Season's Greetings with Flowers and Holly

Hi all.  So far this year I have made no Christmas cards, so I thought that maybe it was time to start.  To give myself a kick start I saw this John Next Door Box Kit Magazine No. 10 with an embossing folder, stamps, dies and papers and thought it looked as though there were quite a lot of possibilities for interesting cards, so true to form it dropped in my basket..lol.  I used the embossing folder, one of the stamps and several of the dies and all on their first use.

 

I started by embossing the holly and berries folder which is 5" square onto white card, and then inked up the design with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink using a blending brush.  I then inked all the berries using a Cardinal Red alcohol pen.  I didn't want to get too much ink on the background and thought the holly leaves needed more colour so I used my coloured pencils in a couple of different greens and went over each of the leaves and the stems which gave a stronger look to it, and I finished by adding some Mowed Lawn around the edges.   

I then moved on to the sentiment for which I cut the two oval dies which come with the set, and added the holly frame and one of the sentiments which are made to fit the smaller oval, and inked it with Versafine Satin Red Ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then cut the flowers..the die comes with a large and two smaller flowers on the one die, but I just used the smaller ones cutting twice as the middle flower is double layered, and then coloured them with three of the reds that I have in my set of alcohol ink pens including the Cardinal Red I used on the berries, and a couple of darker colours to add depth.  I then added the little yellow gems using three on each of the flowers.  I also cut one of the stems of holly which is double ended with berries in the middle, but I just cut the berries away and this made two pieces.  I also used another leaf stem and cut this three times.  I coloured the holly with a mid green and the other leaves with a lighter brighter green alcohol pen for a bit of variation.  I didn't add any dimension with foam tape because I was afraid that it would be far to thick to get in an envelope..as it is I think it will just about pass the postal slot test.

Thank you for coming to visit me here today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 486 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.  I used snippets of white card for the two oval mats, the flowers and the leaves. 
NBUS Challenge - No. 65 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 166 Anything Christmas Goes.
Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 69 Anything Christmas Goes.
Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 57 Anything Christmas Goes.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes/Wheels.

I am also entering Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but has said anyone can join in.  This is August Week 1: Ink/Color Mediums.