Cards For All Seasons IG Hop Week 24 -- gratitude

Hello again friends; I'm back to share my card for this week's Cards for All Seasons IG hop organised by my lovely friend Kelly. We are now on Week 24 and as it is almost Thanksgiving in the US our theme is 'gratitude'. Such a great theme this week and I feel so grateful to be able to make my handmade creations,  join the lovely crafting community and have friends all around the world. 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 am currently full up with a cold so my card is fairly clean and simple this time.  I was inspired by a recent video of Gina K and did a colour block background and silhoutte image.  As always my card looks much prettier in real life and I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the image:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by creating the background; I used masking magic strips to create the ink blended stripes.  I did have a boo-boo when blending the yellow stripe so my green stripe ended up being bigger than I intended to cover up the mistake.  I think it looks ok but I would have liked more white on that end of the panel.  I stamped the silhouette image more towards the left corner and the sentiment in the top right corner using black ink.  I cut the panel with the stitched die from ML 14 and a black layer with the plain die from ML 01 and adhered them together with double sided tape.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel with double sided tape.  I decided to make a yellow card base to draw your eye to the yellow stripe and added the panel with double sided tape.  I finished off with some gold pearls.  For the inside I cut another white stitched panel and black layer.  I stamped the silhouette image using a light grey ink onto the white panel and as I had a thin piece of the ink blended piece left over from the front I also stamped part of the silhouette image over this as well.  I also cut it out with the stitched rectangle die.  I adhered them together with liquid glue.  I decided to stamp the sentiment onto the blended piece so that I left enough space to write my message above.  A bright and happy card and I'm happy with how it turned out.  

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 #cfascardhop2025 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,

Gina K Designs supplies*:

Gina K Designs - autumn silhouettes stamp

Gina K Designs - harvest silhouettes stamp (for inside greeting)

Gina K Designs - Master Layouts 01 die set

Gina K Designs - Master Layouts 14 die set

Gina K Designs - ink pads - tangerine twist, wild dandelion, jelly bean green

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

Other supplies:

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Limetree Crafts - 230gsm daffodil 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

Patterned Paper Party IG Hop - November 25

Hello friends; I hope you're having a great week. I'm back today to share my card for this month's Patterned Paper Party Instagram Hop. Do you love patterned paper? Do you have a huge stash that needs using? Well so do we and it's time to get it used! We will be hopping on the 20th of each month to share our ideas. We will definitely be creating cards, but maybe sometimes tags, ATCs, gift bags/boxes, mini albums and scrapbook pages too. We want our patterned paper to be used.

The theme is always 'anything goes' but each month we will have an optional twist that can be used if you like; this month the twist is 'paper piecing' so grab your patterned papers, your scissors and have fun. I grabbed this really old paper pad from Echo Park Paper that's been in my stash for years and used 2 coordinating papers in traditional Christmas colours. I haven't done this technique for ages and I had great fun fussy cutting all the different pieces, although the tiny ones were a bit fiddly.  The layout is fairly simple but I wanted the paper pieced image to be the star of the show.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the image:

Plus I decorated the inside (very simply this time):

So I began by stamping the image onto alcohol marker friendly card and only coloured the skin and hair with my Promarkers.  Leaving the image in place in the Misti I then re-stamped it onto green striped paper, red striped paper, yellow card and brown card.  I fussy cut the arms and legs from the red paper, the body from the green paper, the star and baubles from the yellow card and the boots from the brown card.  I went around each fussy cut piece with a black marker to tidy up any wonky edges!  I adhered all the pieces onto the main stamped image with liquid glue, added some shading with coordinating Promarker colours and white highlights with a gelly roll pen.  I trimmed the panel down to 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and added some scrap white card behind with double sided tape for some stability and dimension.  I stamped the sentiment below the image with black ink.  I cut a piece of the green diagonal paper to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and adhered this to the card base with double sided tape.  I then added the white panel onto this with double sided tape.  I finished off with some gold metallic pearls.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and added some strips of the left over green diagonal paper to the top and bottom with liquid glue and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  The panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  I don't think paper piecing will ever be as popular as it once was but I enjoyed the trip down memory lane making this card.  

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

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

As You Like It challenge - favourite embellishments (I always tend to reach for pearls or sequins)

Aud Sentiments challenge - glitter and/or Christmas + sentiment

CRAFT challenge - Christmas/ATG

Craft Rocket challenge - Christmas/winter

Crafty Gals Corner challenge - tis the season

Creative Inspirations challenge - wrapped up for winter

Daisy Chain challenge - Christmas/winter

Dream Valley challenge - 2 or more papers

Just Us Girls challenge - mood board

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional twist CAS

Sparkles Christmas challenge - festive wear

Stamping Sensations challenge - Christmas

The Dream Factory challenge - candy cane lane/anything Christmassy

The Holly & Ivy Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist merry & bright

Unicorn challenge - Christmas/winter

We Love Stamping challenge - anything Christmas

We hope you will be inspired by our Patterned Paper Party IG Hop and will pop over and check out all the gorgeous creations along the way. If you would like to join us please visit my Instagram page or use the hashtag #patternedpaperpartyhopnovember2025 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love

card supplies:

MFT - bright holidays stamp

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

Promarkers

Echo Park - dots & stripes 6x6 metropolitan collection pad

Honey Bee Stamps - inside holiday sentiments stamp

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black dual marker pen

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

yellow 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

Krafty Chicks challenge #795 - CAS

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to my chilly corner of blogland. It's biting cold and windy here at the moment and the perfect weather for staying indoors and crafting!  It's time for a new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week we are on Week 3; and as always the theme is 'CAS (clean and simple)' and Diane is our hostess. Now we know that CAS is subjective but generally it's lots of white space, no embellishments (or very few) and an uncluttered design. It can be a difficult design to pull off but we hope you will take on the challenge and come over and join in the fun with us.

When I was colouring the cute critters from Tuesday's ATC Hop I thought one of them would be perfect for today's card and as he was already coloured in this card came together really quickly.  I think it turned out super cute and I hope you like it too.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the cute critter:

I decorated the inside (albeit very simply this time):

So as I said I coloured this cute image with my Promarkers and fussy cut him out when I was making my ATC's earlier in the week.  I also added some white gelly roll pen highlights.  I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and lightly ink blended some green ink in the centre before spraying my card with perfect pearls (I mix it with water and keep it in a small spray bottle so it's always ready to use).  It's really subtle in the pictures but it's really shimmery in real life.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel for stability and a little bit of dimension.  I made my card base from grey card to compliment the colour of the cat and adhered the ink blended panel with double sided tape.  I added foam squares behind the image and adhered it directly into the centre.  I stamped a sentiment in black ink onto white card and used the coordinating die to cut it out.  This was added below the image with liquid glue.  I didn't add anything else as I liked it as it was (plus I wanted to keep it as CAS as possible).  For the inside I cut another white panel and ink blended along the bottom and stamped the sentiment in black ink in the centre.  The panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

AAA Cards challenge - #303 1+1 (birthday and flowers)

Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge - sketch 656

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Die Cut Divas challenge - critters (my sentiment is die cut)

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

Inspiration Station challenge - inspiration photo

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional CAS

Paper Rocks Scissors challenge - use paper and/or scissors (I fussy cut my image with scissors)

Penny Black Saturday challenge - ATG optional music

Show Us Your Pussycats challenge - ATG must include a cat

Simply Clean and Simple challenge - ATG CAS goes optional holiday/winter

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

Penny Black image was a magazine freebie from 2012!

Promarkers

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

Limetree Craft - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Gina K Designs - sending flowers stamp & die set

Gina K Designs - on the inside - birthday stamp 

the green ink used for blending was GKD but I used what was left on my brush

Heffy Doodle - grey card for card base (store now closed)

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

ATC Scrap Makes IG Hop - November 25

Hello friends, I hope you're doing great and you've had a great start to your week. I'm sharing my creations for this month's ATC Scrap Makes IG Hop. We challenge you to use leftover die cuts, sentiments and card stock to create Artist Trading Cards (ATC's). You can send them in happy mail, save them on a ring to highlight your favorite creations, swap them with friends or add sweet notes to a lunchbox. Join us if you like; the only rules are to use scraps and create cards that are 2.5” x 3.5” in size. We share our little snippets of happiness on the third Tuesday of the month.

I found some images that came free with a card making magazine (the copyright date is 2012 so I've had them a while lol!) and as they were cute Penny Black images, which I love, I decided to use them on my ATC's this month.  If you've visited my blog recently you may have seen my CASE IT card here where I recycled a birthday card and matching envelope; well I still had some small scraps left over of the envelope so thought I would use it up and make my ATC's matchy-matchy this month. I love all of them this month but I do have a soft spot for the hedgies - which one is your favourite?

Here are my ATC's:

a closer look at each ATC:

How I simply decorated the backs:

 

So I began by cutting up the scraps left from the envelope so that I could utilise as much of it as possible.  I was able to cut one whole ATC and then strips and corners on the others.  I found a background I had stamped previously with a gauze stamp and for the others I used some coordinating coloured card from my scraps bin.  I coloured the images with Promarkers and fussy cut each one before adding some white gelly roll pen and shimmer pen highlights.  I adhered the papers to the ATC's with liquid glue and splattered some white gouache mixed with perfect pearls for a little shimmer (although it is very subtle).  I inked around the edges with pink ink for some extra interest.  I added foam squares behind each image and added them to the ATC's.  I stamped some uplifting sentiments in black ink onto white card (except for one that I stamped directly onto the ATC) and used coordinating dies for two of them and my paper trimmer for the final one.  I added the sentiments with liquid glue.  For the backs I simply add a tiny scrap of the envelope just to tie it all together, again inking around the edges with the pink ink.  Very bright and cheerful ATC's this month and I hope you like them. 

I would like to enter my ATC's into the following challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - anything floral goes optional mood board

Crafters Cafe challenge - ATG optional use some yellow

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Die Cut Divas challenge - critters (I die cut the sentiments)

The Neglected Stuff challenge - use old/neglected stuff (the images are from 2012)

Paper Rocks Scissors challenge - must use paper and/or scissors (I used scissors to fussy cut the images)

Penny Black Saturday challenge - ATG optional music

Tag-along (& ATC's) challenge - add texture or ATG

Triple B challenge - birds, blooms and/or butterflies (I have floral paper and 1 small butterfly) 

I hope you will pop over to Instagram and check out the hop; please use the hashtag #ATCscrapmakes2025 or #ATCscrapmakesoct25 to see all the gorgeous creations and also if you want to participate we will be able to find you.

I really appreciate you stopping by today.

Love and hugs,

 

ATC supplies:

Penny Black images were magazine freebies from 2012!

Promarkers

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

Tonic - Nuvo aqua shimmer pen

Gina K Designs - lovely notes stamp & die set

Gina K Designs - enjoyable greetings stamp

Gina K Designs - layered carnation stamp

Gina K Designs - gauze background stamp

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Ranger - perfect pearls in perfect pearl

Winsor & Newton - white gouache

recycled envelope for backgrounds

coloured 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

Krafty Chicks challenge #794 - 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. Scarily Christmas is not that far away now so if you haven't started your cards yet this is the perfect opportunity to begin. Obviously if you have joined in with us since January then it's another card to add to the pile, which really takes the stress off. We hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

I was looking through my stash and found this old metal stencil that I bought quite a while ago but haven't used yet so I thought why not show it some love.  I did mask off parts of the stencil so that I could blend them in different colours but boy was it fiddly; not a card I could mass produce lol!  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 1/2 x 5 1/2 (which I cut down slightly later) and using green and red ink pads blended through the stencil, masking off as I went along.  As I said it was quite a fiddly and tedious process but I think it was worth it as I love the contrast of the green against the red. Once the blending was finished I stamped the cabin image into the bauble with black ink.  I then cut down the panel to 4" x 5 1/4" and added some scrap white card behind it for stability and dimension.  I decided to mat it onto a red layer cut to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" although I could have just cut a red card base but I was in the zone and had already cut my card base from white.  I added the panel onto the card base with double sided tape.  I added some white gelly roll pen 'snow' but didn't feel it was bright enough so after a bit of searching found my white posca pen and added some 'snow' with that too.  I stamped and die cut the Merry word and used a sentiment strip die to cut out the Christmas word.  I added the merry with liquid glue and the Christmas was added overlapping with foam squares.  A final finishing touch was some snowflake embellishments which I added with liquid glue.  For the inside I cut a panel 3 3/4" x 5" and used the stencil to just add some interest to the bottom.  I matted the panel onto a red card layer with double sided tape and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  The panel was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  A very traditional Christmas card but I really like it. 

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

The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up challenge - anything Christmas goes optional twist sleigh

Allsorts challenge - Christmas cards

Aud Sentiments challenge - glitter and/or Christmas + sentiment

Colourful Options challenge - red optional mood board

Craft Rocket challenge - Christmas/winter

Crafty Gals Corner challenge - tis the season

Creative Inspirations challenge - wrapped up in winter

Creative Knockouts challenge - time to be merry

Daisy Chain challenge - Christmas/winter

Farm Quest Country Christmas challenge - anything goes country Christmas 

Just Us Girls challenge - winter

Moving Along With The Times challenge - winter wonderland

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Stamping Sensations challenge - Christmas

Stencil Fun challenge - anything stencil goes optional theme use gold

Sweet Stampin' challenge - use red

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist merry & bright

Tic Tac Toe challenge - ornament, red, Christmas sentiment

Try It On Tuesday challenge - get ready for Christmas 

Unicorn challenge - Christmas/winter

We Love Stamping challenge - anything Christmas

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:

Sweet Poppy - Christmas snowflake bauble stencil - ? retired

Inkylicious - winter cabin (small) stamp

Kristina Werner with Concord & 9th - joyful & merry stamps & coordinating dies

Gina K Designs - ink pads - cherry red, red hot, Christmas pine

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Sakura - white no.10 gelly roll pen

Posca - PC-5M medium bullet tip paint pen

Trinity Stamps - vanilla sugar snowflakes embellishment mix

red 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

Stencil Fun IG Hop - November 25

Happy again friends; I am back to share my card for this month's 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 'thanks' and I'm excited to see who has used this optional theme.

I have loads of Gina K Designs stencils and sometimes it's hard to choose which one to use but today I used one of my all-time favourites - Layered Carnations.  It's such a pretty set of stencils with 2 stencils for the flowers and 2 for the leaves but it's really easy to use and line up and the end result is beautiful.  I went for a pretty purple colour combo and 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 and using 2 purple inks and 2 green inks stencilled the gorgeous design.  Once I was finished I decided to use Master Layouts 14 and cut the panel using the postage grid die.  I also used the larger mat layer to cut some purple card.  As I knew I wanted to use black ink to stamp my sentiment I also cut a slightly larger layer from black card using Master Layouts 1.  I added foam squares behind the postage grid panel and layered it onto the purple layer; this was then adhered to the black layer with double sided tape.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink onto a scrap of white card and used the coordinating die to cut it out.  I also cut another 2 from plain white card to stack up using liquid glue.  The sentiment was then added to the bottom right of the panel with liquid glue.  I finished off with some gold pearls embellishments.  For the inside I cut a white panel from Master Layouts 2 and stencilled just one of the flowers in the bottom right corner.  I also cut another purple layer and black layer as before and adhered them all together with double sided tape.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink and then adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  A really pretty card and I love this postage grid die and always forget to use it!  

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

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist thank you

Crafty Catz challenge - ATG optional twist thank you/thanksgiving

Girlz Rebel challenge - something beginning with B - blooms

Little Red Wagon challenge - gold or silver (gold pearls)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - thank you

Stencil Fun challenge - ATG stencil goes optional twist use some gold

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - thanks

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

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 #stencilfunoctober2025 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Lots of love

card supplies:

Gina K Designs*:

layered carnation stencils

graceful greetings stamp & die set (for outside sentiment)

thankful greenery (for inside sentiment)

Master Layouts 1 die set

Master Layouts 2 die set

Master Layouts 14 die set

ink pads - lovely lavender, plum punch, jelly bean green, fresh asparagus

black, gold & silver metallic pearl mix

other:

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Limetree Crafts - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

purple 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