Christmas Joy: Two Festive Cards from One Fabulous Die

Christmas cards are my favourite  type of card-making, and today I’m sharing two cheerful designs created with the same JOY focal die. By changing the colours, characters, and finishing touches, I gave each card its own personality while keeping the process wonderfully simple.

For the first card, I cut the JOY die from red card. I then die-cut only the centre negative piece from the “O” in white, blended ink over it, and added texture with a 3D Snowfall folder from Card Making Magic magazine.

To create the base panel, I used the two largest dies from Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles: the largest cutting die and the next size down, which adds the delicate pierced-dot detail. Once the JOY was in place, I stamped a sentiment from Rosie’s Studio Hearth & Home set in the lower corner.

Next came the star of the scene: a cardinal from the Waffle Flower Duo Cardinal die set. I cut the bird from white card, then used the coordinating stencils and Altenew inks to build up those gorgeous colours.

A few leftover green branches from a previous project found the perfect home at the bottom of the “O”. I perched the cardinal on top and finished the scene with tiny red glitter dots for berries. Such a simple detail, but it brought the whole design together beautifully.

For my second JOY card, I switched to gold glitter cardstock and made a 5½-inch square card. I used the same embossing folder again, but this time embossed the entire front of the card base before adding the glittering JOY die-cut.

For the focal character, I stamped and die-cut Penny Black’s Snowy. I cut him twice to give the finished piece a little extra stability, then coloured him with Spectrum Noir Tri Blends. Once Snowy was attached to the card, I added Distress Stickles Rock Candy to his pompom for an extra touch of festive sparkle.

I love how differently these two cards turned out, even though they began with the same focal die. One features a classic cardinal and rich red details; the other pairs a playful snowman with shimmering gold. They truly were a JOY to make!

Two cards, two inspirations...

I have two cards to share today: one I made on Friday for a retirement party we attended, and another I created on Saturday for Amy’s Woodblock Wednesday Challenge.

First up is the retirement card. It was made for a woman who had worked with my husband for nearly 30 years. She is heading to Vietnam for a holiday, with a friend,  in a few weeks, so that became the inspiration for the design.

I used Pingwing to find a beach scene, printed it onto an A2 card, and then trimmed it down with a Gina K Master Layout die. I had recently purchased a jandals die, which was perfect for the theme, so I cut the jandals from gold glitter card from Altenew and some black card. To finish, I created the sentiment on my laptop using Word.

My next card came about on Saturday while I was doing a bit of tidying up. As I sorted through some of my woodblock stamps, I realised I was still in time to join Amy’s Woodblock Wednesday Challenge.

For this card, I used a Penny Black stamp called Gossamer. It is such a pretty image, and I came up with the idea to ink blend around the flower, then paint the flower in a lighter tone of the same colour.

I stamped the image and die cut it with a Pinkfresh Studio Folk Edge die. After masking the flower, I added Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and Broken China, blending the colour all around the image. I then used a light wash of Tumbled Glass as paint, with a little Mowed Lawn for the leaves and flower centres.

The sentiment is from a Penny Black photopolymer set, Je T’aime Paris, and I finished the card with a little die cut butterfly from Monte’s Craft Supplies Layered Butterflies die. 

I'm entering this into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes - optional Things with Wings. 

I was really pleased with how this one came together — it turned out just as I had imagined. Thanks so much for stopping by to see today’s cards.

A Crafty Weekend of Watercolour, Florals and Sweet Little Wings

It’s been a wonderfully crafty weekend here. On Saturday afternoon, Grace, Florence and Kieran came round, and naturally Grace wanted to head straight to the craft room. We played with watercolour powders and each made a background before Grace spotted a panel I’d created with Altenew’s Dreamy Daylilies.

I embossed a panel for her with the folder, then she set off with the stencilling. She did such a beautiful job of ink blending, using pinks with three colours on each petal. And lovely soft greens for the leaves. I only wish I had taken a photo of her finished project! I did find a frame for her panel, which made it feel extra special. After she left, I managed to make one Christmas card too, but I’ll share that another day.

Today I headed back into the craft room and decided to join a few challenges. My first card was intended for Time Out Challenge #391, which asked us to use two ideas from a list. Somehow, I misread the theme and only used one, so that card will have to wait for another post!

Once I realised my mistake, I changed track and chose three ideas from the list instead: monochromatic, stitching — faux stitching in my case — and floral.

The pink background is part of the watercolour panel I made yesterday. I die cut it with Gina K Master Layouts 2 to create the stitched panel, then die cut Simon Says Stamp Iceland Poppies from white card.

For the colouring, I used the leftover ink on my blender brushes in shades of pink, with just the tiniest touch of green — hopefully that still counts! I arranged the flowers on the panel and finished the card with pre-printed sentiment strips.

This second card is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for August: “Anything Goes” with the optional theme of "Things with Wings" 

I have a few older Penny Black stamps from when I first started card making, so I pulled out Hedgie Friends, a stamp set from 2012.

I stamped one of the images — Hedgie with a butterfly — along with two of the sweet little dragonflies, then used my Scan’N’Cut to cut them out. The colouring was done with Altenew Woodless Watercolour Pencils. For the background, I chose a pretty teal patterned paper, then added a white strip across the card with the sentiment from the stamp set.

To finish, I layered the circle panel over the strip, added the little dragonflies, and included a few white dot embellishments. It was such a lovely weekend of simply playing, experimenting and enjoying time in the craft room.

Christmas Kickstart - Snow Days

Over the weekend, I managed to sneak a few happy hours in my craft room and create a card for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge theme, Snow Days. I started with one card, but once it was finished, it felt more wintry than Christmassy. So, using the same snowflake embossing folder, I had another go and came up with this festive version.

For the Christmas card, I started with a square panel and ran it through with an old freebie snowflake embossing folder. It may be from years ago, but it still creates such lovely, deep impressions and makes a beautiful snowy background.

Penny Black’s Snowy stamp and die felt like the perfect focal point. I stamped and die cut the image, coloured it, and then added Kindyglitz glitter glue to the pompom and hat for a little festive sparkle. To finish, I added a small red die-cut sentiment from a Sizzix die set.

This the first card I made using the same embossing folder, along with the stamp that originally came with it. I stamped the image first in blue ink, clear embossed it, and then added the embossed snowflake background.

To bring in some extra shimmer, I added sparkle pen details and white Nuvo Drops, then finished the design with a blue snowflake die from Scrapbook.com coloured with sparkle pen. I really liked how this one turned out, even if it felt more like a winter card than a Christmas one.

Season's Tweetings at Christmas Kickstart Challenge

 It’s been a busy week, so I really enjoyed having a little creative “play time” this afternoon while my hubby was out. I decided it was the perfect chance to make a couple of cards for the May Christmas Kickstart Challenge, Season’s Tweetings. After pulling out a few bird-themed stamps and images, I managed to put together two cards in no time.

The first card features the fun Funny Birds set from Mangocraft. I stamped the quartet of birds in black ink and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder for a crisp finish. I also added both the large and small sentiments from the Concord &9th Big On Christmas stamp set, again using clear embossing. To bring the birds to life, I used my Jasart Brights Metallic watercolour paints, which gave them a lovely bright shimmer. I softly blended pale blue ink around the images and added a little extra blue metallic splatter for detail. The finished panel was then matted onto soft red patterned paper and attached to a white card base.

My second card was a much quicker make. I used one of my Penny Black Masterpiece pre-printed panels and cut out the cardinal with a small square die. After matting it with dark brown card, I layered it onto a red square and mounted it on an "Ardyth" Square Card base measuring 4.25 inches. A sentiment strip from my stash was the perfect finishing touch. It came together so easily and makes for a simple but striking card.

It's been great to get a few more Christmas cards done. 

Anything but a Square.... at Sweet Stampin' Challenge

 Time for my team to share our inspiration for the latest challenge at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.   Our challenge this time is "Anything but a Square"

I could have done a rectangle card but decided to try out making a Rocker Card. 

I cut a 6" circle from white card using my Scan'N'Cut and then cut a 5.5" circle from some patterned paper.  Layered them together.  I stamp this cutie from Penny Black Tiny Wishes (discontinued)   It's from 2009 so been in my stash for a long time!  Used some watercolour Aqua Spectrum Noir pens to colour her.  I stamped on some more patterned paper and paper pieced her hat and dress.  I cut her out with a Spellbinders Nestibilities oval and scallop oval dies.  Finished with a pre-printed sentiment. 

Adding this to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes 

Woodblock Wednesday - June 2025

 It's been a wet winter's day today, so after doing the housework I spent some time in my craft room... doing some DT work, and do my July swap card for my NZ swap group.  Carol published the challenge early so we could get spend some time this cold weekend doing crafting... 

I also decided to play along at Woodblock Wednesday challenge.

I used 4 woodblock stamps to make this project.   A Hampton Arts Stamp (dated 2001) called Large Negative Plate - stamped with Catherine Pooler It's a Girl ink,  Hero Arts Old French Writing (dated 2002) randomly stamped in Altenew Gray Denim ink, Penny Black Blush (dated 2006) inked in Onyx Black Versafine ink as was the Stampin' Up sentiment from Ward Wood (dated 2006)  I spritzed and splattered some Distress Spritz in Fossilised Amber and Picked Raspberry.  Die cut the panel and the backing pink panel from Altenew's Mix and Match Frames.  

Penny Black Saturday - Anything Goes - optional Stitching

 Hi - managed to get a bit more crafting done this long weekend.   Including a card for Penny Black Saturday Challenge. - June challenge is Anything Goes - with optional Stitching. 

I have quite a number of older Penny Black stamps and love getting them out again to play.  It's been awhile since I've played at Penny Black Saturday. 

The Penny Black stamp I used was Tiny Wishes (circa 2009) so a bit of an older one!  My stitching is a Stitching Oval from Cottage Cutz and once I had die cut it...I stamped the image.   I used my Altenew Woodless Watercolour pencils to add the colour.  Added some gold glitter pen to the flower and added dots to her dress.  I found the gorgeous patterned paper in a pack from Kate Knight.   Love the pretty flowers and the colours.   I took a second sheet of the paper and fussy cut some of the flowers and the little butterfly to add around oval.  Added some little dark teal dots to the flower centres.  

Back to work tomorrow!  I'm still not 100% - my cough is still bad, rattling around my upper respiratory tract.  I'm soooo over this cold. 

Woodblock Wednesday - March 25

 Finally got all the goodies back into my craft room, changed a few things around, purged some of my endless stash of papers... and had some play time. 

I was ready to make a couple of Easter cards and sitting on top of the box of my woodblock stamps was a delightful Penny Black stamp.  

It's called "Bunny Talk!"  - super cute.  I die cut a panel of Fabriano 160gm paper with a Gina K Master Layout 2 die and then die cut the ribbon scalloped edge die from Master Layout 18 from some gold card.  I cut it down the middle to get the both edges for the panel.  I used a mixture of Inktense Watercolor pencils and Altenew Woodless watercolour pencils to colour the image, together with some ink blending for the sky.  The little sentiment is from a Verve stamp set - Hoppy Easter.   Trimmed some pretty pink dotty paper to fit the card base and added some gold pen around the edge. 

Happy to have been able to get into the craft room to play - and got a bit done.  

Woodblock Wednesday November 2024.

 Time to pull out those woodblock stamps and play along with Amy Tsuruta with her Woodblock Wednesday challenge.  

I chose to use a Penny Black stamp - Brush Rose.  I used Zig Markers to colour the stamp and spritzed with water and stamped.   I used the scripty stamp with some gray ink to randomly add stamping.  Added some gold splatters and some gems.   I die cut a red sentiment (a Paper Rose Happy Birthday Chunky die) backed with some vellum.  

Had a lot of fun making this one.   Got a busy weekend ahead... babysitting on Saturday morning, doing some Christmas shopping in the afternoon, getting the house tidied for my family who arrive next weekend.  Presents to wrap, ironing to be done, names to stitch onto stockings.... never ending!

                  

Woodblock Wednesday.

 Time for Amy's monthly challenge - Woodblock Wednesday.

I had got a few stamps out that needed some love - a few Christmas ones and a couple of others.

I used a scripty stamp from a New Zealand based company - Rubadubadoo and a flower stamp from Penny Black.  I stamped the scripty stamp with Memento Toffee Crunch and did 1st and 2nd generation stamping with the flower.   I cut it with a Gina K Master Layout die and used the Toffee Crunch ink to blend around the edges before stamping the little sentiment from a House Mouse set.  I matted the panel onto a mustard coloured layer before adding to a square base.  

Now to make some more cards using those woodblock stamps I got out.

Craft Roulette #225

 Episode #225 - my 19th submission.   I watched the replay in the weekend and yesterday I made my card.  

An A2 card - with tea party colours - inspired by pretty floral tea cups.  House pet is my little kitty cat and stripes - embossed stripes on the base layer, kitty has grey stripes and the sunshine stripes shining down.  The cat stamp is an older cling from Penny Black - called You are the Bestest.  I stamped with Versafine Onxy Black ink and clear embossed it.  I painted it with Zig Markers.  I added the grass with a Copic marker, and used Distress Oxides to stencil the sunshine stripes.   Finished with a little pre-printed sentiment from Creative Expressions.  

Things with Wings at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

Check out my earlier post - HERE

 I almost forgot to make my sample card for the Sweet Stampin' Challenge starting today... but was quickly able to make my card. 

My panel is by Penny Black - Masterpieces Aglow.   I added it to white card and then layered onto some metallic card.  I stamped the little sentiment from Waffle Flower  Star Snowflake Stamp set.  Certainly a CAS quick card to build up my Christmas supplies. 

Do come and join us at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.  

Woodblock Wednesday - June edition

 It's that time of the month again... time for Amy Tsuruta's monthly Woodblock Wednesday challenge.

I love pulling out my old woodblock stamps and making a card.  This month I pulled out two Penny Black stamps and one from a NZ company called Rubbadubbadoo (it is no longer in business)

I started with a panel of white card and using some Altenew Permanent Mist Gray ink, stamped the scripty stamp from Rubbadubbadoo.  It is very subtle in the background corners.  Next I stamped the Penny Black stamp (Day Dream circa 2009) with black ink and clear embossed it.  I then used Altenew inks - Pink Crystal, Mauve and Berryliscious and Olive for the leaves.  The sentiment from Penny Black (...your heart circa 2003) was stamped with black ink.  I used the same pink inks to blend around the edges of the panel.  I added it to a pink card that is the same size of my base.  

I had fun making this one.  Thanks for stopping by 

Craft Roulette # 219

 Back again for my 14th submission for the Craft Roulette.  

Interesting parameters.  As soon as I saw Folded Corner, I knew I wanted to do a Corner Flip Fold card. 

Project: Anniversary - who doesn't love getting flowers for an anniversary!

Colours: Salad -green lettuce, red tomato, black olives, blueberries, white dressing and brown croutons.

Element - New - first time this stamp is being used. Got it last week.

Random - Folded corner - my card is a Corner Flip fold card.

My Teddy Bouquet stamp is from Penny Black. I got it last week and have been waiting for the ideal time to use him. I watercoloured the image with scribbled Zig Markers and fussy cut it out. It was layered onto the red panel and some white Nuvo Drops finished it off.

As it was Ted's first outing, I'm adding this to Darnell's NBUS Challenge. And to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Anything Goes.

Eclipse Background...

 Well I haven't been about for a bit!   Last Friday I had what seemed to be the start of a head cold.   I had a sore throat and a bit snuffly.   Over the weekend it simmered along and on Monday I was feeling really stuffy and coughing so much... had a day off - did a Covid test - negative.   Headed into the office on Tuesday but was feeling so bad, I came home at lunch time - Tested again   AND POSITIVE this time!  Yes I have COVID.   Roll on Friday - and I am still suffering symptoms. - runny nose, cough, sore throat and still testing positive.   My days have been spend sleeping and reading.  Haven't even had the energy to craft.   So today I am sharing a card I made about 10 days ago - for my local little swap group.

Maxine set our challenge - make an eclipse background!   Using a cover-plate.

I have to say, this one caused me a few headaches.  I really struggled.  First to find a cover-plate that would work.   Then trying to glue a few layers together to get a good look.   Anyway, here's the final result.  I used a Gina K stamp and a Penny Black cover-plate.  Added a foiled sentiment from a Spellbinders set. 

I did make a card on Monday afternoon but haven't had the energy to photograph it.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel a bit better and get it photographed. 

Friday fun - Two cards - two challenges.

 HI there.   I managed to make two cards today, in my breaks from work and after work.  Perks of working from home -early starting and finishing!   

My first card came about as on my Facebook post of one of my lily cards, I mentioned that I was going to do pink lilies and one of my commentor asked if I had done it.   So I decided to make a card for The Flower Challenge with pink lilies.   Their challenge is to use a square card. 

I cut the square die from Gina K Master Layout 3 and embossed it.  Used Altenew Pink Pearl and Coral Berry for the flowers and Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades for the leaves.  I used a Prismacolor pencil to add the colour for the stamen and to add extra texture lines on the flowers and leaves.   Finished with a little Easter Wishes sentiment from a Verve stamp set.  

My second card is for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge.- Get your Grinch on. Use Green 

I have been hoarding some Penny Black Masterpieces Made Simple printed card panels.  I got two sets of the Aglow ones - there are 4 panels in each pack.  They are so beautiful.   

I glued the panel to some dark green card from Scrapbook.com - Sprinkles pad and then die cut the Waffle Flower Postage die.  I then layered some green card under before adding to my white card base.   The sentiment is from Waffle Flower's Star Snowflake set.   Just love the simple CAS look. 

I'm going to be crafting my heart out tomorrow. Hubby is doing his refresher First Aid course all day.  My plan is to just play and have fun.  And do my Design team cards for when I'm on holiday in April. Just to make sure I'm ahead.  

Woodblock Wednesday - February 2024

 Hi.  Time to pull out my woodblock stamps for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge for February.  

My card uses a Penny Black stamp - called day-dreams (circa 2009)  and I've paired it with a little sentiment stamp from a NZ company called Montarga. 

This is a combination of new and old products.   Last week I got an order from Scrapbook.com.  It included Penny Black Background Basics Stencils and an Altenew ink set... Sea Shore so I taped my stencil onto some watercolour card and then ink blended the Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Teal Cave and Galactic Stream inks.  Splashed with some water and once it was dried, stamped the Penny Black stamp and the Montarga stamp in Altenew Obsidian ink.  I used some Prismacolor Pencils to add the colours to the PB stamp.  A few iridescent confetti from Nuvo Drops finished the card.  I just realised I used the same stamp last month!   Totally forgot that!  

Entering this one into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes.  

Amy's Woodblock Wednesday

 It's time for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday Challenge   I love getting out my old woodblock stamps - and yes today's are OLD....

I found a very ancient Stampin' Up set called Fifth Avenue Florals for my sentiment and a 2009 Penny Black stamp called Day Dreams.

I used a Waffle Flower Deckle die to cut out a stencil.  I then taped it to some Hero Arts Vintage Ivory card and used my blender brushes which had Altenew inks on them.   Just used the inks that were left on them to make the soft pastel background.  I stamped the Penny Black stamp over to the left of the card.  I used my Zig Clean Color Brush markers to add a touch of colour.  Stamped the sentiment in the lower riight hand side of the card.  Some little silver gems finished it off.  I matted onto some purple card and added to a white base.

Really pleased with the results.... and believe it or not... this was the first time I've used the sentiment from the Stampin' Up set!  

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' Challenge

It's time for our Christmas challenge at Sweet Stamping Challenge.   It runs for the rest of the month 

 I have a cute Snowy the Snowman card to share. 

My background was a practice piece - where I splattered white ink and gold paint.  I die cut it with Waffle Flower Deckled Frame die and added some dots of a white paint pen for my snow bank.   I stamped Snowy onto some white textured card and used some Altenew paints to colour him up.  Added a hot foiled sentiment from Spellbinders.

I'm also entering this into the Christmas Kickstart Challenge. - If it's Christmasy - link it up!  

Come and join us at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.