VIDEO | Spellbinders | Chinese New Year Cards feat. Good Fortune Horse

After a long break away from making videos, I'm back with a set of four cards I made to ring in Chinese New Year! The Year of the Fire Horse began on February 17, 2026 and I was thrilled that Spellbinders released the Good Fortune Horse [available from SB | SBC | SSS] die and clear stamp set just for the occasion.

The colour palette I selected was inspired by Marina Zlochin's work and I'm sure you will find her illustrations equally inspiring! The cardstock colours are mostly from Concord & 9th with Taylored Expressions and Spellbinders, too: Cranberry, Poppy, Sweet Potato Pie, Carnation, Grape Soda, Eggplant, Almond and Mirror Gold.

This first card features an Almond card base with Color Block Scenic Scape hills cut from Mirror Gold, Grape Soda and Eggplant. The horse was cut from Poppy and Cranberry, the mane and tail from Carnation and Sweet Potato Pie, the saddle from Sweet Potato Pie and Almond, and the hooves from Mirror Gold.

I used my favourite sentiment from this set which is the perfect Chinese New Year sentiment. I stamped it in my mini MISTI using Versamark Watermark ink and heat set it with WOW Polished Gold embossing powder.

My second card features a Poppy card base cut from the largest of the Perfect Touch Rectangles [available from SB | SBC]. The horse was cut from Grape Soda and Eggplant, the mane, tail and saddle from Mirror Gold and Almond, and the hooves from Mirror Gold.

Again, the sentiment was stamped it in my mini MISTI using Versamark Watermark ink and heat set it with WOW Polished Gold embossing powder. To finish, I added five Gold Pearls.

This third card features a Carnation which I partially dry embossed using the Stargazer embossing folder [available from SB | SBC | SSS]. I misted the cardstock before running it through the die cutting machine to get the best impression and prevent cracking. This horse was also cut from Grape Soda and Eggplant, the mane and tail from Poppy and Cranberry, the saddle from Sweet Potato Pie and Poppy, and the hooves from Mirror Gold.

Since this sentiment was off-centre, I shifted it to the left and the horse to the right so that the front two hooves lined up above the height of the letters r and s on the cursive word cheers.

My card features an Eggplant card base cut with one of the Modern Essential Ovals [available from SB | SBC | SSS] and the outer frame dry embossed with the Mosaic Memories embossing folder. The horse was cut from Poppy and Cranberry, the mane and tail from Almond and Mirror Gold, the saddle from Mirror Gold and Carnation, and the hooves from Mirror Gold.

Due to the design of the oval and textured frame, I wasn't able to stamp this sentiment right on the Eggplant card base so I stamped it on a piece of Almond cardstock and trimmed it to fit. The oval insert and all of the horses were attached using 1mm foam squares.

I appreciate you stopping by and, if you're inspired, please shop my affiliate links below. Thanks so much for your continued support!

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Catherine Pooler | Celebrating Chinese New Year

I'm back with more inspiration for the Lunar New Year Challenge and, as I mentioned in my last post for the Challenge, I wanted to give a shoutout to all of our sponsors so today's focus is on Catherine Pooler Designs, who was our quarterly sponsor in both 2024 and 2025!

I made two very different cards using the same colour palette which was inspired by the artist Marina Zlochin. One card uses only Catherine Pooler inks and the other uses coloured cardstock I selected from my stash that perfectly matches those ink colours from the first card. All stamps and dies featured in these two cards are available from Catherine Pooler Designs.

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My first card features products from five different stamp and die sets, including a sentiment and lanterns from Lantern Festival (still my favourite Chinese New Year set of all-time), dumplings and chopsticks from Hey There Dumpling (running a close second because it's so adorable), flowers from Happy Horseshoes, orange slices from Greenery of the Season and a frame using the two largest dies from Dots & Scallops Dies.

I started by stamping all of the elements using Do-Si-Do, Samba, Rouge, Tutti Frutti, Clay Mask and Cashmere, which is now my new favourite Catherine Pooler ink colour! It's literally the most beautiful pale, neutral colour and plays nicely with everything else.

I cut a second frame from white cardstock and glued the matte gold foil layer on top. After positioning all the pieces, I set everything aside and gold heat embossed the sentiment directly on to the card base. Then I used a combination of liquid glue, glue dots and thin foam squares to secure the scene.

My second card is a clean and simple design using the Circle Landscape Die, one of my favourite stand-alone dies. You can see more inspiration using this die HERE. Other products featured on my card include the sentiment from the Round of New Year Dies and stars from Happy Horsehoses.

Since there's no stamping at all on this card, I went through my stash to find cardstock that perfectly matched the ink colours from the first card and these are Concord & 9th Sweet Pea, Hero Arts Coral, Spellbinders Pomegranate, Taylored Expressions Pumpkin, Spellbinders Coral, Spellbinders Chiffon and Concord & 9th Black.

The base panel was cut from Pomegranate cardstock and I cut the five pieces of the Circle Landscape Die from Chiffon, Sweet Pea, Hero Arts Coral, Pumpkin and Spellbinders Coral (top to bottom, respectively). The sentiment and stars were cut from Gold Glitter and I added a black shadow layer behind all the pieces which were then popped on the base panel with thin black foam squares.

Visit the January Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! You can find the Challenge Rules HERE. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

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Concord & 9th | January 2026 Guest Designer | Radiant Heart Bundle

Today is my last guest post for Concord & 9th's January Release and I'm featuring the Radiant Heart Bundle. Since the Sunburst Card Front Die is one of my most-used backgrounds and also one of the most versatile products available, I was excited to receive this version which can be used with and without stitching.

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Although these colours briefly made an appearance on my Stitch of Love and Sweet-cart cards, I wanted to highlight them on their own. Nectar, Clementine, Cayenne, Midnight and Gold Glitter are unusual but make a very striking and a touch more masculine colour palette which is really beautiful for Valentine's Day.

I stitched the Nectar card base using Gold Thread, then gold heat embossed the sentiments on Midnight and Cayenne cardstock before die cutting them. All four hearts were popped up on thin foam squares which adds just enough volume while allowing the card to be mailed with ease.

I hope you enjoyed today's project and all six of my cards for Concord & 9th's January Release. If you missed my previous posts, you can find those here:

Day 1: Fueled With Love Bundle

Day 2: Love Games Bundle

Day 3: Stitch of Love Piercing Dies

Day 4: Sweet-cart Bundle

Day 5: Oceans & Potions Bundle

I'm so grateful to Concord & 9th for having me as their guest designer this month! If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

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Concord & 9th | January 2026 Guest Designer | Oceans & Potions Bundle

Hello, crafty friends! I'm back with another guest post for Concord & 9th's January Release and I'm featuring the Oceans & Potions Bundle, my favourite bundle of this release! When I was asked to pick a favourite, it was a tough question to answer but this one narrowly won because I love glass bottles of all shapes and sizes and, ever since I was a little kid, I've been fascinated by little ships in bottles.

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I loved creating this card and I want to mass-produce it because it was that much fun! The colours featured here are the same as on previous cards: Carnation, Briar Rose, Plumberry, Powder, Midnight, White and Silver Glitter. Much like the cake dome on yesterday's Sweet-card card, I didn't want to put an acetate layer in front of the image so I chose vellum over Powder for that effect here but left the ship in front to preserve the colour. I tucked the cork behind the vellum to add to the illusion of the ship being inside the bottle.

The three Silver Glitter hearts on the sails are, from smallest to largest, Fueled With Love, Love Games and Oceans & Potions, respectively. I selected a Briar Rose card base and cut it with the Sunburst Card Front Die which highlights the ship in a bottle perfectly.

I hope you enjoyed today's project. If you missed my previous posts, you can find those here:

Day 1: Fueled With Love Bundle

Day 2: Love Games Bundle

Day 3: Stitch of Love Piercing Dies

Day 4: Sweet-cart Bundle

I'll see you again tomorrow with more inspiration featuring the Radiant Heart Bundle! If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Concord & 9th | January 2026 Guest Designer | Sweet-cart Bundle

Hello again! Today's project for Concord & 9th's January Release features the Sweet-cart Bundle and this set looks amazing no matter how you use it! There are so many treat dies in this set that you'll never run out of ideas, plus can use the treats with or without the cart.

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Today's card features the colours Carnation, Briar Rose, Plumberry, Powder and Midnight as seen on my first two cards for this release. There were so many elements that I had to throw in a few more colours including Nectar, Pistachio, White, White Glitter and Matte Gold Foil. I had so much fun picking the different elements to go on the cart. It was quite hard to decide on colours, too, because I love everything in this set!

I hope you enjoyed today's project. If you missed my previous posts, you can find those here:

Day 1: Fueled With Love Bundle

Day 2: Love Games Bundle

Day 3: Stitch of Love Piercing Dies

I'll see you again tomorrow with more inspiration featuring the Oceans & Potions Bundle! If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Concord & 9th | January 2026 Guest Designer | Stitch of Love Piercing Dies

I'm back with another project for Concord & 9th's January Release and today's post features the Stitch of Love Piercing Dies. If you know me, you know I love stitching on cards, as well as the embroidery arts. This was my first opportunity to use a product from Concord & 9th's Piercing Dies Collection and it was so much fun!

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In my Fun Facts, I listed a six-colour palette that is fully utilized on this card:  Carnation, Briar Rose and Plumberry, Nectar, Clementine and Cayenne. I chose Carnation for my card base so I cut the smallest of the hearts in this set from each of the other five colours. Then I created a layout and rotated both the patterns and the colours in a pattern.

I used the Gold Thread on the Nectar hearts and the needle that came with the thread. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the needle paired with the pierced holes on the dies. I popped up the stitched hearts on foam squares and used glue dots to adhere the rest of the hearts, using a T-ruler to ensure perfect alignment. Finally, I stamped the sentiment from the Love Games Stamp Set using Plumberry ink.

I hope you enjoyed today's project. If you missed my previous posts, you can find those here:

Day 1: Fueled With Love Bundle

Day 2: Love Games Bundle

I'll see you again tomorrow with more inspiration featuring the Sweet-cart Bundle! If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Concord & 9th | January 2026 Guest Designer | Love Games Bundle

Hello, crafty friends! I'm back with another project for Concord & 9th's January Release and today's featured bundle is the darling Love Games Bundle. I'm a huge fan of board games, collect them and play them as often as I can with my family which makes this bundle near and dear to my heart.

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The first game I noticed was Connect 4 which was a childhood favourite. The heart-shaped discs make it even cuter! And who doesn't love playing Tic Tac Toe? The uneven grid lines and hearts instead of Os makes these dies whimsical and unique. I don't mind word search puzzles but I can't do crossword puzzles to save my life so it's a good thing that there are both options in this fun set!

On this card, the colours I used include Carnation, Briar Rose and Plumberry. The card base features Powder cardstock and I added a Silver Glitter layer behind all three elements for that bit of sparkle which gives the card its wow factor.

I hope you enjoyed today's project. If you missed yesterday's project featuring the Fueled With Love Bundle, you can find that HERE. I'll see you again tomorrow with more inspiration featuring the Stitch of Love Piercing Dies! If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Concord & 9th | January 2026 Guest Designer | Fueled With Love Bundle

If you missed Concord & 9th's guest designer announcement for January, you can find it HERE or by clicking on the Fun Facts badge below. As always, I'm ecstatic to be creating for them and can't wait to show you all my projects for this month!

Today's featured bundle is the Fueled With Love Bundle and it's so original and unique! Concord & 9th is one of the most innovative companies and I love how they've taken a rather mundane every day object and made it so fun. I don't think any of us love buying gas or think much about gas stations but when the pumps are this cute, how can you resist?

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As mentioned in my Fun Facts, the colour palette I chose for most of my cards includes Carnation, Briar Rose and Plumberry. While I was making my cards, I ended up adding Powder and Midnight to most of the designs since they were great complementary neutrals for this trio.

I cut every shape of the gas pumps from each of the three colours and rotated the parts between them. Then I used Matte Silver Foil as accents, including the handles and tiny heart pebbles on the ground. The background was created with the Cloudy Double Card Front Die and Slanted Shortcuts Dies.

I hope you enjoyed today's project. Tomorrow, I'll be featuring the Love Games Bundle! If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: 

Concord & 9th | Ringing in the New Year

It's been 10 months since I was able to create for the Lunar New Year Challenge so I was thrilled when I found inspiration on page 360 of Lauren Wager's newest book, Fashion Palettes: Color Inspiration, Meaning and Mood, which was on my Christmas list. I'm happy to say that I now own all three of her books which provide me with endless colour inspiration when creating!

I'm hoping to feature all of the 2025 sponsors and I thought I'd start with Concord & 9th since most of the colours from this palette were found in their cardstock swatches. My first card features the Bitty Banners Bundle. I haven't seen many samples for this bundle but I love the idea of making custom banners with this, much like I did with Best Friend Vibes.

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After selecting the banner colours and die cutting the pieces from Sweet Pea, Creamsicle, Poppy and Clementine cardstock, I used one of Catherine Pooler's 1-1/4 x 3-1/2" Acrylic Grid Stamping Block and Concord & 9th's Black Ink Pad to stamp the letters individually.

After glueing all the parts of the banner on to the centre panel cut from Ballet Slipper cardstock, I framed it with a piece of vellum and attached it to a base panel cut using the Sunburst Cardfront Die on Simon Says Stamp's Audrey Blue cardstock.

My second card features the exact same colour palette but switched up. This time, the featured sets include  the Double-Cut Numbers Dies and the Merry Greetings Builder Stamp Set. The small stars on my first card feature the star dies from the coordinating Merry Greetings Builder Dies.

I cut the four numbers for the year 2026 from Ballet Slipper, Sweet Pea, Creamsicle, Poppy, Clementine cardstock and Gold Glitter Paper, then arranged them in a pattern and set them aside to stamp the custom sentiment.

Next, I created my own sentiment from the Merry Greetings Builder Stamp Set, which I stamped on the Audrey Blue centre panel using my mini MISTI. After the sentiment was finished, I glued the numbers in place and embossed an A2 base panel cut from Matte Gold Foil Paper with the Charming Embossing Folder.

After cutting the larger of the Slanted Shortcuts Dies from Poppy cardstock, I assembled the three panels pieces to finish the card. I hope you enjoyed these two designs using the same colour palette!

Visit the January Link-Up Party post HERE to see all of the design team projects and be inspired to create your own! You can find the Challenge Rules HERE. Please tag us @lunarnewyearchallenge on Instagram and use the hashtag #lunarnewyearchallenge so everyone can find and be inspired by all your amazing projects.

If you’re inspired, some affiliate links are included below at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you again soon!

Supplies: