Spellbinders Blog

Create a beautiful handmade Christmas card featuring a layered, stitched Christmas tree. In this step-by-step tutorial, you'll learn how to combine die-cutting and simple stitching techniques to build a dimensional holiday card complete with a decorative pot, layered tree sections, and sparkling embellishments. This project is perfect for cardmakers who want to try stitching on cardstock. The stitching pattern is beginner-friendly, making it an excellent...

Build a colorful autumn scene with a paper-pieced raccoon dressed for the season, a leafy tree, and a tub filled with freshly picked apples. This detailed cardmaking tutorial explains how to organize and assemble small die-cut pieces, dress a character with layered fall clothing, and arrange the finished elements into a balanced seasonal scene. The Harvest Style Etched Dies and Harvest Days Etched Dies coordinate...

Hello, crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you on the blog today to share a card using the Joyful Christmas Sentiments Press + Foil Plate and Die Set from Simon Hurley. There are four sentiment sets in this collection, which was originally released some years ago as Glimmer hot foiling plates. The plates are now available with the option of pressing as well as...

Create a colorful Christmas card while learning how to apply multiple ink colors to BetterPress registration plates. In this detailed tutorial, you’ll use the Festive Evergreens Registration Press + Foil Plate & Die Set to press a holiday doorway scene in three colors, combining the built-in registration system with a simple masking technique. The registration template positions the coordinating plates so each layer aligns with...

BetterPress plates can do more than create letterpress impressions and hot-foiled designs. In this detailed Christmas card tutorial, you’ll learn how to apply clear sticky ink to a BetterPress plate and use white embossing powder to produce a crisp, heat-embossed snowflake background. The tutorial also covers pressing and die cutting a sentiment, assembling three detailed snowmen, and arranging the finished elements on an A2 card....

Give the Frank Garcia Christmas Blush Collection a contemporary twist with this clean and simple Christmas card. Learn how to assemble pastel ice skates, add winter foliage, and finish the design with a hot-foiled sentiment and silver gems.

Create a whimsical Christmas card with the Sweet Snowman Etched Dies from Frank Garcia’s Christmas Blush Collection. Follow the step-by-step tutorial to assemble the snowman, hot foil a festive sentiment, and add sparkle to an embossed background.

Hello, crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you on the blog today to share a card using the Wrapped Up City Holiday Etched Dies from the Christmas City Holiday Collection designed by Yana Smakula. This is a beautiful set of dies that expand on the original City Holiday Etched Dies set. The dies create a gorgeous ribbon and bow that you can use to...

Learn how to create a clean and simple Christmas card featuring the Mug Friends Etched Dies and Snow Joy Stencil Set. This step-by-step tutorial shows how to make a soft tone-on-tone ombré background with a single ink color, allowing the adorable penguin mugs to become the focal point of your festive design.

Create a charming holiday card featuring the Mug Friends Etched Dies from the Mugs and Kisses Collection. This step-by-step tutorial shows how to assemble an adorable penguin mug and marshmallow snowman, layer festive foliage, and finish with a cheerful Make It Merry sentiment for a fun handmade Christmas card.

Create a beautiful shaped angel card using the Divine Arch Card Creator and Blessing Angels Etched Dies from Bibi's Little Blessings Collection. This step-by-step tutorial shows how to build a clean and simple layered design with vellum wings, soft pastel cardstock, and a dimensional arch card base.

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card using the Snowflake Kisses Collection by Lisa Horton. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create a Christmas card using the Gift Boxes and Bags Etched Dies and I’m using a more unconventional colour palette to make it. Sometimes it’s fun to create with colours...

Hello there, Michelle Short here and I am delighted to be sharing two cards today using the Just Add Cake Birthday Cardmaking Kit. Both cards feature the Garden Party Etched Dies. I combined them with the shaker domes and sequins on the first card, and for the second, combined them with the mug from Birthday Brew Etched Dies, as well as some extra colours of...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial with you using the new Upright Italic Happy Holidays Press + Foil Plate by Paul Antonio. This sentiment is a large plate, so perfect to act as the focal point on a card. All you need is a few elements to bring the card together! I chose foliage and a bird. I chose to press...

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card using the Upright Italic Holiday Sentiments Collection by Paul Antonio. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create a Christmas card using the Upright Italic Merry Christmas Press + Foil Plate. Also included in this collection are three other sentiments - Happy Holidays Press +...

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card using the newly released Yana’s Christmas Cats Collection from Yana Smakula. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create a Christmas card featuring three of the sets from the collection. One of the cats is being exceptionally naughty by jumping onto the tree! The collection...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial with you using the new Spectacular Santa Etched Dies. This wonderful die creates a large-sized Santa that can take centre stage on a card. I kept to a traditional colour palette today for Santa, adding in a little pink for the background, but you can definitely experiment with different colour combinations! DIE CUTTING SANTA PLEASE...

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card using the Timeless Textures Collection by Simon Hurley. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create this arch-framed birthday card using the super pretty Flowing Florals 3D Embossing Folder along with the Flowing Florals Layered Stencils. Also included in this collection is another beautiful 3D...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial with you using the Simon Hurley Cascading Coneflowers collection. My focus today is sharing how to add interest to die cuts in an easy way, whether that be adding ink blending, layering, or simply by adding interest to the background of a clean and simple card. These easy steps really help to make die cuts...

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card using the Whimsical Village Collection by Vicky Papaioannou. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create this simple scene using the Whimsical Houses Etched Dies, the Village Companions Etched Dies and the Whimsical Wishes Clear Stamp Set. Also included in this collection is a super...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial using Good Fortune Horse. This set celebrates the 2026 Lunar New Year of the Horse. The stamp and die set includes dies to create a horse, plus four sentiment stamps. I created a card for Lunar New Year, but the horse could be used all year round for any occasion. DIE CUTTING THE HORSE Place...

Hello there, Michelle Short here, and I am delighted to be back on the Spellbinders blog sharing three cards using the Ski-son’s Greetings collection by Simon Hurley. This wonderful collection is perfect for Christmas and the holidays, but also all year round for those that like to ski and snowboard! I kept the cards simple, featuring lots of white space! DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW My...

Hello there, Michelle Short here, and I am delighted to be back on the Spellbinders blog today, sharing two cards using the Pear Blossom Press One Light- 2 Pack. These lights make adding fun light-up elements to your cards easy. No circuits involved! The first thing to know when using these lights is that you do need to do a little forward planning for your...

Hello there, Michelle Short here, and I am delighted to be back on the Spellbinders blog using the Beautifully Imperfect Collection. This is such a beautiful collection for all sorts of papercrafts – cards, scrapbooks, mixed media, etc., filled with dies, embossing folders, papers, rub-ons, die-cut shapes, plus lots more! Whilst this isn’t my go-to style for card making, I tend to prefer clean and...

Welcome to day 11 of our 12 Days of Stitchmas 2025 Advent Calendar class! Join us and stitch your way through the season! We invited 12 guest artists to share inspiration with the 12 stitching surprises. Let’s welcome Michelle Short as she shares inspiration with the Day 11 surprise! Don’t miss the other video tutorials from our free Youtube Class: Day 1 with Kim Kesti; Day...

Welcome to day 8 of our 12 Days of Stitchmas 2025 Advent Calendar class! Join us and stitch your way through the season! We invited 12 guest artists to share inspiration with the 12 stitching surprises. Let’s welcome Lisa Tilson as she shares inspiration with the Day 8 surprise! Don’t miss the other video tutorials from our free Youtube Class: Day 1 with Kim Kesti; Day...

Hey Crafty Friends, it’s Amy Tsuruta, and I’m thrilled to be back on the Spellbinders blog featuring the super festive Starry Holiday Collection by Dina Wakley. I’m smitten with Dina’s Spellbinders Collections, including her new BetterPress Inks, which are vibrant and versatile. I’ve designed three cards that feature each of Dina’s new sets. I love all things BetterPress, so this collection has me so inspired....

Welcome to day 6 of our 12 Days of Stitchmas 2025 Advent Calendar class! Join us and stitch your way through the season! We invited 12 guest artists to share inspiration with the 12 stitching surprises. Let’s welcome Mindy Eggen as she shares inspiration with the Day 6 surprise! Don’t miss the other video tutorials from our free Youtube Class: Day 1 with Kim Kesti; Day...

Hello crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today on the Spellbinders blog. I’m excited to be here to share some inspiration with the Candy Christmas Collection from Stamperia. This is a super sweet and cute release, guaranteed to have you running for those sugary treats in no time! In the collection, you have a Gingerbread House, Gingerbread Train, Gingerbread Plane(with some cute banners),...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial using the Spooktacular Collection by Simon Hurley. I love the ghosts in the Boo Crew set! You can dress up the ghosts with hats, glasses, ties, etc.  - so cute! For today, I thought it would be fun to take the witch's hat from the Bewitched set to add on to my ghost! STEP 1...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial using the All About Christmas Collection by Lisa Horton. This wonderful collection features lots of basics, including shape dies and stencils, but what I fell in love with are the Little Birdies. They are so cute, and you can dress them up for winter, which is even cuter! This is what I have based my...

Hello crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today on the Spellbinders blog. It’s always a treat to come on here and share some ideas with you. Today, I am using the All About Christmas Collection from Lisa Horton. This release is so fun and there is lot to love! You have some sweet birds, Christmas foliage, pretty stars, and lots of options to...

SPOILER ALERT: Welcome the 13 Days of Craftoween 2025 Advent Calendar — and we can’t wait to show you what’s inside! If you love spooky season as much as we do, you’re in for a real treat (no tricks here). Whether you’re into cute and quirky or dark and dramatic, the 13 Days of Craftoween is packed with creative potential. Each day unveils a new mini...

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial using the City Holiday Collection by Yana Smakula. This is such a stunning collection! Today my focus is on the beautiful Christmas Cracker Etched Dies. I am not a huge fan of the traditional red, green, and gold colour combo for holiday cards. I’m not even a huge fan of gold to be honest with...

Hello crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today on the Spellbinders blog. I’m thrilled to be here to share three ways to use the new release from Yana Smakula, which is called The City Holiday Collection. This collection is simply gorgeous! You have three die sets which create a beautiful city townhouse, some Christmas crackers, and a large “Joy” sentiment. There is a...

Hello there, friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today on the Spellbinders blog. I’m so excited to be here to share a step-by-step tutorial using a set from the new release from Simon Hurley called North Pole Friends. I think this might be my favourite release from Simon so far! I love Christmas crafting, and Simon has released four die sets in this collection...