Just Us Girls challenge #836 - Word Week

Hello again friends and welcome back to my blog. I am here to share my card for this week's Just Us Girls challenge and it's Word Week and Bobby has chosen 'water'.  It could be a summer beach scene, a masculine river scene or even just a critter in a swimming/paddling pool.  I'm sure this is going to be a really popular week and I cannot wait to see all your gorgeous creations. 

I used an older, retired stamp set that has been in my stash for years but I don't think I've ever used it.  I love the clean lines and fun wavy sea, along with some fun clouds.  I'm even happy with my fussy cutting on this one!  I hope you like it too.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by stamping all my images onto alcohol marker friendly card and used my Promarkers to colour them in.  I don't have the dies so I fussy cut them out.  I cut a white panel 3 5/8" x 4 7/8" and added a teal blue mat layer using liquid glue.  I wanted a fairly clean and simple layout so clustered all my images together in the lower right corner and added them with a mix of liquid glue and foam squares.  I also added two clouds in the upper half of the card using liquid glue.  I white heat embossed the sentiment onto a scrap of the teal blue card and cut it out using a sentiment strips die and added that below the cluster using liquid glue.  The panel was adhered to my card base using double sided tape.  For the inside I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and added the wave image along the bottom and tucked the sailboat behind, using liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre using blue ink and the panel was adhered to the card base using double sided tape.  

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

Addicted to CAS challenge - water

As You Like It challenge - favourite colouring medium (it has to be Promarkers; I've been using them for 15+ years and they are reliable, blend well and are still going strong after all these years)

Craft Rocket challenge - transportation

CRAFT-alnica challenge - sea

Little Red Wagon challenge - we didn't start a fire (my card reminds me of my visit to Barcelona in Sept 24 when the America's Cup sailing competition was taking place; the little bit I saw was very exciting)

NBUS challenge - the stamp set is now retired and this is the first time I've used it :(

Paper Rocks Scissors challenge - I fussy cut my images

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - summertime blues

The Male Room challenge - jobs or professions (sailor)

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - sports (sailing)

I'm sure our gallery will be full of watery delights this week and I cannot wait to see what you create. Please pop over to the challenge blog and leave some love for the rest of the design team.

I appreciate you stopping by.

Love & hugs,

card supplies:

Simon Says Stamp - sailing clear stamp (now retired)

Gina K Designs - just keep swimming stamp (for sentiments) 

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips die set

Gina K Designs - blue sky ink pad

Promarkers

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

WOW! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

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

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

teal blue card from my stash

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

Thank you x

Uniko's Christmas *almost* in July - day 2 introductions

Good morning friends and welcome back to my blog. It's day two of introductions for Uniko's Christmas *almost* in July release. Our next introduction is a fantastic clear stamp set called 'Rustic Snowflake'. This is a beautiful stamp set and there are so many possibilities of how to use it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and using versamark ink stamped the snowflakes in each corner of the panel.  I used white embossing powder and heat set it until it was melted.  Once it had cooled I took a pink ink pad and lightly blended over the corners leaving some white space in the centre.  For a little more intesity I added some darker pink ink in the very corners and also added some spatter using the dark ink pad.  I found some card stock that matched my ink blending really well so decided to add a mat layer behind my panel so I cut down the white panel slightly and adhered them together using liquid glue.  I used a strip of the same card stock and stamped the sentiment, again using versamark, and heat set it with white embossing powder before adding it to the centre of the panel using liquid glue.  I finished off with some clear solid sequins.  The panel was then adhered to the card base using double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel and dark pink mat layer and adhered them together with liquid glue.  When I was creating the front panel I messed up my first attempt as my paper moved slightly so I took the one corner that was perfect and cut it down into a triangular shape and added that over the white panel using liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment using the lighter pink ink in the centre and then adhered it to my card base using double sided tape.  

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

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

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional any holiday

Do-All Creative challenge - ATG & optional weather (snowflakes)

Girlz Creative Christmas challenge - ATG for Christmas

Moving Along With The Times challenge - feminine

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Peace on Earth Christmas challenge - anything Christmas themed optional mood board

Sparkles Christmas challenge - clean and simple

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - monochrome

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

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Natalie

Vinita

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

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Uniko - rustic snowflake clear stamp (released on Saturday)

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

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

Wow! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

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

Limetree Craft - 300gsm smooth white card

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

Thank you x

Uniko - Christmas in July Brand Ambassador Inspiration

Hello friends; Bev at Uniko is doing a fun Christmas in July celebration with lots of great cards from herself and the brand ambassadors ahead of her new Christmas themed release at the end of the month. There will also be prizes up for grabs. Check out the Uniko blog for all the details.

I'm back with my second inspiration card, this time using Background Blocks: Scandinavian Christmas clear stamp (which will be back in stock very soon).  I did some gold heat embossing onto dark cardstock and although it was difficult to photograph it turned out really elegant.  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 dark green panel to 4" x 5 1/4" (although I did cut it down later), stamped the background blocks image using versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold detail embossing powder.  I also stamped and gold heat embossed the sentiment and cut it out with a sentiment strips die.  I die cut a frame from gold mirror card and also cut 3 more frames from the dark green card so that I could stack them using liquid glue.  It was at this point that I cut down the green panel using a rectangle die from master layouts 2 which left a tiny border around the frame.  I adhered the frame over the embossed panel using liquid glue.  I added the panel onto my card base using double sided tape.  The sentiment was added overlapping the frame using a mix of liquid glue and foam squares and I finished off with some tiny gold pearls.  For the inside I cut a white panel using a stitched rectangle die and a green panel from the slightly larger plain rectangle die and adhered them together using liquid glue.  I had some tiny pieces of heat embossed panel left over so cut them into 1 1/8" squares and then cut these on the diagonal, placing one in each corner of the white panel using liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in dark green ink and adhered the panel to the card base using double sided tape. 

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

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist any holiday

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - Christmas

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist any holiday

CRAFT challenge - Christmas

The Crafter's Cafe challenge - ATG optional Christmas in July

Creative Moments challenge - shimmer and shine

Die Cut Divas challenge - Christmas in July

Dragonfly Dreams challenge - Christmas in July with glitter or sparkle

Inkspirational challenge - Christmas in July

Peace on Earth Christmas challenge - ATG Christmas optional mood board

Not long now until the new release at the end of the month and I hope you've enjoyed the inspiration from Bev and my fellow brand ambassadors as we celebrate Christmas in July. 

I'll be back later with my card for the Just Us Girls challenge.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Love & hugs, 

card supplies:

Uniko - Background Blocks: Scandinavian Christmas

Uniko - Pure Florals: Poinsettia (for sentiments)

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

Gina K Designs - master layouts 18 (for frame)

Gina K Designs - master layouts 02 (for stitched and plain rectangles)

Gina K Designs - black gold & silver mini pearl mix

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments dies

Gina K Designs - Christmas pine ink pad (for inside sentiment)

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)

dark green card & gold mirror card from my stash

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

Thank you x

Card Clubhouse IG Hop - June 26 snack time

Hello lovely friends; I'm back to share my card for the Card Clubhouse IG hop organised by my sweet friend Kelly. We are on Week 12 and our theme is 'snack time' so we would like to see all your food and drink related dies, stamps, papers etc. We can't wait to see what everyone makes. 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.

My favourite food has to be pizza so when I saw the theme I knew exactly what I was going to use! This is an older die set but it always makes me smile when I use it.  I am a vegetarian so the pepperoni topping I used would be a no-no (much prefer mushrooms) but it looks so pretty on my die cut pizza.  The 'onions' are actually flower centres but I think they look fab.  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 pieces of my pizza slices and added some shading using the ink left on my blending brushes.  I used foam squares to adhere the crust and liquid glue for everything else.  I thought this red gingham card would be perfect for my background as it reminds me of a tablecloth. I cut a panel 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and adhered it to the front of my card base with double sided tape.  I die cut the ciao! word x 4 and stacked them up using liquid glue.  I also white heat embossed my sentiment onto black card and used my trimmer to cut it out.  I added the pizza slices to my background using foam squares and the ciao! with liquid glue.  The stamped sentiment was added with a mix of foam squares and liquid glue and I added some leaves around the pizza slices with liquid glue.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and added it onto a mat layer of the gingham card.  I also added a piece of the gingham card to the bottom of the panel with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment with black ink and added another die cut pizza slice to the bottom left corner with liquid glue.  The panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.

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

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - die cuts and/or stencils

Creative Moments challenge - pastels or brights 

Dragonfly Dreams challenge - masculine

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

Love Those Pretty Papers challenge - use patterned paper optional theme pastels

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

TGIF challenge - popping it up (my pizza slices and sentiment are popped up with foam squares)

I hope you will pop over to Instagram and check out the hop; please use the hashtag #cardclubhousehop2026 to see all the gorgeous creations and also if you want to participate we will be able to find you.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

Spellbinders - D-Lites party food die set (retired but found a pre-loved one here on sale!)

Spellbinders - sugar coated sentiments stamp on sale!

Spellbinders - be bold blooms die set (for leaves and 'onions')

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 - 160gsm maize versatile card

Limetree Craft - 220gsm black card

WOW! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Versamark - embossing & watermark ink pad

Memory Box - cranberry gingham card (no longer available)

all other card from my scraps bin

Card Clubhouse IG Hop - Week 11

Hello lovely friends; I'm back to share my card for the Card Clubhouse IG hop organised by my sweet friend Kelly. We are on Week 11 and our theme is 'mix it up' so we would like to see either your mixed media projects or even papers or seasons that wouldn't normally go together.  We can't wait to see what everyone makes. 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 decided to go for a mixed media style card as I really like it when other people make them.  I'm not super confident with this theme as I don't like getting too messy but I did my own controlled version lol!.  I went with lilacs again and I really love how it turned out.  I hope you like it too. 

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 did some ink smooshing with my medium lilac ink pad.  I didn't use watercolour paper just my regular smooth white so didn't go overboard with the water.  After it had dried a little I blended over the smooshing with the same ink.  I also splattered some of the dark lilac ink and some white gouache for some extra interest.  Once the panel had completely dried I took a fun abstract design stencil and some sparkle texture paste and added the pattern somewhat randomly; I then left the panel to dry again.  I stamped the butterfly onto vellum with white pigment ink and heat embossed it with fine detail embossing powder.  I used the coordinating die to cut it out.  I did brush on some of the lilac ink on the back of the butterfly just to soften it slightly.  I found some papers that had bold words on a white background and used the inks again to colour them and tore them into two strips.  I also took a rectangle of vellum and tore the edges.  I added foam squares behind the paper strips and adhered them to the vellum. I did die cut a silver circle to go behind my butterfly but it's not that noticeable once it was all stuck together.  I added the circle with double sided tape and the butterfly with liquid glue.  The stack was then adhered to the background with foam squares.  Finally I cut out a pre-printed sentiment, lightly blended over with some ink and added it over the butterfly with liquid glue.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel to give it some stability and then adhered it to my card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel, ink smooshed at the very bottom with the lilac ink and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I added a strip of vellum, a strip of paper, a silver circle and finally another vellum butterfly, all with liquid glue.  The panel was then adhered to my card base with double sided tape.  

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

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - birthdays

Allsorts challenge - ATG

Double D challenge - splatter (I used white gouache and purple ink to splatter)

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - use a stencil or embossing folder (I used a stencil & texture paste)

Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge - inspirational photo (I was inspired by the butterflies)

Little Red Wagon challenge - create your own background (I ink smooshed and stencilled my BG)

Moving Along With The Times challenge - one or more butterflies

Pearly Sparkles challenge - one or more butterflies

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

We Love Stamping challenge - all creatures great and small

I hope you will pop over to Instagram and check out the hop; please use the hashtag #cardclubhousehop2026 to see all the gorgeous creations and also if you want to participate we will be able to find you. 

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

*Gina K Designs - spring things stamp & die (for butterfly)

Gina K Designs - picture perfect greetings (for inside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - ink pads - medium & dark lilac

Gina K Designs - white pigment ink cube

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

Spellbinders - hummingbird textures stencil

Cosmic Shimmer - frosty dawn sparkle texture paste (discontinued)

WOW! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Creative Expressions - wordies sentiment sheet - birthday (for outside sentiment)

Waffle Flower - nesting circle dies

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

CASE IT IG Hop - May 26

Hello again friends. I hope you've had a great start to your weekend.  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 Tina (@cardsandcoffeetime over on IG); as soon as I saw her card I was in love. I'm a big fan of Tina's and watch nearly all her videos over on YouTube.  Her pretty birthday card is just gorgeous and I love all the different textures and dies that 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 - Tina has used white, teal and a hint of purple as her main colours, an embossing folder in the background, heart dies, some floral die cuts, a simple black sentiment and some sparkly embellishments. So I followed the layout but switched the embossing to the bottom instead of the top, I used a monochrome teal colour combo and used gold instead of the black sentiment.  I decided to use stars instead of hearts and balloons in place of the flowers.  I didn't really omit anything this time and my spin is that my card is masculine instead of feminine and also it's 5 1/4" x 7 1/4" in size. I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by embossing the teal panel using a candle embossing folder.  I die cut the two stars from white card and the balloons from three shades of teal card; the strings were cut from gold mirror card.  I stamped and gold heat embossed the sentiment onto one of the stars and added foam squares behind the balloons.  I adhered the stars overlapping the embossed panel by about half with liquid glue and added foam squares behind the whole piece before adding it to a 5" x 7" white panel. I added the balloons over the left hand star and finished off with some gold sequins.  I adhered the panel to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel 5" x 7" and added a strip of the candle embossed card (it is the darker teal as I originally cut them from both to see which one I preferred for the front and I thought why waste it so I used it on the inside instead).  I die cut a small white star and one more balloon and adhered them to the bottom right corner with liquid glue.  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 - monochromatic

Alphabet challenge - A is for air

Aud Sentiments challenge - embossing and/or flowers + sentiment

Can You Handle The Pressure challenge - use an EF optional theme balloons

Dragonfly Dreams challenge - use die cuts (entry 3 of 3)

Just Add Ink challenge - dies-stencils or both

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:

Spellbinders - balloons and birthday wishes die set (for the balloons) (DOML May-23)

Spellbinders - candles for every birthday embossing folder (EOM May-23)

Spellbinders - nestabilities stars die set

Spellbinders - color essentials gold smooth discs sequins

Uniko - floral vines and everyday family stamps (for outside sentiment)

*Gina K Designs - birthday cheer 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

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder

Versamark - embossing and watermark ink pad

Sakura - white no.10 gelly roll pen

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