National Chai Day Tea and Card

Happy National Chai Day! If you know me or follow me on social media, you know I'm an avid tea lover. I love nothing more than pairing my love of tea and cardmaking for special occasions. Of course, National Chai Day absolutely qualifies as a special occasion! I've tried so many teas over the years and have a number of types that I love, but Chai continues to be my absolute favorite.

 (FTC Disclosure: as an affiliate for various companies in the craft industry, I will receive a small commission for purchases made through my convenient affiliate links, at no additional cost to you.) 

I did a little research and National Chai Day is observed every year on September 21st. However, it's a really new "holiday", having only been established since 2018.

My absolute favorite Chai is from Vahdam and that's what's in my cup today. I've tried a number of brands over the years, but this continues to still be tops in my book. I generally drink loose leaf tea so I can control the strength of the tea. Vahdam tea bags are also available, if that's your preference.

Now, let's get to the card details! First, I have the Pajama Crafter Stamps "You're My Cup of Tea" Flashcards in my stash and wanted to use them again. These are A2 size card panels that can also be used with toner reactive foil. It's a 24 pk set with 8 designs (3 of each).

However, I decided to actually hand trim the tea cups and best-tea sentiment and make a dimensional card, keeping the floating hearts section intact.

I'm using OLO Markers for my coloring with 3 different colors:

YG8.5, OR7.4 and OR1.6. 

If you like your Chai with milk or cream, OR7.4 is perfect! For the word "Chai", I used the Brooklyn lower solid alphabet/number stamp set from Scrapbookcom paired with Catherine Pooler ink "Icing On The Cake" with my stamp positioner. No die set involved, I simply hand trimmed the entire word. Although placing some of the lettering crooked was intentional. 

Do you have a Chai bestie? I absolutely do! In fact, we have sent each other things over the years, as she lives in another state. We first met many, many years ago at a Scrapbook Expo and have been friends ever since! In fact, she is the one who got me hooked on adding mint to my chai. She first sent me some her home grown mint July 2025, after I had a mastectomy and now, I love it so much, I'm growing my own! (pictured above)

So thank you Deena! She has her own side gig at mama-grizzly.com growing and selling plants and microgreens as a pop-up vendor. You can find her on Instagram @mamagrizzlyplants.

 

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my mug and custom teaspoon. I'm a big fan of the custom spoons at Wander Tulips, an online Christian gift shop, and even sent one to my friend Deena awhile back. The couple who own this gift shop are the sweetest people and truly on mission for God. I hope you'll check them out.

Thanks so much for my National Chai Day ramble. I hope you find time for some chai today. Have an awesome week!

Terri

#nationalchaiday #chaitea #vahdam #india #tealover #tealovers #teamug #customspoon #pajamacrafterstamps #olomarker #scrapbookcom #teacard #teacups #diycards

Frosty's Family Greeting Card for Catherine Pooler Designs

Hey friends, I'm back with another card featuring the new Frosty & Festive collection from Catherine Pooler Designs. I got really playful with this mini-slimline card. The Snow family just had their photos made for their 2026 Christmas cards, I'm pretty sure Rudolph and Santa can expect a card this year, haha!

Scroll down for some brief, creative details. You can also click any of the highlighted links throughout this post to browse for more product information or to shop.

 (FTC Disclosure: as an affiliate for various companies in the craft industry, I will receive a small commission for purchases made through my convenient affiliate links, at no additional cost to you.) 

The stamp set I'm creating with today is called Frosty Friends and has quickly become a favorite. I love these adorable snowmen!

To begin, all my images are watercolored with Catherine Pooler inks. I used quite a few colors by pressing the ink on my craft mat, spritzing with water and coloring with a water brush.

I even watercolored the space around the images.

The ink colors that I used are:

Midnight, Garden Party, Cummerbund, Martini, Rockin' Red, Cotton Candy, Hoodie, Mandarin Spice, Icing On The Cake, Deck The Halls

Check out all the luscious CPD ink colors here!

I wanted really clean lines for my stamped images so the coloring would stay within the confines of the stitched design. I adhered my low-tack mint tape around the edges prior to my partial stamping.

I always use a stamp positioner to get the depth of color I need.

I had die cut 4 stitched squares on one piece of cardstock, so I could apply mint tape to the backside and keep everything stable for my coloring. The stitched square that I used is from the Flip-a-Color Combo Dies and measures 1 1/2" inches in diameter.

I also trimmed out some mint tape to cover my colored snowman and splatter on some of the new Sparkle Gold Shimmer.

For the backing of my stitched die cuts, I used the Martini cardstock from the Party Mix cardstock collection. The brown card stock is called Over Coffee and I also did some ink blending to darken it, using Icing On The Cake with a blender brush. I also added a thin strip of Rouge cardstock from the Spa cardstock collection, behind my popped up snowmen, plus a white gel pen as an accent.

Lastly, I added enamel dots, sequins from the Stars Hollow sequin mix and white paint splatters. This was so much fun to make! I love my CPD products! Thanks so much for stopping by. 

You can view the entire Frosty & Festive collection here.

Terri

#wavingmywand #catherinepoolerdesigns #catherinepoolerinks #frostyandfestive #snowman #frostythesnowman #cardmaking #handmadecards #diycards #christmascards #holidaycards #wintercards #snowflakes #frostyfriends

 

Halloween on Main Cards for Catherine Pooler Designs

Hey friends, the new Halloween on Main collection from Catherine Pooler Designs is live today! I've got a pair of cards to share, featuring the Haunted Manor bundle, although you can purchase products individually. I love that there's a Halloween birthday sentiment included too. I know several folks born on Oct. 31st, how about you? Scroll down for creative details and click any of the highlighted links or my clickable supply list to browse or shop. This is such a fun release!

 (FTC Disclosure: as an affiliate for various companies in the craft industry, I will receive a small commission for purchases made through my convenient affiliate links, at no additional cost to you.) 

There's also a new ink being released. Made Me Blush is a gorgeous new pink and I used it with both cards today.

For my first card, I did some ink blending with Made Me Blush, Sparkling Berry and Orange Twist. I actually wanted to use Mandarin Spice, but it disappeared in the vast void known as my craft room. I have since found it though, haha!

Next, I splattered lots of water on my inked cardstock. I like to spritz water in my hand and then fling my wet fingers at the paper. It gives a good, random splatter.

After drying my wet, splattered card panel, I proceed to stamp lots of images from the Haunted Corner stamp set (included in the Haunted Manor bundle) in CPD Midnight Ink. I also used a white gel pen to accent/highlight the images.

My ghosts were stamped with Sparkling Berry and for the moon, I took a waterbrush and painted a circle for the moon, painting water across the circle and blotted with a paper towel to remove the ink.

I also squeezed out a large drop of Lime Rickey Shimmer and also the Made Me Blush ink from the refill bottle, splattering those inks across my scene.

Lastly, I trimmed some patterned papers from the Moonlit Manor patterned paper as accents on my card panel. I also used that paper as backing to my card panel, along with my CPD Midnight cardstock.

In addition, I glued some pretty sequins from the new Stars Hallow sequin mix and tied a pretty bow and adhered it to my card. Perfect for the birthday girl who celebrates on Halloween!

The card above is larger than an A2 size card, as I created first and measured later, haha! 

The full dimensions are 4 3/4" x 5 3/4".

This next card came together quickly and this is an A2 size card. I started by taking an A2 size white card panel and swiping my Made Me Blush ink pad across the top half of the card. Isn't it pretty?

I also stamped stars from the Haunted Corner stamp set across my sky, but used the Sparkling Berry ink pad. Next, I hand trimmed some hillside slopes with the Moonlit Manor patterned paper, adhering that to my card panel.

For my die cut images, I stamped the haunted house in various CPD inks, using masking tape to block off the surrounding area. You really need a stamp positioner to pull off this technique.

The inks used were Midnight, Sparkling Berry, Mandarin Spice and Succulent. I also watercolored all the windows by pressing my Mandarin Spice ink pad on a craft mat, spritzing with water, and painting in with the inky mixture.

I have had the same CPD Midnight ink in my stash for years and never needed it replaced. However, it started drying out and I've got another on the way....plus a refill! In the meantime, I switched over to stamping my bats and the cat with Black Jack ink. Also, I stamped those pumpkins with CPD Apricot ink.

Lastly, I glued more Star Hallow sequins and stamped a sentiment from the Haunted Corner stamp set in Midnight and Made Me Blush, again using the masked tape technique.

Two contrasts in cardmaking. The first being very mixed media, and the second having more clean lines. Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments! I'll be sharing another card later in the week so stop back by. Happy Crafting!

Terri

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Ranger Tim Holtz Detail NIB Water Brush Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Catherine Pooler Ink Pad - Mandarin Spice Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Catherine Pooler Blending Brushes - 4 pk. Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Refillable Permanent Adhesive Runner - 49 feet Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Exclusive Pops of Color - Summer Peach Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Ranger Artist Brushes - 7 pc Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Artis Craft Glue - Only at Scrapbookcom Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Comfort Trimmer 8.5 Inch Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Project Grip Mat Large - White - 24x18 inch Shop at: Scrapbookcom	3 mm Adhesive Strips - 160 strips Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Catherine Pooler Ink Pad - Orange Twist Shop at: Scrapbookcom | Catherine Pooler	Pink Stamp Cleaning Shammy Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Mint Tape 1" roll - 11 yards Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Gina K Designs Multi-Purpose Scoring Board Tool Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Catherine Pooler Succulent Ink Pad Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Exclusive Gripmate Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Mini Misti Stamp Positioner Shop at: Scrapbookcom	CPD Apricot Ink Pad Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Catherine Pooler Ink Pad - Black Jack Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Pink Platinum 6 Die Cut System Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Dual Speed Heat Tool by Wow Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Craft Pick Pro 4 in 1 Tool Shop at: Scrapbookcom	CPD Sparkling Berry Ink Pad Shop at: Scrapbookcom | Catherine Pooler	CPD Shimmer Ink - Lime Rickey Shop at: Catherine Pooler
CPD Midnight Cardstock Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Catherine Pooler Favorite White Cardstock Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Acrylic Grid Stamping Block 2 3/4" Round Shop at: Catherine Pooler	CPD Favorite White Cardstock - 100 lb - 25 pk Shop at: Catherine Pooler
Dress My Craft Non-Stick Bone Folder Shop at: Scrapbookcom	CPD "I want it all" Halloween on Main Collection Shop at: Catherine Pooler	CPD Haunted Manor Bundle Shop at: Catherine Pooler	CPD Ink pad - Made Me Blush Shop at: Catherine Pooler
Haunted Corner Stamp Set Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Haunted Corner Die Set Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Haunted Corner Stamp & Die Set Shop at: Catherine Pooler	Moonlit Manor Patterned Paper Shop at: Catherine Pooler
Stars Hollow Sequin Mix Shop at: Catherine Pooler	CPD Ink pad & Refill - Made Me blush Shop at: Catherine Pooler

#wavingmywand #catherinepoolerdesigns #catherinepoolerink #halloweenonman #halloweencards #halloweenbirthday #handmadecards #mixedmedia #hauntedhouse #hauntedmanor #spooky #ghosts #bat #birthday #diycards #stamping #crafting