2026 Holiday Card Series #1 | Merry Christmas Stitched Poinsettia

Hi friends!  Today marks the start of the 2026 Holiday Card Series where I try (LOL!) to have my holiday cards mostly completed before mid-November.  I’ve never tried stitching on cardstock before so I thought that would be a good start with attempting a technique I’m very new at… let’s make a card!

The supplies used:

Spellbinders – Stitched Poinsettia & Holly Die Set

     Taylored Expressions – Flickering Stencil

     Waffle Flower – A6 Piercing Layers Die Set

     Honey Bee Stamps – Simply Stated: Holiday Stamp and Die Set

     Spellbinders – Alabaster Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Merlot Colorwheel Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Poppy Field Color Essentials Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Sage Color Essentials Cardstock

     Concord & 9^th – Juniper Cardstock

     Anna Griffin – Gold Matte Foil Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – So Very Black Cardstock

     Tim Holtz/Idea-ology – Christmas Backdrops Patterned Paper Pack

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Old Paper Distress Oxide Ink Pad

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Lost Shadow Distress Oxide Ink Pad

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Black Soot Distress Oxide Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Sage Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Eucalyptus Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Sangria Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Cabernet Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Scrapbook.com – Foam Ink Blending Tool

     Scrapbook.com – All Purpose Craft Scraper Tool

     Altenew – Mixed Media Palette Knife

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Opaque Distress Texture Paste

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide Spray

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide Spray

     Iuile Watercolors – Gold (Q21)

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Distress Splatter Brush

     DMC – Gold Diamant Thread (D3852)

Embroidery Needle

     Honey Bee Stamps – Holiday Wishes Gems Stickers

     Tsukineko - VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     Ranger Ink – Super Fine Detail Black Embossing Powder

WOW! Heat Embossing Tool

     My Sweet Petunia – MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scrapbook Adhesives – Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I started the background by using a foam ink blending tool and Tim Holtz’s Distress Oxide Ink Pads in the colors Lost Shadow and Old Paper.  I ink blended the two colors in random places on a 5”x7” piece of Spellbinders Alabaster cardstock then spattered clean water with my fingertips across the inky panel and picked up the excess water droplets with a paper towel.  Next, I applied a layer of Distress Opaque Texture Paste through the Taylored Expressions Flickering stencil to the background using an Altenew palette knife and my Scrapbook.com craft scraper tool.  Once completed, I set the panel aside to dry completely.

After the panel dried, I used my Tim Holtz Splatter Brush and spattered Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide Spray – heat dried the panel –Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide Spray – heat dried the panel - and lastly a heavy spattering of Iuile Watercolors’ Gold (Q21) watercolor paint then I set the background aside to dry again.  I die cut a piece of Simon Says Stamp So Very Black cardstock using the largest die in the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Layers die set and die cut the inky, pasted background using the second largest die in the die set.  Using Scor-Tape, I adhered the two background layers together.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the Spellbinders Stitched Poinsettia and Holly stitching die set, I die cut more green and red leaves than I’ll ever need from the following cardstock colors:

     Red Leaves:  Spellbinders Merlot and Poppy Field

     Green Leaves:  Spellbinders Sage and Concord & 9^th Spruce

     Foil Centers:  Matte Gold Anna Griffin Foil Cardstock with

               Honey Bee Stamps Gold Gem Stickers at Center

Before stitching the elements, I added a bit of depth to each leaf by lightly ink blending the edges with Simon Says Stamp inks in the colors Eucalyptus (light green leaves), Sage (dark green leaves), Cabernet (Poppy Field leaves), and Sangria (Merlot leaves).  I used DMC Diamont gold thread and an embroidery needle to stitch the accents onto all the die cuts.  After the stitching was completed, I glued a Poppy Field stitched die cut on top of a Merlot stitched die cut then placed one of the matte gold foil die cuts that serve as the poinsettia center to the middle of the stacked poinsettia leaves.  Once the glue dried, I adhered three gems from the Honey Bee Stamps Holiday Wishes Gem Stickers to the center, matte gold foiled die cut piece – I repeated these steps a second time to create another poinsettia bloom.

I selected one of the backdrop sheets from the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Christmas Backdrops patterned paper pack and trimmed the paper by first, die cutting it with the second largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Layers die set so the edges of this panel would line up perfectly and have the paper piercing that the inky/texture paste covered background panel has, then I cut this height of the patterned paper to measure 2.25 inches.  Next, I die cut a 2.5” tall scrap of the Simon Says Stamp So Very Black cardstock with the same Waffle Flower die as the patterned paper (again, I’m trying to maintain the pierced edge as the other layers).  I used Scor-Tape to adhere the black cardstock panel to the card front and used glue to adhere the patterned paper on top of the black cardstock panel. 

I arranged the five green leaves and both poinsettia flowers to the card front and used liquid glue to adhere them to the card front once I was satisfied with the positioning.  I did have to add a few small foam squares to three of the top flower’s leaves to help level them out with the other elements.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used a scrap piece of the inked background (before I added the texture paste) and used the Honey Bee Stamps Simply Stated: Holiday stamp and die set to stamp “Merry Christmas in VersaMark embossing ink which I heat embossed with Ranger’s Super Fine Detail Black embossing powder.  I die cut the stamped sentiment and applied a very light amount of Distress Black Soot Oxide Ink to the edges to distress the look a bit and added small foam adhesive squares and liquid glue to adhere it to the card’s focal point. 

Assembling the Card

I added strips of Scor-Tape behind the background panel and adhered them to an A6, side-folding card base to help flatten the pasted background that can sometimes warp in the drying process.   My final touch was adding a few more of the Honey Bee Stamps Holiday Wishes gem stickers to the card front to complete the look. 

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

Thank You, You Are So Kind | Shop Your Stash

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing an A6 card where other than the floral stamp, I SHOPPED MY STASH! – hence the title of the blog post… let’s make a card!

The supplies used:

Spellbinders / Simon Hurley – Sketched Peonies Stamps & Dies Set

     Simon Says Stamp / Altenew – Beautiful Lily (Stamptember 2022)

     Stampers Anonymous / Tim Holtz – Hodgepodge Cling Stamp

     Penny Black – Elongated Fancy Dies Set

     Waffle Flower – A6 Piercing Layers Dies Set

     X-Press It – White Blending Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Graphite Color Essentials Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – Smoke Grey Cardstock

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Flannel Pawsitively Saturated Ink

     Simon Says Stamp – Dolphin Pawsitively Saturated Ink

     Copic Alcohol Markers – Y15, BG13, BG18, BG78, R00, R32, R14

     Simon Says Stamp –Black 3D Foam Squares

     My Sweet Petunia – MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Tsukineko - VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     Brutus Monroe – Alabaster White Embossing Powder

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I took a piece of Spellbinders Graphite cardstock and die cut it using the largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Layers Die Set.  I placed the die cut panel into my MISTI tool and stamped the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Hodgepodge cling stamp onto the Graphite panel using Simon Says Stamp Dolphin Pawsitively Saturated Ink. 

Creating the Focal Point

Using the smaller floral stamp from the Ranger/Simon Hurley Sketched Peonies stamp set, I stamped the image onto a piece of X-Press It white cardstock using Lawn Fawn’s Jet Black ink.  I colored the image using Copic alcohol markers in these colors:

     Flowers:  R14, R32, R00

     Leaves:  BG78, BG18, BG13

Once the coloring was completed, I used the Spellbinders Sketched Peonies coordinating die to die cut the floral image. 

For the frame, I used the largest die from the Penny Black Elongated Fancy die set and die cut it three times from Simon Says Stamp Smoke Grey cardstock.  I glued the three frame layers together with Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue and placed an acrylic block on the top until the glue dried.  I used a 2-1/2” x 4-1/4” piece of X-Press It white blending card to stamp the back drop for the frame.  I placed the blending card panel into my MISTI and used Simon Says Stamp Flannel Pawsitively Saturated Ink to stamp the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Hodgepodge cling stamp onto the panel.

I positioned the die cut floral image onto the frame die cut and tacked down the parts that were going to be behind and on top of the frame with liquid glue.  I placed Simon Says Stamp 3D foam squares behind the portions of the floral image that were not going to be attached to the die cut frame for stability.  I removed all the backing paper from the foam squares and positioned the frame background panel behind the floral image and adhered it to the foam squares.  I also tacked down the areas of the frame that weren’t adhered to the foam squares with small amounts of liquid glue.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with the “thank you” stamp from the Ranger/Simon Hurley Sketched Peonies stamp set and used VersaMark embossing ink to stamp the sentiment onto a scrap piece of the Spellbinders Graphite cardstock and added Brutus Monroe Alabaster White embossing powder to the stamped sentiment and heat set it.  I chose a sub-sentiment that reads “you are so kind” from a four-year-old set that was an Altenew collaboration with Simon Says Stamp from 2022 called Beautiful Lily (but I’m certain there are many sub-sentiments of this nature on numerous stamp sets).  I used the same cardstock and embossing process for the sub-sentiment as I used for the main sentiment.

Assembling the Card

I added strips of Scor-Tape behind the focal point and adhered it to the front of the background panel, then added Scor-Tape to the backside of the background panel and adhered everything to the front of an A6, side-folding card base.  My last touch was adding three little grey pearls from Honey Bee Stamps’ Cool Pearls pearl stickers on the upper right corner of the focal point.

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

Happy Birthday – Today Is About You | Spellbinders

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing an A6 sunflower birthday card featuring products from Spellbinders.  The Sunflower Serenade die set has been on my to-do list for quite some time and today I decided… let’s make a card!

The supplies used:

Spellbinders – Sunflower Serenade Die Set

     Spellbinders – Essential Modern Ovals Die Set

     Spellbinders – Birthday Unboxing Hot Foil Plate & Die Set

     Spellbinders – Linen 3D Embossing Folder

     Paul Rubens Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

     Spellbinders – Indigo Colorwheel Cardstock

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Carved Pumpkin Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Mowed Lawn Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Walnut Stain Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Ranger Ink / Tim Holtz – Ground Espresso Distress Ink Re-Inker

     Penny Black - #4 Round Paint Brush

     Spellbinders – Matte Gold Glimmer Foil

     Pinkfresh Studio – Metallic Matte Gold Pearl Embellishments

     Ranger / Tim Holtz – Distress Collage Medium Matte

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Altenew Black Instant Dimension Foam Tape

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Anna Griffin Empress Gild Hot Foiling System

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I took a piece of Spellbinders Indigo cardstock, cut it to 4-1/2” x 6-1/4” and embossed the panel using the Spellbinders Linen 3D embossing folder.  Normally an A6 card would measure 4-1/2” x 6-1/4”; however, after running the panel through the 3D embossing folder it shrank a tad so my finished card size will actually be 4-1/2” x 6-1/8”.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the largest die from Spellbinders’ Essential Modern Ovals die set, I die cut a piece of Spellbinders Indigo card.  Utilizing the Spellbinders Sunflower Serenade die set and sheets of Paul Rubens hot pressed watercolor paper, I die cut the flower 14 times, the three leaf style dies were die cut six times each, and the two flower centers seven times each.  I decided to watercolor the images versus cutting them from colored cardstock and used Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Ink re-inkers as my painting medium.  The flower petals were given a watercolor wash of Squeezed Lemonade followed by placing Carved Pumpkin toward the base of the petals and allowing the color to wick its way up each petal naturally.  For the flower centers, the larger pieces were watercolored using Ground Espresso and the smaller pieces were watercolored using Walnut Stain.  I separated the leaves into two even sets (three of each leaf style per set) and began watercoloring one set of the leaves using Mowed Lawn and the other using Rustic Wilderness.

Once the watercolored elements were dry, I used liquid glue to adhere two sets of the leaves together, the larger flower center die cut next, and lastly the smaller flower center piece.  I repeated this process until I had seven complete flowers.  I positioned the Indigo cardstock oval where I thought it looked best on my embossed background panel and began arranging the flowers on top of it until the oval was no longer visible.  When the arrangement was completed, I glued the flowers in place and began adhering leaves in random locations until I was content with the panel. 

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with an older Spellbinders hot foil plate and die set called Birthday Unboxing Glimmer.  I hot foiled the sentiments onto Spellbinders Indigo cardstock using my Anna Griffin Empress Gild hot foiling system and Spellbinders Matte Gold Glimmer Foil.  I used the coordinating dies to die cut the sentiments and cut two extra Indigo pieces to glue behind each of the sentiments for dimension.

Assembling the Card

I added strips of Altenew black foam tape to the back side of the oval that I glued the flowers to and adhered it to the card’s embossed background panel while allowing approximate 1-1/2” of the oval to hang off the top of the background panel.  I used a paper trimmer and removed the excess oval and any overlapping flowers/leaves from the top of the card panel.  I used liquid glue to adhere the two sentiments to the lower portion of the card front and added a sprinkling of Pinkfresh Metallic Matte Gold pearls around the sentiments.  Lastly, I adhered the card front to a white, side-folding, A6 card base using a combination of strips of Scor-Tape and liquid glue (yes, I am an over-adhesive user!).

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