Guest Designer for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown January 2026 Colour Challenge - Kraft, Green, Gold

Hello everyone and happy new year!  It’s my first post this year and I’m excited to be a guest designer (GD) at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (52CCT) for their Colour Challenge this month.

I was going in a different direction when I remembered my new Snowbell Bouquet dies, purchased in my latest order from Simon Says Stamp (SSS), would be perfect for these colours.  Plus, I LOVE snowdrops!

The snowbell stems and blossoms were die cut from green and white cardstock, respectively. Ink blended  Rustic Wilderness distress ink (DI) on the stems to give them dimension.  Trimmed watercolor paper to a 3.5” square and ink smooshed diluted Rustic Wilderness DI.  To complete the snowy background, splattered with diluted white gouache paint.  Adhered this piece onto white then matted it onto kraft.  Arranged and glued the snowbells on then added more white splatters.  Adhered the gold foil die cut Joyeux Noel sentiment to finish.  

A big thank you to the 52CCT team for giving me this GD opportunity.  Ready to join in the fun?  For more inspirations and to link up your entry head to the challenge post HERE. BHope to see you in the falkery! 

For easy reference, SSS products used to make my card are linked below. Please note that affiliated links have been used in this post at no extra cost to you.  I appreciate your support.  Thank you for stopping by. 

Challenges:

Peace on Earth - AG Christmas 

Die Cut Divas - AG Dies with Something New (new Snowbell Bouquet dies) 

Beautiful Blossoms - AG Floral - optional Mood Board #36 

The Sisterhood of Crafters - AG Christmas 

Triple B - AG Blooms 

SSS Monday Challenge - Something New (new Snowbell Bouquet dies)

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Something New (new Snowbell Bouquet dies)

Vesela Hiska - #74 Ringing Bells (thanks Majda for the suggestion!) 

Stocking Stuffers

Hello everyone.  My Christmas card stash is lacking, so I took a break from florals and spring things to create a mini slimline Christmas card using new/unused (NBUS) stamp set from Pink and Main called Stocking Stuffers.

Stockings are synonymous with fireplace mantels, so that is the scene for my card.  To start, the puppy was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Xpress It cardstock.  Masked him, then stamped the stocking.  Stamped the stocking again this time onto blue plaid paper from Memory Box Madras Plaid Blue and Violet paper.  Coloured the images with Copic Sketch markers then fussy cut out.  Fussy cut the plaid stocking next and paper pieced onto the coloured image.  For the garland, a few scraps of Bristol paper were ink smooshed with Stormy Sky distress oxide ink (DOx), then set aside to dry before die cutting them with Memory Box Pine Needle Trio dies.

To create the fireplace, a mini slimline panel was die cut from Bristol paper using NBUS Mini Slimline die from Spellbinders.  Added the stones by ink blending Antique Linen distress ink through NBUS Perfect Pool Wave stencil from My Favorite Things.  Love it when I can stretch my supplies.  Added shading to the stones using Copic Sketch marker E21 and splattered with white gouache paint for some texture.  The mantel piece was made by stacking a few pieces of thick white paper and scoring the top layer with my scoring tool.  The sentiment (retired) was heat embossed on black cardstock with white embossing powder before assembling the card onto a white 3.25”x6.25” card base to finish.

Since my Christmas card stash is low, I created another one with the kitty in the set.

Christmas cards are my favourite cards to make, so these were so fun for me.  And that does it for me today.  Thank you for stopping in.  Have a wonderful week,

Challenges:

Christmas Craft Creations - April Challenge: Tartan/Plaid 

Color Hues - #40 Blue/Tan 

Christmas Kickstart - #62 Mini-Slimline 

Just Add Ink - #602 Choose Two (stencilling + heat embossing) 

NBUS #38 - new stamp, die and stencil 

Guest Designer for Time for Tea Designs September Challenge - Autumn Colours

Hello there!  I am thrilled to be a special guest designer (GD) at Time For Tea Designs (T4TD) this month for their September Autumn Colours challenge.  

It’s no surprise I am drawn to cool colours.  Since these rich, warm colours are outside my wheel house, I decided to take them in a different direction and create a non-traditional colour Christmas/winter card.

Caught me,,, I have never roasted marshmallows outside in the snow, but these critters make me want to. 😂   So Joanna (owner and creative director at T4TD) kindly sent me the digital version (digi) of her Life’s Ups & Downs clear stamp  The campfire scene was set up on the computer and printed out first on plain copy paper then on Xpress It cardstock.  The Xpress It cardstock images were coloured with Copic markers while the plain copy paper images were fussy cut out to be used as masks. 

Added temporary adhesive to the back of the copy paper masks, then masked the images and the snowy ground.  Blended Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries and Aged Mahogany distress inks (DI) with blender brushes to create the background.  Ensured the inks were completely dry before heat embossing the sentiment from Your Next Stamp Cool Tag Banner Sentiments with white embossing powder.  Lightly falling snow was added with a white gel pen to finish.

After some thought, I felt I would be remiss if I didn’t use these autumn colours for an actual fall card.  So I printed out a few other images on Xpress It cardstock, coloured them with Copic markers and fussy cut them out to make this fun mini slimline card.

On Bristol paper cut to 3.25”x6.25” with my paper trimmer, blended Fired Brick, Gathered Twigs and Aged Mahogany DI for the ground.  Used Copic marker E09 to give it some details.  Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade DI were then applied over a cloud edge stencil from Honey Bee Stamps (HBS) Outdoor Scene Builder for the sky.  Splattered the entire panel with water and blot with a paper towel for a bit of texture.  Splattered with diluted Aged Mahogany DI for more texture.

The leaves (retired) were die cut from watercolor paper smooshed with Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin and Barn Door distress oxide inks.  Added shading and leaf veins to them with Copic markers (forgot which ones I used).  The sentiment from HBS Happy Fall Y’all was stamped with Versafine black pigment ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Assembled the card onto a white 3.25”x6.25” card base to finish.

Before I go, I want to thank Jo and Jane for having me GD.  I am so humbled by this honour and had so much fun!  Now it’s your turn to show your autumn colour creation!  Don’t have any T4TD products to qualify?  No problem.  Jo has some free digis HERE for you.  Or check out her online store and treat yourself to some crafty goodies.  For full details of the challenge, more inspirations and to link up to the gallery, click HERE.  Thank you for dropping by.

Christnzs Card Challenges:

Merry Little Christmas - #38 September Anythng Christmas Goes 

Christmas with the Cuties - #52 Anything Cute and Christmassy with optional Oh Christmas Tree 

Crafty Animals - #54 Anything Goes Animals 

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - September Anything Goes + optional: Non-traditional 

Fall Card Challenges:

Inkspirational - #247 Autumn Leaves 

CAS Christmas March Reminder - Deer

Hello there!  This is the reminder post for our first birthday Deer challenge at CAS Christmas.

   

 Here's my card.

I love using critters as letters in sentiments and this little reindeer looked like a "Y" to me, so that's how this card came about.  The reindeer was stamped with Copic friendly black ink on a scrap of X-press It cardstock, coloured with Copics then die cut out with the matching die.

The background was created by ink smooshing Peacock Feathers distress oxide ink with a piece of acetate on a stitched rectangle die cut from Bristol paper.  Merry was die cut from white and black scraps and offset.  Christmas was black heat embossed with clear glitter embossing powder.  Clear shimmer added to merry and Crystal Glaze added to Rudolph's nose finished off the card (wasn't able to capture in the photo).  Oh, and Rudolph was popped up on black fun foam.

Chrissie from Simply One of a Kind is our guest this month.  And did I mention there are a couple of prizes up for grabs?  For details and more inspirations, head on over to the blog HERE.  The challenge ends in a week on March 24.  Hope you will play along.  Thank you for visiting.  

Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart - #6 Moves on Hooves

Merry Little Christmas - #8 March Anything Christmas Goes

Love to Craft - #32 March Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday - #212 Tristan's All About Occasions

Oh Frap! Birthday

Hello there.  A quick birthday card to share to help celebrate CAS Watercolour 2nd birthday.   Congratulations, Loll, Bonnie and the design team!

This Oh Frap! die sentiment makes me smile every time and I love pairing this kitty with it.  Started by stamping the kitty with Copic friendly black ink on X-press It cardstock, coloured in with Copics and die cut out with the matching die.  

Oh Frap was die cut from watercolour paper and brown cardstock.  Zigs and a watercolour brush were used to colour the watercolour paper piece.  Offset it with the brown one for a shadow effect.

On an A2 size watercolour panel, smooshed Bundled Sage distress ink for the background.  White heat embossed the sentiment on a brown cardstock strip.  Mounted the panel on a white card base to finish.

And that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful week.

Challenges:

CAS Watercolour - October Challenge 2nd Birthday Orange, Green & Brown

CASology - Week 316 Punctuation

The Male Room - #96 My Bad/Sorry

Watercooler Wednesday - #191 Charlotte's All About Occasions 

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes Birthday