Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

June 13, 2024

Inlaid Die Technique

 Hi Everybody,

I like the look of these inlaid dies but I didn't have any in my stash, and so I took another look at the dies that I have and picked out all the small ones that I never use.

Once I thought about it I decided to give this idea a try and see what I came up with, and I have to say that I quite like the end result.

For this card I used all the tiny butterflies I could find and arranged them on my panel to die cut.

Adding in the pierced dots was an extra step that blended them all together. You can add as many of these pierce  lines as you would like and if you keep the pencil lines feint then they can be erased afterwards.

For this one I picked out all the tiny hearts and arranged them on a landscape card base.

The card in the video is done with stars but look carefully at any dies that you have and see what would suit the idea.

Try leaves or small flowers, tiny envelopes, banners or tags, or any of the basic shapes like circles and ovals. 




There is just time for a relaxing cuppa as you watch the video and the be sure to let me know if you give this idea a try for your self.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 12, 2024

Ink Smooshed Flowers

 Hi Everybody,

Todays card is another ink smooshed one with the background and flowers created with Distress Oxides.

For this I have used really old dies and they have made the coffee rings in gold, the butterfly in white and gold and the flowers and leaves in various sizes.

For the flowers I inked a while panel and then placed the cover die of flowers on too. It cuts out lots of flowers all in one pass through the machine and saves a whole lot of time.

I have had this die for years and used it many times and these have been layered with the different sizes to create the flowers for my card. 

Each one has a gold pearl added to the centre. These started off as white but I coloured them  with a gold alcohol marker pen.

If I where to make this card again I would tone down the background with some parchment over the top and that would allow the flowers to show up more ..... but it is what it is !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx



June 11, 2024

Flower Cards

 Hi Everybody,

Todays card is full of flowers and pearls ...no ribbons on this one though.

I have used the cut out flourish die in top and bottom corners to give the design and the top layer has been ink smooshed in blues and purples then splattered with clean water.

It gives a very pretty mottled effect to the layer.

I added tiny foam pads to the back to raise it up from the white base card and thus castes a little shadow.

The Rose flourish die set is the leaves and  I have inked these with green, blue and purple. The sprigs have just been cut in white.

I have also added some grass like embellishment tucked under the flowers and glued it in place with hot glue.

I found some silver leaves on my desk to and they have been tucked into the display at random.

The flowers are roses in various shades of blue and purple and they have been  sprinkled with glitter.

I have used dark blue pearls and they have been dotted around the front.

This is a really pretty eye catching card and could be for any occasion.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 10, 2024

Handmade Sentiments

 Hi Everybody,   

When we make card we mostly add a sentiment to the front of it as this conveys to the recipient what occasion is being celebrated.

I have a lot of word dies and also many dies of different shapes that will create a frame for me. So why not combine the two to make a sentiment that will stand out on your card.

For this card I have used silver mirror card to make the frame from a patterned circle and a plain one to cut the inner portion of the frame.

Then to this cetnre I have added the words I chose to make the while sentiment look like one.

You could also add parchment behind the word die cut.

It doesn't have to be silver or gold. Why not try a colour that blends with your creation. And alter the shape too.

The gold one that is shown here is created with a really old Seth Apter die  and I used it in black on one of my cards with a birthday greeting on the top.


The video is not long but will give you the basic idea of what I did to get the toppers I needed for my creations

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

June 09, 2024

Kim Cranson - Winner

 Hi Everybody,

I hope you are al well and enjoying the weekend.  We are doing Ok here but a but disappointed with the weather.  What has happened to our summer it is actually very windy and chilly here today.

Ruby is still not allowed to go walking yet but she is recovering slowly. She has had such a very painful and serious illness that it is bound to have taken its toll . She is back to envying her food again but is not allowed any treats.

I have done the draw for the latest pack to be given away and the winner this week is 

Kim Cranson

would you please email me with your postal address to 
christina@card-making-magic.com
and I will get it in the post to you.

Be sure to let me know that you have it safely  and I hope you enjoy playing with it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx