Poinsettias In Red

Hello my crafty friends!  My beloved Poinsettia die again today, but in the more traditional red this time.  I started with a piece of tan card and stamped it with one of the stamps from the Design Element set using a clear Perfect Medium pad.  This gives just a watermark effect to the background, creates some interest but doesn't overwhelm.  Next, I used a little technique from my DVD called "faux quilt" for my background.  Using several one inch strips over left over decorative paper, I taped them next to each other on a piece of copy paper.  Once I had a full sheet, I cut them the other direction at one inch intervals so that I now had strips, but each strip had several one inch blocks of assorted paper.  I reassembled these on another piece of copy paper, but this time, I placed them randomly next to each other and cut random squares away so as not to have an even background.  I wanted it to be like little blocks glued to the background randomly.  However, because they were taped to a piece of copy paper, I was able just to pick the whole piece up and tape it to my background card.  This technique is a great way to use some of those little scraps we squirrel away in our craft stashes.  Next I cut several of the poinsettia dies in red.  I inked all the veins with Fired Brick distress ink.  I layered up two poinsettias, then used  the "leaf" die to add more petals in red to one of them to create a large focal flower.  I cut a few in green as well to add and inked those veins with Forest Moss.  I stamped my sentiment in black and cut it out with one of the fancy tag dies.  I inked it while still in the die with Antique Linen and added it to my card with a bit of foam mounting cushion.  I wanted to give the card a bit of a shabby chic look so I distressed the edges of the card and inked them with Tea Dye to achieve this. Remember, do what it says "be merry!"  All for now, Sue x