Krafty Chicks challenge #762 - Birthday

Good morning lovely friends. I hope you're all doing ok and having a great week so far. It's been another glorious week here in South Wales, with lots of sunshine but also a stiff breeze - perfect weather for drying clothes on the line lol! 

It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week we are on Week 1; and as always the theme is 'birthday' and Leanne is our hostess. It can't get any easier than this week's challenge so we hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

Today is my lovely mother's birthday so I'm sharing the card I made for her.  I always try to make her an extra special card and usually a larger than normal card (today's card is 6" x 7 3/4").  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the florals:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting my card base from a 12"x12" piece of white card.  I stamped all the florals in a light grey ink before colouring them using the coordinating stencils.  After all the stencilling was complete I then re-stamped the images using a black ink pad.  I used the matching dies to cut them out.  I created the stitched frame by die cutting 2 smaller frames (sized for an A2 card) from white card and used them horizontally instead of vertically. I laid them together and cut out the inside piece so that it would create one larger frame.  I cut a white panel to go behind the frame and using a stencil and light grey ink created a soft background.  I added thin foam strips behind the frame and adhered them together and then added a black mat layer behind with double sided tape.  For the panel behind the frame I used a pale purple piece of card and added a black mat layer with double sided tape.  This was added to the card base with double sided tape.  I fussed with the arrangement of my florals for quite some time but finally decided on adding them to the top right and bottom left corners going largest to smallest out from the corner.  I added them with a mixture of foam squares and liquid glue.  I also added a small leaf to the top left and bottom right corner with liquid glue.  I used a few different stamp sets to create my sentiments but I think the fonts really match.  I die cut all the sentiments except for the 'mother' which I had to fussy cut.  I added them all with teeny tiny slithers of foam squares.  I added a few black pearls for some bling and also added some white gelly roll highlights to the flowers.  For the inside I cut another purple card panel and added a black mat layer behind and also cut a white panel and adhered it with double sided tape.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink in the centre and as I had quite a few flowers left over replicated the arrangement from the front in the bottom right corner.  I also added a small leaf in the upper left corner.  The panel was then added to my card base with double sided tape.  I'm really happy with this card; I love the colour combo and the frame turned out exactly as I had hoped.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

* to be updated *

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'birthday' challenge and I cannot wait to see your creations in our linky. Please leave some love for my fellow chicks - Leanne, Diane and Lori.
Thank you so much for stopping by; I appreciate your lovely comments.

Love and hugs,

Forgot to take a photo - will add soon!

card ingredients

(all Gina K Designs)

Flower Medley stamp & die bundle

Flower Medley stencils

Master Layouts 18 (for the frame)

Elegant Thoughts stamp & die bundle (for happy birthday sentiment)

Lovely Ladies stamp set (for mother sentiment)

On the inside - birthday (for inside sentiment)

Decorative Double stencil

ink pads - blue sky, blue raspberry, wild lilac, jelly bean green, fresh asparagus, soft stone

ink cube - light spruce

Pearl mix - metallic black, gold and silver

other supplies:

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card - not currently available - they do have 300gsm bright white card available here

Crafts UK Limited - 12"x12" white card (for card base)

Hobbycraft - A4 black card

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

purple card from stash

AAA Birthday challenge #72 - mythical

Good morning friends and welcome to April.  The weather is lovely here in South Wales and it's promised to be like this for the remainder of the week *yay*.  I'm not a sun worshipper but I definitely feel happier when the weather outside is nice and bright.  

I'm sharing my card for this month's AAA Birthday challenge and this month our theme is 'mythical'. So think unicorns, monsters, dragons, fairies, the list is endless.  I hope you will take on our challenge this month and get creating. Our guest designer this month is the lovely Silke so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

I decided to make a fun fold card and went for a z-fold card.  I know there are quite a few variations of this fold but I went with the basic z-fold as it's simple to make but really packs a punch when displayed.  For my mythical element I went with a fairy image.  I hope you like it.  It was quite difficult to photograph so there are a few more photos than usual.  

Here is my card (from the front):

Here is the card (standing up):

View from above:

A close up of the adorable fairy:

A closer look at the inside:

I began by creating my card base which is 5 1/2" square.  On the front flap of the card I scored it in half at 2 3/4" and folded it towards the left to create the z fold shape.  I stamped the fairy onto alcohol marker friendly card and coloured her with Promarkers and added some white gelly roll pen highlights.  Instead of fussy cutting her I used a decorative label die to cut her out.  I also have the matching scallop label die so cut that from pink card.  I decorated all the panels with a pretty pink gingham paper that I've had in my stash for years.  I adhered the labels together with double sided tape and then added foam squares to just the left side of the label and adhered it to the front half panel, making sure it was centred on the whole card.  I die cut a happy and birthday word from white card and the shadow layers from pink card and adhered them together with liquid glue.  Using a combination of liquid glue and foam squares I attached the die cut sentiments on the edge of the labels top left and bottom right.  I didn't add any further embellishments as I liked the clean look of the card.  For the inside I die cut another label and scalloped label as before and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I stamped two of the butterflies and coloured them with Promarkers and added white gelly roll highlights and stamped the sentiment in black ink in the centre.  I added double sided tape to the back of the label and carefully added it the inside of the card, making sure it lined up with the label on the front.  I hope I've explained it properly but if not there are lots of tutorials online to help you.  A really pretty card and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

* to be updated *

The Design Team have created amazing cards as always so please pop over to the blog and check them out and perhaps leave them some love on their personal blogs. 

I hope you will be able to join in with the challenge this month but don't forget it has to be birthday themed. I can't wait to see your creations in the linky.

Have a great day.

Love and hugs,

card ingredients:

Lili of the Valley - woodland fairies polymer stamp set - not currently available

Promarkers

Spellbinders - happy birthday wishes die set

Spellbinders - labels one small die set - retired but loads on eBay

Spellbinders - scalloped labels one die set - retired but loads on eBay   

Tonic Studios - I love you fairy much stamp set (for inside greeting) - retired

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card - not currently available - they do have 300gsm bright white card available here

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card - store now closed

gingham and coordinating plain pink paper from stash

AAA Cards challenge - guest designer

Good morning lovely friends.  Well can you believe we are almost at the end of March....where is the time going?  It only seems like 5 minutes ago I was wishing everyone a Happy New Year lol!  

I'm here today to share a card I made for the new AAA Cards challenge.  I won a challenge at the end of last year and was invited to be a guest designer, which I immediately accepted.  Their challenges are always 'anything CAS goes' but there is an optional theme, which this time is '1+1'; which means you use the centre prompt and choose 1 other prompt from the outer circles.  

here's a closer look at the graphic:

I wanted to make a card for a friend's birthday and had this fun stamp set in mind so I chose to pair silhouettes with geometric or organic shapes (although it would also fit pets) as my 1+1.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at my funny cat:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and using a stencil and some cool ink colours created my organic shaped background.  I then stamped the cat image in black ink and the sentiment just below him.  I adhered the panel to the card base with foam tape.  I didn't add any embellishments or extras as I wanted to keep my card as CAS as possible.  For the inside I cut another white panel and stamped the sentiment in black ink in the centre (it's an inside joke as that is what my friend and I used to call each other) and also stamped another smaller cat in the bottom right corner.  I adhered the panel to my card base with double sided tape.  A super quick card but it turned out really fun.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS challenge - masculine

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - any occasion

Crafter's Cafe challenge - ATG optional clean & simple

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - one for the boys/men

Just Us Girls challenge - ATG stencil week

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

I can't wait to see what you create for this challenge; there are lots of fun options for this one. I would like to thank Maaike and the Team at AAA Cards challenge for the opportunity to be a guest designer; please go and check out their amazing creations and leave them some love. 

Thank you so much for stopping by; I appreciate you taking the time to visit me and leave me comments.  I'll be back on Tuesday with my card for the AAA Birthday challenge so I hope you can call back again and check it out.  

Love and hugs,

card ingredients:

Funky Fossil Designs - what meow? stamp set

MFT - paint strokes stencil

MFT - smitten kitten stamp (for outside sentiment)

Neat & Tangled - kitty's favourite things (for inside sentiment) - store sadly closed

Gina K Designs - ink pads - lucky clover, ocean mist and blue raspberry

Versafine - onyx black ink 

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card (currently not available but this 250gsm smooth white card is an alternative in stock here)

Krafty Chicks challenge #761 - Masculine

Good morning lovely friends. I hope you're all doing ok and having a great week so far. It's been a glorious week here in South Wales, although it's set for change today as we've been forecast rain.  

It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week we are on Week 4; as always the theme is 'masculine' and Lori is our hostess. I know it's not everyone's favourite theme but we do need to make these types of cards on occasion so get ahead and have some ready in your stash.  We hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

I didn't have anyone in mind when I made my card (although thinking about it now, it could come in useful in May when it's my BIL's birthday lol).  I went very clean and simple, which I think sometimes is best with masculine makes as most men don't do fussy.  I'm really happy with the finished result and I hope you like it too. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

I also decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using an arrow die cut a row going down the left side of my panel.  I did draw a pencil line so that the centres would be in the same place but eye-balled the gaps between them.  I took another white panel the same size and using some ink cubes swiped them across horizontally to create my own faux patterned paper.  I stamped a simple happy birthday sentiment in black ink about 2/3rds of the way down on the right side.  I added foam squares behind the die cut panel and placed it over the ink swiped panel for some slight dimension.  This was then adhered to a black mat panel with double sided tape.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel instead of using foam tape and this was then adhered onto my card base with double sided tape.  To finish off I added 3 small black pearls around the sentiment.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using the same ink cubes swiped them vertically along the bottom to create a border.  Using liquid glue I added two of the arrow pieces that were discarded when I cut the front panel over the border.  I stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I adhered the panel to a black mat panel with double sided tape and this was added to the card base with double sided tape.  A fun card but one that could easily be mass produced in lots of different colours.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS challenge - masculine

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - any occasion

Crafter's Cafe challenge - ATG optional clean and simple

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - one for the boys/men

Halloween & Other Occasions challenge - birthday (5th entry)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'masculine' challenge and I cannot wait to see your creations in our linky. Please leave some love for my fellow chicks - Leanne, Diane and Lori.

Thank you so much for stopping by; I appreciate your lovely comments.

Love and hugs,

card ingredients:

Clearly Besotted Stamps - geometric style II (for arrow die) - retired

MFT - sweet 16 clear stamp (for outside sentiment) - retired

Spellbinders - fashion jet color essentials pearl dots

Gina K Designs - ink cubes from winter collection & dark lilac ink cube

Gina K Designs - on the inside: birthday clear stamp 

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card - not currently available - they do have 300gsm bright white card available here

Hobbycraft - A4 black card

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Krafty Chicks challenge #760 - CAS

Good morning lovely friends. I hope you're all doing ok and having a great week so far. It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week we are on Week 3. As always the theme is 'CAS' and Diane is our hostess. We want you to see all your clean and simple creations this week and we hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

It was my nephew's fiancee's birthday earlier this week and I used this opportunity to make her a card.  Her birthday is on St. Patrick's Day so of course I had to use green (again) as my starting point.   My card is 5" x 7" as always for family.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

(I didn't realise my photo was out of focus until after I'd posted it)

I began by cutting my white panel 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" and blended some green ink into the centre.  I took a speckle background stamp and used the same green ink to randomly stamp it over the blending (I used second generation stamping for a subtle look).  I smooshed some of the ink onto my glass mat and sprayed it with water and splattered it over the stamped and blended panel for some extra interest.  I die cut the outlined circles from white card and added it to the panel with liquid glue.  I used one of the inner portions that fell out of the die and stamped my sentiment using the same green ink pad and added it into the centre with foam squares.  I die cut two butterflies, which comes in two parts; the detail layer from white card and the backer piece from green card.  I adhered them together with liquid glue.  I also added some pencil highlights so that it wasn't a flat colour.  These were added over the top left and bottom right of the white die cut with liquid glue.  I didn't add any embellishments and I liked it as it was.  The inside photo is out of focus but I didn't realise until after I had posted the card but I think you can get the gist.  I cut another panel 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" and ink blended the green ink at the very bottom, again using the speckle background and some splatters as before.  I die cut another butterfly and added it with liquid glue to the left lower corner.  I stamped my sentiment in the centre with green ink.  A really simple card but I think it's really pretty.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

AAA Cards challenge - follow my lead

AAA Colourful challenge - colour board #14

Allsorts challenge - feminine

Aud Sentiments challenge - glitter & bling or St. Patrick's Day/Green + sentiment

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist bunnies, blooms or butterflies

Colourful Options challenge - it's not easy being green

Craft Rocket challenge - for the girls

Crafter's Cafe challenge - ATG option CAS

Get Creative challenge - happy birthday Barbie (card for a woman)

Make My Monday challenge - use a die or punch (3rd entry)

PINspirational challenge - spring greens optional inspiration photo

Shopping Our Stash challenge - think ink

Simply Clean and Simple challenge - shades of green

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - shades of green

Triple B challenge - use at least one bird, bloom or butterfly optional mood board

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'CAS' challenge and I cannot wait to see your creations in our linky. Please leave some love for my fellow chicks - Leanne, Diane and Lori.

Thank you so much for stopping by; I appreciate your lovely comments.

Love and hugs,

card ingredients:

Waffle Flower - outlined circles die

Visible Image - speckle background clear stamp - no longer available

Clearly Besotted - butterfly duo die collection - retired

Gina K Designs - birthday cheer mini stamp

Gina K Designs - grass green ink pad

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card - currently unavailable

Cards for All Seasons IG Hop - Week 6

Hello friends; I hope you're having a great week so far. I'm back today to share my card for this week's Cards for All Seasons IG hop organised by my lovely friend Kelly. We are now on Week 6 and as it's Kelly's birthday next week our theme is 'birthday fun'.  A really easy theme for you this week and I can't wait to see what sparks your imagination.

I know Kelly loves the colour green as it's her birthday month colour so I wanted to make her a card using that.  I searched through my stash and found this adorable cactus stamp set from MFT Stamps and thought it would be perfect.  I also went all out and made a shaped easel card.  I hope you like it. The lighting was really weird here today so my photos are a bit naff.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the adorable cacti:

Here is the inside of the card:

I made my own envelope and added an image on the front to match:

I began by stamping my images onto alcohol marker friendly card, coloured them with Promarkers and added some white gelly roll pen highlights.  I used the coordinating dies to cut them out.  I created my card base using a large scalloped circle die (approximately 5 1/2" in diameter) by folding an A4 piece of card in half placing the die over the fold and running it through my die cut machine.  I also cut one more  scallop circle from white so that I could cover the front of my card and added this with liquid glue.  I cut 2 white circle dies and ink blended the larger one with green ink.  On the smaller circle I used a fun dotty stencil using the same green ink and faded it out towards the edge.  I stamped the sentiments (which I previously had cut in half) and cut them out with sentiment strip dies.  I adhered the two circles together with liquid glue and added them to my card base with liquid glue.  The images were arranged on my card front and the two outer ones were added with liquid glue and the centre one with foam squares.  I added the thinner sentiment above the images and the larger sentiment below, both with foam squares.  I didn't add any embellishments as I thought there was enough going on.  For the inside I cut another two circles and ink blended and stencilled them to match the front.  I used a smaller cactus image and added that at the bottom right with liquid glue.  I stamped a sentiment in black ink in the centre.  The circles were then adhered to the card base with liquid glue.  I made my own envelope using an envelope punch board using green paper and as I had one image left over adhered that to the front left corner with liquid glue.  A really sweet card and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  If I thought it would reach her in time I would send it to Kelly in Florida but I don't think it will sadly.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

AAA Colourful challenge - colour board #14

Allsorts challenge - feminine

Aud Sentiments challenge - glitter & bling or St. Patrick's Day/green + sentiment

Colourful Options challenge - it's not easy being green

Crafty Calendar challenge - more than 1 fold

Crafty Catz challenge - ATG optional twist add a sentiment 

Creative Creases challenge - ATG with a fun fold

Everybody Art challenge - lots of layers

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - make it punny

Halloween & Other Occasions challenge - birthday

I Love Promarkers challenge - ATG or a girly card

Inspired By challenge - St. Patrick's Day (I was inspired by the colours)

Just Us Girls challenge - green

Make My Monday challenge - use a die or punch

The Neglected Stuff challenge - use an old, neglected item (the go-kreate dies are really old)

PINspirational challenge - inspirational photo (I was inspired by the colours)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - fun with stencils

Stencil Fun challenge - ATG but you must use a stencil optional theme splatters

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - shades of green

I hope you will pop over to Instagram and check out the hop; please use the hashtag #cardsforallseasonshop2025 to see all the gorgeous creations and also if you want to participate we will be able to find you.

I'll be back in the morning with my card for the Krafty Chicks challenge so I hope you will pop back and check it out. Until then thank you so much for stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card ingredients:

MFT Stamps - let's stick together stamp & die set - retired

Go-Kreate - XXL concentric straight circle & XXL concentric scallop circle dies - retired

Promarkers

MFT - birthday chicks clear stamp (for inside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips dies

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiment dies

Gina K Designs - lucky clover ink pad

Gina K Designs - fizzy stencil

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card - currently unavailable

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card - store now closed