Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

August 11, 2023

Friday Freebie - Sunflowers

 Hi Everybody,

Here is another chance for you to win this beautiful Sun Flower die set from Card Making Magic that comes with Die Cutting Essentials magazine.

The magazine will give you lots of ideas on how to get the best from this die set and is always a good way to while away a few hours with your favourite cuppa.

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

It doesn't matter if you have won in the past, and I am happy to send the prize to you wherever you live at my expense so be sure to add your comment and your name to the end of the post.

Be sure to come back over the weekend to see if you are the winner and then you have 72 hours in which to claim the prize.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


August 10, 2023

Adding Decoration ...

Hi Everybody,

Sometime ago I used to make decorative hatpins and add them to my cards. They were very popular and I also sold many in my Etsy shop.

I also made a video on the making of these pins but it really needs up dating now

But I stopped doing a lot of things when Griff died and this was one of them and so I had quite a few of these pins left over.

This week in my clear out I found some that I had made and I decided to add them to my cards again.

Although you may have seen some of these cards before, I am showing them again now that I have added the hatpins to them.

The pins are all nestled into the flowers on the cards and some of them have the safety cap added for protection.

Others I have had to re glue in place and so the sharp end is covered by the glue.

I have colour matched the hatpins to the flowers and they do look really pretty .

What do you think ? Is this your kind of thing or not ?


I like to add all sorts of embellishments to my designs and so these really are my style

I know that my cards are too fussy for some people but many many more like them and that is what keeps me going.

I love the flowery feminine feel to them and the pins just add that little extra.

I have so many beads and silver accessories that I will be making some more and adding them to future cards.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 




 

August 09, 2023

Hearts and seals

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is with red and white and I have created a heart for the centre of the design. Can you see the little Ladybirds on the heart ?

These are some that I have had for a long time and I sued them on several cards years ago, These are those that I have left and I have still more that I can use yet.

The Simply Dots background is created with an embossing folder and I have used some coloured stems from AnnaMarie Designs to add to the heart.

I have quite a few of these coloured stems in other colours and I have used them with Wax Seals on some cards.
I will film the process and show you the cards once they are made and they are very girly.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

August 08, 2023

Wax Seal Shapes On Cards

Hi Everybody,

Many years ago I did some Air Dry Clay modelling and made loads of things for home décor. 

I bought some decorative molds to use with the clay and I enjoyed playing with them. But they have now sat in a cupboard for quite some time and never ben used.

So I thought it may be a good idea to see if they could be used with the wax melts beads that I have got and the answer is YES !!! they do.

I  used the Angel Wings mold and I was very pleased with the result. And I thought of lots of ways in which I could use them on my cards.

They make a beautiful addition to a new baby card as they are surely angels come back to earth.
I made some in pink and even more in a blue for a baby boy.

You can of course make them any colour you would like, and the silicone mold is so cheap to buy. It will last you for ever.

I did get some molds at the time that would make little picture frames and corners that could be added to a card but I have yet to find them.

They are in a tin somewhere ... I just don't know where ... yet !!







I also thought that the wings could be used to effect on a sympathy card and I kept the colours very muted for this one.

It is a DL card and I have embossed the background then matted and layered the white and navy blue togehter.

I know we don't like to make sympathy cards but at least this one is pretty as well as practical.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx



August 07, 2023

More Butterfly Ideas

Hi Everybody,

Here are some more ideas for using the beautiful Butterfly Blossoms Collection.

This is such an easy and enjoyable way to make quick cards and is perfect for those that are new to card making.

The papers in the pack are gorgeous and many of them have the addition of foiling to them.

Plus there is a great selection of sentiments, toppers and ribbon strips for you to decorate your creations anyway you would like. 

There are also separate sentiment strips that are self adhesive and they can be used on any of your cards and not just with this paper pack>

You have lots of choice with this collection to make bright and cheerful projects that will not disappoint you.

Use the shapes to create Easel or Shaker cards or simply add them to your designs.

And don't be afraid to cut them up and use portions of each butterfly for another look.

And they can be adapted to suit different sized cards too.

For this one I have added the shape and a filigree overlay to an A5 card that I have used in Landscape.

But whatever you decide to do with the collection the main thing is to have fun.
More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx



August 06, 2023

Tina Zapusek - Winner

 Hi Everybody,

Well what a surprise to day ... the sun is shining and it really is very pleasant, after all that rain yesterday. 
Ruby and I will be going out later for a little walk, though it will be too muddy in the woods.
We will stay on the promenade this time where it will be clean and dry.

I have done the draw for the quirky Shine Bright Stamp and Die Set from Sheena Douglass and the winner today is 

Tina Zapusek 

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 pleased if you could let me know that you have it safely and I rally hope that you will enjoy playing and designing with it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

August 04, 2023

Friday Freebie - Shine Bright

 Hi Everybody,

Today sees the opportunity for you to own this fabulous stamp and die set called Shine Bright from Sheena Douglas

It is an A4 stamp set with lots of light bulb images for you to adapt to suit your designs as well as sentiments for many occasions that will fit also.

The four piece die set will also cut out the bulb images so that you can add them separately to your cards.

The magazine is Simply Cards & Papercraft and is guaranteed to be a good read with our morning coffee .... or afternoon tea !!

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

Be sure to come back and see if you are the winner on Sunday as I have no way of contacting you if you don't.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

August 03, 2023

Charity Box ...

 Hi Everybody,

I have been creating cards and adding wax seals to them and these are now ready for my charity box. 

All of these are now in cellophane packets and complete with envelope ready to go.

I know the lady in the shop will pleased with all of these and I now have over a hundred to take to her. 

Not all with seals on them I hasten to add.

This butterfly card seal is made for a Birthday.


These are some that were very easy to create and I used up many left over die cuts that are on my desk.

So I had a good clean up in the process.

This card seal says Made With Love

I have now bought another burner ready to do my next creation and I will explain all that I have learned in the next video.

I hope that you will join me for that and it will be with you in a day or two.


For the yellow one I added it to an embossed panel with some die cut flower and leaves underneath.

I dotted it with sequins and the seal says Thank You.

These photos are of the easy ones that I made and I have some more elaborate ones to show you too.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx



August 02, 2023

Butterfly Blossom Card Creator

 Hi Everybody,

Today sees the launch of a brand new pack called Butterfly Blossoms and it has beautiful filigree butterflies in there for you to add to your cards.

There are also some solid shaped butterflies, in colours and just white,  that can be turned into easel cards, shaker cards or simply used as the shape to the card itself.

It is designed to help those that are new to card making as well as the more seasoned one of us that likes to make a quick but beautiful card

There is so much you can do with this pack and the papers are really pretty. 

Some of them are foiled and there are many many sentiments for you to add.

For this card I have added the filigree butterfly to the top of a shaped plain one that has been covered in the paper.

Each portion of the pack can be bought individually

Here I have tried to give you some ideas on how to use the pack but I am sure that you will come up with many more as you start to play

For this card I have added the plain shape to a card front and then topped it with silver one from the paper pack and a sentiment.

Alter the size of the card too and create DL or Slimline cards as well as the larger sizes.

The world is your oyster ... so they say.

And you don't have to use the whole shape. Trim it down to fit your design and see what a difference that makes.
For this DL card I have used the papers from the pack and added the filigree shape to a plain one. I have allowed the wings to be free to give some movement to them

Have fun and you will be amazed at just how many cards you can create from this collection

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

                  

August 01, 2023

Rainbow Wax Seal Cards

 Hi Everybody,
I have been playing again and this time I have been creating a rainbow look with my wax seals.

I bought some more beads from Amazon in Matt colours and they came the day after I ordered them at a really good price too.
I also got some more spoons so that I could melt things a little quicker

I have included the links to the items that I got from Amazon in the list below.

The stamps I have had for donkeys years and although I have searched online for them I cannot find them and so they may no longer be available.

But you can always make ink blobs yourself or use any stamp that you like to create the look.

                

I have another idea that I will share with you later this week again using the wax seals and I will use the new spoons that I bought as they have a lot deeper pan to them ... which I will need for my next attempt with them. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 31, 2023

Decoupage Delight Collection - Camellia

 Hi Everybody,

Last week Pauline Hickey and I had a get together at my house and we decided to do a little crafting in my craft room.

 I thought it would be a good idea and a bit of fun to film the process as we made the flower.

We used the Camellia Flower to make the blooms and then we added them to our cards.

 I did one for a birthday and Pauline made a sympathy card with her beautiful lilac flower.

The video is not long but once it was done we went out for lunch and had a lovely steak sandwich.

This is one that I made later in the day after Pauline had gone back home again. I also added a wax seal to this card

                  

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 30, 2023

Betty McAlister - Winner

 Hi Everybody,

Did you manage to join the Craft Stash Craftathon Friday?? We had a great day and some winners on each hour. The demos created some beautiful projects and as soon as we have the figure I will let you know just how much money we raised for MHUK.

On the blog the draw has been done for the gorgeous Butterfly Florals stamp and die set.
The name today is 
Betty McAlister
and so if you could email me your postal address please to
christina@card-making-magic.com
I will get it in the post to you straight away.

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

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 28, 2023

Friday Freebie - Butterfly Florals

 Hi Everybody,

It is the turn of the butterflies this week and this pack has a lovely stamp and die, from Pink Fresh Studios, to add the butterfly to your cards.

There is also another stamp set in the pack that has text and florals as well as sentiments and the lovely squiggly butterfly trail to complete the look.

You will find lots of inspiration inside the pages of the Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine.

I personally love adding text to my backgrounds as I think it makes them look so special. But I am sure that you will come up with lots of ideas if you should win this offering.

All you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post and then be sure to come back and see if your name is shown as the winner. Your comment must include your FULL NAME or it will not be entered into the draw.

And don't forget to join in with the Live Craftathon that Lou is hosting  all day today.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 27, 2023

Craftathon ...

 Hi Everybody,

Get ready for an amazing 8-hour Charity Christmas Craft Marathon with Lou Collins! On Friday …

Join Lou and special guests as they bring you live demos all day long. Plus, there's a chance to win fantastic giveaways worth over £100 every hour, exclusively for our viewers!  

Lou will be crafting and hosting non-stop, while guest presenters jump in with fun and exciting demos. It's going to be an event you don't want to miss! 

As part of our commitment to supporting mental health, we will donate 10% of all profits to MIND, a remarkable mental health charity. Throughout the day, our guests and viewers will engage in conversations about the positive impact of crafting on mental well-being. Join us as we explore various ways in which we can empower ourselves and others through the art of crafting.



Just click the link to join in 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

July 26, 2023

Wax Seal Cards

 Hi Everybody,

I have been busy making cards and using the wax seals that I made yesterday.  I have lots of seals left over and so I can make lots more cards

I have lots of ideas to share with you and they will be in other videos yet to be added. But for now the first four are in a video that I made for you to see.

This first one uses the three flowers that I made and trimmed down. I added them to a really old stamp set that looks like distressed paint stripes.

I add these in before I used an older embossing folder for the  the panel and added it to a green mat.  

For this next one I have used the same embossing folder from Card Making Magic called Simply Dots.

The background paper is some that I have also had for ages and bought at a craft show years ago.

I used the Dragon wax seal stamp for this one and staggered them on the banner strips

I am really happy with all the cards I made and I hope you like them too. I also hope you enjoy the video and will be sure to join me on the next one.


   

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx