Christmas cards - poinsettias

I love the texture of these flowers - a beautiful velvety surface!! They were beautiful, the perfect size for cardmaking and a good price - needless to say, several bunches came home with me from Michaels last week!!

To ensure that the flowers were the star of these cards, I layered them onto a simple green label die cut (TH -SX) through which I had threaded a subdued gold ribbon. I glued the label to a piece of white cardstock which had been shimmered, embossed (SU) and also had a colour printed greeting. I laser printed the greetings before I shimmered the paper so was a little concerned that the printing might be affected by the alcohol in the shimmering process. No problem!! I used Gold Interference Pearl Ex which because it has no binding agent required that I seal the surface before proceeding with the embossing. I used aerosol hairspray as a sealer.

The flowers had chunky glittered centers which I removed and replaced with a little punchie and a brad to hold the layers together. I dug through my stash of silk greenery for leaves that were more appropriate in size than what came with them. I found several options which worked. I positioned the flowers and leaves on the die cut, removed the flower and glued the leaves in place and then added the flower using double sided tape. I had no trouble getting mine to stick but it is possible that glue dots might be a better adhesive for that purpose. With ribbon ends wrapped to the back and adhered with double sided tape I glued the whole layer to my card front. The flowers have some dimension but I think they will not pose a problem when being mailed as they should flatten easily when inserted in the envelope.

Therese