Water Colour Wednesday - Strike up the Band !

Hi Everybody,

These cute mice are from My Favorite Things and it is called Strike Up The Band

It has a separate die set that you can purchase and there are six mice altogether with different instruments.

Both are available from Sevenhills Crafts

I have masked off areas and added the mice in the position I wanted them and then water coloured them with Gansai Tambi.

I think this card would be suitable for any age group .. male or female .. and could be for other occasions too either using other sentiments in the set or another set that you may have

Exciting news for me .... I became a Great Grandmother for the second time at 4.49 this morning when my Granddaughter Robyn gave birth to 8 lbs 11 ozs boy to be named Carter. We will get to meet him later and both are well. There's a good reason to strike up the band !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Strike Up The Band

Strike Up The Band Dies

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Tuesday Tutorial - Circular Floral Card

Hi Everybody,

Many of you collected the Grand Dies when they where available and  made really good use of them for larger cards. Sadly they have been retired from Spellbinders website but that doesn't mean that we have to forget about them and if you have them in your collection then it is time to dust them off again.

Spellbinders Supplies:

• LF-019 Grand Stately Circles
• LF-114 Grand Circles
• S5-182 A2 Scalloped Borders One 
• PL-001 Platinum Die Cutting Machine

Other Supplies:

• Flowers/Leaves
• Glitter
• White/Dotty/Striped Card 

Instructions:

These are the dies that I am using and they are numbered the same in any set from Spellbinders with #1 always being the smallest. 

(Please bear in mind that Grand Dies are much larger than the normal sized dies)

With die #3 from the Grand Circles cut two pieces of card in white for the base

With #1 from the Grand Stately Circles cut another white layer

With die #2 from the Grand Circles cut two pieces in different patterns. I have used stripes and dotty card for mine. Choose one of these and stamp and emboss a sentiment onto it

 You will also need one more  in this size in white 

With the two that you have cut for the base you will need to fold one of them back about half an inch down and score. And on this same piece you will need to level the bottom off so that the circle will stand  Only do these actions on the piece that is going to be the back of the card

 Don't fold the scored part all the way back as it needs glue adding to the small area and then marrying up with the other piece. This is now your base card.

With the other patterned panel and the white one add the border die across them and cut and emboss.  Placing the die about two thirds up the card will give you a good depth to these two layers.

Add foam pads to the back of each piece and start to layer together.

My foam pads are about 1mm thick and give really nice dimension to my card.

Add the Grand Stately Circle to the base and then add your patterned circle to the top.

Layer the two cut pieces so that they are offset and add them also.

Add in your flowers so that they make a pleasing display and to curl the stems on the flower buds I have wrapped them around a BBQ stick

Tuck in the leaves as you like and add some sparkle to the petals with the glitter

More tomorrow ... 

Hugs xx

Mulberry Paper Flowers	GREEN MULBERRY LEAVES	Chameleon Glitter	A2 Scalloped Borders One Card Creator Etched Dies
PICK & MIX	36 Sheets A4 - Striped Card - SET 1 & 2 & 3 - Anna Marie Designs	36 Sheets A4 - Dottie Card - SET 1 & 2 & 3 - Anna Marie Designs

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More Shabby Chic ...

Hi Everybody,

So many of you have said that you like this type of Shabby Chic look for cards and so here is another done in that way.  This one is a soft yellow and coffee colour and it really is better in the hand than on photo.

I have created a chipboard effect with the birdcage from Spellbinders  Flight 1  by cutting it several times and gluing them all together.

My lovely flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and they blend beautifully with the colour scheme.

I added two really large brads alongside them and arranged Foliage around them for effect. The brads are some that you can add your own colour to the centres and then cover with a plastic dome and I got them from my local craft shop.

I have tucked lace flowers into the distressed edges around the card  and machine stitched around the two layers of papers.

I really like this style of card as it is something that you can go to town with and add lots of beautiful embellishments.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

International Ambassadors Informal Blog Hop ...

Hi Everybody,

Time for another Informal Blog Hop and this time we have chosen to use Embossing Folders for our theme.  For my card I chose the Medallion Design by Donna Salazar  and it gives a really elegant look to the card.

I did a video awhile ago on how to get the  Letterpress Technique   and that way you can make the most of any of your folders to give you two different designs.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and as always they are sparkled with fine glitter. The links are at the bottom of the post for you to view the products.  The sentiment has been stamped and embossed and then fussy cut and added to a parchment circle

So now it's time to hop your way to the next Blog post and see what my very talented friends have created for your delight this month ..

Linda Lucas  ...  Australia
Yvonne van de Grijp  ...  Netherlands
Christine Emberson  ...  UK

Please leave a comment and then we know you have visited and thank you for taking part again this month. We all really appreciate your support and we will see you again on the next Blog Hop

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx 

5x7 Matting Basics A	5x7 Matting Basics B	Embossing Folders Donna Salazar Designs Medallion	Wild Orchid Crafts
Guipure Lace Trim	Brushed Greetings	72 Count - Pink Pearls - Self Adhesive	Chameleon Glitter
PICK & MIX

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Todays Winner Is ...

Hi Everybody,

So the good news is that after putting on 3 lbs in weight on my holiday to Portugal ... this morning at Slimming World I have lost 1 1/2 of them again and so I can now get back on track.

It was well worth it as the fresh pancakes that the chef at the hotel cooked each morning were just too good to pass up.  I may have had one or two or six at breakfast complete with chocolate sauce but they weren't big pancakes and that is all I can say in my defence !!

The draw for the card offered yesterday has now been done and the name this week chosen at random is you ...

Nancy Vondra

please email me with your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the card will be on its way to you.

I hope you will like it and please let me know when it arrives with you.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx