In the penultimate challenge of the year, we’re looking for your clean and simple cards over at Less is More. Anything goes this week as long as you keep it CAS. Don’t forget to look at our definitions for more guidance on what this entails. I searched through my stash and looked for a rubber stamp that had never been used and found this one featuring a poinsettia. I chopped a strip from it to keep it CAS rather than use the full image. Here’s the card I made for the design team inspiration gallery:

Used for this Christmas card

• Stampendous 6×6″ cling rubber stamp: Cling Poinsettia Collage [6CR010]
• Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black
• Derwent Inktense Paint Pan Studio Set
• DecoArt Extreme Sheen Metallic Paint: 24K Gold
• Peel off gold strips
• Watercolour paper
• 6×6″ card blank

I used a stamp platform to print onto the watercolour paper using archival ink. That way, I could ensure the image imprinted into the surface texture by stamping several times in the same place. Heat set the ink before painting with the watercolours. I blended cherry with red oxide and used natural brown for the background. I based my colour scheme on an ‘alternative’ Christmas colour palette (below). Dry the watercolour paint, cut to size, and blend the metallic paint over the edges with a make-up sponge and a light touch before mounting onto the card blank. Run the peel-off strips along the edge and cut to size.