Coming to Australia, Christmas is celebrated in a different way! First of all, for Aussies, there is the hope of warm temperatures, salads and cold lunch and maybe a swim or visit to the beach.
For me, it was a bit of a culture shock! I was used to cold days, sitting by the fire to stay warm, hot lunch, all activities indoor (unless there had been snow and you wanted to have a snowball fight!) However I have adjusted and see advantages in both. I miss singing carols in the cold, the warmth of the fire, the scenes from Christmas cards you see from the Northern Hemisphere, but we still are celebrating the birth of our Saviour.
When I saw this suite in the Mini Catalogue, I loved the memories it evoked – the colours of Christmas and poinsettias in the home to add colour to a winter landscape. I adore the DSP and wanted to highlight it in some cards.
My first card is very simple. I stamped the sentiment in Real Red before embossing. It has a real red base and the embossed Holly white layer. I just added a strip of the DSP placed on gold foil, added it to the left side of the card and added some red sparkle gems.
My second card uses Red, White and Gold and the Jolly Holly Embossing Folder as well as the Everyday Arches Dies. The base is Real Red to set off the beautiful red DSP. I gave it an elegant look by using the gold foil and a beautiful red ribbon and one of the sentiments from the Greetings for You Ephemera Pack. The white layer is just embossed with the holly to add texture and sparkle gems are used as well. Hint! -I used the centre part of the layer to cut out the gold pine branches.
The third card moves away a little from the traditional red, white and gold. I used a Basic White base and added a layer of Pretty in Pink and a layer of Old Olive before putting the DSP in place. Before adhering the Old Olive to the Pretty in Pink layer, I added a strip of red ribbon. The sentiment is from the suite and is cut out with the gorgeous banner die. I added some white and gold twine in the corners of the banner fold as there is a little slit there.
My fourth card uses one of the stamps from the set. I used versamark and gold embossing on the flower and leaf outlines. The base is Pool Party to pick up the colours in the DSP. The DSP was cut in half horizontally so I could show both sides of it and I placed a piece of gold foil on the join.
When I made it, I originally planned to keep the top image just in gold embossing but felt it needed to tie in a little more so I added a little Light Pool Party and light Bubble bath to highlight some of the flowers. and a very faint touch of light Old Olive on the leaves. Secret Sea ribbon was used behind the sentiment and one sentiment is from the Greeting ephemera set and the other is gold embossed and die cut from the stamp sets.
Gradually my stash of Christmas cards is becoming greater and I think I may even duplicate many of these ones as they were fast to make and yet very effective.
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