Pop can card

Today's card was a bit of an experiment for me.  I have often wondered what would happen if I took the aluminum from a flattened pop can and ran it through my Big Shot with an embossing folder.  I finally gave it a try and was relatively pleased with the result...see what you think...

Focal image created by running a pop can through the Big Shot with the Petals a Plenty embossing folder.

Close up of the focal image.  The sentiment is from the Perfect Punches set.

Inside of pop can card.  The poinsettia image from Jolly Bingo Bits matches the embossing folder perfectly!

Using a pop can to create a card poses a few challenges.  First of all, how the heck do you cut the can apart?  Well, believe it or not, I just used my craft knife.  The metal in pop cans is VERY thin and doesn't take much to cut.  I just sawed it apart using my knife and my knife actually ended up being sharper as a result!
The second issue is one that you can't fix...the edges of the metal are SHARP!!  Use caution when handling it...blood doesn't mix well with ink. 
The third issue is that it is nearly impossible to get a straight edge on the metal.  You can't cut it with a regular paper trimmer.  I used scissors but even then, the edges were less than perfect.  My solution was to mat the metal with a frame to hide the rough edges.  I used the Scalloped oval frame and trimmed the sheet of metal to hide behind it. 
The final issue surprised me a little:  the metal really got stuck in the embossing folder.  I had to pry it off with a fair bit of difficulty after running it through the Big Shot.  The next time I try this I think I won't use any tabs on my platform...hopefully that will make it a bit easier to get the metal out of the folder.
So now on to the rest of the card...its really simple, actually.  After I embossed the metal and die cut my frame I glued the two together using Tombow (you need something strong here!).  While that was drying I embossed a Night of Navy card base using the Perfect Polka Dots folder.  The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed using silver embossing powder.  I punched it out using my 1 3/4"scalloped circle punch and then layered it on a 2" Real Red circle.  I set eyelets in either end of my oval frame using my crop-a-dile and threaded a length of Whisper White satin ribbon through them.  I tied a pretty bow on the left side.  I ran a layer of sticky strip underneath the ribbon to keep it laying flat.  I then adhered my sentiment using dimensionals.  The entire focal image was adhered the card base using sticky strip...again, stronger is better.
The inside of the card is pretty self-explanatory, but I did want to mention a discovery I made.  The poinsettia image from the Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set in the Holiday Mini matches the Petals A Plenty embossing folder perfectly!  I was mighty pleased to discover this...but I am easily amused...you may not be quite as excited about it as I was.  By the way, if you're thinking of purchasing this set, it will carry over into the new catalogue next summer...just thought I'd throw that out there...