We Three Kings.....

It's another Card A Day Blog posting day for me. If you've never been there, or just haven't checked it out lately, CADB has been offering lots of Christmas cards, and will continue through the middle of December in hopes of offering some inspiration for your own holiday cards.  Your visit here, today, brings you to your last stop on this week's Christmas Around the World Tour.  I wanted to bring you a bit of one of the cultures of my grandparents, so I have chosen to represent one of the customs of Mexico and Spain - the celebration of Epiphany.  You'll find some info on this holiday at the end of this post.  But first, let me show you my card.

I knew I wanted to keep this card simple so all the focus would be on the stamped image which is, as you see, the three kings following the star to the stable.  I stamped the image in Versamark, and used some dark blue embossing powder to be sure it would stand out as a nice sharp silhouette.  Next, I used a clear glitter pen to highlight the main star and some of the smaller stars.  Then, I stamped and embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder.

I wanted to use some ribbon on this card, and chose one with a kind of holographic glitter.  It's somewhat sheer, and allows the color of the card base to show through.  I decided to use a very dark blue cardstock for the base to give the effect of a clear, dark night.

In figuring the placement on the card I had two considerations.  First, I wanted the ribbon to give the effect of extending the light of the star, and so placed it in alignment with the star's rays.  Also, I wanted the ribbon to make the card look like a wrapped gift, thus representing the gift of God to us, his only Son, Jesus, who is the Light of the World.

Here is the full front view of the card:

I wasn't sure they were really needed, but I added some little jewel stickers to two opposing corners.

As you can see in the next photo, I wrapped the ribbons around the front of the card base so that the ends are tucked under the front image, rather than having to add a layer to the inside.  I did the inside sentiment and image on my computer, and colored the image with glitter pens and markers.  The Pinata is another very important part of holiday celebrations in Mexico, which is why I decided to use that for my inside image.

And here is a slightly closer look:

Here is a final view of the card.  (I hadn't finished the inside at the time of the first photos, so you can't see it peeking out in this angled picture.)

Now that you have seen all the details of my card, here is a brief description of Epiphany that comes from Why Christmas? , which is a site where you can read about lots of different Christmas customs from around the world.  The following excerpt comes from the page on Spain, with information  contributed by María Níñez.

"There is another festival that is celebrated in Spain and Mexico that is about the Christmas Story. It is called Epiphany or Kings' Day and is celebrated on 6th January. This is the twelfth night after Christmas. In Spanish, Epiphany is called 'Fiesta de Los tres Reyes Mages': in English this means 'The festival of the three Magic Kings'. Epiphany celebrates when the Kings or Wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus.

Children have some presents on Christmas Day, but most are opened at Epiphany. Some children believe that the Kings bring presents to them at Epiphany. They write letters to the Kings on Boxing Day, December 26th, asking for toys and presents. And on Epiphany Eve (January 5th) they leave shoes on windowsills or balconies or under the Christmas Tree to be filled with presents. Gifts are often left by children for the Kings, a class of Cognac for each King, a satsuma and some walnuts. Sometimes a bucket of water is left for the camels that bring the Kings! If the children have been bad, the Kings might leave pieces of coal made out of sugar in the presents!

Some big towns and cities have Epiphany Parades with each King having a big float that is shaped like a camel. Sometimes there are also real camels in the parade. The Three Kings in the the Spanish Epiphany are:

• Gaspar, who has brown hair and a brown beard (or no beard!) and wears a green cloak and a gold crown with green jewels on it. He is the King of Sheba. Gaspar represents the Frankincense brought to Jesus. Frankincense is sometimes used in worship in Churches and showed that people worship Jesus.
• Melchior, who has long white hair and a white beard and wears a gold cloak. He is the King of Arabia. Melchior represents the Gold brought to Jesus. Gold is associated with Kings and Christians believe that Jesus is the King of Kings.
• Balthazar, who has black skin and a black beard (or no beard!) and wears a purple cloak. He is the King of Tarse and Egypt. Balthazar represents the gift of Myrrh that was brought to Jesus. Myrrh is a perfume that is put on dead bodies to make them smell nice and showed that Jesus would suffer and die."

Supplies used:

Not included in photo:

          3 additional glitter pens, 2 Bic Mark-It pens, and a partridge in a pear tree.        (Sorry, I simply could not resist that last bit.  LOL)

          Papers:  A2 card base in 'In the Navy' from Gina K Designs, design papers from Busy Scrapper's Solution Christmas Papers by Hot of the Press

I had a great time making today's card, and writing this post.  I hope you've had fun,too, on your visit here!  Sending hugs --I'll see you again soon!!

Always keep your creative genius happy and well-fed!     (Just thought it was time for a little change.)

CHRISTINE