Friday Freebie - Scenic Swallow

Hi Everybody,

Well here we are in December already and I wish some one would tell me where the rest of this year has gone.

It has been a roller coaster of a year for me and the next one looks set to be even better.

Now the beautiful die set that is on offer today can be used in so many ways to grace your designs.

I used it in a somewhat different way for my card and in the video I show you how I got this result

Scenic Swallow

I combined this with another stamp set  and I was really pleased with it once it was completed.

You too can have fun with this die and so if you would like to have this then leave me a comment at the end of the post to be in with the chance

I need your FULL NAME to choose the winner and the name will be announced in tomorrows blog post so be sure to come back and see if it is you.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Happy Birthday Vickie

Hello Everybody,

Today I wanted you all to share with me my youngest daughters birthday.

Both of my girls and both of Griff's daughters have been such a comfort to me over the past few weeks but today it is Vickie's day.

So you will get to see the card before she does as Ruby and I are not going round to her house until later today for cake and coffee 

Vickie is Dougal's mum and we all know that Dougal is Ruby's very best friend.

We have still  managed to take them both out on dry days for a good walk but as you can imagine Ruby is a little confused and follows me everywhere I go

So here's to a good birthday to Vickie XXX

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Yupo Flowers

Hello Everybody,

Gosh it's cold here today and wet and windy. Definitely the day to stay home with the heating on

Here is a card I made a while ago when I was playing with Yupo paper and Alcohol Inks and with the scraps I decided to make some flowers.

It's a really simple card and I surrounded the flowers with leaves from Spellbinders

The oval has been added to an embossed panel for a little more decoration and you can add any sentiment to the front of the card that suits your occasion.

Friday Freebie 

I will be starting the card and magazine gift "Give Away" again this week so please be sure to add your comment if you would like the gift.

  And my apologies go to Jean Marmo who won the last prize because I still haven't sent it to you. 

But it is in the pipeline Jean and I promise I have not forgotten about it xx

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Pink "YOU"

Hello Everybody,

Today's card is a hastily made one and for this I have used pre-coloured card that I bought a a raft show a long time ago.

It is a n A5 size that I have made into a gatefold style and I have lined the inside with some striped card in the same shade of pink.

The die cut "You"  has been layered four times in black and added to one side of the gatefold so that it can be opened.

The pretty floral panel is from the Layers of Flowers by Spellbinders and you can get this set from Craft Stash

An easy card to make for those super quick moment.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Father Christmas ...

Hello Everybody,

Today I am sharing some Christmas Cards with you that are from  magazine that was on sale on the 15th November. 

I made the cards for the video but sadly I didn't get to film it for you. But here are the cards.

The magazine had a lovely stamp set with it and a luxury set of foiled papers and toppers.

This is the Father Christmas from the set stamped direct to the card and I coloured him with water colours.

I used some of the stickers from the pack also for extra decoration and the foiled sentiment at the top of the card.

For this one I stamped the same image and coloured this one with Copics and again used some of the extras from the paper pack

I like the rich colours of the Copics.

I fussy cut the figure then added it with foam pads underneath to raise it up from the rest of the card.

For this card I used one of the stamps to create my background and heat embossed it in white on Navy Blue card 

I used Zig Real Brush Pens to colour this one.

I did some partial die cutting around the image to leave his hat and the dog outside the circle.

For this one I added some glue and glitter to the hat and jacket.

The dog and the cat on each card is different.

So three cards done with the same stamp set but all looking different with the colouring and additions to them.

I still think the Copics one is my favourite 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

So Many Thank You's ...

Hi Everybody,

I have so many people to thank for the love, support and encouragement that I have received since the death of my wonderful. handsome Griff. 

Today would have been our

 Wedding Anniversary

 2nd December 2000 

and we had 21 lovely years together.

I am overwhelmed by all the kindness shown in messages, cards and flowers that have been sent to me from all over the world and I wish I could thank every one of you personally.

But that is impossible so I will just leave it at ...

THANK YOU ALL xxx

I have not worked for weeks and I feel as if I have been away for ever. 

I have no cards to show you, no videos to share, and no projects done.

But now is the time for me to try and move forward and so I need to get back to work and give my brain something to think about.

Today I will make a card and tomorrow I will be back to blogging and show you what I have done.

Much love to all of you and thanks again for all the lovely ways in which you have supported me at this heart breaking time

Hugs xx

Remembering Griff

Thank you all so much for the messages, cards and beautiful flowers that have been sent over the death of my amazing husband. I am so very grateful for the 21 years that we had together and Griff will be missed by all his family members.  

I am not going into detail about things but to answer some of the questions I am getting from people I will share this.

We took him to hospital on the Sunday morning. After several tests he was placed into a deep sleep and taken to the Intensive Care Unit.

It was here that he died at 10.45 on Monday the 12th November without knowing that he had the one thing he feared the most Cancer

We were all with him and he was surrounded by loving hands and gentle words. We are all stunned at the speed of the decline and we will miss him very much.

Not one of us can go back to our own homes and not see some job that Griff did for us.

His work was perfection and he loved being a builder who never knew how to say "No" to anybody

The funeral will be held at Lytham Crematorium
FY8 4AB

 29th November at 3.30

If you knew him and would like to say "Goodbye" then you are more than welcome. 

Please don't send flowers, make a donation to Cancer Research UK as that will help them to conquer this awful disease

Here are some videos to show the fun times we had with Griff over the years.💔

This was a family trip he organised for both our families to Grassington and it was a fabulous day out 

This is Isabella' House that he so carefully put into the back garden when she was three

Griff

I am sorry I cannot blog at present. My handsome wonderful  Griff died last night and I am unable to speak

NEC Birmingham

Hi Everybody,

It's taken me a little while to add these photos and that is because I have not been well this week. But these are from the NEC Craft Show that I as at last week.

It was amazing to see my name up there and to stand in front of tables that are filled with my designs.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all that Practical Publishing and Craft Stash have done for me.

The whole team is fantastic and I enjoy going into their offices to see them all.

These guys are the team that I was working with on the Sunday and I did enjoy it. 

It was lovely to meet up with people who visit my blog and website as well as YouTube and I had some lovely comments from them all.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winner

Hi Everybody,

Feeling much better today and hoping to be back to normal next week. Thank you for all the kind wishes and your understanding. My voice is almost there and so i will start the vidoes again too next week.

The draw for the card and gift has been done for the beautiful A4 stamp set from yesterday. You can have a lot of fun with this stamp set and make some great cards for male and female. 

The name chosen today is ...

Jean Marmo

so would you email me please with your postal address to

christina@card-making-magic.com

and I will pop it in the post to straight away

I hope you will enjoy playing with it and please let me know that you have it safely

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Bright and Breezy

Hi Everybody,

Today's card is from Creative Stamping and it was out in March this year.

There are some fabulous stamps on this set and you can create your own scenes for any occasion

The video showed you some of the ways in which I used it  and here it is to refresh your memory... 

Bright & Breezy

Now if you would like to have this set in your own collection then all you need to do is leave me a comment at the end of the post and from them a name will be chosen at random to be the winner.

You will need to come back in the morning and see if it is your name that is shown. 

You will have 72 hours in which to claim it and if you don't then it will be offered again at another time.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Creative Stamping 64 Classic Winter Scenes

Hi Everybody,

Please forgive my absence from Blogging but I have not been well since I got back from the NEC at the weekend.

I had a very enjoyable time meeting all of you who came over to say hello so thank you for that.

And today I have done the video for the new magazine that will be on sale on Thursday and I sound really croaky in it.

I hope it doesn't spoil your enjoyment of the film and I will be back to normal again soon.

The featured designer this month is John Lockwood and he has created some lovely stamps that can be used all year round. The dies with it will help you to cut out the circle toppers neatly to add to your creations.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Card & Gift Winners ...

Hi Everybody,

Today I am going down to Birmingham to join the crew at the NEC. This is a large craft show where you can buy all the latest goodies to use in your crafting whatever it is. Last year I went as a visitor and bought all sorts of items. But this year I will be working and I hope you will pop along and say "Hello"

I will be part of the Practical Publishing stand E10 and we are in Hall 20 and it would be lovely to meet you especially if you visit my blog, website or YouTube channel. Then I can add faces to the names that pop up regularly in my comments boxes

But for now the draw has been done for the Christmas Treats die on offer from Card Making Magic yesterday, and I have three to give away to ...

Maureen Killen

Michelle Coffey

Terri Rodrigue

so if you could all email me your postal addresses please to 

christina@card-making-magic.com

the gifts will be on their way to you as soon as I can.

Please bear with me as I am away and wont be back at my desk until Monday.

Hugs xx

Friday Freebie - Christmas Treats Die Set

Hi Everybody,

This little gift is another from
Card Making Magic

It was given away with Die Cutting Essentials only a few weeks ago and it is a fun set to play with ALL year round.

The video to show you some of my ideas is

Christmas Treats 

There are two sets pictured along with the cards but I have THREE of these to give away and although it is not pictured it will have a card that I will send with it to the winner.

So would you like on of these sets of dies?

If you would then all you have to do is leave me a comment with your FULL NAME and from those the names will be chosen 

I will add them to the blog post tomorrow so be sure to come back and check if it yours that is shown. 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Gilding Flakes & Glitter Snowflakes

Hi Everybody,

As promised here is the video to show you how I made the beautiful snowflakes with glitter

and also gilding flakes.

They are very easy to make and I made loads of them in an afternoon and then got busy and made my cards.

So guess what the theme for my Christmas Cards is this year .... Yep ! Snowflakes

But every one is different depending on how you stack them together, and they can also be used as Birthday cards or invitations to your party too.

So I hope you enjoy the video and will make some of these for your self. 

You can always use pre-glittered card if you preferred or mirror card for a shiny look to your design

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx