Ist Birthday ...

Hi Everybody,

Today sees the first Birthday of Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls ... and what an exciting year this has been.

Click to Enlarge

I have had so many surprises since I started this blog and I never expected to have such lovely followers. 


So to celebrate the date I am having another
"Give Away"

The lovely people at Fantastic Ribbons  have very kindly donated some Ribbons and Buttons for the prize.

They are in the centre of the photo and there are five reels in the pack that are ideal embellishments for your cards.


And please pop over to their website and add your name to their mailing list for the chance to win £100 worth of Ribbons of your choice.

To the prize I have added  6 packs of beautiful  "Bling"  from Want2Scrap  that are Flourishes, Hearts, Gemstones and Swirls.
 

You will also find  7 metres of  different braids  for you to use ... along with some  felt shapes,  charms  and  buckles.

 

There are also some Handmade Butterflies, and  Handmade decorated Hatpins and I have also thrown in two Blenders.... with the  necassary pads.

 

Altogether a good mix of things that you can use to adorn your cards or any project.

 

Over the year your names have become familiar and I now know the people  that visit regularly and leave me comments.

 

I am changing the rules a little so that YOU ... the special people  have a better chance of winning my Give Aways

 

So from now on I would like you to become a follower ...  if you are not already ... and leave me a comment if you want to be in with the chance to "win"

 

Please don't join just to win the prize because it is designed to be a special gift for the regular visitors to the Blog.

 

And as I always ask  please don't add your name more than once ... the duplicates will be removed and that way everybody has the same chance.

 

I hope it doesn't offend anyone ... that is not my intention.  I am just looking to share some pretty things with my followers.

 

If you don't have a Blog just leave the URL box BLANK but add your name and email so that you can be notified if you win.

 

Good Luck xx

Birthday Special ... for my friend

Today I am going out to lunch with a very special friend and it is her birthday.

We have been friends for 25 years and so I thought I would make her this very pretty card in her favorite colours.

I have added feathers, lace  and ribbon to the Dress form and the Want2Scrap "Bling"  is along the form itself and for the butterfly trail.

The  Decorative Hatpin   is added as a small gift and can be removed from the card for her to wear in her lapel.

They are complete with end stops from the Sparkles Group  and by adding in the code  CGDIS5  at the checkout you will get a discount from me.

They do make a very lovely addition to all your Girly cards.

And of course every special card needs  a special box ...and so here it is decorated up to match the card.

I have added Diamante strips around the aperture and I really hope she likes it ... tell you tomorrow !

Hugs xx

Pierced Edges

Another easy to do technique that just adds a little bit more to the finished card and I have made    Pierced Edges  into a video for those new to cardmaking.

I have included Spellbinders in the video title because it uses the same set of dies that I introduced in Starting Your Spellbinder Collection

And as many of you have written to tell me that you went out and purchased these dies  we need to make sure that we get as much use from them as we can.

I also like to find ways to add that extra bit to the cards I make. 

So this is piercing and it really adds an extra dimension to any of our projects.

The "Bling" as always is from  Want2Scrap  and it adds a  luxury look to any card. 

It comes in many different colours and finishes and some of the styles match and compliment the Spellbinder shapes

Although I have kept to a monochromatic colour scheme nothing is lost for the lack of colour.

If you haven't got your corners tidy then you can always add in a pearl or flower to disguise the mistake but I think this makes for a very pretty card and I hope you do too ...

Hugs xx

Gift for Isabella...

Last October my Great Grand-daughter  Isabella was born and  I wanted to make something special for her.

Something that would last,   that she would be able to look at in the years to come.

I bought this large beech picture frame and added a mixture of flowers to the cute images.

Some of the flowers are die cuts,  and others are punched,  but there are Mulberry flowers from   Wild Orchid Crafts  in the spray too.

I used the Floral Flourish, Foliage, Spiral Blossom 1 dies from Spellbinders  and   added them all along the edge of the frame.

The little girls are from the  Pretty Sweet  CD from  PolkaDoodles  and they are just adorable.

Between each child I have added a border frame and some Polkadot  ribbon from  Fantastic Ribbons   and everything is framed  within a cream mount board.

At six months old Isabella doesn't have an opinion on the frame just yet,   but I  am pleased to say that her parents have added it to the nursery wall and have said that they love it.     Hopefully she will too...

Hugs xx

White Wedding Card

A few days ago I posted a cream card for a Wedding that I was going too ... where the Grooms mum asked me to make her a card as well.

She wanted hers to be white and elaborate and so I went to town on this one.

It is made to an 8" size with an easel back so that the card will stand, and it has been matted and layered in silver and white.

I pierced the outer edge and added Diamante all  around the inner edge.

I  used the technique in  Braided Ribbon   along the left side of the card,   added a bow  and a white rose to the top and attached a bell charm.

The Spellbinders used for this card will all be in BOLD so that you will know what has been used

The Brides and Grooms name and the wedding  date have been layerd up with the two largest dies from the Floral Ovals with all the edges sparkled with Glamour Dust.

The piercing in these match the ones I have done around the edge of the card, and they are layered onto the largest  Romantic Rectangle which has been layered onto silver card.

All these layers are seperated with foam pads

The flowers are created from the Bitty Blossoms, Spiral Blossom 1 and 3   and the silver flourish under them is from the Belle Rose

All the flowers centres have a had either silver glitter balls or  pearls added to them and they are from the Sparkles Group  

They are offering you a 5% discount on any purchase and they do the beautiful Hatpins with end protectors that I feature on some of my cards. Add CGDIS5 at the check out to get your discount

The box needed to match the card and so more of the blossoms have been added with the flourish behind them too.

All the petals have Glamour Dust on the egdes and the lid is inlaid with Acetate and edged in Diamante.

The Butterfly and it's trail on the card and the Dragonfly on the box lid are Diamante and they complete the look.

I am very pleased with the result and will be happy to see the happy couple accept this from his mother... with lots of love.

Here is the finished creation and I have since added silver tissue paper to the box to protect the card

Hugs xx

Pink Flowered Tag Card

Adding tags to your cards can create a very pretty embellishment and they are so easy to cut yourself and so save  you the cost of buying them ready made.

For this one I have embossed white Centura Pearl Card and matted it onto some hot pink and added ribbon from   Fantastic Ribbons   around the panel.

The knot in the bow is covered with Card Candi from  Craftwork Cards

This is then matted that onto pink patchwork paper and again onto the hot pink.

The whole lot has then been glued to a white card base.

The close up shows the detail in the tag which has been embossed to add texture and dotted with Cosmic Shimmer   Pearls  in the flower centres

Layering onto some hot pink card and an eyelet added to the top enables me to thread the ribbon through.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and the sentiment is from  Lili of the Valley

An easy make that would be suitable for any girly occasion.

Hugs  xx

Paper Lace

Not to be confused with the Punched Lace I added a couple of days ago..... oh no! this one is going to use up any Doilys that you may have lurking around at the bottom of your kitchen drawers.

Paper Lace  is an easy technique to create and yet still adds a very delicate look for all your cards.

Here it has been pleated along the edge of the card and all the workings have been covered by the white ribbon for a neat finish.

The image is from  LIli of the Valley  and is very cute. I have coloured the bear in with Promarkers.

The additional flowers are from  Wild Orchid Crafts. 

Hugs Christina xx

Amy Jo's Birthday Blog Hop Day 2

It's day two of Amy Jo's Birthday Blog Hop and I hope you have enjoyed it so far. There are some "Goodies" to be won along the way.

Just become a follower of the Blogs you visit and leave them a lovely comment if you like what you see.

We don't have to make any special project ... just use Amys' favorite colours of Pink, White and Black or any character from Alice in Wonderland and it can be anything you like.

We only needed to make one thing over the two days so there was plenty of time to go hopping.

But I am adding another birthday project here in pink and white as they are my favorite colours too

This little gift incorporates some tealight candles and they smell gorgeous. 

 If you want to make one of these for yoursefl you will find the written instructions  and a  short  Video Tutorial  on the website.

The flowers are from  Wild Orchid Crafts and the candles are from Ikea... lots of them in a box .

The Pink Polka dot ribbon is from  Fantastic Ribbons and they have a lovely selection for you.

If you landed here from Anita  then you are in the right place and your next stop is at Naomis'

But if you just happened on my Blog today... or you got lost along the way then start again at Amy Jo's so that you don't miss any of the fun.

I have some "Goodies" up for grabs too and all you have to do is join the followers and leave me a comment and I will draw a name at random to win  these three sets of clear stamps after the Blog Hop is done.

Hugs Christina xx

Windy weather...

Can you hear it??? It's blowing a gale out there and I still have to go out and do my shopping.

Yesterday I was card making again and this time I was asked to make a really special birthday card for an 80th Birthday.

The requirement was that the card had to ... be a large card (yep can do that) ... be in pink  (no problem there then)...to have ribbon on it (that's my kind of card)... to have flowers on it ...(Oh! it just got better and better) ... and to have a matching box (Oh Yes...  all sorted)

Here is the card I came up with and when the young man came to collect it he seemed quite pleased with it ... but you know what men are like... they say yes it's fine and that's it ... so who knows... but he did give his permission to show you the card so here it is....

... and here is the box to match... complete with Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls .... OooooH! that title rings a bell.

And now I am off to the supermarket for goodies....anybody fancy meeting up for a coffee????

My daughter says that pensioners (me) should only shop on weekdays and leave the supermarket free on Saturdays for those who have to work during the week ... I won't repeat what I replied.

Hugs Christina xx

What a cutie ...

I love to make girly cards because then I can go to town on all the lovely embellishments that I have in my  ever growing "Stash" ... you know the one I mean .. the one that spreads all over the house in no time at all ...

 Yes?  You got one of those too?

Feathers, lace, gemstones, flowers, ribbons and pearls just add the finishing touch, and if it's pink as well .... what can I say ... I am in heaven!!

But having said that I love this card I have made in blue.  It is a pre coloured image from the Pretty Sweet CD from   Polka Doodles   and there are several  little girls for you to  choose from ...  you will be spoilt for choice.

There are backing papers and sentiments for you to add to your designs to compliment the look, and with the addition of the ribbons from Fantastic Ribbons what more could you want.

There are also some un-coloured images on there too,  so that you can print them off and use your favourite medium to add the colours of your own choosing.

This one has been coloured in with the  Spectrum Noir pens from Crafters Companion  and they are very easy to use to give you professional results.

The finishing touch on both of these cards is the beautiful flowers and there is a huge selection of colours and styles from Wild Orchid Crafts 

 

 

They have flowers that will suit any season and some fabulous embellishments that you can choose to add to your cards.

 

 

And both of these cards have boxes   that have been decorated to match them as a special touch.

Hugs Christina xx