Wonderful Holiday Wishes

A friend of mine always does a painting of a poinsettia for her Christmas card. When I saw the card Nina-Marie Trapani created for Simon Says Stamp's Studio Monday this week, I knew I had to try something similar! I used 2 stamp sets: "Mondo Poinsettia" for the flower and "Mistletoe & Holly" for the greeting (both Essentials by Ellen).

I began by determining where I wanted my greeting to go, so I would be sure not to stamp any flowers there. I stamped it very lightly on my A2-size panel with Colorbox Putty Archival ink, just to act as a placeholder, since I wasn't really sure whether I wanted just to stamp or heat emboss the greeting. I then stamped the poinsettia randomly around my panel with Hero Arts Red Royal ink, being careful not to overlap the greeting.

After I'd finished stamping, I used masking fluid to mask each flower. I wanted to do an ink-blended background, and considered using paper masks for the poinsettias. But I could tell it would be impossible to cut around all the details towards the center of each flower, so there were no gaps. I was reticent to use masking fluid, since I have kind of a bad history with it. But I figured I'd give it a try anyway.

After applying it to all the flowers, I let it dry for a few hours while I did other things. When I came back to it, I blended Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, & Pine Needles Distress inks over the background to create an ombre effect. I then ever-so-carefully removed the masking. Thankfully, it did not rip my paper up! Then I watercolored my flowers with a Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker (Carmine Red). I used a damp paintbrush to spread & blend the color on each petal. I also colored the flower centers with a gold gel pen. Then, just for a little more pop, I flicked droplets of Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine mist over the panel.

When the panel was dry, I used the coordinating "Mondo Poinsettia" die to cut each flower from the panel. I blended the same 3 Distress inks onto another panel, cut to the same size as my first, and glued the negative portion of my original panel to that. Before adhering my poinsettias back in place, I went ahead and heat embossed the greeting with Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder. Finally, I adhered my poinsettias into their original positions, popping them up on foam tape. After mounting it to a white A2 card base, I added drops of Gold Stickles to the centers of the flowers, and this card was done!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion #342 "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #123 "Any Holiday/Celebration"
Die Cut Divas "Layers or Layer It"
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday "Use Dies"
Creative Knockouts #172 "Winter Wonderland/Festive Fun"