The Crafty Den

Thursday, 6 August 2026

Just Us Girls challenge #835 - Die Week

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. I am here to share my card for this week's Just Us Girls challenge and this week is Die Week and Vicki has given us the very easy 'anything goes'. So as long as you use a die cut on your project this week you're fine. We all love our dies don't we and I cannot wait to see all your gorgeous creations. Our guest this month is Betty so please pop over and show her some love.

I pulled out this adorable bird die (it's from a Christmas set but in itself it's not particularly christmassy) and went with a purple monochrome colour combo. Aside from assembling the bird it all came together fairly quickly. I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the cute birdie:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using a stencil and a trio of purple inks created the fun ombre striped background. I die cut the bird from purple, white, orange and black scraps and adhered them together with a mix of liquid glue and foam squares. I die cut the scalloped label from white and left the die in place whilst I blended the mid purple ink around the edge; this gives a cool white border when the die is removed. I added some scrap white card behind the scalloped label and adhered it to the background using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment onto white card using black ink and used the coordinating die to cut it out (I also cut another 3 from white so that I could stack them up). The bird was adhered to the bottom of the label with foam squares and the sentiment was added to the top right with liquid glue. I finished off with some smooth black sequins. I added some scrap white card behind the panel and adhered it onto the card base with double sided tape. For the inside I cut another white panel and added three lines using the background stencil at the very bottom. I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink and adhered the panel to my card base using double sided tape.

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

* to be updated *

I can't wait to see all your die cuts this week and look forward to seeing your entries in the linky. 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:

Spellbinders - Christmas bird poinsettia die set (I only used the bird)

Spellbinders - scalloped labels 46 - discontinued

Spellbinders - nature's dance stamp & die (for sentiments) - both on sale!

Spellbinders - dynamic backgrounds stencil set (only used one) - on sale!

Spellbinders - black smooth disc color essentials sequins

Gina K Designs - ink pads - light lilac, medium lilac and dark lilac

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card (for my card base)

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

coloured card from my 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 links as it will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Thank you x

Uniko's Christmas almost in July release - day 3 introductions

Good morning friends and welcome back to my blog. It's day three of introductions for Uniko's Christmas *almost* in July release. Our next introduction is a fantastic layering stencil called 'Layering Modern Poinsettias'. I think you would know this was a Uniko design as it screams of Bev's unique style. It is a funky, modern design and can be used for all year around, not only Christmas.

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 decided to go for a very unusual colour combo for my poinsettias. I had seen this combo on Pinterest and thought it would be something different instead of the usual red and I love how it turned out. I used two shades of light brown for my poinsettias (I used the same colour on the first two layers but went with a much heavier hand on the second layer) and a darker brown for my sentiment. I again used the spruce greens for my leaves. I added some crystal glaze to the dots to give them a little shine. Once it the glaze was dry I adhered my panel to the card base using double sided tape. For the inside I cut another white panel, ink blended the sandy beach ink along the bottom and used the kraft and medium spruce inks to add some dots along the blended strip. The sentiment was stamped in the darker brown ink and the panel was adhered to the card base using double sided tape. If this card didn't have a Christmas greeting I think it could be used for any occasion.

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

* to be updated *

Please check out what Bev and my fellow brand ambassadors have created by clicking the links below:

I hope you can pop back tomorrow at the same time to see day 4 (our final day) of the introductions.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Uniko - layering modern poinsettias stencil (released on Saturday)

Uniko - Christmas wishes clear stamp (for outside sentiment)

Uniko - pure florals: poinsettia clear stamp (for inside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - ink pads - sandy beach, kraft, warm cocoa

Gina K Designs - ink cubes - light & medium spruce (comes in a trio along with dark spruce)

Tonic Studios - Nuvo crystal glaze

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card (for card base)

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

Thank you x

Krafty Chicks challenge #832 - birthday

Good morning lovely friends. I hope you're all doing ok and having a great week so far. It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week is Week 1, our theme is 'birthday' and our hostess is Leanne. We always need birthday cards, gift packaging and decorations so I'm sure you will find this week a breeze! We hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

My new kit from Gina K Designs had just arrived so I used the gorgeous mini incentive set which has these gorgeous butterfly images and sentiments. I used a few different GKD dies and a clean and simple layout and I think it turned out so 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 stamping the butterfly images using memento ink onto alcohol marker friendly card. I coloured them with Spectrum Noir tri-blend markers for a change and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. I also added some white gel pen highlights. I die cut the scalloped rectangle (from master layouts 4) and the circle windows plate from white card. I took the inner part of the circles and ink blended one of them pink, one yellow and one orange using the ink left over on my blending brushes . I adhered the circles panel onto the scalloped rectangle using liquid glue and then replaced the circles into their spots again using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment onto the yellow circle using black ink. I added the butterflies onto the circles using foam squares just under their bodies so that their wings can be lifted up a little. I also went around the circles with my white gel pen to add some faux white spatters. The panel was then adhered to my card base using double sided tape. For the inside I die cut another scalloped rectangle from white card, ink blended some of the yellow and orange inks in the right hand corner and added a pink butterfly over top. I stamped the sentiment using black ink and added the panel to my card base using 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 appreciate your lovely comments. I'll be back in a little while with my card for this week's Just Us Girls challenge.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Gina K Designs - courage to fly stamp (current incentive will in store next month)

Gina K Designs - master layouts 04

Gina K Designs - circle windows plate

Gina K Designs - perfect posy mini stamp (for inside sentiment) (Bumbleberry's)

Spectrum Noir - tri-blend markers - orange blend, citrus blend & bright pink blend

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card (for my card base)

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card - store now closed

Thank you x

Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop - August 26

Hello and welcome back to my blog lovely friends. It's a busy day on my blog today as this is my third post! 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 'baby shower'. I was a little daunted when I saw this theme as I've never made a baby shower anything before but obviously it's the same as a welcome baby card just with a slightly different sentiment. So get creating and let's see all your baby themed 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 thought it would be fun to create a onesie shaped tag and went with a gender neutral colour scheme so that it could be used for a boy or a girl. I even did some paper piecing on this one! I think it turned out super cute and I hope you like it.

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the cute image:

Plus I decorated the back of the tag:

I began by die cutting two of the onesies from white card and two from neutral patterned paper and I adhered one paper onesie to one white card onesie for each side of my tag. I stamped the image on darker striped paper and also a light spotty paper and fussy cut them out. I added some crystal glaze to the large heart and the cluster of smaller hearts. I stamped the sentiment onto the same paper as the tag using brown ink and also fussy cut it out. I also cut the hole reinforcer from the darker striped paper. I decorated the background with some stars in various shades of brown ink before adding the image and sentiment with foam tape. I inked the edges with the brown ink. For the back of the tag I stamped the sentiment with brown ink and also added some stars around it in the lighter brown inks and again inked around the edges with the brown ink. I adhered both tags together using liquid glue and tied a ribbon and some twine through the hole for a finishing touch.

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 #gorgeousgifttagsaugust2026 and we will find your tags.

Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love,

tag supplies:

Creative Expressions - new arrival - baby onesie die set

Kraftin' Kimmie - baby love stamp - retired

Gina K Designs - ink pads - sandy beach, kraft, warm cocoa

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

Tonic Studios - Nuvo crystal glaze clear

Tonic Studios - craft perfect classic jute twine

Echo Park - dots & stripes Christmas collection 6x6 pad

Echo Park - dots & stripes summer 6x6 pad

Basic Grey - basics manila 6x6 pad

Card Clubhouse IG Hop - Week 16

Hello again lovely friends; I'm back to share my card for the Card Clubhouse IG hop organised by my sweet friend Kelly. We are on Week 16 and our theme is 'back to YOUR class' so we want you to make a card, not to be confused with back to school, YOU are the teacher so show us your speciality! I'm sure this is going to be such much fun and such a varied hop this week and I can't wait to see what sparks your imagination.

If I was ever going to teach a class it would be totally chaotic as I love so many things such as stamping, colouring, ink blending, die cutting....the list goes on. So I decided to include most of them on my card this week lol! My husband was rolling his eyes when I told him I was making a card for our cat's birthday but they are still part of the family aren't they? Willow is 5 and she has a favourite giraffe toy (appropriately called giraffio) so that was the focal point on my card. I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

plus I decorated the inside:

Here is a photo of Willow with Giraffio

I began by cutting a kraft card panel 4" x 5 1/4" and used a 'crackle' embossing folder to add some texture. I also ink blended around the edge with a brown ink pad for some extra interest. I stamped the image, coloured it with Promarkers and used the coordinating die to cut it out (I also cut 2 more from white card so that I could stack them). I die cut a tag from white card and ink blended around the edge with yellow ink. I die cut the letters to spell Willow from brown card and the number 5 from a deep yellow pearlescent card (I also cut the hole reinforcer for the tag from this card). I adhered everything to the tag using liquid glue. I added some yellow ribbon to the tag with liquid glue and also made a bow and adhered that with strong red line tape. I added some scrap white card behind the tag and adhered that over the embossed background with double sided tape. The panel was then added to my card base using double sided tape. For a final finishing touch I added some crystal glaze to the brown patches of the giraffe. For the inside I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and embossed a small piece of the kraft card, again adding some brown ink over top and adhered it o the bottom of the panel with double sided tape. I stamped the sentiment in the centre with brown ink and added the panel to the card base using double sided tape.

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

* to be updated *

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. I have one more post for you today so I hope you can pop back and check it out.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Doodlebug & Sizzix - baby boy clear stamp (for giraffe) - discontinued

Promarkers

Waffle Flower - nesting tags dies

Creative Expressions - crackle embossing folder

MFT - little letters die set

MFT - by the numbers die set

Gina K Designs - on the inside stamp (for inside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - dark chocolate ink pad

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card (for card base)

kraft card and ribbon from my stash

Thank you x

Uniko's Christmas almost in July - day 2 introductions

Good morning friends and welcome back to my blog. It's day two of introductions for Uniko's Christmas *almost* in July release. Our next introduction is a fantastic clear stamp set called 'Rustic Snowflake'. This is a beautiful stamp set and there are so many possibilities of how to use 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 using versamark ink stamped the snowflakes in each corner of the panel. I used white embossing powder and heat set it until it was melted. Once it had cooled I took a pink ink pad and lightly blended over the corners leaving some white space in the centre. For a little more intesity I added some darker pink ink in the very corners and also added some spatter using the dark ink pad. I found some card stock that matched my ink blending really well so decided to add a mat layer behind my panel so I cut down the white panel slightly and adhered them together using liquid glue. I used a strip of the same card stock and stamped the sentiment, again using versamark, and heat set it with white embossing powder before adding it to the centre of the panel using liquid glue. I finished off with some clear solid sequins. The panel was then adhered to the card base using double sided tape. For the inside I cut another white panel and dark pink mat layer and adhered them together with liquid glue. When I was creating the front panel I messed up my first attempt as my paper moved slightly so I took the one corner that was perfect and cut it down into a triangular shape and added that over the white panel using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment using the lighter pink ink in the centre and then adhered it to my card base using double sided tape.

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

* to be updated *

Please check out what Bev and my fellow brand ambassadors have created by clicking the links below:

I hope you can pop back tomorrow at the same time to see day 3 of the introductions.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Uniko - rustic snowflake clear stamp (released on Saturday)

Gina K Designs - ink pads - light carnation and medium carnation

Gina K Designs - ink cubes - light & medium spruce (available as a trio along with dark spruce)

Wow! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card

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

Thank you x

Tuesday, 4 August 2026

Uniko Christmas almost in July release - Day 1 of introductions

Good morning friends and welcome back to my blog. It's day one of introductions for Uniko's Christmas *almost* in July release (there was a delay due to products arriving late to Bev). Our first introduction is 'Ink & Flip - Christmas Star'. Bev has previously released the Ink & Flip: Christmas star background stencil and this one will nest into the centre of that one or can be used alone. I love the clean crisp outline of this star and just inking it twice gives you a beautiful result.

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 two different shades of blue ink I ink blended the star (I inked the lighter shade first, then flipped over the stencil and did the darker shade). It's a really easy stencil to line up but looks so crisp and dimensional. I decided to add a little more interest to my star to grabbed an older Uniko stencil called 'let it snow' and masked off one larger snowflake, which I added to the centre of my star, and a smaller snowflake, which I randomly ink blended around the star; using the same blue inks as before. I stamped the sentiments in the light blue ink and then created an ombre look by adding the darker ink at the bottom and softening the line with a blending brush before re-stamping. I added some silver pearls to the centres of the snowflakes and added the panel to my card base with double sided tape. For the inside I cut white panel, ink blended the blue ink along the bottom and stencilled some snowflakes using the same blue ink pads. I stamped the sentiment in the centre using a navy ink pad and adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.

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

AAA Cards challenge - s is for .... star