Red Roses

At the begining of March I celebrated a Birthday and on the 12th March Card Making Magic was three years old.

So as a double celebration my husband bought me some red roses.

Griff is the one who does all the filming for the video tutorials that I add and is  affectionately refered to as my Film Crew ....  Aw! Bless....

He came home and told me he had got me some flowers and that they had cost a lot as they are Red Roses but that I was worth every penny..... which of course I am !!

So off he went to get them out of his car.

Now you may be thinking what a sweetie for that beautiful and thoughtful gift .....

but don't get excited girls ...

because THIS is the size they were and Yes that is my thumb that is in the left of the photo.

But I have to tell you that they have adorned many a card that has been made since and were much appreciated even if they are tiny ....

And he took me out for dinner too.

Hugs xx

New video added ...

I have added another card in the style from yesterday and to tell you that the video to make this little card is now on the website.

This link will take you to the Pennant Card Tutorial    and it is very short.

You will need nothing more than a border punch to get the look.

On these cards I have used punches from Martha Stewart and of course this will determine the size of box or envelope you will need to send it in.

The flowers have all been sparkled up with Glamour Dust and they are from  Wild Orchid Crafts  and the close up shows you just how pretty they are.

  Hugs xx

Pennant Card

I was playing around with some card today and this is what I came up with.   Now I know it is not a new idea but this is my interpretation of it and I think it looks very pretty.

It was very easy to do and nothing except a punched border edgefrom Martha Stewart,  was used to get the pattern along the top and bottom.

The paper is from a stack that I have had for some time and it was free with a magazine.

The flowers are a mixture of large and small Roses, as well as rosebuds, in red and white and some Cherry Blossoms added to the spray.  A few sprigs of Ivy leaves and some smaller leaf shapes complete the look.

They are all from  Wild Orchid Crafts

The ribbon is from my "Stash" and the knot is covered with Card Candi from Craftwork Cards

Card Candi comes in many patterns and colours and can be a really useful addition to your crafting goodies.  Use it to add names or ages to personalise your designs.

Hugs xx

Blending Tools

Many of us like to apply Distress Inks to our projects and they can create a very pretty and subtle effect.

But it is something that many of us are afraid to do because we can't get it right and the result is a smudged mess on our cards. 

One of the best ways to apply these inks is with some kind of  Blending Tool  but these can be quite expensive .... especially if like me you are greedy and want one blender for each ink pad .... Yep that's me!

So this is what I did to make my own and the link will take you to the page to show you how to make your own   Blending Tool

You will find all the step by step instructions and then you can have as many as you like.

All I did then was by the foam pads and attach them to the velcro and these can be removed and washed or replaced whenever the need is there.

I store all mine in a large plastic box so that they are always on hand and I have one for every colour ink I use.

And any that I don't use for Inks I utilise by gluing small sentiment stamps to them and store them in the same way.

They are then ready to use whenever I need one quickly. 

Write the sentiment on the handle so that you can see instantly what  it is.

They are so cheap and easy to make and the more you have the more you can use.

It doesn't cost a lot to get them cut and drilled ... or maybe you know some kind person with a saw and a drill that will do them for you.... even cheaper then!

Hope you enjoy making and using your blending tools and get the results that you want.

This card has had the edges of the  sentiment inked with Aged Mahohany while still in the die.

The embossed background has also been lightly inked using these handy little blenders.

Happy Crafting ....

Hugs xx

More ways with flowers

Adding flowers to cards always gives a very girly effect but can cost quite a bit of money if you have to buy them every time.

Over the last few months I have started to make my own ...  but not everybody has lots of different dies or punches to make them.

But even if you don't have a vast choice there is no reason why these beautiful embellishments can't be added to your cards.

The flowers on these cards have all been created from the smallest part of the Anenome Flower Topper from Spellbinders.   

It is the bit that would create the flowers centre ... but it makes lovely Daisy like blooms for this card.

All I did was to use different coloured papers and card to cut them out and this alone will give them a varied look.

I shaped the petals to the flowers just as I did with the Bitty Blossoms and I have added a video to show the process of   making flowers  

Whichever way you choose to make flowers just spending a little time curling the petals will give your flowers a softer look and to me is well worth the efffort.

The first card is made with various shades of pink but the one on the left I created from greens and biege for a softer look.

For the centres I have added pearls on this and gemstones on the first card.

And the "Bling" is the finishing touch for both cards.

Both backgrounds have been created with an inked up embossing folder for a Faux Letterpress effect.

And I am quite pleased with the end result on both of them

Hugs xx