Gorgeous Gift TagsIG Hop - June 26

Hello and welcome lovely friends. I hope you've had a great week; although I can't believe it's Friday already!  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 'guys' so we want to see all your masculine inspired tags.   I can't wait to see what the rest of my fellow hoppers have made and I hope you can pop over to Instagram and join us.

I often think of geometric or basic shapes when I make of masculine cards and tags so I went with stars on my tags this month.  I created a fun background using distressed pattern stamps and a limited colour palette.  I think it turned out super cool and I hope you like it too.  

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the back of my tag:

I began by die cutting two tags from 300gsm white card (one of the front and one for the back).  I stamped the stars using a few shades of grey and teal ink pads and die cut them out using the coordinating dies.  I also stamped the sentiments in black onto white card and used a sentiment strips die to cut out the thinner sentiment and my paper trimmer to cut out the larger one.  For the background I used the same ink pads and an old but well loved distressed pattern stamp to create a fun design, I just kept stamping until I was happy!  I added some black twine behind the thinner sentiment and then added all the elements to the tag with foam squares.  I ink blended the darker teal ink onto a scrap of the white card and then die cut some hole reinforcers for my tags; these were adhered with liquid glue.  For the back of the tag I again randomly stamped the distressed patterns (using the front as my guide) and added three stars in the bottom left corner with liquid glue.  I added the hole reinforcer with liquid glue and finally stamped the 'to' and 'from' with black ink.  I adhered the two tags together with liquid glue before threading white ribbon through the hole and tying teal & white twine into a bow.  

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 #gorgeousgifttagsjune2026 and we will find your tags. 

Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love,

tag supplies:

Waffle Flower - nesting tag dies

Clearly Besotted - superstar stamp & die set (retired)

MFT - distressed patterns stamp

*Gina K Designs - create-a-tag holiday mini stamp (for to & from)

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips die set

Gina K Designs - ink pads - ocean mist, blue lagoon, soft stone, stormy sky, slate

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

ribbon recycled from some clothing 

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

Just Us Girls challenge #826 - Die Week

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. I am back to share my card for this week's Just Us Girls challenge and this week is Die Week and Carol has chosen 'butterfly'. I think everyone loves butterflies so I'm sure this will be a really popular theme and I cannot wait to see all your gorgeous creations.

I decided to use the Lawn Fawn butterfly wreath die set again but this time I only used the butterflies and not the wreath part.  I went for a soft colour combo and a bright card base and I think it turned out really pretty.  I hope you like it.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by die cutting the main part of the butterflies from white card and the inside parts were cut from vellum.  I used my Promarkers to colour the backs of the vellum in oranges and yellows and adhered the two parts together with liquid glue.  I cut an arch from white card and did some soft ink blending with sea glass ink and I also die cut a slightly larger arch from vellum and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I die cut some grass from green card x 2 and adhered them to the bottom of the arch using liquid glue.  I die cut a decorative panel from white card and roughly ink blended some orange and yellow inks (just using what was left on the brushes) to add some interest behind the arches.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink the upper left corner of the panel before adhering the arches with foam squares.  I cut teeny tiny slithers of foam tape for the backs of the butterflies and adhered them randomly over the arches.  I stamped the happy birthday sentiment in black ink and used a sentiments strip die to cut it out.  I adhered it with a mix of foam tape and liquid glue.  For a finished touch I added some gold metallic pearls.  I decided to make a coloured card base for a change and found this pretty orange pearlescent card in my stash.  I cut it to 4 1/4" x 11" and scored it at 5 1/2".  I added some scrap white card behind my panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another decorative panel from white card, added another grass die cut in the bottom right corner and one more butterfly with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment with black ink in the centre of the panel.  The inside of my card base was an off-white colour and didn't look that good against my bright white panel so I cut another piece of the orange pearlescent card and adhered it inside the card base with liquid glue before adding the white panel on top.  

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

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut (3rd entry)

As You Like It challenge - favourite sentiment (it has to be happy birthday as 90% of my cards are birthday cards)

Aud Sentiments challenge - monochrome and/or birthday + sentiment

Craft Rocket challenge - birthday

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Die Cut Divas challenge - ATG must use a die cut

Girlz and the Art of Letters challenge - B is for butterflies

Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge - inspiration photo

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

If You Give A Crafter A Cookie challenge - in the garden

Triple B challenge - birds, blooms and/or butterflies optional inspiration board

I'm sure our gallery will be full of beautiful butterflies this week and 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:

Lawn Fawn - magic iris butterfly wreath add on die set

Spellbinders - notched corner frames die set

*Gina K Designs - sea glass ink pad

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

Gina K Designs - fancy frames mini stamp (for happy birthday)

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips die set

Tiddly Inks - flutter by to say hi stamp (I cut off the hi part!)

Clearly Besotted - fresh grass die (retired)

Mama Elephant - B2B arches die set

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Stampin' Up! - cardstock vellum (no longer available)

*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 #823 - 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.

My mother asked me for another special 80th birthday card (all her friends are turning the big 8-0 this year!) and as I still had the blooming branches embossing folder bundle on my desk, and because I love it so much, I decided to use it again on this card. The card is 7" x 7" in size and I went with pinks this time.  I hope you like it. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by creating my card base; I cut one white panel 8" x 7" and scored it at 1" on the longer side and a second panel 7" x 7".  I used the 1" tab to adhere my two pieces together, using red line tape. I once again only used the embossing folder to emboss the two additional flowers; for the background I used the stencil and two shades of pink ink for the flowers and 2 shades of green ink for the leaves, I also added some yellow in the flower centres.  I coloured the two extra flowers in the exact same way.  It suited my layout better to turn the stencilled background 90 degrees so that the design was on horizontal instead of vertical.  I found a pretty green glitter card so used that as my mat layer.  I used a scrap piece of pretty pink paper that was loose in my stash and used that as my background panel, again matting it onto the green glitter card.  This was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  I added some scrap white card behind the stencilled panel and adhered that to the paper panel with double sided tape.  I added the extra flowers with foam tape.  The sentiments were created on the pc, printed out and cut out with a sentiment strips die.  I added some pink ink around the edges and adhered them above and below the stencilling with foam squares.  I finished off with some black pearls.  For the inside I cut a white panel and again matted it onto the green glitter card.  I had two thin strips left of the pink paper so added them to the top and bottom of the panel.  I found a free verse online and used my printer to print it directly onto the panel.  This 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 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 - blooming branches embossing folder, die & stencil bundle

Gina K Designs - ink pads - innocent pink, dusty rose, lucky clover, grass green, lemon drop

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

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

The Works - A4 pastel glitter pad

pc and printer for my sentiments

patterned paper 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

The Male Room challenge - guest designer

Hello friends; I'm here again this morning to share my card as GDT for The Male Room challenge.  I was lucky enough to win one of their recent challenges and was honoured to be asked to be a guest designer for them.  The challenge this month is 'the outdoors' so we want to see all your outdoor scenes but don't forget it has to be masculine themed.  

I recently bought a stamp set from a destash group as I thought it would be perfect for masculine cards; as it turned out it was perfect for this challenge.  I decided to make an easel card, as it's been so long since I made one.  I hope you like it. 

Here is my card:

An angled view to show off the easel:

A closer look at the image:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I made my easel card 6" square and scored the front panel at 3" to create the easel fold.  I covered each panel with a mixture of orange striped paper and green plaid paper, adding a black mat behind each paper.  I stamped the row of trees onto a piece of white card and initially coloured them with Zig markers but thought they looked a little pale so went over them with my Promarkers.  I made a mask for the trees and ink blended some sea glass ink around them for the sky and used lucky clover at the bottom of the panel for grass.  I also stamped some birds above the trees in black ink.  I cut the panel down to 4' square again added a black mat layer behind.  On a separate piece of white card I stamped the tent and fire, coloured them with Promarkers and fussy cut them out.  I added the tent in front of the trees using foam squares and then adhered the panel below the score line using foam squares.  For the inside I cut a white panel 4 3/4" x 3" and added a black mat layer.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a thin strip of the plaid paper to the bottom.  I adhered this to the top of the inside panel with double sided tape.  I created a strip using the plaid paper 5 3/4" x 1" and added a black mat layer.  I stamped the sentiment to the right of centre and added that below the message panel using double sided tape.  I cut a small white circle and slightly larger black circle and adhered them together with liquid glue.  I then adhered the fire image onto the circle with a foam square.  I finished off with some solid black sequins.  

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

* to be updated *

Please pop over to The Male Room challenge blog for all the details/rules and to see the amazing creations from the design team. I would like to thank Helen and the team for having me as a guest this month. I hope you will find the time to enter the challenge and cannot wait to see all your projects in the linky.

Thanks for stopping by and see you all soon.

Love and hugs, 

card supplies:

summer holiday stamp set free with Creative Stamping magazine

Promarkers

Me to You - spring chic 6x6 paper pad (for plaid paper)

Echo Park - candy shoppe dots & stripes 6x6 paper pad (for orange striped paper)

Waffle Flower - nesting circle dies

Heffy Doodle - happy camper mini stamp (for part of the front sentiment)

Honey Bee Stamps - swimming by stamp (for birthday word)

Spellbinders - black color essential smooth disc sequins

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

Limetree Craft - 220gsm black card

*Gina K Designs - ink pads - sea glass and lucky clover

*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

Caffeinated Christmas Card challenge #54 - Guest Designer

Hello again friends, welcome back to my blog. I was lucky enough to be invited to be a guest designer for the Caffeinated Christmas Card challenge this month.   Their challenge runs until 25th June and the only rules are you have to make a Christmas/holiday card with a coffee, tea and/or hot chocolate theme.  Sounds fun right?  

For this month's challenge DT Christine is the hostess and the optional shop is Stampin' Up, which just means if you have any SU supplies then feel free to use them, but it's only optional so don't worry if you don't.  I don't have any SU products so went with some Spellbinders dies on my card.  I hope you like it.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by die cutting all the elements to create my mug of hot cocoa from coloured card from my scraps bin.  I used a slightly darker red for the base of my mug and a lighter red for the cup and I also added some shading around the edge of the cup to give the centre a slight glow.  I used liquid glue to assemble the candy cane and tree and also to adhere the foam/marshmallows to the base before adding the cup with foam squares.  I decided to do a shaped panel from my background so used an oval die to cut out some green textured card.  I added the cup onto the green panel with foam squares and added a few loose marshmallows with a mix of liquid glue and foam squares.  I stamped the sentiment in red ink onto white card and used a smaller oval to cut it out.  I added the sentiment in the upper left of the panel with foam squares.  The panel was added directly onto the card base with double sided tape.  I finished off with a few red solid sequins.  For the inside I cut another oval from white card and cut a small piece of red card using the same die.  I adhered them together with liquid glue. I added a die cut tree to the bottom right and stamped the sentiment in the centre with red ink.  I somehow managed to mark the panel (I think I put my damp tidy towel on top of it) so covered over the mark with two of the small yellow stars.  The panel was then adhered to 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

CRAFT challenge - Christmas

Die Cut Divas challenge - ATG must use a die cut

Farm Quest Grocery Game challenge - food and/or drink

Girlz Creative Christmas challenge - ATG Christmas

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Peace on Earth Christmas challenge - ATG Christmas optional inspiration board

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up challenge - ATG Christmas optional twist marble magic

I would like to thank Amy at CCCC for inviting me to be a guest for this fun challenge and I hope you will pop over and leave the team some love.  I can't wait to see what you create.  

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Spellbinders - merry mug creations die set

Spellbinders - Santa's sippin' sayings stamp (for both sentiments) - on sale!

Spellbinders - essential stylish ovals die set

Spellbinders - scarlet color essential smooth disc sequins

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

*Gina K Designs - ink pads - cherry red, red hot, fresh asparagus

green textured card from American Crafts Project Life Strawberry Edition card pack

all coloured card from my scraps bin

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If 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 #86 - for the boys

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to June! Another month has bitten the dust as we roll on into 2026. We had scorching temperatures last week but it's forecast back to rain and cooler temperatures this week, but we can't complain really.  

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 'for the boys' and with Father's Day later in the month this could be your perfect opportunity to get ahead.  Our guest designer this month is Leslie so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

I recently purchased this fun soda pop die set (even better it was on sale) and was itching to use it so that is what I used on this month's card.  I also got the coordinating bottle cap dies so they got some love too. I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by die cutting all the soda pop elements; I cut the bottle from white card, the straw and label from red card and the top from silver mirror card.  I wanted the bottle to look a bit like coke so firstly ink blended some red ink all over before going over with brown ink.  I white heat embossed a sentiment onto the label and assembled the bottle using liquid glue.  I die cut the bottle tops from silver mirror and white card and the letters from red card and adhered them together with liquid glue.  I found a sentiment that I could do some stamp surgery on to fit my theme and stamped it in black ink onto white card.  For my background I found two patterned papers that went well with my colour scheme and adhered them onto a white panel (4" x 5 1/4") with double sided tape.  All the elements were added with foam squares.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and this was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.   I finished off with some clear raindrops as I thought they looked a bit like bubbles.  For the inside I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and added a strip of the red patterned paper along the bottom with double sided tape.  I die cut another bottle and assembled it the same way before adding it to the bottom of the panel with liquid glue and trimmed off the excess.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre of the panel with black ink before adhering it to 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

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - birthdays (3rd entry)

Aud Sentiments challenge - monochrome and/or birthdays + sentiment

Creative Moments challenge - make it masculine

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist anniversary/birthday

Die Cut Divas challenge - ATG must use a die cut

Inkspirational challenge - for the guys

Farm Quest Grocery Game challenge - food and/or drink

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

Try It on Tuesday challenge - going round in circles (my bottle tops are circles)

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:

MFT - soda pop dies

MFT - bottle cap dies

MFT - little letters die set

MFT - let's stick together stamp (for sentiment on front which I cut apart)

Lawn Fawn - simply summer sentiments stamp (for sentiments on labels and inside)

Echo Park - summer dots & stripes 6x6 paper pad (for beige paper)

Echo Park - metropolitan dots & stripes 6x6 paper pad (for red paper)

*Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments die set

Gina K Designs - ink pads - faded brick and dark chocolate (to colour bottle)

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - clear raindrops (store closed)

*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