Another JOY card and more inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas.

 Today I’m sharing another JOY card, along with two smaller cards I made during my time at home this past week. I’m really enjoying coming up with different ways to use this die! I still have a few cards to catch up on from Justine’s 12 Days of Christmas, but I made time for these projects, including two inspired by Days 4 and 5.

For my JOY card, I chose an NZ A6 card base, which fitted the die a little better. I embossed the background panel with Altenew Dotty Circles, then cut JOY from pale blue glitter card and the centre of the O from dark blue card. For the Nativity scene, I used textured, sandy-coloured card and added a star cut from gold glitter card. The scene die came with a magazine many years ago!

My next two cards use 4-Bar bases, measuring 3.5” x 5”. These were left over from cutting my 5” square card bases, so this was a lovely chance to use up the offcuts.

Inspired by Day 4

For the first of these smaller cards, I used the Altenew Dotted Starburst Debossing Cover Die for the background and added strips of red, gold and green glitter card. The poinsettia was already in my stash, cut from red card that I’d sprayed with glitter spray. It’s so shimmery and shiny in real life! I cut the largest poinsettia layer from green card to sit behind the flower, added a gem cluster to the centre, and finished with a Merry Christmas sentiment die-cut from dark green card.

Inspired by Day 5.

For the next card, I embossed the base with the Snowfall 3D folder and added a Catherine Pooler Trellis Frame die-cut, keeping all the little pieces in place. I’d originally made this for the Day 4 card but changed my mind, so I was pleased to find a home for it here. The Couture Creations Ringing Bell image was also waiting in my “to be used” container, already stamped and cut with my Scan’n’Cut. I added a touch of colour to the bow and holly, then gave the bell a generous layer of Wink of Stella for extra shimmer.

It’s always satisfying to use up offcuts and give those waiting-in-the-wings pieces a place on a finished card. Between the glitter card, textured backgrounds and little touches of shimmer, these three makes have given me plenty to enjoy!

Justine's 12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

Lately, my friend Cindy has been sharing some beautiful cards she created for Justine Hovey’s 12 Days of Christmas series, and they inspired me to join in. The free sessions had already begun, so I decided to purchase the upgrade and catch up.

Here’s my take on Day 1.

The design brief called for a white embossed background, gold splatters, washi tape, a white focal image, and a gold die-cut sentiment.

I chose a landscape layout to make the most of my embossing folder, which features large snowflakes and a delicate snowfall pattern. It’s a 3D folder from a Card Making Magic magazine that I picked up at my local stationery store. Once the background was embossed, I added a strip of washi tape and a scattering of gold splatters for a little festive sparkle.

For the focal image, I used a white die-cut poinsettia. A touch of gold in the flower centre ties it in beautifully with the gold die-cut sentiment and the splattered background.

It’s been a long weekend here in New Zealand, with Labour Day commemorating the struggle for the eight-hour working day—a right New Zealand workers were among the first in the world to claim in 1840. Because I don’t work on Fridays, the break has felt especially long, giving me plenty of time in my craft room.

I’ve also taken a few extra days off this week after being encouraged to use some of my accumulated leave, which means even more time for crafting. I’ll have more Christmas cards to share over the coming days!

A Festive Poinsettia Card Inspired by Crafting with Donna

I recently discovered the lovely Craft with Donna channel on YouTube, and one of Donna’s beautiful cards immediately caught my eye. Inspired by her design, I decided to create my own version—and I’m delighted with how it came together.

 

I started with a lovely poinsettia die set that includes extra branches and berries. To give the flower a fuller look, I die-cut the poinsettia several times from white card, layered the pieces, and added a gold glitter centre. I cut the branches and berries from green and gold card, then cut additional berries from red card. After a little fussy cutting, I layered the red berries over the green ones for a festive pop of colour.

I loved the square format Donna used, so I made a 5¼-inch card base—slightly smaller than hers—with a 5-inch panel. I stamped a fine-line sentiment from the Rosie’s Studio Hearth + Home stamp set, then arranged the poinsettia, branches, and berries around it. A scattering of gold glitter dots added the perfect finishing touch.

I love how this card turned out, and I’m already planning to make a few more using poinsettias in different colours. It’s a simple way to give the same design a fresh new look each time.

Christmas Cardmaking with Poinsettia Sticker Tape

 A quick creative update from me today: over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on a festive set of Christmas cards using some Poinsettia Sticker Tape I recently purchased.

I made four cards in this set, combining the poinsettia tape with die cuts and a little stamping to add extra detail and dimension. The tape gave each card an easy festive starting point, while the die-cut pieces helped to create a more finished handmade look.

It was a lovely way to play with a new product and put together a coordinated mini collection of Christmas cards. I always enjoy projects where a few simple supplies can be mixed and matched to create variations that still feel like they belong together.

I’ll share the finished cards here, along with a few notes on how I used the tape, die cuts, and stamping. 

First up - Peace

Using Hero Arts Peace die and stamp set.  

Next-

This one used a large Joy die - the "O" made with the sticker tape.   Added a little stamped sentiment die cut and ink blended. 

Next -

Used an oval die from Gina K Master Layout with the scalloped backing layer in dark green and a gold die cut sentiment and finished with three little gold dots. 

And finally -

For this one I used a large die cut sentiment and some stitched rectangles from a Gina K Master Layout die. 

Have you started your Christmas cardmaking yet?

 

Crafting with a friend- fun afternoon of creating.

One of the best things about paper crafting is sharing it with a fellow crafter, and yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my friend Suna at her home in Orewa. It's about a 30-minute drive from my place, and it was well worth the trip.

I arrived around midday and we got straight into crafting. After about an hour of creating (and chatting!), we took a break and walked to a local café just five minutes from her apartment for lunch. After a delicious lunch, we headed back for more crafting before I left for home at 4.20 pm.

Despite spending over three and a bit hours together, I only managed to complete two cards. Then again, there may have been a little too much chatting happening!

My first project was a Christmas card featuring some recently purchased poinsettia-themed sticker tape.

I placed a strip of the tape across the centre of my card panel and then used two dies from the Spellbinders A2 Curved Borders One set to divide the panel into two sections. I chose a stitched border for the top section and a plain border for the bottom, adhering both pieces back onto the panel while leaving the decorative tape visible in the centre.

The sentiment is from Rosie’s Studio Hearth & Home and was stamped onto the lower panel using Nocturne Versafine Clair ink.

To finish the design, I created a poinsettia using a new die set. Although the set includes three layers, I felt the largest layer was too big for this card. Instead, I cut two of the smallest layers from red cardstock and layered them together, then cut the middle layer from green cardstock. For the flower centre, I used white cardstock coloured with a yellow Posca Glitter pen. The set also includes foliage dies, which I cut from green cardstock.

I'm really pleased with how this card came together.

My second card also showcases a new die set featuring an arched panel and a flowering branch.

I cut the branch twice from white cardstock. For the base layer, I coloured the branch using a grey-green Spectrum Noir marker (thanks to Suna and her pens). On the second die-cut, I coloured the flowers with pink Altenew ink and then carefully fussy-cut them out. The die design makes this process surprisingly easy, with cut lines that clearly define the flowers and buds.

Once everything was layered together, I adhered the floral branch to the white arched panel. For the background, I added a piece of blue watercolour paper from a Scrapbook.com paper pack to the card base. The die set also included a couple of extra floral elements, so I created a small cluster in the top corner. After that, I decided the card didn't need anything else. Sometimes the simplest finishing touch is no extra embellishment at all.

The cards were fun to make, but the real highlight of the day was spending time crafting with a friend. We shared stamps, dies, ideas, and plenty of conversation. There's something special about being able to bounce creative ideas off one another while working on projects side by side.

I'm entering my second into Darnell's NBUS challenge.  All the dies used from the one set are having their first outing.  

Christmas Cardmaking: Silver Sparkle and a Festive Poinsettia

Over the weekend I managed to create a couple of Christmas cards. The first one started out as an entry for a Time Out Challenge, but I soon realised I had not read the theme quite correctly. The challenge was to choose two items from a list, and I had only chosen one: monochromatic. Even though it did not quite fit the brief, I was still really pleased with how elegant the card turned out.

I was inspired by a YouTube video I watched on the Altenew channel, where Erica created cards in white and silver. I loved the elegance of that colour combination and decided to try something similar.

I had recently purchased a Christmas die from my local stationery store, which included a snowflake edge die and an ornament. Using Altenew Stirling Glitter cardstock, I die cut both pieces, then added the snowflake edge down the left side of the panel and placed the ornament on the right.

For the sentiment, I used one from Rosie’s Studio Home & Hearth set and embossed it with Altenew Antique Silver powder.  I used some holographic card to mat the panel.  To finish the card, I used some of the tiny stars left over from the snowflake edge die cut as embellishments. They were perfect little details and tied the whole design together beautifully.

My second card was a quick one I made on Saturday. I am still trying to find my missing Poinsettia die set, but while searching I came across my Hero Arts Woodblock Antique Poinsettia stamp and the matching dies, so I decided to put them to use.

I stamped the poinsettia twice on red card and once on green shimmer card. The coordinating dies include three pieces, which made it easy to cut the layers and build up the flower. Once assembled, I added a gold gem to the centre for a little festive shine.

For the background, I embossed a white panel with a Christmas folder and added a scrap of music paper that I had used on another recent project. I matted the white layer onto red card, and in the end, I decided the design did not need a sentiment.

It was lovely to get a little festive crafting done over the weekend, even if the first card did not quite work for the original challenge. I now have two more Christmas cards ready to go, and both have a very different feel: one elegant and sparkly, the other traditional and warm.

One die - two different cards

I'm back... we had the most amazing 12 days with Emma, Andrew, Archer and Finlay... full of adventures. Went to Kings Park on King's Birthday Monday holiday and saw the wild flowers and watched the 21 gun salute... Boy was it loud!   Visited Caversham Wildlife Park, which was awesome- patted Kangaroos, saw Koala in trees, farm animals and lots of amazing birds and other wildlife.  Spent a day at the Royal Perth Show - animals, watched Polo Cross, and the kids had rides and played on the side shows.   Lots of playgrounds visited, watched Finn's swimming class.  Took an adventure into the city with Archie to see the Dinosaurs Alive exhibition and did a tour of the Perth Mint.  Visited two of the Giants in Mandurah for the day.  And took Archie to play Mini Golf, 10 pin bowling and spend some time in the Arcade!  All in all, a busy but fun time. 

So after 2 weeks no crafting... I managed to spend some time in the craft room this afternoon.   While I was away I purchased Crafting Inspiration #9 magazine.  It came with some Crafters Companion goodies - a stamp set, a die, an embossing folder and a stencil.   Today I CASED a card from the magazine - changing up the colours mostly...

I chose a grey-blue card for my base.  I die cut the little square die and trimmed it into three pieces.  I layered them onto a panel the same colour as the card base and added white strips down each side.  I die cut an oval for the focal point to sit on.   I stamped the vase and orange tree from the stamp set and coloured with markers and fussy cut it.   Added to the oval and finished with a little white embossed sentiment from the set.

I love the look of splitting the die into three and adding to the card so decided to try it for a Christmas card.

I die cut the square from gold card and trimmed it into three pieces and added to a red panel.  Added this to the white base and then added a focal image of a Poinsettia.  This is a Hero Arts stamp which I gold embossed onto white and dark green card.  I fussy cut the centre part of the white one and after fussy cutting the green one, layered it on top.  Cut some dots from the same gold card and added to the card. 

As first one was the first time using these dies and stamps, I am adding it to the October NBUS challenge. 

Christmas cards - building up the stash.

 The weekend before last on the Sunday I did manage to get a couple of cards made, but haven't had time to post them. 

First card - using a stenciled background. 

I used a stencil I purchased to use with my gel plate - from the local Art Store.  Used 3 tones of Catherine Pooler green inks to make an ombre background.  I then used a Poinsettia that was in my to-be-used pile.   I think it is a Hero Arts one. Added a little Waffle Flower sentiment - from Star Snowflake set.   A few gold dots to finish.

And my second card used the same stencil, but on my gel plate. 

I attempted to used some paints with the stencil set.   Didn't quite turn out quite how I wanted.  So trimmed a panel to added to the left hand side.  Took an oval die cut and matching scallop die.  I had used a embossed the oval with Dots and Circles folder.  The Nutcracker is fussy cut from a PP set.    Finished with a fussy cut banner - stamped onto red card with a red rubber stamp.   Added some glittery dark red dots.  

Well today was an interesting one....I was still feeling unwell so decided to stay home as I was coughing a lot and hadn't slept well on Sunday night.  I slept on and off all morning... feeling hot and cold.  Around lunch time, I got up to have a shower and boom, I collapsed in the shower - lost consciousness momentarily and scratched my leg.  I rang the ambulance - and got taken to the local hospital.   Turned out I tested positive for Influenza A... and collapsed due to dehydration.    7 hours later, made it back home.  And a week off work!   Thanks to our wonderful health system.  

 

Positively Poinsettias

 Second post today - see my Sweet Stampin' Challenge post - HERE

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I've been having a ball the last few days, getting back into my craft room and having a good old play!

I have made around 6 cards in the last week... but today I'm sharing my entry into the Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Positively Poinsettias

I was looking through my stencils for another card and saw my Waffle Flower Layering Poinsettia Duo and decided it was time to make a start on my Christmas cards.  First for 2025! 

Using this stencil certainly makes a quick card. I started with white card and the first stencil - the leaves, dots, stars etc.  I used some Altenew Fresh Dye ink - Eucalyptus.  I added some Lunar Paste (Slippy when wet) with my finger over the stars.  Once it dried, I added the second stencil and Altenew's Burnt Red ink for the flowers. I used the scalloped die from Gina K Master Layout 4 and added to a white cards base.  I stamped a sentiment from Kaisercraft - Christmas Quotes stamp set and die cut with a circle die from Gina K Master Layout 4 and its matting layer in red card.   Added a few little die cut stars.   

Christmas challenge at Sweet Stampin'

 It's time for our December challenge at Sweet Stampin' - and both teams are taking part in providing some samples to inspire you.   Our challenge is Christmas. 

Here's the card I made.

I recently added the Poinsettia stencil to my Waffle Flower Postage set.   This is the first time I've used it... I used a few different Altenew inks - in pinks, greens and blues.  I white embossed some stars onto my red base.  After I die cut the postage die I used the stencil and then cut it up to add to the panel.  The sentiment is from Waffle Flower Star Snowflake stamp set.  

Do come to join us at Sweet Stampin' Challenge. 

Christmas Poinsettia with Burlap and Lace

 I've had a couple of stamped and embossed Poinsettia images on my desk for a while.  I was gifted them - just for the life of me, can't remember who it was and which company made them....  I had watercoloured one of the images with red paint and fussy cut it, So over the weekend, I took a second image and used some green paint to watercolour it and fussy cut it too. I then liberally spritzed with some Shimmer Spritz Frost.   Layered them together to make a fuller Poinsettia. 

A while back I picked up a roll of burlap that had a centre row of lace already sewn on it.   I thought it would look lovely with the poinsettia - and it did.   I had some pre-printed digital sentiments and used an Altenew die to cut one out.   So a very quick card was done with the addition of a green gem in the centre of the flower.  

Cardstock Christmas at Jingle Belles.

 I saw this challenge when my bloggy friend Jo entered.  Although I have hundreds (literally hundreds) of patterned paper pads... I still most tend to use just cardstock.  So thought this challenge was for me! 

While scrolling through my Splitcoaststampers newsletter I saw that Watercolor Wednesday challenge was to use watercolor powders.   I knew I wanted to try a colourful Poinsettia  so pulled out my Pixie Powders and a Nuvo shimmer powder and some mixed media card from Fabriano and went to town.  The flower was using Pixie Powders in Lava Red and Purple Violet.  One half went really red and the half more in purples and blues.  For the green I used the Nuvo shimmer powder in Atlantis Burst.  One dry I stamped Hero Arts Woodblock stamp - Antique Poinsettia and then cut with the matching die and layer all together.   Added some Altenew Pure White spray splatters onto the flower.  For my background I went with an embossing folder for some texture.

I am also entering this one into The Flower Challenge...Colour your Flower  

Had great fun playing with the powders.  I still have a number of sheets from a previous session and will be using one for tomorrow's post, so keep an eye out for that. 

Happy crafting this weekend. 

Poinsettia Christmas

 I case'd one of my own cards with this card... in fact I made two of them 

I used the same design - just changed up the colour of my arch, poinsettia  and leaves, and used a different sentiment.   Just used the same embossing folders.   The arches are from a Hero Arts set, and the sentiment is from Scrapbook.com.  

Here's the original

Now to address and send all my local cards to friends and family.   

Woodblock Wednesday

 It's that time of the month.... time for Amy Tsuruta's Woodblock Wednesday Challenge.  I'm loving pulling out my older stamps and using them. 

Three woodblock stamps for this one.   Can you see where I did some masking on my post card stamp?   I masked the stamp prior to stamping it.  It's an old favourite from Hero Arts.  I added a stamp from a washi strip from 49 and Market.  They are just gorgeous stamps on a washi roll.    The Merry Christmas and poinsettia stamps are both from a now defunct NZ company called Kiwi Spoinsetamping.    I stamped the poinsettia onto a scrap of white and used some cheap watercolour pens to add the colour.  The red is the pen directly onto the card and then I scribbled some onto my mat and used water and a paint brush to add the lighter colour.    

Thanks for stopping by.  It's going to be a full on weekend as I'd the Stress Free Card Summit.   So I'm going to have a head full of ideas - just hope I find some time to watch all the video's and get some cards made. 

Purple Poinsettia - a non traditional Christmas card.

 This month's challenge at Christmas Kickstart is all about a colour palette.

 Of course this palette is right up my alley as I LOVE the colours of Purple.  I was inspired by my bloggy friend - Linda with her gorgeous entry using a poinsettia.  

I used a Hero Art Woodblock stamp - Antique Poinsettia.   I too two sheets of PP from an Anko pack called Marble.  I stamped first onto a grey marble paper and fussy cut it out.  Added some pale purple marker to the leaf portion.  Next stamped was twice onto the purple marble paper.  Each time in the different shades of purple.  I then fussy cut the two layers.  The second layer had dimensional dots between it and the base, and the top layer was added directly to the second. Three little purple gems finished the centre.  I found the soft purple background in a Recollections pack called Northern Lights.  I decided I needed a little something more, so used a Kaisercraft Rectangle Fancy Frames die to cut a frame.  The sentiment is a Scrapbook.com die that was a gift when buying some stuff from them.  Cut it from purple but it didn't look right - so cut from white and layered the two together. 

And because I used a woodblock stamp, this one is going into Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge -Here is the stamp with the card, 

Today was a work from home day so once I finished for the day I quickly did the housework and then off to the craft room for the next couple of hours.  A productive afternoon making this one.  

Peace Love and Joy

 Today was a work from home day - so I managed a card during my tea breaks and lunch break.. I saw this great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches on my bloggy friend Karren's blog 

This week brought another package from Krafter's Cart and some lovely goodies from my friend, Arlene... I had purchased an Altenew stamp and die set from last year - a Christmas one - Holiday Flower Stamp.  So it got a try out today.

I found this gorgeous Christmas paper in my LARGE stash of patterned paper.  I trimmed it down to fit the sketch - made a red layer and added to a green 5" square card base.   I stamped the flower with some Versafine Onyx Black and clear embossed it, onto some Fabriano Bristol paper. Ager die cutting it out,  I did some watercolouring with Altenew's Woodless Watercolour pencils.  They move so beautifully on this paper.  The sentiment is from the stamp set and is silver embossed onto black card and die cut with some Altenew Featured Sentiment dies.

As the stamps and die are having their first outing, I'm entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge.

I'm hoping to get some more play time this weekend... so much new stuff to play with.

Using Patterned paper for Christmas

 I have a couple of cards to share today using some of the Anko (K-Mart) paper that I got the other week.  

This one used a small panel of the patterned paper.  I layered it with some red card, and layered it onto a white embossed panel, also layered onto some red card and onto a green card base.  I die cut a Spellbinders Poinsettia out of red and green and layered to make my flower.  I added some printed sentiments (from Lily of The Valley)   

I am entering this into the Christmas Kickstart Challenge...If it's Christmassy - link it up

I used two different papers to make this one.  Layered a gold strip across the join and added another of the Lily of the Valley sentiments.  They are a digital set.  A very CAS card.  

Thanks for stopping by... Christmas is sneaking up quickly... 

Variation on a theme.- Inked Embossing folder

 The other day I made an inked embossed background for a Christmas card - in green ink.  You can see it here.   

So I decided to try out some other ink colours....

For this first one I used Catherine Pooler's Peppermint Spa ink with my embossing folder.  I used some pearlescent paints to colour up my Poinsettia stamp.  I added it to a kraft base.  

My next one uses Catherine Pooler's Royal Treatment ink

For my Poinsettia, I used some creamy gold pearlescent paint.  A few gems finished it off. 

I did another inked embossed background with some pink ink, but it didn't turned out so good as I added too much water to my card base and the ink spread too far.  I will probably use it to do some die cutting.   Waste not, want not! 

Today I had to have an x-ray and ultrascan on my left shoulder as I am having pain in it. I've been having physio but it hasn't been getting any better.   Hopefully I'll get a diagnosis from the tests.   Luckily it's not affecting my ability to craft!!!  Just hurts to reach behind to do up my bra.    

thanks for stopping by today.  I appreciate all your visits.  

Christmas in July at Die Cut Divas

Hi there.  It's time for me to share my card for Die Cut Divas - our theme for month is Christmas in July.   We have an awesome sponsor this month -

Cheapo Dies has increased their inventory with the addition of well known die brands like Elizabeth Craft Designs, Memory Box, Sizzix, Hero Arts, PoppyStamps, Lawn Fawn and a whole lot more. Be sure to check Cheapo Dies out here.

Cheapo Dies offers a $15 gift certificate as the prize for our winner of the July challenge,

so get started on the Christmas cards!

Today I have a CAS card.  

I embossed the background with a Couture Creations folder.  My poinsettia is by Spellbinders.  I die cut the three inside petals in red card and used the rubber mat to emboss.  I cut the largest layer in green card to simulate the leaves.  I added a little pearl embellishment to the centre.  

Do come and join the challenge this month.  And don't forget to check out all the goodies at  Cheapo Dies here. 

Pop of Red at Sweet Stampin'

Welcome ... today is a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' - A pop of Red.

As you may know I'm on a number of Design Teams and I used Microsoft OneNote so I can keep an eye on when I need to have a card made for each team.... Well today I totally dropped the ball... I don't have a new card ready.  So I quickly looked through my archives to find something to with a Pop of Red.

I made this Christmas card back in 2014. I have always love the simplicity of this card with the texture from the embossing folder and the pop of red from the poinsettia.  I have to say that my photographing of cards has certainly improved over the years.    I use a photo box these days which allows better lighting on my cards.

Do come and join our challenge this week....