May Christmas card: Retro colorful trees

I realized late last week that I still needed to make and post my Christmas cards for May. Yikes! Luckily I had a craft day planned yesterday, and that was the first task on my list. And here is the finished design:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Holiday Trimmings (WPlus9 Design Studio)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White card stock; Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Holiday Trimmings dies (WPlus9 Design Studio), Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), Metallic Enamel Shapes, Dimensionals

Between all the white space and the acetate, I had a hard time photographing this card. (Not that my photography skills are all that great anyway ... ) In person, it's light and bright, and I love the retro feel of the tree images. (Update: I inserted a new photo of the card. This one is much better!)

To make the trees, I used three non-traditional ink colors: Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green and Calypso Coral. I inked up the solid tree image with one of the colors, stamped on scratch paper and then stamped it on the white card stock, toward the top half of the panel. I used the same color to stamp the detail image onto the tree; I just used the ink "full strength" instead of stamping off first.

I wanted to add some visual interest between the focal layer and the card base, so I tried a few different patterned papers. But they all seemed to pull focus away from the trees. Then I remembered I had a pack of foil-printed acetate that I bought ages ago. I found two sheets with silver polka dots, and it was perfect. It adds a little pattern and a little sparkle without being overpowering. To adhere the acetate, I just put some adhesive in the middle of my card base, where I knew it would be covered by the focal panel.

I used Dimensionals to adhere the stamped and die-cut sentiment below the trees and finished the card with a few silver enamel shapes: a star above the middle tree and three circles around the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!