Clearly Besotted Joy to the World and MFT Winter Birds Christmas cards

 Hello everyone, and welcome back to another fun round at ABC Christmas Challenges!

This month we’ve got two creative themes to play with:

J for Just Enough (CAS)

and/or

K for Knitwear

For my Just Enough card, I dusted off a very old Clearly Besotted stamp and die set called Joy to the World. I used this set so much when I first got it, and it felt like catching up with an old crafty friend. I stamped the wreath in green, cut it out with the matching die, and then added the berries by over‑stamping and heat‑embossing them in white. To stay true to the CAS spirit, I embossed the sentiment — and I actually stopped there. No extra sprinkles, no last‑minute “just one more thing.” I used to make CAS cards all the time, but my style has wandered over the years, so keeping it simple was surprisingly tricky…

For my Knitwear card, I reached for the adorable Winter Birds set from My Favourite Things. I stamped the birds and foliage, coloured them with pencils, and fussy‑cut the whole gang. Then I made a DL card base and used a Pinkfresh Studio die with round windows—perfect little perches for my feathered friends. I ink‑blended some soft blue into the apertures to suggest sky, and arranged the birds and sprigs so they looked right at home.

I'd like to play along at

Stamping Sensations May Challenge - - Cute Creatures

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Things with Wings

Paper Rock Scissors- anything goes with scissors

Triple B Challenge May 2026 - birds

Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #204 - anything Christmas goes

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #110 - Seasons Tweetings

Neglected Stuff Challenge May 2026 - use old - Joy to the World Stamp set

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Carol x

Spellbinders Colorful Expressions Blossom card

 

Hello everyone, 

I always find this a funny old time of the year. The clocks have changed, and we have darker evenings, so the days seem shorter even though it's the same number of hours. I am someone who tends to want to hibernate until spring, but I also love crisp, sunny autumn days when the trees are displaying their wonderful colours, and leaves are crisp underfoot. I like to spend more time crafting and reading, and this year, I want to try my hand at crochet if I can find someone to teach me. Do you notice changes like this, and have you any plans to learn something new over the autumn/winter?

Anyway, welcome to the new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More. This time, we are looking for creations using die-cuts and/or stencils.

I came up with this card using dies

Spellbinders recently had a sale, and I snapped up the Colourful Expressions Blossoms stamp and dies. I'm not in their club, but this was a good opportunity to try their stamp of the month from a while ago.

I stamped and coloured the lovely flowers, then die-cut them with the matching die. I rooted through some old supplies and found the Pinkfresh Studio Braided Tag die offered a good mat for the background. This die cuts a hole at the bottom, so I covered that with my sentiment made with a Betterpress plate and die-cut. I will add this to my cards that can suit several occasions, depending on what I stamp inside.

The design team has lots of inspiration for you over on the ATSM Blog and we'd love you to join in with us this time.

I'm off to play at

Triple B Challenge November - blossoms

A Cut Above Challenge :November - use a die cut

hA Place to Start November - anything goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #265 - anything goes 

Dragonfly Dreams November Challenge - feminine

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Carol x

Pinkfresh Studio Hanging Florals Christmas card

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to another challenge at ABC Christmas Challenges.

Helen is our Host this time, and she has a great prize for the winner.

                                                             The themes this time are 

'N is for Non-Christmas Stash'

&

'O is for One Layer Cards'

I created this card using the Pinkfresh Studio Hanging Florals stamp.

I masked off a circle and lightly brushed red ink to create a background, then used Christmas colours to make it Christmassy. 

To finish, I added a suitable sentiment and shaped a bow to give a little dimension.

The Design Team has some great inspiration for you over on the ABC Christmas blog, and we'd love to see your entry over there.

I'd like to play along at

Everybody Art Challenge - Christmas in June

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #187 - anything Christmas goes

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #100 - Merry go round

Unicorn Challenge #111 - Christmas in July

Farmquest Country Christmas Challenge - #22 - Christmas

Aud Sentiments Challenge #327 - Christmas in July

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs

Carol x

Pinkfresh Studio Happy Holidays Circle Frame Christmas card

Hello crafty friends, I hope you are well and happy on this wet and dismal day in Manchester! I know we are renowned for our rainfall, but this is getting very boring and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a dry day on St Swithins Day on Sunday lol! I'll stop complaining now because at least I'm getting a little more time to play in the craft room. We are back with a new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More and this time we are looking for Christmas cards.

 

I came up with this card.

I used my NBUS Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Circle Frame stamps, dies and stencils for all the elements and placed them on a scalloped rectangle from My Favorite Things which I inked with red ink. 

I decided to do the stamping with Distress Ink and I like the effect it gave on the flowers and leaves but it doesn't give the crispest look on the sentiment.

You'll find lots of inspiration over on the ATSM blog and you can enter your card over there if you decide to join us this time.

I'd like to play at 

Daisychain Challenge #87 - Christmas in July

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #67 - anything goes

Stamping Sensations July Challenge - Christmas in July 

Dragonfly Dreams July Challenge - Christmas in July

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Crafters Companion Build a Snowman Christmas card and Papertrey Ink and Altenew Jingle Christmas card

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the September Challenge at ABC Christmas Challenges.

This time we have reached S and T in the alphabet so we would like to see your 

S for'Snowmen'

&

T for 'Three of a Kind'

I have a Crafters Companion Snowman stamp and die set that is really sweet and I pulled it out to make my card. While I was looking at the head of the snowman, I decided to experiment with my Altenew Stampwheel and make a kind of wreath with the head. I was just playing and wasn't sure how it would turn out 

but I was really happy with the result. I went round the wheel again with the snowman's hat and then coloured the hats and noses with pencils. I added glitter to the hat brims and bobbles after die cutting with a square die and then inked the edges and stamped a sentiment in the centre.

Three of a kind

For this card, I die-cut a white panel with a Pinkfresh Studio die and backed the three apertures with some patterned paper. I then made a couple of jingle bells with some Altenew stamps and dies that came free with a magazine and added them to the top and bottom holes. For the centre, I stamped and embossed the sentiment and laid it on some gold card to match the little stars I had dotted around.

I thought the design was a bit lacking so I stamped and die-cut the three boughs from a Papertrey Ink set, shaped them a bit and finished off by adding them and three bows to the card.

This challenge runs until 7th October and we'd be delighted if you decide to join in.

I'd like to play along at

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #147 - anything Christmas goes

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #78 - Chillin with my Snowmies

Christmas with the Cuties #73 - - something snowy

Peace on Earth Challenge #47 - anything - anything Christmas themed

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Hero Arts and Pinkfresh Studio You Make a Difference birthday card

Hello everyone and welcome to the new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

This time we'd like you to make your mark by using any colouring medium you choose.

I came up with this one:-

 I began by colouring some white card with pale green Pan Pastel. I then stamped the floral frame stamp from the collaboration stamp set that Hero Arts and Pinkfresh Studio made called You Make a Difference. I stamped with pale green ink and then went over all the image with alcohol markers. 

I cut the image apart with my NBUS die called Halfsies Diamond from The Greetery, which left a diamond shape offcut which continued the image into the centre. I cut another 2 Halfsies in white card and then coloured the edge with a yellow alcohol marker to tone in with the image. Finally, I arranged all the pieces onto a square card and placed the stacked die-cut sentiment from Avery Elle in the middle.

Our design team have some great hand-coloured samples for you over on the ATSM blog and I hope you feel inspired to join us this time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x 

Lisa Horton Sunflower Garland card

 

Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More.

This time we have our Die Cuts and Stencils challenge, and I came up with this card:-

I used my new Lisa Horton Sunflower Garland dies, colour layering stencils and embossing folder for this one to make a landscape DL-sized card.

The process was quite simple and I really like the depth of the embossing although I found it hard to capture in a photograph. I used a mixture of die inks from various companies for the colouring and used brighter colours for the centre flower so it would draw the eye. The sentiment is from Altenew and was embossed in white.

As always, the design team have some great inspiration for you over on the blog and if you decide to join us, you can enter your card over there.

I'd like to play along at

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Use a stencil

Unicorn Challenge #87 - Flowers

Happy Little Stampers May Challenge - Anything birthday goes

Make My Monday Challenge #199 - flowers

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

pinkfresh studio essentials slimline stitched rectangle dies

The Greetery Twinkle Background and Pinkfresh Studios Hanging Florals Christmas cards

Hello everyone and welcome to the penultimate challenge of the year over at

Our host this time is the talented Marie

and she has a prize for the lucky winner.

Our themes this time are 

W for White

and/or

X for Xtra Special

and I came up with this 

W for White

I used the beautiful new Twinkle background die from The Greetery and put some glitter card behind it for some sparkle. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and I backed it with a glimpse of blue to help it stand out before winking it with some Wink of Stella. You can see the sparkle a bit better in the next photo.

 X for Xtra Special

For this card I cut 3 circles of white card and one of red. I used a cut-in Card Making Magic die on the top circle and glued the red behind it. I folded another white circle to create an easel shape and glued it between the 2 circles to create an easel card. For the embellishments, I stamped and die-cut the Pinkfresh Studio Hanging Florals image and coloured it with Copics. I stacked several of the die cuts to give some dimension and glued them to the card after stamping the sentiment from Clearly Besotted. Even though I coloured the image in reds and greens, it didn't look very Christmassy so I die cut some poinsettias from the Spellbinders Etched Holiday Blooms and placed them over the other flowers.

I stamped a simple sentiment from Papertrey Ink to create the stepper, added some glitter drops and a sprig of holly then called it done. There is room for my personal message on the base circle or on the back of the red card.

You'll find lots of inspiration over on the ABC Christmas Challenges blog and you can enter your cards over there too if you decide to join us this time.

I'd like to play along at

Try it on Tuesday - Sparkle and Shine

Unicorn Challenge #83 - Christmas is Coming

The Flower Challenge #74 - add embellishments

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - anything Christmas Goes

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #27 - anything Christmas Goes

International Art and Soul #146 - Christmas card

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - Christmas

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

You Make a Difference and Hello Bluebird birthday card

 Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More. This time we want to see your birthday projects.

I came up with this card

I stamped the main floral frame image from my NBUS collaborative stamp set from Hero Arts and Pinkfresh Studio called You Make a Difference. I coloured the flowers and foliage with Copic markers, and although it doesn't show up well in the photos, I also added some dots of stickles on some of the flowers, and this glistens very nicely in real life. The sentiment is from Happy Wishes by Hello Bluebird and I embossed it with Brutus Monroe Gilded embossing powder.

I wanted to mat the image but didn't have any gold card/paper that matched the sentiment so I used the old trick of adding Versamark around the edges of a panel of white card and embossed it with the same embossing powder. To finish off I added a few sparkly pink pearls.

As always, you'll find lots of great inspiration over on the ATSM blog and it would be great if you joined us in the gallery.

I'd like to play along at

The Flower Challenge #62 - add leaves

Hand Stamped Sentiments #376 - hand stamped sentiment

NBUS Challenge #32 - NBUS Stamps

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

MFT Sweet Holiday Penguins slimline Christmas card

 

Hello friends and welcome to the penultimate challenge of the year over at ABC Christmas Challenges. 

We are nearing the end of the alphabet so our themes for this month are 

W for Whimsical

and/or

X for Xerox (Multiples of the same image or card)

Our host this month is the lovely Lynda from Loopyloo Cards and she has a great prize for the winner.

I only had time for one card this time and went for 

W for Whimsical

I made a landscape slimline card using the Pinkfresh Studio slimline card dies and for the top layer, I used the Stitched Scalloped Circle die which I layered over some snippets of white spotty blue paper from my use-up drawer. 

The cute penguins are from the My Favorite Things Sweet Holiday Penguins set and I stamped, coloured and fussy cut them out. As the centre penguin is balancing those gifts on his head, I decided to add an action wobbler behind him so he could wobble about and be in danger of dropping them. Well, it pleases my sense of humour lol!

I finished off with a sentiment from the same set, a couple of beribboned presents from my use-up drawer, and a few resin stars.

You will, of course, find lots of inspiration from my talented teamies over on the ABC blog and I hope you will join in with us this time. We're also having a DT call, so if you might be interested in joining us for next year, do take a look!

I'd like to play along at

Fab n Funky Challenges #538 - Christmas

Christmas Kickstart #56 - Christmas snippets

Unicorn Challenge # 71 - Christmas/Winter

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Penny Black Critter Party, Concord and 9th and Pinkfresh Studio Birthday card

Hello friends,

If you are in the UK, I hope you have enjoyed the lovely weather we've been having for the past week or so. I love the light in autumn before the clocks go back, and the changing leaf colours I see on my walks are just gorgeous. I'd like to introduce the new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More, where we would love to see you Make Your Mark.

I chose to make my mark with my Zig Clean Colour Brush markers.

For the background panel, I cut a stitched rectangle of card and then stamped the semi-circular sentiment from Concord and 9th Rainbow Sayings in black ink. Once the ink had dried, I passed the panel through the die-cutting machine with my new Memory Box Pinpoint Burst Plate, before matting it onto some red card. I dug out an old stamp set from Penny Black called Critter Party which I've had for @ 10 years, as I'm trying to give some attention to my older stash. I keep my stamps in clear pockets with a card insert and I made a note of the date on this to show when I used it. I read about this idea online somewhere recently, and I'm hoping that when I next cull my stamp collection I will be able to see how often I actually use a set to help me decide what to keep. Anyway, I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the birthday mice and raised them on the panel with foam tape. The lower sentiment is from Pinkfresh Studio and I stamped the top layer and stacked it on 2 further layers to add some more dimension.

We have the talented Stef as Guest Designer this month, and you can see her design as well as lots of inspiration from the team over on the ATSM blog.

I'd like to play along at

Crafty Sentiments Challenge - anything goes

Passion for Markers Challenge #613 - make it cute

Retro Rubber Challenge #169 - anything goes 

Penny Black Saturday Challenge October - anything goes

Stay well and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x