Monday, August 03, 2026

CCC July, A Long Cold Drink

 Hello,

Its time for the reveal of the 26 links in the Card Chain Challenge. You can see them all HERE. 
 
This time I sent a card to Pia in Norway, and received a beautiful card from Hilary in the UK.  All cards exchanged in July used at least one of the following options:


Colour Palette Option

(Exact matching is not required.)
Sketch Option
(Orient as desired.)

Theme Options: Cocktails / Pets / Friendship
Product / Technique Options: Embossing Powder / Ink Blending
 
My card for Pia
I chose to use the Sketch and the Cocktails theme. 
I've just realised that I used the same die set as last time - though I did use some of the other dies from it this time! You'd almost think I didn't have any other die sets, wouldn't you? 
(maybe not
   
 
 
 This one didn't come together as planned and I had three attempts before I felt happy enough  to send it. It was the stripes that caused most grief, and in the end I shrunk them to just a wide panel across the card.  I used a lot of washi tape to mask the stripes and summery shades of ink. 
All the die elements, including the sentiment are from Spellbinders' Pink Lemonade die set 
I added a little glitter to the jug and the glass
 

 Here is the beautiful card Hilary sent to me - I am in awe at her ink-blending!
 
 To join in the chain add your link to the list - you will send a card to the person who signed up before you. then wait to receive one from the person who signed up after you.  Don't worry, instructions are sent out to everyone who joins the chain  

 Materials


White card
Versa cube ink pads 
Washi tape for masking 
Tonic glitter glue 

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Just a Note
 
If you buy paper craft goodies, such as dies, stencils, stamps etc you may like to use my Spellbinders link  

  THIS is my Affiliate link to the Spellbinders store 
-  you can use it to access the store whenever you buy from Spellbinders
It doesn't cost you anything, but I may get a little reward for pointing you there.
There's a UK based shop now, so you can use the 'Visit Our UK Store' button at the top right of any page on the Spellbinders site  

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Thank you so much for coming by

 Happy Crafting, Take care of yourself, and please come back soon!
 
 Kathy xx

Monday, July 27, 2026

It was a Hot Summer's Day

 

Hello, 

welcome to my little crafting place

Today I have the first of two cards for July Wedding Anniversaries to share. The second I still need to make - for our own anniversary - but I'm still thinking about that one.

If I'd thought of it, I'd have looked up what kind of 'symbols' there are for a 5th anniversary, but I didn't - until I started to write this!  I could have used wood,  silverwaredaisiessapphire or rose quartz, but never mind!

Their wedding day was boiling hot, rather like the weather we're having now,  and I wanted to make something sunny and bright to reflect that. I chose hot colours; bright yellow, orange and red for this bunch of gorgeous flowers  and arranged them on an apple green and white striped paper

The flowers are from a couple of the die sets in the Spellbinders Just Add Cake Birthday Card Box  which I seem to have open on my desk all the time just now! The card is all from the Colourwheel collection., also Spellbinders

I added a few small punched hearts and a pc generated sentiment 

 I used

 white linen card blank 
+ more for the printed background piece (from a digital download)

 
Just a Note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  THIS is my Affiliate link to the Spellbinders store 
-  you can use it to access the store whenever you buy from Spellbinders
It doesn't cost you anything, but I may get a little reward for pointing you there.
There's a UK based shop now, so you can use the 'Visit Our UK Store' button at the top right of any page on the Spellbinders site  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for coming by, please do leave a message if you can!

 Happy Crafting, Take care of yourself, and please come back soon!
 
 Kathy xx

Monday, July 20, 2026

'I Feel Dizzy' Flower card

Hello, 

welcome to my little crafting place

I've been having loads of fun with card spinners - a new Spellbinders product little metal gadgets that you stick between your card and the item you want to spin,  then when you 'flick' the item with your finger it spins like crazy!

I managed to get my hands on the fabulous Just Add Cake Birthday Card Box (also Spellbinders) which contains several die sets, stamps, and embossing folder, cardstock and various other items too. I've used the beautiful flower die set on this card

To start with I chose my colour theme, then inked around the edge of some white linen cardstock with a pale aqua ink pad. I also inked around the front of a card blank with the same ink pad, but making the colour deeper.  Next I had a die-cutting and assembling session to make loads of the smaller flowers and stems etc. 

Once I'd decided on my arrangement and also where my large 'dizzy' flower would go, they were glued down.  I made the sentiment (also from the Just Add Cake box) and added that too, so that all the 'flatter' bits were done.  

Next I cut and assembled the large flower, added the spinner to the back of it with a glue dots and worked out where to place it before adding the second glue dot and pressing down

Here's the latest of my terrible videos showing the flower in action to show just how fast these spinners are!
 

 I just love these spinners, they are made of metal and come in two sizes, I have a mixed pack which has some about 1cm diameter and some about half that. You stick one side to your moving element and the other to the card - I tried glue dots and double sided tape, both worked really well - you can also use glue if you prefer
 
Finally as I needed to send this in the mail, I decided to make a box for it using the WRM shadow-box punch, which also allows you to make a cover for the box. 
 

 I used

 white linen card blank and background piece

 
 
Just a Note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  THIS is my Affiliate link to the Spellbinders store 
-  you can use it to access the store whenever you buy from Spellbinders
It doesn't cost you anything, but I may get a little reward for pointing you there.
There's a UK based shop now, so you can use the 'Visit Our UK Store' button at the top right of any page on the Spellbinders site  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for coming by, please do leave a message if you can!

 Happy Crafting, Take care of yourself, and please come back soon!
 
 Kathy xx

Friday, July 10, 2026

Spinning Pizza

 

Hello, 

welcome to my little crafting place

I do love making cards and other projects that have a little 'something extra'.  It could be a new card fold, something hidden, or some kind of interactive element. So this week I've been having loads of fun with a new Spellbinders product that means you can add something that spins like crazy when you tweak it with your finger.

Not sure why but the first thing that came to mind was pizza so I made this

I started by making the pizza using a couple of nested circle dies, which were hand cut around the edges for a more random pizza crust and topping vibe, plus a regular circle for the plate.

I used some of the dies from the fabulous Just Add Cake box of goodies. 

The chef's arm is from Birthday Brew die set, the pepperoni slices from Chompster die set (there is a pizza slice in this set, but I wanted it to be the whole pizza) and the sentiment is from Make It Count Sentiments die set

I made a gingham 'tablecloth' background piece on the pc  

Here's the latest of my terrible videos showing the pizza in action, at least it gives you the idea and shows just how fast these spinners are!
 

 I just love these spinners, they are made of metal and come in two sizes, I have a mixed pack which has some about 1cm diameter and some about half that. You stick one side to your moving element and the other to the card - I tried glue dots and double sided tape, both worked really well - you can also use glue if you prefer

 I used

 
 
Die sets: 
Birthday Brew,  Chompster and Make It Count Sentiments die set all from
 Other
13 x 15cm white linen card blank
scraps of card, plus plain white card and inks for die vutting etc
Digitally made gingham background paper 
 
 
Just a Note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  THIS is my Affiliate link to the Spellbinders store 
-  you can use it to access the store whenever you buy from Spellbinders
It doesn't cost you anything, but I may get a little reward for pointing you there.
There's a UK based shop now, so you can use the 'Visit Our UK Store' button at the top right of any page on the Spellbinders site  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for coming by, pleas do leave a message if you can!

 Happy Crafting, Take care of yourself, and please come back soon!
 
 Kathy xx


Monday, July 06, 2026

Cafe Blackboard; CCC June

 

 

 Hello,

Its time for the reveal of the Card Chain Challenge cards that went around the world in June 2026 - they can all be seen HERE.
  
  All the cards exchanged in June used at least one of the following options:
 
Colour Palette Option
(Exact matching is not required.)


Sketch Option

(Orient as desired.)


Theme Options: Tea or Coffee / Safari / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Embossing / Shaped Card

 It's a worldwide chain and 25 people made up the chain this time.  I sent my card to Jo in UK and received this lovely card from Gail in Canada

 
 To join in the chain add your link to the list - you will send a card to the person who signed up before you. then wait to receive one from the person who signed up after you.  Don't worry, instructions are sent out to everyone who joins the chain  
 
My card for Jo
I chose the Tea or Coffee theme and Shaped Card from the Technique Options
and used one of my current favourite die sets to make a Cafe Blackboard card

I've used the chalkboard dies from Spellbinders' Pink Lemonade Die Bundle to make a shaped card for the Cafe Board, and various other old die sets (also Spellbinders) for the coffee pot, teapot, coffee beans and cup/saucer.  

The flowers are also in the Die Bundle and the swirly white 'chalked' pattern is a die from the 2024 Advent calendar.

The letters are (I think) from an old Sizzix alphabet set 

 

 Materials

 
Pink Lemonade Die Bundle from Spellbinders  including S4-1532 and S6-269
 
Various coloured card from
 
Other Spellbinders dies used are a few years old, Coffee Pots set, cup and saucer,  the foam and steam are from an old club set
 
:
 Other
Black card for base
Brown card for 'wood'
White card
Digital paper scrap for teapot 
Alphabet die set (Sizzix?)
 
  
If you buy paper craft goodies, such as dies, stencils, stamps etc you may like to use my Spellbinders link 
  
 
Just a Note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  THIS is my Affiliate link to the Spellbinders store 
-  you can use it to access the store whenever you buy from Spellbinders
It doesn't cost you anything, but I may get a little reward for pointing you there.
There's a UK based shop now, so you can use the 'Visit Our UK Store' button at the top right of any page on the Spellbinders site  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for coming by

 Happy Crafting, Take care of yourself, and please come back soon!
 
 Kathy xx