Christmas Cards for Cardmaking Friends!

I've been busy making cards for the three ladies with whom I so enjoy spending time making cards, having lunch, shopping for cardmaking supplies, and much more.  I really wanted to use the Merry Stampin' Up die thinlit that came out last year and to try my hand at making my own poinsettias with a Spellbinder die that I have had for several years and never used.  So, to my paper stash I went looking for just the right patterned paper to use with the design I had in mind.  I love the Sentiments paper by Teresa Collins in her Christmas Cottage collection that I immediately decided to use this paper.  Then, I found an Echo Park paper collection named Traditions and fell in love with the Be Jolly paper.  It had a little Scotty dog that I thought would be just right for my dog-loving friend, Liz.  I figured I'd get started with these two papers and decided on a third later.

Making the poinsettias turned out to be a challenge because I wanted some sparkly netting layered in the different poinsettia layers, and I have to tell you the Spellbinder dies just didn't want to cut it properly.  I finally managed to get the three layers for each of the three flowers by shimming my Big Shot magnetic cutting base with two thin cardboard layers.  Even so, I still had to snip a little here and there to get them to release from the netting, with the challenge being not to cut off a petal while trying to snip a little part still attached.  The rest was easy peasy.  I stacked and glued each layer using the Beacon 3 in 1 glue, which worked very well.  I finished the flowers off with three little gold sequins to represent their stamens.  I'm pretty please with the way my flowers turned out.  Below is a sample of each card, using the two different patterned papers that I chose.

This one is using the Echo Park Christmas collection: Traditions/ Be Jolly.  I loved the little Scotty dog, but unfortunately, my "M" from Merry covered him up a bit.  Don't you like how my lovely poinsettia turned out?  I'm stoked!

This one is using the Teresa Collins Christmas Cottage collection:  Sentiments pattern.  Somehow, I just love all the wonderful Christmas words with the red Merry sparkly die-cut.  I liked it so well, I made two of these for two of my cardmaking buddies.  I hope they like their card and my lovely poinsettia as well.

Recipe:  Papers - SU cardstock/ Cherry Cobbler, Red Glimmer; Bazzill Bling/ Diamond; AdornIt/ Christmas Pointsettia; Teresa Collins/ Christmas Cottage-Sentiments; Echo Park/ Tis the Season-Be Jolly; Fancy Pants/ Diagonal Stripe.  SU Thinlit die: Words-Merry.  WRMK Corner Chomper-Deco.  Zutter Corner Rounder.  Fabrics - Wool Felt: Maroon Mottled, Christmas Red, Grass Green; Red Sparkle Netting.  Darice Red gems.  Stash: Felt ZigZag trim; Gold sequins.