Stencil Fun IG Hop - March 26

Hello again friends; I am back to share my card for the Stencil Fun IG Hop organised by my lovely friend Jane. We a group of crafters who are determined to use their forgotten and neglected stencils. I'm definitely guilty of this; I have so many stencils but usually forget to reach for them so this hop is perfect for me. The theme is always anything goes but we will have an optional theme to use if we want to. This month's optional theme is 'words' and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

After a dig around in my stencils I found this fun birthday words stencil which I thought would be perfect as it had lots of different words.  I also found a postage style stencil which looked like a present to me so I thought I would combine them.  It turned out exactly as I had hoped and it's such a happy card.  I hope you like it too.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the stencilling:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and firstly used the postage stencil and some light grey ink added some shading to the very edges of the boxes to give them some definition.  Without removing the first stencil I added the words stencil on top and did a diagonal rainbow blend from the top left to the bottom right corner.  I removed both stencils and I loved how bright and happy the blending turned out.  To enhance the look of the 'present' I die cut a bow from white card and used liquid glue to assemble it before adhering it to the panel with foam squares.  I stamped a tiny greeting along the horizontal 'ribbon' in black ink and finished off with some black pearls.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel before adhering it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and used the words stencil to create a border at the bottom, again using a rainbow of colours.  I added a smaller white bow along the edge of the stencilling with liquid glue and stamped the sentiment in black in the centre.   The panel was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

* to be updated * 

We hope you will be inspired by our Stencil Fun Instagram Hop and will pop over and check out all the gorgeous cards along the way. If you would like to join us please visit my Instagram page or use the hashtag #stencilfunmarch2026 and we will find you. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be sharing another card with you on Saturday so please pop back and check it out.   

Lots of love

card supplies:

Funky Fossil Designs - birthday words stencil 

Memory Box Co. - postage set stencil

Memory Box Co. - truly gifted die set

Clearly Besotted - teeny tags stamp (for outside sentiment)

Clearly Besotted - simply said birthday 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 - ink pads - lipstick, tangerine twist, wild dandelion, lucky clover, blue sky, wild lilac, soft stone

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 #811 - Christmas

Good morning lovely friends, I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you're all doing ok. It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week we are on Week 2; as always the theme is 'Christmas' and I am your hostess. We are slowly adding to the Christmas pile, which really takes the stress off later in the year. We hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

I saw a fun sketch on the CAS on Friday challenge that I wanted to try so that was the starting point for my card.  I wasn't in the mood for cute so thought I would pull out some poinsettias and I think my card turned out really elegant.  I hope you like it too.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the flowers:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and 2 strips of gold mirror card which I adhered to the white panel with liquid glue.  I stamped the poinsettia and coloured it using the coordinating layering stencils before cutting it out with the matching die.  I also die cut three plain white poinsettias to stack up for some extra dimension.  I stamped and gold heat embossed the sentiment and used a sentiment strips die to cut it out.  I adhered the poinsettias with liquid glue onto the background and then added the sentiment directly on top of the poinsettia also with liquid glue.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel before adhering it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel and added a thin strip of the gold mirror card along the bottom horizontally with liquid glue.  I stamped, coloured and die cut a smaller poinsettia and adhered it over the strip with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink before adding the panel to my card base with double sided tape.  A very clean and simple card but quite elegant I think. 

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

The 12 months of Christmas Link Up challenge - ATG optional peppermint twist

Addicted to CAS challenge - garden

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - anything floral goes optional mood board

Cardz 4 Galz challenge - embossing heat or dry (my sentiment is heat embossed)

CAS on Friday challenge - sketch

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist blooms or butterflies

Craft Rocket challenge - no design paper

Daisy Chain challenge - flowers

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Peace on Earth Christmas challenge - anything Christmas themed optional mood board

Simply Clean and Simple challenge - clean & simple optional baby animals

Triple B challenge - birds, blooms or butterflies optional mood board

Try It On Tuesday challenge - make it feminine 

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'Christmas' 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:

*Gina K Designs - holiday floral stamp & die set

Gina K Designs - merry sentiment strips stamp (for both sentiments)

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips dies

Gina K Designs - ink pads - red hot, faded brick, jelly bean green, fresh asparagus

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

gold mirror 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

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:

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist things with wings 

Allsorts challenge - ribbons and/or bows

CRAFT challenge - spring/Easter/ATG

Craft Rocket challenge - no design paper

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Creative Inspirations challenge - cute critters

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Die Cut Divas challenge - spring is coming

Heart's Quest Celebrations of Love challenge - BEWAS (optional Easter)

Heart's Quest for Shaped Cards and Tags challenge - ATG

Inkspirational challenge - use stencils optional twist plaid

Little Red Wagon challenge - include an animal

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - make it cute

Stamping Sensations challenge - spring

Stencil Fun challenge - use a stencil optional vines/vinery

The Four Seasons challenge - spring

The Dream Factory challenge - ATG with animals

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist fur or feathers

We Love Stamping challenge - wildlife or ATG

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:

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut

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

Cardz 4 Galz challenge - embossing heat or dry (my sentiment is heat embossed)

Colourful Options challenge - green

Craft Rocket challenge - no design paper

Creative Moments challenge - feminine

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - shades of green

Heart's Quest Celebrations of Love challenge - BEWAS (birthday)

INKspiration challenge - use utensils

Inspiration Station challenge - inspiration photo (I was inspired by the colours)

Just Us Girls challenge - die week - luck/green

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional die cuts

PINspirational challenge - green and gold

Stencil Fun challenge - use a stencil optional vines/vinery

Try It On Tuesday challenge - make it feminine

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