Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

June 14, 2016

Tuesday Tutorial - Labels 33 and Lonely Hearts

Hi Everybody,

The Lonely Hearts set was one of the dies introduced in the Laced With Love Collection by Spellbinders last year and it comes in two parts.  
Each can be used separately to cover different things that you may wish to do, or they can be coupled together to give you a complete panel to add to your cards
Spellbinders Supplies:
Other Supplies:
With die #8 from matting basics A cut two pieces and  create a hinged card
With #8 from the B set cut one panel in Ivory Card.
Hand cut in gold a panel that will sit between these two
(Please remember that die #1 is always the smallest)
With the inner patterned section of the Lonely Hearts die decide which side of the  Ivory panel you want the pattern to be and then die cut  ... no need to emboss at this stage 
Once cut add it to your folder and then emboss the panel. I used the Happy Birthday folder
Once it has been embossed the card may  have spread a little and you will need to trim it to fit on top of the gold panel that you have
With die =4 cut one panel out in gold and then on some Ivory card draw on the inside of the die to create a smaller panel.
If you are not quite sure what to do the the video  Faux Nesties   will show you 
Add foam pads to the back of the die cut and embossed ivory layer and add it to the gold panel
Wrap both of these with cream ribbon and glue on the back then attach them to the base card with more foam pads  
Add the bow into the centre of the patterned panel as shown and add a pretty centre over the knot
Add the largest of the Label 33 to the plain side of the card front and layer with the smaller panel to leave a small border around the edge.
Vary the side where the patterned panel will be, vary the colour choices, add in different flowers, vary the sentiment and each time the card will be fresh and pleasing for you to send to your recipient

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


June 13, 2016

International Ambassadors Informal Blog Hop

Hi Everybody,

Here we are again with another International Ambassadors Blog Hop and we would like to say "Thank You" to all of you who take part in this.

We try to do this hop once a month and use a different theme each time to showcase some of the beautiful dies from Spellbinders

It is our way to show you the style that each of us has and hopefully you will enjoy what we come up with.

For this month we decided to use the dies by Seth Apter who is one of the licensed designers for Spellbinders

The die I chose to use is  Splatter Proof  and I have used Brusho Crystal Colours and sequins to get the look.

I added yellow, orange and red randomly on wet card and allowed the colours to spread on their own on a large piece of card.

I used part for my background and the other I cut with the Splatter Proof die. After adding the background panel I added the die cuts so that the colours would show up and dotted sequins around in blending tones

Please pop along to my talented friends and see what they have come up with this month for your delight, and please leave us a comment so that we know you have visited ... See you again next month for another IA Informal Blog Hop

Linda Lucas     Australia
Yvonne van de Grijp  Netherlands
Christine Emberson   UK

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


June 11, 2016

Todays Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

It's been pouring down here this morning when I went to my Slimming club and happy to say that I have lost 2 lbs this week ...That's the 2 lbs I put on last week !!!! Oh well ... swings and roundabouts

So we have now done the draw for yesterdays Friday Freebie and the name chosen at random is yur s

Elizabeth Harborne 

Please email me with your postal address to 
christina@card-making-magic.com
and the card will be on it's way to you 

I hope you will like it when it arrives and please let me know when you have it.

I have some more good things coming up for the next week staring the week off with another International Ambassadors Blog Hop.
The Tuesday Tutorial will give you another idea for using some Spellbinders dies and next Fridays freebie is a really bright and flowery water coloured card.
On Thursday I have a new video for you with the Bokeh Effect using water colours and inks

Please join me for the coming week 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 10, 2016

Friday Freebie 122

Hi everybody,

Todays card is in a  pretty shade of blue and was offered earlier this year and went unclaimed so here it is again for somebody to love it.

It has many layers and was featured in a video for Majestic Labels Eight

It is a really pretty card and I am sure that you would be delighted with it .

So if you would like to have this card then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the bottom of the page.

Then my "Film Crew" (aka Griff)  will choose a name at random  from the comments and the winner will be in tomorrows blog post.  Please come back to check if it is you as I have no way to chase you up about the card.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 09, 2016

Brusho Flowers ...

Hi Everybody,

The video on YouTube today is once again using the Brusho Crystal Colours.

This one is simply called Brusho Flower and for this I have used a stamp and die set from Heartfelt Creations

This particular set has been around for quite some time but it is available on Amazon and the link is below the blog post

I have layered all the different sized petals together to create a really full flower and then added a little glitter ball from WOC to the centre.

It blends well with the diamante flourish from Want2Scrap  and the card is quite pretty. The addition of some Guipure lace  from Wild Orchid Crafts adds that extra touch and I used very little of it ... so a metre goes a long way

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 08, 2016

Water Colour Wednesday - Good Times

Hi Everybody,

A really simple card today using  Spectrum Noir AquaTints - Pretty Pastels

I have just done a soft wash of the pale blue in the background for the sky

I coloured the bike and butterflies with pink and that basically is all I did with Aqua Tints

I use some well watered down black for the ground and added in my sequins.

The stamp is from Clearly Besotted and is called Good Times 2 

Then I stamped and embossed the sentiment to complete the card.  I used craft foam behind the panel to add it to my card base which is an A2 top folded one.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx



June 07, 2016

Tuesday Tutorial - Another idea with Parisian Dies

Hi Everybody,

This is the second visit to Parisian Accents and Motifs as this is such a pretty dies set and can be used in lots of ways.  
The first one was added on the 26th April with   Parisian Accents and Motifs 
  If you don't have this particular set then you can try this idea with any of the ones you do have and get a really good result.
Spellbinders Supplies:
Other Supplies:
Instructions:
With an A4 piece of Kraft card score and fold it in half and with the fold at the top trim the card down to  4 1/4 x 8 1/2" to create a long base
Cut a white mat that is slightly smaller than the base card and emboss this panel then add it flat to the base card
Cut the large shape from the Motifs
Cut two of the border strips and the largest die from the Accents all in Kraft Card
Stamp and heat emboss the sentiment of your choice onto some white card and trim to a banner shape on one end.

Arrange the border strips around the banner and glue in place.
Cut the shape from the Accents set into two pieces and arrange one of them at the end of the banner shape as shown in the photo
Add foam tape to the back of this assembled piece
With foam pads add the largest shape to the left of the card front and cut a size of circle that will sit in the middle in white
Add your banner piece to the top adding more foam pads to the right side to balance the banner out.
Dot with pearls to match your design and a pearl flourish  for an added touch

Don't forget to visit the  Tuesday Tutorials Page  barbecue ALL the videos are listed there for you to click any time you want

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 06, 2016

Beautiful Hatpins ...

Hi Everybody,

Over the weekend I have been busy making some more of the Hat pins that I like to add to my more feminine cards

I love making these and end up with quite a lot because I get carried away with the designs

I think they make a really lovely touch to a card
Because they have end caps over the sharp point they can be removed from the card and worn on the recipients lapel

I buy 3" silver pins and create the designs myself but the basic hat pin is from the Sparkles Group 





You will find them in the FINDINGS section on their website along with beads and charms too if you need them

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx




June 04, 2016

Todays FF Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

Thanks to you if you entered your name for this card and I am happy that many of you would like to receive a card from me.  It is very humbling to know that you enjoy my work and think it worthy of owning.  

The names are as always drawn at random so that it is fair for everyone and it doesn't matter if you have won before either you can still add your comment and try for another.  

I have a name chosen for todays draw and the winner of yesterdays Silver and White card is ...

Bernice Geroulis
Would you email me with your postal address to 
christina@card-making-magic.com
and the card will be on its way to you.

I hope you will like it and please let me know when it arrives with you.

Tomorrow is craft show day and my "Film Crew" and I are off to Bolton Arena.
I have my list of Goodies all made out ready and the weather is supposed to be nice so it will be a lovely trip out for us. We will have a stop off for Sunday Lunch on the way home so no blog post tomorrow  ....  But some lovely cards lined up for next week,

Hugs xx


June 03, 2016

Friday Freebie 121

Hi Everybody,

This card has been offered before but the winner never came froward to claim it and so here it is again and maybe this time it will go to a good home.

It was also part of the video that used Majestic labels Eight  along with some other ideas on using that particular die.

The blue card in the film is being offered next week as FF122

It is prettier in the hand than the photo shows and it is in white and silver.

The large rose on the front is grey fabric and I have wrapped lace and organza ribbon around the layers.

If you would like to win this card then all you need to do is leave me a comment.

From those comments a name will be chosen and the winner announced in tomorrows blog post.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx






June 02, 2016

Shabby Chic Birthday ...

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is really pretty and has been created with the Grand Circles dies from Spellbinders.

It is now available to view on YouTube and is titled 
Shabby Chic Round Birthday Card

The colours I have chosen are pale pink and blue and at the bottom of the page I have listed all the supplies

The beautiful dried flowers are from AnnaMarie Designs and can be bought as a complete bundle

You will need to look around for the Grand Circles as they are now retired from Spellbinders website. Try Ebay or Amazon as people do sell them on and you may find them at a good price.

I hope you enjoy the video 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx







June 01, 2016

Water Colour Wednesday - Marching Mice !!

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is using the Strike Up The Band stamp set Gansai Tambi Water Colours.  This little stamp set is so versatile and I featured it another Water Colour Wednesday a few weeks ago.

This time I have used the mice with a different sentiment and some of them are marching the wrong way to the main band. 

 You can have so much fun with this and arrange your band however you wish.  I think there could be another video here !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx