O Christmas Tree

I live in an area that does not really acknowledge Christmas. I have seen chocolate Santas in a few shops and have heard Christmas pop songs on BBC Radio 2 on the Internet, but otherwise there is very little sign of the holiday over here. The thing is, I quite like Christmas! There wasn't a Jewish school in the city where I grew up, so I went to the local Comprehensive school. There I learnt a fair bit about Christmas in the run up to the holiday, though of course we celebrated Chanukah in our own home. As a result, I find it rather fun to sit at my desk and listen to the Christmas songs I remember from years past (I like to have a good singalong when there's no one home!). I am quite well versed in all my carols too!

I do have a papercut art business and some people, no matter where they live, still need Christmas cards. I personally send my handmade holiday cards to a few friends back in the UK, while other people require cards to send to their clients abroad. After all, they are celebrating Christmas, even if we're not.

This year's cards have brightly coloured Christmas trees on them. It was fun to cut out the simple triangular shape of the tree and add some "twinkling" lights. My trees were not dissimilar to the trees we spotted at the YMCA in Jerusalem, below. I read about a Christmas Holiday Bazaar being held there and was intrigued enough to go and have a look. As it happens the trees were just about the best thing there. I got it right with my cards though. One customer wrote to say "Thank you for the cards. They're perfect - so much nicer than the ones in the shops."

Happy holidays to you all and best wishes from the place where it all began, even if there's no evidence of it on the streets!

* This post has been shared on Make It Pretty Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, ABC Wednesday, Wednesday around the World, Wordless Wednesday, Share Your Cup Thursday and Little Things Thursday.