Christmas Trees
Winter Wonderland Hop - Week 1
Good day, fellow crafters. Welcome to our Winter Wonderland Cardmaking Hop Week 1 hosted by @kellysantidesigns ❄️ Each Wednesday in November, we are creating cards with a winter theme. We’re happy to share this week’s theme suggested by teammate @diana.larson ~ Christmas Trees! If this theme inspires your creativity, please use #winterwonderlandcardhop2023
The tradition of cutting Christmas trees dates back centuries and has its origins in Germany. The practice became popular in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. The custom gained widespread recognition in the 19th century, thanks to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's German husband, who introduced the Christmas tree to the British royal family. In the United States, the tradition took root in the 19th century as well, with German immigrants continuing their customs in the new world. Over time, cutting Christmas trees from forests or tree farms became a common practice, symbolizing the festive spirit of the holiday season. Today, millions of families around the world continue this tradition, choosing and cutting their Christmas trees as a cherished part of their holiday celebrations. I hope you enjoy my submission to this challenge.
To craft this card, I started by designing the central focus: the Christmas trees-to-be. My aim was to move away from the traditional adorned tree and instead present a contemporary take. In my vision, these trees were portrayed as waiting to be cut and adorned, offering a fresh perspective on the holiday season. The dies I used to create these trees for my card were from the Altenew Tree Mix Die Set, featured left. Opting for various shades of blue cardstock, I aimed to evoke a chilly, winter atmosphere. I specifically selected hues that would enhance this cold ambiance and explored intriguing combinations achievable with the die set to bring a unique touch to my project. After all the pieces were cut I used some liquid glue to adhere them together.
The next step was to create a background for the trees. I wanted to convey a sense of purity, simplicity, and elegance to contrast between the vibrant blue trees and the background so I chose a pristine white cardstock to create a visual impact. At this stage, I added my sentiment with some Sapphire Blue foil and a sentiment from the Spellbinders Glimmer Kit of the Month collection from November 2019. Then to give the background even more interest I used the nested dies from the Spellbinders called Labels 17. Once this was cut out I aligned all of the trees on it and adhered them together with liquid glue.
The next step was assembly. I chose a couple of different blue patterned papers to act as mats and add visual interest from one of my paper packs. I trimmed each to its final dimensions, adhered them together, and then that composite was adhered to a pre-cut and folded cream-colored card base. Lastly, I added my focal point to the background and with that I called the card complete.
