Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop November 25

Hello friends, I hope you're doing ok and that you've had a lovely day so far. It's time for a new theme for the Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop, which takes place on the 5th of each month. You always have the option to go for anything goes but the extra prompt this month is 'vintage vibes', which is great theme and open to lots of occasions.  I can't wait to see what the rest of my fellow hoppers have made. I hope you can pop over to Instagram and join us. 

Now I've said it before but vintage is not really my thing but I'm always up for a challenge so I gave it a go.  I kept my colours muted and distressed and inked the edges of pretty much everything and used a gorgeous hot air balloon as my focal image.  I am quite pleased with how it turned out even though it's not my usual style.  I hope you like it.

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the gorgeous hot air balloon:

Plus I decorated the back:

I began by die cutting two tags from the muted beige paper and also 1 from white card to sandwich in between for some extra stability.  I used papers from the same paper pad so that they would coordinate with each other.  I took a scripty background stamp and cocoa ink pad and stamped the whole of the front tag and the bottom third of the back tag.  I tore and cut pieces of the patterned paper and added them with liquid glue.  I also used a distressed stamp to add some extra details using the cocoa ink pad.  I then splattered some white gouache on both tags.  I stamped the hot air balloon using a sepia ink pad and cut it out with the coordinating die.  I used a few Promarkers and a white gelly roll pen to add some colour and highlights to the image.  I stamped the sentiment using the cocoa ink onto the same paper as the tags where cut from and then used the coordinating die to cut it out.  I found some lace, ribbon and twine in my stash from yonks ago and added them to the bottom of the tag (I probably should have ironed the ribbon but I was too lazy lol); I also added a beige button that I distressed with the cocoa ink.  I added the hot air balloon and sentiment with foam squares.  I finished off with some sequins and added a dot of stickles in the centres.  I adhered the 3 tags together with liquid glue.  

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

613 Avenue Create challenge - ATG optional twist thank you

Crafty Calendar challenge - add a button

Cut It Up challenge - thankful, grateful, blessed

Girlz Creative Fun Art of Scraps challenge - ATG must use design paper

Heart's Quest for Shaped Cards & Tags - ATG

Let's Craft & Create challenge - AG + use twine

Paper, Rocks, Scissors challenge - ATG (used paper and also scissors to cut my ribbon, twine & lace)

Tag-along (& ATC's) challenge - add some texture (the lace and ribbon add texture)

We hope you will be inspired by our Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop and will pop over and check out all the gorgeous tags along the way. If you would like to join us please visit my Instagram page or use the hashtag #gorgeousgifttagsnov2025 and we will find your tags. 

Thanks for stopping by and take care. 

Lots of love

tag supplies:

Waffle Flower Crafts - nesting tags dies

Gina K Designs - vintage summer stamp & dies

Gina K Designs - warm cocoa ink pad

MFT - romantic script background stamp

MFT - distressed patterns stamp

Promarkers

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

Versafine - vintage sepia ink pad

First Edition - love letters 8x8 pad (on eBay here)

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - rose garden sequins - store now closed

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

lace, ribbon and twine from my 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

Krafty Chicks challenge #791 - Masculine

Good morning lovely friends. I hope you're all doing ok and having a great week. It's time for a 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 (although she is currently taking a short break). I know masculine makes can be difficult but we always need them so come on, take the challenge, and get ahead. We hope you will come over and join in the fun with us.

I always tend to veer toward clean and simple makes when I make masculine cards (unless it's for my boys or hubby) and this is how today's card turned out too.  It was so quick to make and although I made it in shades of grey I think it would awesome in bright colours too.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by making my circles; I didn't have enough plain grey cardstock that matched each other so used some grey ink pads and blended onto a white piece of card before die cutting them out.  I did use one scrap of grey card as it matched the blended colours really well.  I adhered the circles together with liquid glue and then cut it in half with my scissors.  I cut a panel of grey woodgrain patterned paper, which was from a Christmas pad I bought a few years ago in TKMaxx and matted that onto a black layer with double sided tape.  I adhered the circles with liquid glue in the upper half of the panel and stamped the happy birthday sentiment in black ink.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and adhered it to my card base with double sided tape.  No embellishments as I don't think many men really go for bling as a rule, although I'm sure some men do.  For the inside I cut a white panel and black mat layer and adhered them together with double sided tape and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I had cut lots of circles from the different colours of card and ink blended pieces so used them in the corners, adding them with liquid glue.  A really abstract card but suitable for males of all ages I think.  

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

AAA Cards challenge - anything CAS goes optional twist greys (monochrome)

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - any occasion

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

Paper Rocks Scissors - ATG (I used scissors to cut my circles in half & pp for background)

Simply Clean and Simple challenge - ATG optional theme pumpkins

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - clean and simple

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:

Waffle Flower - nesting circle dies

Uniko - floral vines stamp (for HB sentiment)

Uniko - organic wishes stamp (for inside sentiment)

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Limetree Crafts - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Gina K Designs - ink pads - soft stone, slate, stormy sky

grey card from scraps bin

*I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If 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 21 - Masquerade

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 21 and our theme is 'masquerade'. Such a fun theme this week and open to lots of interpretation if you don't want to use actual masks.  You could have an image wearing a mask or even just use masking on your creation. 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 very literal and used masks on my card (which is 5 3/4" x 7 3/4").  I wanted the full masquerade ball vibe and chose my patterns and colours accordingly.  There's lots going on but I hope you like it:

Here is my card:

A closer look at the masks:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" and using purple and green ink pads and my homemade smooshing tool I ink created my background; I splattered some gold paint and black ink for some extra interest.  I set that aside to dry and die cut my masks 4 times from black card.  I didn't have any harlequin paper so I created my own using a rhombus die and coordinating stencil; I cut the die from white card and used black ink through the stencil and it turned out exactly as I wanted.  I also splattered that panel with gold paint too.  It was at this point that I decided to use the gold paint to go over the black masks and I think it turned out really good; they are so shiny.  I trimmed the ink smooshed background ever so slightly and adhered it onto a black mat with double sided tape.  I also added a black mat behind the harlequin panel which I added to the background at a jaunty angle.  I adhered the masks with foam squares and added some black pearls to each mask for some extra bling.  I die cut some mini masks from black card and added them with liquid glue.  I stamped a sentiment onto white card using black ink and used a sentiment strip die to cut it out.  I adhered it to the card with foam squares.  I added some scrap white card behind the panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I cut another white panel and adhered it to a black card mat with double sided tape.  I ink smooshed a 2" panel of white card using the same inks and once dry cut it into 2 x 1" strips which I adhered to the top and bottom of the white panel with liquid glue.  I die cut another large black mask and added it to the bottom left corner with liquid glue. Finally I added a die cut sentiment to the centre with liquid glue.  The panel was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape. 

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

Die Cut Divas challenge - ATG must have at least one die cut

Double D challenge - Halloween colours (purple, green, black)

Stencil Fun challenge - all about stencils optional theme Halloween (the harlequin panel is stencilled)

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 tomorrow with my card for the Krafty Chicks challenge 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:

Sizzix - masquerade 664195 thinlits dies

Waffle Flower - dashed rhombus panel die & two-step rhombus stencil

Lawn Fawn - sweet smiles stamp

Simon Says Stamp - birthday basics stamp & die set

Kuretale - Gansai Tambi starry colors palette

MFT - black hybrid ink pad

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Limetree Crafts - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Gina K Designs - ink pads - wild lilac, grass green

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments dies

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

I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store. If 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 - October

Happy Sunday friends; I hope you've all had a great weekend so far. Today I am sharing 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 'Halloween' and I'm excited to see who has used this optional theme.

I know it's hard to believe but I didn't actually have a Halloween stencil in my stash - I know shocker - so of course I had to go shopping!!  I decided upon a Halloween script stencil as I thought it would make a fun background and I also went with a shaker element too.   I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I also decorated the envelope:

I began by ink blending my background with orange, lime green and purple inks, I then placed the stencil over top and stencilled with black ink to achieve the 'reverse stencil' technique (which I have done once before here).  I added some white gel pen highlights which I think really makes the background pop and I cut the panel down to 4" x 5 1/4".  At this point I decided to make a shaker card so I cut a circle from the upper centre of the panel and also cut a slightly smaller circle from an orange panel so that I could have a inside mat layer.  I adhered the two panels together with liquid glue and then added a piece of clear plastic (salvaged from some packaging) for my window with double sided tape.  I die cut the letters for the word 'eek' 4 times and adhered them together with liquid glue and also die cut some bats from black card.  I stamped and white heat embossed the sentiment and cut it out with a sentiment strips die.  I decided to trim the panel down slightly and added an orange mat layer behind it with double sided tape.  I found a sequin mix that included some orange, purple and green sequins so used that inside my shaker window along with some of the bats.  I added thin foam tape around the window and adhered it together to seal the window. I added the eek word with liquid glue and the sentiment with black foam squares.  I added some scrap card behind my panel with double sided tape and adhered it to a black card base for some extra drama.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and adhered it to an orange mat layer.  I adhered a strip of the stencilled background down the left side of the white panel and stamped the sentiment in black ink.   I also added one of the bats in the top right hand corner with liquid glue.  As I had the circle left over from cutting out the window and a thin strip of the background still left I decided to decorate the front and back of my envelope too.  

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

AAA Colourful challenge - colour board #20

A Cut Above challenge - ATG with a die cut

Aud Sentiments challenge - ink blending and/or fall/thanksgiving + sentiment

Craft Rocket challenge - autumn/Halloween

Crafty Calendar challenge - Halloween 

Crafty Gals Corner challenge - spooky....... colours/words

Creative Inspirations challenge - autumn/something spooky

Daisy Chain challenge - autumn/Halloween

Inkspirational challenge - seasonal (Halloween)

Just Us Girls challenge - word week: Halloween

Little Red Wagon challenge - Halloween

Moving Along With The Times challenge - sentiment as the focus

Stencil Fun challenge - ATG with a stencil optional theme Halloween

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional twist cute or creepy

Tic Tac Toe challenge - stencil, free, embossing (my sentiment is heat embossed)

Unicorn challenge - autumn and/or Halloween

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 #stencilfunoctober2025 and we will find you.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Lots of love

card supplies:

Pretty Pink Posh - Halloween words stencil

Gina K Designs - ink pads - tangerine twist, key lime, wild wisteria*

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments dies*

Gina K Designs - white pigment ink cube*

Waffle Flower - nesting circle dies

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Limetree Crafts - 220gsm black card

Clearly Besotted - fright night stamp - retired

Spellbinders - simply perfect alphabets dies

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

WOW! - clear gloss super fine embossing powder

Sakura - white no.10 gelly roll pen

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - sprinkles rainbow circles sequins - store now closed

orange card from my stash

* I now have an Affiliate Link for the Gina K Designs store.  If 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

Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop - October 25

Hello friends, I hope you're doing ok and that you've had a lovely day so far. It's time for a new theme for the Gorgeous Gift Tags IG Hop, which takes place on the 5th of each month. You always have the option to go for anything goes but the extra prompt this month is 'Halloween', which is great theme and with so many images to choose from such as ghosts, spiders, witches, or even cute trick or treaters, the world is your oyster! I can't wait to see what the rest of my fellow hoppers have made. I hope you can pop over to Instagram and join us. 

I don't make many Halloween things as a rule but as I had bought a new stamp I would have been rude not to use it lol!  I went for a bright lime green and black colour combo and I have to say I love how it turned out.  I hope you like it too. 

Here is my tag:

A closer look at the details:

I decorated the backs too:

I began by die cutting two tags from white card.  I used a lime green ink pad to ink blend over the front of one of them and I went with a heavier hand around the edge for some contrast.  I used my new background stamp and stamped it over the ink blending with black ink.  I also added some black ink around the edge of the tag.  I die cut a spider web from black card and adhered it to the top left corner of the tag with liquid glue.  I die cut a ghost from white card 4 times and adhered them together with liquid glue; I added some black card behind his eyes and mouth also with liquid glue.  I adhered the ghost to the tag with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment onto black card with watermark ink and white heat embossed it before cutting it out with a sentiment strips die.  I added that above the ghost with foam squares.  For the back of this tag I found some lime green paper almost the same colour as my ink blending and adhered that with liquid glue.  I had a little piece of the spider web die cut left over from the front so added that to the bottom right corner with liquid glue.  I stamped a sentiment at the very bottom of the tag with black ink.  For the second tag I kept it really simple; I added a piece of striped paper to the front of the tag and adhered another spider web in the right bottom corner with liquid glue and for the back of the tag I simply covered it with black card to continue the spooky vibe.  I tied both the tags together with lime green spotty ribbon and then added some black twine which I tied into a bow for some extra decoration.  

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

AAA Colourful challenge - colour board #20 (I used lime green & black)

Craft Rocket challenge - autumn/Halloween

Crafty Calendar challenge - Halloween

Creative Inspirations challenge - autumn/something spooky

Cut It Up challenge - use more than one die (tag, web, ghost, sentiment strip die)

Double D challenge - trick or treat, smell my feet

Heart's Quest for Shaped Cards & Tags challenge - ATG on a shaped card or tag

If You Give A Crafter A Cookie challenge - spooky fun

Little Red Wagon challenge - H is for holidays (I chose Halloween)

Stamping Sensations challenge - autumn

Tag-along (+ ATC's) challenge - anything autumn

The Four Seasons challenge - ATG fall optional mood board

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional cute or creepy

Tic Tac Toe challenge - top row across: die cut/twine/embossing

We Love Stamping challenge - anything autumn

We hope you will be inspired by our Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop and will pop over and check out all the gorgeous tags along the way. If you would like to join us please visit my Instagram page or use the hashtag #gorgeousgifttagsOct2025 and we will find your tags.

Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Lots of love

tag supplies:

Waffle Flower - nesting tag dies

Creative Expressions - ghostly manor rubber stamp

Gina K Designs - key lime ink pad

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments dies

Spellbinders - harvest magic die set (for ghost)

Marianne Design - spiderweb die

MFT - fab-boo-lous friends stamp (for sentiment)

MFT - black & white stripes 6x6 paper pack

WOW! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Limetree Crafts - 220gsm black card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Versamark - watermark ink pad

lime paper from stash

CASE IT IG Hop - September

Hello again friends.  I hope you've had a great day so far.  I'm back to share a card I made for another new IG Hop I've joined.  This one is called 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 that was inspired by that original.  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).

I was inspired by Galina (@galachko over on IG); her cards are beautiful and so well designed.  I actually didn't change too much from her original as I loved it so much.  Here is her card for my inspiration:

As you can see she has a pretty quilted background, a die cut circle, some gorgeous butterflies, heat embossed sentiment and a few dew drop type embellishments.  I loved the CAS layout so stuck to that pretty closely.  I also had the same quilted background die so used mine too.  In place of the butterflies I used some cute images and added pearl embellishments.  

Here is my card: 

A closer look at the cute images:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and die cut it using the quilted background die.  I stamped the images onto alcohol marker friendly card, coloured them with Promarkers, added white gel pen highlights and used the coordinating dies to cut them out.  I stamped the sentiment using versamark onto black card and white heat embossed it before using a sentiments strip die to cut it out.  I die cut a decorative circle from white card and added some scrap white card behind it for dimension.  The quilted background was adhered to the card front with double sided tape and the circle placed on top also with double sided tape.  I arranged the images and sentiment over the circle with foam squares and finished off with some pearl embellishments.  For the inside I cut another white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and added a strip of white card again cut with the quilted background to the bottom with liquid glue.  I stamped, coloured and die cut another plaster (or band-aid) image and adhered that in the left lower corner with liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  The panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  I know my card follows Galina's card quite closely but I loved it so much but I did make a few slight changes to make it my own.  

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

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Fab 'n' Funky challenge - cute as a button (something cute and/or a button)

I Love Promarkers challenge - ATG or gnomes

Simply Clean and Simple challenge - CAS optional theme 'birthdays'

Stamping Sensations challenge - CAS

Sweet Stampin' challenge - use die cuts

Tic Tac Toe challenge - large sentiment, 3 or more colours, stamped image

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

Unicorn challenge - circles

We Love Stamping challenge - make it cute

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:

Waffle Flower - dashed rombus panel die

Lawn Fawn - get well soon stamp & die

Spellbinders - fluted classic circles die

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiments die

Limetree Crafts - 280gsm silky smooth white card

Versafine Clair - nocturne ink pad

Versamark - watermark ink pad

WOW! - opaque bright white super fine embossing powder

Heffy Doodle - everyday sentiment duos stamp - store now closed

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card - store now closed

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - beach dreams crystal collection - store now closed