A Glamorous Christmas on Ice

Hello, crafty friends! Today I’m sharing another festive project from the new Catherine Pooler Designs and Sizzix collaboration. This card features the fabulous new “On Ice” Die Set, which includes a beautiful ice skate along with poinsettias, greenery and other seasonal embellishments.

I began with a bold Glam cardstock card base—the rich purple shade creates such a striking backdrop for the crisp white skate. I added a black sole, a shiny silver blade and bright Rockin’ Red laces to give the skate plenty of dimension and personality.

To create the festive floral clusters, I die-cut the poinsettias and greenery from Melon Ice, Martini, Sixteen Candles, Rockin’ Red and Sage cardstocks. I love how these vibrant Catherine Pooler colors give the traditional Christmas florals a fresh and playful look. The flowers and leaves were tucked around the skate to create movement while keeping the skate as the main focal point.

For the finishing touch, I selected the “Merry Christmas” greeting from the new “Warm Winter Wishes Sentiments” Stamp Set. I heat embossed it with white embossing powder directly onto the Glam background, creating a clean and elegant sentiment that coordinates beautifully with the white skate.

The “On Ice” Die Set is perfect for winter birthdays, Christmas cards, skating-themed projects and so much more. This colorful skate is ready to glide straight into the holiday season!

~ Ally ~ 

A Rich and Layered Holiday Wreath

Hello, crafty friends! Today I’m sharing another festive card created with the new Catherine Pooler Designs and Sizzix collaboration. For this project, I used the gorgeous Holiday A-door-nment Die Set, a delightful collection featuring a large wreath base, extra leaves, berries, a layered bow and playful star accents. It is perfect for creating cozy Christmas cards, gift tags and beautiful seasonal décor.

To create the wreath, I first made my own watercolor-inspired paper using Sage, Eucalyptus, Spruce, Matcha and Succulent inks. Once the paper was dry, I die-cut the main wreath and several additional leaves, giving me a lovely assortment of greens with natural variations in color and texture. I layered the extra leaves around the wreath to make it feel especially full and dimensional, then added small white splatters for a snowy finishing touch.

For a bright pop of traditional holiday color, I die-cut the berries from Rockin’ Red cardstock and scattered them throughout the greenery. The large layered bow became the star of the design, with its bold red pieces and elegant gold cardstock accents. I love how the metallic details define each section of the bow and add a touch of holiday shine.

The greeting comes from the new Warm Winter Wishes Sentiments Stamp Set. I chose the ornate circular “Merry” sentiment and heat embossed it in gold, then tucked it behind the bow so it appears to be hanging in the centre of the wreath. The gold embossing coordinates beautifully with the bow accents and the thin metallic layer framing the card panel.

I absolutely love how rich and layered this card turned out! The mix of watercolor textures, dimensional greenery, vibrant red details and touches of gold gives this classic Christmas wreath a warm and elegant feel.

~ Ally ~ 

Around the Holidays with Catherine Pooler Designs & Sizzix

Christmas crafting is getting a fun and modern twist with the newest collaboration between Catherine Pooler Designs and Sizzix! This festive release includes stamps, dies and stencils designed with the innovative Sizzix Stencil & Stamp Tool in mind. The tool makes it easy to line up your images and create repeatable patterns with consistent spacing.

For today’s card, I used the fabulous Holiday in the Square Stamp Set. This set is filled with playful holiday images, including bows, holly, stars, stripes and graphic shapes. I arranged the images into a colourful patchwork pattern that reminds me of wrapped presents and a cozy Christmas quilt.

My colour palette included Cotton Candy, Party Dress, Rockin’ Red, Melon Ice, Grass Skirt and Uptown inks. I love how the traditional reds and greens look alongside the softer pink and bright Melon Ice accents. The combination gives the card a cheerful, contemporary Christmas feel.

The Stencil & Stamp Tool made creating this pattern so much easier. Once each stamp was positioned, I could repeat the placement and build the design one colourful section at a time. I finished the card by mounting the stamped panel with a wide white border of a square card base, allowing the bold pattern to remain the star of the design.

The Holiday in the Square Stamp Set also has its own coordinating die set, giving you even more ways to use these festive images on cards, tags, gift packaging and other holiday projects.

This exciting Catherine Pooler Designs and Sizzix Christmas collection will be available soon in the Catherine Pooler shop. Be sure to watch for all the release details!

Happy Holiday stamping!!

~ Ally ~ 

StampNation Weekend Challenge: By the Sea

This weekend’s StampNation Challenge is taking us “By the Sea!” For this challenge, create a project inspired by the ocean, the beach, seaside vegetation, ocean animals, or anything connected to water. You could even incorporate water into your creative process by watercoloring with inks!

For my card, I created a playful underwater birthday scene featuring the adorable sailor otter from the “Ahoy Matey” stamp set. I surrounded him with colourful fish, coral, seaweed, bubbles, and other fun treasures from beneath the waves.

 

The “Under the Sea Cover Plate Die” was used to create the fabulous ocean frame. Behind it, I blended Blue Raspberry, Boardwalk, Mardi Gras, and Uptown inks to make my own vibrant, ocean-inspired background. I love how all those beautiful blues and aquas bring the underwater scene to life!

I also added some pretty "Party Blues" enamel dots for a few darker ocean bubbles! Everything image and piece of the scene was colored using Copic Markers.

Now it’s your turn to dive into your crafty supplies and create something inspired by the sea. We cannot wait to see your “By the Sea” projects in the StampNation gallery!

~ Ally ~