Nordic Dove Season's Greetings Card - 52 {C}CT Sept Theme Challenge

Asha has chosen a marvellous theme for us as our challenge this week at 52 {C}CT - Nordic Christmas.  Nordic made me immediately think of Sarah Lund's jumpers (from the TV series 'The Killing'), we love Scandi noir crime thrillers in our house!

 

So what exactly is a Nordic or Scandinavian Christmas?  Here are Asha's wonderful guidelines:

Simply put, it's rustic, minimalist, cool, cozy, calm and peaceful. That means Natural and Neutral tones such as wood, black, white, kraft, silver, wheat. The most popular accent colour is Red.  Green or Blue are alternative complimentary colours but avoid using all three unless you have lots of neutral colours and  space to maintain the uncluttered feel. Repeat patterns are another common feature. It's all about light and purity. For texture, opt for natural material such as wood, straw accessories, tree branches, pine cones, linen.

The Look: Homespun, Handmade, Nothing Manufactured. Simple elegance is the motto but not necessarily extreme CAS. Keep your designs light, fresh and not overly embellished - that's it!

I've opted for a red, white and kraft colour combo and used the Woodware 'Nordic Dove & Branch' stamp set.   Cheery red and white gingham, that's always homely and cosy to me so I definitely wanted to include that!  I stamped the dove in Real Red ink, layered the white panel onto a Crumb Cake mat, added ribbon strips at two corners and added a bow.  My friend Wendy ordered some SU! Nordic Designer Buttons and she very kindly gave me one each of the buttons and the red and white one just HAD to go on my card somewhere!  I threaded the button with some linen thread, attached it to a punched Crumb Cake 3/4" circle and placed it on the dove.  After stamping and cutting out the sentiment strip I stamped and punched the heart circle element which I then popped up.

Another red stitched heart was stamped inside the card along with a sentiment stamped in Crumb Cake ink.

I punched just a portion of the stamped dove image with a circle punch - the portion made me think of a snowflake - although I know a snowflake really only has six 'arms'!  Anyway, I matted the circle onto a larger Crumb Cake punched circle and placed it on the envelope flap - and I really liked how that looked!  

Please do check out the natty Nordic designs from the rest of the DT - including a wow make from Peg, a guest designer.  Then go off and make a cosy Christmas creation yourself and link it up on our 52 {C}CT challenge post here - and have fun!

Supplies:
Stamps: Woodware 'Nordic Dove & Branch' set, heart from PaperMania Home for Christmas 'Baubles' cling set, Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set
CS: SU! Real Red, Crumb Cake & Whisper White 
Ink: SU! Real Red & Crumb Cake
Tools: various sized circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: red & white gingham ribbon, SU! Nordic Designer Button, linen thread,  Dimensionals