Fab 'n' Funky ~ A Little Bit of Gingham

Hey there lovelies. It's time for a new Fab 'n' Funky challenge. I missed posting for last weeks challenge as I've been a bit swamped with baby visits, kids end of term activities etc. But the kiddos are on Winter break now and I can catch my breath as we're having a very low key 'staycation'. It's too cold to head up North to our family beach house and Greg is working through, so no visit South to his parents either. Not so easy to do a quick visit when there's an 8+ hour drive. So I'm catching up some crafting. It's about this time of year I always want to start Christmas crafting, mostly because here in New Zealand it's the heart of Winter! So it feels like Christmas weather to me, which makes me want to Christmas craft!

I can't tell you how funny it is to have a Summer Christmas with all the traditional 'Winter Christmas' imagery that comes out. It's always been that way here. All the traditional English Traditions appear here in New Zealand, it's only in recent years that some local Kiwi artisans have started creating 'Kiwi Christmas' images and designs. So it's all sun, Pohutukawa's (our Kiwi Christmas tree), Beaches and Flip Flops (aka: Jandals here in NZ) and swimsuits (aka: Togs here in NZ). Hehe. Quite a culture shock if you're used to a Northern Hemisphere Christmas! But I do find myself still drawn to the traditional Winter imagery and this Santa I love especially as he's drawn by one of my favourite craft artists, Marina Fedotova. Her images are so enchanting and this Santa has a little of my heart! I've coloured him with my Promarkers.

Now the theme for our challenge this week is 'A Little Bit of Gingham' and if you know me well, you'll know that I have a thing for gingham, my house is filled with it, red gingham especially. So when it comes to Christmas crafting I often have red gingham floating around on my craft desk. I can't always use it because I've used patterned papers that won't work with it, but this time, I opted to emboss to plain cardstock colours and use the red gingham as the accent. I just love how this worked out!

The red cardstock which you see quite clearly in the closeup of the image or below in natural light, was embossed with a Crafter's Companion 5"x7" Contemporary Folk Embossing Folder by Sara Davies for her Signature Series Scandinavian Christmas Collection. The teal cardstock above was embossed with the Traditional Folk Embossing Folder from the same range. I love Scandinavian design especially at Christmas, I'm all about the gorgeous Scandi-chic traditional motives like the one on the above embossed panel. So iconically Swedish and don't you think the red gingham fits right in?! I love it. 

I hope you'll come and play along with us this week. Your creation doesn't have to be a Christmas one, but feel free if like me you like to get ahead a little with your Christmas crafting. All we ask this week is that you add some gingham. I hope you're inspired to add some to your creation this week and for more inspiration check out what my awesomely talented teamies were inspired to do with gingham. You're gonna love it!

I'll be back very soon with another crafty adventure, as my Whimsy Wednesday post is scheduled for later tonight, so pop back to see what I got up to there. In the meantime, have an awesome week and happy crafting, Wends xoxo

Challenge Entries:

I Love Promarkers: #363 ~ Christmas in July

Always Fun Challenges: #66 ~ Anything Goes

Card Mania Challenge: #106 ~ Anything Goes

Creative Inspiration Challenge: July ~ All Tied Up

The Merry Christmas Challenge: #26 ~ Anything Goes

Little Red Wagon: Lights/Camera/Action ~ Miracle on 34th Street

Unicorn Challenge: #34 ~ Stitching Real or Faux (scalloped edge has faux stitch)

As You Like It: Favourite Celebration (I love Christmas. Being with family and reconnecting with friends both at home and far away. I love the joy this season brings and the optimism. I LOVED Christmas in the UK, the snowy, chilly days, but here in New Zealand, it's usually warm and balmy, which is not my favourite for cooking a big Christmas dinner! But I do love the warm New Zealand New Years! BBQ on a beach style! :) :) :)