Got Some Marbles ???

If you have children the chances are they will have some marbles and  you need to borrow about three of four of them.

And if you don't  then you will have to do what I did  ... and pinch some off the kids next door.

This is another tutorial that has been around for some time ... but it's not quite as messy as yesterdays idea.

The   Rolling Marble Technique  is another fun effect to add to your cards and  it goes particularly well with those that you create for boys.

Vary the colours of the alcohol inks if you want a more feminine look and roll the marbles more or less to give another take on things. 

The white buttons have been coloured with Promarkers to match the scheme of the card, and threaded with a bit of string.

Hugs xx

Messy but fun ...

This tutorial was one I added to the Card Making Magic website a few years ago and it is very messy ... but the effect is different from any thing else.

The   Crushed Flower Tutorial   got many comments.

One lady wrote to say that it took her a long time to realise that I was actually using real flowers and leaves. 

You will need a die cutting machine to roll the flowers through, and  pick your flowers when they are just going off.

The flowers for both of these cards are from a beautiful pink Hydrangea that is in my garden and the leaves from my Virginia Creeper.

But the result at the other end is nothing like the original flowers that I used.

I have Watercoloured the flowers with a Big 'N Juicy ink pad.

These inks have several different colours in the one  pad and I have  used a different area of the pad each time to create the shading and defintion to each flower.

I have sprinkled Glamour Dust on the petals and added  small pearls to the flowers centres.

The photos don't really show you just how pretty this effect is but you will be very surprised with what you get if you give it a try.

Don't be surprised though when a pink flower produces a completely different colour at the other end ...it's all part of the fun.

Hugs xx

 

Car Boot buy

In the glorious sunshine over the weekend we went  bargain  hunting at the local Car Boot sale.

Now I know this is not to everybodies taste and most of it is junk .... but whatever the junk is,  to somebody else it could be a treasure.

I was looking in paricular for a  spice jar rack and  we  wandered  around with no luck.

Then  on  the  very last stall there it was ... shouting at me to buy it ..... so I did.

It cost me a couple of  pounds and it needed a really good clean,  but here it is scrubbed up and polished and  already in use.

It is  sitting on my worktop  with all the  little pieces  to be used  whenever I need that little embellishment to  adorn my card.

Another good storage idea ... though not a car boot buy ... is to use up the empty cases that your CD's are bought in.

They have lids and a central post to keep everything together.

This one has had my little paint pots glued to an old CD  and each disc will hold six of the pots.

Then when you are finished painting  just allow them to dry out again and then stack them in the holder,  pop the lid,  which is just visible behind,  back on. 

You will be able to store about four layers in the smaller holders.

This is one of the taller ones and it houses all my glues.

They all sit neatly on the tray and the lid keeps them all safe and clean.

Then when they are getting low I can store them upside down to make sure I get every last drop of the precious glue.

This recylcing is much better than throwing things away ... you just need to look at things in a different way.

Now how many of you have said   "Oh!  I've just thrown one of those away ...."  Tut Tut !!

Hugs xx

Sunflower Bear

This little bear is an image  that I have had  for quite some time and  she is  from   Lili of the Valley  

There are some really prety stamps there for all ages and occasions and a new range especially for boys has just been added to the collections.

She has been coloured with  the new Alcohol Colouring System ...  Spectrum Noir  ...  from Crafters Companion and there are many colours in the range.

They are very easy to work with and there are lots of things that can be done with the pens  apart from just colouring in.

The Spellbinders used are in BOLD so that you will know what has been used to create the card.

The image has been cut with the Lacy Ovals from Spellbinders and it has been mounted onto a large Scalloped Oval

The background is done with the Imperial M-Bossabilities folder and gives a lovely raised area.

I was asked   "What is the diference between embossing folders and masks?"   and so I have tried to answer the question in  a video that has been added to the website.

Adding Texture to Cards  is a short video ... but for those new to cardmaking I hope it will answer the question.

Because the  Bear is holding a Sunflower I thought it would be fun to add a large one from the Sun Flower Set   from Spellbinders.

It is a die I don't use very often and the centre has been created from one of the new Bauble Blossoms.

All the petals to the flower have been inked with Distress Inks and in the centre I  have added a piece of Card Candi from  Craftwork Cards

There are many colours and patterns in this small but useful embellishment  and there are lots of things that can be done with it.

The lovely Gemstone  Flourish is from   Want2Scrap   and adds the necassary finishing touch.

Hugs xx

Back Home ...

Here I am again ... back home, happy and relaxed.

It has been a fabulous break away in Edinburgh and the weather has been so good to us. 

I have white marks around my eyes where my sunglasses have been ... and my nose and cheeks are pink and glowing ...

I look like an owl as my glasses cover most of my eyes area ... stupid woman !!

There is so much to see  and do and I would have been happy to stay for a lot longer .... and still not seen it all.

We walked for miles and miles wih regular breaks for a nice Cappucino.

This is the heel of my shoe  which decided to fall off  after we had walked to the top of  Calton Hill.  So I  had to find a shoe shop and buy some more to carry on with the rest of the day.

We spent hours in Edinburgh Castle and this is the gunner getting ready to fire the Salute over the city.

This ceremony is carried out every day at One-o-clock to mark the exact time and there were hundreds of people there waiting to watch.... and  you are going to love the next photo .....

This puff of smoke was the actual firing of the gun which was so loud that I ... and several others ... jumped a mile

So the smoke cloud is all I got.... but of course my film crew filmed the whole thing !! ... and my watch was two minutes slow too.

Another of our visit was to the Peoples Museum where I spent several minutes queing patiently behind a family group of people waiting to go in .... only to realise that they where manequins and part of the exhibition.

I won't tell you what my film crew said ...

So tomorrow I am going to add some new cards but for the rest of today I and my film crew are going to soak up the rest of the sunshine .... after the Formula One has finished  that is... coz at present he is glued to the telly.

Hugs xx