Friday Freebie 137

Hi Everybody,

Two more bright and cheerful cards on offer today to two lucky winners.

I don't know which one you will receive but they are both really pretty so I don't think you will be disappointed which ever one it is.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and compliment the colour scheme on each card

They are both in Landscape and the finished size is US A2

I have added a Decorative Hatpin in the floral display and that was made by my own fair hand

So here is your chance to win one of  these cards by simply leaving me a comment at the end of the post.

A name will be drawn from the hat and announced in tomorrows blog post  so be sure to come back and check if it is you. 

 I am happy to send the card anywhere that you live at my expense

Last week I incorrectly said that they were Brusho Crystals but they are not ... they are in fact Distress Inks Backgrounds  and if you click the link the video will show you how it was done.
 I am now in the corner with the dunces hat on !!!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Two Videos Today ...

Hi Everybody,

So here are two more videos for you and this completes the week of videos that I have added
From some of the comments I can see that you have enjoyed them and again my apologies for the quality but they are older videos and we now film in HD for better viewing

These pretty backgrounds are techniques that I have shared with you before on my pages and they are easy to do using alcohol marker refills and some acetate.or some cheap shaving foam
You can create some beautiful looks by simply varying the colours that you use and looking at these two it's not hard to guess my favourite colours !!

Have fun dressing your cards any way you like and it makes a fabulous backdrop for any male cards you may need to make if you alter the colours to darker more sombre shades.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Water Colour Wednesday - 1 image 2 ways

Hi Everybody,

For todays offering I am using not water colours but Alcohol Marker pens.  And I thought I would share with you the video that was done with Spectrum Noir quite some time ago.  

It was added to The Art Studio before they went off line and it uses the older pen sets but it seems such a shame to waste this as I know that many of you have the older style pens and use them regularly

The image is from Just Inklined and is on the CD The Next Big Thing 

I know that many of you have this CD even though this is now difficult to get hold of. 

But there will be other images that you have that may need to be coloured with thiese shades and so I hope you will put this to good use

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial - Partial Die Cutting

Hi Everybody,

Today I thought I would share this video that will show you what is meant by Partial Die Cutting.

It is a fun techniques that you can use in so many ways and it may be something that you have heard of but never tried for your self.

Time to relax and let this video show you how I made my card

The Bo Bunny image is from Crafters Companion and has been coloured with Spectrum Noir

The Diamante flourish is from Wnat2Scrap and I cut it into sections and added it to sit behind the image.  

The die is Grand Large Labels which is sadly now retired from the Spellbinders website.  Try Amazon or Ebay or one of your local sources and you may be lucky enough to find it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Making Stripes ...

Hi Everybody,

Do you sometimes struggle to find papers that will match your images?
 Here is an easy way to create that background that will always blend with your design because you can use the same colours that you used to colour the image in the first place.

Let the video show you how I coloured my card for a really pretty finish.

This is a video that was made a long time ago so my apologies for the quality of it.

Both my "Film Crew" and I have made lots of improvements through the years, as we have learned new things.

Hopefully you will enjoy the videos even more.

Even though this is an old video the idea remains the same and can be useful to help you make the cards that you like to create. 

You may be a seasoned card maker and have done this type of thing regularly please  remember that new people visit my blog every day and to them it is something that they may have never seen and would like to try for them selves.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Cute Christmas Character ...

Hi Everybody,

I have really enjoyed playing with the die that comes free with this months Papercraft Essentials 138

This magazine will be on sale on the 22 Sept so keep a look out for it in the shops and supermarkets

It is described as a Cute Christmas Character die and I made several cards just sticking with that theme.

The little Polar Bear is stood on the ice waving his Greeting to you and I have inked and embossed the background for more effect.








But then I decided to play a little more and once the imagination kicks in there are endless possibilities for the characters that you can make

In the video I show you how I made a really cute monster card that is sure to delight the children in your family... and you can make variations of this too

So it's not just a Christmas die but one that can be used all year round and I am sure that you will have lots of fun playing with it.

You can get the magazine direct from Moremags or you can subscribe to your favorite one from the same link

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

On Thursday I topped 40,000 followers on YouTube who have viewed my videos nearly 7 1/2 MILLION times and I am so happy about that.

 Here on the blog I have reached 1,400 with almost 2 million page views here and you really have no idea how happy this all makes me.

I enjoy writing my pages and making the videos that many of you seem to enjoy and I love it when you let me know that you do.

This is one of the reason why I decided to do the Friday Freebie as this is my way of showing you how much I appreciate ALL of you and each week there are new people joining my blog.

So this week I am adding  a video to my pages every day starting with tomorrow and going through until next weeks FF which will be another double card  "Give Away"

The two winners this week of the cards offered yesterday are ...

Marion & Lori 
so if you ladies could let me have your postal addresses please to
christina@card-making-magic.com
then the cards will be on their way to each of you.

Please let me know that you have them with you and I really hope you will like the one you receive 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie 136

Hi Everybody,

Do you remember these cards done with the colourful backgrounds ??

Well I made six of these all as "Thank You" cards and over the next three weeks I am going to be giving them all away

That's two each week as a Friday Freebie to two lucky winners but I cannot guarantee which one you will get ... and these are the first two..

They all have flowers from  Wild Orchid Crafts  that have been sparkled with  Glitter Magic 

Each one has a Decorative Hatpin pushed into the petals 

They are in different colours but they are all US A2 size

Would you like to win one of these cards ??

Then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post. and a name will be drawn tomorrow and announced in the blog post for the day.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

International Ambassadors Informal Blog Hop

Hi Everybody,

Today is another chance for you to go blog hopping with the International Ambassadors and for our theme this month we have chosen Fall.

 I have created a card that is a million miles away from my style and this card was inspired by Christine Smith from CraftiPotential

I have used the  Fall Foliage  set from Spellbinders to make stamps with craft foam from the dies and this is a set that has been around for quite some time

I have used all the autumn colours of Distress inks to stamp the leaves onto some smooth white stamping card.

I used the border stamp from Clearly Besotted along the left side and I rounded the corner off at the bottom right

This panel has been raised on foam pads to give some dimension to the card.

So why not pop along and see what the other Ambassadors have come up with  and please leave us a comment to let us know that you visited....

Linda Lucas                Australia
Yvonne van de Grijp  Netherlands
Christine Emberson    UK
Christina Griffiths       You are here ..

Have fun 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Water Colour Wednesday - Bear Hugs

Hi Everybody,

Just a quick and short post today as I have more videos coming with "Goodies" from Craft Stash that are sure to please you.

This cute Teddy Bear is the Bear Hugs stamp set from Clearly Besotted.

 It comes complete with several sentiments that will ring the changes for your designs.

There are matching dies to cut both the Teddy and the banner for you and several sentiments  to go inside it

I have used the Diagonal Stripes to create the side panels to my card and I used Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink

The card is a small A2 and I dotted it with some blue sequins as a little extra.

The bear has been water coloured with Gansai Tambi and it didn't take me long to make this simple little card

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial - Elegant Ovals

Hi Everybody,

Today I have used several older dies and worked them all together. 

I have  used  a 5x7 background along with some ovals and vines to create a really pretty card that I hope you will like.

Spellbinders Supplies:

• S6-001 5x7 Matting Basics A
• S4-425 Elegant Ovals
• S6-008 Exquisite Labels Eleven (Retired)
• S4-531 Romantic Vine
• Pl-001 Platinum Die Cutting Machine

Other Supplies:

• Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
• Glitter from Glitter Magic
• Blue/ white/ green card from Papermill Direct
• White/Blue pearls from Want2Scrap

Instructions:

With die #7 from Matting Basics A create a hinged card

With #3 from Exquisite Labels 11 cut one panel in white

(Die #1 is always the smallest)

Using the largest die we are going to create frames from Elegant Ovals

 so with =4 cut once in white for the base layer

With #4 and 3 cut the frame in white and

With dies  #4  and #2 cut another in white and keep the extra centre piece

Add foam pads to the back of these trimming them to fit if needed so that they don't show at the front of the frame

Cut and emboss with pale green card as many vines as you would like to add to your floral display

Place all the layers on top of each other with the wider frame in the middle.

Flat glue into the centre the piece that was extra centre piece

Stamp and emboss a sentiment onto  the smallest die # 1 and add this to the top of the centre oval 

Fill this bottom part  with flowers and vines

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Not A Card !!!

Hi Everybody,

The other day I was cleaning and tidying my craft room and I found several canvases tucked away in a cupboard.

It seemed such a shame to have them sitting there doing nothing.

And so I got out the paints and sprays, embossing pastes and stencils and set to work.

The intention was to video the making of this but I got a bit carried away with myself and before I knew it hours and gone by and the canvas was finished .... Ooooops!

It now hangs on the wall in my craft room and the size of it is 9" x 13 " so quite a good size and I have to say that I am very happy with it

Aaaand I still have several canvases still to use


I used a lot of  Wild Orchid Flowers  flowers  and leaves on this.

The string of pearls, metal embellishments and the organza butterfly in the top left corner are also from WOC.

The chalk paints I have used on the base coat, the natural fibres and the cheesecloth are all are from AnnaMarie Designs

There is also an abundance of glitter sprinkled around from Glitter Magic

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Not A Card !!!

Hi Everybody,

The other day I was cleaning and tidying my craft room and I found several canvases tucked away in a cupboard.

It seemed such a shame to have them sitting there doing nothing.

And so I got out the paints and sprays, embossing pastes and stencils and set to work.

The intention was to video the making of this but I got a bit carried away with myself and before I knew it hours and gone by and the canvas was finished .... Ooooops!

It now hangs on the wall in my craft room and the size of it is 9" x 13 " so quite a good size and I have to say that I am very happy with it

Aaaand I still have several canvases still to use


I used a lot of  Wild Orchid Flowers  flowers  and leaves on this.

The string of pearls, metal embellishments and the organza butterfly in the top left corner are also from WOC.

The chalk paints I have used on the base coat, the natural fibres and the cheesecloth are all are from AnnaMarie Designs

There is also an abundance of glitter sprinkled around from Glitter Magic

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

Beautiful day here and it is Griffs birthday. Tomorrow I am taking him to see Amaluna Cirque de Soleil in Manchester and we are both really looking forward to it. Every time it has been advertised on TV I have said that I would really like to see that show ... and tomorrow is the day.

The winner for yesterdays card has been chosen and the name this week is you 

VAL JONES

Would you email me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com 

and the card will be in the post to you straight away.

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

Day off tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie 135

Hi Everybody,

I have another card with the glue technique on it for todays give away and this idea was featured in a YouTube video quite sometime ago.

But it is an idea that you may like to try and so I make no apologies for adding the link again ... Using Glues

It Is ideal to use for the men in your life and the finished size is about 6x8"

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

Please come back tomorrow to see if your name is listed as the winner and then if it is you will need to email me your postal address.

I am happy to send the card anywhere and you don't need to have your own blog.  Nor does it matter if you have won one of my cards in the past you can still enter again if this is one that you would like to have

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx