Day 3: Santa's Workshop

For Day 3 of the Card a Day in November 2026 Christmas Edition I created a night time wooden wintery scene outside Santa's workshop. Oh no! I I just realized....Santa doesn't have his beard! Oh well, he's still cute! I used the Christmas Crew bundle (#168377) for Santa, the Dreamy Snowflakes Embossing Folder (#168384) and the Welcome Noel Bundle (#168465) for the trees. I also used the Everyday Arches dies (#164629) for the opening and a small piece of the Winter Dreams DSP (#168315) for the snow filled night sky.

 Are you up for a good challenge? I always think "oh, I won't be able to keep up", but this is my three time at joining a Card a Day Challenge and so far I've completed all the days! This is the second year in a row of doing Christmas cards and it really gets you going. A little bit like card sketches, it's a starting place. You can join too. Look for Card a Day November! 2026 Christmas Edition by Kevin Theesen on Facebook. I'd love to see what you create and if you follow me on Facebook, you can post a picture of your card for each day in November. It doesn't matter that were already on Day 3, you still have time to catch up, but if you only get a few cards done, it will still be fun.

Here are my to cards for Day 1 and Day 2 prompts.

Day 1: Have a Mice Christmas

The DSP, A Little Christmas really did most of the work and the 3D Snowflake embossing folder tied it all together. Isn't that little mouse SO cute! It's a really simple card layout, in fact isn't my 2026 Card Sketch #40 layout! 

Day 2: Deck the Halls

This fun slimline card use a brand new stamp set called Cottage Kindness. It's not a Christmas set, but that is the beauty of our stamps. They can be used for any season.

I pulled out all kinds of stamp sets and goodies to make this one, including Woodland Wishes for the little animals and some scraps of gold foil. 

Here are the basic measurements. The card base is 8" x 8", scored at 4". The first layer is 3 3/4" x 7 3/4". The Siler Slate door panels are 1 1/2" x 3 3/4" and 1 1/2" x 2 3/4" with the white layer being 1/8" smaller on both side.

For all the other details, let you imagination run wild and create your own unique door!

I think this is the best Poinsettia die Stampin'Up! has ever had! This beautiful purple poinsettia card was made with the Pretty Poinsettia stamp set (#168573) and the Swirls of Magic embossing folder. I used both the dies and the impression plate to get all the details on both the flowers and leaves. I then sponged a little Gorgeous Grape ink onto the white flowers and Soft Sea Foam ink on the Soft Sea Foam leaves. I heat embossed the greeting with silver embossing powder and colored in the "JOY" with Highland Heather blends. Finally, I die cut some fern pieces from the Fern & Flora dies in silver foil. Everything was put together and added to the front of the card.

How did you like card sketch #39? I thought it was another fun sketch to move every which way and just enjoy the creative process. As with any sketch, it's there to help get you going, but you don't have to stick to the sketch exactly, so let's see what I came up with.

My day started with me cutting cardstock for some card kits and as we all know we are always left with these 1/2" strips of cardstock after cutting mats for the insides of the cards. SO...that's were I started with the sketch. I wanted to use some of these strips (instead of throwing them away like I normally do) Both of these cards use the same layout and stamp set/bundle (Holly Jolly #168280), just different color schemes. The first card is Barely Blush, Lost Lagoon and Pool Party while the second card is Garden Green and Real Red.

I kept the stripy theme going on this card, but this time the strips are 1/4" instead of 1/2" like in the cards above. This card uses the beautiful Radiant Sunflower bundle (#168359) to create the flowers and I added a little piece of the Texture & Tone DSP (#168532) I used the die form the same bundle to create the greeting rectangle.

Lastly, I thought I should try to create an easy card where the DSP did all the work for me. Both of these cards use the Beautiful Gallery DSP (#165196) which is on the Last Chance list, to create the focal point of the card. Super easy to create, but look amazing. I added a greeting from the Words & Wishes stamp set (#167889) for the card with the ships, a little Early Espresso flag and a few manly gems. For the floral card, I die cut a label from the Sweet Words & Labels dies (#167627) and stamped it with a greeting from the Phases & Frames stamp set (#167581)

I hope this card sketch inspires you to head into your crafty space and just start playing, you'll be surprised what you can create in not time at all!  

What should we do with those 1/2" strips we create almost every time we create a card... toss or keep?

I'm pretty inclined to toss them (yes, I feel guilty every time!), but if I keep them, they just lie around. I think I'm going to do something with them, but never do!

Today was an out of the ordinary day. I actually did something with them! Lost Lagoon, Pool Party and Barely Blush 1/2" strips were glued every which way, simply across the paper, others started in the center, while other went two different directions. I created three background pieces and then turned them into these three extraordinary cards! 

I used the Holly Jolly Bundle (#167280) to add the the whimsy of the card and the Tile Garden dies (#168573) to add some fun details. 

 

Calling all paper crafters! If you love creating with paper, ink, stamps or creating cards with pre-made kits, then I don't want you to miss out on this AMAZING Stampin'Up! deal! It's a once a year kind of deal, let's see why.

Join Stampin'Up! For only $100 but you get SO much more!

• Get a coupon for $125 to purchase anything you like from either online or a current catalog. 
• Get $50 in Reward Points added to your online Stampin'Up! account. Use these Reward Points along with the $125 coupon or save them to use in the next 3 months on another order.
• Get a Welcome Box valued at $50 sent to your house as a Thank You gift for joining Stampin'Up!
• Get a free stamp set on your birthday valued at up to $25 from me, Stacey Cogswell.
• Join a whole new family of crafty friends and my team! Get a 15% discount on everything you purchase or sell. Get access to new products before the public in product pre-orders. Attend Stampin'Up! events with lots of other crafty friends from all over the world!
• I would be so grateful if you would help me promoted to Gold Elite!

So, if you add it all up....that's $250 worth of goodies for only $100! It's just too good of a deal to pass on, and you don't have to do anything else if you choose not to have classes or sell. You can simply enjoy the discount and if after 6 months, you don't want to purchase anything else. Keep all your goodies and owe nothing! I joined Stampin'Up! up over 21 years ago and I still love it! 

It's super easy to join, just click here Time is running out though; there are only 7 days remaining! This deal is only available until October 31st!

2026 Card Sketch #38

This multiple layer card sketch is a little more involved to use, but the end results are worth it! To make cutting the DSP a little simpler, I came up with a "cut a stack" way of cutting the DSP. This method allows you to cut the DSP for three cards at the same time! Again you can use any element for the circle. 

 

"Cut a Stack" diagram

Stack three pieces of DSP measuring 3" x 4 3/8" together and cut according to the diagram.

The first card using the Creative Celebrations Celebration DSP (#168499) for both the main paper and the center element. I love the bright colors of this DSP and the cute squirrel! I chose a greeting from the Dreamy Snowflakes stamp set (#168378) to tie greeting to the scarf & mittens on the squirrel. 

This card used the Sunflower Fields (#168351) for the main paper and the center fussy cut flower. I added in a greeting strip just to change things up.

Lastly, I created 18 more cards using the "cut a stack" method of cutting the DSP. It still took me a bit of time to cut all the cardstock, but the end result was a pile of beautiful cards!