Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop - March 26

Hello and welcome lovely friends.  It's time for the Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop, which takes place on the 5th of each month. You always have the option to go for anything goes but the extra prompt this month is 'Easter' and I know this is going to be a popular theme. I can't wait to see what the rest of my fellow hoppers have made. I hope you can pop over to Instagram and join us.

I always like to play along with the optional prompt and this month I created a super cute Easter tag using fantastic products from Gina K Designs.  Lots of stencilling, stamping and colouring and voila my tag was complete. I hope you like it.

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the back of the tag:

I began by die cutting two tags from white card and used a stencil to create my clouds and grassy hills.  I stamped the sweet images onto alcohol marker friendly card, coloured them with Promarkers, added some white gelly roll pen highlights and used the matching dies to cut them out.  I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the tag with black ink before adding my images with foam squares.  I felt the top looked a little bare so I stamped and coloured the sun image and cut it out with the coordinating die.  I adhered it to the top right corner with liquid glue.  I also stamped some small butterflies using a light grey ink and finished off with some rainbow pearls.  For the back of the tag I again used the stencil and created the clouds and hills.  I stamped the to: and from: in the centre as well as the greeting at the bottom of the tag in black ink.  I then adhered both tags together using liquid glue.  I added some yellow ribbon and green twine to decorate the top of the tag.  

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

* to be updated *

We hope you will be inspired by our Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop and will pop over and check out all the gorgeous tags along the way. If you would like to join us please visit my Instagram page or use the hashtag #gorgeousgifttagsmarch2026 and we will find your tags.
Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love,

tag supplies:

*Gina K Designs - tag trio die set (I used the largest tag)

Gina K Designs - spring friends stamp & die 

Gina K Designs - Easter blessings stamp (for greeting on the front)

Gina K Designs - beautiful backdrops stencil 

Gina K Designs - the good life stamp & die (for sun)

Gina K Designs - summer silhouettes stamp (for butterflies)

Gina K Designs - a little something stamp (for to/from and greeting on back)

Gina K Designs - blue sky ink pad

Gina K Designs - lucky clover ink pad

Gina K Designs - rainbow pearl mix

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Thank you x

Krafty Chicks challenge #810 - Birthday

Good morning lovely friends; I hope you're having a great week. It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week we are on Week 1; as always the theme is 'birthday' and Leanne is our hostess. This is such an easy challenge as we always need birthday cards so we hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

I didn't have anyone in mind when I made this card and as there are quite a few 'green' challenges around at the moment I decided to use a green & gold colour combo for my card.  It turned out quite clean and simple too but I love the finished card and I hope you do too. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I started by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using a stencil and some green ink created my soft background.  I die cut two of the leaf clusters, one in gold and one in vellum and cut them in half as they were quite long.  I adhered the vellum leaf first and then laid the gold one over top using liquid glue.  I gold heat embossed the sentiment and used a sentiment strips die to cut it out (I also cut 3 more from white card to stack behind it).  I adhered the sentiment across the middle of the leafery with liquid glue and finished off with a few gold pearls.  I added some scrap white card behind my panel and then adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stencilled a border at the bottom before adding some tiny pieces of the leafery with liquid glue.  I stamped a sentiment in green ink and then adhered the panel to my card base with double sided tape.  

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 want to say how much I appreciate your lovely comments, your support really does mean the world to me.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Simon Says Stamp - outline clustered leaves die

Simon Says Stamp - birthday basics stamp

*Gina K Designs - decorative double stencil

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips die 

Gina K Designs - lucky clover ink pad

Gina K Designs - mini pearl mix black, gold & silver

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

Versamark - watermark ink pad

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder

Stampin' Up! - card stock vellum (retired)

gold mirror card from stash

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Thank you x

Card Clubhouse IG Hop - Week 5

Good morning lovely friends; I'm back to share my card for the new Card Clubhouse IG hop organised by my sweet friend Kelly. We are on Week 5 and our theme is 'let it shine'. So grab your mirror card, foil, embossing powders etc and get your shine on!  We can't wait to see what everyone makes. There are going to be so many awesome creations along the hop this week and I can't wait to see what sparks your imagination.

I was originally going to use some Gina K foil but someone had mentioned gilding flakes in our group and I thought I had some somewhere that I had never used so decided to give it a go.  I had silver gilding flakes so went for a dramatic navy background and it's not perfect but not too bad for a first try.  I hope you like it too.

Here is my card:

A closer look trying to catch the shine:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a navy panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using transfer gel duo and a dotty stencil created the background which dries tacky ready for the gilding flakes.  I left the background for about 1 hour or so and then applied the gilding flakes with my fingers and once I had full coverage I used a stiff brush to remove the excess flakes.  I had flakes flying everywhere and I'll probably be finding them for days lol!  It's not perfect as some of the gel went under the stencil in parts so some of the dots are a bit irregular but I think it looks ok.  I did cut down the panel slightly to 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and added a silver mirror mat layer with double sided tape.  I didn't want to cover too much of the background so die cut two skinny word dies from silver mirror card (plus some from navy card to layer) and an oval from vellum.  I adhered the silver words directly to the vellum with liquid glue and then adhered the navy words under the vellum so that there would be some separation from the background.  The oval was then adhered to the background with liquid glue.  I added the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  As if I didn't have enough shine already I finished off with some silver sequins around the sentiment!  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and added a left over strip of the dotty background to the bottom with liquid glue; I also added a strip of the mirror card along the top.  I matted this panel onto a navy panel with double sided tape.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with navy ink and then added the panel onto the card base with double sided tape. 

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

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut

A Place to Start challenge - ATG optional twist no squares

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

Creative Friday challenge - monochrome

Girlz Creative Splash of Colour challenge - blue and/or yellow

Hearts Quest Celebrations of Love challenge - BEWAS (birthday)

Make My Monday challenge - card for a male

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional die cuts

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - make your own background

I hope you will pop over to Instagram and check out the hop; please use the hashtag #cardclubhousehop2026 to see all the gorgeous creations and also if you want to participate we will be able to find you.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Tonic Studios - Nuvo gilding flakes silver bullion

Thermoweb - decofoil transfer gel duo

MFT - large polka dots stencil 

Clearly Besotted - happy and birthday word dies (retired)

Spellbinders - classic ovals large die

Spellbinders - color essentials sequins: silver smooth discs

Uniko - sparkle sentiments stamp (for inside greeting)

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

*Gina K Designs - in the navy ink pad

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Thank you x

AAA Birthday challenge #83 - DT card

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to March! We actually had a glimpse of spring yesterday and it was lovely to see the sun and some blue sky; I even pegged out some washing on the line for the first time this year!  It's back to normal this morning though as it's raining lol!  

As it's the first of the month it means we have a brand new challenge over at AAA Birthday challenge. This month's theme is 'use die cuts' and our guest designer this month is Caroline so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

Now I know we all love our die cuts and this is going to be a very popular challenge I think.  I recently bought one of the new dies that came out in the Lawn Fawn release so I used that on my card this month.  I made a square card as that suited the shape of the die and I think it turned out really pretty. I hope you like it too.  

Here is my card:

a closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by making my card base; I cut a 10" x 5" piece of white card and scored it on the long side at 5" to create my 5" x 5" card base.  I then grabbed lots of coloured card from my scraps bin and die cut all the elements for the butterfly wreath (I die cut the wreath three times for some extra stability, twice from green and once from white).  I found a tiny scrap of glitter card so used that for the flowers to add a bit of sparkle.  I adhered all the pieces together with liquid glue.  I took the white centre piece and stamped the sentiment in black ink before adding it back into the middle with liquid glue.  I wanted a subtle background but didn't want to leave it white so I searched through my paper pads and found this off white 'plank' design that I like and cut a piece 4 1/2" square and also a mat layer from the same green card as the wreath.  I adhered them together with double sided tape.  I added the wreath to the background with liquid glue.  As I had a small piece of the glitter card left I decided to cut some small circles to use as embellishments and adhered them with liquid glue.  For the inside I cut a white panel 4 1/2" square and added it to a green mat layer with double sided tape.  I added a strip of the patterned paper to the bottom with liquid glue and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I also die cut an additional 3 butterflies and added them with liquid glue.  

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

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist things with wings

As You Like It challenge - favourite colour (I love a rainbow of colours and use this colour combo at lot!)  Please delete my entry if not appropriate

Cardz 4 Galz challenge - wings

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist blooms or butterflies

Crafter's Cafe challenge - for the girls

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Dragonfly Dreams challenge - butterflies 

Lawn Fawnatics challenge - #215 all things rainbow

Little Red Wagon challenge - L is for leftovers (all the coloured card is from my scraps bin)

Mix It Up challenge - ATG + optional die cuts

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

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.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Lawn Fawn - magic iris butterfly wreath add on

*Gina K Designs - perfect posy mini stamp (for outside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - friendly wishes mini stamp (for inside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - lots of dots die set (to make my embellishments)

Mintay papers - basic book 1 - backgrounds white

coloured card & glitter card from scraps bin

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 
Thank you x

Just Us Girls challenge #812 - guest designer card

Hello again friends!  I'm back to share my last guest designer card for the Just Us Girls challenge (I can't believe where the last 4 weeks have gone!).  It's been so much fun creating with Vicki and the team.  This week is a simple one 'anything goes stencil week' so I'm sure there will be lots of entries.

I used a pretty floral stencil that I've had in my stash for a little while but never used (apart from the one layer which I used on my fireworks card a few weeks ago).  I used bright and happy colours because the sun was shining today and made me think of spring.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

a closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a piece of white card 6" x 6" and as it's a layering stencil set I used the corner of my Misti to ensure I was in the correct place each time.  As I said I used a bright, spring inspired colour palette of orange, yellow and green and once all the ink blending was complete I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out the part that I liked the most.  I was going to have an orange mat behind the panel but decided to have no mat layer at all and have an orange card base instead (it's actually double sided so the inside is more of a butterscotch colour and matches the colours too).  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink and used the matching die to cut it out; I also cut 3 more from white card to layer up, which I did with liquid glue.  The sentiment was added to the stencilled panel with liquid glue and I finished off with some black pearls.  For the inside I die cut a white panel using the stitched rectangle die and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I had a small piece of the stencilled panel left over so used the stitched rectangle to cut the bottom part and then trimmed it down to 1 3/8" and adhered it over the bottom of the white panel with liquid glue.  This was then added to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - anything floral goes optional mood board

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist blooms or butterflies

Color Dare challenge - #692 (I used all three colours + black & white)

Craft Rocket challenge - flowers

Crafters Cafe challenge - for the girls

Creative Moments challenge - feminine

Moving Along With The Times challenge - floral

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

Stencil Fun challenge - create your own background

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - stitching (I used a stitched die)

Triple B challenge - birds. butterflies or blooms + optional inspiration board

 

I'm sure this will be a popular challenge as we all love our stencils don't we. Please pop over and check out the gorgeous creations by the talented design team. I want to say a big thank you to Vikki and everyone over at the Just Us Girls challenge for asking me to guest with them in February; it's been an honour and I've had a blast. I'll be back next week playing along as usual lol!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate your support.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Uniko Stamps - layering picked posies stencil

Uniko Stamps - organic wishes stamp (for inside sentiment)

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

*Gina K Designs - ML 14 (for stitched rectangle die)

Gina K Designs - graceful greetings stamp & die (for outside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - ink pads - wild dandelion, sweet mango, butterscotch, jelly bean green, fresh asparagus 

Gina K Designs - black, gold & silver metallic pearl mix

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Thank you x

Krafty Chicks challenge #809 - Masculine

Good morning lovely friends; I hope your week is going well so far. I'm sharing my card for the 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. We know it's not everyone's favourite challenge, but we do have to make some masculine cards sometime and this challenge will hopefully help you get them done. We hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

I didn't make this card for anyone in particular, I just grabbed some supplies on my desk and had a play.  I had just received this fun die set from Spellbinders recent sale and thought it would be perfect for males of all ages.  I think it turned out super cute and I hope you like it too.

Here is my card:

a closer look at the details:

plus I decorated the inside:

as I added some shimmer pen to the word I took a side view photo to try and capture the glitter:

I began by die cutting the fun monster from green, black, white and red card, all from my scraps bin and added some white gelly roll pen details.  I used a large smile word die cut and cut it out from the same two shades of green card, adhering the layers together with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in green ink and used a sentiments strip die to cut it out.  I thought an embossed background would be fun and I liked this large dots folder but it was only slimline but it still worked as I cut the panel to 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and it looks great with the large border on my card. I added some scrap white card behind the embossed panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  I added all the elements with foam squares and finished off with some dark green pearls.  I also decided at the last minute to add some shimmer pen over the smile word for a little extra fun.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and added another piece of white card cut to 3 3/4" x 1", which I embossed with large dots folder, to the bottom with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in green ink in the centre and adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.   

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

Allsorts challenge - embossing

Alphabet challenge - v is for volume (everything is popped up with foam squares)

Cardz 4 Guyz challenge - monochrome

Creative Knockouts challenge - finish the inside

Daisy Chain challenge - something new (the die is new to me)

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - dies or punches

Make My Monday challenge - card for a male

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

Spellbinders challenge - pop of colour

The Male Room challenge - CAS

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 supplies:

Spellbinders - you're my favourite monster die set - now on clearance

Spellbinders - big dots slimline embossing folder

Spellbinders - hello smile die set

Spellbinders - confetti wishes stamp (for inside sentiment) - now on clearance

*Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments die

Gina K Designs - Christmas pine ink pad

MFT - you wow me stamp (for sub-sentiment)

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

coloured card from scraps bin

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - soft pine pearl mix (store now closed)

Tonic - glitter gloss aqua shimmer pen

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Thank you x

Patterned Paper Party IG Hop - February 26

Hello friends, welcome back to my little blog. I'm here today to share my card for this month's Patterned Paper Party Instagram Hop. Do you love patterned paper? Do you have a huge stash that needs using? Well so do we and it's time to get it used! We will be hopping on the 20th of each month to share our ideas. We will definitely be creating cards, but maybe sometimes tags, ATCs, gift bags/boxes, mini albums and scrapbook pages too. We want our patterned paper to be used.

The theme is always 'anything goes' but each month we will have an optional twist that can be used if you like; this month the twist is pinks/red'', which is suitable for any occasion, so grab your patterned papers and join in the fun. The patterned paper I used was originally black and white striped but I had an idea to try colouring the white stripes with my pink and red Promarkers and it turned out really well so I used it.  I was excited to see the MFT challenges have restarted again so I followed their sketch. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

A quick comparison of the paper before & after I coloured it:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by colouring the patterned paper with my Promarkers and set it aside to dry.  I cut a white panel to 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and a pink mat layer and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I stamped the image onto alcohol marker friendly card, coloured it with Promarkers and added some white gelly roll pen highlights.  I also stamped the banner onto white card and also onto the patterned paper so that I could fussy cut the pennants and paper piece them onto the white one.  I also fussy cut the whole banner to go onto my card.  I die cut the dotty edge rectangle and cut the image panel down to fit inside which I adhered with double sided tape.  I added some scrap white card behind this panel.  I adhered the patterned paper to the bottom of the white panel with liquid glue and added the dotty panel on top with double sided tape.  I adhered the banner with a mix of foam squares and liquid glue to the top and a happy birthday sentiment (which I cut with a fishtail die) to the bottom.  I finished off with some pink and red gems.  For the inside I cut another white panel and pink mat layer and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I stamped and paper pieced a portion of the banner in the top left corner and added a strip of the patterned paper to the bottom.  I finished by stamping a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  The panel was adhered to the card base with liquid glue.  

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

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist animal magic

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut

Alphabet challenge - V is for volume (I have dimension behind all my panels)

A Place to Start challenge - ATG optional twist small critters

As You Like It challenge - cute or elegant (I love using cute critter images; they make me smile)

Crafter's Cafe challenge - for the girls

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Creative Moments challenge - feminine

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Die Cut Divas challenge - pink/red colours

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - dies or punches

Inkspirational challenge - February collage (I was inspired by the colours)

Little Red Wagon challenge - just the way you are 

MFT Card challenge - sketch challenge

Paper Rocks Scissors challenge - use paper and/or scissors (I used both, I fussy cut the banner)

PINspirational challenge - red and pink

Stamping Sensations challenge - favourite stamp or ATG (I love all MFT stamps and use them a lot)

The Dream Factory challenge - any type of animal

Tic Tac Toe challenge - red/pink, sentiment strip, patterned paper

Unicorn challenge - animals

We Love Stamping challenge - hearts or ATG (I went with ATG this month)

We hope you will be inspired by our Patterned Paper Party IG Hop and will pop over and check out all the gorgeous creations along the way. If you would like to join us please visit my Instagram page or use the hashtag #patternedpaperpartyhopfeb2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love

card supplies:

MFT - sending sweet celebration wishes stamp 

MFT - black & white stripes 6x6 paper pack

Promarkers

Spellbinders - essential rectangles die (for dotty edge)

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card (not available but other options are here and here)

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

*Gina K Designs - ML 18 (for flag die)

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card - store now closed

gems from Little Things from Lucy's Cards - store now closed

pink card from my stash

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If you are considering making a purchase I would appreciate you using my link as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Thank you x