Favourite Five Cards 2025

As has become traditional on New Year's Eve, I'm sharing my favourite five cards of this year. As I look back through my blog posts, I always find it interesting to see if any themes have emerged in my cardmaking over the course of the year. Whilst there are still plenty of cute critter cards, I used more die cuts this year, and my cards have become increasingly clean and simple.

All of the photos are linked to the original blog post, so please click through for more information.

My first card is from February, and features (unusually for me) die cuts as the main focus. I love the modern shape of these floral dies...and they're great for using up little snippets of card & paper!

My second card is from May, and features several things that I love (and usually make it onto at least one of my favourite cards each year) - Distress inks, gold embossing and the big butterfly stamp!

My next card is actually a bookmark...I'm an avid reader, and always like to have plenty of bookmarks handy...and they're a great way to use up offcuts of card! This one features a favourite floral stamp, and Cosmic Shimmers that I've used many times this year.

Of course, there's a Penny Black image amongst my favourites, and the next card, from August, features a 'new to me' stamp called 'Surprise!' I also love the colour in these floral papers.

My final card is from November, and although I've made a lot of one layer cards this year, I love the effect the added layer gives on this CAS card.

I'm going to link up this post over at Ellie's I Spy With My Little Eye - Favourite Creations of the Year.

I posted my Favourite Five Christmas Cards here last week, if you'd like to take a look.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has visited and taken the time to comment on my blog this year - I wish you all the very best for the New Year!

Bauble Branch

Today's card features stamps from a new Penny Black set called 'Candlelight' that I received for Christmas. I stamped the image and sentiment onto some black card, using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them with 'Metallic Gold' embossing powder from WOW. I coloured the image using a mixture of Cosmic Shimmers watercolour paints and mica pigments (mixed with a little water). I matted the panel onto some gold mirror card, then added it to a DL card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Sparkle & Shine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

Woodland Winter Wonderland

Today's card features a lovely woodland die called 'Birch Tree Forest' by Creative Expressions that I got from a charity shop earlier this week. I used it along with a few other dies (one of the 'Hillside Borders' dies from Lawn Fawn, and a couple of the deer from the 'Winter Wonderland' set by Tim Holtz/Sizzix), to create a wintry woodland scene. I cut all the die cuts from snippets of plain white card, then layered them over another snippet of white card embossed using my Tim Holtz/Sizzix 'Snowfall' embossing folder, before adding it all to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Pick a Previous Technique (May - Use Die Cuts/Punches)
• Allsorts - Create a Scene
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Winter Animals
• Cut It Up - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes

Favourite Five Christmas Cards 2025

Today, as has become traditional, I'm sharing my favourite five Christmas cards of the year. I made slightly more cards this year - 88, compared to 81 last year. Each photo is linked to the original blog post, so if you would like any more details, please click through.

The first card is from February, and uses a 'new to me' time (the lovely large Penny Black 'Joy' die) that I've used several times this year. I particularly like using the central aperture for a scene/sentiment.

Penny Black critters continue to be my most used stamps, and this chicken, used on this card from March, always makes me smile!

I made several cards using this technique on black card - I love the way the mica pigments show up when used as a watercolour paint, this card from August also makes use of one of my many charity shop crafty finds this year!

Coming a close second to the Penny Black critters, are the Anita Jeram animal stamps, like the bunny stamp used on this card from October. I also love making embossed backgrounds, and used a layout similar to this on many cards this year.

My final card is a recent one from earlier this month, and again features some Penny Black critters, and lots of lovely papers!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Critters

I have a simple one layer Christmas card to share today...featuring critters from the 'Christmas Hats' and  'Birthday Wishing' sets and sentiment stamps from the 'Getting Ready' set, all by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them all directly onto a white card blank, then coloured the critters using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Red & Green
• We Love Stamping - Red & Green

PBSC December - Anything Goes (Optional 'Snow/Snowmen')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Snow/Snowmen'

We're currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

My all-time favourite snowman is 'Snowy' by Penny Black, so I just had to use him for my card. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, extended the line for the 'snowy ground' on either side of him using a black gel pen, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I paper-pieced his hat and scarf using a snippet of paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations, adding some shading using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. For the background, I used a piece of snowy paper from an unnamed pad from The Works, then layered Snowy over the top. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, and some snowflakes, cut using some of the 'Paper Snowflakes Mini' dies by Tim Holtz/Sizzix, then matted it onto some teal card before adding it to a card blank.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• Creative Knockouts - 'Tis the Season
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Anything Christmas
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Snowmen
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Christmas Joy

I have a CAS Christmas card to share today...made using my Penny Black 'Immense Joy' die. I cut three 'Joy' sentiments from snippets of plain white card, then layered them up for some dimension, and added them to a white card blank. I cut a snowflake, using one of the dies from the 'Paper Snowflakes Mini' set by Tim Holtz and Sizzix, then added it to the centre of the 'O' using a 3D foam pad.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Anything CAS (Optional 'White on White')
• Addicted to CAS - Christmas
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• CAS on Friday - Snowflake
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Little Red Wagon - Christmas Cards
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Anything Christmas

Chocolate Wreath

Every Christmas since 2012, I have made a Quality Street chocolate wreath for my family - still using the original polystyrene ring! This year, due to the ever decreasing number of chocolates in a tub (barely enough to cover the ring anymore), and the sad-looking, dull paper wrappers, I decided to switch to a selection box from M&S...they're in lovely shiny papers (devoid of any branding). As always, I used a hot glue gun to attach the chocolates to the wreath, and added some silver glittery ribbon to hang it with.

Challenges for this wreath:

• Crafty Calendar - Winter/Christmas
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Anything Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Sparkle & Shine

Christmas Boxes

Every year, I make some little gift boxes for family members using a We R Memory Keepers punch board that I picked up in TKMaxx. This year, I used 12x12 papers from a Make & Create pad from The Works (I really wish that they'd name these!) to make the largest size (4x4x4). They don't require any glue/tape and simply fold together - so quick to make! I cut some simple gift tags using an old Sizzix Bigz die from some snippets of silver glitter card, then added a snowflake (cut from matching plain card using dies from a Tim Holtz/Sizzix set called 'Paper Snowflakes Mini'), and attached them to the boxes using some white organza ribbon.

Challenges for these boxes:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - R is for Ribbon
• As You Like It - Anything Festive
• Creative Moments - It's a Wrap!
• Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Wrap It Up
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas

Signs of the Season

Today's card was made using the other elements of the prize I won over at the Allsorts Challenge recently...a set of clear stamps and matching dies set from Oakwood Archer called 'Signs of the Season'. I started by stamping the large star onto some teal card using Versamark ink, then heat embossing it using metallic silver embossing powder from WOW before using the coordinating die to cut it out. I then used the edge dies to cut the side panels from some more teal card, adding an embossed sentiment using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then layered all the elements over some silver mirror card. 

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas

ABC Christmas Challenge - Y & Z are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Helene is the host, and the themes are:

'Y is for Yummy'

&

'Z is for Zebra'

(Stripes and/or Black & White)

The prize for the lucky winner is these Chocolate Baroque and Woodware stamps:

For my 'Y is for Yummy' card, I used a Christmas Pudding stamp from Personal Impressions, stamping it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of pudding-covered paper from the 'Peppermint Forest' pad by Craftwork Cards, trimming them into squares. I distressed all of the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted the pudding image onto a snippet of kraft card, then the paper squares onto some pink card before adding it to a kraft card blank.

For my 'Z is for Zebra' card, I went with the 'Stripes' option, choosing a piece of silver stripey paper from the 'Silent Night' pad by First Edition for my background, and matted it onto some silver mirror card. I took one of the 'plainish' pieces of paper from the same pad, and stamped the largest snowflake from a Stampendous set called 'Delicate Snowflakes' onto it using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic silver embossing powder from WOW. Using the matching die, I cut out the snowflake, then added it onto the stripey background using some 3D foam pads.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Addicted to CAS - Metallic (Second card only)
• Allsorts - Anything Goes (First card only)
• CAS on Friday - (Second card only)
• Christmas Kickstart - Anything Christmassy (First card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Creative Inspirations - 'Tis the Season (First card only)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Dies (Second card only)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Poinsettia Panel

Today's card features part of a prize that I won recently over at the Allsorts Challenge...a lovely sentiment die by Tonic Studios. I started by stamping my 'Poinsettia Panel' stamp (from Stamps by Chloe) onto some black card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW, then watercoloured it using Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water. I cut the sentiment from a snippet of gold mirror card, then layered it over the stamped and coloured panel. I matted it all onto some more gold mirror card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Gold, Silver or Glitter (I love using gold on Christmas cards (especially on a dark background) to give a really luxurious feel)
• Flower Challenge - Christmas Florals
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Dies
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Poinsettia
• We Love Stamping - Red & Green

PBSC December - Anything Goes (Optional 'Snow/Snowmen')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Snow/Snowmen'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I have a fairly 'healthy' collection of Penny Black snowman stamps, and picked 'What a Snow!' to make a large 8x8 square card. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Joy to the World' set, also by Penny Black, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with some pastel coloured papers from the 'Snowscape' pad by Woodware...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I cut some snowflakes from matching pastel card snippets using dies from the 'Paper Snowflakes Mini' set by Tim Holtz for Sizzix, then added those to the card with some little gems in their centres.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• Aud Sentiments - Non-traditional Christmas and/or Winter + Sentiment
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas
• Jingle Belles - Anything Christmassy
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Use Dies
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Dies

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Little Snowy Gift Tag

I have a little gift tag to share today...featuring a Penny Black snowman stamp from the 'Holly Jolly' set. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I stamped my Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' background stamp onto a kraft tag using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I added the snowman to the tag, then carefully trimmed the excess before adding some pink baker's twine to attach it to the gift.

Here it is on the present:

Challenges for this tag:

• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• I Spy With My Little Eye - Something Festive for Christmas
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

December Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of the month, I'm sharing the December page of my desk calendar. I picked one of the stamps from the 'Christmas Critters' set by Penny Black, stamping it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. For the background, I used a snippet of patterned paper from the 'Peppermint Forest' pad by Craftwork Cards, and layered a snippet of white card, with a torn edge, over the top. I matted it all onto a snippet of kraft card, then added it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes