Flower Power

Hi Everybody,

Just a simple little card for today and this one has been colored with Spectrum Noir Pencils.

I used some green stripe paper for my background and stamped Sheens Douglass'  Flower Power from her Little Bit Sketchy range.

I stamped the leaves and flourish in black and heat embossed and then colored them with the pencils.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment at the bottom of the page and one of the flowers behind it.

The rest of the flowers have been stamped heat embossed and colored then cut out and added to the card with foam pads to raise them up.

Into the flower centres I have added an acrylic flower head with a centre diamante then matted it all onto two shades of green and mounted it onto a dark green card base

Very simple .. very quick ... and pretty

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Pre Loved Items ...

Hi Everybody,

Not all crafters have a die cutting machine and dies and many crafters don't want one. But they do like to add the pretty shapes to their cards that make them stand out from the crowd.  If this is you and you are new to crafting then maybe you are looking for another way to get those shapes ... and this could be the answer.

These are embossing boards that you lay your card onto and then by running a stylus into the channels  on the board you can create the pattern on your card. Once you have cut it out you layer the shapes onto your base card for a really pretty effect

You don't need a light box and it is another way to get pretty shapes and patterns into the card if you don't have a die cutting machine and dies.

I have several Glitter Girls Embossing broads that are looking for somewhere new to live and they are complete with an ideas book for you to read.

This one is Celebration and the Ideas Book shows the steps you need to take to re create the look for your self.

The Majestic board can create some lovely flowers for you and beautiful shapes to add them to as the focal point for your cards.

There are Scalloped Ovals and a scalloped border along with a pretty bow to add to the top of the oval frame and the Ideas Book will show you more

The Ultimate  has some lovely candles and Christmas baubles along with delicate corners to make your cards look different

There are mats for to layer up or even create the whole base card shape from them.

You will never be short of ideas with the Ideas Book that is with the board as it is full of things for you to create

Elegance Fantasy  can create a lovely butterfly shaped card and decorate the wings any way you wish

There are borders and petals and on the other side there is a really large fan that would make a beautiful wedding card.

The  Ideas book  will show you even more that you can do with this one

This one is the Bookatrix and the Ideas Book will give you lots of ways to dress up this card.

It is the first one I bought and I have used it many many times with beautiful results.

Sold

And this board Dress To Impress comes with the DVD and it will create the most fantastic characters for you.

You choose the character  you want as they appear on the catwalk,  and the clothes you want him/her to wear and then print it off.

Then with the board you create the outfit and add it to your character and there are many  cute ones to choose from.

Children will love this and they can choose everything for the clothing them selves, as well as the texture of the animals fur.

Each of these boards,  complete with the book or DVD  is  £12.00 + P&P 
(The cost will depend on where you live and I have just sent one of these boards to Australia and the cost of postage was £10.75)

Please email me christina@card-making-magic.com if there is something that you are interested in.

But I only have one of each so first come first served.

Once you have emailed me I will invoice you through PayPal and the board will be on its way to you once payment has cleared.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

Tuesday Tutorial - Scalloped Pop Up Box

Hi Everybody,

Todays tutorial is a request for the beautiful Pop Up Box from Spellbinders  The page is photo heavy as I take you through the steps you need. So make yourself a cuppa and sit enjoy the photos as I show you how to make this pretty gift for yourself

Spellbinders Supplies: 

• S5-233 Scalloped Pop Up Box
• S4-371 Les Papillions
• S4-328 Foliage
• S6-032 Flower Play
• GC-200 Grand Calibur
• T-001 Tool in One
• T-003 Stylus 

Other Supplies:

• Want2Scrap pearls
• White/pale pink/pale yellow/deep pink/green card
• Lace
• Forest Moss/ Picked Raspberry/Wild Honey Distress Inks

Instructions:

With the largest die cut four panels from white card.

Cut three or four strips to fix into the centre of the box.

Cut  as many of the Lattice elements as you need to decorate your box.

For mine I used ten of the largest and six of the smallest

Cut the butterflies out of white card and ink through the die with Picked Raspberry before removing the card. 

Cut as many leaves as you wish to add to your card and ink with Forest Moss.

Using all the flower and leaf  sizes from Flower Play die set cut as many flowers as you wish to add to your card.

Keep any flowers and foliage that you don't use for another project. 

Ink the flower centres and the edges of these leaves  with a co responding ink. 

Build the flowers up into complete layered blooms and attach two leaves behind each flower.

You can stagger the sizes of the petals as you build ... and also create some smaller and medium sized blooms to add to your box.

Using the same card as the leaves to create some stems  means that they will not be prominent once added to the box.     So Now lets build the box !!

Fold three of the panels by folding the tab one way and the top score line the opposite way as shown in the photo.

On the panel you are using for the back of your box just fold the tab.

Glue the tabs and attach the panels together to form the box by layering one panel on top of the glued tab.

The unfolded panel will be the back of the box.

Fold each of the centre strips on each end and add these to the middle of the box just slightly down from the rim.

I added four strips to mine as I am going to fill it with lots of flowers.

Once you have these strips in place you can decorate the outside.

I have cut patterned card to add to the sides and the flaps so that it leaves a small border around the edge.

I have also cut two long panels for the back of the box and glued one inside and the other outside to reinforce it

Add in the lattice panels as you wish. I have put the larger ones around the top of the three flaps and four around all sides of the base

 I have added one at the top of the back panel and two on the other side to decorate the back making ten altogether

I have used the smaller ones to add as uprights and glued three to the edges of the top rim.  I have used three more around the bottom edge of the flaps

I have also added some lace around the bottom section.

Start to decorate the inside of the box working, from the back to the front.

Adding lots of leaves will disguise the inside and make a pretty frame for the flowers.

Add the flowers into the centre as pleases you.

Place the butterflies where you want them and add a sentiment of your choice.

Adding the long panel and some of the Lattice work makes the back of the box as pretty as the front and can be viewed from all angles.


Designers Tip:

Pushing the side of the box will make it lie flat and it will go into an oversized envelope.

But if you add as much depth as I have then you will need to make a separate box to send it through the post.

Once it is received by your recipient it will then open out into the beautiful free standing box you have created.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Clean Craft Room ...

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday was Formula One Day and Griff was glued to the telly, so I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to have a clear out in my craft room.  You would be amazed at the the things I came across up here and now that I have banished some to the trash can there is more room.

But I have several items that are excellent and I will be offering them at a good price as pre loved crafting goodies. I only have one of each item though so it's first come first served.

Today I am offering for sale some of the Glitter Girls embossing boards.  Some are the boards ... others have the book that tells you how to make the cards pictured and one has the DVD that creates the characters to fit the clothes on the board.


The first one is called  Framey  and this will help you to create frames and apertures on dark card as well as light.

You can create mats to layer onto your base and there are borders as well as a star that can be added once cut out.

The instruction sheet is with the board

This one is called Illusion and this one will help you to make boxes for your cards.

There are letters and numbers on one side so that you can monogram your projects. And there is a scroll that you can add the monograms too if you wish.

Add the bow to make the card extra pretty.  And this also comes with the instruction sheet.

Here we have Celebrations and on this board there are Champagne flutes and several borders for you to create.

There are entwined hearts with scalloped edges and  two horseshoes... and a really large centrepiece that can be embossed and layered onto your card base with places for you to add pearls or gemstones if you wish.

 This is the board called  Embellisher 

With this one you can create beautiful Ovals and Hearts that you can add flowers too as a centrepiece for your cards.

Or create an aperture, borders and a Christmas tree and the instruction leaflet will give you some extra ideas

These are an excellent way to start if you are new to cardmaking as they are ready to use straight away ... and a perfect alternative to die cutting.

You don't need anything extra other that a stylus and a craft knife to get busy making those lovely shapes to add to your designs.

All the boards are cellophane wrapped and are offered to you for £7.50 each + P&P  and that depends on where you live   (I would estimate about £3.50 for UK)

If there is one of these that you would like then please email me christina@card-making-magic.com  and the board will go to the first one.  I will then invoice you and once the payment is received the board will be on it's way to you.

Tomorrow is Tuesday Tutorial and so the next sale will be Wednesday when I will be showing you the boards that are for sale complete with the booklets .

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Ten - Bruges

Hi Everybody,

On the 11th August we had our last port to visit and this is Bruges.

Another really pretty city with trees and canals running through it.

Yesterday was a day at sea and after all the excitement of St Petersburg it was nice to just relax

This was a lovely day and a real pleasure to wander the streets and look at the gardens and the water.

Once again the weather was  kind to us and it was very warm.

We walked towards a park where the request was for silence ... but of course the hum of voices could still be heard.

In the park there are tree houses way up above us  and there are lots of them. Children are not allowed to climb the trees.

Below is the explanation of the tree houses ...

 Little cafes dot the streets inviting you in for lunch or coffee and cake and later on in the day they got very busy.

There are also lots of horse drawn caragies and our guide told us they are very well cared for.

They work for eight hours in one day and then have four days off to rest.

This tower is open to the public and all the people waiting at the bottom are going to climb the 300 or so steps to the top.

I wouldn't have the energy to do all that climbing ... plus my knees won't let me any more, but I bet the view from the top is wonderful.

This is a small selection of the lace that Belgium is famous for and it is very beautiful.

There where tablecloths, cushions, clothing in fact all sorts of things that had lace added to them.

And of course no trip to Belgium would be complete without some Belgium chocolate.

We went in to buy some and samples where being offered so it would have been rude to refuse ...and it was delicious.

This lady was coating fresh strawberries in chocolate and we managed to resist these delicacies.

But we did buy some to bring home.

So today we set sail for home, sailing overnight to reach Southampton at 6am.

It has been a wonderful two week holiday and we have enjoyed every city that we have been to, but it seems to have gone by so quickly

I hope you have enjoyed my Travel Tales over the last few days ... but next week it is back to normal and back to card making.

I have managed to keep the Tuesday Tutorial going while I have been away and  there will be a Friday Freebie added again so keep a look out for that.

Thank you for all your lovely comments

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx