Golden Season's Greetings

Before I get into this card I want to wish everyone a very happy holiday season! Merry Christmas ~ Happy Hanukkah ~ Festive Kwanzaa ~ Happy Yule

please feel free to add your own holiday message if I've forgotten! 😁

I recently bought a whole bunch of the beautiful sayings that Sue Wilson has put out and I like the Mini Expressions because they fit so well on an A2 card.  I love a swirly, fancy looking font so these are a must have for me!  I have a bunch of them for the holidays; now I'm working on acquiring the "everyday" Expressions.  I made this card a while back but haven't shared it yet.

What I Used to Make my Card:
Kraft Square {5 1/4" x 5 1/4"} card
Neat & Tangled Friendly Florals stamps
Neat & Tangled Friendly Florals dies
Sue Wilson Season's Greetings die, #CED3154
Watercolor Paper {I use this}
VersaMark Ink
Gold Embossing Powder
Shiny Gold Card
Zig Clean Color Markers

In making this card, the first thing I did was stamp a bunch of the flowers onto watercolor paper with embossing ink {after I used my Powder Tool, so technically this is the second step LOL}, then liberally sprinkled on gold embossing powder, and embossed them.  For this design you need to use a detailed, regular, or fine embossing powder; no chunks because the lines are so fine and it won't stick.  Embossed designs are very easy to color since it's difficult to color outside the lines!  I colored the flowers using my Zigs and then, when they were dry, cut them using the matching dies.  I have to say this set from Neat & Tangled is very versatile; you can see some of the other cards I've created using this set here and here.

I admit it took me forever to get the flowers in something like a circle.  I spent hours upon hours trying to get the look I wanted; truthfully, I'm not thrilled about the shape on which I finally settled, but it was one of those times where if I didn't just glue the images down, the whole thing was getting tossed.  So I

Another Peek

arranged the flowers to fit the card, cut the sentiment out of gold card {the gold card I used is like a dull mirror card}, and attached that to the card.  If it hadn't taken me so long to arrange this card, it would of been one that I could of reproduced a few times but after the struggle I had, nope.  

I do like how the gold sentiment picks up the gold embossing and I'm pleased with the coloring.  I'll chalk this one up to another card that shows the charm of being handmade. I also really adore this entire stamp set - it's one of the most versatile sets I own and I do hope you check out other cards I've made using the set; the links are up in the first paragraph.  How are you doing with your cards and holiday projects? I'm feeling under the wire but I think I do some of my best work under pressure {but you kinda knew that already if you follow my blog - I'm always stressing myself out for one reason or another!}  Have you ever encountered a card you thought would be easy and it became a nightmare?  I'd love to hear your stories.  Leave me a comment if you have one to share.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I know this time of year is rough and you have limited time to spend bopping about the internet and I appreciate you choosing my blog as one of your stops!  Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my Golden Season's Greeting Card in the following challenges:
Papercraft Challenges - Merry Christmas, #27
Pin{spirational} Challenges - Anything Goes, #231
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Party Time!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Party Time!
WOW! Embossing Powder - Silver/Gold {Facebook group}
Card Mania Challenge - Christmas, #111
Archi-Scraps - M, Anything Christmas
The Artistic Stamper - Christmas
Sweet Stampin' - Christmas
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Winter, #142
Wednesday's Creative Inspirations - Feeling Festive
Scrapy Land - Anything Goes w/ a Brand They Carry, #104