Woodland Winter Wonderland

Today's card features a lovely woodland die called 'Birch Tree Forest' by Creative Expressions that I got from a charity shop earlier this week. I used it along with a few other dies (one of the 'Hillside Borders' dies from Lawn Fawn, and a couple of the deer from the 'Winter Wonderland' set by Tim Holtz/Sizzix), to create a wintry woodland scene. I cut all the die cuts from snippets of plain white card, then layered them over another snippet of white card embossed using my Tim Holtz/Sizzix 'Snowfall' embossing folder, before adding it all to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Pick a Previous Technique (May - Use Die Cuts/Punches)
• Allsorts - Create a Scene
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Winter Animals
• Cut It Up - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes

Favourite Five Christmas Cards 2025

Today, as has become traditional, I'm sharing my favourite five Christmas cards of the year. I made slightly more cards this year - 88, compared to 81 last year. Each photo is linked to the original blog post, so if you would like any more details, please click through.

The first card is from February, and uses a 'new to me' time (the lovely large Penny Black 'Joy' die) that I've used several times this year. I particularly like using the central aperture for a scene/sentiment.

Penny Black critters continue to be my most used stamps, and this chicken, used on this card from March, always makes me smile!

I made several cards using this technique on black card - I love the way the mica pigments show up when used as a watercolour paint, this card from August also makes use of one of my many charity shop crafty finds this year!

Coming a close second to the Penny Black critters, are the Anita Jeram animal stamps, like the bunny stamp used on this card from October. I also love making embossed backgrounds, and used a layout similar to this on many cards this year.

My final card is a recent one from earlier this month, and again features some Penny Black critters, and lots of lovely papers!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Silver Snowflakes

I have a Christmas card to share today, inspired by the 'Teal and Silver' colour combination of this week's 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Teal is my favourite colour, so I couldn't resist! I used snowflake stamps from the 'Big & Bold - Winter Wishes Snowflake' set from the Colorado Craft Company, and 'Let it Snow' set from Happy Little Stampers, stamping them onto a snippet of teal card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them using 'Metallic Silver' embossing powder from WOW. I added a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Festive Flurry - Baubles & Bows' set by Creative Expressions, embossing that in silver to match, then matted the panel onto a snippet of silver mirror card before adding it to a white card balnk.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Teal & Silver
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Time Out - Favourite Season (Winter - I love cold & frosty weather...and Christmas!)

Poinsettia Panel

I have a Christmas card to share today, which features a stamp that I picked up in a charity shop last week. The stamp is called 'Poinsettia Panel' by Stamps by Chloe, and I stamped it onto a snippet of black card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold' embossing powder from WOW. I used Cosmic Shimmers pigments mixed with a little water to watercolour the image. I used a Creative Expressions die to cut the sentiment from a snippet of gold mirror card, then added it on top. I matted the panel onto another snippet of gold mirror card, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Peace on Earth - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• We Love Stamping - Flowers

ABC Christmas Challenge - E, F & G are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Fabiola is the host, and the themes are:

'E is for Embossing'

'F is for Focal Sentiments'

&

'G is for Girls'

The prize for the lucky winner is a gift certificate to the winner's favourite online store!

For my 'E is for Embossing' card, I used stamps from the 'Festive Flurries - Baubles & Bows' set by Creative Expressions. I stamped them on to navy card using Versamark ink, theen heat embossed them using white embossing powder. I distressed the edges a little, then added the embossed panel to a white card blank.

For my 'Focal Sentiments' card, I used my large 'Joy' die from Penny Black, cutting it from some purple mirror card. I layered it over a piece of purple snowflake covered paper from the 'Snowscape' pad by Woodware, then stamped a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Winter Blessings' set by Crafter's Companion in the centre of the 'O'. I distressed the edges a little, added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, matted it on to some purple card, before adding it to a white card blank.

For my 'G is for Girls' card, I inked up an old Lili of the Valley stamp from a set called 'Skating Along', stamping it on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the same set, before colouring it using watercolour pencils and matting it on to some silver mirror card. I paired it with papers from the 'Glittering Snowflakes' pad by Crafter's Companion and the 'Silver Bells' pad by Kaisercraft...lightly distressing all of the edges before assembling the card.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Christmas Kickstart - Not the Norm (Second card only)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Seasons/Weather (Second card only)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Add a Sentiment') (First card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes (Third card only)
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes (Third card only)
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stitching (Second card only)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Floral Bauble

I have another Christmas card to share today...featuring a gorgeous bauble stamp that I picked up in a charity shop. It was not in its original packing, and had no markings on it, but a Google image search tells me that is by Creative Expressions, and is called 'Floral Bauble'. I stamped it on to back card using Versamark ink, then used a Versamark pen to draw a 'string' for it, before heat embossing it using silver embossing powder from WOW. I added bow from the 'Bubble Mini Baubles' set by Woodware...embossing it using 'Magical Mauve' embossing glitter also by WOW. I heat embossed a sentiment, using a stamp from the same Woodware set, heat embossing that in silver too. I coloured the bauble using Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water, then matted the black panel on to some silver mirror card, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Ornament
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Sparkle
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Moving Along with the Times - Sparkle
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Embossing
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Sparkle & Shine
• Sparkles Forum - Christmas Florals

ABC Christmas Challenge - S & T are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Lynda is the host, and the themes are:

'S is for Stencils'

&

'T is for Traditional Christmas Colours'

The prize for the lucky winner is these Avery Elle dies:

I don't often use stencils, so don't have that many, but I do have a lovely snowflake one (from Creative Expressions), that was the starting point for my card. I picked a piece of lilac watercolour effect paper (from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations), and blended a white pigment ink over the stencil. The stencil is DL sized, so I had to do it in two stages to cover the whole piece of paper...then, as it didn't show up as clearly as I'd hoped, I sprinkled some 'Diamond White' embossing powder (from WOW) over the top, then set it using my heat gun. I used a Creative Expression die to cut the sentiment...cutting a couple from white snippets, and layering them up with one cut from purple mirror card over the top. I matted the snowflake panel on to some more of the purple mirror card, then added it to a white card blank.

Another angle:

For my 'Traditional Christmas Colours' card, I picked a Woodware Christmas tree stamp, that I got for my birthday. I stamped it on to black card, along with one of the sentiments from the same Woodware set, then heat embossed it all in gold. I used Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water to watercolour the tree in traditional red and green, then matted the gold panel on to some gold mirror card before adding it to a card blank.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Trees and/or Barns (Second card only)
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - H & I are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Carol is the host, and the themes are:

'H is for Hats'

&

'I is for Inky'

The prize for the lucky winner is this die set:

For my 'H is for Hats' card, I stamped as many of the animals from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company as I could fit on to a DL kraft card blank, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. The sentiment is made from a couple of stamps from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

For my 'I is for Inky' card, I started by smooshing some Distress Inks in various shades of blue (Speckled Egg, Salvaged Patina, Peacock Feathers, Stormy Sky, Broken China and Uncharted Mariner) on to a large acrylic block, spritzed it with a little water, the stamped it on to smoe watercolour paper. Once dry, I stamped snowflakes around the edges using stamps from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp, and 'Broken China' Distress Ink. I cut the sentiment from snippets of white card using a Creative Expressions die...layering up three die cuts to get a more 3D effect, then added that to the centre. 

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Animals') (First card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - E, F & G are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Lynda is the host, and the themes are:

'E is for Embossing'

'F is for Faux'

&

'G is for Gingerbread'

The prize for the lucky winner is these fab stamp sets:

For my 'E is for Embossing' card, I used a Penny Black stamp called 'Warm Reception'...stamping it on to a piece of kraft card using Versamark ink, then heat embossing it using white embossing powder. I added a heat embossed sentiment (from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp), then inked around the edges with the Versamark ink pad and heat embossed that in white too before adding it to a kraft card blank.

FOr my 'F is for Faux' card...I went with faux stitching on some papers from the 'Pure Frozen' pad from Poundland...distressing the edges before adding the stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The snowflakes are a Stampendous stamp set called 'Delicate Snowflakes'...I stamped them on to snippets of navy, turquoise and aqua card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them in white before cutting them out using the matching dies. I layered them up using 3D foam pads, then added them to the front of the card. The sentiment stamp is from an old Lili of the Valley set.

I really struggled with the 'G is for Gingerbread' theme...but eventually found some paper with little gingerbread men on...it was a freebie from a magazine years ago...but just the job for this! I matted a strip of the patterned paper on to some gold mirror card, and placed it down one side of a card blank, then cut the sentiment (using a Creative Expressions die) from some more mirror card, then added that over the top.

Challenges for these cards:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Monochrome') (First card only)
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Jingle Belles - Use Dies (Second card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment (Third card only)
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Embossing (First card only)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Watercolour Snowflakes

I have a Christmas card to share today...made without stamping, not something I do very often! I started by making the background...embossing a piece of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations using a Sizzix 'Snowflakes' embossing folder. I distressed the edges a little, then sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core of the paper. For the sentiment, I used a Creative Expressions die...cutting it three times from snippets of white card, then carefully layering them up for more dimension, before adding it to the embossed background.

Here's a better look at the texture:

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Snowflakes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add Some Texture

Mod Trees

Today's card features a Simon Says Stamp background stamp called 'Mod Trees Background'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I then brushed clean water all over the embossed area, before adding small amounts of watercolour paint all over the deisgn. I used just three colours, but allowed them to blend together. When that had completely dried, I splattered over some more of each colour, and dried it using my heat gun. I cut the sentiment, using a Creative Expressions die, from a snippet of white card, then glued it to a piece of torn vellum. I folded that around the centre of the watercolour panel, then added it to the front of a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Christmas Time')
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Three Favourite Colours' - Blue, Green & Purple)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes (Optional 'Emboss')
• My Time to Craft - Got to be Christmas

Stocking Garland

Today's card features another stamp I recieved for my birthday called 'Stocking Garland' by Creative Expressions. I stamped it on to black card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder by WOW. I added a sentiment, also heat embossed in gold, then used Cosmic Shimmers watercolour paints and mica pigments to watercolour the image. I matted the panel on to some gold mirror card, then on to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes

Holly Jolly Christmas

Today's card features a Julie Hickey background stamp called 'Holly Jolly Christmas', which I stampe don to black card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder from WOW. I watercoloured it using Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments, then matted it on to some gold mirror card. I cut a sentiment using a Creative Expressions die from some more gold mirror card then added that over the top before attaching it all to a white card blank.

As it's all shimmery and shiny, it was a real pain to get a decent photo of, so here's another that shows the shimmer of the watercolouring a little better:

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Embossing
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

ABC Christmas - N & O are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Lynda is the host, and the themes are:

'N is for No Layers'

&

'O is for Ornaments'

This is the prize on offer for one lucky winner:

For my 'No Layers' card, I stamped a Penny Black chicken stamp, called 'Brightest Xmas', directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added some shine to the lights using Glossy Accents.

The stamps I used on my 'O is for Ornaments' card are from the 'Festive Flurries - Baubles & Bows' set by Creative Expressions. I stamped them on to black card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed them using 'Metallic Gold Sparkle' embossing glitter from WOW. I used a Versark pen to draw a 'string' for each of the ornaments, then heat embossed those, along with the sentiment from the same stamp set, using 'Gold Pearl' embossing powder, also from WOW. I matted the panel on to some gold mirror card, then added it to a black card blank.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Christmas with the Cuties - Fur or Feathers (First card only)
• Creative Inspirations - Feathered Friends (First card only)
• Creative Moments - Let It Shine
• Cutie Pie - CAS (First card only)
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Twinkle (Second card only)
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Iclude Gold (Second card only)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

White Christmas

Today, I have an all white Christmas card to share, featuring a Sizzix 3D 'Snowflakes' embossing folder. I used it to emboss a snippet of white card, then distressed the edges. I cut the sentiment, using a Creative Expressions die, from another snippet of white card, then added a touch of sparkle to it using a Wink of Stella pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Embossing Folders')
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Mostly White
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets & Christmas in July
• Sparkles Forum - No Stamping