Valentines Day

Hi Everybody,

Have you got your card ready to send for Valentines Day. I put this one together in a video for you to view even though it is a bit late.

The little image was with Papercraft Essentials way back in 2017 but it is so cute that I decided to add it to an action wobbler and pop it on the card.

The video is not long but I do think the finished card is sweet and of course it will fit into the envelope especially made for it.

The gifts with magazines are well worth keeping safe as you never know when you will need them.
Whatever you do for Valentines Day I hope you enjoy it. Maybe you are going our for dinner or just a drink with your loved ones and in that case have a glass of red wine for me Cheers !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 62 (DCE62)

Hi Everybody,

The goodies with this months Die Cutting Essentials is a lovely Geometric Panel from the Bright Rosa Collection by Paula Pascual.

It is very handy and will suit male and female cards and is something that can be used all year round.

The video will show you how I created this card and for this I used Gilding Flakes

DCE62 Bright Rosa Panel will be on sale this week on the 13th February.

Next week you can build on your collection with another Bright Rosa die that comes with Simply Cards & Papercraft 202 so look out for that one on the 20th February

The magazines are a mine of inspiration and a superb way to build up your crafty stash with your favourite hobby whatever it is ... cardmaking, die cutting, stamping. lettering, crochet or knitting/

Choose you magazine , make your subscription, wait for the postman, make a brew and enjoy the read, and then make your own designs from the ideas on the pages.  What more could you want ????

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Abstract Painting

Hi Everybody,

I have been branching out in all directions over the past few months and this is another thing that I have tried.

This abstract painting is another one that was inspired by Rinske Douna and I love her work.

I found her on YouTube and she is an amazing, bright and beautiful young woman.

This one sits in my hall and I had it framed professionally in white and it looks lovely.

It is a large white canvas that I bought in a pack of five different sized ones for £4. Absolute bargain and I bought five packs. I wish I had got more though as now they don’t have them anymore (sigh!)

I have many more spots in my house that I can fill with my own artwork and then I will be stuck for where to put it.

There are only so many pieces of art work and only so many walls to use.

It may not be your cup of tea but I really do like it 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Red Poppies

Hi Everybody,

Sorry for my absence at posting last week, there is no problem but thank you to those who emailed me to ask. I am well,  just been very busy.

I don't know if I have shown you this card but this is one created from older dies within the Card Making Magic Collections

So just in case you have forgotten about it here's a reminder.

The card itself is created from the Complete Card & Box Die set 5x7 and then decorated with the matching flower dies and stamps set 

I water coloured it with the Arteza Real Brush Pens for a vibrant look to my poppies and then decoupaged the layers to give some height to the card.

The verse is also from one of my stamp sets and I though could be a very appropriate inspirational verse for some people.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winner

Hi Everybody,

I hope you are having a good weekend and are ready for the predicted storm that is supposed to be over the UK today.I hope you are all as cosy as Ruby and I with our lovely log burner going merrily away in the lounge. After we have done our chores we are going to settle down this evening and watch some TV

Does that paint a lovely picture for you ??  Here's the reality of it ... Ruby  doesn't watch telly and when the log burner is going she takes herself off to the bedroom where its cooler. So she's not much company. But she comes down every so often to check if I am still there and gives me the guilt trip look to go up and watch TV in the bedroom.

Still the draw for the Stamps, Dies and embossing folder from yesterday has been done and the winner this week is ...

Chris Wilson

could you email your postal address please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will get it sent off to you straight away.

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

all year round

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Classic Christmas

Hi Everybody,

Here we are with another Friday Freebie and this week it is one from Card Making Magic.

It was offered a few weeks ago with Simply Cards & Papercraft and it consists of stamps, dies and an embossing folder.

I am also including the magazine for one lucky winner and I am happy to send this wherever you are.

If you would like the gift then all you need to do is leave me a comment t the end of the post with your FULL NAME.  Then be sure to come back over the weekend to see if it is your name that is listed.

You will have 72 Hours to claim the gift

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

My Artwork - Paint Pour

Hi Everybody,

I have been busy with the paint pouring again and I know it is not every bodies cup of tea but I do really like them.

Last week I showed you some blue ones that I had done that matched together.

I have had two of them framed, under glass in gold frames, and they are quite large ones and are now hung on the stair wall.

This one is in my kitchen but is about and A4 size and it looks really good on the lime green wall. Especially with the pure white kitchen that Griff fitted for me.

They are not difficult to do but they are messy. I use a hairdryer to blow the paint around and if you are like me the paint goes everywhere.

But I have to say they are a lot of fun to create and I am going to try some different techniques in the coming months. I haven't filmed the making of these but I will do some more in the future

This is on the other kitchen wall and stays with the same colours of green/yellow/pink to blend with everything.

This is a bigger painting done on canvas and both have now been varnished with three layers of Mod Podge Gloss to keep the shine

I have used Arteza Acrylic Paints on all of them

Then I decided to do a pink/green/gold one for the hallway and that has been framed in white and faces the front door.

This one has also had three layers of gloss Mod Podge and they look really vibrant now they are on the wall.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Two Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

Today I am on time with the announcement of the winners from yesterdays Snowdrop offer.

 This is a really popular gift and I wish I could send one to everybody ... but I only have two.

All the names have been added to a hat and the draw has been done. 

So without further rambling lets get to the point.

The winners this week are 

Heaney Hong

&

Pippa Price

Thank you for entering and if you could send me your postal addresses please to

christina@card-making-magic.com

I will get them packed up and on their way to you.

Thank you for staying with me and be sure to come back for a 

Card Making Magic Special pack next week

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie Clearly Besotted Snowdrop

Hi Everybody,

Another double whammy this week in the shape of the beautiful Snowdrop Die, Stamp and mini Embossing Folder from Clearly Besotted.

Each of the two gifts includes the magazine and a beautiful card that I created with them

There is also a video to you show you what I did and it is

Clearly Besotted Snowdrop

So if would like one of these sets to grace your own collection than all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post with your FULL NAME

You don't need your own blog and I am happy to send the gift to you wherever you live, and it doesn't matter if you have won before you can still enter each week but don't forget to come back and check over the weekend if you are the winner

Good Luck everybody

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Yupo Paper

Hi Everybody,

It's quite some time ago now that I discovered the wonderful substance called Yupo Paper and the wonderful things you can do with it and Alcohol Ink Refills.

It is called paper but it doesn't tear or warp. It die cuts easily into any shape and if you don't like what you have done you can clean it all off and start again

I made lots of cards with the paper and I actually did two videos using it. 

So in case you are new to my blog pages I will add them again here for you to view.

Alcohol Inks and Yupo Paper  & 

Yupo Paper and Dark Alcohol Inks

Both are interesting to watch and the process is easy to do but very effective, and Yupo Paper is not expensive. Alcohol Inks come in wide variety of colours and the ones I used are Spectrum Noir

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Birthday Dates

Hi Everybody,

This is a card I showed on Hochanda earlier this month and Lou and I had a laugh over it.

I said it as a good way to personalise someones birth date and then I told her that this one was mine.

Then when we went "Live" she showed the card to everybody and told them what it was.

But even so it is a pretty way to make a card personal and I think children would love it with their date on the card.

Once again I am using the Landmark Collection and this really is a useful set of dies to have for all year round.

There's lots more to come this year and so please stay with me so that you will be the first to know

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Landmark Collection

Hi Everybody,

Today I wanted to show you the new Landmark Collection that is available with Craft Stash, and there are a lot dies in this set.

There are the new numbers which are a really good size to grace your cards, with the ordinals, and flowers that you can intertwine with the numbers

Add these to any project for Birthdays, Special Dates, Anniversaries and anything else that you want to acknowledge, and don't worry if you can't remember what the anniversaries  are ... they are listed on the back of the pack to help you.

There are also the months in the year as well as the special anniversary dates that we like to recognise, and the month dies can also be used for female names too and really personalise a card for some one special.

Then there is also the big Heart and a really big flourish in there for added beautiful decoration.

The flourish can be seen in the background of the 21st card above, and to fit this 5x7 card I trimmed it down.

Never be stuck for a birthday date again, and don't forget they can be used for other things also, like table numbers for seating arrangements.

Room numbers, labelling your journal pages, scrapbook dates or pages.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

On Friday I offered two copies of the magazine with the gift "Sent with Love"  and the two winners have been chosen at random 

It is a lovely gift and will make good sized tags for you that you can add to any of your projects.

There is also a stamp set with it and other dies for you to decorate it.

So the two winners of the original gift are ...

Dawn Rogers

& 

Michelle Coffey

would you email me your postal address please to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and both gifts will be on there way to you.

Now the things is,  I have since found a third gift in my craft room but this one does not have the magazine with it. Never the less it is still worth having and so another name has been pulled from the hat and it is ...

Kaye Charles

so if you could email me at the same address then I will send the gift to you also.

I hope that little surprise has brightened your wet Sunday morning.

It is pouring down here so no walkies for Ruby this morning

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Sent With Love

Hi Everybody,

This week I have two gifts to give away to two lucky winners, and each one has the magazine with it.

You will find lots of ideas in the pages of the mag so it will be time for a cuppa as you have a browse.

The gift is a die and stamp set that will create lovely tags for you to use on gifts or cards that you make.

Now if this is something that 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 and two winners will be chosen at random and notified in a blog post over the weekend ... so be sure to come back and check 

It doesn't matter if you have won before and I am happy to send the gift to you wherever you live

Good Luck everybody

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

#1 Paint Pour with Arteza

Hi Everybody,

So this is my first attempt at paint pouring with acrylic paints where I have actually filmed all the steps I took

I have had little practises before with small canvases but for this one I took my courage by the hand and filmed it.

It is such a lovely and easy way to paint and you don't need to be able to draw.

Arteza offered me the paints and canvases and a discount code for all you lovely people who may also want to give this a try.

In the video I show what extras I bought mostly to keep things as clean as possible but I have to warn you that it is a messy process

There are lots of different ways to do the pours ... flip cup, pour and drag, colander pours, swipe pours but if you try the Dutch Pour with a hairdryer then one of the things I must tell you about is test the force of your own hairdryer first.

With my own it was so strong that I ended up with paint all over the craft room wall as I blew the paint out.

 It took me ages to get it all off again and I ended up buying a smaller, cheaper hairdryer and it is much better for this technique

So here is the video of my very first public attempt at Paint Pouring

My inspiration has come from these Artists on YouTube namely ...

                       Rinske Douna   my favourite 

Tammy Anderson

Ann Osborne

Kanella Ciraco

Gilly Kube

Lori McDonald

Molly

And if you like Abstract Art then check out ... 

Elsa Weiss

Oliver Maass

And if you want to purchase Arteza with 10% off

 add the code ChristinaGriffiths2 valid until the 14th February

Arteza UK

Arteza USA

Card Making Magic Oval Box

Hi Everybody,

With the great success of the Oval Box I thought it would be right to add a video to show people how to make really pretty boxes.

And so as not to make the video too long I have just concentrated on the box.

The beauty of video is that you can pause and rewind whenever you need to to and stop when you have had enough.

 I am someone who learns by watching and doing so to me it is the best way to get the technique over.

So here we have another beautiful box to add to you repertoire and they are far better than buying them in the shops.
These can be any colour you wish and personalised to the greatest detail without it costing you a fortune

More tomorrow  ...

Hugs xx

Oval Card & Box Die Set

Hi Everybody,

This is the beautiful box that is made from the Oval Card & Box Die Set  and you sure get a lot of dies in this set for your money.

You can also create a card to go inside the box and decorate it to suit any occasion with beautiful results.

The numbers and sentiment on the front of the card are from the 

Landmark Collection

and that too was shown on Hochanda

This is the set that sold out on Hochanda in 25 minutes so congratulations if you got your set early.

But if the set is out of stock at Craft Stash then leave your email address and you will be notified once it is back in and on the Craft Stash website again.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

Thank you so much if you watched Hochanda and double thanks if you bought from the show. 

The One Day Special which was the Oval Box and the Extravagant Egg didn't last one day , in fact it sold out in the first 25 minutes. I was so happy and I hope that the people who purchased are as happy as me when they get their dies.

So after a good weekend I am here with the winning name for last Fridays FF and it is ...

Mags Wilkie

would you email me your postal address please to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the gift will be on its way to you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Christmas Florals

Hi Everybody,

Christmas in the craft world is never ending,

 and so this won't be a surprise to you that the gift on offer this week is .... Yep!

 An A4 Christmas Florals Stamp set 

The individual stamps on this sheet are quite big and can be used all year round with very pleasing results.

So if this is a set that you would like to have to swell your own collection then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post.

Please add your FULL NAME as this helps me immensely and avoids confusion if two people have the same first name

From those comments one name will be chosen as the winner and announced in a blog post over the weekend. So don't forget to come back and check if it is you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 61 - Tonic Studios Die

 Hi Everybody,

This months Die Cutting essentials will be on the shelves tomorrow the 16th January and this pretty die will be with it.

I have several cards featured in the magazine and so in the video I show you how I made this card.

Tonic Studios Die is the video in case you wanted to view and it is not too long.

At some point in the future weeks I will be giving this die away as the Friday Freebie,  along with the magazine, but don't take the risk of waiting to see if you are the winner.

Grab it now while you can if it is something that you would like to have.

Don't forget to make a note in your diary for this Thursday and Friday to join me on Hochanda.

I will be with the amazing Lou Collins so please join us.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Paint Pouring ...

Hi Everybody,

Amongst other things that I have been trying lately, such as the decorated glass and altering bottles, I have also tried my hand at Acrylic Paint Pouring.

 I know it has been around along long time but I have been a bit slow on the uptake. 

This was the first piece I did and it's not very good or very big and I did it on some thick A4 card as a practice run.

But then I decided to cut it up and make cards with it and see how they turned out.

This one is created from the right hand side of the painting and I cut it down to a 5x7"

I used some of the words from the new

  Landmark Collection

 for the greeting because some of them are female names as well as the month, April, May, June or the anniversary Pearl, Ruby. Coral.

The left hand side of the painting I cut out with the Heart from the  Spectacular Swirl   die set and again used the words.

I can't say I am unhappy with either of them and I have now progressed to a bigger canvas to paint on.

I will show you my progress over the coming weeks and I will be videoing them too.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

Hope you are having a good weekend. Ruby and I went for a walk down to the seafront this morning but it was so cold we didn't stay too long. It's amazing how many people stop and talk to me when I have Ruby with me and she of course loves all the attention especially in her Christmas  Sweater.

Once back home and nice hot cup of coffee was made for me I set to and did the draw and the winner today is ...

Donna Rinckel

please can you email me with your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the gift will be on it's way to you.

Now that Christmas is over with the post should be back to normal, so I hope there is nothing missing from past winning weeks. Some of my FF go to places like Florida, California, Spain, Portugal, Australia and New Zealand and oh how I would love to be able to hand deliver them to you myself,

Wouldn't that be lovely ???? (Sigh)

Thank you if you joined me on Facebook Live last Friday, and especially to Sue Pollock who leaves me lovely comments there as well as here on the blog. It sure is good to know that you are there and thank you all of you for your support.

A date for your diary is this coming Thursday and Friday when I will be on the 

Hochanda One Day Special 

Please join me there if you can

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

Friday Freebie - Exquisite Edges

Hi Everybody,

This weeks gift is from Die Cutting essentials and it is the beautiful two piece die set 

The video of this was Exquisite Edges and it will show you some of the ways in which I have used this die set

There isn't a card to go with this one but I will send you the magazine.

So if this is one that you would like to have to extend your own personal collection 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 name will be chosen and announced in a blog post over the weekend so be sure to come back and check if you enter the draw.

Don't forget to join me on Craft Stash Facebook Live at 1 pm today.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Black Fingers ....

Hi Everybody,

In several videos lately I have had to apologise for black fingers, and this is why they where black.

I have been creating some painted bottles and the base layer was black paint and it would not wash off.

It was just an ordinary matt black wall paint that I used and it as not expensive.

I made some of these for my daughter as she really loved the look of them and three of them now sit on her shelves in her lounge.

I get my unusual shaped empty bottle from my grandsons restaurant  and then once they are washed and any label soaked off them I start.

I cover them with items of old clothing and glue and leave them to dry. So these are covered in old tights that is ruched around the bottle in random areas

Then I add the bits and pieces to them, anything I have in my stash, and once the glue is dry again I paint them black all over.

These have pearls, keys, gemstones, glass pebbles and metal pieces all stuck in place

Then comes the fun part and I have used

  Arteza Metallic Acrylic Paint 

and a dry brush to add the iridescent look

This is my favourite one and I have kept this one for myself.

I used a mould to create the faces for this and surrounded them with flowers.

It has been painted in Arteza Metallic Pearl Green,

Pearl Electric Blue, Pearl White for the highlights and Gold to catch the tops of the beads

The flowers have been skimmed with Pearl Royal Purple and a little glitter and then I dotted gemstones around the bottle.

They look super effective and are an inexpensive way to decorate your home and recycle at the same time.

If you would like me to do some videos of some of my new projects then let me know.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx