Beautiful Card Designs Made Easy

June 09, 2014

Tied Together Die ...

Hi Everybody,

There are two new dies used on this card. One is the Tied Together Ornamental die and the other is the Faux Quilled Leaves by Sue Wilson.

Both are gorgeous dies and both are from JGD Crafts   and although this is a UK based company they are happy to ship abroad.

So well worth a visit if you are having trouble buying craft items in your part of the world.

Here I have used it with the beautiful shade of blue that I really have grown to like and I have created a frame around the pattern.

I have used foam pads in between all the layers to give some depth to the card and wrapped the gingham ribbon around it all.  Tiny blue pearls sit at all the cross sections.

The ribbon is from MeiFlower  and there is a pearl and diamnate centre from Wild Orchid Crafts  in the centre of the double bow

The flowers are also from WOC and as usual they are sparkled with fine glitter from Glitter Magic ... these two products go hand in hand for me.

The stamp was a freebie with Simply Cards and Papercrafts Magazine and it will come in very useful

You have the opportunity to win some flowers and glitter along with a lovely Sheen Douglass stamp and all you need to do is become a follower and  add your name to the list ... but only once please as duplicates will be removed .... June Give Away

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx





June 08, 2014

Shall We Have A "GiveAway" ???

Hi Everybody,

Thank you to Thelma for claiming the FF card so quickly ... it will be in the post to you first thing tomorrow and I hope you like it

Would you like to win these gifts?  I am sure you will not be disappointed with what is on offer and I am happy to send the parcel anywhere in the world.

So in this prize there is ...

 A5  Sheena Douglass Sea Shells stamps
2 packs of Wild Orchid Crafts Flowers
1 pack of Glitter Magic
1 pack of five assorted hatpins

There is a video to show you how to mount these stamps   so that you can use them in any way you wish.

Add your name to the list and if a red cross appears at the side of your name it only means that you can delete it if you so wish.

I ask that you only leave your name once please to keep it fair for everybody and any duplicates will be removed.

June 07, 2014

And the winner is .....

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for all your lovely comments both about the holiday snaps and the new FF card.  It seems that many of you like blue.

But there can only be one winner of this particular card and that is you .....  

Thelma Welch 

I need you to send me your postal address as soon as you can so that I can get the card in the post to you straight away.  Email me  ...   christina@card-making-magic.com 

You will have  48 hours to claim it so please do so as the last card was not claimed,  and it is such a shame when other people would like to win it too.    
                      

Some Answers ...

In the comments was one  from  Ann  Lauzon and she  asked me about a tutorial that I did  on how to make your images look as if  part of it is outside the die that you have used.

It is on the Spectrum Noir Blog page and here is the link for you  ... Thinking Outside the Box   the video is further down the page so scroll and you will find it.  I hope that is the one you meant.

To Marilyn who travels two hours to go to a card class at JGD Crafts each week   ... I will be there on September 13th as Janet has invited me down to do a Spectrum Noir workshop for her ladies and maybe you will be there too.

To the lady who wanted to know how to make the pearl sprays that I have in some of my cards ... there is a video on the way to show you and it will be with you soon.

And to someone else who asked me how do I emboss card  using a die without it cutting out the whole card ... again  a video is on the way to show that technique too.

I was hoping to get them done this week but to be honest although my blog posts have been going out regularly I have been quite poorly this week with a really bad chest infection.

But once I get back to speed all these things will be with you and I will of course add them to the blog once they are done

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx




June 06, 2014

Friday Freebie Card 012

Hi Everybody,

So here we are back to normal after a wonderful holiday and the start of the Friday Freebie  again.

This one is created in the hinged card style and has lots of embossed layers, and the lovely  Quatrefoil pattern   in the panel.

I bought mine from Sunrise Crafts and the link will take you to the die

The pretty flowers are   from Wild Orchid Crafts and they have been sparkled with Glitter Magic.

Glitter Magic were at the Craft Show at the Bolton Arena that I went to on Sunday and I asked Sharon which of the glitters it is that I always use and it is called ... Chameleon 


It gives a lovely sparkly effect to the petals and is something I like to do to most of my flowers.

The ribbon was in a pack from TKMaxx and the lace is from my "Stash"

But on top of the lace I have added in some Diamante for added luxury and that is from Want2Scrap

So if you would like to win this card then all you have to do join the growing list of followers  and leave me a comment at the end of the post.

Then later this evening Griff will choose a name from the hat and the winner will be announced in the morning on this Blog and also on Facebook.

Please come back and check for your name as if you have won you will only have 48 hours in which to claim it. I am happy to send the card anywhere.

But don't add your name if you are not going to be able to check it as the last card Card 011 was won by Millie Thomson and it was not claimed

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx




June 05, 2014

Mulhouse and home (Day 7/8 )

Hi Everybody,

Today it is time to say Goodbye to beautiful Italy and head back over the border to France.

We have to leave all the wonderful sunshine behind us and once again on another holiday the weather has been really kind.

This view is  from the train window as we are passing Lake Maggiore and heading for Switzerland.

There is not a lot of time to take photos as we change trains in Milan and again in  Basel but this one is just outside the station entrance in Basel and was taken quickly.

From here we go to Mulhouse (Pronounced Mulloose)  for our last nights stay.

The hotel is lovely and the bed so very comfortable  and there are a lot of people staying here ... one of the parties just happens to be another group of Treyn holidaymakers the same as us.

The other party is a coach holiday and both of these groups are leaving before us the next day.  So down we go to breakfast only to find  ... that there is nothing left.

All the food plates are empty ... there is no cutlery... no crockery... no milk ... no coffee ... no tea ... no jams ... in fact nothing.

But we  have a secret weapon in the form of  Louise ...   and  she is not impressed.

She rattles their cage and it takes them a good twenty minutes to get their act together... but eventually we have breakfast.  Another medal for the formidable Louise !!

So now on Day 8 we get the TGV back to Paris and this is the super fast train and this is the fastest speed I could record on camera.

We cross Paris to the Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar back to UK

This has been a wonderful holiday with beautiful scenery and glorious sunshine and there has not been one place that we have visited that I disliked.

And maybe one day return too ...
We  decided to stay overnight in London both at the start and end of our holiday and it is only a short walk from the station that we are leaving from tomorrow.

So after  a meal  we  walked to the theatre to see if there was maybe the chance to get in to see one of the shows ...  and we were very lucky to get two seats to see Lion King.... and it was wonderful.
Thank you for allowing me to share this holiday with you and for the lovely emails and comments about the memories the pictures have evoked in some of you.

Now it is time to get back to work and make some cards, videos and start my card class at my home again.



More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx