Mixing It Up with a Valentine

There's a new(ish) Mix It Up Challenge at Ellen Hutson right now! This month they are looking for participants to combine Essentials by Ellen stamps with Concord & 9th. I looked through my sets and came up with this: 

Initially, I thought I might combine this All Inside bear with a birch tree background using Tree Hugs from Concord & 9th. Once I started playing around, I decided that a clean and simple card with a C&9th sentiment would look better. The bear is stamped in grey ink, embossed and coloured with Spectrum Noir markers. The sentiment is embossed in white on a deep red panel. Since I hadn't used any black, I matted the panel on white and then on a grey card base. 

With my bear hugging his hearts, I'm entering this in the current CASology challenge, where the cue word is HUG. 

Supplies: white cardstock & Bazzill red patterned cardstock, Memory Box grey card base, Essentials by Ellen All Inside stamps & dies, Concord & 9th Tree Hugs & Perfectly Penned stamps, Versamark & Memento Luxe grey flannel & Love Letter inks, Ranger clear & Hero Arts white & sparkle embossing powders, Spectrum Noir markers, foam tape