2026 Holiday Card Series #3 | Merry Christmas

Hi friends!  Today’s card will be the third installment in my 2026 Holiday Card Series where I am attempting to have my holiday cards mostly completed before mid-November.  I truly enjoy working with colored pencils – I currently have an excessive 12 full sets of colored pencils at my disposal ranging from inexpensive all the way up to “what was I thinking paying this much for a set of colored pencils!”.  Regardless, I have had this Colorado Craft Company stamp set in my collection for many years and I still hadn’t used it.  Today that changed… let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Colorado Craft Company – Slimline Poinsettias Stamp Set

     The Greetery – Scripted Holiday Sentiments Stamp & Die Set

     Spellbinders – Starshine Background Die

     Spellbinders – Forest Color Essentials Cardstocks

     Anna Griffin – Champagne Matte Foil Cardstock    

     Prismacolor Colored Pencils – PC921, PC924, PC925, PC942, PC1034

     Tsukineko – StazOn Jet Black Ink Pad

     Ranger Ink – Wendy Vecchi Watering Can Archival Ink Pad

     Woodland Scenics – Yellow Paper Flower Pollen

     Iuile Watercolors – Star Watercolor Paint

     Altenew – Black ½” Instant Dimension Foam Tape

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Ranger Ink – Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte

     Pinkfresh Studio – Metallic Matte Gold Pearls

     My Sweet Petunia – Original MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

For the background panel, I used the paper trimmer to cut a piece of Spellbinders Forest cardstock to measure 3.25” x 8.25” (this will be a slimline card).  I also cut a piece of Anna Griffin Champagne Matte Foil cardstock to measure 3.5” x 8.5”.  To add texture to the Forest colored panel, I used the Spellbinders Starshine Background die and ran it though the die cutting machine one half at a time since the die was developed for A2 sized cards.  A few drops of water were mixed into the Iuile Watercolor “Star” watercolor paint pan and I used the paint to spatter gold across the entire panel.  Once the spatter dried, I adhered the Forest cardstock panel to the Champagne Foil cardstock panel.

Creating the Focal Point

I stamped the Colorado Craft Company “Slimline Poinsettias” floral images onto a piece of inexpensive white cardstock using Ranger’s Watering Can Archival Ink and the MISTI tool.  I left the stamps in the MISTI tool since I will be stamping the image once again after the coloring is completed. 

For the poinsettia coloring, I used Prismacolor colored pencils in these colors:

     PC924 – Crimson Red

     PC925 – Crimson Lake

     PC921 – Vermillion Clair

     PC942 – Yellow Ochre

     PC1034 – Golden Rod

Once the coloring was completed, I placed the paper back into my MISTI tool and stamped the images again using black StazOn ink.  I chose StazOn since the colored pencils are wax-based and I figured if the StazOn ink will work on acetate, surely it will work atop wax-based pencil coloring.  Next, I applied little dots of Tim Holtz’s Collage Medium Matte on the poinsettia’s cyathia (the yellow centers) and applied a coating of Woodland Scenics’ Yellow Paper Flower Pollen, tapped of the excess, and continued to each poinsettia until all were completed.  After the Collage Medium with the pollen coating had a chance to dry, I used scissors to fussy cut both images.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used The Greetery’s Scripted Holiday Sentiments stamp set.  I used VersaMark watermark ink to stamp the two sentiments onto a piece of Spellbinders Forest cardstock that had been prepped with anti-static powder.  After stamping, I applied Gina K. Designs Fine Detail Gold embossing powder and used my WOW! heat tool to melt the embossing powder.  Once cooled, I buffed off the anti-static powder and used The Greetery’s Scripted Holiday Sentiments die set to die cut the sentiments and cut two additional of each from the Forest cardstock to stack the sentiments for dimension.

Assembling the Card

I glued the background cardstock panels to the front of a white, slimline card base.  Next, I positioned the poinsettias and sentiments on the background to find a pleasing placement. I adhered the sentiments to the background using liquid glue, then placed pieces of Altenew’s black Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the back sides of both sets of poinsettias and adhered them to the left and right sides of the card front.  After trimming off the excess poinsettias that overlapped the edges, I glued a sprinkling of Pinkfresh Matte Gold Pearl embellishments around the edges of the poinsettias to complete this colorful holiday card.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2026 Holiday Card Series #2 | Happy Holidays

Hi friends!  Today’s card will be my second installment in my 2026 Holiday Card Series where I am attempting to have my holiday cards mostly completed before mid-November.  I felt the Altenew Pegboard Panels would make a fun focal point for a homespun Christmas card… let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Altenew – Pegboard Panels Die Set

     Spellbinders – Everlasting Squares Die Set

     Spellbinders – Postage Edge Squares Die Set

     Spellbinders – Scenic Poinsettias 3D Embossing Folder

     Altenew – Warm Blessings Stamp Set

     Scrapbook.com – Heavy Weight Mixed Media Paper Pad (White)

     Anna Griffin – Champagne Matte Foil Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Merlot Colorwheel Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – Cabernet Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Tsukineko – VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     Taylored Expressions – Anti-Static Powder Tool

     Ranger Ink – Princess Gold Embossing Powder

     WOW! Dual Speed Heat Embossing Tool

     Altenew – Double Sided Adhesive Sheets

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scrapbook Adhesive – Black Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Embroidery Needle

     Red, Green, and White Embroidery Floss

     Scrapbook.com – Foam Ink Blending Tool

     Iuile Watercolors – Star Watercolor Paint

     Honey Bee Stamps – Warm Pearls Pearl Stickers

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

For the background panel, I used my paper trimmer to cut a 4.5” x 7” panel of Spellbinders Merlot cardstock.  I placed this panel into the Spellbinders Scenic Poinsettias 3D Embossing Folder and taped it in place on the side of the embossing folder where the flowers feel raised.  I inked up the surface of the opposite side of the embossing folder using a Simon Says Stamp Cabernet ink pad and ran it through my Anna Griffin die cutting machine.  I repeated this process three or four times until I obtained the results satisfactory results.  Using my paper trimmer, I trimmed the embossed panel to measure 4-1/8” x 6” and inked the edges to darken them using a foam blending tool and more Cabernet ink.  While that dried, I cut a piece of the Anna Griffin Matte Champagne Foil Cardstock to measure 4.5” x 6.25” – this will serve as my matting layer behind the embossed one.  My final touch on the background was to add a few drops of water to my pan of Iuile Watercolor’s Star watercolor paint, frothed the mixture a bit, then used a small paint brush to add gold spatter across the embossed Merlot cardstock panel.

Creating the Focal Point

For the cross-stitched panel, I started by using the two square dies from Altenew’s Pegboard Panels die set and die cut them together using a piece of Scrapbook.com’s white Mixed Media Paper.  I used white dark red, and sage green embroidery flosses to cross stitch the entire panel and placed a piece of Altenew Double Sided Adhesive Sheet that was approximately 2.75” x 2.75” on the back side to not only allow me to adhere it to the card front, but also to ensure the loose ends of the threads stay in place.  Next, I created a frame for the stitched panel by die cutting a piece of Anna Griffin Matte Champagne Foil Cardstock using the third largest postage edge die from Spellbinders’ Postage Edge Squares die set and the 9^th largest die from Spellbinders’ Everlasting Squares die set.  I aligned the smaller square die inside the postage edge one, taped them together, then die cut one from the gold foil and two more from Spellbinders Merlot cardstock.  I glued the three framing layers together with Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue and set aside to dry.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used a scrap piece of the Spellbinders Merlot cardstock and placed it into my MISTI stamping tool and dusted it heavily with anti-static powder.  I used the “happy holidays” sentiment from Altenew’s Warm Blessings stamp set and VersaMark ink to stamp the image onto the cardstock.  Once stamped, I applied a layer of Ranger’s Princess Gold embossing powder onto the stamped cardstock, tapped off the excess, and used my heat tool to melt the embossing powder.  After it cooled, I buffed away the excess anti-static powder and fussy cut the sentiment with scissors.  Lastly, I placed Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares (black) behind the sentiment.

Assembling the Card

I glued the champagne foil cardstock panel to the front of an A2, side folding card base and glued the Merlot, embossed cardstock panel to the center of the foil panel.  Next, I added glue to the back side of the foil, postage edged frame, and adhered it on top of the cross-stitched panel.  Once the glue dried, I removed the backing paper from behind the cross-stitched panel and adhered the focal point to the card front.  After removing the backing paper from the black foam squares behind the sentiment, I adhere it to the lower portion of the card front.  My final touch was adding a five of the Honey Bee Stamps Warm Pearls pearl stickers to the center of the cross-stitched piece and that wraps up today’s card.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

SMILE | Catherine Pooler + Spellbinders

Hi friends!  Today I’m sharing a card inspired by the Sarah Renae Clark Color Cubes 2.0 (card 843).  I wasn’t sure where I was going to go with this color scheme, so I decided to start simply creating a background and see where that inspiration lead me.  Let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Catherine Pooler – Simply Diamonds Cling Stamp

     Pinkfresh Studio – Single Stitch Rectangle Die Set

     Spellbinders – Nature’s Dance Stamp/Die Set (CSOM-JAN25)

     Spellbinders – Field Notes Wildflowers Die Set

     Spellbinders – Chiffon Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Teal Topaz Cardstock

     Gina K. Designs – Mini Ink Cubes – Emerald Coast, Soft Stone,

          Peach Bellini, Blue Sky, Faded Brick

     Gina K. Designs – Masking Magic Strips

     WOW! – Clear Gloss Super Fine Embossing Powder

     Brutus Monroe – Alabaster White Embossing Powder

     Taylored Expressions – Anti-Static Powder Tool

     Tsukineko - VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     WOW! - Dual Speed Heat Embossing Tool

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Spellbinders – Opal Color Essentials Gems

     My Sweet Petunia – MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I started with a 4.5” x 5.75” of Spellbinders Chiffon cardstock.  I placed the cardstock panel into my MISTI tool, dusted it with anti-static powder, and stamped the Catherine Pooler Simply Diamonds cling stamp onto the cardstock using VersaMark ink.  I removed the cardstock from the MISTI and applied a coating of WOW!’s clear gloss, super fine embossing powder to the inked panel and melted the embossing powder with my heat tool.  I used Gina K. Designs’ Masking Magic Strips to mask off each diagonal row of the background’s diamonds and colored each row with Gina K. Designs ink cubes in the colors Soft Stone, Emerald Coast, Faded Brick, Peach Bellini, and Blue Sky.  Once the ink dried, I die cut the background panel using the largest die in the Pinkfresh Studio Single Stitch Rectangle die set.

Creating the Floral Element

I chose to use the Spellbinders Field Notes Wildflowers to create a floral element for this card.  I didn’t want to introduce any new colors to the card since the background is colorful, so I die cut the flower’s stem from a scrap of white cardstock and used Spellbinders Chiffon and Cinnamon cardstocks for the petal parts of the flowers.  I glued the floral elements together with Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue and set them aside for the glue to dry while I worked on the sentiment.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with a Spellbinders stamp set that was part of their Clear Stamp of the Month Stamp and Die Set called Nature’s Dance that said “SMILE” that I stamped with VersaMark ink onto Spellbinders Teal Topaz cardstock, then added Brutus Monroe’s Alabaster White Embossing Powder to have a white heat embossed sentiment.  I die cut the greeting with the coordinating die and die cut two additional from the Teal Topaz cardstock to stack behind the sentiment for dimension.  I also added a sub-sentiment; however, I won’t add it until I assemble the card’s elements.

Assembling the Card

I cut a piece of Spellbinders Teal Topaz cardstock to measure 4.25” x 5.5”.  I adhered Altenew double-sided adhesive tape to the back side of the inky diamond card panel, removed the adhesive’s backing paper and positioned it at an angle onto my Teal Topaz card front panel ensuring I had enough clearance at the bottom to accommodate the sub-sentiment and trimmed away the excess inky panel that exceeded the Teal Topaz one.  I placed the background panel into my MISTI and stamped the sub-sentiment onto the card panel below the bottom edge of the inky background cardstock using VersaMark ink and added Alabaster white embossing powder then melted the embossing powder with my heat tool.  I added liquid glue to the back side of the SMILE sentiment and adhered it to the inky cardstock panel above the sub-sentiment.  Lastly, I adhered some Spellbinders Opal Color Essentials Gems to the center of the diamonds on the background panel and glued the card front to a white A2, side folding card base.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!