A fun card for Christmas ...

Hi Everybody,

Todays card is also the subject of a video tutorial and is just a fun way to make some Christmas cards.

It is also one that older children may enjoy making for their own friends and it will keep them quiet for a little while.

I had a lovely email off a lady in America who told me that she had made cards similar to this when she was first married ... over 50 years ago .... as they couldn't afford to buy Christmas cards

She said she bought some  card and some glitter and made them to give to family and friends ... and she thanked me so much for giving her the memory of that time in her life.

I was very humbled and wrote back to thank her for the lovely email.

It  makes what I do so much more worthwhile to get an email like that from a complete stranger.

The one that was most peoples favorite was the blue one.

I created the cloudy sky with Distress inks and the birds on the wire  was a little  fun idea that  I learned from Barbara Gray of Clarity Stamp

Update  on the Voile ... Lots of you have responded with information on where to get the voile so here are some of them...

• Pauline gets hers from a shop called Charlies in Shrewsbury  
• Margaret has suggested Dumhelm Mill or the market stalls.
• Ann has named Fleetwood Market for Voile and Lace trim

I promise I will get the website address of the Voile people at the next craft show I visit but if you go to any organised by Sincerely Yours then look out for them there 

 More tomorrow ...

 Hugs xx

Lovely in Lilac...

Hi Everybody,

Today we have moved my youngest daughter from her old house to ours for three weeks until her new house is ready for her to move into.

And so my house looks like Steptoes back yard with all the stuff around.

I don't know how one small person can have so much stuff and most of it has gone into storage.

So this is just a short post due to lack of time... and energy !!

This is another card using the Letterpress Technique and yesterday I made a short video on this technique... and the page will be will be added to the website on Monday.... and I will post the link then.

For this card I have used the 3D M-Bossabilities folder
Framed Labels 18  and the Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  The bottom half to the card has been sparkled up with Glamour Dust and wrapped with some lace.

The flowers are a beautiful  arrangement from Wild Orchid Crafts and they too have the addition of Glamour Dust to the petals.  It is much prettier in real life.

Hugs xx

A Baby Girl ...

Hi Everybody,

Click to Enlarge

I have made this card today for a friend who has just had a baby girl.   I can't resist  baby cards especially  for  girls when  I can go to  town with the  ...  Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls.



This  is right up  my street and I really enjoy making this type  of card.

So here is my card to  welcome the  new baby.

I have made it to a book style and I have used the Grand Labels 4

I have cut a page from each of the four largest dies all in different card... and another layer of lace in between the fourth and third layers.

The cream card has baby feet embossed into it.

The other layers have also been embossed and a double layer of pink and white braiding has been added to the centre.

The pink bow at the top has a small pearl heart buckle and the charm is a baby shoe in silver.

The flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts  are a mixture of  Roses, Cherry Blossoms, Carnations and Tulips and all have been glittered with Glamour Dust.

The leaves have been cut from the Foliage set from  Spellbinders.

The Butterflies  I have used are Organza with glitter on the wings .... very pretty.

I have added the flower corsage to a Labels 20 shape and used the matching pearl   "Bling"  from Want2Scrap

I have also added the babys' name and birth date to the same kind of label and added in the pearls again.

I have made a card stand in cream to display it ... and of course it has to have matching box.

The box lid also has the baby feet embossed into it.

If you want to make a box to match your cards you will find the instructions in the tutorial
Making Boxes

Hope you like ....

Hugs xx

Valentines Day ...

Hi Everybody,

Are you making Valentines Day cards yet ???

I have designed many cards for    Making Handmade Cards and this is one I have done this week using the Sweetie Pie Kit.

There are a lot of papers, elements  and sentiments in this kit.

If you sign up for Claires' newsletter you will be able to download the lovely Floral Doodle kit.... for free

This kit has some really pretty papers in it that will go with just about anything.

The colour of these papers are so fresh and I love pale pink and pale green together.

For my card I have cut a paper doily in half and placed it behind a central strip and wrapped two pieces of Organza ribbon around the middle.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts  and I have added a little Glamour Dust to the petals to sparkle them up.

Hugs xx

Wedding Card

I wanted to show you this card that I was asked to make for a wedding later in the year.

This card will be going all the way to Australia and I hope that the Bride and Groom like it when they eventually get it.

I wanted it to be really special and I took a long time to get everything correct.

I used a good quality white card for all the layers,  flowers and the matching box.

I added the  Ruffled Ribbon along the left hand side,  in white satin, and glued it with strong tape to an embossed panel that I surrounded with Diamante.

The border edges are from the Morrocan Accents.

All the flowers are created with Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms, Spiral Blossom 1 and Spiral Blossom 3 .

Each of the larger blooms has had a Diamante added to the centre and the petals are sparkled with Glamour Dust.

The names have been added to the Floral  Ovals .

The background is embossed with the Paisley M-Bossablities 

I created the box from Centura Pearl from   Crafters Companion   and it has a beautiful sheen to it.

I added acetate to the aperture and decorated with the same flowers and Diamante. 

The butterflies are  an added extra touch to the card and the box and in the last photo you will see that I added an extra trail to each of them.

So now I have fingers,  toes and eyes all crossed that the couple will like the card I made to celebrate their special day. 

Hugs xx

Punched Lace

Adding lace to your cards can make them look very feminine, but it can also cost money that you may not want to spend.

So how about putting all those punches that you have in your "Stash" to good use. 

They may be flowers, butterflies, stars, hearts, leaves or any others that you may have but they can all be used to create your own lace look very easily. 

This is created from a couple of scalloped strips and then all the punched shapes added in between.

Some have been sparkled up with Glamour Dust and the odd pearl added to the centre of the flowers.

The image is Maude and I introduced you to her a few weeks ago as one of the characters from the "Wrinklies" from Just Inklined 

I think she is just wonderful and such a delight to colour in with Prmarkers.

Hugs Christina xx



Sugarplum Daisy CD

Staying with the Sugarplum Daisy CD from  Polka Doodles  for todays card. 

I have used the same fairy images from yesterday ... just added them in a different layout.  There are other characters for you to choose in different poses.

They come in four sizes for you to cut out and use with Spellbinders if you have them... or just mat and layer as you would like.

If you aren't happy to colour the images then they come ready coloured so you can just print them off as they are on the disc.

But if you are then you can use the line drawings
 to colour in your self.

The papers are in blue and pink and layered  onto some plain pink card.

The Lacy border is from the Persian  Accents from Spellbinders and it is cut from Glitter card, and the blue satin ribbon has been added to the top.

I thought I would add some blue buttons for a change but then decided to add the flowers as well.

Well why not???   The flowers are from  Wild Orchid Crafts

The fairy in the foreground has been added with   Pinflair Glue Gel   to give her height, and  the  wings have been sparkled with the lovely Glamour Dust for added effect.

A very pretty card for many occasions.

Hugs Christina xx

New CD from Polkadoodles

The new CD from Polkadoodles is full of delightful images and backing papers that all mix and match together.

It's called Sugar Plum Daisy and it is a pleasure to work with... especially if you like to make really girly cards.

I have made the card with the fold at the top and matted one of the back ground papers onto some turquoise card.

The wings on the images and the flowers have had Glamour Dust added.

The flower strip at the front of the card has been attached to some acetate and bowed slightly, to raise it off the main body of the card.

I stuck it in place behind the matting and then added them all to the card front.

I cut out another of the images and added it to the acetate strip (you can just see the shine on the acetate to the right of the child)

The sentiment is from the CD and that too has been added to a strip of acetate to allow it to float over the card front.

Hugs Christina xx