Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

July 18, 2015

Another Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

I hope you are all having a good weekend and have lots of nice things planned to do.  I will be heading off back down the motorway on Sunday as I am with you on Create and Craft at 9am Monday  20th July

There are two shows that day but the other one is later in the day.  I will be featuring the Spellbinders Victorian Garden Collection and some very pretty dies. So please join me if you can as it is always nice to know that you are there.

The winner of the red card has been selected and the name drawn from the hat is you ...

Ursula 
You have 48 hours in which to claim the card so please email me 
christina@card-making-magic.com
with your full postal address and the card will be on its way to you straight away.

Enjoy your weekend and if you have the time please take a look at the new video I have added in Inspirations. Just click the photo to go to the page.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 17, 2015

Friday Freebie - 069

Hi Everybody,

Red and Cream are the color scheme of this weeks give away card and it certainly makes a change from ... Pink 

This one has lovely red Roses attached from Wild orchid Crafts  

I have used three different sizes and some flower buds and all have been sparkled with glitter.

 The centre to the bow is also from WOC and the organza ribbon is from my "Stash"

The background is embossed  using two deep 3-D folders from Spellbinders called Shady Allure and  Need A Rope the impression  they leave in your card is lovely.

The centre price is layered using Labels Forty Three  and Oval Majesty    and the layers separated with foam tape

Would you like to win this card ??  Then all you have to do is join the group of followers and leave me a comment

From the comments one name will be chosen at random and the winners name will be announced in tomorrows blog post.

If you add your name then you will need to come back and check because you only have 48 hours in which to claim it.  

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 16, 2015

Majestic Labels Eight

Hi Everybody,

Today I am adding another tutorial for you but this one was requested by a lady who has these dies and is not getting the best out of them.

Here I am using the very detailed  Majestic Labels Eight 

I have tried to show you the difference in these dies as some have a complete cutting edge and some of them don't.

In the tutorial I have made three cards that all look different but using the same set of dies for all




With Majestic Labels Eight  I am  also using  the plain Labels Eight  and that way I can create even more patterns for my designs.   I have always advised  to buy the matching sets that go with any plain label.

Also in the video I tell you that you can use the dies to simply emboss the card without cutting but it doesn't show up very well.

So this photo will give you a better idea of the effect.

There is another set that matches this Label and that is Decorative Labels Eight 

This will really extend your use of all of them.

 Using any of the detailed dies with the plain ones will enable you to make frames of different sizes and for a fun way to use these Labels Eight dies please take a look at the video tutorial ... Elf Shoes .

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


July 15, 2015

International Ambassadors Informal Blog Hop

Hi Everybody,

Its time to go Blog hopping again with the International Ambassadors and we really hope you will join in.  We are a group of designers from around the world who get together to share our creation with you once a month.

The theme this time was to make ... "Anything But A Card" ... and for my project I decorated a shop bought paper gift bag and little box

The dies that I have used are the   Labels One Card Front  and this is quite a large die ... but with some careful trimming it fit the front of my gift bag perfectly

I edged the bag with lace and added in a lovely satin ribbon.

I used some S
potty paper to edge the box and to create the flowers from Urban Blooms and then mixed and matched the sizes.

I added some pearly centres to each of the flowers

The label on the front of the card is Luscious Labels One  and the sentiment is stamped onto Labels One  and these are all designed to fit the card front die


Now you can go off round the world to visit the other Ambassadors and see what delights they have conjured up for you.

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

We all would love it if you left us a comment to let us know that you have visited and if you enjoy our work then why not become a follower so that you will keep up to date with each of us.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 14, 2015

Tuesday Tutorial - Fun Sun Card ...

Hi Everybody,

For todays tutorial I thought it would be good to have a little fun and create this card. So for this it is time to get out those border dies that I have featured in other tutorials.
I used them before in a much more elegant way and you will find a couple of really pretty ideas  ...  Scalloped Borders One
This card is very easy to do and the sentiment can be anything that reflects the occasion you are making the card for.


Spellbinders Supplies:


Fold an A4 piece of white card in half and then cut that in half to give you an A2 top folded card.
From the Spotty card create a slightly smaller layer. And from more white card create another layer that is slightly smaller than the spotty one

Take the white layer and stamp the sentiment of your choice towards the bottom of the card.
Emboss the card and then take one of the cutting edges of the Scalloped Borders and place it at an angle on the card with the curve facing to the top.

Tape the die in place on your card and run it through your die cutting machine ... there is no need to emboss the card again.   Re position the die and repeat the process twice more so that you have divided the card into four panels.  
You may need to trim these down a little to fit onto your colored layer but only along the straight edges.  Add foam tape to the back of these panels

Add a piece of double sided sheet to both sides of some Craft foam and cut out the word YOU 
From either colored card or some black cut the word again making sure that you have your card the correct way round to cut YOU 
Add the colored/black layer to the craft foam ready to add to your card

 Cut the Sun in yellow card from the Day Dreams set and once all the elements are prepared we can assemble the card.
Add the spotty card to the base ... layer on the scalloped pieces with the curves facing up to represent clouds and the foam tape gives some dimension to the clouds. 
 Tuck the sun in behind the third layer with your sentiment added and place the word YOU to blend in with the sentiment.

And there is really fun card to send to anyone for any occasion.



July 13, 2015

Trampoline Day ...

Hi Everybody,

We had a lot of fun on Saturday when the trampoline went up.

This is Griff and Jay (Isabellas Daddy) putting it all together

Of course Vickie and I supervised from a safe distance with coffee and cake on hand ...

Once it was up Vickie tested it out just to make sure it was safe with a whole lot giggling in the process.

And then Isabella arrived,  to stay at Nana Vickies house for the night,  She was in there straight away.

She loved it and showed us all the things a three year old can do in an eight foot trampoline.

This garden is beginning to look like a real playground as there is so much for her to do.
This is Isabella in the house that was another story I shared with you all a few weeks ago and the flowers in the little baskets have really blossomed.

Luckily the rain that was threatened held off and we had the chance to play for a few hours in the garden.

Then it was time for one of her favorite things and that is Play Doh

Isabella very kindly made us all something with the warning ...  "Don't ruin it ..."  I had a car, Vickie had a bus and Griff had a tractor.

Then when she wanted to do something else we had permission to roll it in to a ball and "ruin it"

For a three year old she has some quaint sayings that really make us laugh.



More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx







July 12, 2015

Blue Birthday Card

Hi Everybody,

Todays cards is another of my designs that is featured on the Craft Stash website.

This is using the Ornate Hearts from their Apple Blossom collection of dies and it can be used in several ways

For this card I have chosen to use the dies as a frame and added it to an embossed background ... that sadly has just been retired from Spellbinders website

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and are a lovely mixture of blue and white flowers.

The ribbon is slotted through the lace and added to the bottom of the layers.

The words are Spellbinders Sentiments Three  and I have cut it from Craft foam and a dark blue card and layered them together

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx




July 11, 2015

The Winner Is ...

Hi Everybody,

What a beautiful day this is and this afternoon Griff and I are going to help my daughter Vickie put up a trampoline in her back garden for the delightful Isabella. 

I will take some photos to share with you as she is coming to play at her Nana Vickies house later.

But for now the draw has been done and a name chosen to win the lovely sparkly gold card from yesterday.  It is much nicer in real life and up close you will be able to see the smudged effect a lot better.

It is part of the stamp and not my mistake and it looks really good. The card is coming to live with you ...

Ruth M ...
and so can you please email me with your full postal address to
christina@card-making-magic.com
You have 48 hours in which to claim the card and I hope you will like it when it arrives with you.

I am back at Create and Craft on Monday 13th July with the Spellbinders One Day Wonder so I am hoping you can join me at 4pm and 7pm 

More tomorrow  ...

Hugs xx

July 10, 2015

Friday Freebie - 068

HI Everybody,

This card is truly sparkly and the photo does not do it the justice it deserves.

The stamp is from the Sheena Douglass  "Little Bit Sketchy"  range and this is her  Through The rain  stamp set

When I first showed this card somebody wrote to me and said  "What a pity you smudged it ...."

Nope !!  I didn't it is supposed to be like rain dripping off the words and I embossed them in gold.

The background is also stamped and then added with sparkly glitter ...  but you will see what it is like if you add your name and leave me a comment to win it

You wont be disappointed with it.

A name will be chosen from those comments and the winner announced tomorrow.

You will have 48 hours in which to claim the card and then I will need your full name and address complete with country and post/zip code.

More tomorrow...

Hugs xx

July 09, 2015

Text Stamped Background ...

Hi Everybody,

This is another of those fun backgrounds and as promised I have done a video  on the making of this card.

I have used the stamp set from Spellbinders Celebration Collection called   Your Day    and it has several stamps on the sheet

Part of the stamp set was used to create the background and this is something that you can do with any text stamps that you have in your own "Stash"

You see the thing to do is simply .... Play !!  get out your stuff and see what you come up with and if you don't like it then start again.

But you may surprise yourself and end up with some thing that you really like and may want to repeat gain on another project.



The other card on the tutorial was made the same way for the background but the Wizard image is one of those from the CD The Next Big Thing from Just Inklined and I am sorry to say that the CD is no longer around.

You may be lucky to find one for sale privately but you will have to search long and hard to find it.  I colored mine with Spectrum Noir pens

I fussy cut him out and added him with a double layer of foam tape along the centre part of the image and he stands proud of the card for effect.

I added in extra peals to both cards for a little extra embellishment and the elephant has the Googly Eye added too.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 08, 2015

British Grand Prix ...

Hi Everybody,

Thank you so much for all your good wishes for a really pleasant day out for us

We went to see the Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday and it was fabulous.

There was a little rain towards the end but it did nothing to dampen the atmosphere

The race was exciting from start to finish and Lewis Hamilton won and the crowd went wild

Griff chose the seats well and we were right opposite the new Pit lane.

This was the view we had of all the action as they lined up the cars on the grid and a perfect view of the lights calling them to action and then they were off.

We went a few years ago and it was really noisy but this time with the modifications that have been made to the cars it wasn't too bad.

Over the course of the weekend it was said that 250,000 people had visited Silverstone and the audience for the actual race was 175,000

Some crowd ... of very enthusiastic supporters all cheering for their individual drivers.

These are jut a very small portion of the people in part of the stand that we were in
During the day we had a parachute display team, a very noisy air display, a brass band and Alesha Dixon sang the National Anthem

There was food stalls everywhere and lots of places to buy F1 souvenirs.

Other races went ahead during the day,  it wasn't just F1,  and we watched some of them too.

Some famous faces included Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, Damon Hill, some of the Spice Girls and the usual faces that introduce the F1 on TV each time there is a race

 It was interesting to walk around and see other things and there was even fairground rides for the children.

This is the vehicle that holds the land speed record and it is very impressive and Griff was particularly interested in this

There was even a big red double decker bus that had been turned into a bar and that got really busy later on in the day.

So yes we had a really good weekend and it was good to get back home again yesterday.

I am glad that my blog posts have gone out as scheduled ... especially my Tuesday Tutorial

And today we have completed two videos that will be with you shortly.

Next weeks Tuesday Tutorial is a fun card that I hope you will enjoy.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


July 07, 2015

Tuesday Tutorial - Labels 41 Decorative Accents

Hi Everybody,

I have a pretty Gatefold Card in black and white for you today and as always all the steps  are shown so that you can  get this look for yourself.

When working with any of the Spellbinders die sets please remember that number one (#1)  is always the smallest 

Spellbinders Supplies:


Other Supplies :

Take an A4 piece of card and trim along the long side to 15cms and then from each of the short sides measure in by 7.5 cms You should then have a gate-fold card that meets equally in the middle 

With die # 8 from Matting Basic B cut one black panel, this is to line the inside of the card.

With die # 5 from Matting Basics A cut another black panel and with #5 Matting basics B cut a patterned panel ...  glue these two together for the front of the card and you will have a thin border around the edges 

With #7 Matting Basics A I decided to cut another patterned panel to layer on top of the black liner. These can be glued to the inside of the card

For the Gate fold panels at the front of the card measure two black panels and two patterned panels so that they fit one on top of the other with a small border around the edges. Glue them in place

Once you have the inside and the side panels glued in place you can add the topper to the front. Add glue to one half of the panel only and add the panel carefully to one of the gate folds.  Adding glue across all of it will glue your gate folds shut .... Ah! Ah! not right !!

With #4 Labels 41 Decorative Accents cut the shape in black. We are going to use the frame but keep the centre part for another project

Stamp and emboss a sentiment and cut it out with die #3 Labels 41
For the panel you need to layer it onto you can use die #3 from Decorative Accents but I chose to use #3 from Decorative Elements because it is slightly larger

Add glue to the frame work panel and place it on the panel at the front and then layer up the sentiment and add that to the centre with foam tape to raise it up. 
Result --- one pretty card for any occasion 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 06, 2015

Distress Inks .....

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is created by playing around with Distress Inks to create this Bokeh Effect background for my card.

This is a technique that has been around for ever and it is very easy to do.

Translated Bokeh simply means Blurred and it is a photographic term.

Have you ever looked at a film,  a photo or a magazine page when they have all the lights in the background blurred and running in to each other?   Well that is Bokeh

The sentiment is stamped onto a  Classic Circle and then mounted onto  Spellbinders  Symbology Frame

I have simply turned the orientation of the frame around for a different look

Around the sentiment I have added in some faux stitching and tucked some silver twine behind it

Then I dotted sequins around the card and mounted the panel onto black card before adding to my base.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 05, 2015

Two techniques - One card

Hi Everybody,

On todays card I have combined two very different techniques to give a really pretty look.

The background is called Caught In Crystal and the video for this will be with you soon.

The Roses are water colored with Aqua Tints from Spectrum Noir 

The stamp is the Vintage Flowers  from Make The Day Special  website and they have some beautiful stamps to choose from

The panel is layered onto black card and added with foam behind it to raise it up.

I am playing a lot with these Aqua Tints and really liking the effect and I will get better as I learn more about water coloring ... I promise !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 04, 2015

This weeks Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

A rainy start here in the North West but hope fully it will brighten up later.  This is a short post today and both tomorrow and Mondays post are scheduled because once this post is done I am off to pack to go to Silverstone.

Tomorrow is the Formula One British Grand Prix  and there are two little seats with our names on them.  Griff is an avid F1 fan and I am going along just to keep him company you understand.  

We made a deal a long time ago that he supports me with cards and Harry Potter Films  and I support him with F1 and I have to go any Mission Impossible or James Bond films too
. Not a bad deal eh??

So on to todays winner and the name drawn this week is ...

Ramona Burns ...

Please email me 
christina@card-making-magic.com
with your postal address and the card will be on it's way to you
You have 48 hours to claim the card and then it is gone to someone else.

Have a good weekend wherever you are 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx