New Home Card

Hi Everybody,

Here is a little card that I made some time ago but has now just been put to good use as I have a friend that has just moved house.

I have stencilled the flowers onto the heart shape with blending brushes and cut it out with the heart shaped die set

This particular card uses the house die set that came free with a magazine and I have added it to an embossed background panel created with the Rose folder from Card Making Magic

Making extra cards and keeping them to one side always pays off in the end,  for those unexpected occasions, or requests for a card that you may get from time to time

I keep mine safe complete with envelopes and then they are ready to send.

They don't always need to have s sentiment on them as you can always add one when the request is made.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx   

Winner

 Hi Everybody,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the weekend. Can you believe we are at the end of January already and it only seems like a week ago since Christmas. But time waits for no one.

Ruby and I went walking this morning but it started to get very blustery towards the end of it and so it was nice to get back home again to our warm and cozy house. We are all settled  down for the rest of the day now.

I have just been reading my recipe book from Lily.s Kitchen and it is full of ideas for creating tasty nutritious meals for your dog.. And so I have just put together a fish dinner for Ruby and once it is cool and she has tried it I will let you know how it went down. There is nothing in it that I wouldn’t eat and so I have just tried it myself and I have to say it was delicious

The draw for yesterdays offering has also been done and the name today is

Sue Cockerham

Would you email me please with your postal address to

 christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will get it in the post to you straight away. Please let me know that you have it safely and I hope you enjoy playing with your gift.

More tomorrow …

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Build A Flower

Hi Everybody,

In todays offering you will get some foam sheets, dies and white stamens to help you build beautiful foam flowers for your projects.

There is also the Die Cutting Essentials magazine to go with it and that is full of ideas and inspirations for you to try, as well as being just a good read.

So if you think you would like to have a go at making some of these flowers then why not enter your comment to be in with the chance.

As long s your comment is accompanied by your FULL NAME then it will be entered into the draw and one name will be chosen at random as the winner.

You will need to come back over the weekend to see if it is your name that is shown as the winner and then you will have 72 hours in which to claim your gift.

I am happy to send this to you wherever you live and I hope you will enjoy it once you get it.
Just add your comment and see if you are the lucky one

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

Feathered Lilies

 Hi Everybody,

For todays card I have used the Feathered Lilies and created an inked background for something different.

The card size is the Slimline and the front panel I have coloured with Distress Inks.

I added my two colours, Speckled Egg and Antique Linen,  to a glass mat and spritzed them with water, then added the water coloured card to the puddle.

I repeated this process but dried the card between each layer until I got the look I wanted.

I added splatters to the panel using the same colours as the flowers and background inks, with a little black and white thrown in for good measure

Then I embossed in the Perfect Swirls folder from Card Making Magic

The flowers have ben stamped from the kit and coloured on water colour paper.

Before die cutting them out I have added them to the embossing folder and the extra definition in the card makes such a difference and is well worth doing.

Foam pads have been added to the back for the flowers and black sequins have been dotted around the card front. I used a white gel pen to add spots to the Lilies.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Altenew Craft Your Life Kit

Hi Everybody,

I had a day off yesterday and did absolutely nothing except walk Ruby on the beach.  She loves going down there and can have a really good run around, but the tide was too far out for us get near the sea, which is no bad thing or she would be in it even if it is so cold.

But I have got some new cards to show you and these are made with the new January Altenew Kit called Feathered Lilies.

I have used the stencil in the kit to colour these  flowers with Altenew Inks.

They have been embossed in the folder, and then die cut and added with foam tape to the card front.

The background has been embossed with the Simply Dots folder from Card Making Magic

It is a very delicate card and could be for any occasion you liked, and the finished result is a 51/2" square 

The sentiments are stamped from Label Love also by Altenew and many of these products I have had in my stash for a very long time.

This card uses the Pallet background stamp from Altenew coupled with the Painted Inspirations stamp 

This time I have stamped the image and then coloured it with the stencil and although it is the same set it looks different with the stamped outline.

Adding the die cut in a different orientation also makes it look different.

These kits are so good and in each one there is a die set, stamps, embossing folder and often multiple stencils for you to colour and layer the images.

Really useful if colouring is not your thing

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

New Craft Room Floor

 Hi Evrybody,

I have done a little video to show you what my craft room looks like now with the changes I have made and I am really pleased with the end results.

Having things like stamps and embossing folders more accessible means they will get used a whole lot more.

Plus I have put items that are the same in one container and labelled it so that I know exactly what is where when I want to use it. 

I have done a lot of clearing out as well and now I have lots of stuff to donate or sell when I get some time to sort it all out.

The video is not long and so I hope you enjoy seeing what I have done and Ruby makes a guest appearance as well just to say Hello

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winner

 Hi Everybody,

Another winner is here today and that is me .... my craft room is finished and later today I will take a video of it, and add it to a blog post next week, to show you the finished result.
 I am really pleased with it.

But for now the winner of yesterdays magazine and Bauble die set has been chosen at random and the name this week is 

Jenny Hurley

would you email me with your postal address to
christina@card-making-magic.com
and I will get it in the post to your straight away.

Please let me know that you et it safely and I hope you enjoy playing with it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Nativity Bauble

Hi Everybody,

Another Christmas themed card for todays "Give Away" and this one will create beautiful Baubles for your cards or your tree 

It is a lovely large Bauble and it comes with

 Die Cutting Essentials magazine.

Time to put your feet up if you win this and have a good browse of the pages as they are full of ideas that you may like to try for yourself.

Now if this is one that you would like to win then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post with your FULL NAME 

Be sure to come  back over the weekend and see if your name is shown as the winner and then you will have 72 hours in which to claim the prize 

 

I add the same proviso every week and if you have never won then take a look at how you are signing your post. Does it have your full name ?? NO !! Then you won't be a winner.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Craft room Update

Hi Everybody,

Slowly but surely I am getting there and this is what the room looks like at present. I don't know why it is but when one room is being done ... the whole house gets messy.

And poor Ruby didn't know what to do when she came home from doggy day care . 

I had to show her where her bed was in the messy room and then she was happy.

Everything is upside down at present but it should all be finished by tomorrow ... fingers crossed.

I can't wait to get straight again and put things back in their places, after it has all had a good dusting and clean, it's going to look so much different.

I will take more pictures once it is all done and I have moved some things around in here as well to make a better work space for me.

And with all the decluttering I have one I know have some empty storage bins, drawers and shelves so it looks neater too.

One side of the room is nearly finished now and the beading around the edges is going in tomorrow.

In this picture you can just see the floor and the beading and I am surprised at how much bigger the room looks without the carpet down.

Some of you have told me about your own decorating/renovating jobs that you are in the middle of so good luck to you all and I hope you all get straight again soon.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

Altenew Craft Your Life Project

Hi Everybody,

I think I have told you a few months ago that I have subscribed to the monthly Altenew Craft Your Life Kits and this is the one that was received in November.

These kits are lovely and so full of items for you to use in many different ways.

There are dies, stencils, stamps and an embossing folder in each kit and the flower is a new one each month,

I have added an envelope to each of my cards and decorated them all with Washi Tape, and they are all in cellophane to keep them clean

This one has the addition of Diamante  to it and it is a slimline card.

These cards will be going in my charity shop box which I will take to the shop once it is full, and there are usually about 150 cards in each box that I take to them

I enjoy making these cards as there is no pressure for certain designs and no deadline to meet either.

I can just make them how I like and add them to my box and the charity shop seem to like getting them too.

And with having a new floor fitted in my craft room I have really gone to town and cleared out all of the items that have been made or bought over the years and never used.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Decoupage Delight - Water Coloured Flowers

 Hi Everybody,

Today I am adding in the video of how I water coloured the flowers from the Decoupage Delight Hellebore 

I have used the Ironworks die set for the background and the flowers have been added in with foam pads underneath 

The finished card is a 5x7 and is really pretty in real life.

This is the one I created in the video and below you will see another one that I di in a slightly different colour combination

.You could use your favourite colours for another look

I have used leaves from the foliage background die set for the first card and leaves from several sets for this bottom card.

But  they will look just as good using leaves from any die set that you have in your collection.

I hope you enjoy the video 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Messy Craft room ...

 Hi Everybody,

Tomorrow sees the workman making a start putting in a wooden floor in my craft room, and this is what it looks like at present. 

I have lifted everything off the floor so that Pete can have a good space to work on it and everywhere is a mess .... again !!

It will probably take him till mid week to finish it ... and then I will have to get straight again, but it will be worth it in the end as putting a carpet in a craft room was a big mistake. 

This is my messy carpet and you can see where Ruby chewed the bottle of masking fluid on it and at the back near the unit is the place where I dropped the hot glue gun on it. 

It was a lovely room when it was first done but over the years wear and tear has taken it's toll.

By the end of this week it will be beautiful again

More tomorrow ...

Hugs ss

Ruby will be at day care and so she will miss a lot of the disruption, and I can't wait until it is finished.

 I will show you more pictures once it is completed and Ruby will have some space for her bed so she can stay with me while I work.

My videos just wouldn't be the same without her snoring ... loudly ... in them !!

Winner

 Hi Everybody,

It has been quite a nice day here today and Ruby and I went for a lovely walk this morning along the beach at St Annes. Ruby loves running around on the sand and having a good sniff about. She is not a ball fetcher so I gave up taking one with me a long time ago.

So the draw has been done for the beautiful Snowflake die on offer. You will find a lot more ideas inside the magazine that are sure to inspire you. The name this week is

Kim Cranson

Would you email me your postal address please to

  christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will get it in the post to you straight away. I hope you enjoy playing with it and please let me know when you have it safely.

More tomorrow…

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Sophisticated Snowflakes

Hi Everybody,

Christmas may be over with for another year but I still have some beautiful themed dies and stamps to give away over the next few weeks.

This set is from Chloe Endean and it comes with the Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine to make some fabulous snowflake designs for your cards.

I know that some of you make Christmas cards all year round and this will be a useful addition to your own personal collections.

So if you would like to win this pack then all you have to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post with your full name  to be in with a:chance of winning. I am happy to send this to you wherever  you are and it doesn't matter if you have won before in the past. The magazine is a good read and will fill you with inspiration. So what are you wailing for ???

But be sure to come back and check over the weekend if your name is shown as the winner.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Trellis Background Die Set

Hi Everybody,

Todays Card is part of a video that shows you how I created three cards using the one Trellis die set. 

All the background dies in this new collection can be used to produce different looks for any of your projects, and they can be used to add more patterns to your box lids as well.

On this card I have added in some mulberry flowers that I have in my stash and some diamante that adds that luxury touch to any card.

And as always the flowers have been sparkled with some fine glitter and allowed to dry.

Once you have die cut the shapes and layers that you need don't throw away the pieces that fall out as these can always be used on another project.

I have used one of the stamped sentiment s for this card and there are many in the two sets to suit all occasions.

No waste at all of your precious card stock

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

 

February's Papercraft Society Box

 Hi Everybody,

Do you know about the Papercraft Society?? 

This is a paid for monthly subscription that is available from Craft Stash and brought to you each month by a different designer. It is delivered to your door and the boxes are full of "Goodies" to create beautiful cards and other projects.

This is my next contribution and it will be  on your doormat in February. It has lovely heart designs insides so just in time for Valentines Day

Inside the booklet with this box I will show you how to make some lovely flowers from the foam and stamens inside the pack to add a beautiful large arrangement to your cards.

There is parchment, and two stamp sets, as aa well as dies and an embossing folder. 

Plus a scoreboard with ideas in the booklet on how to create card folds and boxes with it.
So lots for you to get busy with and keep you going flower making.

Have fun !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Polyanthus

Hi Everybody

Todays cards is featuring the Polyanthus flower from the  Decoupage Delight Collection and it creates a really pretty flower that you can add to any of your projects. 

Not just cards but also box lids that neem a little bit extra to make them special.

In last Fridays Facebook Live show I used them to create a had band for a child that would be lovely to wear at any time.  But imagine if it was done in the wedding colours and placed on a little bridesmaids head 

I have used these flowers also to add to a gift bag for any special gift that you are giving or have made. And the flowers can be any colour that you would like.

I didn't take photographs of those two projects so I can't show you how they turned out. But if you joined us on the Facebook Live then  you would have seen both demos that I did using the new collection

I will be adding more in the next few days so you wont miss out if you don't do Facebook.
Just be sure to come back and check for yourself

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

Hellebore Flowers

 Hi Everybody,

This is one of the cards from last Fridays Facebook Live show and this is my favourite flower from the new dies and it is the Hellebore. 

The flowers it creates are quite large and would look wonderful on top of a box lid as well as the card.

These flowers can be cut from coloured card to give you the shading needed on the petals but you could cut the layers from white card and water colour them instead.

That is an idea I will be covering in a video that will be added next week. and you will of course need some water coloured card to cut the flowers from

This is my next Hellebore card and I have used the  same Trellis background for this but on this one I have cut the panel into the card.

Both of these cards are A5  and the sentiments are from dies that have the back panel with them to make them stand out more. 

Because the flowers are relatively flat they will fifi into standard sized envelopes.

A question I am always asked is "Do the dies come on magnetic sheets"  and the answer is "No" 

This is done to keep the cost down and to give you as many dies as we can for the cost of the pack. Adding in magnetic sheets would push the price up or reduce the amount of dies.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Christina

Winner

Hi Everybody,

Fingers crossed that this will work today as I announce the winner of the Peony Panel from yesterday.
 Thank you for joining me on the Craft Stash Facebook Live page yesterday and I am happy to see that many of you love the new dies. I also hope you enjoyed the video demos too despite the rain and the sound of Ruby snoring .... Loudly !! 

 I will be adding some vidoes as soon as I can but my craft room is still upside down waiting for the new flooring to be laid. And once this is done my house will have had new floors and painted décor throughout that will last me a few years before it needs to be done again. 

Eventually I will get straight again after weeks of upheaval. 

But the draw has now been done and the name this week is

Anne Forrest  

would you email me please your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com
and I will get the pack in the post to you straight away.

Please ley me know that you have got it safely and I hope you will enjoy playing with it..

And now Ruby and I are going to start up the log burner and settle down for the afternoon as it is pouring down here again today. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Christina 

Friday Freebie - Peony Panel

 Hi Everybody,

I really don't know what is happening to this blog as people are telling mt they are getting multiple emails about posts and other posts are disappearing. It sis nothing that I am doing I promise you ... it is more likely something I am not doing.

When all this trouble started I had a Friday Freebie for the last of the Peony Panels and because of all the problems a winner was never chosen.

So I am giving the die set another airing in the hope that somebody would like to win it and if that is you then just leave me a comment at the end of this post with your FULL NAME 

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

I am happy to send this to you wherever you live and it doesn't matter if you have won before. Just add your comment and be sure to come back and check if your name is shown as the winner.

I am truly sorry for all the problems or if you have been annoyed by all your emails. I am trying to sort it all out but technology is not my stong point.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Facebook Live

Hi Everybody,

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be on the 

Craft Stash Facebook Live this Friday 7th January 

with the new

 Decoupage Delight Collection.

There are three beautiful background dies in this set and three quite big flower's to add to your own creations

I have been busy this week making samples for he show and some for the Craft Store shows earlier this week. 

The shading is done with the colour of card you use to create them and they look really pretty once they are assembled.

The yellow flower is the Polyanthus and there are different sized flowers in this set as well as the leaves and this has been added to the Foliage background die set. 

This last card is using the Hellebore flower set and these flowers can also face different ways to add interest to your cards. I have added this to the Ironwork background which is such a pretty die set.

The pink flower is the Camelia and  its leaves and this has been added to the Trellis die background.

There are several options in the way you can use nay of these background die sets and on Friday I will show you some of the ways in which  I use them.

But they are very versatile and will create some lovely cards for you easily. Any of these background dies can be used to add the pattern to the top of your boxes too and they are all 5x7" sizes

The dies are designed to create flowers that can be added flat to your projects, which is especially good for card making as they wont take up too much room in an envelope.

This last card is using the Hellebore flower and its leaves, and this is also in different sizes and orientations for you to add interest to your designs. 

I have added this to the Ironwork background die set and this is such a pretty die. It would look good as the base card or in the top of a box, as would any of the background dies. 

Just enjoy playing with them and experiment to see what you come up with for yourself.

More tomorrow  ...

Hugs xx 

.

Happy New Year

Hi Everybody,

I hope you all had a good break over the Christmas Holidays and are now looking forward to  2022 

To start the year off well I have a new collection coming out and this is the Decoupage Delights

There are three flower dies sets and three beautiful background dies as well as some sentiment stamps to accompany them.

The featured card is complete with its own box and I have used the Hellebore flower for decoration. 

There are videos on the way about these new dies and more news in tomorrows blog post.

These dies were launched on the Craft Store with Lou Collins yesterday and they have been coupled  on the TV shows with the Emerald Card and Box die set. 

These box dies have been around for a little while and I did two videos using them when they were first introduced. I will add the videos here to show you the dies and refresh your memory if you bought them. 

I hope you enjoy the videos again or if you are new to the blog then this may be your first time seeing them. 

All my collections are available at 

Craft Stash.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx