Christmas Tree Greeting Card

I think it's fun to create Christmas trees using materials that aren't normally associated with Christmas...and less fun, trying to fully capture the festive beauty of reflective foil!  Below are two shots of the same Christmas card, under different lighting conditions:

 I started with a sheet of Inkssentials self-adhesive foil from Ranger Industries.  I love working with this surface because embossing it is so easy and quick.  

My next step was to measure the foil needed to cover the front of a blank greeting card measuring 6"x6" (JamPaper.com). 

Then, I placed my  stencil on top of the foil, using masking tape to block off the areas on the stencil that I didn't want to use.  Holding the stencil in place, I traced the openings with a stylus.

I lifted the stencil to reveal an embossed tree shape.
 
Wanting to try something new, I got out a mini paint applicator sold in the model airplane/car section of Michaels.  Alongside that I used a disposable foam plate to pour out a little Golden High Flow acrylic (Permanent Green Light.) 

The embossed outlines were very helpful as I carefully used the mini paint applicator to fill in the shapes that had started life as a fern but that now had a different starring role.

After the green paint had dried, I got out the glitter glue -- 2 colors from Ranger Industries:  Sparkles Diamond and Sparkles Ruby.  I used them to place ornaments on my tree.

Once the glitter dried, I trimmed off excess foil along the edges.  Finally, I peeled off the white backing paper and applied the foil to the front of the Christmas card -- as shown at the top of this post.

Because the dark bronze metallic cardstock is just that -- very dark -- I line the insides of the cards with lightweight papers, cut to fit.  

Above is what the inside of my cards looks like, after the light paper is added.

Other artists would probably skip that step and, instead, use white markers or pens to fill out the inside of these greeting cards.  

Check with the Postal Service before mailing 6"x6" greeting cards -- there is a non-machinable surcharge for sending mail of these dimensions.