought the sentiment apt and the size and shape perfect.

Made using

Paper: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler, The Art Department watercolour

Ink: Stampin' Up Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip

Stamps: Stampin' Up Thoughtful Branches, Totally Trees (the star), Kaiser Art Script and Music, Heidiswapp sentiment.

Other: Franceville adhesive rhinestone