Remembering Griff

Thank you all so much for the messages, cards and beautiful flowers that have been sent over the death of my amazing husband. I am so very grateful for the 21 years that we had together and Griff will be missed by all his family members.  

I am not going into detail about things but to answer some of the questions I am getting from people I will share this.

We took him to hospital on the Sunday morning. After several tests he was placed into a deep sleep and taken to the Intensive Care Unit.

It was here that he died at 10.45 on Monday the 12th November without knowing that he had the one thing he feared the most Cancer

We were all with him and he was surrounded by loving hands and gentle words. We are all stunned at the speed of the decline and we will miss him very much.

Not one of us can go back to our own homes and not see some job that Griff did for us.

His work was perfection and he loved being a builder who never knew how to say "No" to anybody

The funeral will be held at Lytham Crematorium
FY8 4AB

 29th November at 3.30

If you knew him and would like to say "Goodbye" then you are more than welcome. 

Please don't send flowers, make a donation to Cancer Research UK as that will help them to conquer this awful disease

Here are some videos to show the fun times we had with Griff over the years.💔

This was a family trip he organised for both our families to Grassington and it was a fabulous day out 

This is Isabella' House that he so carefully put into the back garden when she was three

Griff

I am sorry I cannot blog at present. My handsome wonderful  Griff died last night and I am unable to speak

NEC Birmingham

Hi Everybody,

It's taken me a little while to add these photos and that is because I have not been well this week. But these are from the NEC Craft Show that I as at last week.

It was amazing to see my name up there and to stand in front of tables that are filled with my designs.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all that Practical Publishing and Craft Stash have done for me.

The whole team is fantastic and I enjoy going into their offices to see them all.

These guys are the team that I was working with on the Sunday and I did enjoy it. 

It was lovely to meet up with people who visit my blog and website as well as YouTube and I had some lovely comments from them all.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

Feeling much better today and hoping to be back to normal next week. Thank you for all the kind wishes and your understanding. My voice is almost there and so i will start the vidoes again too next week.

The draw for the card and gift has been done for the beautiful A4 stamp set from yesterday. You can have a lot of fun with this stamp set and make some great cards for male and female. 

The name chosen today is ...

Jean Marmo

so would you email me please with your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will pop it in the post to straight away

I hope you will enjoy playing with it and please let me know that you have it safely

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Bright and Breezy

Hi Everybody,

Today's card is from Creative Stamping and it was out in March this year.

There are some fabulous stamps on this set and you can create your own scenes for any occasion

The video showed you some of the ways in which I used it  and here it is to refresh your memory... 

Bright & Breezy

Now if you would like to have this set in your own collection then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post and from them a name will be chosen at random to be the winner.

You will need to come back in the morning and see if it is your name that is shown. 

You will have 72 hours in which to claim it and if you don't then it will be offered again at another time.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Creative Stamping 64 Classic Winter Scenes

Hi Everybody,

Please forgive my absence from Blogging but I have not been well since I got back from the NEC at the weekend.

I had a very enjoyable time meeting all of you who came over to say hello so thank you for that.

And today I have done the video for the new magazine that will be on sale on Thursday and I sound really croaky in it.

I hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment of the film and I will be back to normal again soon.

The featured designer this month is John Lockwood and he has created some lovely stamps that can be used all year round. The dies with it will help you to cut out the circle toppers neatly to add to your creations.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

Today I am going down to Birmingham to join the crew at the NEC. This is a large craft show where you can buy all the latest goodies to use in your crafting whatever it is. Last year I went as a visitor and bought all sorts of items. But this year I will be working and I hope you will pop along and say "Hello"

I will be part of the Practical Publishing stand E10 and we are in Hall 20 and it would be lovely to meet you especially if you visit my blog, website or YouTube channel. Then I can add faces to the names that pop up regularly in my comments boxes

But for now the draw has been done for the Christmas Treats die on offer from Card Making Magic yesterday, and I have three to give away to ...

Maureen Killen

Michelle Coffey

Terri Rodrigue

so if you could all email me your postal addresses please to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

the gifts will be on their way to you as soon as I can.

Please bear with me as I am away and wont be back at my desk until Monday.

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Christmas Treats Die Set

Hi Everybody,

This little gift is another from
Card Making Magic

It was given away with Die Cutting Essentials only a few weeks ago and it is a fun set to play with ALL year round.

The video to show you some of my ideas is

Christmas Treats 

There are two sets pictured along with the cards but I have THREE of these to give away and although it is not pictured it will have a card that I will send with it to the winner.

So would you like on of these sets of dies?

If you would then all you have to do is leave me a comment with your FULL NAME and from those the names will be chosen 

I will add them to the blog post tomorrow so be sure to come back and check if it yours that is shown. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Gilding Flakes & Glitter Snowflakes

Hi Everybody,

As promised here is the video to show you how I made the beautiful snowflakes with glitter

and also gilding flakes.

They are very easy to make and I made loads of them in an afternoon and then got busy and made my cards.

So guess what the theme for my Christmas Cards is this year .... Yep ! Snowflakes

But every one is different depending on how you stack them together, and they can also be used as Birthday cards or invitations to your party too.

So I hope you enjoy the video and will make some of these for your self. 

You can always use pre-glittered card if you preferred or mirror card for a shiny look to your design

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Simply Cards & Papercraft 184 - Scenic Nativity

Hi Everybody,

The gift with this months Simply Cards and Papercraft is a really useful scene builder die of four pieces.

And although it is called Scenic nativity it is a set that can be used all year round

In the video I have tried to show you one way to use it as a change from all the Christmas cards I have been making

So I hope you enjoy it and the sentiment gives you a laugh ... I wouldn't want to go places on the back of a camel, would you ??

The magazine will be in your shops tomorrow and so if this is a set that you would like then get there early to be sure of your copy.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Glitter Snowflakes

Hi Everybody,

Today's card is created with some of the Glitter Card that is available at Craft Stash  and it is easy to cut with the snowflake dies.

I have used a selection of dies from Spellbinders to make my design in suitable colours and then stacked them all together for effect

I created the background with greetings from my Christmas Collection of stamps and then added in some stamped snowflakes also.

This was easy to make and tomorrow I am going to do the video of how I made them but I will be using Gilding Flakes instead of Glitter Card.

So I hope you will pop back and see the video when I add it to the Blog on Thursday. And I hope you enjoy it if you view 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Baby Wipe Technique ...

Hi Everybody,

Creating backgrounds and playing can produce some fantastic results and for this one all I used was some  Distress Oxide re-inkers and cheap baby wipes.

I am sure that at some point you were thinking that I must have lost the plot ... but bear with me through the video and see the end result.

I am really pleased with all of them and by using different die cuts with them I managed to achieve nine cards, and there's no waste either

Vary the colours you use for another look and try it with any paints, alcohol inks or distress re-inkers and see what result you get. 

But be prepared to get messy as I did. 

And even if you don't like the look as you make them keep going to make them up and they will look totally different as cards.

I added all my panels to an embossed piece of card created with the Quatrefoil Embossing folder from Card Making Magic 

And I used mostly the same Happy Birthday sentiment throughout.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Ruby Update - Lovely Day, Long Walk

Hi Everybody,

Today it is really sunny and my mum and I have had a good walk with Dougal and Vickie along the beach.

Here I am in my new red coat, stood on the garden bench waiting patiently to go, and I only barked at a few people who dared to walk past my house.

We walk along the beach and then my mum and Vickie stop for a coffee in the dog friendly cafe. They do Doggy sausages in there too and Dougal and I had one each Mm mmm !!

We are out for about 3 hours and we run around like mad chasing each other or the ball, until one of  us loses it and then we have to buy another !!

Once we get home again it's lunchtime and then I can settle down for a  little nap for few hours

This is me having cuddles with my Daddy on the rug and loving every minute of it.

More again soon ...

Kisses from Ruby xx

Card and Gift Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

Lovely day here this morning ... cold but sunny, and as usual lots to do. 

It is Formula One weekend and so Griff will be attached to the TV and I will be up in the craft room with all my bits and pieces.

Ruby will be out for her long Sunday morning walk and maybe a roast beef dinner. 

Now onto the winners of the set that was on offer yesterday which is the

 Best Of Card Making Magic.

This really is a full gift of an A4 stamp set and four matching dies and there are lots of ways to put this to good use.

So the two names chosen today are ...

Sheila Price

and 

Jenny Hurley

Pleas email me your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the gifts will be on their way to you.

You have 72 hours in which to claim them and please let me know that you have them safely

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - The Best Of Card Making Magic

Hi Everybody,

So to round off October I am giving away two more prizes  from Card Making Magic 

This is the gift that was with my favourite magazine Simply Cards & Papercraft and it is a huge set.

It consists of a large A4 stamp set and four matching dies and I did a video to show you some of the cards that I made with them all

 The Best of Card Making Magic

Now if you would like to win one of these gifts and one of the cards that I made, then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the bog post, and add your FULL NAME, to be entered into the draw. 

From those comments two names will be chosen at random and added to the blog post tomorrow.

So you will need to come back and check if it is your name that is shown.

You will have 72 hours in which to claim the prize.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 44 - O Christmas Tree

Hi Everybody,

This lovely Christmas tree is the exclusive gift that is with Die Cutting Essentials this month and it will be on sale tomorrow the 25th October

The featured card is just one way in which I have used the die and there are lots more that you can try.

The video will show you how I got two cards from one die cut by using the positive and negative pieces.

So there is no waste with this and you can achieve this with almost any die cut shape that you can create

Keep a look out for this pack on the shelves if this is a die that you would like to have and make some really pretty cards for the holiday season to send to family and friends

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Floral Easel card & Box

Hi Everybody,

It's many years ago that I last did a video for an

Easel card and so I have decided to up date the process in a new video.

It has been requested by some YouTube followers and I was happy to oblige.

I am very happy with the result and the matching box that I created to go with it.

I used my 6x6 Collection  and added embellishments from the new Decorative Collection

So here is the video for you to view and if you have never tried an Easel Card then give it a go ... it's easy I promise you.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Enjoy Your Day ...

Hi Everybody,

Butterflies are always a firm favourite with card makers and I love to add them to my projects too.

This cards is created with items from my own collections  and they are listed at the bottom of the page

All are available from Craft Stash and the butterflies them selves are stamped with Distress Ink onto Vellum in a soft Shaded Lilac

The Distress Ink stays wet for some time on the Vellum to give you the chance to add the embossing powder and heat set it. 

Make sure that you get the heat tool really hot and bring it to the Vellum in short bursts so as not to burn or warp it in the process

With the pearl flourishes cut them into smaller pieces so that you can add them without getting tangled up ... and you only need small swirls for the butterfly trails any way

The result is a very delicate card and I was happy with the result at the end, and it made a very pretty birthday card for a friend

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card &Gift Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

Late start for me today but I have had a really good week. And next week is set to be even busier with videos, cards and some new designs that will be with you soon. I really enjoyed the workshop that I did last Wednesday and Steven has left me a message on the blog post to say he enjoyed the day too despite being called Pete .... and I even spelled his name wrong in the process !!

I will try not to spell these names wrong for today's winners that have been drawn from the hat this morning. You are going to get the really pretty die set from

Card Making Magic 

The names to day are ....

Anniek Dunn

and 

Isabel Guntar

please can you email me your postal address and the gifts will be on their way to you.

I hope you will enjoy them and please let me know that you have them safely.

You have 72 hours to claim the prize.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Radiant Butterflies

Hi Everybody,

The card and gift this week are the free gift from Card Making Magic 

This was given away with Die Cutting Essentials earlier this year and it is a lovely die set

The video to accompany this set is 

Radiant Butterflies and I have two of these to give away.

So if you would like to win one of them then all you need to do is leave me a comment with your FULL NAME to be in with the chance.

From those comments two names will be drawn and the winners announced in tomorrows blog post so be sure to come back and check if it is your name that is listed

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Workshop Day ...

Hi Everybody,

So yesterday was a fun day spent in Stockport with the winners of the competition to have a creative workshop day with me.
They came from all over the country and some of them travelled a good distance to get there. We where eight ladies and one man and I think Stephen was very brave with all these women !!

 But we had a lovely day and Practical Publishing provided a buffet lunch for us all with tea and coffee flowing all day.

All went away happy with their makes and the "Goodie" bag that PP had given to them as well as some Decorative Hatpins as my gift to them also. 

The little film was part of the day crafting, chatting and having fun and I have to say a big

 THANK YOU 

to all who came.

Especially to Debra for her bow tutorial and to Stephen who tolerated me really well when for some inexplicable reason I repeatedly called him Pete ... Pete where did I get that from ???

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Papercraft Essentials 166 - Winter Wonderland

Hi Everybody,

Using the exclusive gift with this months Papercraft Essentials I have created this Shaker card.

I used Vellum for the window instead of the usual Acetate to give a frosty appearance and the sequins I filled it with are white and silver

The background is Letter-Pressed and in the video I show you how I did this with clear powder to give a Tone on Tone look

The magazine will be on sale on the 18th October, so keep a look out if you would like this gift to help you make some of your cards this Christmas

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tonic Craft Kit 15 - Momento Book Maker

Hi Everybody,

This is not a card but a really pretty book that would make a perfect Christmas present, and you can add as many pages as the rings will hold.

There are dies to produce the covers and the pages for the book and corners for you to decorate them.

There is a tiny piece that will enable you to cut photo holders and layers that you may want to add to create extra pockets inside the covers.

Everything you need to decorate the book is in the kit and I have used a really inexpensive Copier paper to get the pages 

You can make this for any member of your family, male of female just use the colours that are more appropriate for your recipient 

I have used die from previous kits ( 5 and 10 ) in the project but you can use any dies that you have.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Sunny Yellow Colour Scheme

Hi Everybody,

This is a card that I really liked the look of once it was finished. It was a magazine gift that I covered earlier this year and another that I enjoyed playing with

The colour scheme of yellow and blue was fresh and bright and I think they work well together.

If you think of the colours in nature then you can see examples everywhere of those that will work together ... and that is where I take a lot of my inspiration from.

Then go home and try to replicate that scheme on a card. If you like it then you will use it again and if you don't nothing is lost ... just start over. But there are not many colours in nature that will not work together

Use shades from the same family of either cool colours or warm ones on the one design, trying not to mix them together. Cool colours have tones of blue in them and warm colours have tones of red. 

So look carefully at your paints, pens, inks, sprays, pencils or whatever medium you like to use and decide ... is it cool or is it warm ? Is it pastel or bold ? 

Use a colour wheel to help you as that will show you where the colours sit in relation to each other. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Brusho Die Cut

Hi Everybody,

This card was made some time ago when I was playing with the Brusho Crystal Colours.

They are such a lovely way to play and can be used in a variety of ways. For this card I have simply spritzed the card with water and then added the crystals.

But you can mix a small amount of the powder with water onto your craft mat and use them as water colours.

But be warned a little goes a long long way so use sparingly and the colours are very vibrant too.

I used a die that I bought many years ago and I can't remember the name of the die or where I got it from,  but I have teamed it with the sentiment from my 6x6 Box and Card die set

Quick and easy card and with maybe a change of colour ideal for a male one

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

Hope you are all going to have a good weekend and lots of relaxation ...  if that is your choice. I know that some of you have crafting weekends and that is what I will be doing today ... filming as I go along.

I am also preparing for the winners of the "Workshop with Christina" which takes place on the 17th October.  If you entered then "Thank You" for taking part and if you are one of the winners then I shall be delighted to meet you all this coming Wednesday in Stockport.

Back to today , the draw for the two Peacock dies that I have has been done and the two names are ...

Linda Batson

and

Denise Bryant

So would you both please email me your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the gifts will be on the way to you straight away

You have 72 hours to claim them and if not claimed they will be offered again at a later date.

Two more gifts on offer next week

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Pretty Quick Stained Glass Peacock

Hi Everybody,

These Pretty Quick dies are the gift that was free with Die Cutting Essentials 38 and they are one way of making a card with just the one die.

There are lots of things that can be done with it ... like paper piecing, colouring, acetate etc.

The video that featured this die is here

Pretty Quick Stained Glass Peacock 

I have two of these to Give Away this week  but each card is different and I don't know which one you will get, but if you would like one of them then all you need to do is leave me a comment with your full name to be in with the chance

Don't forget to come back in the morning to see if your name is shown as one of the winners as you have 72 hours in which to claim it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Making Magic - Christmas Poinsettia

Hi Everybody,

Today's card is on the Christmas theme and it's not that far away now.  The card shown is much better in the hand and would need to go into a box because of the depth to the flowers.

I decided to film it and let you see the process I went through to create it and in particular how to get the thin border around the centre piece.

For this I used the Fancy Nesting Circles  and all my collection is available only at Craft Stash

I am being asked a lot about the tape that I am using at present and it is from Amazon.

It is Scotch 3M Double Coated Urethane and although it is very good and lasts me quite a long time it is not cheap. 

Shop around and if you find it cheaper please let me know too ...

More tomorrow 

Hugs xx

Creative Stamping 63 - 12 Days of Christmas

Hi Everybody,

This months Creative Stamping has a totally awesome gift attached and it is one you can use over and over again and ALL year round.

The images are large and can make a complete focal point for your designs and they are easy to colour in your favourite medium

I used Copics on all of mine and I really enjoyed playing with them.

Here is the video for you to see how I made an Easel card with the set

This card was made into a birthday card using the floral arrangement  and there are many more smaller stamps to make a background to suit your own personal needs.

It is going to be in the shops on the 11th October and I would imagine that it will go quickly as it is an old and traditional song that most people will know and it never goes out of date

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Birthday Diamonds ...

Hi Everybody,

This quick and simple card was created for a magazine some time ago and all I have done is colour the waste diamonds from another card

They have been added to an embossed background with foam tape underneath to raise them up.

The word has been cut from the alphabet that was the gift with the magazine and the other sentiments stamped and cut then added to the card.

Really easy to do and yet so effective for male or female and any age group. 

You could even add the age number if it was for a child as they always like to tell their ages ... and will even add the half or three quarters to it !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Time For Tea ...

Hi Everybody,

These pretty cards are created with some of the new Coffee/Tea dies from Spellbinders and they make quick and easy cards.

Perfect if you wanted to invite friends round for a coffee morning or a lovely afternoon tea

The sentiment is from a magazine gift that was out a while ago and it came in to good use on this design

I have used Copics to colour both and for the top one I used a flower stamp to add the pattern to the card

For the one to the left I used a white gel pen to add the pattern.

The pen was  a bit on the dry side though and it wouldn't colour smoothly

It still turned out to be a pretty card but I thought I could try edging the rim and the handle with some gold and see how that looked

Here is the card once I had done that and it does look better with the gold paint.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Two Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

Another weekend is with us and although I will be busy today,  I have a day off tomorrow to do with as I please. Ruby and I will be going for our long walk with Vickie and Dougal so fingers crossed it doesn't rain.

Every night, anywhere between 7-9pm I get the "Look" off Ruby and if I ignore her she climbs up onto the settee and puts her paws on my shoulders. Then no matter what I am doing she will not leave me alone. She is telling me ..."Get your shoes on mum and take me for a walk ...." and so that is what I have to do, even if it is raining we have to go out for our evening jaunt. 

I swear that dog knows the time better than me 

The draw for yesterdays prize has been done and the two winners today are ...

Heidi Turcios

and

Pippa Price

please can you email me your postal addresses to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the packs will be on their way to you straight away.

You have 72 hours to claim the gifts.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Coffee Break

Hi Everybody,

Another fabulous twosome to give away this week and this was the gift offered in simply Cards & Papercraft of a stamp and die set 

It was shown in the video from May this year called Coffee Break  and I had a lot of fun playing with this set.

You can win one of these if you leave me a comment with your full name and it is chosen  as the winner.  

You will have 72 hours in which to claim it but I don't know which of the cards will be in your pack and it is not a problem if you have won one before.

But you will need to come back and check if it is you who has won 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Simply Cards & Papercraft 183 Bauble Opulence

Hi Everybody,

There is a lovely stamp and die set on offer this month with Simply Cards & Papercraft 183 from the Sentimentally Yours range by Phil Martin

Making cards for Christmas seems to be gathering pace now as we get nearer to the day.

And of course if you post many then you will need to consider the last time to post for cards you send abroad

In the video I have done a 2 for 1 because there is no waste at all with this type of card and you can use this idea with any of your dies.

There is also a super offer of a Card Making Magic Bundle that is free if you subscribe to this magazine and I am adding the video to tell you about that offer also

So I hope you enjoy both of the videos and the making of the shaker card and if you are new to card making then give it a go ... it is quite easy to do I promise you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cutting Essentials 43 - Christmas Treats

Hi Everybody,

Another fabulous die set is the gift with Die Cutting Essentials this month will help you to make some fun cards for ALL year round

For this card I created the Mason Jar as a Snow Globe and there are lots of ways that you can use this for your own designs.

I had a lot of fun playing with this one and creating expressions for the altered gingerbread men

And this would be perfect for a child especially if you added their name or age to it

Don't be afraid to get out the black or white pens to add features to the die cut faces.

Some of mine look as if they are groaning under the weight of all their friends at the top.

Let the video give you some fun ideas for some of your cards this year

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Floral Card

Hi Everybody,

A pretty pink floral card for today created with the Layered Florals Die Set from Card Making Magic

For the background I have used a stencil and some embossing paste to give a raised look to the trellis

It is much better in the hand and has lots of touchy feely parts to it, and the pearls in the centre of the flowers add even more.

I like to work with embossing paste and you can colour this to suit your needs by adding just a little bit colour from your ink pads

I also like the pastel look to this card and it would be suitable for may occasions throughout the year.

More tomorrow ... 

Hugs xx

Bright and Cheerful Year Ahead ...

Hi Everybody,

This card is a million miles away from the traditional colour way for Christmas, but it is one I would be happy to sit on my mantelpiece over the holiday season.

The aperture in the front  is created with the Christmas Tree Die Set from Card Making Magic 

 The background to the tree is the Holly Panel Die and I have coloured it with Copics before adding it into the opening and layering it over white glitter card

The  Card Making Magic Collection is available at Craft Stash and there is a whole lot for you to choose from.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx