Back Home ....

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for all your lovely comments to wish me well on my travels and now here I am back at home after the most wonderful trip to Spellbinders Ambassadors Retreat in Phoenix  and spending time with some amazing women.

We travelled to Phoenix airport on Sunday morning at 8.30 am and I arrived home at 10.30 am this morning after the overnight flight.  I don't know about you but I cannot sleep on an airplane and so now I am very tired.... but determined to stay awake until later tonight to try and get my body clock back to UK times

I will share some of the photos with you here but first of all lets deal with the Friday Freebie and the name that has been drawn is you ....

Jan Moss

If you would email me please 

christina@card-making-magic.com

I will get the card sent to you straight away.  Thank you all for your patience with this draw but we should soon be back to normal 

So on to the trip ...

Stacey greeted us all warmly and she has put an incredible amount of work to make  the  Retreat really special and we have been treated like royalty

We had workshops with both Stacey and Kim and made some really neat projects and lots of laughing in the process too

 

These two projects are using products from the new A Gilded Life range and this was such fun to work with

And of course I have brought some of the Bezels on the right of the picture back with me and will be using them on some cards as well as stand alone pieces of jewellery.

Both are much prettier than they look on the photo

This was a journal I made  and it has about 12 pages inside to record the interesting things that we learned

And again one of the Bezels has been used on the front of the book along with some ribbon and lace

Stacey did a  class with a mixed media canvas which is an area that was new to me but it is one that I will be trying again

And although it was messing about with paint it is yet another way to use your dies.

One of the things we did was take a day trip out to the beautiful red rock mountains in Sedona.

A magical and spiritual place.

It was a really warm day and we had lunch in fabulous lodge overlooking the most spectacular landscape

Then on the way back we stopped off to visit the art work and sculptures in another magical  red rock  place

We all had a try at pronouncing the name of this place ... can you ?

Inside this village there was a Pandora shop and I bought myself a little charm called Arizona Sunshine

I added it to my silver bracelet and now I have permanent reminder of my trip to Phoenix which is in Arizona

Of course no trip could go without a visit to the craft shop and this was the Spellbinders display in the Joanne's shop in Phoenix.

The stand was full and all with the new look packaging and very smart it looks too

There are lots of wonderful collections coming up and Spellbinders and Stacey are working hard in the background to bring you the very best.

The Victorian Collection  ... which was designed by Stacey  ...was just a taster of the wonderful things to come

Stay with me on this new journey with Spellbinders working with new designs ... new ideas ... and new ways to work those die templates.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie 033

Hi Everybody,

Todays card in the Friday Freebie range is one using the Striplet dies from Sue Wilson.

I got my set from JGD Crafts  and there are many of Sues' dies for you to choose from

I have teamed the teal color with white and a touch of yellow for effect.

The beautiful flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and into them I have added one of my   pearl sprays   (video tutorial)

The ribbon is from Mei Flower  and I have tied it in a double bow.

The sentiment is from Crafters Companion    Sentimental range

So if you would like to win this card then all you have to do is become a follower and then leave me a comment

From the comments  a name will be drawn from the hat and the winner will be notified in tomorrows post.

Then you have to send me your postal address and I will send the card to you wherever you live

More tomorrow ...  

Hugs xx

Juicy Oranges ...

Hi Everybody,

Here is a little card that I sat and colored  in a moment of relaxation.

I got out the Spectrum Noir Pens and Pencils and set to work.

Clicking the link will take you to their Blog pages and there you will find more of the tutorials that I did for Spectrum Noir

The image is from the CD by Crafters Companion that accompanies the pencil tuition

The ribbon and pearls centre are from my "Stash" and I have matted and layered the whole panel onto orange card

The sentiment is stamped in  Spiced Marmalade and embossed in clear powder.

The colors used for this image are ...
Fruit    OR1 TN3 TN6 TN7 Pencils 020, 022,   091
Leaves   CG2 DG2 DG4 Pencils 056,  058,
Blossoms  PP1 PP3  Pencils 037
Shadow IG2 IG3 IG4 and Blender to soften the pointillism around the fruit.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Colored Glue Background ...

Hi Everybody,

This post for the next few days are all scheduled to go out because as you read this I will be preparing to go on my adventure to Phoenix USA for the Ambassadors retreat with Spellbinders

I thought I would get in a quick, fun tutorial before I go and this is the card that was made from this technique. There is not a die used on this  and no flowers either.

It is a quick and easy way to use your colored glues and they come in many colors ... and don't forget the glitter glues too.

This one to the right uses Cosmic Shimmer in Pastel Pink, Blue and Green

And all I have done it wrap it with pink satin ribbon from Mei Flower

The  card to the left has used some  Pearly Scrumptious glue in pearl Pink, Blue and Ivory and I must admit that this is my favorite.

Again it has been wrapped in satin ribbon with a pearl cntre over the knot.

So scroll down for the video ... it's only five minutes long.

Once I get back home I will be adding more tutorials and passing on any tips and techniques that I learn while I am away.

I hope you enjoy both the video and the technique.

I will try to blog as much as I can while I am in Phoenix but please bear with me if I miss a day or am perhaps late with a post.

I have not forgotten the Friday Freebie  either and have scheduled a lovely card to go out on the day 

More tomorrow from wherever I am ...

Hugs xx

The Draw is Done ...

Hi Everybody,

Here we are with another Saturday morning and it is cold and wet here in the North West UK.

Somebody informed me yesterday that it is only seven weeks to Christmas and I can't think about that yet as I have too many things that I need to do first.

The first thing I need to do today is tell you who the winner of the blue card is and the name that has been drawn is ...

Paula ...

can you please email me

christina@card-making-magic.com

your postal address and the card will be on its way to you.

You only have until Sunday evening to claim the card as I am going away very early on Monday and would like to post it to you before I go. 

In the event of the card not being claimed then I will re post it when I come back.  

But I already have another card scheduled for next the Friday Freebie ... and its not pink !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx