3-D Poinsettia Flower Christmas Card or Scrapbook Page Embellishment

I always like to see how the finished project is going to turn out before I start following the step by step directions. As you can tell this simple card is three-dimensional and will add drama to any package under your Christmas tree. The petals have just enough shape to be perfect on a scrapbook page without adding too much bulk to your albums. The patterned papers used here are from the Jingle line by LilyBeeDesign. I used the patterned papers called Garland and Mistletoe. In additon I used solid cardstock from Worldwin Papers, gold specialty paper from Jo Anne Fabric and Crafts, and a brad from BasicGrey. Don't forget that you can click on the images to the left to see them full-size, in greater detail.

To make this card you will need:

• 1 piece of solid cardstock cut to 8"x4"
• 1 piece of patterned paper cut to be a 3 3/4" square
• 1 piece of patterned paper cut to be a 3 1/2" square
• 5 large petals and 5 small petals, here they have been punched from solid cardstock using the Star Lily punch from McGill
• 1 flower center, here it has been punched from gold paper using the Starburst punch from McGill
• 1 decorative mini brad or gem to decorate the middle of the flower center
• Large GlueDots or other adhesive
• Scissors

If you do not have the punches needed, remember that you can also use the poinsettia paper piecing pattern.

Carefully fold and crease the card base in half, creating a four inch square greeting card. I like to use a bone folder to get a nice sharp crease. Then, add the 3 3/4 inch piece of patterned paper to the card, followed by the 3 1/2 inch piece.

Before adding the petals to the card, you may want to shape them to make the flower three-dimensional. McGill has a Molding Mat that is a firm rubber mat that works perfectly for shaping the cardstock petals. I also used one of the Flower Shaping Tools. The tool that I used is a metal version of a tool that I have for cake decorating that is called a "ball and veining tool." To start, I placed a petal on the foam mat and used the ball tool to gently press and rub the inside of the petal until it "cupped" slightly. Do this for each of the petals. If you are using the free poinsettia paper piecing pattern instead of the punched pieces, you can still shape them by gently rolling and pinching each of the petals to give them shape.

Since poinsettia petals are red version of the green leaves found elsewhere on the plant, you may want to add veining lines down the center of each petal. To do this, I turned the ball and veining tool over and used the stylus-like end to draw a vein line down the center of each petal. You may have a stylus that you currently use for dry embossing. This same tool would work perfectly for "embossing" vein lines on your petals for the poinsettia.

To attach the petals, I used a Glue Arts Adhesive Square. I pressed the square to the center of the front of the card and then attached each petal by the bottom of the stem to the sticky glue. When the bottom five petals were in place, I added one more Adhesive Square on top of them in the center and then started adding the smaller five petals. Only the very inside tips of each petal are actually glued to the card, allowing the remainder of each petal to curl up away from the surface.

The center of the poinsettia can be designed in many ways. Here I have used the Starburst punch to create a gold starburst. Very carefully, I used sharp, small scissors to trim away some of the startburst leaving a more simple design as shown here.

To complete the center of the flower, add a mini brad or glue on a plastic gem or rhinestone. I decided that the poinsettia needed some leaves. I used the same lily punch that I used for the petals and made some solid green leaves to add around the outside of the flower.

The completed card looks fabulous as a gift tag on a present. The flower could also be used to embellish scrapbook pages or greeting cards. The punches used to make the poinsettia can also be used to make a sunflower, lily, tulip, calla lily, and other flowers by following directions from McGill. For more ideas for using flowers in scrapbooking, visit Using Flowers to Embellish Your Scrapbook Pages.