Jamie's Now Open ...

Hi Everybody,

The biggest thing I want to share with you this week is the opening of the restaurant

  Jamie's at 90 Highfield Road 
Tel. No:  01253 407202
to book a table ...

It is in Blackpool and I wish him all the very best with his new adventure. He deserves it.

A lot of work has gone into getting this ready and it is now clean and modern for you to enjoy a delicious meal prepared by Jamie

He has been a chef now for over ten years and has catered for all kinds of venues and occasions large and small

He has also worked on the oil rigs for the past few years but now is his time to settle down and have a place of his own.

I am so proud of him and of course he is doing this to give his daughter Isabella a good future too

This kitchen is all laid out to Jamie's specific plans and it is spotlessly clean and new.

There are going to be some wonderful menus prepared in this space and he has some amazing ideas that he wants to try.

This is the main area for the restaurant and the seating is deep purple with some really unusual light fittings.

So if you are in the Blackpool area and would like to try soothing a little difference then pop into for a meal.

Make it known that CHRISTINA  has sent you and I will buy you a drink

This is the piece that my Griff is really proud of as he has built this bar from scratch and it is lovely.

It is the main focal point as you walk into the room and the top is covered with toughened glass.

It looks really good and tonight will find us in there dining for the first time and toasting Jamie's success for the future

If you are looking for the Friday Freebie it is still active for today here ....

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Ruby Update ...

Hello Everybody,

It's me  Ruby again and I am settling into my new home really well.

I am a nine week old English Cocker Spaniel and my colouring is Blue Roan Sable.

Now I might look like butter wouldn't melt but I can be very loud when I want to.

Here my new mum is trying to take some  close up pictures of me but the strap looks really inviting to chew

I went up to the craft room and helped my mum pick out some things that she wanted to work with

I am too little to climb the stairs on my own yet so I was carried up but there are lots of new things up here to sniff

Then when she was busy I took myself off to chill in my comfy bed

OoooooH !! this is the life

See you again soon.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Here I am ...Ruby

Hi Everybody,

My name is Ruby and I am coming to live with Christina and Griff in their home near the beach

I am a Blue Roan Sable English Cocker Spaniel and I am nearly nine weeks old and even if I do say so my self  ... I am rather beautiful

Some of my brothers and sisters are also going to new homes and so I chose to sit with Christina when she came to visit

I gave her a big puppy kiss not that I wanted to influence her at all .... but a girl has to do what a girl has to do !!

My doggie mum and dad where there also and my mum was really excited for me but my dad is so calm he just took it all in his stride.

My new owners have bought me a lovely padded den that will be my very own space and once it is all ready for me they are coming to collect me..

I will be a little bit scared but I am only small and I am sure that I will be fine and much loved.

I will be back to see you once I get settled and there will be lots of new photos to share with you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Winner

Hi Everybody,

What a wet and windy day it is here. This afternoon is playtime with the lovely Isabella who started school on Thursday

She looked very smart and grown up in her new school uniform. I cant wait to hear all about it. 

More good news is that on the same day my Grandson (Isabellas Daddy)  got the keys to his own restaurant and is now in the process of doing it all up.

This is a card I made for him and I will keep you posted as to the new opening day 

Once opened ... if you live in the neighbourhood then maybe you could give it a try 

Now onto the winner of the Yellow Rose card from yesterday.

The name that has been drawn from the hat is you ...

Alison Scott

so if you could email me please with your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

then I will get it into the post for you straight away

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

The Isabella Show ....

Hi Everybody,

There have been no blog posts for a couple of days but I have not been idle in the background. 

Yesterday  my blog post for Spellbinders went "live" and I did a tutorial creating a really pretty box with   Flourish Frame Pocket

Fill these with anything that you like and they are the perfect small gift for any time of year.

Yesterday was spent with family and having fun with Isabella. If you have followed me for a while then you will know that Isabella is my adorable and much loved 4 year old Great Granddaughter

 One of her Christmas Gifts was a microphone on a stand and she invited us all to the    "Isabella Show"  where she sang "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer"  and "When Santa got stuck up the Chimney" amongst others.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Merry Christmas Everybody ...

This is to each and every one of you and may your Christmas be all you hope for.

Much Love

Visit to Santa ...

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday my youngest daughter Vickie and I took Isabella to see Santa. Here they are !!

Vickie is Grandmother and I am Great Gran to the beautiful four year old Isabella and we had a lovely day out.

The weather was really kind to us after all the rain on Saturday and it wasn't all that cold either.

We wrapped up warm and off we went

 We took her for afternoon tea in a really quaint little cafe am the man that served us had a turkey hat on which highly amused Isabella

The afternoon tea was served on layered platers and it was plentiful

Jelly and Ice cream were served to her in little buckets complete with spade and she ate most of it too

And in the cafe Isabella and I sang "Happy Birthday dear Nana"  to Vickie as it was her birthday that day

 Then it was off to ride the land train into Astley Park as Santa was at the big old house inside the park.

She was so excited to see the train .. Vickie I mean and Isabella loved it too ..... and me !!

We waved to everybody that we passed as we drove through the streets to the park and as we got nearer to the house Santa was waiting at the door to greet us.

All the children on the train were so  pleased to see him and they were all calling out to him

Face painting was the order of the day before Isabella went to see Santa and it was part of the cost of the ticket

There where several options for the design but Isabella was set on having Santas face.

The lady said she would do a special one with some flowers for her and this was the end result.

Of course we had one really pleased little girl for the rest of the day.

So now with this pretty paint work it was off to visit Santa in his Grotto

She was very quiet when she met him but said "Thank you  Santa " for the gift he gave her.

Then once outside she couldn't wait to open it.

In another part of the park there was an exhibition of the the artist who had painted the Gruffalo and we went to see that too.

The artwork is lovely and of course Isabella knew who the character was

This is Vickie reading the story of "Room On The Broom" to us but Isabella wanted to be off exploring .... I thought it was very good though !!

Then  all too soon it was time to get back on the land train and head back into town, and by now it was going dark.

Chorley is lit up with Christmas lights and it looked really pretty as they twinkled in the growing darkness.

Vickie and I started to sing some songs and to our surprise others joined in too. So if you where on the that train listening to the catawailing then you have my sympathy

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, Jingle Bells, Away in a manger and others were all sung loudly

On the way back home in the car we sang several verses of "If Your Happy And You Know It" and we each made something up for the song to be happy about.

There was a lot of noise and laughter on out day trip and we took Isabella back to her mum tired and happy. She was a pleasure to take out and a joy to be with and Vickie was a good girl too.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Craft show ...

Hi Everybody,

I have had a really good day out at the Leigh Craft Show and if you came across to say hello then it was lovely to meet you.

You all made me feel really special and it was lovely to talk to you and hear your personal stories

Many of you said that you recognised me from YouTube and others knew me from Create and Craft and it was reassuring to know that lots of you also visit my blog and website.

But at the craft show .... strangely enough I didn't buy that much.  Here is what I did get on my day trip out

I had to have some of the  AnnaMarie Designs  card stock as I love the spotty and stripy card  that AnnaMarie produces

Another favorite is  Limetree Craft  card stock as this is excellent quality and such a good deal at 12 packs for £10

I got lots of beautiful colours from both along with Acetate and silver mirror card that can now go to refill my stocks for when I need it.

I also bought some of the new distress Ink colors from Ranger and they are always a main stay for any crafting "Stash" as there are so many ways that they can be used.

One of the new things that I bought are some of the Brusho Water Crystals and I will do some videos on these as we go along.  The backgrounds and effects that these crystals can produce will really make your cards different.

Then on the way home we simply had to stop at our favorite restaurant for Sunday Lunch and then home to settle in and watch the next part of X Factor

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Ten - Bruges

Hi Everybody,

On the 11th August we had our last port to visit and this is Bruges.

Another really pretty city with trees and canals running through it.

Yesterday was a day at sea and after all the excitement of St Petersburg it was nice to just relax

This was a lovely day and a real pleasure to wander the streets and look at the gardens and the water.

Once again the weather was  kind to us and it was very warm.

We walked towards a park where the request was for silence ... but of course the hum of voices could still be heard.

In the park there are tree houses way up above us  and there are lots of them. Children are not allowed to climb the trees.

Below is the explanation of the tree houses ...

 Little cafes dot the streets inviting you in for lunch or coffee and cake and later on in the day they got very busy.

There are also lots of horse drawn caragies and our guide told us they are very well cared for.

They work for eight hours in one day and then have four days off to rest.

This tower is open to the public and all the people waiting at the bottom are going to climb the 300 or so steps to the top.

I wouldn't have the energy to do all that climbing ... plus my knees won't let me any more, but I bet the view from the top is wonderful.

This is a small selection of the lace that Belgium is famous for and it is very beautiful.

There where tablecloths, cushions, clothing in fact all sorts of things that had lace added to them.

And of course no trip to Belgium would be complete without some Belgium chocolate.

We went in to buy some and samples where being offered so it would have been rude to refuse ...and it was delicious.

This lady was coating fresh strawberries in chocolate and we managed to resist these delicacies.

But we did buy some to bring home.

So today we set sail for home, sailing overnight to reach Southampton at 6am.

It has been a wonderful two week holiday and we have enjoyed every city that we have been to, but it seems to have gone by so quickly

I hope you have enjoyed my Travel Tales over the last few days ... but next week it is back to normal and back to card making.

I have managed to keep the Tuesday Tutorial going while I have been away and  there will be a Friday Freebie added again so keep a look out for that.

Thank you for all your lovely comments

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Nine - Warnemunde

Hi Everybody,

Germany is the port of call for this day and this was the view from our balcony as we sailed into the port of Warnemunde

The port is right beside the town and you can see how close it is.

We walked to the Ferris wheel in the picture and from there we went on a boat trip to Rostock.

This is how it is written but it is pronounced Varnemunday ... mind you we heard lots of different ways that people were saying it and some were quite amusing.

Thank goodness we are going to Rostock ... it's much easier to pronounce !!

For four days there had been a sailing regatta going on and this was the last day.

The ships that were in port were beautiful and there where hundreds of them ... some with the sails unfurled as they floated past

There was a fairground at the side of the river and that was very loud and very busy

 This lovely fountain was in the centre of town and has figures around it that are playing in the water.

These brick built boots caught my eye outside a shop and they are huge.

The whole place was lovely to visit but because it was Sunday most of the places are closed, and that kept it reasonably quiet.

This was another hot and sunny day

In fact the only cloudy day we have had was the day we where at sea and there is so much to do on the ship that it didn't matter.

I hope you have enjoyed Rostock with me and at about 5.30pm we sailed again for Belgium

This will be our last port and we visit Bruges which we have been told is very pretty.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Eight - Helsinki

Hi Everybody,

On the eighth day we are off to Helsinki and this beautiful building is in Senate Square. It sits atop wide steps and overlooks the large square

There was an older man singing at the top of his voice as the tourists passed by and it was quite hot today

It was bustling with activity because there are four ships visiting Helsinki today and we all seem to be visiting the same places at the same time.

This photo taken at one of the ports looks like a parking lot for cruise ships and they are all different sizes.

Our guide took us around the city telling us the history of the place and then it was time to hop onto the coach and head off to a woodland village.

This village is now a museum piece and covers a lot of woodland. It was so peaceful to walk through here.

There are several houses that you can go inside and take photographs and we took full advantage of that opportunity.

This is the inside of one and have you noticed the wood burner in the corner.

Not quite the same as those in the palaces but necessary none the less.

The walls look as if they have columns but they are totally flat. The effect is created with paint and is very realistic

We wandered into an old church and saw a beautiful windmill in the forest.

Then we stopped at the cafe in the centre and had a Cinnamon bun and some Finish coffee which was very nice and very welcome.

Heading back into the city we stopped at the monument to the composer Sibelius

 To me this monument looks like a tree ... to others it looks like organ pipes

Every one of the tubes is engraves and it is really very lovely as it glitters silver in the sunlight.

Many many people where there all taking their snap shots and it was a very warm day.

This is also near the Sibelius tree and lots of us wanted a photo of this mask and it is quite large.

 But a woman was sat on the top of it for a long time ... until somebody shouted to her to "Get off" ... which she did promptly

We had some free time in the afternoon and we wandered around Helsinki on our own for a few hours

Then it was time to find the shuttle bus to take us back to the ship and get ready to sail away at 5.30pm

Tomorrow is a sea day and the chance to relax for the day. It has been a hectic few days ashore but we have some wonderful memories of the places we have seen.

The next stop is Germany and we are going on a tour around Rostock ... I hope you will join me

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Seven - St Petersburg

Hi Everybody,

St Petersburg is such a fabulous city and everywhere you look there is gold.

On the buildings .. on the furniture ... on the paintings ... on the statues in fact almost everywhere you look

This photo is of Catherine Palace and it is in a place called Pushkin

To visit here you go through large ornate gates and on the way a Russian band was waiting to greet us.

It is awesome and was built by Peter for his beloved wife Catherine.

It is reputed to have had over 100 kilograms of gold to cover the front and the domes of the palace

A lot of the palaces are painted in bright colors.  Green, Pink, Blue, Orange and it gives a really pretty effect as you look around. This one is a kind of Sky Blue and White

The gardens in front are also beautiful and it would take you hours to walk around all of it.

When Catherine died this beautiful Palace was abandoned and it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times in its history

But let me take you inside to see some of the wealth that was around in Catherines day.

 This white staircase has gold in the panelling on the walls and the doors have perspex panelling over them so that you don't brush against them

Everywhere you look there is grandeur and finery and it must have been a magnificent place to live.

You would need a map to get round it it's so big

Walking into this room you are immediately attracted to the walls as they are covered in gold leaf ... but let me tell you what the large blue objects are.

They are wood burners and they are in many of the rooms ... several placed at intervals around the sides of the rooms as Russia gets very very cold

They are huge and the picture does not indicate their size ... but I bet it took a lot of wood to keep them going

This is one of the dining rooms laid out as it would have been for a banquet.

The table was set with lovely ornaments and of course the gold is on them and on the chairs too.

The floors throughout the palace are gorgeous and a different pattern in each room.



Catherine Palace was well documented as it was built and it became invaluable when the whole building was intentionally destroyed during the war.

An empty shell was all that was left but a large amount of the restoration has been completed.

The Grand Hall has been used to hold concerts to attract funding and Elton John appeared there in 2001 to a private audience

In one of the rooms we were not allowed to take photos and so we had to stand in the doorway and get what we could around the crowds.

This is the copy of the Amber room and the walls are covered in Amber and gold. It is beautiful and very ornate

During the war the original  mysteriously disappeared and has never been found and so this copy has been painstakingly reproduced.

The final part of our visit to Catherine Palace was a visit to the Amber workshops.

Here we could watch the craftsmen at work with the amber as they created pieces to fit this beautiful frame.

Amber is very light and is a fossilised tree resin that can be carved with really small tools.

The process of getting the different shades was explained and as we left we all received a piece of amber as a gift.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip to Russia with me and we have a few more stops along the way yet.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx