Two Christmas Cards

Christmas Card Throwdown's current challenge theme is to use only pink, red, and green on your card. I created 2 cards to enter.

I used Our Daily Bread Designs' "Christmas Ornament" stamp set for my first card. I stamped it on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versamark ink, & heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder. (I am using gold as a neutral, not another color.) I colored it with my Tombow markers, using a water brush to blend the colors & create highlights.

For the front panel, I decided to keep it simple. I don't have the coordinating die for the stamp set, so I stamped the ornament in the middle of my panel, and cut around it with a craft knife. I stamped the greeting, also from "Christmas Ornament," and gold heat embossed that as well. Finally, I foam mounted that to my image panel, and adhered it to a white A2 card base.

My second card, though still a CAS design, was a bit more involved. I die cut several flower & leaf pieces from Canson XL Mixed Media paper with the Poppy Stamps "Blooming Poinsettia" die set. I smooshed Worn Lipstick & Barn Door Distress inks on my non-stick craft mat and spritzed them with my homemade Perfect Pearls mist. Then I laid the die cut flower pieces face down in the ink, and moved them around until they were full covered. I used my heat tool to dry them, and added more ink where necessary. I repeated the process with Mowed Lawn Distress ink for the leaves.

For the card front, I took a cue from Jennifer McGuire. She had demonstrated using stitching dies to make an impression in your card front, just for a bit of added interest. I used the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Cross-stitched Rectangle" dies to do this. It doesn't really show up in the photo, but it adds a nice detail in real life. Then I stamped the greeting, from "Christmas Ornament," and gold heat embossed that.

I glued my poinsettias together, adding liquid glue just in the centers at first. When that had set up, I glued the 3 flowers & leaves to my card front, adding glue under all the petals to keep them from tearing off. After that dried, I trimmed off the overhanging bits with my scissors, & adhered my card front to a white A2 card base. As a finishing touch, I added Nuvo Honey Gold Glitter Drops to the centers of the flowers.

I'm also entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Christmas"
Incy Wincy Designs: "Let's Celebrate"
613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes"