SPOILERS! 12 Days of Stitchmas 2025 Advent Calendar – Day 2 with Jaycee Gaspar

Welcome to day 2 of our 12 Days of Stitchmas 2025 Advent Calendar class! Join us and stitch your way through the season! We invited 12 guest artists to share inspiration with the 12 stitching surprises. Let’s welcome Jaycee Gaspar as he shares inspiration with the Day 2 surprise!

Don’t miss the other video tutorials from our free Youtube Class: Day 1 with  Kim Kesti .

Hey there, everyone! My name is Jaycee, and I'm a full-time scientist, part-time content creator, and card maker. I'm so excited to join Spellbinders for the third time for 12 Days of Stitchmas ! For the second day of Stitchmas, I'm revealing the Merry and Bright Sentiment Die Set. Although there are only a few images included, I'll show you two ways to create a big impact with them.

Merry and Bright Baubles

For this first card, I'm going for a classic and simple color palette: a mid-tone green, a bright red-orange, white, and a shimmery gold cardstock. I'm also combining two embroidery threads: Light Gold and Topaz .

Creating the Stitched Ampersand

First, I die-cut two ampersands from the gold glitter cardstock and one from white cardstock. I like to double up the element I'm stitching on, so I'll glue and stack the two gold ampersands together for extra thickness. The white one will be used later as a drop shadow. While the ampersand dries, I'll prepare my threads. Using both the gold and yellow threads together, I'll pull out a length of less than half a wingspan and thread them onto my needle. For this card, I'm using six strands of the yellow plus the three gold strands. I'll start at the bottom right corner of the ampersand, coming up from the back and leaving about an inch and a half of overhang. The stitch I'm using is a back stitch, which creates a continuous line of thread. Continue this pattern along all the holes in the ampersand, making sure to apply even tension to both threads. This technique results in a sturdy line on both the front and back of the piece. Once I'm done, I'll secure the thread on the back with a little glue and trim the excess. To finish the ampersand focal piece, I'll apply glue to the back and slightly offset it on top of the white ampersand I cut earlier, creating a nice drop shadow effect.

Assembling the Card

Next, I'll die-cut the "Merry" and "Bright" letters from both the gold glitter cardstock and the white cardstock. This time, I'll use the white letters on top of the gold ones to create a subtle gold drop shadow. The irregular line weight of the font makes it easy to create this effect. To add more dimension, I'm bringing in some supporting images from the Day 1 die set: the solid bauble die, the etched element that goes inside it, and the bauble topper. I'll cut two baubles from the red cardstock and two toppers from the gold glitter cardstock. After gluing the toppers onto the baubles, I'll use the negative die-cut piece as a stencil to glue the "Merry" and "Bright" letters onto each bauble. Now for assembly! I'll double up a length of the gold embroidery thread, about 9 inches long, and loop it through the hole in the bauble topper to create a hanging string. I'll do this for both baubles. Then, I'll position the two baubles on my 4 ¼ by 5 ½ inch green cardstock panel and attach them with foam tape for a lifted look. I'll pull the excess thread up and over the top of the panel and secure it on the back with temporary tape. To add a final decorative touch, I'll tie a small bow with the primary yellow embroidery thread and glue one to the top of each bauble. To complete the background, I'll use Yasutomo's Pearl Gold watercolor and a fine-tipped water brush to add a dreamy gold splatter to the center of the card. Finally, I'll glue the stitched ampersand on top of the baubles, and the first card is complete! I love this retro combination of the Day 1 and Day 2 sets for this merry and bright bauble scene!

Bright and Sparkling Snowflakes

For this next card, I wanted a design that was truly "merry and bright," with a focus on gold. I'm starting with my background element, which is the Sparkling Snow 3D Embossing Folder from the Simon's Snow Globes collection.

Creating the Embossed Background

First, I'll position a panel of white cardstock inside the embossing folder and run it through my die-cutting machine. To add a vintage gold background, I'll apply Altenew's Enchanted Gold Pigment Ink to the flat, textured side of the folder. I'm not pressing hard, just layering the ink to capture the flat areas and not the raised snowflakes. After re-inserting the embossed panel and running it through the machine again, I'm left with a gorgeous, vintage-looking panel with shiny gold and textured white snowflakes.

The Stitched Focal Point

I'm creating a diamond shape from a piece of gold glitter cardstock, reduced to 4 inches by 2 ¾ inches. I'll mark the center points on the back and then cut to them on my paper trimmer. For the ampersand on this card, I want a much bolder look. I've stacked and glued three layers of white cardstock together for a sturdier base. I'll use 12-stranded gold metallic floss by taking three strands, folding it in half to get six, and then doubling that length to get 12. This time, I'm using a running stitch, which creates a dashed line on the front of the work. I'll go up through the first hole, down through the second, up through the third, and so on. When I get to the intersecting lines, I'll skip over the existing stitch to keep the continuous dashed line pattern. The thick 12-stranded floss beautifully fills the holes, making them disappear on the final product. Just like before, I'll secure the ends on the back with glue and trim the excess.

Finishing the Card

To assemble the card, I'll use the negative die-cut template I saved from the first card to perfectly place the " Merry" and "Bright " letters on the gold diamond. I'll use temporary tape to hold the template in place and apply glue through the open spaces before carefully inlaying the letters. Once the letters are in place, I'll center the stitched ampersand in between them and adhere it with glue. Since some of the letters overhang the diamond panel, I'm going to reinforce the back with a little banner cut from vellum. I'll flip the piece over and glue the vellum banner to the back of the letters to make them more secure. Finally, I'll use foam tape to mount the diamond-shaped sentiment piece onto the gold-embossed background, centering the entire piece to complete the card. I love how this card is true to the sentiment "Merry and Bright" with all the gold elements. Of course, you could always switch this up for a silver color scheme with silver cardstock, foil, and a white or iridescent metallic thread! Watch video tutorial below or on our Youtube Channel : Thank you so much for joining me for Day 2 of the 12 Days of Stitchmas! I can't wait to see your projects from this set. Be sure to tag me @jaycee.gaspar and @TeamSpellbinders so we can keep the inspiration going!