2025 Holiday Card Series #9 | Merry Christmas

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a wintry card featuring Spellbinders’ City Holiday die set designed by Yana Smakula.  I’ve been wanting to work with this die set all season long and am finally getting the opportunity to do so.   I put my fate once again in Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Cubes and a random number generator to pick my color scheme and today’s Color Cube card was #010.  This one feels more autumnal; however, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be magical!

The supplies used:

Spellbinders – City Holiday Die Set

     Birch Press Design – Merry Christmas Dapper Script

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pads – Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion,

          Brushed Corduroy, Mowed Lawn

     Waffle Flower – Background Blender Brushes

     Spellbinders – Timber, Cinnamon, Terracotta, Indigo, Peridot, Alabaster,

          Plum Cardstock

     Concord & 9^th – Peanut Cardstock

     Altenew – Moonstone Glitter Cardstock

     Idea-ology/Tim Holtz – Gold Metallic Kraft Cardstock

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Winsor & Newton White Designers Gouache

     Rainbow Splash – Rainbow Gem Stickers

     Altenew – Mini Blending Brush

     Krylon Workable Fixatif Spray

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Card Front Background

I cut a piece of white cardstock to measure 5” x 7” and selected Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion, and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks to use for ink blending my night sky. 

For the sky, I started ink blending at the top of the cardstock using Chipped Sapphire and blended about a third of the way down the panel, switched to Villainous Potion for the next four or so inches and then finished ink blending the remaining bottom portion of the panel using Brushed Corduroy.  Since I will be spattering white gouache over the background sky, I took the panel outside and sprayed it with Krylon Workable Fixatif Spray to try to keep the Distress Inks from seeping into the white spatter.  I set the sprayed background panel aside to dry and moved on to the focal point.

Creating the Focal Point

For my focal point image, I used the Spellbinders City Holiday die set and cut the individual pieces from the following cardstock colors:  

     Snow:  Altenew Moonstone Glitter Cardstock

     Roof, Window and Door Sills & Steps:  Spellbinders Timber Cardstock

     Trees and Wreaths:  Spellbinders Peridot Cardstock

Stars on Exterior Trees:  Idea-ology/Tim Holtz – Gold Metallic Kraft Cardstock

     Door and Window Frames:  Concord & 9^th Peanut Cardstock

     Draperies:  Spellbinders Indigo Cardstock

     Building Structure:  Spellbinders Cinnamon Cardstock

     Wreath Bows and Swags:  Spellbinders Cranberry Cardstock

     Inside Windows:  Spellbinders Alabaster Cardstock

     Gifts:  Spellbinders Plum Cardstock

I assembled all the pieces for the apartment building using Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue.

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing Birch Press Design’s Merry Christmas Dapper Script sentiment die, I die cut the sentiment once from the Idea-ology/Tim Holtz Kraft Gold Metallic Cardstock and two more times from Spellbinders Indigo cardstock.  I glued the three layers of the sentiment together in a stack and placed an acrylic block on top until the glue dried.

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I mixed a small amount of Winsor & Newton white gouache with a couple drops of water and spattered it heavily across the background panel.  Once the spatter dried, I glued the snow hill across the bottom of the card and then adhered the apartment building in the center of the snow hill.  For the exterior trees, I lightly ink blended Distress Mowed Lawn Ink with an Altenew blending brush along the bottoms of the trees and added a little up the sides.  I adhered the two trees on either side of the building using thin foam squares and liquid glue, added some yellow Rainbow Gem Stickers to the trees, and added the sentiment to the top of the card.  Lastly, I adhered the card front panel to a white, 5” x 7” card base.

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

2025 Holiday Card Series #6 | Paws in the City

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing an oversized card (5-1/2” x 7”) using the Spellbinders BetterPress of the Month for November 2025 letterpress set that includes a young lady walking her Frenchie (I also have a Frenchie which is why I absolutely HAD to get this BetterPress set!).  I figured if I added holiday colors to her apparel and possibly a holiday scene it just may be able to be a successful Christmas card.  Fingers crossed!

The supplies used:

     Spellbinders – Paws in the City BetterPress of the Month for Nov 2025

     Sizzix/Tim Holtz – Vault Christmas Magic Die Set

     Altenew – Warm Blessings Stamp Set

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Watercolor Cardstock

     Ranger/Wendy Vecchi – Watering Can Archival Ink Pad

     My Favorite Things – Butterscotch Cardstock

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pads – Wilted Violet, Shaded

        Lilac, Kitsch Flamingo, Spun Sugar, Pumice Stone, Black Soot

     Altenew – Obsidian Pigment Ink Pad

     Schmincke Watercolor Paint – Forest Green, Shire Grey,

        Volcano Red, Desert Orange, Tundra Orange, Glacier Black

     Sakura Gold Metallic Gelly Roll Pen

     Tombow ABT Water-Based Marker #N75

     Scrapbook.com – Mixed Media Heavy Weight Paper Pad

     Winsor & Newton Designers Permanent White and Lamp Black Gouache

     Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System

     Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine

     Scor-Pal Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares

     Simon Says Stamp Metallic Silver Cord

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background

Using the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Vault Christmas Magic die set, I selected the buildings die and cut it twice from Distress Watercolor Cardstock.  I placed the two diecuts onto a sticky mat and watercolored them with a wash of Schmincke Glacier Black watercolor paint until I achieved the desired color depth.  Once the paint was dry, I took a piece of My Favorite Things Butterscotch cardstock and traced around my buildings diecuts (you could totally skip this step) and fussy cut my tracings so that my buildings would have yellow light showing in the window cut-outs.  I used liquid glue to adhere the yellow cardstock to the back side of the building diecuts.

Next, I cut a piece of Scrapbook.com’s Heavy Weight Mixed Media cardstock to measure 7” x 5-1/2”.  Using Tim Holtz Distress ink pads in the colors Wilted Violet Shaded Lilac, Kitsch Flamingo and Spun Sugar, I began ink blending the mixed media paper to create my winter sky starting with the upper left corner with the darkest color and gradually working my way diagonally across the cardstock until I liked the application.  Once the ink had a chance to dry, I spattered Winsor & Newton’s white gouache mixed with a drop of water liberally across the cardstock panel.

For the last touch on the background, I cut a piece of watercolor cardstock to measure 7” x 2” and applied a wash of the Shire Grey watercolor to it.  After the panel dried, I ink blended the edges with Distress Pumice Stone ink and added just the tiniest amount of ink blending with Distress Black Soot to add a bit of depth.  Lastly, I used Winsor & Newton Lamp Black gouache mixed with a drop of water to heavily spatter the panel.

Creating the Focal Point

I created the focal point using Spellbinders’ “Paws in the City” BetterPress plates and the Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System.  I letter pressed the image of the woman and the dog using Ranger/Wendy Vecchi Watering Can Archival ink and a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock.  Next, I used Schmincke watercolor paints in the colors Forest Green (blouse and shoes), Volcano Red (skirt, beret, and scarf), Desert Orange (skin), Tundra Orange (cup), and Shire Grey (dog).  After the watercolors dried, I used a gold Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pen to add small dots along the lower hem of her skirt.  Lastly, I fussy cut the young lady and the little Frenchie dog since I wasn’t going to use them “as intended” (if there’s such a thing) and edged both die cuts with a Tombow ABT water-based marker #N75.

Building the Sentiment

For my sentiment, I chose to use one from Altenew’s Warm Blessings that says “’tis the Season”.  I stamped it directly onto the card background using Altenew Obsidian pigment ink and my MISTI stamp positioning tool.

Finishing the Design

I added Scor-Tape to the back sides of the buildings and the sidewalk panel and adhered them to the purple/pink ink blended sky panel.  Next, I added foam adhesive squares to the back side of the young lady and the little dog.  To re-create the leash from the lady’s hand to the dog, I glued Simon Says Stamp Silver Metallic Cord flat along the lady’s skirt, let it flow freely between her and the dog then glued the cord to the neck of the dog.  After removing the backing paper from the foam squares I adhered the lady and the dog to the sidewalk portion of the card front.

For the final touch, I decided to add a lamp post from the same die set as the buildings – Sizzix/Tim Holtz’s Vault Christmas Magic – and die cut it from black glossy cardstock that I found in my scrap bin and die cut the wreath and bow from red and green cardstocks from the scrap bin.  I glued the lamp post to the card front at the far-right side edge of the card front and raised it higher in the scene to adjust it for scale.  I adhered it to a white card base to wrap up another 2025 Christmas card!

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

Thankful Silhouettes | StampersAnonymous & The Greetery

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a colorful Thanksgiving card that I made using the Thankful Silhouettes stamps from Stampers Anonymous and Tim Holtz, as well as a stamp/stencil set from The Greetery.  The large wordy stamp in Thankful Silhouettes is everything a crafter needs for a great Thanksgiving background created. 

The supplies used:

Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz – Thankful Silhouettes Stamp Set

     Spellbinders – Windy Fall Leaves Press Plates and Die Set

     The Greetery – Oakwood Stamp and Stencil Set

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

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

     Spellbinders – Timber Color Essentials Cardstock

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Archival Ink, Ground Espresso

     Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Clay, Nutmeg,

          Cocoa, Cappuccino, Cantaloupe, Sherbet, Honey

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Spray Stain – Crackling Campfire,

          Vintage Photo, Squeezed Lemonade, Bundled Sage

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Spritz – Crackling Campfire, Squeezed Lemonade

     Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz – Grime “THS130” Layering Stencil

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Opaque Texture Paste

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Palette Knife

     Simon Says Stamp – Big Momma Foam Tape

     Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

     Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System

Creating the Card Front Background

I cut a piece of white, Heavy Weight Mixed Media Paper from Scrapbook.com to measure 5-1/2” x 6” and used blue painter’s tape to adhere it to a hardboard.  Since I will be using Distress Spray Stain on the panel, I placed the large wordy stamp from Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz called “Thankful Silhouettes” onto an acrylic block and stamped the image using Ranger/Distress Ground Espresso Archival Ink. 

Once the stamping was completed, I used the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz “Grime/THS130” stencil and Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Opaque Texture Paste and partially pasted portions of the background panel in three locations on each background to add interest.  I cleaned up my stencil and palette knife and set the two backgrounds aside to allow the paste to fully dry.

Once the texture paste was dry, I began spritzing Ranger Distress Spray Stains in the colors Crackling Campfire, Bundled Sage, Squeezed Lemonade, and Vintage Photo.  I alternated between these four colors and small amounts of water until I got the look I was trying to achieve.  I dried the panel with my Ranger Heat It Craft Tool and, once relatively dry, I sprayed a bit of Distress Spritz in the Crackling Campfire and Squeezed Lemonade colors to give the background a bit of shimmer.  When everything was completely dry, I removed the inky panel from the hardboard and die cut it using the third largest die from the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set.  I also die cut a piece of Spellbinders Timber cardstock using the largest die from the Precision Layering A2 A die set for a matting layer.  I adhered the Timber cardstock to the front of a white A2 size card base and added Simon Says Stamp Big Momma Foam Tape to the inky panel and adhered it onto brown the matting layer.

Creating the Focal Point

For the focal point, I used The Greetery’s “Oakwood” stamp and stencil set.  I started by taking a piece of 4-1/2” x 5-1/2” white cardstock and placed it on my Simon Says Stamp “Stamp and Stencil Mat” and placed the first stencil from the Oakwood set over the cardstock and ink blended Simon Says Stamp Cappuccino ink over the acorns and a combination of Simon Says Stamp Cantaloupe and Sherbet inks over the two leaves.  For stencil 2, I ink blended the top three leaf openings with Simon Says Stamp Honey ink and the same Cantaloupe/Sherbet combination for the bottom leaf opening.  For stencil 3, I ink blended the branch openings with the Cappuccino ink.

Next, I placed the ink blended panel into my MISTI stamp positioner and began placing the stamps from the Oakwood stamp set over the ink blended images they coordinated with.  These are the Simon Says Stamp ink colors I used for each stamp:

     A – Clay

     B – Nutmeg (yellow leaves) and Clay (orange leaf)

     C & D – Cocoa

I removed the stamped cardstock panel from the MISTI and fussy cut it out since I didn’t have the coordinating die. 

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing the Spellbinders “Windy Fall Leaves” Press Plates and Die set, I used Simon Says Stamp Cocoa ink and the ‘Sending Autumn Wishes’ sentiment from that set and together with my Spellbinders BetterPress system created the sentiment and die cut it with the die from that same set.  I placed additional scraps of cardstock on the back of the sentiment to give it some additional strength and dimension.   

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I added foam squares to the back side of the leafy focal point and adhered it and the sentiment onto the mixed media, card front background.  Lastly, I adhered the card front to an A2 size card base and that wrapped 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!