Crafty Meraki: Poinsettia Floral Spray with DIY Stencil

Good morning!  I'm excited to be guest designing for Crafty Meraki this month and can't wait to share my card with you today.  I'm over on the Meraki Blog with a very detailed post on how to put this card together, but I wanted to share it here as well.  Believe it or not, you are getting the condensed version. :D

I started my card by creating my own stencil using a sheet of acetate and Meraki's largest Canopy Leaf Die.  I used my DIY stencil to blend two leaf and berry sprigs onto my card using Concord and 9th's Cranberry and Evergreen inks, adding an extra berry stem to the top leaf sprig to fill the space a little more.  

Then I generously flicked on snow (aka white paint) using a toothbrush.  (Yep, I keep a clean toothbrush in my crafty supplies.)

The stenciled base layer anchors floral arrangement, so while the paint flecks were drying, I die cut one of the Blooming Noel Effortless Artistry Papers with the coordinating Blooming Noel Dies.  These papers are awesome because they come pre-colored in a variety of styles.  It really speeds up the cardmaking process! 

I generously covered the poinsettia with snowy white paint flecks and added a pile (literally) of Pretty Pink Posh's Metallic Gold Pearls on top.  Then I popped the poinsettia up on my card using foam tape. 

Next I die-cut two of the smaller Canopy Leaf Dies out of gold cardstock.  I tucked one full stem under the top of the poinsettia, and trimmed the other leaf sprig into smaller pieces, so I could tuck them into two places at the bottom of my poinsettia.

Finally I added a gold embossed sentiment from the Festive Flora Wreath Stamp Set and Dies.  Isn't that font beautiful?!  I love it! 

This card is full of snowy goodness, rich colors, and layers and I can't help but smile every time I look at it.  Thanks so much for visiting today!  Don't forget, you can visit the Meraki Blog for even more details on this card.