Arched Elegance

Hi Everybody,

This is one of the samples that I made  with Spellbinders for the Create and Craft shows

In the demos I showed you a few ways to use Arched  Elegance

It makes a very pretty card just as it is but there are lots of other ways to get your monies worth from this, and the others in the same collection

They are designed by Becca Feeken and she makes the most beautiful cards over at  Amazing Paper Grace

I have dressed my card with flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts  and around the flowers I have dotted pink pearls of various sizes from Want2Scrap

The buckle for the ribbon is from WOC too and the satin ribbon is from Mei Flower  and the sentiment is Sentiments Seven 

Altogether a really pretty card for any occasion

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Gold and Black

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is a million miles away from pink but I wanted to try something with lots of drama in it for a change.

The whole card has been hand cut and not a die in sight and the Gold patterned card is from a  6x6" stack by My Minds Eye called Fancy That.

It is very dramatic and the gold is lovely and shines in the light. I had to position the card carefully so as not to get the glare

So to create this I took a piece of black A4 card and simply folded it in half and then trimmed it down to a square.

I layered up the gold piece sot hat it was slightly smaller then the base and added it with wet glue

The banners are cut to create a gold edge to each one with the striped card that is in the pack and each one is layered with more of the black card

Each banner is raised with foam tape for dimension.  The sentiment was stamped onto parchment and then heat embossed with gold powder. This is also hand cut to fit the card.

The large black pearls from   Want2Scrap    that I have placed in each corner are hiding the glue dots underneath the parchment which, no matter how hard you try, will show through.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Todays Winner

Hi Everybody,

It's a cold and windy day here in the North West and a really good day to stay warm and craft.  I am busy making samples for the Create and Craft shows next week.

The lovely Kim Hupke is coming over from the US and she will be launching a brand new machine and dies from Spellbinders on Thursday.

Then from Saturday onwards it will be yours truly showing you some pretty cards and demos with the new dies. I hope you will join me and send in your emails.

So lets get onto the winner of the pretty blue card and the name drawn this morning is you ...

Marianne Hammer ...

Please send me your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will get the card in the post to you straight away.

Let me know when you get it and I hope you will like it.

Next Friday I will be travelling down to Peterborough to prepare for the shows but I have scheduled already the Friday Freebie and I am going to give away TEN cards to TEN winners and they are all pink !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie 058

Hi Everybody,

This is quite a large card at 7" square with lots of lovely layers to it  

The front has been embossed and then rubbed with gilding wax to give a pearly effect

I have also added in a beautiful Hat pin that can be removed if you wish

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and they have added sparkle to them

It has pearls in each corner  and along the bottom of the sentiment.  The inside is also finished as I like to line my cards.

All you need to do is join the group of followers and then leave me a comment.  From the comm nets a name will be chosen and the winner announced in the mornings blog post.

It really is that easy .. so if you want the card then you know now what to do.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

My Ladies Cards ...

Hi Everybody,

The ladies in my card class are always willing to try something different

On this particular week I asked them if they had papers in their own collections at home that they did not like and wouldn't use.

Both said yes they had and so I asked them to choose in class a background paper that they would not normally have chosen.

Then the object was to disguise this gaudy paper and make it into one that they would be quite happy with using parchment.  These are the cards that they came up with and we embossed the parchment before adding it with brads to the card base.

Once it was decorated with flowers, ribbons and pearls  both ladies agreed that they liked the look and would be happy to now go home and make use of the paper that they had rather than leave it sat there or throwing it away.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Back to Cards ...

Hi Everybody,

After all the excitement about Isabellas' House I thought I would return to a card.

This is in a lovely shade of burnt orange and I have used the Heirloom Ovals  from Spellbinders

This is a large die and makes beautiful cards either as part of another like this ... or as a free standing card with a lovely shape by using the outer cutting edge

I have used the verse from JustRite Stampers  and stamped it in black then clear embossed

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and are a lovely collection of Tulips, Roses, Cherry Blossom and Lilies

The pearls are from Want2Scrap  and I have added them to some lace.

Maybe not a color to every bodies taste but it does look quite pretty in the hand

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial - Tapestry

Hi Everybody,

Todays tutorial is making this pretty card with the Tapestry background panel from Spellbinders.  Many of you may have this die already in your collection and it makes a very pretty panel for your cards

Supplies:

• S5-198 Tapestry
• S4-351 Spiral Blossom One
• S4-347 Labels Twenty Three
• 5x7 Matting Basics A
• 5x7 Matting Basics B
• GC-200 Grand Calibur

Instructions:

From #7 Matting basics A cut two panels in white to create the base

From #7 Matting Basics B cut a colored layer

From #6 Matting Basics A cut another layer in white and emboss this panel

Layer these panels together to the base card

From Tapestry cut one panel in white card and trim to fit another colored layer  from #6 Matting Basics B for the front of the card

(The smallest die in any Spellbinders pack is #1)

Spray the white detailed panel with adhesive and sprinkle with fine glitter 

Then add it onto the colored layer with foam tape in the larger areas to cover it

Add more foam tape to the back of these two pieces and wrap the panel with ribbon 

Cut the Spiral Blossom One from felt and coil it to create the flower.

Add ribbon and feathers to the base of the flower before adding it to the card front

Add in the sentiment of your choice to suit the recipient and add both to the card in the position you want them.

A very easy card to make for those moments when you need something quick and pretty

More tomorrow ...

Hugs

Isabellas' House - Pt 4

Hi Everybody,

Here as promised is just a little snippet of the video we took of Isabella the day she saw her playhouse  on Saturday and you can hear the rain in the background.

On Sunday we went out for Sunday lunch and took her and Vickie with us and she was as good as gold.

The rain had stopped by the time we got home and so a pleasant afternoon was spent in the garden playing until it was time for Isabella to go home

It is only a short section but it shows you how she reacted and as I said she was speechless for a long time.

We have had a fabulous weekend and the weather did nothing to dampen it

Back to cards again this week but thank you so much for all the lovely comments on this project it has been a real labour of love from all of us

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Isabellas' House - Pt 3

Hi Everybody,


Yesterday was really special when Isabella came to her Nana Vickies house to stay and saw her Playhouse for the first time.

She was completely overwhelmed and although the smile was wide she was speechless for a long time as she simply looked from the house to all of us

Vickie was telling her that we had all made this and that Pops (Griff) had built it

She whispered to her Nana "Is it for me ..."

This was the moment  she touched the bunting  and straightened out the piece that the wind had blown crooked

She was totally enthralled by it all and wandered around it touching and looking at everything that was in there

She climbed the steps to sit inside on her bright pink chair

And as she looked at the bunting she said ... "Look Nana it's a party house"

It is the perfect size for a three year old and I know that she will play in there such a lot

It was raining and even though we all  got soaked  she did not want to come inside

In the house there are other garden toys and here Vickie and Isabella are playing Golf

Every child  would love a Nana like my daughter, she is so much fun to be around and Isabella loves going to her Nana Vickies

In the end we had no choice and had to go indoors and get dry

There where more surprises for her in her bedroom which is of course pink and girly

And for the next few hours we played in there with her.

Nana Vickie tidied her hair once it was dry and this is one very happy little girl

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Isabellas' House - Pt 2

Hi Everybody,

Today Isabella is going to see her house for the first time and I am hoping to film her reaction. Many of you have said that you would like to see it too and so I will be adding it to a blog post to share with you.  I can't wait to see her and although it is raining now it won't stop the fun.

When I finished the story last we had painted and built the house where it needed to be in the garden and Vickie and I had dressed it ... just a little !!

This is what it looked like but the ground underneath had not been finished.

The black matting was just to stop the weeds from growing through and needed to be covered.

Vickie had ordered some black rubber chippings

which are especially for children to play in as it is soft safe and clean.

So we got busy and spread them over the garden and Griff was the one doing the shovelling of the chips into  the wheel barrow

The wooden edging will keep them in place and really finish off the whole area.

This is one really special playground for a three year old to call her own.

And there is room under the house for her car to live too.

We have added in a large wind spinner to the right of the steps and frog wind chime hanging from the top of the house.

There are little woodland creatures in the window boxes along with more windmills.

The bunting is in place on the outside and it looks absolutely wonderful ... I could play in there myself !!

The bunting is inside the house too as Isabella thinks that bunting means "Party"  

The box under the table is full of garden toys for us all to play with her and Vickie has bought a watering can, garden gloves and some little tools

There is also have a green carpet to be placed back inside once the rain stops

I think this whole project has been amazing and in the space of a week we have totally transformed this little house

So let the fun begin and Isabella is going to be one very happy little girl and Nana Vickie (my daughter) and Great Gran (me) will be happy big girls too

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx