Day 5: Home for the Holidays

Part of the Card a Day 2026 November Edition by Kevin Theesen

For me "Home for the Holidays" literally means being or going home to be with family, so the Welcome Noel Bundle (#168465) was the prefect choice to make this card. I also wanted to rely the warm fireplace glow, so I decided to create a luminary card with a mini tea light. The only product not in the Neutral Noel Suite (#168469) was the the die from the Flourish & Frames hot Foil Bundle (#170064) that created the center card "opening". 

It looks a little complicated to make, but it's really not. It's a basic easel card, with an added flap. Start with a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of paper. score at 5 1/2" and 2 3/4". Because you want to see through the vellum, without seeing anything behind it, I added another flap at the bottom of the card base. This flap is 4 1/4" x 6", scored at 1/2" on the 4 1/4" edge. Attach this flap using the 1/2" section to the bottom of the card base. I hope these pictures help show you want I'm trying to explain. I added a 1/2 circle punched opening so when the card is being opened, it will indicate that you need to open the enter flap too. 

Day 4: Let it Snow

The prefect bundle for this card just had to be Dreamy Snowflakes (#168385) This bundle comes with everything you need to create an amazing snow scene. The beautiful stamps, die cuts and 3D embossing folder. For this card, I used low tack masking tape to section off half of the card front. I then used Azure Afternoon and Gorgeous Grape ink with blending brushes to create the background. The same colors were used to stamp the snowflakes and greeting, which is from the Pretty Poinsettia stamp set (#168140) 

 

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 uses 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 Silver 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 holiday inspired front 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.

PRINT CARD SKETCH

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.