Stencil Fun IG Hop - July 26

Hello again friends; I am back to share my card for the 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 'sea/water', which means there will be lots of super cute creations, and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

I created an underwater scene for my card using an older stencil from MFT.  I paired it with a super cute image and I love how sweet it turned out.  I hope you like it too.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the cute image:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel to 4" x 5 1/4" and using the stencil and an ombre blend of ink pads, I created my 'sea' background.  I also used a wave stencil but wasn't sure if I liked it so just kept it to the bottom.  I used a grey ink pad to stamp the schools of fish and some bubbles onto the background.  I stamped the image onto alcohol marker friendly card, coloured it with Promarkers and used the coordinating die to cut it out.  I also added some white gelly roll pen highlights to his cheeks and a black gelly roll pen to define his eye.  I also stamped the sentiment using black ink onto white card and fussy cut it out.  I added both the sentiment and puffer fish with foam squares, added some scrap white card behind the panel and then adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel and ink blended the lower part with the ink that was left on my brush.  I stamped the schools of fish and waves lines using the grey ink pad.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre of the panel with black ink and then adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

Allsorts challenge - stencils

Alphabet challenge - F for festivities (birthday)

Craft Rocket challenge - animals 

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Crafty Calendar challenge - happy birthday

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Daisy Chain challenge - birthday

Little Red Wagon challenge - piano man (inspired by beyond the sea by Bobby Darin)

The Neglected Stuff challenge - stamp is 10 years old and first time I've used the puffer fish image

Stencil Fun challenge - ATG optional theme 'birthday'

Tic Tac Toe challenge - summer colours, border, stencil

Try It On Tuesday challenge - animals: real or imaginary

Unicorn challenge - no design paper

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 #stencilfunJuly2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend.

Lots of love

card supplies:

MFT - watercolor wash free form stencil

Avery Elle - sea-prise stamp & die

Promarkers

Gina K Designs - ink pads - ocean mist, blue lagoon, turquoise sea, tranquil teal

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Versafine Clair - morning mist ink pad

Winsor & Newton - white gouache (for spatters)

*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 - June 26

Hello again friends; I am back to share my card for the 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 'flowers', which I'm sure will be very popular, and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

I used a new-ish stencil from Uniko from their ink & flip line called 'retro flowers'.  These stencils are so clever and create the most amazing designs.  I went with a purple and teal colour combo and I think it turned so pretty.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the flowers:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" as I knew I wanted a strip to use on the inside of my card.  I used 2 shades of purple ink and 2 shades of teal ink to stencil the background and it's such a pretty colour combo.  I used a nesting rectangle die set to cut out my panel 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and also a smaller rectangle to cut out the centre 1 1/2 x 2 3/4".  I added a thin black layer to both rectangles. So that the centre wouldn't dip I die cut a scrap piece of card using the smaller rectangle and adhered it in the gap using double sided tape.  I added some scrap white card behind the smaller rectangle and then lined up it over the background so that the pattern would match up.  It really gives a fun look I think.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card using black ink and used my paper trimmer to cut it out; I also added a thin black layer to this too.  I adhered the sentiment across the centre of the smaller panel using a mix of foam squares and liquid glue.  The panel was adhered to the card base using double sided tape.  I finished off with some tiny black pearls.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and added the left over strip of the stencilled background to the bottom with double sided tape; I also added a thin piece of black card above it.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink and adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  I've just realised that I forgot the black layer on the inside panel but I think it still looks ok!

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

AAA Colourful challenge - colour board #28

Allsorts challenge - anything from the garden

As You Like It challenge - favourite sentiment (has to be happy birthday as 90% of my cards are birthday cards)

Aud Sentiments challenge - monochrome and/or birthday + sentiment

Colour Dare challenge - #708

Craft Rocket challenge - birthday

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - summer flowers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - add a sentiment

Stencil Fun challenge - use a stencil optional theme butterflies

Tic Tac Toe challenge - stencil, free, black/gold

Triple B challenge - birds, butterflies and/or blooms

Unicorn challenge - flowers

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 #stencilfunJune2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend. 

Lots of love

card supplies:

Uniko - ink & flip stencil: layering retro flowers

Uniko - floral vines stamp (for outside sentiment)

Uniko - pure florals: cosmos stamp (for inside sentiment)

Hero Arts - precision layering A2 A die set

*Gina K Designs - ink pads - blue lagoon, ocean mist, wild wisteria, light lilac

Gina K Designs - black, gold & silver pearl mix

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

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

Stencil Fun IG Hop - May 26

Hello again friends; I am back to share my card for the 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 'layered' and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

I recently saw Bev from Uniko use today's stencil and it reminded me that a) I had it, b) It was a layering stencil and c) I hadn't used it yet, so I wanted to show it some love.  The stencil is called zesty and so of course I had to use bright citrus-y colours.  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" x 5 1/4" and stencilled the design using three different colours of ink, orange, yellow and green.  For the first layer I went really light handed so that I could use the second layer with the same ink pad, only this time much heavier handed.  For the third layer I used a darker complimentary colour for the details.  The final layer is some extra details of dots and what look like droplets but I decided I only wanted the dots so just kept moving the stencil to fill in the gaps with the colours I wanted.  I decided I wanted a decorative edge so pulled out this fun torn edge die and used it to cut out my panel (it only just fit and took a sliver off each edge) but I think it looks fab).  I stamped the sentiment with black ink using a mix of stamp sets and cut it out with a circle die.  I wanted a vellum circle to go behind the sentiment and found two already cut in my stash, which was a bonus!  I added foam tape behind the sentiment and added it to the first vellum circle, this was then adhered to the second vellum circle with liquid glue.  I added some scrap white card behind my panel, this was adhered to the card base with double sided tape and the sentiment was added to the bottom right corner with liquid glue.  As a final finishing touch I added some crystal glaze to the dots to give them the look of enamel dots.  For the inside I used the stencil to create a border at the bottom of the white panel, again added dots in between for some extra details.  I used the torn edge die to cut the decorative edge and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  The panel was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

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

If You Give A Crafter A Cookie challenge - lemony sweet

Just Add Ink challenge - dies-stencils or both (I used both)

Stencil Fun challenge - must use a stencil optional 'see thru it'

The Dream Factory challenge - code 3 (I used orange, yellow and green)

 

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 #stencilfunmay2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and brightening my day. Have a great week everyone.

Lots of love,

card supplies:

Uniko - zesty layering stencils

Uniko - birthday sentiments stamp (for part of the front sentiment)

Uniko - pure florals: cosmos stamp (for sweet word) - I did some stamp surgery

Uniko - birthday wishes stamp (for inside sentiment)

Creative Craft Products - A2 layering nested torn edge dies

Tonic Studios - Nuvo crystal glaze

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

*Gina K Designs - ink pads - key lime, lucky clover, tangerine twist, honey mustard, wild dandelion, prickly pear

*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 - April 26

Hello again friends; I am back to share my card for the 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 new to you' and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

I used a recent purchase from Uniko and a new addition to their 'ink & flip' stencil line and this one is a beautiful butterfly design.  I went with a bright and springy colour combo of pink and orange and used my dies to create a fun layout.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

The ink & flip stencil range is such a unique and clever idea; you literally ink half of the design, flip the stencil and ink the other half (in this case the butterflies).  It means you can use more than one colour on your design which makes it more fun and interesting.  As I said I went for two shades of pink and two shades of orange so that the edges of the butterflies could be a little darker for some extra interest.  The stencil is 6" x 6" so I blended a piece of white card 5 1/2" square so that I would some extra to use on the inside of my card and also fussy cut one of the butterflies.  I used dies to cut the triangle pieces from the stencilled panel and a stitched rectangle as my plain background.  I decided to fill the gap between the triangles with a sentiment but my longest stitched die wasn't quite long enough; I meant to do some partial die cutting but completely forgot and die cut the sentiment from the die I had so I had to get creative and cut another piece and glue them together.  Thankfully I had fussy cut the one butterfly so this could cover the join and no-one is any the wiser (except me and you, so don't tell anyone else!).  I added all the pieces onto the background with foam squares, even the butterfly so there is a fair amount of dimension on this card.  I cut a pink mat layer and adhered it with double sided tape and then added it onto the card base with double sided tape.  I felt the fussy cut butterfly needed 'something' so found a butterfly body from a memory box die set that fit perfectly, so die cut that from black card and added it with liquid glue.  I didn't add any embellishments as I thought the background was quite busy as it was.  For the inside I cut another white stitched rectangle, added the scrap of stencilled background to the bottom with liquid glue and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I again mat this onto pink card and adhered 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 optional twist pastels

Allsorts challenge - in the garden

Color Dare challenge - #698 shades of pink + 1 other colour

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Daisy Chain challenge - no design paper

Die Cut Divas challenge - birthday or anniversary card (4th entry)

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

Let's Craft & Create challenge - beautiful butterflies

Paper Rocks Scissors challenge - use paper or scissors (I fussy cut my butterfly)

Pick 3 challenge - wings, die cuts/punches, text

Stencil Fun challenge - must use a stencil optional theme rainbow colours

Tic Tac Toe challenge - pastel colours, free, stencil

Triple B challenge - birds, blooms or butterflies optional inspiration 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 #stencilfunapril2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and brightening my day.  Have a great week everyone.  

Lots of love, 

card supplies:

Uniko - ink & flip butterfly pattern stencil

Uniko - everyday love and everyday sentiments stamps (for outside greeting)

Uniko - organic wishes stamp (for inside greeting)

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Memory Box - Pippi butterfly die (for body)

pink card from my stash

*Gina K Designs - master layouts 05 (for triangle die)

Gina K Designs - master layouts 14 (for stitched rectangle and strip die)

Gina K Designs - ink pads - passionate pink, medium carnation, tangerine twist, butterscotch 

*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 - March 26

Hello again friends; I am back to share my card for the 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 'words' and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

After a dig around in my stencils I found this fun birthday words stencil which I thought would be perfect as it had lots of different words.  I also found a postage style stencil which looked like a present to me so I thought I would combine them.  It turned out exactly as I had hoped and it's such a happy card.  I hope you like it too.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the stencilling:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and firstly used the postage stencil and some light grey ink added some shading to the very edges of the boxes to give them some definition.  Without removing the first stencil I added the words stencil on top and did a diagonal rainbow blend from the top left to the bottom right corner.  I removed both stencils and I loved how bright and happy the blending turned out.  To enhance the look of the 'present' I die cut a bow from white card and used liquid glue to assemble it before adhering it to the panel with foam squares.  I stamped a tiny greeting along the horizontal 'ribbon' in black ink and finished off with some black pearls.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel before adhering it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and used the words stencil to create a border at the bottom, again using a rainbow of colours.  I added a smaller white bow along the edge of the stencilling with liquid glue and stamped the sentiment in black in the centre.   The panel was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

Colorful Options challenge - green or rainbow inspired

Craft Rocket challenge - no design paper

Creative Knockouts challenge - birthday wishes

Cut It Up challenge - happy birthday

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

Stencil Fun challenge - use a stencil optional vines/vinery

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

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 #stencilfunmarch2026 and we will find you. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be sharing another card with you on Saturday so please pop back and check it out.   

Lots of love

card supplies:

Funky Fossil Designs - birthday words stencil 

Memory Box Co. - postage set stencil

Memory Box Co. - truly gifted die set

Clearly Besotted - teeny tags stamp (for outside sentiment)

Clearly Besotted - simply said birthday stamp (for inside sentiment)

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

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

*Gina K Designs - ink pads - lipstick, tangerine twist, wild dandelion, lucky clover, blue sky, wild lilac, soft stone

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

*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 - February 2026

Happy again friends; I am back to share my card for the 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 'oldie but goodie' and I'm excited to see what everyone has made.

I think my most used and loved stencil is the mini cloud edges stencil so that is what I used for this month's cards (yes more than one!) as it's definitely an oldie but a goodie.  I decided to create some panels of rainbow clouds but wanted to make something a little different so was inspired by a recent card of Cathy Zielske aka CZ Designs.  I hope you like them; sorry for the photo overload!

Here are my cards:

Card no. 1:

plus a closer look:

and I decorated the inside:

card no. 2:

plus a closer look:

and the inside:

Here are my panels after die cutting:

So I began by stencilling the cloud background in rainbow colours using 2 white panels.  I found two small dies that I thought would be perfect for my shapes; a square and a rectangle and cut them out from the two backgrounds.  After all my die cutting I realised I had enough pieces to make 2 cards and then spent an absolute age trying to figure out the best placement of the pieces.  Once I was happy I added foam squares behind each piece and attached them to a white panel cut to 4" x 5 1/4".  I wanted to use a black sentiment so that it would pop against the pastel rainbow backgrounds so die cut the word hello 6 times from black card (3 stacked for each card) and adhered them together with liquid glue.  I also die cut some tiny black hearts to use as embellishments.  I stamped two sub-sentiments in black onto white card and cut them out with sentiment strip dies.  Both sentiments and hearts were added to the card front with liquid glue.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and this was added to my A2 card base with double sided tape.  For the insides I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I had a few of the die cut pieces left over so added two to the bottom of card 1 along with 3 hearts and 3 to the bottom of card 2 with 2 hearts; all adhered with liquid glue.  I then added the panels to the card base with double sided tape.  

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

* to be updated * 

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 #stencilfunfebruary2026 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Lots of love

card supplies:

Clearly Besotted - geometric style (for the shape dies) - retired 

*Gina K Designs - ink pads - red velvet, tangerine twist, wild dandelion, lucky clover, blue sky, light lilac, medium carnation

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips dies

Gina K Designs - scripty quartet dies (for hello die)

Gina K Designs - corner blossoms stamp (for inside sentiment card 2)

Gina K Designs - a bit of spring stamp (for inside sentiment card 1)

Gina K Designs - fancy phrases stamp (for sub sentiments on both cards)

Lawn Fawn - hedgehugs die set (for tiny heart)

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

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