Four Hour Card

What makes this a four hour card?  Well, let me tell you....a lot.  Funny thing about clean and simple cards.  They may be clean, but they are rarely ever simple.  Because you can't cover over mistakes or adjust as you go every decision is deliberate and every mistake needs to be redone.  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against mistakes being embellishment opportunities - it's one of the things that makes cardmaking fun. 

But if you're going for CAS, too many of those opportunities makes the card no longer CAS.  In addition, without a lot going on things that are slightly off look worse than they are.

There were many trials and tribulations on this card, from messing up the sentiment AFTER I had stenciled the front to changing that circle four times!  But the biggest time draw was decisions on the design.  I just couldn't make decisions quickly today.  I ended up trying things out and discarding a lot.  The only decision I DIDN'T agonize over was the colors.  Since this is for this week's color challenge at Splitcoast Stampers I didn't have a choice - thank goodness or it would have been a six hour card!

Ultimately I'm pleased with the choices I eventually made.  The polka dots mirror the frame and sequins and adds to the geometric feel of the striped trees. To get my "merry and bright" look to match the sentiment, I heat embossed the focal tree in clear embossing powder and covered the star in Wink of Stella.  It sparkles a bit more in real life than in these photos.

Stamps: MFT Oh Christmas Tree and Hand Lettered Holiday
Dies: MFT Oh Christmas Tree
Ink: Stampin' Up! Garden Green, Real Red, So Saffron

Thanks for visiting today!  Click here to sign up for email notifications of future posts (you will be sent an email to verify your address - don't forget this step).  Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Bloglovin'.