Snow Baby Videos

Hi Everybody,

A little while ago I showed you some cards that I had made using the Apple Blossom Snowflake Babies dies from Craft Stash.  

Today I have added all those cards in video format to YouTube and they are there waiting for you to view. 

I am adding in the link to each of the die sets and each of the videos to make things easier for you to see what I have used.

The first one is the  

Apple Blossom - Polar Cub 

and this is quite a large die. Use it as a single bear or do what I did and mirror them

The video  Polar Cub   will show you how to do this very easily

This is the Apple Blossom - Penguins  and you can add as many of these as you wish

In this card I have added in a whole family of them and again mirrored one of them to make things interesting

The Penguins  video will show you how I used this die set

This pretty little 

Apple Blossom - Doe 

is so sweet and can be used all year round

Here is the video for the Doe

I have colour mine with Spectrum Noir 

Then last but not least here is the 

Apple Blossom - Deer

The video will show you how I did this one using the  Deer 

There are many ways that you can use these dies and here I have once again mirrored them and hand drawn in some  Christmas lights to their antlers

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Here I am ...Ruby

Hi Everybody,

My name is Ruby and I am coming to live with Christina and Griff in their home near the beach

I am a Blue Roan Sable English Cocker Spaniel and I am nearly nine weeks old and even if I do say so my self  ... I am rather beautiful

Some of my brothers and sisters are also going to new homes and so I chose to sit with Christina when she came to visit

I gave her a big puppy kiss not that I wanted to influence her at all .... but a girl has to do what a girl has to do !!

My doggie mum and dad where there also and my mum was really excited for me but my dad is so calm he just took it all in his stride.

My new owners have bought me a lovely padded den that will be my very own space and once it is all ready for me they are coming to collect me..

I will be a little bit scared but I am only small and I am sure that I will be fine and much loved.

I will be back to see you once I get settled and there will be lots of new photos to share with you

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

It is 4.30 am and I am too excited to sleep. I feel like a child at Christmas waiting for Santa to visit. And the reason for this excitement .... Today I am going to see six puppies and one of them will end up as mine when they are old enough to leave mum.

One of my favorite dogs is a Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel  and these were offered for sale yesterday. I think the ladies fingers must still have been hot from typing her advert when I rang her. It's going to be a long day and drive but I don't mind. I will take pictures and keep you posted as to how I go on.

So because I can't sleep I thought I would do the draw for yesterdays card. And the name this week is

Pattyb

So if you would email me your ppetal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

the card will be on its way to you and I hope you will like it.

Please let me know when it arrives with you.

The  card from last week has not been claimed and so I will offer it again soon.

And now I will try to get som sleep ... though I doubt it very much

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie 140

Hi Everybody,

Todays FF card was featured the Tuesday Tutorial Floral card way back in May

All the instructions to make the card where given in that  post and today I am offering it as a gift to one lucky winner.

So if this is a card that you would like to have then all you need to do is leave me a comment

A name will be chosen from them and the winner announced in tomorrows blog post.

But you need to come back and check if it is you as the card will be offered to someone else at a later date if you don't claim it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Festive Elegance ...

Hi Everybody,

There is a new video today on YouTube that you may like to view and it features Festive Elegance that comes free with Papercraft Essentials 139

For this card I have used both the outline and the solid parts to the stamped Poinsettia and this is the one that is shown in the video.

I make two cards from one stamped and inked panel which has to be a time saver in the run up to the holiday

The video is Festive Elegance




Although this is primarily a Christmas themed gift you can make it work for you all year round

Here I have used the same stamp set but in brighter colours for a more summer themed look

In the gift pack there will be the stamps and an embossing folder as well as a stencil for you to use with your inks or embossing paste

On this card I have used the EF and then coloured and cut out the flowers to add to another card.

You can just make out the embossing paste used with the stencil in the top left corner

A really useful gift and an excellent magazine full of ideas and inspiration to go with it.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Water Colour Wednesday - Robins !!

Hi Everybody,

These three cards are really easy to do and I have used Distress Inks to colour them all.

I have simply sponged the background on to the card making the circle wider as I worked my way out from the centre.

Spritz it with water to get the mottled look and then with a darker shade of ink stamp the snowflakes 

I added in the sentiment in black ink and embossed it with clear powder then with a black pen I added in two lines above it.

The robins have been stamped in Tea Dye and Festive Berries and cut out with the matching die and both were from Clearly Besotted.


The third card is done in the same way for the background but I have added in the Musical Border from Craft Stash to the top.

I cut it three times and I glued them together.

I have sprinkled them with glitter and added them at an angle on my card.

Really easy to do especially if you make lots of cards for charity

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial - Ravenna

Hi Everybody,

Kraft Card takes centre stage for todays tutorial and I have teamed this with cream for a really easy card. Touches of soft yellow bring it to life and the flowers are always that little bit extra. Kraft card is really inexpensive and very under used but if you use a pretty die you can turn it into some thing you can be pleased with.

Spellbinders Supplies:

• S6-001 5x7 Matting Basics A
• S6-002 5x7 Matting Basics B
• S6-095 Ravenna
• PL-001 Platinum Die Cutting Machine

Other Supplies:

• Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
• Card from Papermill Direct
• Glitter from Glitter Magic
• Pearls from Want2Scrap
• Ribbon from my stash

Instructions:

With die #7 from Matting Basics A cut two pieces in Kraft Card and Create A Hinged Card

With die #7 Matting Basics B cut another panel in cream

From  the largest die #3 Ravenna cut in Kraft Card and layer onto the cream panel

With #2 cut a layer in cream and layer onto a hand cut Kraft panel

With #1 cut this in cream and layer onto a hand cut Kraft panel

Add them altogether with foam pads between the layers and wrap with the ribbon before adding it to the base card

Stamp the sentiment and layer it onto more Kraft card and place across the centre panel

Arrange the flowers on the centre panel also and sprinkle with glitter

Change the colour scheme, flowers  and the sentiment  for another look to your design.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Botanical Medallion

Hi Everybody,

This pretty die is a large one from Spellbinders and is the  Botanical Medallion  

For this one I have used just the central part to the die and cut it four times with card from 

Papermill Direct

I inked the card before removing it from the die to leave the darker pattern in each corner. 

The four panels have been added to an embossed background with the  Blistered EF

The sentiment is stamped in Versamark and white embossed. 

I cut the end into an angle to add to the card with foam pads underneath for dimension.

My flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and are a mixture of the new  Pretti Flori - Pastel Guems   with Carnations, Roses, Gypsophila and Rosebuds

They have been sparkled wit glitter from Glitter Magic

I have added a diamante flourish around them for extra glamour and that is from Want2Scrap

The leaves have been cut in green and I have added in some twine tucked behind the display.  The finished card is a 6" square.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Apple Blossom - Snow Babies

Hi Everybody,

These delightful dies are available with Craft Stash and they are so much fun to play with. I have added them with a Christmas theme but they could be used all year round and are sure to be a hit with children

First is the Polar Bear  and for my card I have cut the shape twice and simply reversed one of the images

Keep all the tiny pieces that come out of the die so that you can add them to the cut shapes.

This Penguins is a real favorite and I really enjoyed making this into a card

I distressed the background with a circle mask and added the die cuts to the top of it with foam pads underneath to raise the critters up

I used Spectrum Noir pens on all the die cuts to add shadow and dimension to them all

This one is the  Doe  and for this I have stamped my sentiment into the centre and surrounded it with the branches

I added a bow to the does neck and the wreath which have been coloured with SN

I have added a Googly eye to this critter and shading underneath to ground her

This  Deer  I have die cut twice and coloured them in different shades

I trimmed off the baubles that are in the antlers and threaded a hand drawn string of lights through them instead.



I coloured each light in a different colour and added glossy accents to them

Both deer are mounted onto a die cut heart shape and a little sentiment stamped at the bottom

All these dies are now on the Craft Stash website and I love every one of them ... and I am sure you will too

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card Winner ...

Hi Everybody,

It's a lovely day here in the North West and I have been up and about early.  Griff is working at my Grandsons restaurant as they are still in the process of doing it all up and it will be a few weeks yet before it is opened.

Then later on it will be chill time and we will be free to do what ever we want.  But in the meantime the draw has been done for the green card from yesterday and the name this week is you ...

Anna

please email me your postal address to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

and the card will be on it's way to you.

One of the cards from last week was not claimed and so it will be offered again at a later date. 

 I need to say it again ... if you add your name to win then you need to come back and check if it is your name that is listed as the winner as I have no way of chasing you up and you will lose the card if you leave it too ling

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie 139

Hi Everybody,

Pretty in green is todays card and for this one I have used one of the Cut Fold Tuck dies from Spellbinders

This one is the Floral Burst and I have added a really pretty diamante cetnre to it for effect.

The layers are created with Detailed Scallops and  Decorative Labels Eight which is one of my favorite dies

So if this is a card that you would like to have then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post.

A name will be drawn from those comments and the winner notified in tomorrows blog post. So please come back and see if it is your name that is there.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Nativity Scene Magazine Freebie ...

Hi Everybody,

Many of you are now starting to think about your Christmas cards and as much as we are reluctant we need to start somewhere.

It is well and truly on the way and this year I don't intend to be on the last minute for everything.

So another free gift that you may like to collect is this Nativity Scene that is free with

  Die Cutting Essentials 16

It will be on sale on the 13th  October in selected supermarkets, craft shops, WHSmith and direct from Moremags.com

It can be used in many ways and I am sure that you will come up with some really innovative ways once you start to play.

For my card I have paper pieced it and then backed it onto mirror card. This one is done in gold but in the video I used some silver.

So please pop over to YouTube and view the making of the card in   Nativity Scene  

In the magaizn you are offered some free papers that you can download and it is these that I have used in the card 

You also have the chance to buy  DCE 10  at half price  and that has a die and embossing folder that match the ones on this mag and so the two of them will mix and match together giving you the chance to make cards not just for Christmas but all year round

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Water Colour Wednesday - Chubby Chums

Hi Everybody,

How cute is this card? I love it and had so much fun creating it.  I have used a stamp from Paper Smooches that is called Chubby Chums and with masking paper I have stacked them all together on water colour card.

 There is a set of dies that match this stamp set and if these products are sold out when you get there then add your name to the list to be notified when they are back in stock

I  have used Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers and they are so easy to work with. The background is done with Distress Inks and I have used a white Sharpie pen to do the snowflakes over the it.

The Googly eyes just add to the expressions on their faces as they sing their Christmas carol to you.

Under the characters I have added some snow with Snowtex. It dries really hard and looks just like .. Snow !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial . Jubilee Tags

Hi Everybody,

Tags are always useful to have on hand as they can personalise your designs and make them stand out. Today I am using the Jubilee Tags from Spellbinders and we are going to make them look really pretty on a small card.

Spellbinders Supplies:

• S5-131 A2 Matting Basics A
• S5-132  A2 Matting Basics B
• S4-653 Jubilee Tags
• SES-006 Circles and Diamonds EF
• PL-001 Platinum Die Cutting machine

Other Supplies:

• Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
• Glitter from Glitter Magic
• Card from Papermill Direct

Instructions:

With die #7 from Matting Basics A cut two and Create a hinged card

With #7 from Matting Basics b cut another in some patterned card and emboss

(Please remember that die #1 is always the smallest)

There are three tag designs in this set so choose the one you prefer and cut it twice from the largest piece

Stamp and emboss a sentiment that will fit onto the smaller die and cut this label piece separately

Then add the two dies together to create the frame and cut twice more

Add the smaller piece to the  basic tag with foam pads in between.

Glue the two frames together for extra strength

 When ever you are adding things in threes it is easier to add the two outside pieces first and then centralise the middle one.. That way you will get an even distribution of the shapes

Ring the change by swapping out the sentiment ... or the flowers ... or the colour ...or the tag shapes ... or rounding the corners.

But whatever you do have fun with your crafting 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

October Magazine Freebies ...

Hi Everybody,

It's that time of the month again when the magazine freebies will be on the shelves for October.

 I have been very busy over the weekend putting together some really good ideas for the lovely gifts that will come with the mags.

There are stamps and dies as well as embossing folders and all will help you with your seasonal cards and the links direct to the magazines are there for you

The first one is from 

Simply Card and Papercrafts 155 

and this will be in the shops and supermarkets on the 6th October.

The gift is called "Santa Claus is coming to Town" and I have done a video to go with it to show you some of the ideas that I have come up with 

You can view it now  on YouTube and here is the link for you .... Santa Claus is coming to Town

Another one that will be on sale on the 6th  is

Creative Stamping 35 

This has  an A4 stamp set  which is full of all the things to make that perfect card

On the video I have given you some traditional ideas in traditional colours but you can experiment and try all different schemes to suit your needs

This little card pictured on the left is the fun technique that I have shared with you in  the video Traditional Christmas

I hope you will enjoy the videos as much as I enjoyed playing with these fabulous gifts that are FREE ...

And if you like the look of the Misti for your own stamping then you will find that at Craft Stash  

 It sells out very quickly so leave them your email and they will let you know when it is back in stock

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx