My Design Team ....

Hi Everybody,

Last week I showed you on Hochanda some of the ways in which you can use the new dies from Card Making Magic.

Here are some of the ideas that I took with me and they are much prettier in the hand than a photograph shows.

This is mine with layered leaves to build the wreath, and bright gold on the top layer

This Emerald shaped pearly box is from Kim and she has used Centura Pearl to create it and the flowers, with the addition of bright gold

It is really lovely and quite a sturdy box to hold your gift. This one originally had chocolates inside ... but not when I got to the shows !!

This rich red card is from Joanna and she has used the embossing folder to create the design on mirror card.

It looks really elegant and the layers make it stand out even more.

I would be more than happy to get a card like this for Christmas.

It sounds so grand saying Design Team but they are really special and friends who have agreed to help me out whenever there are new dies,  to give you the best possible ideas of how you can make them work for you.

We all have totally different styles and maybe you have another that you like to use for your creations.  

But I hope you have enjoyed these cards and can maybe use some ideas to help you further.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Magazine Winner

Hi Everybody,

Well here I am late as usual but time just seems to run away from me lately. 

Thank you if you joined me on Hochanda last week, we had some really good shows and I enjoyed working with Ruth. 

We stayed in a lovely place and we had fun. I don't think we stopped talking and giggling in the two days we had together. It was just what we both needed.

So a big thank you to Ruth for making it so enjoyable and another to you if you purchased from the shows.

But I have now done the draw for Fridays gift and the winner this week is ...

Elly Booij

would you send me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and they will be on their way to you.

Please let me know that you have the gift safe and sound and I hope you enjoy playing with it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Winter Wonderland from Simply Cards& Papercraft 182

Hi Everybody,

A few weeks ago I gave away a gift called Winter Wonderland and although this one has the same title it is not the same gift.

This one has an A5 stamp plate and two dies to cut the birch trees out and there is also a stencil in the pack too.

I will also send you the magazine but there is no card to go with it this time. The video will show you how I used the set 

Winter Wonderland from SC&P 182

So if you would like this gift then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL NAME.

From those comments one name will be chosen at random and listed in a blog post over the weekend.

Be sure to come back and check if it is your name that is shown  and you have 72 hours to claim the gift.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Gift & Magazine Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

It's a beautiful Saturday morning and I still have lots to do to be ready for Monday and Tuesday when I will be on Hochanda with the One Day Special. I hope you will be able to join me at 6pm and 8pm on the Monday or 9am 1pm and 5pm on the Tuesday, it will be lovely to have you there.

I have lots to show you and my new "Design Team" of Kim and Joanna have been busy making things as well. It sounds really grand having a Design Team but they are friends who have offered to help me make samples to highlight the new dies and stamps in the new Christmas Collection

So onto the winner of yesterdays gift and the name this week is ...

Sue Williams 

would you email me please with your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the gift will be on its way to you.

I hope you will enjoy the set and be sure to let me know when it arrives with you.

I hope you can all understand why I ask for your FULL NAME because I have four Sue's who visit my blog and add comments and imagine the confusion if I just added Sue as the winner ... nobody would know which one it was.

 So FULL NAME please every time or your comment will not be added to the draw Thank You!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Ring of Roses

Hi Everybody,

A Summery kind of gift is being given this week and this one is from Joanna Sheen and the video was titled  Ring Of Roses

The link will take you to see some of my ideas with this stamp and die set but sadly there is no card to go with it this week.

There are however some of the downloadable papers with it and I am happy to send them to you wherever you live if you are the winner

To be in with that chance all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL NAME and then be sure to come back and check over the weekend if it is your name that is shown.

One name will be chosen and you will have 72 hours in which to claim the gift

More tomorrow ..

Hugs xx

Card Making Magic Box Kit

Hi Everybody,

The next issue of the Card Making Magic box kit is now on Pre order with Craft Stash and once again there are some really pretty dies in the pack.

If you have been building up your collection of these kits then now is the time to make sure that you get this Issue Three as the others went very quickly

There will be lots of ideas inside the magazine that will hopefully inspire you to make a start on your Christmas cards if you haven't already.

I will be showing you this and much more on Monday and Tuesday of next week on Hochanda so I hope you will be able to join me then with the One Day Special

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Not Just for Christmas!!

Hi Everybody,

The Christmas Ornaments  is a 22 piece die set that is new for this season and it is available from Craft Stash.

You can have lot of fun making your cards for this year from this die set, but don't put it away at the end of the year 

This is a set that can be used all year round and the card to the right is just one of those ways.

All I have done is take the round ornament die and cut it three times, and turned it upside down to look like balloons.

Either colour them as I have done or use coloured card to make things easier

I have added hand drawn strings to two of them and the small bows to each string. But to the third one I have used a stamped sentiment as the string.

The inked clouds in the background have tiny birds flying in the sky and I added a little shading to the embellishments cut from the dies and added to each balloon.

This would be a good card for a fun type of man in your life and also one that children would love too. Add their age to the balloons and let them fly high in the sky

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Octagon Box

Hi Everybody,

This is the Octagon Box which is now back in stock at Craft Stash.

It will help you to make some beautiful boxes for Christmas and the rest of the year too.

Decorate them how you wish for whatever season or recipient you have made them for .

And don't forget the Tall Version of this box that I created in a video for you some time ago, that can hold lots of things for your gifts ... especially chocolate !!

The latest Magical Christmas Collection is really exciting and I will be bringing that to Hochanda in the not too distant future.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Ashleigh's Birthday Card

Hi Everybody,

We had a lovely day yesterday celebrating two birthdays within my family.  We went out to a restaurant for a Sunday lunch and I am always happy with a roast beef dinner Mmmmm !!

I made a really special card for Ashleigh and if you wanted to make the same kind of card you can and although it looks intricate it is really quite easy to put together. 

I bought the template for the design from 

 Sandra Strijland and you need to email her  and ask to buy the template to the

  BOW CARD 

It is not expensive and I don't think you will be disappointed with your make either.

Once you have the template you can use it over and over again but please don't share it with any one else.  Point them in the direction to buy their own.

Wouldn't it make a beautiful Wedding card ??

It would certainly be one to treasure for a long time.

I have asked Sandra's permission to video the making of this card so it will be coming to the blog pages in the not too distant future

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

I am so sorry for my absence his week but I have been really busy and left myself no time to blog.

But hopefully things will settle down a little more and I can get back to writing on a regular basis.

I have a lot to do today also but this is more on the pleasure side. 

My grandson's 32nd birthday is today and my granddaughter's 30th birthday is tomorrow and we are going out later to celebrate both of them  Happy Birthday to Jay and Ashleigh. Once I have given Ashleigh her card for her special 30th Birthday I will add some photos to show you what it looks like.

On to the draw for the magazine and gift from Friday and the winner today is ...

Marjorie Bates

would you email me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will post them as soon as I can.

I hope you enjoy the magazine and the stamps as they are really lovely and will make some wonderful cards. Please let me know that you have them safely with you.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Winter Wonderland from Creative Stamping 62

Hi Everybody,

There are two gifts in the pack this week as well as the magazine so a bumper gift for someone to receive

The stamps set is a large A4 with several Christmas sentiment on it , but it can be used all year round with a Birthday greeting on there too.

I am also including the Birch Trees embossing folder for some lovely backgrounds to your designs.
Winter Wonderland from Creative Stamping 62

This is a good stamp set to practise your masking techniques with and build up some lovely winter scenes for your cards this year.

So if you would like this double gift in your own collection then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL NAME please. From those comments one will be chosen as the winner

Be sure to come back over the weekend to see if it is your name shown . I also add the winners names to a special page and the link is in the side bar to your left.

More tomorrow ..

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for joining me on Craft Stash Facebook Live and YouTube yesterday and if you won one of the five prizes I hope you will enjoy them. I also introduced my new Christmas Collection and I am so pleased with these new items. 

There are some lovely big dies in there and they will make fantastic cards for all year round.

And now here we are again with another weekend and I have all sorts planned to keep me busy for the next few days. And the weather is looking kind this morning so I hope it stays this way.

The draw for the winner has been done and the name this week is ...

Pippa Price

would you email me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the gift will be on it's way to you.

I am sorry there is no card to go with this weeks gift but the magazine should keep you occupied for some time. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Tonic Peace Dove

Hi Everybody,

Back to a Christmas theme for this weeks give away and have the Tonic Peace Dove in this pack.

Sadly I have no cards to go with the next few "Give Aways" but that doesn't stop you enjoying the gift.

I will be giving away the magazine though so that should keep you busy for a while.

The video with this gift is Tonic Peace Dove and I have shown you several ways in which I have used it. Would you like this die in your collection ? Then all you have to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post, with your FULL NAME please.

You will need to come back and check if it is your name that is shown as the winner and I will be adding it to a blog post over the weekend.  Then you will have 72 hours in which to claim it.

Good Luck everybody.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 57- Memory Box Die Set

Hi Everybody,

I am adding a video today to tell you about this months edition of Die Cutting Essentials 57

The exclusive gift with the magazine is this lovely five piece die set from Memory Box

In the video I have shown you what all the individual dies will cut and there are lots of ways that they can be used.

The best thing to do is cut all the pieces out, from any new die that you get, and then play to see what looks good with what. Which die cut can be cut to give you another look ... what happens if you turn one round or even upside down.

There are many many ideas waiting for you to find them in all die cuts and at the end of the day it is only card and paper you are playing with. So enjoy the process and see what you can come up with.

Just to let you know that I will be on Craft Stash Facebook Live page this coming Friday at 1 pm so I hope you will pop along to visit and maybe leave a comment for me there too. 

I have some exciting new dies to share with you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Ruby - how she has grown ...

Hi Everyone,

It's me Ruby and I haven't been to talk to you all for a little while but a lot has happened in my life in the past year. 

I was born on the 17th August 2016 and this is me at nine weeks old ... now you must admit that I am rather cute and my dad decided to call me Ruby.

I have been so happy here and grown up into a really rather special dog. Well my mum tells me that I am.

I have a very special friend too called Dougal and he is only two weeks older than me and he is a Cockapoo.

We love playing together and we spend al lot of time with each other. He is bigger than me BUT I am the boss and he always lets me win whatever we do. 

Well nearly always !!

This is me in my new jacket getting ready to go for my first walk, after having all my injections. 

I was only 12 weeks old here and so excited to be going out into the big wide world.

There are a lot of scary things out there, but my mum and dad took care of me and I really enjoyed myself.

Now as I am older I love going for walks. and I sit and stare at my mum to make her feel guilty, so that she takes me out 

This is Dougal and me all dressed up and ready for our very first Christmas. I have wings on but you cant' see them in this photo.

Then after that came our fist birthday and we had doggy cake between us.It was lovely and we ate it all. 

I love Dougal and he is such good fun to be with whenever we go out. 

And each week we both go to Doggy Day Care and we love our "Aunty"  Sally who takes care of us while our mums are working.

Now this is me at One Year Old and haven't I grown up into a beautiful puppy.

This is the look I give my mum that makes her feel guilty to take me out. It never fails and she always gives in ... even if it's raining a little.

I haven't seen snow yet but I would like to, and then I can run around and roll in it and see how it feels.

So maybe this winter we will get a little bit and then I can tell you how it feels to me. 

This is Dougal and I at two years old. Isn't he such a handsome boy

We both go to the groomers regularly to have a bath and a haircut that keep us neat and tidy 

I like having a bath and I love going swimming and will take that chance whenever I can.

And that brings us up to present day, Here I am just turned three years old on the 17th August and I look so pretty.

I have lots of fun with my family and Dougal and I went on the walk up Snowdon with them all last weekend.

Today I am going for my first lesson at agility training, and that will be another adventure that I can share with you later.

My mum will have to run around with me as I am taught what to do. But when I went for trial run it was lovely and I enjoyed it very much.

I was tired and hungry when we had finished but I can't wait to go again

I will be back to tell you all about it 

See you soon

Love Ruby xxx