Thursday, December 18, 2025

O Christmas Tree


Hi y'all!  

On any given Thursday morning I'm usually Zooming with my friend Callie, but this morning I'm participating in one of my favorite annual activities.  I'm with a group of my ukulele friends, ringing and singing for the Salvation Army.  We have a fun repertoire of songs that include secular and religious songs for Christmas as well as a few for Hanukkah and of course, a few Hawaiian melodies and Hapa Haole songs as well (referring to a genre of Hawaiian music with English lyrics).  I wish you could see the joy on shoppers' faces as they exit the grocery store and find us there with our happy instruments and silly Christmas garb!  I'd like to think that our exuberant performance inspires them to drop a little extra into the red bucket!  

If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you might remember how my love affair with Hawaiian culture, especially music, dance and my beloved ukulele, got its start.  My husband and I lived in Hawaii for the first four years of our marriage when he was stationed on Oahu at VQ-3 Barbers Point.  I took hula on Monday evenings at Halau Hula O Maiki the entire time we lived there and loved every minute of it.    


We were back on the mainland for quite a while before I seriously started playing the uke.  One of the first "real" songs I learned to play was Iz's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, so it's a bit tongue in cheek to say that my card for today, with its pink and green Over the Rainbow designer paper, was thus inspired.  I really do love this bright, happy retro color combo!  

For the Christmas tree, I used the tree die cut to cut a negative space into that gorgeous green designer paper, then adhered it to a white mat and stamped the tree into the negative space.  I used Copic markers, a clear sparkly Wink of Stella glitter marker to color it in, with some strategically placed tiny dots of white paint to make the tree's ornaments look like 3-D rhinestones.  


But there really is only one rhinestone on the card front, the pink one on the white snowflake above the banner, so if you're after a flat card for easy mailing, this would be a good image to use.  Just leave the gems and ribbon off and there you go.   


Here's the inside, with more of that beautiful bold green, a little pink and a couple of die cut embellishments.  And...this greeting is from another Christmas song!  

I hope you leave here today with a song in your heart!  And please give a little extra when you see the Salvation Army bellringer wherever you shop!  Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!  

xo

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