Floating poinsettias ......

Happy Wednesday evening ......

Half way through the week already!!!  I've spent all day in the craft room and actually got some things finished ..... yeah!   No sitting in the garden enjoying the sun for me today ....... it's been raining!!

I suppose I had to make a start at some point ....... with Christmas that is. Ho! Ho! Ho!
I know, I know ..... it's still only July but, festive themed craft goodies are out there and it'll be here before we know it!

Before I went on holiday I had a little play around with the gorgeous Poinsettia stencil, and matching dies from Sweet Poppy Stencils.
I'd been using them for some up coming magazine projects, and I thought ....... would they work with the Floating Die Cut technique that Jennifer McQuire did a little while ago?  Well .... it would normally be stamps with matching dies but I think stencils work just as well ..... what do you think?

If you haven't seen this technique before check out Jennifer's video, you'll love it!!

I used all three sizes of poinsettia on the stencil and inked through with one of the red Distress Oxide inks.
I then used the matching dies to cut out all the flowers.

I arranged the poinsettias over a piece of white cardstock, placing them close together but not touching, and also leaving some white space.
Once I was happy with the arrangement I placed a piece of Glad Press n Seal over the top and lightly pressed down to secure the die cuts. (If you're not familiar with Press n Seal, it's a bit like cling film but it's tacky, like a Post It note) 
I trimmed off the excess around the edges, placed an oval die in the centre and then ran it through my die cutting machine.
Now I have two pieces, both of which I can use to create two different cards ....... one from the outer frame .......

and one from the die cut oval .....

Once you've die cut the centre, carefully peel off the backing card.  Attach foam pads to the back of each of the die cut pieces ..... these should still be in place, attached to the Press n Seal.

Using the Press n Seal to hold the pieces in place, attach them to the front of a card.  Gently peel off the Press n Seal leaving the 'floating' die cut frame behind ...... clever eh!

I stamped a sentiment in the oval aperature and added a frame to the inside

A sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing Enamel, heated from behind, a few dots of glitter glue in the white spaces, and I also added some festive red glitter to the large poinsettias

The twofer is very CAS ....... attach the foam pads as before and place the oval onto a white cardblank.   I added a simple die cut frame around the edge and some pretty white pearls in the spaces

and finished with a simple Christmas sentiment.

Well that's two for the festive box ...... maybe it's time I made a few more!!

Thanks for popping by.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Joy & Peace clear stamps (Sweet Poppy); Deco Christmas (Tim Holtz)
Inks: Festive Berries Distress Oxide Ink; Delicata Golden Glitz
Others: Poinsettia stencil and matching dies (Sweet Poppy); Nestabilities Oval Die; Glad Press n Seal (Amazon); Stickles Gold Glitter Glue; White flatbacked pearls; Red fine Glitter (Sweet Poppy Stencils)