Let it Shine

I had a little play with the new Let it Shine downloads (love love love this collection). I used one of my favourite images on both my cards here. I decided it would have been good if we had included a celebrate and a plain birthday sentiment in the bundle, and created a couple around this image. If you have purchased the Let it Shine bundle you can get the image with the sentiments as shown (including the circle behind the ladies, but of course without my friend, Tee's, name on there. LOL Just send us an email with your order number and I shall give you the extra bits.

I used Copics to colour in both of the images here (did I tell you the next Candy on the new main Charmed shop blog includes lots of Copics?? I'll let you know when it's on there ). This image is so versatile, and can be used for so many occasions.



Everything here is of course available from Charmed Cards & Crafts:
Image from Let it Shine Digi Collection. The sentiments were created for these cards, but you can get the image with these two sentiments if you have purchased the Let it Shine bundle. Just drop us an email with the order number.
Papers: Prima Sweet Fairy Pad
Pink Pearls
The Lilac pearls were created with Liquid Pearls
Prima Butterfly Pebble
White sparkling Lace
Metal Corner (will get this on site as soon as poss)
Pink Roses








This one uses:
Same image from Let is Shine, and again you can get the sentiment behind it (minus my friend Tee's name on it of course).
Papers are Basic Grey Hello Luscious
Trim is Bo Bunny Olivia
Flower is Petaloo with a Prima centre.
Pearls



Remember that our digis are available to everyone, anywhere, IMMEDIATELY. We also have a big collection of FREE downloads, so don't forget to get those.

Just in case you hadn't noticed we have added some badges for your blog in the right-hand column on the Charmed blog. If you love our products (and we have 16,000+ product lines so there must be something you like LOL), then PLEASE let the world know. Thank you ♥

Pretty in Pink

Most of us have gotten so used to using a coloured image as the main focal point for our cards, that we forget they can exist quite happily without one. A Prima flower makes for a beautiful centerpiece; this one is from the Trinket collection.



Products used on this card:
Prima Madeline Trinket Flower
All paper is from the Prima Sweet Fairy 6x6 Paper Pad
Tim Holtz Ticket (love)
White lace.
Heart Pearls.
K&Co Blossomwood die-cuts and transparency. I love the metallic transparent bird; the colour changes as the light catches it.
I punched the two mats (inside and out) using a Martha Stewart Double Loop Punch Around the Page set.
The white heart on the front is 4" Doily Heart.
The rose inside is a K&Co Cut & Paste Grand Adhesion.

As you can see I decorated the inside too. I really think it makes the difference between a good card and a quality card. If you are making the effort to create a handmade card, then why not go that extra mile to make it special.











Thanks for visiting the Charmed corner of the Web :-)

Mummy Kissing Santa

I have been drawing a little lately and this is one of mine, as well as the two sentiments. I made an easel card and wrapped the image in gorgeous Bo Bunny Noel Ribbon. Borders have been machine sewn. The paper is all from Bo Bunny Noel.

The green ribbon is from the same Bo Bunny Noel pack. Pearls and Roses are Prima, heart crystals are K&Co. I added polar white flower soft to the image as snow, it's not in the first picture (I forgot to add it!) but you can see it in the picture below.

Image and sentiments by me.

Thanks for visiting. Don't forget to enter the Copic Candy (72 pens!!) and the Bo Bunny Noel Collection pack give-away.

Conditional Christmas

It's Sunday again! Can you believe it? Where on earth did that week go? Been a mixed bag weather wise but summer is definitely drawing to a close, seems it was here for a precious short time. I noticed my herb garden is starting to look yellow, that's a sure sign of autumn approaching. So, many months of cold weather awaits us. One thing to look forward to of course is Christmas, right bang in the middle of it all and just when we are starting to get fed up with the cold - it really couldn't come at a better time :-) I've been quite bad at making cards in good time so this year I decided to start early, which is why I took the chance to make another for this weeks Dottie's World challenge.

It was my turn to set our weekly challenge and I decided that it might be quite challenging to make a Christmas card without a hint of red or green. Apart from the colour restriction the only stipulation was that I wanted to see at least one of the fabulous Charmed Downloads on there somewhere. Here is my card - I didn't finish until late afternoon and the light was terrible, but I guess I have to start getting used to that:



I had fun with this one, creating two different sides on the front with colours and main paper uniting the two.

I cut a paper doily in half and coloured each half in different shapes of lilac/purple. A Lilac Prima Poinsettia adorn the centre, along with K&Co sentiment and 3D snowflake. I used Martha Stewart chunky shards of glitter to decorate the snowflake on the paper. The blue die-cut paper is a sheet from the K&Co Swell Noel Mat pad inked with blue distress ink. There's a Metal Evergreen snowflake brad in the corner and three metal Christmas tree charms. Finally I added a little white lace and some pearls.

OK, I hear you say, didn't you forget something? Didn't you neglect to include THE MOST IMPORTANT THING? Well no; I didn't say it had to be on the front of the card, did I? :-) Take a look inside my card:

Yep, I decided that I wold adorn the inside of my card too. K&Co paper again - Nestabilities cut circle - chunky purple shards for the corners - and...

...two gorgeous creatures from our Charming Christmas bundle. I merged the two images and coloured them with Copic markers. The silver is Stickles and I used Polar White Flowersoft for the white trim. Aren't they adorable? And you just know that Scruff is quite willing to share that turkey ♥

Have a great Sunday. I hope you will join us on Dottie's World x

Life's a Beach!

It can be that's for sure. Love this little phrase, it can be taken as life is tough so play and have fun, but it can of course also be taken as life is a beach, all summery and fun :-) Anyhow this is the phrase I used as the basis for my card for this weeks challenge on the Charmed digi blog. Lou set the challenge before she flew off to sunny Turkey and this is what she asked for:

"As this challenge goes live I will actually be sunning myself in Turkey! So I think it would be a fitting plan to make a beach/vacation themed card - make it sunny please! Don't forget your Charmed download!"

I must confess that originally I had remembered the challenge incorrectly and though it was merely "summery" so my first attempt was not suited! Here is my second attempt:

I used an image from the Boy oh Boy collection and coloured him with Copics. First time I have used this one, he just EXUDE all the joys of life, don't you think? You can't help but smile when you look at him.



My base card was Aqua coloured cardstock. I created a little beach scene and added my image onto it using 3D foam pads for a 3D effect.
Tickets are Tim Holtz and edges are inked with distress inks
Beach clip holding the tickets is Lil' Davis.
Wave in left-hand corner, Star fish top right-hand corner and the wording "Beach" and "Splash" are all from K&Co Sea Glass Beach Chipboard.
I punched the edges of the frame using Martha Stewart punches and sprayed it with glimmer mist for a discreet sparkle.
Prima pearls were added to the bottom.

Pop over and join the challenge, we sure would love to see you!

Have a great Bank Holiday. Thanks for visiting the Charmed corner of the web ♥

Inspirational...

Our weekly challenge on the Charmed digi blog this week is Inspiration. Lou posted a beautiful picture from which to draw inspiration, be that the feel of it, the colours, or whatever other inspiration you may get from it. The only stipulation is that you must use one of our hundreds of downloads - and that's not difficult as there are so many utterly gorgeous ones to choose from :-)

I love the colours on the photo and regretfully I didn't quite capture the richness. But I went for the dark reds, whites and blue colours as my inspiration. I added a little green to mine also. This is the first Christmas card of the year for me but I'm determined to get many done before December so expect to see more...

My Holly Pixie from the Pixie Downloads (also available as a clear stamp) has blue/green holly and wings. Each holly leaf is green but tipped with blue. I used a variety of K&Co and Basic Grey papers, the base of my card is Doodlebug Ladybug Sugar Coated Cardstock, which means the back of the card is nice and glittery too. I also used gold lace - K&Co Evergreen snowflake stickers - Warm wishes greeting is from an Imaginice Polar Expressions paper - K&Co Layered Poinsettia flowers - Clear pebbles forms a frame around the card. I used a Martha Stewart Border punch for the border running across the middle. The red has been highlighted with red Stickles.

After printing out my Pixie I drew a large bauble around her then coloured everything in with Copic markers. I used Polar White Flowersoft for the trim on her dress and a little Stickles to highlight here and there on the holly as well, as the gold dots on the bauble..

I started doing the inside but didn't have enough time to complete. It's ready for when I have the time..



Just the blue paper atm, but will add everything else when I need it...


I do hope you can join us on DW this week, it's a fab challenge.

Thanks for visiting x

Favourites...

This week on our digi blog our lovely Gunn set a fab challenge: to showcase your favourite Charmed download. Tough one this one as I love so many of them. One of my favourite collections are the "Girls about town" and I love the Pixie collections for their sheer versatility, I also love the new Once Upon a Time collection and and and... the list goes on. The image I used on my card this week has to be one of my favourites from the Pixie collection but not THE favourite as I love them all!! I am giving one of these collections to one lucky person so pop back tomorrow.

I used papers from the Fancy Pants Daily Grind paper pad for both my background and two corners.

I drew a circle with large dots on the background with a marker then swirled in each with a white Inkssentials pen. With the same pen a whimsical doodled border was created The two flowers are one K&Co Blossomwood die-cut cardstock flower cut in half. They are actually delicately glittered , although that doesn't show well here.

I created a frame using Flower Soft. I mixed the colours myself and glued them onto a green frame. After inserting my image, which I coloured with Copics, I stuck it onto brown cardstock distressed with a paper distresser to roughen edges, then onto my card.

The floral swirl below uses a K&Co Blossomwood die-cut as the base, then a Prima crystal swirl and blue Prima pearls.

The corners were Prima The Goods cardboard shapes onto which I stuck the Fancy Pants paper and inked with brown distress ink.

The "dream" ticket is Tim Holtz.

When my daughter (aged 13) saw this card she said that I always use muted earthy colours, and it's true. I get out all my pads of papers and always end up choosing the same type of colours. I love the vintage look and most of my cards unintentionally seem to veer towards that these days.

Thanks for visiting. Have a lovely day ♥

Sketch it!

Another glorious Sunday (I hope so anyway, as I'm writing this Saturday evening I have no idea what the weather will be like tomorrow - one can always dream!). I am planning to get plants for the garden this weekend, surely there is no chance of frost now? It's almost June for goodness sake!

It's the Sunday challenge at Dottie's World and I set the challenge this week. I used a sketch that I created for our forum members a while ago. So the challenge is to use the sketch and one of our downloads. You can see the sketch HERE.

I am also entering my card into the following challenges:
Basic Grey Challenges: Punch it
Sukkersött: 3D Effect

Dare you to digi stamp challenge: Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday: Someone Special

Please excuse the copious amount of pictures.

I decorated the inside too, I really like doing that these days, seems bare without it now! I used a K&Co Wild Saffron Rub-on there and decorated with pearls and dotted coloured spots with my markers.

Other products used:
Image from the Holly & Madison bundle coloured with Copic markers.
Papers: Basic Grey Scarlets Letter and plain cardstock. The cream cardstock is pearlised.
Embellies are Pearls (I coloured the red ones with my markers) and Prima roses
Tools: Nestabilities for the circles
The sentiment is Fancy Pants die-cuts

If you have purchased any of the Charmed Downloads then please pop over and join the challenge.

Have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping by ♥

All Sewn Up!

I hope you are enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend. True to form it has been bucketing it down, and as I type this Saturday evening the noise from the rain is overwhelming as it drums against the windows. Lets hope the rain lets up just a little so we can get out there and soak up a few rays.

It is the Sunday challenge on our digi stamp challenge blog, if you have any of the Charmed downloads then please pop over and join us, we would really love to see your work.The lovely Nicole set the challenge this week and she wants to see some stitching, any stitching, plus one of our downloads of course.

Now I was in a hurry and just didn't have the time to colour in an image, so I decided to use a compilation of images from our Pixie download bundles that I had made some time ago. This is already coloured in so all I did was print it out. I made a number of these "compilations" and will be giving them to anyone who has purchased both the Pixie bundles, all you have to do is email through your order numbers and I will email the scenes to you.


The stitching here is on the right-hand side where I used raffia ribbon to produce a stitch-like border. I also added a little faux stitching, some of which I glittered with gold dust.


This was an incredibly economical and quick card to make. Here are products used:
Images from our Pixie collections. I used images already coloured.
Plain cardstock for card and matting, and a bit of scrap brown patterned paper for the stitched border.
Gold dust
Raffia, Leaf gems and Pearls - TOP TIP: Colour white pearls with a brown marker pen for instant golden pearls. Use the appropriate hue for the depth of colour you require.

Leaves cut with a Martha Stewart border punch
Holes for my raffia stitching was done with a Martha Stewart Ribbon Threader Border Punch.

Please ignore the white pearls you see above the card in the top right-hand corner - that's another story and they are not part of the card LOL

Thank you for visiting the Charmed corner of the web. Remember that if you have purchased our Pixie bundles you can get the scene I used above by emailing me HERE (we will need your order numbers).

xxx

Flowers and more Flowers

That is what Lou wanted for the Sunday challenge on Dotties World today - along with at least one of the Charmed downloads of course. I decided to veer away from the cards for this week and decorate a paper mache frame.

I painted the frame in a cream acrylic paint.

The picture is meant to refer to the magic of chilhood and "make-believe". The "Hi" and "Believe" are not menat to read together (as one of my girls seemed to think). Henry Hare is saying hi to the girls and the "Believe" refers to the fact that they believe in him. This is a land where cats are blue and walk about proudly bearing bejwelled crowns after all! Henry Hare are carrying flowers and flowers also grow at the base of the picture. Both Henry Hare and Puss are from the Animal Magic Collection available at Charmed Cards & Crafts, as are the love birds sitting on the frame.

The pictures of the girls are from different years but I thought they both suited the theme.

I used We R Memory Keppers paper for the frame. The wording in the large yellow flower reads "Let the magic within last forever.......Believe........" A large Dovecraft Funky brads adorn the centre.

I covered a few plain chipboard pieces in Blazing Orange Liquid Beadz.


The branch is a plain Basic Grey Infuse chipboard piece covered in Cracklepaint.

I also used K&Co Margo Self-adhesive pearls and some Glitter blossoms from the new Lotus range.



Other items used are K&Co Wild Saffron Felt Flowers and butterflies, plus Dovecraft and Basic Grey brads.

TFL

Karen xx

Basic Grey Wassail

I have been busy busy busy making cards for the DT pages on Charmed. I always worry that they aren't as good as those from my design team but what the heck, I own the joint so in they go LOL

The Wassail papers and embellishments really do go far, I have loads left over so may make some more when I get time.

Karen Leahy also created LOADS of fabulous Wassail projects for Charmed, they are all on site now. Karen really is a wonderfully talented lady, not only that but she is a wonderful person inside too! Pop over to Charmed and see what she made for us :o)

TFL

Karen x

Black & White with a Splash of Colour

That was the challenge for today on Dottie's World. I really loved this one, not only was it a great challenge but I had the chance to play with our new download collection - Animal Magic! This card uses my favourite character from this collection: Scruff! isn't he darling? I love the hand-drawn look, indeed this collection is the first of the "Back to the Drawing Board" collections by Louise Brigden.

Unfortunately the light was not with me and despite taking pictures for two hours I just couldn't get a good one (must buy a daylight lamp!!). Here are a selection of photo's:

Appropriately for Scruff I "scruffed up" the card. Edges have been distressed with Tim Holtz's Paper Distresser and inks have been used liberally (white on the black Bazzill cardstock and black on the white). My "Splash of colour" is the red on Scruff's nose and collar plus three large red Basic Grey Brads.

Products used:

• Scruff from the new Animal Magic collection
• White and Black Bazzill
• White and Black Inks
• Red Basic Grey Brads (From the Cupcake collections)
• Natural Paper Cord
  

Tools:

• Nestabilites Dies
• Fiskars Treading Water Border Punch
• Floral Screen Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
• Tim Holtz Paper Distresser
  

Everything is of course available from Charmed Cards & Crafts

Karen xx