Holiday Wreath

Merry Monday is having a color challenge, using the colors of red, light green, & dark green. I'm really trying to ramp up my production of holiday cards early, rather than wait until the last minute yet again, so this challenge is perfect for me!

I began by cutting a piece of red patterned paper from my scrap stash to 4.25x5.5". I die cut an opening in the center with a Lifestyle Crafts "Nesting Scallops" die. For the wreath panel, I cut a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper to slightly smaller than my card front. I stamped the "Color a Wreath," by Hero Arts, in the center of that panel, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and clear heat embossed it.

I used a red and green Zig Clean Color markers to color the wreath. I began with the dark green baubles, adding the color at full strength to part of the circle, then drawing it out with a damp paintbrush to create a highlight. For the lighter green circles, I scribbled the same marker on an acrylic block. I wet each circle with clear water, then picked up a little color with my paintbrush, and dropped it into the water. I did have to "manipulate" the color a bit to get the shading right, but for the most part, I let the water do the work for me. I did the same process with the red circles as I did with the dark green ones.

For the bow, I colored the outer portions with a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen in gold. I colored the underside of the bow portions with my red Clean Color marker, then went over it with a brown marker, just to deepen the color a bit.

I decided I wanted my window panel to pop up, for a bit of dimension around the wreath. So I added lots of foam tape to the back of the red piece, and adhered it to the wreath panel. To finish, I added some more adhesive with my ATG gun to the back of the wreath panel, and then mounted the whole thing to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

A Blog Named Hero's "As Clean as Can Be"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Live Love Cards August challenge: "Holiday"