Winner

 Hi Everybody,

Are you all ready for Christmas ? It's not long now, just four weeks and already the trees are up in some homes. It is not my favourite time of year and I try to avoid it as much as possible. Once children have grown up the excitement seems to disappear as they are the ones that make it fun.

But life goes on and the draw has been done for this weeks Japanese Dreams set. It is a lovely set from Paper Discovery and it comes with stamps, an embossing folder as well as the magazine for you to browse in your own time and is full if good ideas. 

The name this week is 

Tina Zapusek 

so if you would email me please with your postal address to 
christina@card-making-magic.com
then I will get the pack in the post to you straight away.

I hope you enjoy playing with it and please be sure to let me know that you have it safely.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Japanese Dreams

HI Everybody,

This week sees a really pretty stamps set on offer that has a lovely embossing folder with it.

It is from Paper Discovery and it comes with the magazine Creative Stamping. 

As always there are lots of ideas and inspiration in the pages that you may like to try for your self and it is a really good magazine to browse through.

So if this is something that you think you would like to have then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post with your FULL NAME.

 You need to add your full name .... not initials or nick names ... so that you can be properly identified as the winner and then I will send the pack to you just as soon as I can.  No FULL NAME then no entry to the draw.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Black Friday Deals

Hi Everybody,

I hope you have been enjoying the week long Black Friday Event with Craft Stash

There has been some amazing deals and now is the perfect time for you to stock up on any essentials that you may need.

Today the Perfectly Matched Die sets are being offered at 50% off so choose your favourite design and get it while you can

The Black Friday Event runs until Sunday so you still have time to browse the store.

Craft Stash have a short video that will show you this card and I added some Sunflowers ( shown below) made from another die set in the collection a few days ago.

You can use the panels as they are once cut or you can do as I have and trim them down even more to make the two cards in the video.

The designs are really pretty and can be used in several ways and once you start to play you will find many more.

Happy shopping and crafting.

More tomorrow

Hugs xx

 

Perfect Roses

 Hi Everybody,

Todays card is another of the cards with the split front and I did a video on making this style of Panel Card  a little while ago.

It uses the Layered Rose from the original Christina Collection but is no longer on the Craft Stash website.

The one that I have substituted in the links below is a very close match and will make lovely flowers for your designs.

The flowers have had Glossy Accents added to them to give the shine and they have been coloured with inks and a blending brush.

It is a very easy card to create, but yet looks so impressive and although I have used a circle die for the front you can make this with out any dies at all.

Here you can see the panels a little better but the video will show you how I made this lovely card.

The sentiment strips I have added are some that I bought half price at the Craft Show last Sunday and they will come in very handy when I don't want to stamp something. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Write A Review ...

 Hi Everybody,

When you purchase a product from Craft Stash they are  interested in how you find that product fits and works in your own personal crafting day.

They are now giving you the incentive to write a review saying why you bought the product , what you like or don't like about it and how it fits into your daily work.

 In fact anything you want to say about what you have bought, especially brands like Card Making Magic, Made to Surprise, Simply Made Crafts or Creative Cardmaking Products.

Then each month one published review will be chosen, and will be entered into a Prize Draw, to be the winner of a £50 voucher that you can spend in the Craft Stash Store.

You can browse their website to your hearts content and choose any items to that value you would like. 
That has to be something worth writing a review about your purchase.
It also lets other people know what is good to add to their own crafting stash. 

And at this time of Black Friday Deals then it would especially worth doing if you are taking advantage of the  items on offer

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Craft Show Purchases

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday at the Craft Show was a really good day out, despite the fact that it poured down most of the time.

I went with Pauline Hickey and we had so much to talk about. We saw lots of things that we liked and we bought some beautiful card from AnnaMarie Designs.

They were in packs of ten, so Pauline and I bought five packs each of different colours and then we split them, having five sheets each from the ten packs.

That gave both of us a good selection to play with in the next few weeks. I also got the new Distress Oxide Ink and a refill for the pad to. Plus some re-inkers for black ink pads that I have. 

The little glue bottles I need coz no matter how hard I try I always get them clogged and so I need a regular supply of new ones with the pins. I also lose the pins regularly too!!

The ribbons where only 50p a roll so I bought six of them and a very large bottle of Collall Glue ... for the little glue bottles. I also bought some really thick Acetate.

 I am very happy with my buys and I can remember years when I used to save up for months and spend loads at the shows that Griff and I went too. This is the first show I have been to since he died.

Pauline and I enjoyed it and we went for a meal at the near set pub afterwards and another natter.

Good day all round ...

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

Black Friday ....

Hi Everybody,

I am off to the first Craft Show in Leigh today that I have been to in four years, but I just wanted to pop in and tell you about the fun and frolics at Craft Stash this next week.

Starting tomorrow sees some fantastic deals on Craft Stash as they are running a Black Friday offer that will last the whole week. There will be some really good offers across hundreds of their own brand products that are featured on their website, and especially from the Co Brands.

So if you are looking for a super bargain then make sure you are signed up for their emails and if you aren't then get over there and do so now or you will miss out on the week long sale.

Here is the link to get on the email list and it will open a new window for you 
Craft Stash Newsletter 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

 

Winner

Hi Everybody,

It's a beautiful day here and Ruby and I are going to go for a walk after this post is done.

At present she is barking at the postman and anybody else who dares to walk past her house.!!

Ella (cat) as always is zooming round like an idiot going up and down her cat tree.
I am the only one who is chilled in this house.

But the draw has been done and the name this week is

Valerie Steele

so if you could email me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

I will get the pack in the post to you straight away.

Please let me know that you have it safely and I do know that if you are overseas then it will take a while to get to you. But at least I will know that you have it safely.

I hope you enjoy playing with it and make some lovely projects.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Trellis Stamp & Stencil set.

Hi Everybody,

Todays gift is the lovely stamp and stencil set from Card Making Magic called Trellis.

This is an A4 stamp collection with many designs and sentiment on it to suit all occasions and a DL stencil to add pattern to your backgrounds.

It comes with the magazine Creative Stamping and you will find lots of ideas that you may like to try inside the pages.

So grab your favourite drink as you browse the pages for a little bit of "me" time,

So if this is something that you would like to have join your own personal collections then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL NAME

From those comments one will be chosen at random as the winner and added to a blog post over the weekend, so be sure to come back and check if it is your name that is shown.

I am happy to send this to you wherever you live at my expense.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Elegant Nestables Collection - DL + Octagons

Hi Everybody,

For this card I have used the small dies from the Octagon die set which is part of the Elegant Nestables Collection.

I have linked them all together with ribbon woven through the centre and I like the look of this card with the glitter card in the background

It is a DL size,  which is coming back into fashion again, and this is effective yet easy to do. 

I have really enjoyed playing with this new die set and there are lots of videos to showcase the different sizes in the collection. I have used every style there is now and in many cases I have mixed and matched sets as well.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

                     

Elegant Nestables Collection - 5x7 + Octagons

Hi Everybody,

Today I am featuring another one of the dies from the Elegant Nestables Collection and this time it is my favourite 5x7 teamed with the Octagons.

This style of card was one I saw Marta Debicka making in her tutorial last week and I really liked the design. I asked Marta if I could copy it and so here is my version.

For mine I have used the dies from the set and I am more than happy with the finished look. I can't wait to se what Marta thinks of it too. 

The video is not long but is another that will be added to the Elegant Nestables Playlist on my YouTube channel.

Enjoy the video ...

The links at the bottom of the screen are mostly affiliate ones which means if you purchase through them I will get a small commission at not extra cost to you.

I have added in the Wild Orchid Crafts link but sadly they do not ship to the UK at present .. lets hope that changes soon. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Elegant Nestables - 5x7 Rectangles + Circles

 Hi Everybody,

This is my favourite size of card to make and I like to keep the fold at the top as it helps the card to stand better.

For this one I have used Autumn colours and they have all been coloured by me using Alcohol Inks and Isopropyl and I have a video showing how I did that a long time ago.

Colouring Ribbons and Flowers

I have also used Kraft Card, and this is not something I use often, and it is a very useful addition to any stash. It is a cheap and cheerful card that can suit make of female designs.

So this is the video that I added to Facebook Live last Friday and I am adding it here to compliment the Elegant Nestables series that I have done and just in case you missed it 

                     

Whichever set you purchase you are sure to be delighted with it as it will make the most beautiful cards for you, and should you buy two ... or more ... then remember that they will work alone or combined to get even more for your money.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Elegant Nestables, Box Kits & Display Stands

Hi Everybody,

I am so happy that everyone seems to be enjoying the new Elegant Nestables Collection and the beautiful cards that they can make.

But don't forget that they will work extremely well with any of the other dies, from previous collections, that you may have in your stash.

They are also designed to compliment the Complete Card & Box Die Sets that have been brought out over the years and can extend your card making with many possibilities.

And there are also the card stands that can hold your card for display in a lovely way.

I have added below the links to all the Elegant Nestables and shown them alongside the relevant box collections that they will go with, complete with the stands 

These will create the basic card shape and some layers and then the box that will hold your finished card, and allow for any depth you may have added to your design,
and if you are like me it will be a lot !!!

I am loving this collection but there is a lot more to come for the future so I thank you for you support in the past and your continuing support in my endeavours.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Facebook Colour Schemes

 Hi Everybody,

Thanks you to everyone for joining in with Friday Facebook Live and it makes me so happy that many of you like the new collection. Lou gave away some fabulous prizes and one of the questions she asked was "What is your favourite colour scheme?"

There were lots of ideas and some of the colours are fantastic and so I thought it would a good idea to add a card as often as I can using some of the ideas that came in

Please forgive me if I don't add the name of the person who suggested it but I had to write them down quickly, as the show went on, and I only managed to get the choices.

This is the first one and the colours used are 
Red & Gold.
I have used the Oval Elegant Nestables and the Merry Christmas sentiment.

I used the technique of colouring the white card with the ink pad and that has been done in Festive Berries but I also found some parchment that had a gold pattern on it and so I added that to the top also.

I have used the bight gold card as the mat and for the centre of the card and the flowers are from my stash.

I added small pearls to the parchment pattern and glittered up the flowers and words.

In the show I was asked some questions and I didn't get round to answering them so I will do that here

Where do I get my flowers from?   

I got lots of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, as the choice was amazing, but then it was sold to another company and now they will not ship to the UK. I am adding the link just in case you are not in the UK and can get a shipment from them   Wild Orchid Crafts  but the price has gone up a lot !!

Another outlet I have used in the past is one I contacted through Facebook and here is the link so you can check that out ...  Samaflora

There is also a small collection of different types and colours at Craft Stash 

What colour is the glitter and where is it from ?

I get my glitter from Glitter Magic   and I usually buy it at the craft shows I visit. This is by far my favourite glitter and I buy the loose packs and tip it all into a container, as that is the best way to buy it. I use it a lot and you an see from the size of my box that I have a lot left. I have added this link to the colour I use and it is called Chameleon

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winner

HI Everybody,

What a lovely day it is today and later Ruby and I are meeting up with the rest of our family to remember my lovely husband Griff.

 It is four years today since he died and this has been a difficult four years. I smile and laugh and when people say "How are you"  I nod and say " I am fine" but in truth it has had some very trying moments in it. 

But today we are all meeting up and going for a lovely walk and then coffee and cake in a Lytham Hall café. The dogs will be able to run free and sniff all the wonderful things in the woods and we will all have a good natter about the things we have ben up to.

But in the meantime the winner has been chosen for yesterdays offering and the name this week is

Christine Cloutier 

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 hope you enjoy playing with it and be sure to let me know that you have it safely.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx