CASE IT IG Hop - April 26

Hello again friends. I hope you've had a great start to your weekend; after the glorious weather we had earlier in the week it's turned a bit overcast and chilly now but hey at least we had a taste of summer lol!  

I'm here to share this month's card for the CASE IT Instagram Hop where we find a project on Instagram that inspires us and we will share that project as well as the project we’ve created. There are so many beautiful creations on Instagram the only difficult part is narrowing down which one to CASE (which means Copy And Share Everything).

This month I was inspired by Brenda (@stampwithbrenda over on IG); as soon as I saw her card I was in love.  Her winter card is just gorgeous and I love all the different texture she uses.  I decided to make my card masculine but you can definitely see that my card was inspired by hers!  Here is her card for my inspiration:

Isn't her card just beautiful? Using Ardyth's LIMES process (you can watch her video here) we list what we see - Brenda has used white, kraft and green as her main colours, a cover plate die in the background, an arch panel, some smaller die cuts, twine, white spatter and a simple white sentiment. So I followed the layout but instead of her colours I used grey, white and black with a pop of colour for my candles.  I decided to add detail to my arch panel instead of the background and added my spatter there in the top left and bottom right corner.  I used the candles instead of her leaf die cuts and stars instead of snowflakes.  I didn't really omit anything this time and my spin is that my card is birthday instead of  winter themed.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I cut a grey panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stamped the 'spatter' in the top left and bottom right corners.  I die cut the arch panel and embossed it with a lattice embossing folder (I also die cut another 2 from white card so that I could stack them up).  I stamped three candles onto some coloured card scraps using black ink and used the coordinating die to cut them out.  I stamped the sentiment in black onto white card and used a rounded sentiment strip die to cut it out.  Now all my elements were ready it was time to assemble my card.  I adhered the three arch panels together with liquid glue and then added them onto the grey panel.  I used some black twine and looped it around my fingers to create a circular shape and adhered that behind my candles with liquid glue, I then adhered the candles with foam squares.  I added the sentiment across the candles with a mix of foam squares and liquid glue.  I found some stars in my stash that I had cut for a previous project so added them with liquid glue and then finished off with some silver pearls as I thought that using black ones would have been too much black, especially next to the stars.  I added some scrap white card behind the grey panel and then adhered this to my card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and added a strip of white card that I again embossed with the lattice EF to the bottom with liquid glue.  I stamped and die cut another candle and adhered it over the embossed strip with liquid glue; I also added two stars.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink and adhered the panel 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 optional theme twist pastels

Can You Handle The Pressure challenge - must use an EF optional theme blue on blue

Crafty Calendar challenge - dies and/or punches (3rd entry)

Creative Knockouts challenge - embossing delight

Daisy Chain challenge - no design paper

Die Cut Divas challenge - birthday or anniversary card

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

Pick 3 challenge - text, die cut or punches, stripes

Unicorn challenge - use dies 

We hope you will be inspired by our CASE IT 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 #caseithop and we will find you. 

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend.  

Lots of love

card supplies:

Gina K Designs - birthday bash stamp & die set (retired but still available at her retailers)

Gina K Designs - Master Layouts 21 (for arch die)

Gina K Designs - Master Layouts 19 (for the rounded sentiment strip die)

Gina K Designs - lattice embossing folder

Gina K Designs - soft stone ink pad

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

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Simon Says Stamp - fog gray card

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

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

Krafty Chicks challenge #810 - 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.

I didn't have anyone in mind when I made this card and as there are quite a few 'green' challenges around at the moment I decided to use a green & gold colour combo for my card.  It turned out quite clean and simple too but I love the finished card and I hope you do too. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I started by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using a stencil and some green ink created my soft background.  I die cut two of the leaf clusters, one in gold and one in vellum and cut them in half as they were quite long.  I adhered the vellum leaf first and then laid the gold one over top using liquid glue.  I gold heat embossed the sentiment and used a sentiment strips die to cut it out (I also cut 3 more from white card to stack behind it).  I adhered the sentiment across the middle of the leafery with liquid glue and finished off with a few gold pearls.  I added some scrap white card behind my panel and then adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stencilled a border at the bottom before adding some tiny pieces of the leafery with liquid glue.  I stamped a sentiment in green ink and then adhered the panel to my 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

Aud Sentiments challenge - glitter/bling and/or St. Patrick's green + sentiment

Cardz 4 Galz challenge - embossing heat or dry (my sentiment is heat embossed)

Colourful Options challenge - green

Craft Rocket challenge - no design paper

Creative Moments challenge - feminine

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - shades of green

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

INKspiration challenge - use utensils

Inspiration Station challenge - inspiration photo (I was inspired by the colours)

Just Us Girls challenge - die week - luck/green

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional die cuts

PINspirational challenge - green and gold

Stencil Fun challenge - use a stencil optional vines/vinery

Try It On Tuesday challenge - make it feminine

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:

Simon Says Stamp - outline clustered leaves die

Simon Says Stamp - birthday basics stamp

*Gina K Designs - decorative double stencil

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips die 

Gina K Designs - lucky clover ink pad

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

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

Versamark - watermark ink pad

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder

Stampin' Up! - card stock vellum (retired)

gold mirror 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

Cards For All Seasons IG Hop Week 23 - friendship

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 23 and our theme is 'friendship. Such a great theme this week and us crafters always like to send cards to our pals (crafty or otherwise) don't we?  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 went with an autumnal colour scheme for my card and dug out a frame die that I've had in my stash for years.  It's a fairly clean and simple design but there is lots of dimension and it looks really pretty in real life.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by ink blending a panel with some ink pads in orange, green and a muted red, added some water drops and white gouache splatters and left it to dry.  I took the floral frame die and cut it three times from white card and once the ink blended panel was dry cut it from that too so that I had 4 layers.  I adhered the layers together with liquid glue.  I used an hello friend die cut sentiment and vellum shadow that I had already die cut previously, I just need to glue to main sentiment to the vellum shadow, which I did with liquid glue.  I had some of the ink blended pieces left so took the lots of dots die and cut some circles as embellishments so that they would match the frame.  I debated about what colour to use as my background but didn't want to detract from the frame so went with white; I adhered the frame and die cut sentiment with liquid glue.  Finally I added the circles around the sentiment with liquid glue.  I cut my card base and used double sided tape to adhere the panel to the front.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and as I had some slivers of the ink blended panel left I added them to the top and bottom of the panel (completely forgetting that I had made a horizontal card for a change) but it looks ok.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink and adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  I'm really happy with this card and think it turned out really pretty.  

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

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

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - die cuts and/or stencils (3rd entry)

Color Dare challenge - #677 green/orange + 1 other colour (I chose red and added metallic gold)

Everybody Art challenge - friend

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - CAS

Little Red Wagon challenge - gold or silver (I used gold for my sentiment)

Mix It Up challenge - ATG optional theme CAS

Word Power challenge - make the sentiment the focus of your card 

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.

I'll be back a little later with another card so I hope you will pop back and check it out. Until then thank you so much for stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Simon Says Stamp - outline floral frame die

Memory Box - hello friend post script die

Gina K Designs - santana rose stamp (for inside greeting)

Gina K Designs - lots of dots die set

Gina K Designs - ink pads - sweet mango, prickly pear, tomato soup, jelly bean green

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white 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