Season's Greetings for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm back with my reminder post for The Flower Challenge.  This month we are using Christmas florals on our cards.  I think this is a lovely way to bid a fond farewell to TFC and I do hope you'll join us if you haven't already.  The challenge will be closing for the last time on the 25th of this month.

TFC #109 Reminder

 

Well, I thought I'd be using something other than a poinsettia, but as I was looking through my Christmas floral stamps, one stood out rather forlornly, having not been used for a couple of years and I realized this was the perfect time to do so.

This is a retired stamp from Simon Says Stamp called the Center Cut Holiday Floral.  It's a large red rubber stamp and as the name implies, the center can be removed so you're left with a spot to use whatever sentiment you wish.  I stamped the entire image and colored it with Copic and Olo markers, then used the new SSS Frames dies to cut out the interior rectangle with the floral image and the scallop frame.  

The rectangle was layered onto a light blue panel, then the frame, which was cut twice from white and once from white glitter card stock, was puzzle pieced around it.  I used a foiled Betterpress sentiment, which a trimmed apart so it could be stacked in the circle.  A silver metallic pen was used to color the flower centers and the highlight on the berries.  The last touch was to add three blue gems.

As noted above, the challenge will remain open until the 25th, plenty of time to add a card or another, if you've already joined this month.  Please be sure to visit the challenge blog and my lovely, talented teammates who have made this an inspiring place to create and share.

Happy holidays to you and all the best in the New Year!

I'll be back on January 1st with my DT card for Color Hues.  Hope to see you then!

Stef

• SSS Center Cut Holiday Floral stamp
• SSS Frames dies
• Spellbinders Sending Joy Betterpress Sentiment plate and die
• Honey Bee Stamps Winter Wonder gems
• Altenew Silver Metallic pen
• Copics - R89, 85, 83, 81, YG67. 63, 61, BG18, 72, 70, B45, 41
• Olos - YG8.7, 8.5, 8.3

Grand Poinsettia for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at The Flower Challenge.  This month we're asking everyone to use your Christmas Florals.

The Flower Challenge

Before we take a look at my card, I have some sad news to share.  This month will be the finale for The Flower Challenge.  We've had 9 wonderful years thanks to the brilliant idea by Aileen Ryan and Vivian Hodge and with the assist of Karren Johnson running the challenge for the last two years.

On a personal note, I found The Flower Challenge shortly after it had begun and was thrilled to have a place to share my floral creations.  I was even more thrilled when Viv reached out to me in late 2021 and asked me to join the design team.  I'm going to miss my wonderful teammates but I'm hopeful we'll see one another in other blogosphere places!  And I will miss seeing all the beautiful floral creations each month.

So, given that this is our final challenge, I hope this inspires you even more to join us this month.  We'll be back with reminder cards on the 15th and the winners will be announced on January 4, 2026.  

So, now on to my cards.  I made two because they were so very quick and easy.

The very large embossed poinsettia is from a Gina K class I took in November.  It was created only for the card kit that accompanied the class, so it's no longer available.  But obviously any poinsettia die or stamp set would work here.

The folder came with the poinsettia die along with 2 fir branch dies.  The flower was die cut, then embossed.  I used the coordinating stencils and one of her new ink colors, Light Cranberry, which was just released on November 24th.   

To create the panel the flower and sentiment are resting on, I first used a Thermoweb Toner Sheet with a piece of Gina K Sparkling Silver Fancy Foil.  Actually I made two, and used the other on second card.  the Altenew Ornate Nesting die was cut from the panel and I was impressed with how beautifully it die cut.  And how darn sparkly it is!  For the flower center, I used Kuretake Silver Mica Ink, added the sentiment plus a few prism gems and called it done!  

Look at that sparkle!

My second card is similarly CAS.  I left the flower white, painted the centers like the first card, then mounted it and the sentiment on a scallop die cut panel.  I was going to add some gems but there wasn't really a good place.  I debated adding it to the flower center but opted not to at the time.  But I may change my mind...what do you think?  

Okay, my friends, I hope you'll visit the challenge blog to see my talented teammates' beautiful creations for our final month and then slip off to your craft room and create your Christmas floral.  The challenge will remain open until Christmas Day and we would really, really love to have you help fill the gallery one last time. 💕

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp/Gina K Grand Poinsettia ef, stencils and die
• Altenew Ornate Nesting die
• Memory Box Fringed Scalloped Frame die
• Spellbinders Sending Joy Betterpress sentiments and dies 
• Gina K Sparkling Silver Fancy Foil and Therm-a-web Toner sheets
• Kuretake Silver Mica ink
• Gina K Light Cranberry ink

Grand Poinsettia for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Here it is, the first day of the last month of 2025.  My, my time seems to pass so quickly.  Do you feel the same?  Anyway, the good news is that the first of the month brings a new challenge at Color Hues.  The lovely Tracey is hosting our final challenge of the year and has chosen a wonderful color combination and it's a perfect combo for any time of the year.

Color Hues

I'm also joining in over at the Time Out Challenge, where this time we are to "Pick 2" and I chose nature (flowers/pine branches), emboss and sparkle.

TOC #302

And I'm playing along with Just Us Girls, where it is Anything Goes Stencil Week.

JUGS #803

How about one more poinsettia?  This one is unique in that it was made exclusively for the Simon Says Stamp/Gina K class kit sold earlier this fall, so there weren't any made available outside the kit, and it is sold out.  However, it's too pretty not to share and other components on my card are currently available.

The beautiful Grand Poinsettia was die cut from white cardstock then embossed in the coordinating folder, after which I used the matching stencils to color it in three shades of pink.  The pine sprigs were die cut from two shades of green cardstock.  All that was set aside to create the background.

The SSS/Gina K Merry & Bright stamp set (this one IS available) has a number of snowflake stamps, so I used them to create the background on a 4.75" x 6.75" panel.  A clear block was used to stamp them in Gina K's Medium Spruce ink, followed by a large blending brush to lightly blend the same color to soften the edges.  

The sentiment can be found in the same stamp set or, as I used, in a matching Polyglaze sheet, which I foiled, one each of gold and silver, then die cut.  The 4" x 6" panel was matted with silver glitter cardstock, added to the snowflake panel then all the other elements adhered.  I finished things off by adding SSS Prism Dazzling Gems to the flower center and up around the sentiment.

And of course I couldn't make just one, so here's the same design with gold.

Both of these cards were inspired by one we made in class from Gina K's design.  We used her new ink colors of light, medium and dark Cranberry, along with the spruce. 

So where will these colors take you?  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where my amazing teammates have some gorgeous creations.  

Since this is the final challenge of the year, it will be open until December 29th at 9:00 am EST, so I hope that gives you time to sneak away from the holiday goings-on and play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

P.S. If you like today's card, come by on Tuesday when I use the same poinsettia ef to create two CAS cards.

• Gina K Grand Poinsettia ef, stencils and dies
• SSS/Gina K Merry & Bright stamps, dies and Polyglaze sheet
• Altenew Baby Pink, Fuchsia and Magenta inks
• Gina K Medium Spruce ink
• SSS Prism Dazzling Gems

Poinsettia Christmas for Color Hues

Hello friends!  A new challenge at Color Hues has arrived and this time the incredible Nancy is hosting.  She has chosen a gorgeous color combination of teal and silver - perfect for any time of year but especially so for creating holiday cards.

Color Hues

 

Of course I decided to create a Christmas card and pulled out one of my favorite die sets, Christmas Bird Poinsettia.  The bird didn't make an appearance this time, but one day I will use it!

I really, really love this die set!  I also used a few dies from other Spellbinders die sets (listed below) to enhance the foliage around the poinsettia.

The background is a panel of Teal Topaz embossed with a snowflake folder then inked lightly with white pigment ink.  The poinsettia was cut twice from white and once from a shimmer foil, then layered.  The foliage was cut from white, the same vellum, silver metallic, Blue Spruce, Acorn and the same teal.  I may have gotten carried away with the foliage but once I started it was difficult to stop lol!  The final step was to add the foiled sentiment.

We would love to see how you choose to use these two colors!  The challenge remains open until 9am EST on Saturday November 29th.  For further inspiration, please head over to the challenge blog to see the incredible creations by my talented teammates and our two amazing guest designers Loll and Joanne!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

P.S. scroll down it you'd like to catch my Paper Players post from earlier today.

All supplies listed are from Spellbinders except where noted.

• Christmas Bird Poinsettia dies
• Build-A-Wreath dies
• Envelope of Wonder dies
• Sending Joy Sentiments Press Plate and die
• Sparkling Snow 3D embossing folder
• SSS Shimmer Vellum

Festive Poinsettias for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm here today sharing my reminder card for The Flower Challenge, where this month we are featuring the color pink.

The Flower Challenge

 

Earlier this month my card for TFC was a bold vibrant pink birthday card.  This time I took the opportunity to add to my stash of Christmas cards.

A couple of months ago I purchased this beautiful poinsettia Betterpress, intending to use it for 2024 Christmas cards, but it never got inked up.  So I thought it would be fun to make a card with pink poinsettias.  I was in somewhat of a hurry to get this card done, so after inking it up in black pigment ink, I clear heat embossed it, then used the stencils to color the images.

The panel was trimmed down and splattered with a bit of white paint, then added to the silver panel after drying.  The sentiment is from an old package of foiled holiday sentiments, which was popped up on foam tape over the foiled strip.  It was quite easy to make, so I made a second one only using red rather than pink.

If you haven't yet had a chance to join us this month, why not take a moment to pop over to the challenge for more inspiration from the design team, then head on into your craft room!  We'd love to see your card (or a 2nd card!) in the gallery.  The challenge remains open until 2/25.

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

Stef

• Spellbinders Festive Poinsettias Betterpress plate and stencils
• Pinkfresh Studio Foiled Sentiments 4 Holiday
• Altenew Baby Pink, Fuchsia, Magenta, Grass Field, Mountain Pine & Sunray inks
• Simon Says Stamp Rhubarb, Cranberry, Latte, Cappuccino and Mocha inks

Poinsettia Swag for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm back with my reminder card for The Flower Challenge.  This month we're adding sparkle to our floral cards.

TFC 98R

 

Time for one more poinsettia card for the season!

I started by stamping the Simon Says Stamp Poinsettia Swag image on offsetting corners, then colored them with Olo markers. The bracts are in red, leaves in an aqua color and then I used a silver gel pen for the berries and the interior cyathium.  I did use Google to find the name of the poinsettia parts and found out that the flowers are actually on the inside of that small cyathiums on the poinsettia interior.  Such a fascinating and beautiful plant!

The panel was trimmed down and matted on a panel of dark aqua that had been die cut with the Pinkfresh Studio Folk Edge rectangle die.  The SSS Fancy Holidays die was cut from Altenew Milky Way Glitter cardstock, adhered to the vellum shadow then added to the card and that finished things off.  I toyed with the idea of adding gems but opted to leave them off. 

If you haven't had a chance to join us this month, I hope you can find a few spare minutes to get some crafting in and share your sparkly floral card with us! The challenge will be open until the 25th then the team is taking a break for the month of January, returning to start our 2025 challenges in February. 

Before you head off, I encourage you to use the link above to see the beautiful inspiration created by my oh so talented teammates!

Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a wonderful time during the holidays and I'll be back on January 1st with my DT card for Color Hues.

Take care!

Stef

 

Pink Christmas for Christmas Craft Creations

Hello friends!  The Christmas Craft Creations Challenge for February is up and running, and I'm here to share my reminder card and hope that you will come join us!  This month, it's all things pink - so make yourself a fun pink Christmas card and come play along with us, the challenge remains open through Tuesday March 7th.

Christmas Craft Creations

Oh, so many fabulous cards by the other DT members! If you're in need of inspiration, use the link above to see all the pretty pink.  For my card I used part of the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Gift Giving card kit that I never fully put to use during the holidays.

The beautiful poinsettia stamp is from the Holiday Gift Giving stamp and die set (still available at SSS), as is the sentiment.  I started by stamping the flower twice in Memento Tuxedo Black, leaving the stamp in my Misti, coloring with alcohol markers, then restamping with Versamark and heat embossing with SSS Ultrafine Silver embossing powder, then using the matching die to cut them out.  The sentiment was also silver heat embossed and cut out with its matching die.

Next, a panel of SSS Doll Pink cardstock was embossed with the beautiful Gina K Tapestry embossing folder and adhered directly to the white card base.  A smaller panel of white was sprayed at opposing corners using Irongate Distress Mica Stain Spray, and when dry, added to the card with foam tape.  The sentiment was die cut three times, layered together and adhered to the panel, then both flowers added with thin foam squares for just a small amount of dimension.  Lastly, some glorious crystals were added to the flower centers and also scattered about the panel.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  I hope you're ready to get a head start on your 2023 Christmas cards and are inspired to play along with us this month.

Take care!

Stef

Copics:  RV19

Sketchmarker Brush Pros: V111, 114, 105

Poinsettia Greetings for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends, and welcome back!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this week we have this fabulous sketch by Annette.  

Sunday Stamps

I am working on completing more Christmas cards, so this sketch worked perfectly with my Poinsettia stamp set.

I recently received the lovely Plaid Tidings 6x6 designer paper from Stampin' Up and was eager to use it.  I chose the Cherry Cobbler plaid and set to coloring the poinsettias in Copic markers in colors similar to Cherry Cobbler.  Once that was complete it was now time to get all the elements ready.

I opted for a Shaded Spruce card base and decided to make a shaped card with the Elegant Rectangle dies from MFT.  An A2 size card was created from the spruce paper, then the largest rectangle die lined up just below the fold line and run through my Big Shot, followed by the plaid dsp in the next size smaller die, then the Bumblebee embossed panel with a smaller die (a rookie mistake - I should have embossed AFTER die cutting LOL! Oh well, the recipient likely won't notice).  The poinsettias were also die cut with coordinating dies.  The sentiment strip was left over from another card making session, so that was a time saving bonus.  The plaid layer was adhered directly to the base, then the Bumblebee panel added with foam tape, as was the sentiment.  After the poinsettias were layered on, they were brushed with an aqua shimmer pen, then gold glitter jewels added to the center and also on the card.

Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the challenge and all the beautiful cards by the other DT!  I hope you are remaining safe and healthy, and have a great week ahead!

Stef

Stamps:  Poinsettia (Waffle Flower), Holiday Greetings Mix 1 (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Bumble Bee, Shaded Spruce, Plaid Tidings 6x6 dsp

Ink:  Versamark, Gina K Obsidian Amalgam

Other:  Elegant Rectangle dies (MFT), Cable Knit 3D embossing folder (SU ret.), Antique Linen embossing powder (Altenew), Poinsettia matching dies, Gold Glitter jewels (Studio Katia), Aqua Shimmer pen (Tonic Nuvo)

Copics:  R59, 39, 37