Creating Christmas Cheer with the Cats and Pugs Collection

The holiday cardmaking season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with handmade cards featuring adorable pugs and cats? This is Jean Manis and I’m excited to share three Christmas cards I created with die sets in the Spellbinders Cats and Pugs Collection by Bibi Cameron. Let’s dive into the details, and I’ll provide tips and tricks for working with these sets.

These intricate sets are like jigsaw puzzles; they require careful planning, cutting, and assembly, but the results are truly rewarding. Before cutting, I recommend printing out the die set parts image from the product page. This allows you to make notes and identify parts as you go through the set. Additionally, use the inspiration on the product page for questions you might have about what goes where.

For all three cards, I chose sentiments from the Merry & Bright Sentiment Strips that I pressed in black ink on Snowdrift cardstock and cut with the coordinating die.

The first card features a festive pug wearing a holiday scarf and decorated glasses. To create a realistic look, I selected cardstock colors that matched a real pug’s coat.

Start by selecting shades of beige and brown for the fur of the Big Pug. When I was evaluating colors, I cut out the piece for the body and one other piece (for the pug, this was the ear color) so that I wasn’t cutting out the entire dog (labor- and time-intensive!).

The die set includes a solid shape to which the pieces can be adhered. This was cut from Snowdrift cardstock.

Once the pug was cut and assembled, I chose a dark red textured cardstock for the card background, which I adhered to a 5” x 7” card base. Alternatively, you could dry-emboss solid cardstock for a textured background.

With the background chosen, I cut the decorated glasses with the Cats and Pugs Accessories set from a variety of cardstock colors. For the holidays, I like to include different finishes like Brushed Gold and Mirror Red cardstock. The scarf was cut from patterned paper.

The assembled pug and sentiment were added to the card base with foam adhesive.

The second card stars a stylish cat wearing glasses and a scarf, perfect for Christmas. Again, I aimed for a realistic appearance by choosing appropriate cardstock colors and textures.

Start by selecting grays for the fur of the Big Cat. I also chose a flocked white cardstock for some of the cat’s fur to give it a more lifelike feel.

The die set includes a solid shape to which the pieces can be adhered. This was cut from Snowdrift cardstock.

Once the cat was cut and assembled, I chose a dark green textured cardstock for the card background, which I adhered to a 5” x 7” card base.

With the background chosen, I cut the glasses with the Cats and Pugs Accessories set from Mirror Red cardstock, the scarf from patterned paper, the collar from Mirror Red cardstock, and the bell from Mirror Silver cardstock.

The assembled cat and sentiment were added to the card base with foam adhesive.

The final card showcases a bike decorated for Christmas, with gifts in the basket and a cat riding along.

Start by selecting the colors for the bike frame and wheels and cut the pieces with the Big Bicycle set.

Once the frame and wheels were cut, I chose a holiday-themed patterned paper for the card background. The background was adhered to a 5” x 7” card base.

Just as in the other two sets, the Big Bicycle die set includes a solid shape to which the pieces can be adhered, which I cut from vellum so that the patterned paper would be visible behind the bike.

With the wheels and frame adhered to the vellum, I began to accessorize the bike. For this card, I chose various specialty cardstocks–glitter, foil, flock, and brushed metallic–to add visual interest and a festive atmosphere. I cut gift packages with dies in the Party Puggles set from glitter cardstock and a cat, to ride along on the back, from flocked white cardstock with dies in the Cheerful Kittens set. The poinsettias cut from red flocked and Mirror Green cardstock are finished with Silver Mix Gems in their centers.

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Supplies

Gray cardstock, white flocked cardstock, dark green textured cardstock, textured beige cardstock, olive green cardstock, dark red cardstock, red flocked cardstock, patterned paper

Creating these cards was a delightful experience, and I hope these tips help you as you work with the Cats and Pugs Collection. Have fun crafting!