Stencil Fun IG Hop - May 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 'layered' and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

I recently saw Bev from Uniko use today's stencil and it reminded me that a) I had it, b) It was a layering stencil and c) I hadn't used it yet, so I wanted to show it some love.  The stencil is called zesty and so of course I had to use bright citrus-y colours.  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 white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stencilled the design using three different colours of ink, orange, yellow and green.  For the first layer I went really light handed so that I could use the second layer with the same ink pad, only this time much heavier handed.  For the third layer I used a darker complimentary colour for the details.  The final layer is some extra details of dots and what look like droplets but I decided I only wanted the dots so just kept moving the stencil to fill in the gaps with the colours I wanted.  I decided I wanted a decorative edge so pulled out this fun torn edge die and used it to cut out my panel (it only just fit and took a sliver off each edge) but I think it looks fab).  I stamped the sentiment with black ink using a mix of stamp sets and cut it out with a circle die.  I wanted a vellum circle to go behind the sentiment and found two already cut in my stash, which was a bonus!  I added foam tape behind the sentiment and added it to the first vellum circle, this was then adhered to the second vellum circle with liquid glue.  I added some scrap white card behind my panel, this was adhered to the card base with double sided tape and the sentiment was added to the bottom right corner with liquid glue.  As a final finishing touch I added some crystal glaze to the dots to give them the look of enamel dots.  For the inside I used the stencil to create a border at the bottom of the white panel, again added dots in between for some extra details.  I used the torn edge die to cut the decorative edge and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  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 #stencilfunmay2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and brightening my day. Have a great week everyone.

Lots of love,

card supplies:

Uniko - zesty layering stencils

Uniko - birthday sentiments stamp (for part of the front sentiment)

Uniko - pure florals: cosmos stamp (for sweet word) - I did some stamp surgery

Uniko - birthday wishes stamp (for inside sentiment)

Creative Craft Products - A2 layering nested torn edge dies

Tonic Studios - Nuvo crystal glaze

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 - key lime, lucky clover, tangerine twist, honey mustard, wild dandelion, prickly pear

*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

Try It On Tuesday challenge - GDT card

Good morning lovely friends. I know I don't normally post on a Tuesday but I was asked to be a guest designer for the Try It On Tuesday challenge and of course I happily accepted. Their challenge starts today, runs for 2 weeks and the theme is 'keep it simple'. 

  

I decided to make a clean and simple sympathy card as I prefer them to be this way; I don't like too much fuss on a sympathy card as a rule.  As I'm patiently waiting for my new kit from Gina K Designs to arrive I thought I would dig into last month's kit and use something that I hadn't shown any love to yet.  This is such a pretty stamp set and can be used for so many different occasions.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details: 

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by ink blending the circle shape onto my white panel (cut to 4" x 5 1/4").  I do have a circle stencil mask but to be honest I was too lazy to look for it so I just die cut a circle from another white panel and used that as my mask.  I used two shades of light teal ink and went slightly darker towards the left hand side.  I then took the curved silhouette stamp and stamped it over the circle with black ink.  I decided to pop up the sentiment so stamped that onto white card and used the coordinating die to cut it out; I also die cut 2 more from white to stack them together.  I used liquid glue to adhere the sentiment to the card.  I decided to add 3 clear sequins around the sentiment for some subtle bling.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel before adhering it to my card base with double sided tape.  I admire crafters that can make one-layer cards but I always have to have some dimension on my cards or in my eyes they look too boring lol!  For the inside I cut another white panel and ink blended along the bottom with the remaining ink on my blending brush.  I stamped part of the image in the bottom right corner and the sentiment in the centre, both with black ink.  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 *

I hope you will be able to join in the fun and I can't wait to see what you all come up with. I would like to thank Avril and all the team at Try It On Tuesday for approaching me to be a guest designer and I would suggest you go and check out their amazing creations too.

Have a wonderful day everyone; I appreciate you stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

*Gina K Designs - courtyard silhouettes stamp & die set

Gina K Designs - ink pads - sea glass & blue lagoon

Gina K Designs - clear quartz solid sequins

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

CASE IT IG Hop - May 26

Hello again friends. I hope you've had a great start to your weekend.  I'm here to share this month's card for the CASE IT Instagram Hop where we find a project on Instagram that inspires us and we will share that project as well as the project we’ve created. There are so many beautiful creations on Instagram the only difficult part is narrowing down which one to CASE (which means Copy And Share Everything).

This month I was inspired by Tina (@cardsandcoffeetime over on IG); as soon as I saw her card I was in love. I'm a big fan of Tina's and watch nearly all her videos over on YouTube.  Her pretty birthday card is just gorgeous and I love all the different textures and dies that she uses. I decided to make my card masculine but you can definitely see that my card was inspired by hers! Here is her card for my inspiration:

Isn't her card just beautiful? Using Ardyth's LIMES process (you can watch her video here) we list what we see - Tina has used white, teal and a hint of purple as her main colours, an embossing folder in the background, heart dies, some floral die cuts, a simple black sentiment and some sparkly embellishments. So I followed the layout but switched the embossing to the bottom instead of the top, I used a monochrome teal colour combo and used gold instead of the black sentiment.  I decided to use stars instead of hearts and balloons in place of the flowers.  I didn't really omit anything this time and my spin is that my card is masculine instead of feminine and also it's 5 1/4" x 7 1/4" in size. I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by embossing the teal panel using a candle embossing folder.  I die cut the two stars from white card and the balloons from three shades of teal card; the strings were cut from gold mirror card.  I stamped and gold heat embossed the sentiment onto one of the stars and added foam squares behind the balloons.  I adhered the stars overlapping the embossed panel by about half with liquid glue and added foam squares behind the whole piece before adding it to a 5" x 7" white panel. I added the balloons over the left hand star and finished off with some gold sequins.  I adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel 5" x 7" and added a strip of the candle embossed card (it is the darker teal as I originally cut them from both to see which one I preferred for the front and I thought why waste it so I used it on the inside instead).  I die cut a small white star and one more balloon and adhered them to the bottom right corner with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre of the panel with black ink and then adhered the panel 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 CASE IT 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 #caseithop and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Lots of love

card supplies:

Spellbinders - balloons and birthday wishes die set (for the balloons) (DOML May-23)

Spellbinders - candles for every birthday embossing folder (EOM May-23)

Spellbinders - nestabilities stars die set

Spellbinders - color essentials gold smooth discs sequins

Uniko - floral vines and everyday family stamps (for outside sentiment)

*Gina K Designs - birthday cheer 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

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

Sakura - white no.10 gelly roll pen

card from scraps bin

*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 #822 - DT card

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog.  I am a little giddy today as I have some exciting news to share with you - I am joining the Just Us Girls challenge Design Team - woohoo!  As you may remember I was a guest designer for them back in February and they asked me if I would like to join them as a permanent designer, and of course I immediately said yes!  Today I am sharing my first card for them and it's Die Week and Vicki has chosen 'use a sentiment die'.  

I was so nervous making my first card as I wanted it to be 'good enough'; the team is super talented and I hope I've done them proud.  I wanted to make my sentiment die the star of the show so did a faux embossed background using the die and then cut one from gold as my focal element.  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 white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and die cut lots of the hooray sentiment from white card. I added them to the white panel with liquid glue, staggering them by one letter on each row but made sure one was complete along the second row.  I then decided to die cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die.  I stacked 3 more white words on top of the one on the second line and then finished off with one cut from gold mirror card.  I liked that the word went slightly outside the die cut panel.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and then adhered it to my card base with double sided tape.  I stamped a sub-sentiment using black ink and die cut it with a sentiments strip die; this was placed below the gold hooray with double sided tape.  I finished off with some gold and black pearls.  For the inside I die cut another stitched rectangle and 1 more hooray word from white card.  I added the word with liquid glue and stamped the sentiment above it with black ink.  I adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

* to be updated *

I'm sure this will be a popular challenge as we all love our dies don't we?  I cannot wait to see what you create.  Please pop over to the challenge blog and leave some love for the rest of the design team.  

I appreciate you stopping by. 

Love and hugs, 

card supplies:

Avery Elle - hooray die (currently on sale!)

MFT - you wow me stamp (for both sentiments)

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

*Gina K Designs - master layouts 02 (for stitched rectangle)

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments die

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 #819 - 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.

It was my mother's birthday a few weeks ago and of course I wanted to make a special card for her; it's a fun fold card that I saw Gina K make called an interlocking fancy fold card but mine is super sized at 7" x 7" so my panels are slightly different to hers as I had to make mine bigger to suit the card size.  I hope you like it.  Apologies but there is photo overload today; skip through after the first few if you like :)

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

A look at the images:

Plus I decorated the inside:

Finally; this is the card from above to show the fold:

To create my card base I cut three separate panels and joined them together.  First I cut the back piece 7" x 7" and then I cut the two front pieces 6" x 7" and scored these at 1" and 3 1/2".  The 1" tabs were adhered to the back of the 7" square panel on each side using strong red liner tape.  I then folded and creased the other scored lines to create a backward Z on the left side and a Z fold on the right side.  I then die cut two stitched squares from white and the mat layers from black and adhered them together with double sided tape.  The squares were added to the card base with double sided tape (but only to the one side; the piece in the middle was left clear of adhesive).  Now that my card base was ready I started on my stamped and coloured elements.  I used a beautiful stamp, die and stencil bundle from Gina K Designs and used bright and cheerful yellow and green with a hint of black for my colours.  Once the images were stencilled and cut out I adhered them with foam squares to the front of the card.  I also stamped and stencilled two butterflies and added them in the white space on the side panels.  I stamped and die cut the sentiments (but I had to fussy cut the mother word) and again adhered them with foam squares - lots of dimension on this card.  I didn't add any embellishments as I felt there was lots going on already.  For the inside I cut a white panel 6 1/2" square and a slightly larger black mat layer and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I used a stencil and some light grey ink to add some soft detail to the centre of the panel and stamped my sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I had some left over stamped pieces so I added them to the top left and bottom right corners with liquid glue.  The panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist May flowers

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut

A Place to Start challenge - ATG optional theme fancy folds

Aud Sentiments challenge - embossing and/or flowers + sentiment

Creative Creases challenge - ATG with a fun fold

Daisy Chain challenge - layer it up

Do-All Creative challenge - ATG optional flowers as eye-catcher

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

Moving Along With The Times challenge - one or more butterflies

Pearly Sparkles challenge - one or more butterflies

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - make it colourful

The Four Seasons challenge - spring inspired optional mood board

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

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:

*Gina K Designs

delicate flowers stamp, die & layering stencils bundle

create friendship stamp, die and stencils (for butterflies)

lovely ladies stamp (for mother word)

modern roses stamp & die (for sentiment)

on the inside: birthday (for inside sentiment)

ornamental fans stencil (for inside panel)

sentiment strips die set 

master layouts 3 (for stitched squares and mat layer dies)

ink pads - soft stone, jelly bean green, fresh asparagus, marigold, honey mustard

other supplies:

Limetree Craft - 12" x 12" smooth white card 300gsm

Limetree Craft - 220gsm black card

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

Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop - May 26

Hello and welcome lovely friends. I hope my UK peeps enjoyed their Bank Holiday weekend and everyone else had a good normal weekend lol!  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 'lacy' and you can use real lace, lace stamps, dies etc.  I know this is going to be a popular theme and 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.

When I planned my tag I really thought I had a lace background stamp but do you think I could find it - in a word no!  So plan B was to use a decorative border die which to me looks a bit lacy.  It turned out super girly and really pretty.  I hope you like it.

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the details:

I tried to capture the embossed detail of one of the butterflies:

Plus I decorated the back:

I began by die cutting two white tags using a stitched tag die.  I also die cut a strip of the decorative border die from white card.  I ink blended with a cloud stencil onto both tags using sea glass ink.  I decided to use the beautiful butterflies as I thought they looked a little lacy on the edges too. They are part of an embossing folder, die & stencil bundle.  I die cut the butterflies, embossed them in the folder and then used the stencils to colour them with bright, girly colours.  Aren't they so pretty.  I worked out roughly where I wanted the butterflies to go on the front of my tag and stamped my sentiment in the gap between them using black ink.  I also stamped the to: and from: on the second tag (which will be the back) again with black ink. I adhered the border strip to the back of the front tag with liquid glue and then added the second tag to the back with double sided tape.  I added the two larger butterflies to the front of the tag with foam squares and finished off with some black sequins.  For the back I adhered the smaller butterfly with liquid glue.  I added some pink tulle through the hole of the tag and tied a bow around it using yellow twine.  

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

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut

Allsorts challenge - anything but square

Alphabet challenge - A is for the air

Aud Sentiments challenge - embossing wet/dry and/or flowers + sentiment (my butterflies are embossed)

Cut It Up challenge - something with wings

Dragonfly Dreams challenge - use die cuts

Dream Valley challenge - all creatures great and small

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - use pink, blue and/or yellow

Heart's Quest for Shaped Cards & Tags - ATG

Let's Craft & Create challenge - tag you're it

Moving Along With The Times challenge - 1 or more butterflies

Pearly Sparkles challenge - 1 or more butterflies

Simply Clean & Simple challenge - CAS optional theme things that fly

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Mother's Day/feminine

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

Stencil Fun challenge - must use a stencil optional see thru it! (I stencilled the clouds & butterflies)

Tag-along (& ATC's) challenge - add some pink

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

Unicorn challenge - something new (my butterfly bundle is new)

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 #gorgeousgifttagsmay2026 and we will find your tags.
Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love,

tag supplies:

*Gina K Designs - delicate butterflies bundle 

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

Gina K Designs - corner blossoms mini stamp (for front sentiment)

Gina K Designs - create-a-tag holiday mini stamp (for to: and from:)

Gina K Designs - ink pads - sea glass, marigold, sweet mango, petunia

Spellbinders - create a slimline border die set

Spellbinders - color essentials sequins - black smooth disc

MFT - mini cloud edges stencil

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

tulle and twine 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