Sweet Stampin' ~ Christmas in April - Take 2

Hey crafty friends, I have a short follow up post to the first I shared for this Christmas in April challenge at Sweet Stampin'. The card set was very similar to one I'd already shared, so decided to share another card along side the set. This card was made a while back, but I'd never got around to sharing it. I made this for my old boss here in New Zealand, so has a suitably Kiwi Christmas theme. For those of you unfamiliar with the shape of New Zealand, this is in fact what our volcanic archipelago looks like, though depicting only our largest islands. New Zealand is in fact an archipelago of over 600 smaller, surrounding islands. One of my favourite smaller islands is Waiheke, in the Hauraki Gulf, which is about a 40 minute ferry ride from central Auckland. But I know you didn't come here for a geography lesson!

I've used some lovely Kiwi themed washi tapes, which feature the Maori words for love and happy and some beautiful native flora and fauna. I added them to the top and bottom of the square card base, and created a matte to add the sentiment over. I diecut the New Zealand outline and added a watercolour panel I created with Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron Distress Inks. I had a bit left over which I stamped the Peace, Love, Joy sentiment onto. I tore the edges and then added it to the card base over the washi tape matte, popped up on foam for a bit of dimension and interest. This was part of a much larger batch of Christmas cards I was commissioned to make that year, so I kept it pretty CAS to have time to complete them all, but love how this turned out. The die, washi and sentiment are long out of stock, so I can't share thumbnails for those, but the rest of the elements used, I'll share at the end of the post.

We're really trying to get ahead with our Christmas crafting this year, so come and join us with your Christmas themed makes if you're doing the same! Do check out the rest of the amazing creations my teamies at Sweet Stampin' have made for this challenge too, you can click through to the challenge on the banner above. I'll be back again soon with another crafty adventure, until then, have a beautiful week and happy crafting, Wends xoxo

(I share thumbnails to the elements I design with in order to make your search for them easier, in case you like something I've used. I do use affiliate links where possible, and so appreciate if you use these when shopping. They cost you no extra whatsoever but really help me cover the high postal costs to New Zealand. I am proud to design for the companies I do and always feel happy to share where my inspiration and where my crafty stash comes from. I am occasionally gifted products to use, but I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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