Elegant Foiled Merry Christmas Card with a Poinsettia | Step-by-Step Tutorial

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card using the Upright Italic Holiday Sentiments Collection by Paul Antonio. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create a Christmas card using the Upright Italic Merry Christmas Press + Foil Plate. Also included in this collection are three other sentiments - Happy Holidays Press + Foil Plate, Joy to the World Press + Foil Plate and Season’s Greetings Press + Foil Plate. So, let’s get started with the card for today.

Merry Christmas

For all the die cutting, use the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine with the die cutting sandwich as follows (from bottom to top):

• Plate A – Platform Base
• Plate B – Platform Top
• Plate C – Cutting Plate
• Plate C – Cutting Plate

The cardstock/die will be inserted between the two cutting plates with the die sitting on top of the cardstock, cutting edge down.

Die Cutting the Background Panel

1. Take an A2 panel (4.25” x 5.5”) of Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock and tape the largest rectangle from Perfect Touch Rectangles and Tag Etched Dies onto it.

TIP: You can die-cut this rectangle from a larger white panel if easier. The largest rectangle die from this die set is A2 in size, so it’s a perfect fit for an A2 panel, but some people find it easier to cut it from a slightly larger piece of cardstock.

2. Run it through the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine.

Foiling The Sentiment

1. Using Pro Shears, cut a piece of Champagne Glimmer Hot Foil and place it down (shiny side up) onto the centre of the background panel towards the bottom.
2. Take the Upright Italic Merry Christmas Press + Foil Plate and place it down on top so that the raised letters of the plate are touching the shiny side of the foil.
3. Tape the plate in place using Best Ever Craft Tape.

4. Switch on your Glimmer Hot Foil System and wait for the green Platform Ready light to appear.

5. Flip your background panel/plate over and place it down onto the heated platform. The plate will be in direct contact with the platform.
6. Press the timer button. This will now start to flash.

7. When the timer button stops flashing, place your Spacer Pad and Thin Shim on top of the platform.
8. Remove the platform from the system and run it through your die-cutting machine.

9. Remove your foiled panel from the platform using the tool provided and then pull back the foil to reveal your beautiful sentiment!

Die Cutting the Poinsettia and Foliage

NOTE: In the photo, the dies have been placed cutting side up on their respective cardstocks for ease of reference. They will be flipped over so that the cutting edge is directly in contact with the cardstock and taped in place for the actual die cutting.

1. Take the Christmas Foliage Etched Dies and add them onto cardstock as shown.
2. The poinsettia has two layers. The largest die is on Poppy ColorWheel Cardstock, and the smaller die is on Pomegranate ColorWheel Cardstock.
3. The poinsettia centre is on a small piece of Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock (Brushed Metallic).
4. The holly dies also have two layers. The larger base layer is on Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock, and the smaller second layer is on Fern ColorWheel Cardstock.
5. The other two foliage dies are on Peridot ColorWheel Cardstock (left) and Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock (right).
6. Tape them in place (cutting side down on the cardstock) and run them through your die-cutting machine.

TIP: Keep your die cuts safe by placing them in a Medium Craft Stax Tray.

7. Die-cut the berry die three times from Poppy ColorWheel Cardstock.
8. Die-cut the three-leaf foliage dies twice from Peridot and Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock.

Creating the Christmas Poinsettia Spray

1. Using Bearly Art Glue, adhere the gold flower centre onto the Pomegranate layer of the poinsettia die cut.
2. Using liquid glue, then adhere that layer onto the Poppy ColorWheel die cut to complete the poinsettia.

3. Adhere the two dark green holly die cuts onto their lighter green bases. Pay particular attention to which goes on which, as they are slightly different in shape!

4. Add liquid glue onto the three-leaf Rainforest die cuts as shown.
5. Using the Pick Up Tool from the Handy Craft Tool Set, pick up the small light green pieces and adhere them onto their bases. Again, pay attention to these and test them first, as they are all a slightly different shape.

6. Add tiny dabs of glue onto the berry bases and add the three small berries on top.

7. Add a double layer of small White Foam Adhesive Squares onto the back of the poinsettia.

8. Adhere this approximately halfway between the top of the panel and the sentiment.

9. Put some liquid glue onto the ends of the lighter green leaf die cuts and adhere them either side of the poinsettia, diagonal to each other.

10. Add liquid glue to the ends of the darker green leaf die cuts.

11. Adhere in place, again on the diagonal.

12. Adhere the two three-leaf die cuts either side of the poinsettia. The foliage is almost mirroring itself around the poinsettia.

13. Adhere the two holly pieces in place.

14. Glue the berries in place as shown.

15. Take the Water Color Mixing Set and remove the gold pan from the box. Using a water spritzer, spritz the pan a couple of times to activate the paint.

16. Place your panel into a box and cover the sentiment area with scrap paper.
17. Using a no.2 round paint brush, splatter the gold paint across the panel, making sure to have drops not just on the background, but on the poinsettia and leaves as well.

TIP: The smaller the paint brush, the smaller the splatter. Tap the paintbrush lightly to release the paint as you move it across the panel.

Finishing the Card

1. To finish the card, adhere the completed panel onto a top-folding A2 white note card created from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock (11” x 4.25”, scored and folded at 5.5”).

I hope you find today’s tutorial helpful when creating this card. This is a simple design, but foiling always adds a beautiful touch of luxury to a card, and the splatter ties everything together at the end. If you would like to see more of my cards, I would love to have you join me over on my blog, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. In the meantime, thank you so much for joining me here on the Spellbinders blog today. I hope that you have a great day!

Other Supplies

No.2 round paintbrush, Tim Holtz Splat Box, Nuvo Light Mist Spray Bottle