Masculine Lauderdale

Men are notoriously difficult to create for, but these days there are so many great papers you can use. Don't just look for golf/fishing and the likes; bold, striking colours and designs are fabulously suited for masculine themed project. I used the new Basic Grey Lauderdale 6x6 pad for my card here.

Don't be afraid to use sewing on your project. A random overlapping stitch around the edge for example is fun and quirky. I bought a little sewing machine from John Lewis a while ago and leave it set up just for paper crafting, here's the link for their mini sewing machine. It's a little gem really, so easy to use. Just remember not to glue edges together before sewing as it may gung up your machine. If you don't want to use a machine you could try the Sew Easy range from We R Memory Keepers. A variety of heads are available enabling great designs.

The inside has been decorated too. The shape is cut from a Spellbinders Nestabilities die.




Buttons and brads are Basic Grey. That large Birthday metal sentiment is available HERE. Tim Holtz "play" ticket.



I'll have a candy for you over the weekend so pop back then :-)

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 :-)

Basic Grey Pre-orders

The latest two collections by Basic Grey are available to pre-order. We also have the latest Bo Bunny collections available to pre-order.

Speaking of Basic Grey:


SweetThread and Lauderdale arrived early last week as did this lot:







Loving it all :-)

Candy Winner

I hope you have had a lovely weekend. Personally I feel as though I've been on a long holiday with all these long Bank Holidays! A girl could get used to not working!

Thank you for entering the Easter Candy. The winner was chosen at random.org:



No 43 is lalkygirl (sorry, can't find your name on your blog). Congratulations to you, please email your address details through to us so we can get your stamps sent out.

Another candy will be on the blog soon :-)

Easter Candy

Happy Easter :-) As promised here is a little candy for you. You will get a set of Kaisercraft Circle Clear stamps; these are in varying sizes, from 1" in diameter,, to 2.5". You will also get a Magnolia stamp. Just link to the candy on your blog, and enter the link to your blog in Mr Linky below.

A winner will be chosen at random.org in a week.

Good luck :-)


THIS CANDY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNER DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE

FREE Easter & Spring Cards & Tags Downloads

Happy Easter to you all. I have been busy making you some FREE cards and tags you can use over Easter, there are also some more generic designs to use anytime. These are downloads, so you can get them right now. They are only available as a grab-for-all until after Easter so get there quick. After this time you will still be able to get them for free, but only with a purchase.



Hope you like them :-)

~~~Easter Egg Hunt~~~

Come join our Easter Egg hunt, and perhaps the Easter bunny will bring you something nice :-)

Win a Spend...

Just popped on to tell you about our latest competition. Please join us and be in with a chance to win a £30 spend in the shop. Click the picture to find out more.

I cannot believe that it is two months since I lasted posted on the blog! No excuse, but with the website, Facebook and the blog it becomes a little overwhelming at times. Nevertheless lots of things have happened, and new goodies are finding their way into the Charmed store on a regular basis. Here are the latest products to arrive:

Check out those Spellbinders and the new Fancy Pants collections - all totally fab! There's LOADS more new stuff, so why not pop over and check it all out :-)

The next two Basic Grey collections are available to pre-order, and due soon:

EASTER EGG HUNT

There's an Easter Hunt abrewing. I'll pop the link on as soon as it's all ready. Oh and stand by for a little yummy candy over the weekend.

Thanks for visiting the Charmed corner of the web ♥

Sketches - and new products

Using sketches is a great way to stretch yourself, and perhaps create something outside your comfort zone. On the Charmed Craft Talk forum we have a monthy sketch challenge, we would love for you to join us so please pop by :-)

This was a card I made for one of the recent sketches. I used white lace, Fancy Pants paper and chipboard, Prima flowers and K&Co grand adhesions. The border was cut with a Martha Stewart border punch. I think the Thank you rub-on was Basic Grey:

That gorgeous rose cluster is K&Co from the Cut 'n Paste range.

I decorated the inside with Fancy Pants paper and another Cut 'n Paste Grand Adhesion:

______________________________________________


NEW PRODUCTS


I always forget to post about new products at Charmed. Here are some new goodies. We have lots of CHA 2011 releases coming soon (including Bo Bunny, Basic Grey, Spellbinders, Tim Holtz and lots more Prima) so stand by for those:

Prima pads - now in A4 as well as 6x6:





Lots of new cute stamps from artists such as Sarah Kay, Penny Johnson, Laurence Design, Mo Manning and more:


Card Candi. New to Charmed Cards & Crafts we love these fab embellishments - available in 23 different packs:




Thanks for popping by. Have a great weekend ♥

Never give up!

I hope you have been enjoying our daily card front give-aways. Remember they are only free-for-all for 24 hours so if you want them you have to go get them.

Now then; we have all heard stories about Royal Mail taking an absolute age to deliver something. At Charmed Cards & Crafts we have a collection service which means that Royal Mail pick up from us each day. We get sacks to put the parcels in and on a couple of occasions through the years we have found the odd stray letter in them. You can see how a letter could go amiss as it nestles into the creases at the bottom of a white sack. Parcels going astray is a different matter, they are not so easily overlooked. I sent a card in a 7" x 7" box to a friend on the 30th December - First Class post - and it arrived LAST WEEK! It was not damaged in the slightest, and there was nothing on the box to say where it had been all that time - but perhaps it had been nestling in a corner in one of their darker stiff bags. I can just image them throwing the empty bags onto a great big pile and then only returning to them when more sacks are needed. Only when they pack the bags into another will they discover that they weren't quite empty. I think that scenario accounts for quite a lot of smaller lost mail. So the moral of this story is "NEVER GIVE UP" :-)

Here is the card that took over a month to get from London to Scarborough.

This is such a cute image. I've used it on a couple of occasions now. I coloured it in with Copic makers then added a little glitz here and there with Stickles.

Products used:
Scallops were cut with a Grand Nestabilites die - Basic Grey alpha's - K&Co heart crystals - Bo Bunny white rose trim - Pearls - Lace. Basic Grey paper -Mo Manning digi stamp - Prima centre - Dress-it-Up Party button - Lace and ribbon.




Thanks for popping by ♥