Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

January 16, 2016

International Ambassadors Informal Blog Hop

Hi Everybody,

Once a month some of the International Ambassadors have a blog hop and for this month we have chosen our favorite season as our theme.

If you are a regular follower of my blog then you will know that I love to make cards that are summery and full of flowers, ribbon and pearls and so this is the perfect theme for me.

I have also chosen to use my favorite dies for the card and the Victorian Collection was one that I really fell in love with when it was launched..

The beautiful flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I love the arrangement for my summer display.

The blog hop is the way for you to get to know our individual styles and we would love it if you would visit each of us and leave us your comments.

The others are ...

Christine Emberson  - UK 
Linda Lucas  - Australia
Yvonne van de Grijp - Netherlands
Christina Griffiths - that's me

Thank you for visiting and for all your support. I hope you enjoy the hop

Tomorrow I will announce the winner of the Friday Freebie so please pop back then to see if it is you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx





January 15, 2016

Friday Freebie 101

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is in white with a touch of silver and that beautiful fabric rose.

It is a 5x7 card and could be for any occasion that deserves a celebration.

If you would like to win this card then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post .

Then pop back in the morning to see if yours is the name chosen as the winner

I am happy to send the card to anywhere that you live  and I would appreciate it if you would let me know when it arrives with you.

So add your comment and keep your finger crossed.... but if you don't win this one there will be another card on offer next week.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

January 14, 2016

Butterfly Frame

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is one that is featured on Craft Stash  and is from their Apple Blossom collection.

For this one I have used the Butterfly  Frame  but I kept the loose pieces in the die with some tape.

I cut it twice and layered it up and then added the butterflies as extras to the frame

More have been dotted around on the flowers and I added pearls along the body line of each one.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and into the centre of the largest flower I have added a tiny  Glitter Ball  also from WOC

The card is a 5x7 and the base is made with card from Papermill Direct

The patterned paper is from Anna Griffin and is some that I brought back from Phoenix with me in 2014

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx


January 13, 2016

Love those Birds !!

Hi Everybody,

These cards have all been made with the  Bird Crazy stamp from Tim Holtz and I have had so much fun with them.

They are not gender specific and so you can turn them into male or female cards with the flick of your pen.

 I have added stripes and spots to some of mine to make them look different

I also bought the sets called  Crazy Things  which creates items that you can add to the birds like ties and hats, and  Crazy Talk  for sentiments to go with them.

I also bought the matching dies too.



 I water coloured mine with Gansai Tambi  water color paints

I used Glossy Accents on the balloons and eyes and left them to dry overnight.

The base cards are all the same design in different colours and  the birds die cut and added to the front

This fabulous stamp set is sure to keep you amused for months on end and I will certainly be playing with them again

You can ring the changes for so many occasions with these and you will never be bored once the imagination gets fired up.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

January 12, 2016

Tuesday Tutorial A2 Basics

Hi Everybody,

For todays tutorial I have used nothing but the basic dies that you may already have in your crafting "Stash".   These are some of the dies that we buy and then push to one side for the fancier ones.

But they are so useful in that they can give you a beautiful base card with the embossed edges, and also lovely ovals, or other shapes,  to layer onto your base.
Spellbinders Supplies:
Other Supplies:

With the largest die from the rectangles in Matting Basics A cut two in white card and  Create a Hinged Card
With the largest die from the B set cut a patterned layer and then in between these two hand cut another layer in plain pink that leaves a small border around the patterned layer
From the stamp set choose the character that you wish to use and stamp and heat emboss it onto the card. Colour any way you prefer.
Choose the plain die that surrounds your character from the Classic Ovals and then from the plain pink card cut another layer from the Classic Scalloped dies to leave a small border around the coloured image.
Cut a larger Scalloped layer from the pink card and use another patterned card that matches the colours scheme with the plain oval.

The size you use will depend on which character you use and which words. And the positioning of them.  The blue card at the bottom of the page is set out differently to the pink one at the top
Layer them together with foam tape in between to give dimension to your card.
Here are the layers that I have and I can now add them together.
I have offset the character on my card and wrapped all the layers with lace and ribbon before adding them to the base.
I have added tiny pearls into the corners as a finishing touch.
This card has used the same die sets, card, ribbon, lace and pearls. I have chosen another stamp from the same set and created this card in blue.
I have used a white gel pen to add Polka Dots to each character

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx