Friday Freebie - Believe in the Magic

Hi Everybody,

Another week where we are back to the Christmas theme and this time it is a die and stamp set complete with papers to go with your designs.

It is from Crafters Companion and it comes with the magazine as well. Always a good source of information and full of ideas for you to try,

So if this is something that you would like in your own stash then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post

From those comments one name will be chosen, at random,  as the winner, so to save any confusion please leave me your FULL NAME

 

You must be sure to come back and check if you are the winner, as your name will be listed in a blog post on Sunday, and I have no way to contact you if you don't claim it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Die Cut Sentiments

Hi Everybody,

Adding a sentiment to your cards is the perfect way to finish them completely.

 To say Happy Birthday. Thinking of You, Thank You, Sorry or for a Sympathy card they are instant additions.

Some of the dies have a shadow layer to them others are simply added to the card but Card Making Magic has lots for you to choose from no matter what the occasion.

This Thinking of You sentiment has been added to parchment and that doesn't detract from the beautiful background that it is added to.

Add the sentiment in Silver or Gold Mirror card to make it stand out or even black for a dramatic look.

There are many occasions, even this very simple  Love You, that are covered and you are sure to find one that suits your needs.

Just adding a Sorry to a card can make it a little more personal and is the perfect addition to a sympathy card.

There are other Word Builder Die Sets that have all the months in the year complete with anniversary occasions like Valentines day,  Wedding Anniversary occasions and even passing your Driving Test

You can build up any sentiment that you need to suit your recipient.

Blend in your sentiment to match with the monochrome cards.

This one has been added to an embossed background and the sentiment added to some plain blue card

It has been matched with the flowers and that will give you a uniform look that you are sure to love.

Add it to a box of the same colour and give with love.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Embossing Folders

 Hi Everybody,

For these cards you will need to look a little deeper into them as all of these are using some of my favourite embossing folders.

I always think that a card looks so much better with some kind of texture to the actual background and embossing folders can fill that requirement so easily for me.

This one has the Simply Dots A5 Folder and is layered with gold mirror card.

For me it always adds that little bit extra and give the card that finished look. 

You add another effect to the background like ink splattering or stamping and then add the embossed look to the top.

There is a lot that can be done with a folder and each side will give you a different look especially with inks and the Letter Press technique.

That is simply where you add ink to one side, add the card and close the folder, then run it through your die cutting machine with the embossing mats.

One side will give you an embossed look with the ink and if you ink up the other side the look will be debossed.

This simple flower design has the Letter Press added using the Trellis Folder and it compliments the overall design.

For this card I have use the Flourish Embossing Folder as the background to the detailed layer and it makes the panel stand out even more.

Whatever you design and whoever it is for the added detail to your card makes it even more special and is sure to be appreciated by your recipient.

I like to use a 300gsm card with my folders as that gives a really good impression without the card splitting.

You could also try a light spritz to the card before adding it to the folder for another way to get a deep impression and stop the splitting.

And there are lots of 3-D folders on the market to add a lovely look to your creations and embossing folders are so cheap to add to your own stash

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Some of my Favourites

Hi Everybody,

This card is from one of my all time favourite collections and I made lots of videos and cards with this.

This one is the Circles from the Plaited with Love Collection and I had so much fun using all these die sets on my designs.

I also love the round shape and this is perfect for turning into an Easel card very easily.

The colour scheme is purple and white the flowers are Mulberry paper from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The leaves are from another favourite die set which is the Rose Flourish and I use this a lot.

This is the  Lacey Nested Ovals and is another of my favourites.

I love the Ovals in this collection at there is so much that you can do with it.

I use this one a lot and I did videos for it when it was launched.

You can dress this up or down as you please and it looks wonderful added to a larger base card. 

Here I have used it as a shaped stand alone card with lots of layers, and of course the addition of flowers sprinkled with glitter.

But for making flowers I love this Layered Flowers Die and Stamp set and I have used this many many times on my designs.

These have been heat embossed in white powder and then water coloured and layered  onto my favourite card size of 5x7

There are so many die sets in the Card Making Magic range and many many that I truly love, and these are just a small collection of some of them that I use over and over again.  

 More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Fancy Oval Mats & Layers

Hi Everybody,

For this card I weaved some white ribbon through the detailed pattern in the die cut and that just gave it another look.

I used the Oval die set from the Look At Layers Collection to form the basis of the weaving and then added it to the Rectangles layer for more dimension.

I like to play around with the die cuts and see what different looks can be achieved by adding them at varying  angles to my card base.

Colour is another way to get variation into your designs and you only have to look at nature to see the choices that you can make there. 

Thinks of some of the more unusual combinations, Yellow & Pink, Pink & Purple, Lemon & Green, and try them on your cards.

Using inks to colour white card saves you buying lots of different coloured card as card does dry out if you have had it a long time. At least with inks it stays fresh for you to use.

More tomorrow 

Hugs xx