Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

What a beautiful day it is here and hopefully it will stay this way for the bank holiday. I have been up early getting my house clean and tidy  and now I am doing the draw for yesterdays Classic Christmas Scenes prize from yesterday.  Last Weeks  prize has not been claimed and so that will be back on offer at a later date.

So the winner this week is ...

Sue Cockerham 

would you email me please your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the prize will be on its way to you straight away

Please let me know that you have it safely and I hope you enjoy playing with it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Classic Christmas Scenes

Hi Everybody,

With this beautiful set there is the added bonus of a die set from John Next Door and all the little scenes will fit inside the circle die

The video will show you how I made the card and give you some ideas for others you may like to try.

Classic Christmas Scenes  is the gift on offer this week. I am trying the give away in a different format to make things as fair as I can and I am using InLinkz to keep track of things.

All you need to do is to leave me a comment at the end of this post.
You don't need to have a blog, or be in the UK to be in with a chance of winning it.
 And it doesn't matter if you have won before.
 BUT you will need to leave your FULL NAME  and only add your comment once.
Duplicates will be removed

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Ribbon Threader

Hi Everybody,

The new Ribbon Threaders have been a very popular addition to the Card Making Magic Collection and they can be used in a lot of different ways.

For this card I created a top folded A2 size and another panel just slightly smaller. 

I embossed this panel in the Flourish Folder and then I used a soft rollered Brayer to add two different shades of ink to the top and bottom

I cut one of the designs in the ribbon threader twice from white card and stacked them together and wove some lilac ribbon through the centre and tied it into a bow.

I placed this across the join in the ink colours with foam pads positioned under the ribbon so as not to show from the front.  You can add any sentiment you have in your own collection to suit the occasion for which you have made the card.

For this layered card I have used another of the dies and cut it three times and then spaced it evenly across the grey panel.

I dotted it with gemstones and added the sentiment at the bottom, layered onto parchment that has been wrapped around the layers. 

So there you have two very simple cards that are quite effective, using the border dies in different ways

One for the boys and one for the girls and I am pleased with the results of both of them

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Simply Cards & Papercraft 191 Build A Flower

Hi Everybody,

The exclusive gift with this months

 Simply Cards & Papercraft is this beautiful Build a Flower die set with 14 stamps to accompany it.

You can create some unique backgrounds with the stamp set and  mix and match the sentiments to suit your own design.

In the video I have shown you several ways that I have used this gift to make my own cards and each one is very individual.

The magazine will be on sale on the 2nd May in selected supermarkets, so if this is one that you would like to have then you will need to be quick as floral dies and stamps are always a best seller.

Here is the video to give you more ideas and of course you will find lots more inspiration inside the magazine ... 

I love the contemporary colour scheme of this card and it is inked with the 

Distress Oxides Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet

Should they be out of stock then leave your email address and Craft Stash will notify you once they are back on their website

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Spellbinders lovely Lilac

Hi Everybody,

This pretty card was created with one of the new dies to Spellbinders last year and it is the Lovely Lilac die set from Stephanie Low

I have cut the flowers out several times and then ink blended the colour underneath  them and onto the die cuts before adding them to the card again

The background has been stencilled very lightly with pale green ink and then dots added in corresponding colours

I added some sequins and after die cutting the sentiment several times and stacking them I covered them with Glossy Accents to make them stand out.

P.S. If YOU entered the draw for last Friday Freebie then please scroll back to check if you have own 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Arteza Water Colours

Hi Everybody,

A little while ago I was asked if I would like to try some new products from Arteza and of course I readily accepted.

I have heard only good things about the quality of these pencils that made me want to try them for myself.

So as soon as the box arrived I wanted to share it with you and start using them straight away.

The pretty rose card is the one made in the video using the water colour pencils and they are lovely to work with.

I will be using the real Brush Pens in another video coming soon and the links at the bottom of the page will take you to Artezas website 

Happy colouring 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

I am trying to be earlier this week announcing the winner of the “Give Away”  from yesterday but somehow time still manages to slip away from me to quickly.  However it has now been done and the name this week is ...

Peggy McClelland

 Would you email me your postal address please to ...

christina@card-making-magic.com

 and they will be on their way to you straight away

You have 72 hours in which to claim the prize and would you please let me know when it arrives with you.  And I hope you enjoy playing with the gift.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Father Christmas

Hi Everybody,

This fabulous gift is created by  Raymond Briggs and the Father Christmas is so cute pulling on his boots

There are several sentiments to go with the stamps too and they will make the most delightful cards for the you

I know it's still early in the year but some of you have made a start with your cards already and this stamp set is sure to help

So if you would like this stamp set to fill your stash then all you need to do is leave me a comment with your FULL NAME. 

Then one name will be drawn from those comments and notified in tomorrows blog post so you will need to come back and check if it is you. 

The draw is open to everyone and I am happy to send the prize to you wherever you are at my expense. You don't need your own blog to enter and it doesn't matter if you have won before. you can still try again

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Peach Floral Wedding card

Hi Everybody,

This lovely peach wedding card has been decorated with ribbon with Mr & Mrs embroidered on in silver

It was  sent to me by Deco Fun Bow Maker which is an easy system to help you create stunning bows for all your projects

This link will take you to their Facebook page where you can see some of the lovely bows

Deco Fun Bow maker

The finished card is 5x7 and the background layer has been letter pressed through the folder with Versamark  and Silver Embossing Powder

I have cut the large oval from silver card and embossed it also in the folder then added it to the card with foam tape.

The flowers have been glued along the edges and sparkled with glitter.

The beads have been hot glued into the corner of the frame and then crossed with fine hot glue strands to represent a spiders web. 

That has also been sprinkled with glitter and the effect is quite unusual

The linked video is a very similar card with the same technique applied


More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 51 Pop Up Box Die Set

Hi Everybody,

These little die cut boxes are very popular at present and with this die set they are also easy to make.

They can be for male or female and can be adapted to suit many occasions.

All the featured tools are in the set, and I have cut mine twice ... once from silver card and a second time in a colour.

Then if you trim them down so that just the handles are used on each silver portion they can mimic proper tools.

The magazine Die Cutting Essentials 51 will be on sale on the 25th April in selected supermarkets so keep a look out for it if this is a die set you would like 

 It's perfect for your male cards and I have one set to give away as a Friday Freebies later in the year

In the video I used the dies in the pop up box in a different way to create an aperture card.

The tiny flowers and leaves have been used to add decoration to what turned out to be a pretty card

I added a little bit of shading to flowers, leaves and butterflies but it's nothing fancy so don't be afraid to have a try ... you will see that it does make quite a difference to your die cuts.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Blue Floral Shaker Card

Hi Everybody,

Did you manage to watch Paula on Hochanda yesterday with some fab demos for Card Making Magic.?

Some of the items on offer where the 6x6 Card & Box Die Set and the Easel Card Stand. Both are really popular and will help you to make some beautiful cards.

Today's card is created in Navy Blue and White  and is a shaker card with clear sequins inside

I made the box to match,  and the card and stand will fit neatly inside the box to make a really special gift for your recipient.

I made a video for this design and I showed it to you when it was first done but here it is again to jog your memory

Blue and White Shaker card

I hope you enjoy the video 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Happy Easter

Hi Everybody,

At long last I am here with the winner of last Fridays Give Away. I have had such a good time over  the weekend and the weather has been glorious. Ruby went swimming yesterday in the river and she loves it. She did so much running around that she slept like the proverbial log last night.

So the draw has been done ... eventually ... and the winner of the Festive Bauble Wreath is ...

Sheila Price

would you email me your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

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

I hope you enjoy playing with this lovely die set

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie- Festive Bauble Wreath

Hi Everybody,

For the next few weeks the "Give Away" prize is going to be Christmas based.

I hope you will still enter for them as they are quality products and will help to swell your crafting stash

The video to how you other ideas using this lovely die is   Festive Bauble Wreath  

If this is a die set that you would like to have then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post using your FULL NAME

From those comments one name will be drawn as the winner and announced in tomorrows blog post, so be sure to come back and check. I cannot chase you up for it and you will have 72 hours in which to claim it then it is gone.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Ruby Update

Hello Everyone,

It's me today Ruby and I am here to tell you of my latest playtimes.

Here I am asking my mum very nicely to take me out and she can't resist me when I give here this puppy dog look

We go onto the beach near our home and we usually have my best friend Dougal with us, and we get very dirty !!

It's nice to live near the beach especially in the good weather as we can have a really long time rolling in the sand and running in the sea.

I like to swim but Dougal is a wimp and he only paddles so his feet get wet.

We have also discovered, on our rides out, a wonderful place that has river running alongside the path and I love it up there near Lancaster

Then when I get home I have to have a bath to get the dirt out of my hair and I let my mum blow dry me so that I am all pretty again.

My mum will be back tomorrow with another of her Give Aways and she has some lovely stuff lined up for you.

And she has asked me to tell you that

Card Making Magic will be back on Hochanda Sunday 21st April with Paula

My mum can't be with you this time but she will be there next time so look out for her then

Lots of love from Ruby xx

Birthday Card & Envelope

Hi Everybody,

Thank you all so much for the response to the packs of dies that where offered for sale on Monday.

They were very well received and I hope you will enjoy them when they arrive with you. I still have some left if you are interested but they are going quickly.

 Today I have a birthday card and matching envelope to share with you and for this I have used my own collection

The 5x7 card and box set has made both of these and they fit together beautifully

Just make sure that you have enough matching card to create the envelope or box to go with the card.

Leave the flower off the envelope and add an address label if you wanted to send it through the post and as long as you have glued it well it will be OK.

I have more dies that I need to purge and that will be happening soon. 

But please bear in mind that postage to Australia Canada or the US is not cheap so be sure to consider that amount to the cost before you order one of the packs

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Items for Sale ...

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday I told you about items that I am wanting to sell. 

If you remember I was going to do a craft room sale in my home last year but life kind of got in the way when we added a new kitchen and I couldn't arrange it. 

And then very suddenly my husband died and knocked the wind from my sales.

So until I have the time to rearrange that Craft Room Sale I have put together some packs that you may like to have.

Each of these packs will contain 

Accents and Motifs  (2 sets)

Embossing Folder

Tags

Texture panel

Flower

Corners

Abstract die

Card Front

+ Bonus surprise gift

Each pack will have NINE items in them but they will be different titles.

For instance the Accents and Motifs will be different in each pack, the tags may be another pattern as will the corners.

But each are quality and will make a good grounding for your own collections

These are the fourteen packs and they are on offer for £20 per pack. plus your P&P

If you would like one of them then please email me at ..

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will invoice you through PayPal and I will need your email address to do that, and a POSTAL address to send them to

If you specifically wanted a certain set then let me know but once that set has gone that's it. It will go to the first one to have asked and paid for it. 

I cannot swap items in the packs as they have all been put together to give a good assortment of items to create lovely cards.

But I don't think you will be disappointed with any of them

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

I have two things to run by you today and of course the first one is the "Friday Freebie" winner from yesterday.  This is something that I enjoy doing and I think you enjoy too and so this will be continuing each week. They are quality gifts and well worth having to build up your collections.

All I ask for is or your full name as you leave your comment so everybody knows exactly who has won the prize I cannot stress this enough that if you don't leave your full name then your comment will not be entered into the draw

So this weeks winner is ...

Pamela Pollard

and if you would send me your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

the gift will be on its way to you straight away and I am happy to send it anywhere that you live.

The next thing is ....

I have so many beautiful things in my craft room and many of them are dies. I used to save up for weeks and then go the craft shows and spend my money, mostly on dies, and in particular Spellbinders

But now I am in a different position especially since I have brought out my own range and so I am needing to sell some of them to make space or there will not be any room for me in the craft room.

For instance I bought most of the sets of Accents and Motifs as they came on to the market and I did many videos using these sets

This is the kind of thing I am referring too ... each Accent set had a matching Motif set and there are a lot of dies in the two sets.

So I have put together fourteen sets of Accents and Motifs along with other items in each pack

And tomorrow I am going to offer them for sale at the bargain price of £20 per pack which is a tiny fraction of what they are worth 

Please come back tomorrow and see which what is on offer if you are interested in purchasing any of them and they can be paid for through PayPal

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

Friday Freebie - Driving Home for Christmas

Hi Everybody,

Staying with the  Christmas theme from last week I have another lovely gift for you this week and this one is stamps, dies and an embossing folder.

The video for this can be found here  ... 

Driving Home for Christmas 

and there are more ideas on the film

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

From those comments one name will be chosen as the winner and notified in tomorrows blog post.  So if you add your name then be sure to come back tomorrow  to see if your name is shown

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Simply Cards & Papercraft

Hi Everybody,

I am so pleased with this months Simply Cards & Papercraft  magazine because it features and exclusive gift from Card Making Magic.

It is an A4 sized stamp sheet that offers a lot of usage and some great sentiments too. And the 4 piece die set creates a cute Dream Catcher  for you and many other things too.

In the video I show you some of my ideas and I love the colour scheme of the finished card.

Blue Print Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon and Wilted Violet make the most gorgeous combination and it is one that I use often. to create vibrant backgrounds.

This has to be my favourite magazine and it is one I have been getting for years.  

And I love it even more when it features a lovely gift from me that can be used in so many ways

So I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did and will keep a look out for future gifts from

Card Making Magic

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Love is in the Air ...

Hi Everybody,

This lovely card in a fresh blue and white would be ideal for most occasions and it uses the large Alphabet Letters from Card Making Magic

You can buy the plain ones separately form the filigree overlays but they do look really special when they are used together.

At the moment there is a special offer on at Craft Stash to buy the two sets together.

And the same offer applies to the Numbers set also, both of which are useful sets to have in your cardmaking.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 50 Sweet Pea Die Set

Hi Everybody,

Please scroll back to yesterday for the name of the winner of Fridays gift, and sorry I was so late adding it to the blog post.

This months Die Cutting essentials is already on sale and the exclusive gift this month is a beautiful two part die set called Sweet Pea.

I have tried to show some different ways to use the set and you will find many more ideas within the magazine.

So I hope you enjoy playing with the dies as much as I did.

You will need to look now though as the magazine is out and will be very popular with lots of card makers.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

I have been so busy today I have forgotten all about the draw for yesterdays gift and card.  Still better late than never and once again my apologies.  But I promise you it is a gift worth the wait as it will make some beautiful cards for you and not just for Christmas

So the name this week is ...

Linda Brock

and it you would be kind enough to send me your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

I will get the the gift sent off to you.

Some of you are not adding your FULL NAME and you won't be entered into the draw if it is not there with your comment, nor can I accept entries from "unknown" ... how am I going to notify you of your win if I don't know who you are.
So NO FULL NAME ... NO ENTRY

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Christmas Memories

Hi Everybody,

So as we fast approach summer what better time to remind you of ... Christmas !! and in the gift there is an A4 stamp set and a really cute little cracker die

The video to accompany this gift is 

Christmas Memories 

and there some lovely ideas to help you create.

Many crafters make cards for Christmas all year round so if this is you then here is a stamp set that will help you a lot.

If this is a stamp set that you would like then please leave me a comment at the end of the post with your FULL name added. Then you will need to come back tomorrow to see if it is your name that is listed as the winner.

I am happy to send the gift anywhere and you can still enter even if you have won before.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

New Log Burner ... at last !!

Hi Everybody,

This is the story of the log burner starting at the very beginning. This is what the old fire was like and it has been there for a good few years.

The gas fire itself stopped working about four years ago and because we have central heating we never did anything about it.

So much to my daughters disgust I hid the fire with some flowers and they are silk and have also been there for a long time. I showered them to keep the dust at bay but they had to go ... she said they are old fashioned !!

So the workmen came along and in between copoius cups of coffee they started altering things for a log burner and bit by bit things started to go wrong.

They needed to install a new flue liner and the old chimney started crumbling. It would have eventually crumbled itself to pieces and so it had to be repaired and they did an excellent job.

I wanted the wooden surround putting back and so that was removed carefully for me

This was the state of my lounge while all this work was going on and the dust and dirt got everywhere.

But eventually we got to the stage where things are going right and the job progressed well.

Bit by bit work was completed until eventually the opening was ready to install the fire on its black slate base and the down lights illuminating everything

Once the fire was there the wooden surround could be put back and then there was instruction for me on how the burner would work.

It's very easy to set and light and easier still to control the flames but oh it is so cozy.

And so I send a HUGE thank you to Harpers Stoves for supplying and fitting my beautiful Log Burner and Clearview for making the Vision 500 in Honey Glow Brown ... it is the best investment ever

And so last night Ruby and I toasted ourselves in front of the flickering flames where it was lovely and warm and wonderful.

All it needs now is decorating !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx