Tuesday, February 24, 2026

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, CarnationGrape Soda, Eggplant, Almond and Mirror Gold.


This first card features an Almond card base with Color Block Scenic Scape hills cut from Mirror GoldGrape 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 | SSSand 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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Saturday, January 24, 2026

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.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

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 ChiffonSweet PeaHero Arts CoralPumpkin 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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Sunday, January 18, 2026

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.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

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, CayenneMidnight 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:

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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