Right as Rain

Hello! In this post, I created Christmas-themed backgrounds as a low-pressure starting point for holiday cardmaking. On his card, I’m using one of those backgrounds with the Lawn Fawn Build-A-Dog die set and its Christmas accessories.

This is my first time using the Build-A-Dog set (Scrapbook.com | SimonSaysStamp), as it is a fall 2026 purchase. I wanted to spend time working out cardstock color combinations for the dogs. Finding realistic grays and browns can be challenging, especially when finding lighter and darker shades that work well together.

I tried three or four different cardstock colors in each shade. I wanted to see the combinations rather than rely on how I thought the colors would look together. I followed this process for browns and grays. I chose Lawn Fawn Paper Bag and MFT Milk Chocolate for the brown dog and SU Gray Granite and Taylored Expressions Poppy Seed for the gray one.

Once I had settled on the dog colors, I moved on to the Christmas accessories. With the Build-A-Critter Christmas Accessories set (Scrapbook.com | SimonSaysStamp), I cut the hats and package from several red and green cardstock to find the ones that worked with the dogs and with each other. Can you see a theme of overthinking? I chose Taylored Expressions Cherry Pop and Lawn Fawn Noble Fir.

Once the red and green combination was chosen, I could evaluate the dogs and accessories against the backgrounds I’d made earlier. This made it easy to narrow down the choices for both color and embossing folder texture and pattern. I chose a SU Old Olive background dry-embossed with the now-retired Sizzix Cross Stitch folder (658195).

I’m approaching this as a way to build a useful collection of color combinations for the die set. Testing the colors should make it easier to use the set again without repeating all the same decisions. There’s still room to try other combinations, but I’ll have a starting point.

For the sentiment, I used the now-retired Spellbinders BetterPress Merry & Bright set. With its selection of sentiments and ease of use, it has been a great investment. I can add a finished greeting quickly without spending much time on that part of the card. Although this set is retired, there are other sentiment options available that offer similar versatility and long-term value.