Woodblock Wednesday!

I was cleaning for Christmas, dusting the shelves that hold my woodblocks, and found this in the process.  I decided to use it for my card for the first Woodblock Wednesday of 2026.   It's a quilt stamp from PSX from 1994, labeled only with a product number, K-1305.  

supplies: red and white cardstock, PSX quilt woodblock, sentiment from (retired) Hero Arts clear Made with Love set, red ink and white embossing powder, red marker for border

This would be a sampler quilt, made for a special occasion, like a wedding, or to showcase many different blocks at one time.  

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog HERE.

Cardinals in the Snow

As much as I complain about winter, one thing that is pure joy at this time of year is watching the birds at our feeders.  In the last few years it seems like there aren't as many cardinals as in past years, but when we get a snow, then they appear, almost always in pairs, and 3 or 4 pairs at a time!  They are gorgeous at this time of year, all the redder against the snow!

So I decided to make a card to recreate those times.

supplies: colored cardstock, white glitter cardstock, a snowflake embossing folder, rubbed with white ink,  Spellbnders Tweet Cardinal and branch from Sweet Birds on a Branch, Simon Says Stamp Four Seasons die and stamped Winnie & Walter Big Bold Seasons sentiment, several small snowflake dies

What's your favorite bird to see at this time of year?  I love the chickadees and woodpeckers.

SnowDrops!

Hello!  Long time no see!  How was your Christmas? 

Ours was magical!  We thoroughly enjoyed being with our kids and grands and can't wait to do it again.  They all left by New Year's Eve, and then the de-decorating took some time, but I think we're back to normal now.  It's been strange not working on cards everyday, but I've substituted some reading and doing online jigsaw puzzles.  But in my mind I've been thinking about what I'd like to make for my first card for this year.

Our weather has been all over the place since last we were together, anywhere from the frozen tundra and a decent amount of snow to balmy 60 degrees.  In years past we'd be in sunny Florida for the winter months, but those days may be no more, so I decided to find beauty in what I'm given.  

I thought these sweet little snowdrops reflected the season nicely.

supplies: white, aqua, and green cardstock, retired Honey Bee Stamps Pierced Fancy Flakes cover plate die, tumbled glass ink,  Simon Says Stamp Snowbell Bouquet and Pretty Bows dies, and a sentiment from a retired Spellbinders stamp/die set called Sending Sentiments, Audrey Blue ink

That sentiment will work for lots of occasions, I think.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Looking Back at My Favorite Cards

Every year I do a little round-up of my favorite cards from the past year - it's a good way to look back and remember. 

If you'd like details on any of these, just click on it, and you'll be taken back to its original post.  They are in chronological order, beginning last January.

This year, since I cut way back on the number of posts each month, it was much easier to choose just 1 card for each month.

Still a flower girl - too late now to change that!  Well-loved companies have disappeared, so I'm so glad I have kept all my supplies down through the years, and I intend to use them going forward, retired or not.  I can't possibly think of anything else new and exciting coming down the pike, but I'm sure that I'll be proved wrong, as this community is as vibrant and alive as it's always been!

Edited to add: Here are the Top Nine cards from IG for 2025.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I'm wishing you a happy, healthy, creative 2026!  See you in the New Year!

Woodlbock Wednesday

OOPS I'm a week early here!  The challenge is NEXT Wednesday, Dec 31.  I'm still sharing today, as I have a blog post scheduled for then. Sorry for the mixup this may cause!

Here's my final card for this year for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday.  I chose a lovely Memory Box one called Peace Collage and accessorized it with some Tim Holtz goodies and a new cardinal die from Simon Says Stamp.

supplies: colored cardstock, Memory Box Peace Collage, embossed in white, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, Mini Holiday Greens, Simon Beautiful Cardinal, 3 snowflake dies

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog.  They generally come on the last Wednesday of each month.

 Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Bright Christmas

I really loved this month's Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp!  I ordered the stamp set almost immediately because of the 2 large linocut images, which were curated by Tim Holtz.   The kit sold out, but thankfully the stamp set will be available ongoing.  Here are 2 simple cards I made with it the day it was received, 1 for each of the linocuts in the set.

supplies: white cardstock, Bright Christmas village and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Clair Medieval Blue ink

supplies: cream parchment paper, Bright Christmas deer and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Vintage Sepia and Satin Red inks, a red enamel dot, small adhesive foam square

After watching Heidi's video that showcased the kit, I decided that I needed the coordinating dies and the little stencil set, but by then they were on waitlist.  They arrived on Friday.  Hopefully I'll find a little time to play with them before Christmas; if not, they'll be ready for next year's cards.

Are you ready?  Our house is decorated to the hilt with 50+ years of collected goodies; I just need to do a good cleaning before The Day!

Thank you for visiting.

Barn Star Wreath

I love this Barn Star Wreath designed by Annie Williams from Spellbinders!  I didn't get it until Black Friday, but it came quickly so that I could make a few things with it for this year.  First a card.  It's a lovely match with the embossing folder, don't you think?

supplies: colored cardstock and metallic silver cardstock, Spellbinders Barn Star Wreath, (retired) Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder, Simon Says Stamp (retired) Merry die

This die set comes with all of the botanicals you see here, plus the ribbon, the star and 2 sets of different piercings.   I used the 2nd set to make the star again as an ornament in gold.

There are score lines on the star so that you can put in some hills and valleys and make this a bit more dimensional.  For the tree, I thought that the bow and holly were enough of an embellishment.  I cut a 2nd star from white and attached it behind to make it more finished, sandwiching some thread in between as a hanger.

I want to make it a little more rustic next time, foregoing the metallics.

Enjoy your day - thanks for stopping by!

An Angel for Christmas

Last year I chose these PTI Angel dies, but made ornaments with them mostly.  This year I wanted to make a card using them.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, Mint, and gold foil cardstock, Taylored Expressions (retired) Sheet Music embossing folder, PTI Build an Angel dies, sentiment from Spellbinders Sending Joy Sentiments Betterpress plate/die set, Christmas Wreath die set, and Essential Arches die, Polished Brass glimmer foil, tiny pink pearls, adhesive foam

If you'd like to see my angels from last year, go HERE.  This is a wonderful set!  

Christmas is getting closer - are you ready?  This year, both boys and the Grands will be with us!  First time in an eon, and we are SO excited!  

Holly Concert

Today I'm CASEing a card I made back in 2013.  The retired stamps are Penny Black, one a woodblock and the other from a clear set.

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supplies: white and Schoolhouse Red cardstock, Penny Black Holly Concert woodblock, sentiment from Penny Black Joyous, small snowflake die, tumbled glass distress ink, red ink, markers

This is such a sweet image; after all these years, I'm glad to give it some love again. 

We had a sweet snowfall yesterday that really put me in the mood for Christmas!  How about you?

Thanks for visiting today!

Christmas Ribbon cards

 Here are 2 cards using Tim Holtz' Christmas Ribbon dies.  The set has 2 sizes, so I made a card with each one.  I got these because I thought they'd be great for making last-minute cards, and I was right!  So I used the larger for a landscape vieww and the smaller for a portrait one.

supplies: white, Schoolhouse Red, and 2 blue-greens cardstocks, Spellbinders Holly & Foliage 3D embossing folder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas Ribbon and Vault Seasonal Sketch dies

supplies: cream, Lipstick Red, green and kraft cardstock, Spellbinders Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas Ribbon, Holiday Greens Mini, and Funky Festive bow and berries dies 

You'll be seeing more Christmas card ideas here as the month goes on; thanks so much for stopping by!

Winston

About a month ago, around Veteran's Day, we got our first snow.  Big fluffy flakes that stuck to the roof of the house, but not much else.  I took that as a sign to play with Tim Holtz's Colorize Winston.  He's been around awhile, but is new to me this fall.

supplies: colored cardstocks, a snowflake dp, Tim Holtz Winston, Colorize dies and (retired) Tree Line die, Lawn Fawn Build a Snowman bird, Spellbinders Sending Joy Sentiments press plate/die set, red glimmer foil, adhesive foam squares

I first constructed Winston.  He's the largest snowman I have, and he takes up a good area on my A2 card, so I needed a smallish sentiment for this card.  I ended up attaching it to the bottom of Winston before I lifted him above the background

For the background, I cut out the treeline and trimmed it to fit, and tore a piece of white cardstock for the bottom half of my card, and attached them to my card base along with the snowy design paper.   And I always love a little cardinal friend for my snowmen, and this Lawn Fawn one was a good size for him.

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Here he is as an ornament on this year's tree.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spellbinders December Club Kits: What Matters Most

This post will be my last as an influencer for Spellbinders.  It's time for me to slow down here; I've been going full-tilt for 20 some years, and I want to be able to do this only for enjoyment now.  You'll still see me posting, but far less than in the past.  I"m so grateful to Spellbinders for allowing me to play with their amazing products, and I've enjoyed every minute!

The December Spellbinders Club Kits are now available, through Dec. 27!  The theme this month is What Matters Most.  Traditionally, the December kits are made with Valentine's Day in mind, and this year the hearts are more subtle than some kits in the past, but they're there.

My first card pairs the Stencil Kit, Where Love Lands, with the embossing folder, Sweet Stems, and a sentiment from the BetterPress kit, I'd Pick You.

supplies: white and pink cardstock, Where Love Lands stencil set, pinks, blues, greens, yellow, and tan inks, Sweet Stems embossing folder, I'd Pick You BetterPress sentiment, adhesive foam squares

After finishing my stenciling, I decided to fussy-cut out the image, and popped it above the hearts and flowers embossed panel.  The sentiment is perfect for the image!

Next I mixed the Stitching kit, A Perfect Blend, with the 3D folder, Unlock My Heart.

supplies: white, red, aqua, and pale grey cardstock, A Perfect Blend Stitching dies, white embroidery floss, Unlock My Heart 3D embossing folder

Once again this month, there is minimal stitching; only a bit on the half-hearts.  There's also another sentiment in the set.  

Next, here are the Dies of the Month, Better Together and the Glimmer Kit, Soft Hearted.  I also used a sentiment from the Stitching Kit and an Essential Heart die.

supplies: cream, kraft, brown, green, yellow, several pinks, and black cardstock, Better Together dies, Essential Hearts die, Soft Hearted glimmer plate, included Bright Pink glimmer foil, sentiment from A Perfect Blend stitching kit

I really like the Bright Pink glimmer foil!  I foiled it on a medium pink cardstock to use as my background.  After I constructed the pair of owls, I saw that it was pretty busy for them, so I used a heart to separate them.  The sentiment is a die that is included in the Stitching Kit.

This Better Together kit also includes a cute little otter and some sentiments to use with him.

As I said, I liked the foil color this month, so I used it again on the BetterPress plates, called I'd Pick You.  It's a sweet clean and simple design - simply foil the press heart plate and one of the sentiments from the Glimmer kit, then add a bow die-cut from pink metallic cardstock.

 

supplies: white and pink cardstock, pink metallic kraft cardstock, I'd Pick You BetterPress plates, sentiment and matching die from Soft Hearted Glimmer kit,  Bright Pink glimmer foil, Garden Wreath bow

Here is my card using the Large Dies, Wrapped in Care and a sentiment from the Stamp/Die set, Simply Said.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Wrapped in Care dies, sentiment/die from Simply Said, Sweet Stems embossing folder

And finally, my last card features the Caboodle dies, Unwind.

supplies: white and shades of softr peach cardstock, Unwind caboodle bonus dies, sentiment/die from Simply Said, Tiny Heart Scallop 3D embossing folder

I went with soft peaches this time.  And since the caboodle bonus dies are titled Unwind, I used that sentiment from the clear stamp/die set for this month.  It is a sentiment set, containing 14 different sentiments, with dies for each one.  The embossing folder that I used for my background is from a year ago.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Hero Studio for December: Soup There It Is

This will be my last post as an influencer for Hero Arts.  It was such a thrill to come full circle with them, as their Flickr group were the ones to teach me and encourage me to start a blog way back in the early 2000s.  Many thanks to Kelly for this final honor! 

It's time for a new month of  Hero Arts Studio Kits!  This month our theme is Soup There it Is.  The kits are available now for subscription, through the 27th.  Be sure to read all the way down my post to the end, where I quote some changes coming in 2026 to the Subscription Program.

My first card shows you the layering stencils, Pop Art Cans.

supplies: white cardstock, Decemer Studio Pop Art Cans stencils, Citrine, picked raspberry, peacock feathers, and white pigment ink, sentiment from Card Kit stamp set, (retired) Sizzix swiss dot embossing folder

The first thing I thought when I saw this stencil set was Andy Warhol, so I did a google search and settled on this piece of art.  I used these same colors for my card.

So I used the main colors here, hot pink, turquoise, and bright yellow.  Each of the first 3 stencils were done in 1 of these colors, and then I used a white pigment ink for my 4th layer.  It was interesting to see the colors that resulted when layering the 3 colors.  I really liked the dots on the original art, so I followed suit, using an old swiss dot embossing folder after my stencilling was complete.   The sentiment is from the Card Kit set this month.

The Card Kit this month consists of a large stamp set and matching dies, called You're Super, plus another set of dies called Big Squishy Hugs.  Here's the stamp/die combo card I made.

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, December Card Kit You're Super stamps/dies

The stamp set has 2 sizes of soup pots, the vegies and accessories you see here, and a total of 9 different sentiments.  And there are dies for everything in the matching die set.  Sick or not, I love home-made soups, so this was fun to put together.

The Big Squshy Hugs dies are next.

supplies: colored cardstocks, December Card Kit Big Squishy Hugs dies and sentiment

This die set contains dies to make the card front in 2 halves, dies to detail the arms, and a large heart to tuck in between them.  I used another of the sentiments from the stamp set from this month, along with matching dies.  In essence, you make 2 slightly different halves for your card front, and then nest them together.  I left my arms loose so that I could tuck in the heart.  Quite a clever design!

The Studio Collection is available now through the 27th of the month.  Currently the Studio includes 5 separate kits: a Card Kit, Layering Stencils, Fancy Dies, a Cling stamp, and a Clear Set of Stamps and matching Dies.  You can also get The Whole Studio, which includes all of the kits at a discount, plus a bonus item each month.  

Before I go, I wanted to direct your attention to an announcement from Hero Arts regarding changes coming in 2026 to the subscription program.

"We want to share a quick update about exciting changes coming to our subscription program. In January 2026, My Monthly Hero is back! We’re returning to two simple, value-packed plans—My Monthly Hero for $45/month and My Monthly Super Hero for $75/month—both offering the inspiring designs you love at better pricing than ever.

As part of this transition, individual Cling, Die Set, Stamp & Cut, and Layering Stencil subscriptions will be retiring. And as an early thank you, December’s Hero Studio pricing for the Card Kit and Whole Studio already reflects the new 2026 rates.

For more information, please check out our My Monthly Hero section on our FAQs page."

Here Comes Christmas!

 I've got all my assignments finished, so now I can play!  I need to get my act in gear and make some Christmas cards.  Here is one that mixes some new (to me) goodies with some oldies.

supplies: cream, 2 greens, tans, and Lipstick Red cardstock, vellum, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Vintage Reindeer, Simon Charming Berry Branch, Taylored Expressions (retired) Winter Flurry embossing folder, Hero Hues Sunset enamel dots, Spellbinders Handwritten Holiday Sentiments dies

I've had this "Bambi" on my list since it was released, and decided I'd better grab it now before it disappears.  It also has lots of acessories for the deer: a scarf, Christmas lights, holly, and tiny ornaments.  The Berry Branch is fairly new - Jen McGuire made me buy it to make wreaths.  And the smallish "Merry" sentiment fit in just right after everything else was glued down.  It's nice that each word in that sentiment set has a shadow die to match; makes a smaller die easier to get straight on your creations.  I can't seem to make a card anymore without an embossed background, and I like the spacing and size of the snowflakes here.

Thank you for stopping by today!