52 Christmas Card Throwdown – November Stash Challenge: Use Stamps

Hello, lovely crafters!

It’s the final challenge of November, and my last post as the host this month at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I’ve absolutely loved setting the challenges — it’s been such a joy seeing everyone’s creativity each week and sharing in the festive fun together.

This week, we’re rounding things off with a stash challenge, and it’s a classic: use stamps. Simple, versatile, and perfect for rediscovering those much-loved sets we sometimes forget we own. I certainly did!

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Card Details

• Challenge: Stash – Use Stamps
• Card size: A6
• Colours: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso
• Products used: Branching Out bundle by Stampin’ Up

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Step 1: Creating the Layered Panel

I began with an A6 base card in Real Red — a perfect festive starting point.

Using the Branching Out dies by Stampin’ Up, I cut:

• A centre panel from white cardstock, and
• A mat layer from Crumb Cake,
  using the two largest stitched rectangle dies from the set.

These fit beautifully together and give such a clean, crisp foundation for stamping.

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Step 2: All the Stamping Joy!

Time for inky fingers — my favourite part.

Using the Branching Out stamp set, I stamped the large branch in Early Espresso. Then for the pine needles, I used two of the pine needle stamps and Garden Green ink, stamping in first, second, and third generation ink to create depth and fullness. It’s amazing how much dimension this simple technique adds.

The little pinecones were stamped twice:

1. First in Baked Brown Sugar,
2. Then again in Early Espresso, giving them a lovely shaded effect.

To add a soft extra layer of detail, I used the tiny dotty stamp in Sahara Sand ink — just enough to bring the panel to life without overpowering the main images.

The sentiment was stamped in Early Espresso to tie everything together.

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Step 3: Assembly & Finishing Touches

I adhered the stamped white panel to its Crumb Cake mat layer, then popped the whole piece up on dimensionals before adding it to the Real Red base card.

A small real red fork bow was attached to the bottom of the branch using a glue dot — a tiny detail but one that finished it off perfectly.

Finally, I scattered a few red sequins across the panel for a little festive sparkle.

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Final Thoughts

I had so much fun making this card. It reminded me how much I adore stamping — it used to be the main focus of my crafting, but somewhere along the way, I’d neglected my (admittedly huge!) stamp collection. These stamps are my new acquisitions and I just love them!

Was my stamping perfect? Absolutely not.
Did I love every minute of it? Yes — and I can’t wait to get stamping again!

Thank you all so much for crafting along with me throughout November. Hosting the challenges has been a joy, and I hope you’ve enjoyed playing as much as I’ve loved seeing your creations.

Happy stamping, and I’ll see you over in the gallery!