Krafty Chicks challenge #815 - 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 wanted to use this super cute die set for my card this week.  I've had it in my stash for almost a year and hadn't used it so it was about time I showed it some love.  It actually makes three different character mugs so I will definitely pulling it out again soon as the penguin one turned out adorable.  I hope you like it.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the cute penguin mug:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by grabbing lots of coloured card from my scraps bin and die cutting all the pieces for the adorable penguin mug.  I used liquid glue to adhere them together, apart from the face and belly that I added with foam squares.  Next I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and embossed it with a lovely snowflake folder and also die cut a rectangle which had some lovely dot details from vellum.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink and cut it out with a rectangle die.  Now it was time to assemble my card.  I added some scrap white card behind the embossed panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape. I adhered the penguin mug onto the vellum with foam squares and then added the vellum panel onto the embossed background with double sided tape.  I added the sentiment in the top right corner with foam squares.  I finished off with some tiny snowflake embellishments.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and added a left over piece of the embossed background to the bottom with liquid glue.  I die cut 1 more candy cane and snowflake and added them with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink and then adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  After the initial die cutting the card was fairly quick to put together and I think it turned out super sweet.  

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

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

A Cut Above challenge - ATG use a die cut

As You Like It challenge - simple or fussy (I am a bit like Elaine and feel more comfortable in the 'middle' but can sometimes go full on fussy when the occasion calls for it)

Caffeinated Christmas challenge - anything Christmas/holiday with coffee/tea/cocoa theme #cccc52

CRAFT challenge - seasons/weather/ATG 

Craft Rocket challenge - layer it up

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Crafty Calendar challenge - die cuts/punches

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Daisy Chain challenge - no design paper

Farm Quest Grocery Game challenge - anything food (or drink) related

First Cup challenge - ATG beverage/drink

Girlz & the Art of Letters challenge - Letter X (for Xmas)

Girlz Creative Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Neglected Stuff challenge - use your old, neglected stuff (I've had the die set for nearly a year and this is the first time I've used it)

NBUS challenge - never been used stuff (my die set)

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

Pick 3 challenge - text, die cut, stripes (on scarf and mug handle)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - food and/or drink

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist dies/punches

Try It On Tuesday challenge - make it cute

Unicorn challenge - use dies

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:

Spellbinders - cocoa greetings die set (DOM-JUL25)

Spellbinders - nordic noel 2D embossing folder (EOM-JUL25)

Spellbinders - Santa's sippin' sayings clear stamp (for both sentiments)

Spellbinders - essential rectangles (for dotty panel)

Spellbinders - classic rectangles large die set (for small rectangle)

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Trinity Stamps - vanilla sugar snowflakes embellishment mix

coloured card from scraps bin

Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop - April 26

Hello and welcome lovely friends. I hope you're all having a wonderful Easter Sunday and if you don't celebrate I hope you're enjoying your day.  The Easter bunny was generous to us again this year and we have a nice selection of chocolate to munch over the coming days 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 'flowers' 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 fun shaker tag using products from lots of different companies but especially Waffle Flower Crafts.  I wanted to try making a  completely transparent tag with no background, so that you could see all the way through, as I've never made one before.  I turned out super cute and exactly what I had in mind.  I hope you like it.

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the flowers:

Plus I decorated the back:

I began by die cutting two tags from white card, I adhered them together with low tack tape and then die cut a rectangle from the centre of them both to create my shaker window.  I added acetate to both tags and also shaker strips foam adhesive around the border of one of the windows.  I filled the window with a rainbow mix of sequins and then adhered both the tags together to enclose the sequins.  I stamped the flowers, coloured them with Promarkers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out.  I also die cut 2 more layers from plain white card so that I could stack them.  I added the larger floral spray in the bottom left corner with double sided tape and filled it out by placing one of the single flowers over the edge of it.  I placed another single flower in the top right corner.  I stamped and cut out a teeny sentiment and placed it over the larger floral arrangement.  I added some pink tulle ribbon through the tag and then tied a bow using a thin purple ribbon around this.  For the back of the tag I added another small flower in the bottom right corner and a second teeny sentiment on top of this with double sided tape. 

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

Allsorts challenge - it's springtime

Cardz 4 Galz challenge - spring flowers

Crafty Calendar challenge - dies/punches

Daisy Chain challenge - no design paper

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

I Love Promarkers challenge - cute & whimsical or ATG

Moving Along With The Times challenge - anything spring

Stamping Sensations challenge - inspired by nature

Sweet Stampin' challenge - spring or Easter

Tag-along (& ATC's) challenge - blossoms, birds and/or butterflies

The Four Seasons challenge - anything spring optional mood board

The Dream Factory challenge - sweet little things

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

We Love Stamping challenge - spring

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 #gorgeousgifttagsapril2026 and we will find your tags.
Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love,

tag supplies:

Waffle Flower - nesting tag dies

Waffle Flower - a little note stamp & die set

Promarkers

Spellbinders - essential rectangles dies (to cut the window)

Mama Elephant - big new stamp (for teeny sentiments)

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card - store now closed

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - kaleidoscope sequins - store now closed

acetate, ribbon and tulle from my stash

Krafty Chicks challenge #814 - 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 to make a special birthday card for her friend's 80th birthday and she wanted it 7" x 7" in size.  I had recently purchased some lovely flower dies (that I saw on Lorraine's blog) and had to have so decided to use them on this card.  I used my printer for the sentiments this time as she wanted it personalised.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the flowers:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by creating my card base; I cut one panel 7" x 7" and one panel 7" x 8" from white card.  I scored the larger panel at 1" on the 8" side and then used this as a hinge to adhere both panels together.  I found a really pretty 12" x 12" paper pad and used that for my background and also to cut the bottom layer of the flowers.  I used white for the top layer of the flowers and adhered the two layers together with liquid glue.  I cut the paper to 6 1/2" square and matted it onto gold mirror card with double sided tape.  I used my printer to create the personalised message and cut it down to 5" square, again matteing it onto the gold card.  I added some scrap white card behind the smaller panel and adhered it to the background with double sided tape.  I adhered the flowers with foam squares and finished off with some gold sequins.  For the inside I again printed my sentiment using the computer and cut it down to 6 1/2" square and matted it onto the gold card.  I added a strip of the paper at the bottom along with a thin strip of the gold card above.  I added a large flower to the bottom left and a small flower to the top right before adhering the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

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

As You Like It challenge - favourite embellishment (again using my smooth flat sequins; so pretty and suitable for all ages and occasions)

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - anything floral goes optional mood board

Craft Rocket challenge - layer it up

Creative Friday challenge - birthday

Die Cut Divas challenge - anniversary or birthday card

Pearly Sparkles challenge - something old, something new (old papers, new flower dies)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - happy birthday

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist die cuts/punches

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:

Hunkydory - moonstone fabulous flowers die set

Craft Consortium - ink drops: candy 12" x 12" paper pad

Spellbinders - gold smooth disc color essentials sequins

Limetree Craft - 12" x 12" silky smooth 250gsm white card

gold mirror card from stash

printer & computer for sentiments

Card Clubhouse IG Hop - Week 7

Hello 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 7 and as it's 'April Fool's Day' our theme is 'just for laughs'. I'm sure we all have some funny or punny sentiment stamps or images in our stash so grab them and join in the fun! 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 searching through my stash and found this fun coffee themed sentiment stamp, which I'm not sure if I have ever used (and the store closed a very long time ago so shame on me!).  I paired it with a to-go coffee cup and I think it turned out super fun.  I hope you like it too.  

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 using a coffee ring stamp created my background; I also ink blended around the edges for a softer look using the same brown ink pad.  I die cut the to-go coffee cup and adhered the pieces together with liquid glue and added some white highlights with a gelly roll pen.  I stamped and heat embossed both the sentiments using kraft card and gold embossing powder and fussy cut the coffee word and used my trimmer to cut down the other sentiment.  I adhered everything onto the background with foam squares.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  I finished off with a few red sequins. For the inside I cut another white panel and stamped and ink blended along the bottom to match the front.  I die cut another cup and adhered it to the bottom right corner with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with brown ink and adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - any occasion

As You Like It challenge - favourite embellishments (I really like these smooth sequins without the hole as they are pretty and suitable for all types of cards)

Do-All Creative challenge - repeated stamping (my background is one stamp repeated)

Double D challenge - humour

Farm Quest Grocery Game challenge - anything food (or drink) goes

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional die cuts

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - emboss it

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist die cuts/punches

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:

Casual Fridays - coffee talk stamp (store now closed)

Spellbinders - I dance die set

Altenew - coffee ring mini stamp

Spellbinders - scarlet smooth disc color essentials sequins

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

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

coloured card from scraps bin

*Gina K Designs - warm cocoa 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 #84 - April 26

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to April! Another month has bitten the dust as we roll on into 2026.  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 washi tape' and our guest designer this month is Silke so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

I have to admit when I first saw the theme I was a little worried, I basically only use washi tape to make my envelopes look pretty when posting them lol!  I had a little think and decided to die cut some basic shapes to create my card and I think it turned out really well.  Maybe it's something I should do more of to use up the masses of washi that is neglected in my stash.  I hope you like it. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the washi/die cuts:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I found three rolls of washi tape that I felt coordinated well together and stuck them onto scraps of white card so that I could die cut the shapes.  I tried to make each one slightly different to add a little extra interest.  I used the gift builder die and cut it once from each pattern.  I decided to use the plain washi for the gift lids and white for the ribbon/bows.  Once everything was cut out I assembled them using liquid glue.  I cut the down the patterned gifts a little bit so that the plain gift would stand out a little.  I die cut two stitched rectangles from white card and arranged the gifts onto the smaller one using liquid glue for the two outer ones and foam squares for the centre one.  As a stroke of luck I found the sentiment already stamped and die cut in the perfect colour to match the washi tape; this was adhered below the gifts with liquid glue.  I added some scrap white card behind the smaller panel and added it to the larger panel with double sided tape.  This was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  I didn't add any embellishments as I loved it as it was.  For the inside I again cut two stitched rectangles from white card and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I did some stamp 'surgery' on the sentiment as it was too long for my panel and stamped it in the centre of the panel using a teal ink pad.  I created one more gift and adhered it to the bottom right of the panel with double sided tape.  The panel was then added to the card base with double sided tape. 

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

Addicted to CAS challenge - stripes (my two outer presents are striped)

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - any occasion

Creative Friday challenge - birthday

Die Cut Divas challenge - anniversary or birthday card

Girlz and the Art of Letters challenge - letter W (washi tape)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - happy birthday

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist die cuts/punches

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:

washi tape from my stash 

Simon Says Stamp - gift builder die

Simon Says Stamp - birthday basics stamp & die

Simon Says Stamp - stitched rectangle dies

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

*Gina K Designs - tranquil teal 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 #813 - 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 recently got this fun stamp from Uniko and thought I would show it some love before putting it away. It's a great stamp and so versatile for any age/gender although it's perfect for masculine cards as I always think they prefer cards that are fairly clean and simple (well my husband does anyway).  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the image:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by stamping the image onto alcohol marker friendly card using memento black ink and coloured it in various shades of blue Promarkers trying to create an ombre look from left to right (it's not perfect but it looks quite cool I think).  I decided to re-stamp the image using versafine clair black ink to make the lines more bold and crisp.  I also added some white gelly roll pen highlights.  I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out the panel and also used the largest stitched rectangle from the same set to cut out the navy card panel.  I wanted to pull in more of the lighter blue/teal so used a stitched rectangle from another set to cut a panel from the blue/teal card to fit between the other two.  I adhered all the panels together and added it to the card base with double sided tape.  I didn't add anything else as I like the CAS look of the stamp as it was.  For the inside I cut a white and navy panel using the stitched rectangles and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I took a strip of white card and using my Promarkers created an ombre blend to match the front of the card.  I used the stitched rectangle to cut out the strip so that it would match the white panel and adhered it with liquid glue.  I adhered the panels together and added it to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

AAA Cards challenge - anything CAS goes optional zoo or animals

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - birthdays

Hand Stamped Sentiment challenge - color challenge

Seize The Birthday challenge - add a tag or ATG (no topping for me this time)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

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

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

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Uniko - background blocks: birthday scramble stamp

Uniko - everyday sentiments stamp

Uniko - everyday spring stamp

Simon Says Stamp - stitched rectangle dies

Promarkers

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card (store now closed)

*Gina K Designs - master layouts 2 (for the middle stitched rectangle)

*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