Too Hot For Ruby ....

 Hi Everybody,

Ruby and I did our early morning walk today in the sunshine and once again it was quite busy with like minded dog walkers  

When we got home we had a long cold drink and some toast sat out on the patio.

 This at the moment is Ruby's favourite place, at the bottom of the shower, as it's cool and shaded. 

And if ever she is missing I know where she will be.

She spreads herself out and goes off to sleep, and even late in the day the sun doesn't get round to the bathroom, and so it stays cool in that room all the time for her.

There are doggy water fountains on every level in my house for her to drink from and so she is well catered for.

 And once it goes cooler later in the day she will be ready for another short walk around the park for a sniff about..... not sure I will be though.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winner

 Hi Everybody,

Hasn’t this been a beautiful day ? Ruby and I were out walking very early this morning before it gets too hot for her. We had l lovely walk around Fairhaven Lake in Lytham and there we met lots of dog walkers all with the same idea. Then before we had tea we went out again to the local park for another little sniff about. 

In between I have tidied up my gardens back and front. I only have a postage stamp of a garden and no lawns but the plants where getting a bit over grown.

So now I have finally done the draw for yesterday’s offering and I hope the winner will enjoy playing with it. The name this week is 

Anne Forrest

Would you email me please your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will get it in the post to you straight away. Please can you let me know when it arrives with you.

More tomorrow...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Santa Claus

Hi Everybody,

For this weeks offer we are on a Christmas theme and I know that many of you make cards for this occasion all year round.

So this would be a really good set to have in your own collection ready for when you make the start.

Santa Claus is coming to Town is the title of the video and you will see how I put this set to good use.

The set consist of stamps and the sleigh die for Santa to sit in and a little folder that will emboss the effect of snow onto your cards

You can have a lot of fun creating with this one and lots more ideas will come to you once you start to play. The video shows you some of the way in which I have used it and they are really cute  when combined with other dies on a similar theme that you may have.

Now if you would like this set then all you have to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL NAME and be sure to come back and see if you are the winner over the weekend.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

Half Teardrop Vase

 Hi Everybody,

After all the waiting time for the layers of the vase to dry it is now ready to show you and I must admit that I am very pleased with the end result.

I have dressed it with faux flowers and it looks lovely in my room ... though I have not yet decided where it's permanent home will be.

I found tucked away in the back of my garage a really old ceramic plant column that used to be my mums.

 It must be at least thirty years old if not more and it was filthy with dust, dirt and spiders !!

But I am glad to say that once it was cleaned I was happy with it and when it was spray painted with the white gloss it looked amazing.

The distressed finish with the silver leaf was just what I had in mind too so I was happy that it turned out fine .

So I hope you like what I have done to show you a different way to use your die cuts, and there are many more shapes you can use to make a vase to suit your home.

And Ruby likes it too 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

Winner

Hi Everybody,

I hope you are all well and looking forward to this bank holiday weekend. Ruby and I are hoping for some good weather and then we can go out walking along the beach. It is good to be able to get out and about with her again. I am not as I was before but I am grateful for small mercies that at least I am mobile.

Sadly the winner of last weeks offering has not come forward to claim the prize and so that has now been withdrawn and will be offered again later on. 

The draw for this weeks gift from yesterday has now been done and the name this week is 

Vicki L. Phillips

Would you email me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will get it in the post to you straight away. I would be happy if you could let me know that you have it safely and I hope you enjoy playing with it when you do.

More tomorrow...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Life is Sweet

 Hi Everybody,

This pretty set was one I really enjoyed playing with when I demonstrated the design to you. in the video

Life is Sweet 

In the pack there are lots of small stamps that can create a lovely background for you and to be sure that none of them got lost I have put them into a little plastic bag inside the main envelope.

There is also a corner die in the offer as well as the magazine for you to read.

The video will show you lots of ways in which I have used the stamp and die set for many different occasions too.

So if you would like this set to join your collection then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL NAME and be sure to come back and see if you have won over the weekend

It really is a lovely set and one well worth winning

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Commissioned Art Work

Hi Everybody,

I haven't shown any of my paintings with Acrylic Pouring  for a while, but this is the latest one I have done.

This one is a very big canvas, about 3 foot  square.

I was asked by my neighbour to create a picture in red, black, white with silver leaf  to match the décor in their lounge and that is white I have done.

The pieces in it that look like a brighter white are actually silver leaf and it looks wonderful in the sunshine.

The place where it will be hung is all ready and waiting for it and once I have finished the edges neatly I will take it to my neighbour.

They liked the one that I did shown here on the left.

That one was for my daughter last year and  she wanted Lilac, white and Green with gold leaf and that is what I did for her. 

It has taken me some time to do the new painting though, because of the problems I have had with knees and then my operation.

But I have promised that it will be ready for them by the weekend.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Half Teardrop Card

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is using the Half Teardrop Die Set to show you another way to use this set, and this is a Gatefold card

On the way is the Vase that I am creating from the same set  and at present I am waiting for the Plaster Of Paris to set.

But this card is so easy to make and I have layered several of the die cuts to add interest to the design

I have decorated the inside of the card with the Trellis to compliment the front and added a stamped greeting in there too.

The flowers are from the same set and I again have layered them up and scattered the ;eaves underneath each one.

It is created with two shades of pink and a pale lemon that go really well with the white

The Belly Band holds everything closed and is created from the long border die in the set.

The flowers can be spiked up after they have been layered and you could always add more decoration to the card with adhesive pearls if you wished.

I have added one flower to the Belly Band and the other three to the bottom of the card.

That way the Belly Band can be slid off to the top of the card so reveal the inside.

 

Change the colour scheme to suit your recipient and dress it even more for a wedding card

And you could always add in a card stand and a box to make it even more special.

When you discover the delights of die cutting the world is your oyster so they say 

More tomorrow …

Hugs xx

Winner

 Hi Everybody,

Sorry for my lateness with the winner but it’s just been a busy weekend.
 At long last I am here with the name of the winner for the beautiful Dragonfly Stamp and die set that was on offer last Friday.

The winner this week is ...

Thelma Welch

so if you could email me your postal address please to 
christina@card-making-magic.com
I will get it into the post for you as soon as I can and I hope you will enjoy playing with your win once you get it.

Please let me know when it arrives with you.

Now you may have noticed that I have removed the button form the left side bar that says
 "Follow by Email"
and that is because this service has been removed by Google as from this year. 
You can still follow me on Facebook but the notifications of new pages that are added will cease to drop into your inbox from Google.
The only other alternative is just to come to the blog daily and see what is happening.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

Friday Freebie - Dragonfly Dreams

Hi Everybody,

Todays offering is a beautiful Dragonfly stamp and matching die. and that comes with the excellent Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine for you to read.

There is also a video to accompany this

 Dragonfly Dreams

that will show you several ways in which I have used this little decorative set.

Now if you would like this to join your own collections then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post.

From those comments one will be chosen as the winner and the name announced in a blog post over the weekend so be sure to come and see if it is your name that is shown.

You will have 72 hours in which to claim the set, and then it is removed and offered again at a later date.

You can enter wherever you live and even if you have won before. So what are you waiting for ???

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Trial and error

Hi Everybody,

Here is another card where I have tried out the layout before sticking everything in place. This card can be used in either Portrait or Landscape depending on your mood .

It was ordered by the same lady who bought the other one  I shoed you earlier this week  … so I must be doing something right as she seems to like my designs..

The colour scheme is pale lemon and lilac and this is one that I really think is very feminine.

Now in the background this week I have been making up the vase that I promised you using the Half Teardrop die set that has just been released.

The process needs to dry and it is all the time needed that slows things up. But the video will be with you  just as soon as one step is dry and I can move onto the next..

Apart from the die set you will need some Plaster Of Paris Bandage Wrap , some really cheap glue to mix with water and some form of tissue,  magazines OR newspaper to cut up into strips.

All will become clear once the video is posted so please be patient as I wait for things to dry at each stage. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Old Images

Hi Everybody,

So over the weekend I have been doing some spring cleaning of my computer  and I found lots of old images that I bought or downloaded for free years ago … and I mean absolute years ago. 

I used them at the time of purchase and then, as you do with everything, I forgot all about them.

But is this not something that we are all guilty of doing and then when you have a clean up it comes as a nice  surprise to find things again.

This first one is called Bath tub and I bought this image, and many many others, from the wonderful childrens author and illustrator Maurie Manning 

Her images are delightful and available from the website ...  Mo's Digital Pencil  and of course once you have them they are yours forever. And should you forget about them over the years,  then it will be a lovely surprise for you to when you rediscover them on your PC.

This second image is called Tug Of War and this was a freebie from Kenny K again many years ago.  

His website has developed so much that I don't know if he still does digital images, and many of them are now under license. 

So just in case I am breaking some rule that I am not aware of I will not add any more KennK images to my pages.

The words on both of these cards are from different sets from Card Making Magic and I have mixed and matched them to suit the designs.

Both images have been coloured with Arteza Coloured Pencils 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Layout

Hi Everybody,

So this is a card layout that I was trying before going ahead and making it completely.

I had tried the flowers in various positions to see how I liked them and this is something I always advise you to do before gluing.

A dry run will save you any remorse if you don't like the look because you can always move things around  until you are happy and then glue them in place 

This was a card I was asked to make for a special occasion and the buyer was very happy with it.

It also had a matching box to go with it and I wrapped the finished card in pink tissue paper before adding  it to the box.

I usually add any of my embellishments with a hot glue gun, which makes it even more important to try the look out first.

Because once they are fixed with hot glue there's not much chance of moving them again without causing damage to the rest of the card

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Spikey Flowers & Stencils

 Hi Everybody,

Todays card is created suing the new Spikey Flowers stamp and die set and I have teamed this with texture paste and a stencilled background.

I though I would try something a little different by combining the texture paste with some Gilding wax and I am happy to say that the technique turned out ok. 

The flowers can be done in two sizes if you wished but I have simply made one large one for the front of my card.

The effect is lovely and once it is completed you cannot see the mistake I caused by smudging the texture paste. So I hope you will give this a try and experiment with mixing other things into your texture paste for a different kind of look to your designs.

More tomorrow …

Hugs xx

Winner

 Hi Everybody,                   

Having got all my chores done for the morning I was settling down to do the draw for yesterdays Freebie Offering

But just as I got started I got the "Guilt Trip" from Ruby.

Now the guilt trip consists of her looking at me from a distance, non stop, and if that doesn't elicit the necessary response she wants then she will jump onto the sofa and put her paws onto my chest and look me straight in the eye.

The look says "Get your shoes on Mum and take me out" …  So what can I do but take her out for a walk. We set off to walk down the promenade and it started to rain and then there is another look that says

"Are you mad bringing me out in this ?????

By the time we got home again both of us are wet and once she is dried off with her towel I put her Ruff & Tumble jacket on and then she settles down for a sleep. 

She is now snoring in her bed at the side of my desk and I have peace to carry on with the draw

Ever onward and upward … the draw has been done and the name today is 

Elly Booij

Would you email me please with your postal address and the pack will be in the post to you straight away. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx