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!

Supplies:

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!

Supplies

Saturday, January 17, 2026

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.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

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: CarnationBriar RosePlumberry, PowderMidnight, 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:


I'll see you again tomorrow with more inspiration featuring the Radiant Heart BundleIf 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