The Crafty Den: AAA birthday

Showing posts with label AAA birthday. Show all posts

Tuesday, 1 September 2026

AAA Birthday challenge #89 - Patterned Paper

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to September. After all the hot weather I suppose it was to be expected that September would start off wet!! We can't really complain though can we, although I hope we have a nice, dry autumn from here on in.

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 'patterned paper'' and we all have lots of paper pads in our stash so I'm sure it will be a popular challenge. Our guest designer this month is Chris so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

It was my sister's birthday a few days ago so I used this challenge as the opportunity to make her a card. I always make my family cards bigger than normal so this card is 7" x 7" which meant I had lots of space to use some pretty pastel papers. 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 piece of white card 8" x 7" and one piece of white card 7" x 7" and scored the 8" side at 1" to give me a tab to attach both pieces together with red line tape. I found some fun, pastel papers in a 12" x 12" pad I got from The Works and choose the 4 I liked the most. I cut each paper to 3" x 3" and added a thin black mat layer with liquid glue. I adhered the squares onto my card base using liquid glue. I die cut a circle from pale green glitter card and also a scalloped circle mat layer from black card and adhered them together using liquid glue. I die cut the cupcake and lollipop from card from my scraps bin and used liquid glue to assemble them. I added the cupcake and the lollipop to the circle using a mix of foam squares and liquid glue and then adhered the circle onto the background using foam squares. I stamped the happy birthday sentiment directly onto the background using black ink in the top left corner and stamped the 'you are fabulous' in the lower half of the bottom right square, again using black ink. I die cut the letters to spell sister from black card and adhered them below the stamped sentiment using liquid glue. I decided to add some hearts cut from black card as my embellishments and added a few on each square using liquid glue. For the inside I cut a white panel 6" x 6" and added a black mat layer with liquid glue. I created a mini version of the outside of my card (using the scraps left over from the front of the card) added it to the bottom right corner. I die cut one more lollipop, this time from blue scraps and added that over the mini square using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment in the centre of the panel using black ink and the adhered the panel to my card base using double sided tape.

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

Farm Quest Grocery Game challenge - anything food and/or drink related

Heart's Quest challenge - anything with a heart goes optional red and/or yellow hearts

Sweet Stampin' challenge - add a die cut

Tic Tac Toe challenge - right column down: sparkle/shine, birthday, bright colours and bottom row across: die cut/punch, patterned paper, bright colours

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:

Gina K Designs - sweet celebrations die set (for cupcake & lollipop)

Gina K Designs - courtyard silhouettes stamp (for happy birthday sentiment)

Gina K Designs - on the inside - birthday stamp (for inside sentiments)

Uniko - you are, yes you stamp (for yo are fabulous sentiment) - retired

MFT - little letters die set (for sister word)

Spellbinders - standard circles large die set

Spellbinders - classic scalloped circles large

The Works - make & create pastel basics 12" x 12" paper pad

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

Limetree Craft - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

all coloured card from my scraps bin

I have Affiliate Links 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

Saturday, 1 August 2026

AAA Birthday challenge #88 - flowers

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to August, although I'm not sure what happened to July! I remember we had a heatwave and my birthday and that's about it haha! It's hard to believe that another few weeks and we will be rolling into autumn (but I love autumn so that's ok).

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 'flowers' and we all love our flowers and pretty colours so I'm sure it will be a popular challenge. Our guest designer this month is Susan aka auntysue so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

Whenever I think of flowers I always reach for my Gina K Designs stash as she designs some beautiful floral images. The flowers I used were actually left over from a previous project so that was a plus for me! I think my card turned out so pretty and I hope you like it too.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

So as I said the flowers were already embossed, coloured and die cut and ready to go from a previous card I made here. I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and used master layouts 18 to cut out the stitched frame and inside rectangle and decided to emboss the inner rectangle to add some extra interest. I die cut some leaves from green card and ink blended around the edges for some extra definition. I cut a black mat layer using master layouts 2 and adhered the frame and inner rectangle onto this layer using liquid glue. I adhered the flower in the lower left corner using foam squares and tucked the leaves around it using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment onto white card using black ink and cut it out with the coordinating die (I also cut another 3 more to stack up). The sentiment was added with liquid glue and I finished off with some black pearls. I added some scrap white card behind the panel for stability and dimension and then this was adhered to the card base using double sided tape. For the inside I cut the white panel and black mat layer using master layouts 2. I embossed a thin strip of white card and added it to the bottom of the white panel and also added another flower and 1 leaf using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink before adhering the panel to my card base using double sided tape.

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

Allsorts challenge - colours of summer or ATG

Atlantic hearts challenge - sketch 692

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - anything floral goes optional mood board

Can You Handle The Pressure challenge - ATG with a twist of celebration

Creative Friday challenge - dry embossing

Cut It Up challenge - emboss it

Girlz and the Art of Letters challenge - letter F (flower)

Little Red Wagon challenge - one thing (one large flower, 1 sentiment)

Moving Along With The Times challenge - feminine

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - stitch it (I used stitched dies)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - flowers with an optional mood board

Try It On Tuesday challenge - summer blooms

TGIF challenge - bonus inspiration challenge (I went with lots of white with a pop of purple)

card supplies:

Gina K Designs - blossom trio 3d embossing folder, dies and colouring stencils

Gina K Designs - master layouts 18

Gina K Designs - master layouts 2

Gina K Designs - tapestry embossing folder

Gina K Designs - foliage fillers dies (for leaves)

Gina K Designs - courtyard silhouettes stamp & die set (for outside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - designer dots stamp (for inside sentiment) *scrapbook.com exclusive

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

Gina K Designs - ink pads - light lilac, medium lilac & dark lilac, marigold

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)

Limetree Craft - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

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

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

AAA Birthday challenge #87 - for the girls

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to July which is my favourite month as it's my birthday month lol! I can't believe we are already more than half way through this year. A cooler week this week (thank goodness) but it's forecast hot again next week I believe.

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 girls' and we all love our flowers and girly images so I'm sure it will be a popular challenge. Our guest designer this month is Brenda so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

I decided to go with flowers for my card as there was a recent incentive stamp & die set from Gina K that I hadn't used yet and wanted to show some love. I went with a bright and happy yellow, grey and black colour combo that I think would brighten anyone's day. I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by stamping the image onto alcohol marker friendly card, coloured it with my Promarkers and used the coordinating die to cut it out. I also cut three more from white card so that I could stack them up using liquid glue. I used some patterned paper from an older GKD 6x6 pad and cut it out using the plain rectangle from master layouts 21 and I also cut 2 arches from white card from the same ML set. I added a black mat layer to the paper panel and adhered them together with double sided tape. I stamped the sentiment using black ink onto the smaller arch and glued both the arches together using liquid glue. I added the flower image to the bottom right of the arch using liquid glue. I added some scrap white card behind the arch and adhered into the paper panel with double sided tape. The panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape and I finished off with some yellow pearls. For the inside I cut a white panel, again using the rectangle from ML21 and added a black mat layer. I added a strip of the patterned paper to the bottom of the panel with liquid glue and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink. I stamped, coloured and die cut another flower spray but felt it was a little too large for the inside so decided to trim the bottom leaves off and also the top bud flower (although I did re-use the bud and one of the leaves but re-arranged them) and adhered it to the bottom right corner of the arch. The panel was then added to the card base with double sided tape.

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

Allsorts challenge - bees, blooms and/or birds

Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge - sketch #688

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - anything floral goes optional mood board

Crafter's Cafe challenge - ATG optional blooms

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - something beginning with B (blooms)

Moving Along with the Times challenge - use a colouring medium (I used alcohol markers)

The Pick 3 challenge - yellow, frame & sentiment

Try It On Tuesday challenge - in the garden

card supplies:

*Gina K Designs - holding you close stamp & die

Gina K Designs - perfect posy stamp (for outside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - watercolour floral 6x6 paper pad

Gina K Designs - master layouts 21

Gina K Designs - wild dandelion card stock (for card base)

Gina K Designs - rainbow pearl mix

Promarkers

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

Limetree Craft - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Memento - tuxedo black ink

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card (store now 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

Monday, 1 June 2026

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)

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)

Friday, 1 May 2026

AAA Birthday challenge #85 - May 26

Good morning lovely friends and welcome to May! Another month has bitten the dust as we roll on into 2026. It's a busy month for me as it's my father-in-law's birthday, my son's birthday and my brother-in-law's birthday (lots of masculine cards to make!!).

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 'anything birthday goes' and we are also celebrating our 7th birthday. There will be randomly picked surprise prizes so get your cards into our linky for a chance to win. Our guest designer this month is Gundi (Papierelle) so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

As I will be making lots of masculine cards this month I thought I would start off with a girly card. I recently bought this stamp & die set (which came as a gift in a crafting magazine) from a destash group on FB and I thought it was perfect for this month's challenge. 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 a stitched rectangle from white card. I stamped the cake stand directly onto the panel using a light blue ink pad. I die cut the top and bottom tiers of the cake from patterned paper and lightly inked around the edges with a slightly darker ink. The middle tier was cut from white card. I stamped the banner with blue ink and the sentiment in the centre with black ink and used the die to cut it out. I stamped two of the flower arrangements, one in pink and one in blue and again die cut them out. I also stamped three candles one each in pink, blue and black and cut them out. I added the tiers above the cake stand using foam squares. I added the flowers and candles with liquid glue and the sentiment banner was placed across the cake stand with foam squares. At this point I thought the white panel looked a little bare so decided to add some light grey shading around the cake; unfortunately I didn't check my brush and the last ink I had used was a darker grey so it came out much darker than I wanted. To try and mask it a little I used a tiny dot stencil and some white pigment ink and went over the grey. The white turned a little off white but I think it looks ok. I wanted to draw in a little more colour so I found a coordinating plaid paper in the same paper pack as the one I used for the tiers and cut a panel 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and adhered it to the front of my card with double sided tape. I added some scrap white card behind the stitched panel and added that over the plaid paper with double sided tape. I finished off with some pearls. For the inside I cut another white stitched rectangle, adding some of the plaid paper to the bottom and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink. I stamped out another flower and 3 more candles and added the flower to the top right corner and the candles to the bottom left corner. I then 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 - make your mark (ink blended and stencilled around the cake)

Allsorts challenge - anything but square

Creative Knockouts challenge - 2 or more papers (the pink & blue tiers are pp plus the BG paper)

Creative Friday challenge - decorate the inside of your card

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

Farm Quest Grocery Game challenge - anything food or drink goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

card ingredients:

stamp & die set - free gift with craft magazine

LOTV - Nitwits collection; bonnets & bowties 8x8 paper pack

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

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

Gina K Designs - ink pads - blue sky & medium carnation

Gina K Designs - ink cube - white pigment ink

Gina K Designs - masks & fillers stencil (for small dots in background)

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

Wednesday, 1 April 2026

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)