A Christmas card and an earthquake

Well it had to happen, didn't it? I've been moaning about the supermarkets selling Christmas cards as soon as the kids go back to school in September for years. I love Christmas, but I find by the time it's arrived I'm completely fed up with it. Nothing can be done to stop the tide however, so as they say, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". My Christmas card-making began today.

The current Basic Grey Challenge is to use embossing, either heat or dry, along with at least one BG item. And I just found a new blog today which has inspired me: Fab's Big Christmas Cards Challenge and the challenge here is green and more green.

He also suggests making two cards from the same supply of materials, which I had fully intended to do before close-of-play today, but I got interrupted by an earthquake which I suspect is a little more important in the general scheme of things. Honest. Don't believe me? Check the news. I'll wait... Yes, you've got it, that's the one. That 7.6 magnitude quake 53km off the coast of western Indonesia near Padang at 6:20 this afternoon. We felt it in our 19th floor condo in Singapore. The door was swinging, the curtains were swaying, and if it had gone on much longer than about half a minute, I think I might have felt travel-sick. It's the most peculiar feeling.

So Fab, I love your blog and you've completely inspired me to get working on my cards - thank you! I hope you will forgive me for not finishing my second card before the deadline, but I promise I'll finish it and post it tomorrow :-)

This earthquake is on top of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami which caused so much damage in Samoa this morning. And the typhoon Ketsana which has devastated the Philippines, roared through Vietnam and is now battering central Cambodia exactly where we were this time last year. Those poor, poor people.

So now to my card, and I promise it was not designed with any knowledge of today's terrible news. However much we help our human impact on the earth, we can't help the power of the elements. It makes me feel very humble and insignificant. I must add that inside there's a mistletoe stamp and the sentiment "have a merry one". In green, of course!

Recipe:
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Wisteria, Urban Prairie (Hayloft), Sultry (Patina)
Ink: Versacolor/Artnic in Sky Blue, Evergreen and Green Tea, Dew Drops in Galaxy Gold and Bamboo Leaves
Stamp: Inkadinkado (I'm dreaming of a green Christmas) and Stampington (tree)
Embossing powder in Verdigris, gold cord and gold staples from my stash