Plaid Poinsettia
Winter Wonderland Hop - Week 5
Good day, fellow crafters. Welcome to our Winter Wonderland Cardmaking Hop Week 5 hosted by @kellysantidesigns ❄️ Each Wednesday in November, we are creating cards with a winter theme. This week’s winter theme: plaid/poinsettia! If you would like to join the upcoming spring hop, please DM @kellysantidesigns for more information! If this theme inspires your creativity, please use #winterwonderlandcardhop2023
Plaid's association with Christmas is rooted in tradition and nostalgia. The use of plaid patterns in holiday decor and clothing can be traced back to historical practices, where it was often employed during winter festivities. The pattern's warm and cozy aesthetic resonates well with the festive atmosphere of Christmas. Additionally, plaid may evoke a sense of rustic charm and timeless simplicity, aligning with the traditional aspects of the holiday season. Over time, these associations have become deeply ingrained in popular culture, contributing to the enduring connection between plaid and the Christmas season. I hope you enjoy my submission to this challenge.
To craft this card I began with the creation of my focal point, the poinsettia. For this, I used the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia die set, featured left, and colored cardstock in red and green. I first cut out all of the petal pieces and then to add dimension to the flower, I gave each flower petal a slight upward curl before adhering them with liquid glue. I next cut out the leaves and adhered them to the back of the completed bloom with liquid glue. Lastly, I added some gold flat-backed pearls to the center of the bloom to emulate a more natural flower center.
The next step was to create the background panel for the card. To do this I opted for patterned paper from my collection and to stay with the theme, one of the choices was this really beautiful plaid. The blue paper I chose because of the texture but by a happy accident the two pieces went together in a way that reminded me of my dad in his blue jeans and plaid flannel work shirt. To create the eye-catching panel I opted to use the HoneyBee Stamps Double Stitched Polygon die set. My design idea was to create something that was really unique and this fun-shaped panel just felt right.
The next step was assembly. Once the panel pieces were cut out I adhered them together with double-sided tape and then adhered the composite to a pre-cut and folded white card base. I then used liquid glue to adhere the completed poinsettia to the card. Again, since I was going for a unique and non-traditional approach, the location I felt would maximize the intent was to offset from the center so I placed it in the corner instead.
The last step in the assembly was to add the sentiment. For this card, I chose to use the Happy Holiday script die from Pretty Pink Posh, featured left. I felt that this script choice had a timeless look to it but wasn’t too fancy or too thin of a font. Using red cardstock I ran the dies through and cut out the sentiment. Next, to give the sentiment some dimension, I cut out a second copy and then adhered the two together. Lastly, I adhered the sentiment to my card utilizing some more liquid glue. With that, I called this unique Christmas card complete.
