Color Inspiration Challenge: 3 Designers, 1 Holiday DIY Color Deck Card
on July 30, 2025

Color Inspiration Challenge: 3 Designers, 1 Holiday DIY Color Deck Card

Hello, Spellbinders fans! Today we’re excited to bring you a fresh and festive twist on inspiration! We invited three talented designers to share their unique takes on a single Color Deck card from the brand-new Holiday DIY Color Deck Expansion Pack.

This special pack features 12 holiday-themed DIY Color Deck cards filled with cheerful artwork, fun seasonal facts, and helpful color prompts to spark your creativity all season long. It’s a perfect companion to the original DIY Color Deck System, designed to help you explore and document your favorite color palettes in a hands-on, interactive way.

Each card in the Holiday Expansion Pack includes:

  • A holiday-inspired image to jump start your creativity
  • Five blank spaces to swatch your custom color combos (with help from our T-081 1” Square Punch)
  • Creative prompts, color theory insights, and tidbits to keep the ideas flowing
  • A sturdy satin finish so you can use and reuse these cards again and again

For this post, all three designers used the same inspiration card - but with their own spin on the colors, style, and product choices. It’s a fun reminder that even with the same starting point, creativity can take you in wildly different (and equally beautiful) directions.

Color Inspiration Challenge: 3 Designers, 1 Holiday DIY Color Deck Card

Scroll down to see their projects, color palettes, and how they each interpreted the challenge. We hope this inspires you to make color your own this holiday season!

Deborah Hellman says:
When I first looked at this Holiday DIY Color Deck card, I was inspired by the blend of soft blues and pinks combined with the rusty red and charcoal black. As I studied it more, I noticed the corals and cream colors. I selected my cardstock colors by holding the petals of my swatched deck of Colorwheel Cardstock against the card to find the best color matches. For the background, instead of using bright white, I decided to use the Brushed Metallic Antique White Treasured Cardstock to give my card a softer look like the DIY Color Deck card. Next, I used the new Merry Moments Gifting Bow Etched Die Set to cut out my flowers and bows. While I was completing the card, I decided to switch up the sentiment and instead of making it a Christmas card to make it a birthday card using Yana's Crafty Hugs Sentiment Press Plate and Die Set.

Here's a look at Deborah's project:

Holiday DIY Color Deck Expansion Pack - 3 Ways

Heejung Hunsberger says:
The serene feel of the deck informed the incorporation of warm Saffron, calming deep green, and vibrant pink. A cheerful accent was then added to the overall design using the bright Sicily color. The sentiment was pressed in pink ink and comes from the Holiday Foliage Joy BetterPress Plate Set (retired).
Here's a look at Heejung's project:

Holiday DIY Color Deck Expansion Pack - 3 Ways

Yana Smakula says:
I love pulling color inspiration from the DIY Color Deck cards, they simplify the color selection tremendously! For this card, I first identified the Oceanside (you can see this dark color on some of the houses) and used this colors for the background of my card. Next, I saw Seaside color as the sky and used it for the holly leaves. The Fog color substituted the white you can see on the card, I die cut some of the larger leaves from Fog. I also saw a lot of red (Poppy), pink (Dahlia and Wild Berry) and yellow (gold from the Treasured Cardstock Pack).
Here's a look at Yana's project: Holiday DIY Color Deck Expansion Pack - 3 Ways

We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing how one Color Deck card sparked three completely different creative journeys. Whether you’re swatching your favorite festive combos or using the prompts to jumpstart a new project, the Holiday DIY Color Deck is a fun and flexible way to explore color all season long. Don’t be afraid to experiment, mix it up, and most of all—make it your own. Happy crafting and happy holidays from all of us at Spellbinders!

Leave a comment

Your email will not be published. Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.

3 comments

em,

I love this post. Hope it will be a recurring one. The mood of the 3 cards is so different it surprised me. Wouldn’t a press plate of that scene of many, many houses be fun to work with!

'@craftee1 - Amy Tsuruta,

LOVE this post and all the projects. So fun to see how each designer is inspired!

Joan Bardee,

wow. this blog post is one of your best. I love how you showed 3 completely different takes on one inspiration card. each card is gorgeous!!!


  • How to Color BetterPress Scenes with Watercolor and Colored Pencils, BP-383, STNB-020, DC378

    AF724

    How to Color BetterPress Scenes with Watercolor and Colored Pencils

    Want to move beyond simple ink blending when using layering stencils? In this tutorial, you'll learn how to combine BetterPress printing, stencil coloring, watercolor painting, and colored pencil shading to create a detailed scenic card. By mixing coloring mediums, you can build additional texture, depth, and realism while using supplies you may already have in your craft room. This project features the Scenic Kyoto Press...

  • How to Use Reverse Foiling for Elegant Christmas Cards, BP-345, BP-314, S4-1452, BP-312, S5-526, S5-647

    BP-312

    How to Use Reverse Foiling for Elegant Christmas Cards

    Get more from your hot foil supplies by learning how to use the reverse foiling technique. In this step-by-step Christmas card tutorial, you'll create a beautiful snowflake background using leftover foil, then pair it with a dimensional poinsettia arrangement and festive sentiment. Reverse foiling is a fantastic way to reduce waste while creating an entirely different look from your original foiled design. Using the A2...

  • How to Make Felt Christmas Ornaments with Festive Felt Dies, S7-302, S7-303, S7-305, PE-104

    Categories:Die Cutting

    How to Make Felt Christmas Ornaments with Festive Felt Dies

    Create charming handmade felt Christmas ornaments using the Festive Felt Christmas Dies by Lollie & Grace. In this step-by-step tutorial, you'll learn how to die-cut felt, assemble layered ornament designs, add decorative stitching, embellish with sequins and beads, and finish your ornaments with hanging loops for Christmas decorating. This project is perfect for holiday crafters who enjoy working with felt and creating handmade decorations. These festive...