May Charity Kit

Hello friends

Announcing this month's Charity Kit.

It's an add-on to last month's kit but equally it could be used alone as a project.

It's a  kraft tie envelope/wallet with paper and die cut embellishments.

I've designed this to coordinate with the book cover and to be placed inside.

What to put in your envelope?  How about photos, poem, a card you've received...

whatever is a memory for you.

Included in your kit:

Kraft envelope with twine

Patterned paper strip (not pictured - oops!)

Die cuts: Marisa's Bouquet flowers, Labels Seventeen, Foliage and Delicate Doilies

Printed banner sentiment

Crystal gemstones for flowers

Lucky Number

Full instructions

Again, there is a limited number this month so please order quickly :)

The price inclusive of postage and packing is £5.25 -

this includes a charity donation and don't forget the lucky number,

the winner receives a bundle of goodies including dies, stamps, adhesive and this
month an extra prize - a Village Candle Tea Time!
Huge thanks to Steve at Crafty Interiors who kindly donated this, it smells gorgeous.

A PayPal button is below for this month's kit or you can purchase via the website here,

(the price differs on the website to allow postage to be added at checkout).

The kits available on the blog are now....

Huge thanks to everyone who purchased!

And as always, huge thanks for being so supportive with the Charity Kits.
Take care friends.

International Ambassadors are blog hopping!

Hello friends

 The Spellbinders International Ambassadors are having an informal blog hop again
and this time we are going pastel!
We have been having so much fun with these blog hops and delighted at how many of you
visit, play along and leave such lovely comments.  
I hope you are getting to know us and seeing our different styles,
each one of us is unique in our creative styles - so there is something for everyone!
The idea this month was to create something pastel, I chose a white palette and added
pastel flowers - easy peasy!
My card background is Grate Effect, I placed a section behind a frame
created with 6 x 6 Matting Basics A.

Mini Envelope Three placed at a jaunty angle!

Pretty heart paper inside and a stamped message as a banner.

And my pastel touch is the flowers - Marisa's Bouquet. 

Here is the list of blogs to visit, have fun looking at the all the different projects.

Linda Lucas

Yvonne van de Grijp

Christine Emberson (You are here)

 Christina Griffiths

And this time a special bonus to the hop as there is a chance to win!

Please make sure you are a follower of my blog and leave a comment here - it's that easy!

A winner will be picked out next week and the prize will be

a goody bag of Spellbinders dies!

Remember to check back to see if you have won.

Thanks so much for stopping by - we hope you enjoy your time with us.

We will be back with more!

With best wishes from Christine, Yvonne, Christina and Linda.

Friday Die Day

Hello friends

It's Friday and in my crafty world that means...Friday Die Day.
I'm still on a Pretty Petal roll so this week it is Pretty Pretty Petals C.

Four dies in this set and the measurements are as follows:
Three-Petal Flower: 2 x 1¼”
Three-Petal Solid Flower: 2 x 1¼”
Eight-Petal Flower: ¾”
Eight-Petal Solid Flower: ¾”
 

Here's how they look cut/embossed.

A clean and simple card this week. 

A white card with a strip of music washi tape applied to the left hand side

and a stamped sentiment to the bottom.

I then selected a smaller piece of white card and applied text washi tape across

until fully covered.

Trimmed, rounded the corners and affixed at an angle.

I then applied the Pretty Petals C die cuts, cut from pink and jade cardstock.



Crystal gemstones add to the middle for a touch of sparkle.

Pretty Petals C is available on the website here and be sure to check out the other
Pretty Petals - all on sale too!

Again, huge thanks for your supportive comments yesterday - you are all so lovely.

Hoping to answer a few questions regarding the new Sapphire machine:

Will it take other dies?
Yes, it will take your smaller Spellbinders dies and it will also be fine for other
thin metal dies.  Of course the new Sapphire dies will work in your Grand Calibur too :)

Will it be safe for children?
The recommendation on the box is age 14 and above.

Will it always be exclusive to Create and Craft?
For the foreseeable future yes, apologies I had not realised that when I chatted about it
this week - but please reach out to me with any Sapphire questions.

How does the Sapphire compare to the Artisan X-Plorer?
Firstly there is quite a weight difference - the Artisan weighs around 6 pounds whereas
the Sapphire weighs less than 1.9 pounds.

Secondly, the plate sizes differ - the Artisan plates measure 4½ x 8¼"
and the Sapphire plates measure approximately 2½ x 6".

And thirdly, the overall sizes differ - here are the approximate measurements:
Artisan:
 (L) - excluding handle 10¾ x ( (W) 4½” x (H) 7¾"
Sapphire:
(L) - including handle 7¾" x (W) 3¼" x (H) 5¼"


I'm in Buckinghamshire tomorrow, teaching a class and demoing at
A Maze of Memories.
Please stop by and say hello if you live that way, also you can say hello to my Mum
as she is accompanying me - perfect for chatting on long journeys!

Take care friends - have a good weekend.
 

Some news...

Hello friends

Thank you for all your kind messages yesterday.

Here is my boy with my lovely Mum having some lunch after our appointment.

The news is mixed - the hospital have not completely dismissed the idea of 

transferring Elliott to an open sided MRI scanner, and they have said that 

funding is not an issue...!

But they are concerned the imaging may not be as good so they need 

to consult with the neurosurgeon at the private clinic.

Also they are very much in favour of Elliott having more therapy to help with his anxiety.

Because all this is taking a lot of time and he is supposed to have scans every 6 months,

Elliott is having a CT scan within a couple of weeks - he gets through those perfectly,

which makes me thinks he could cope so much better with an open sided MRI.

Anyway that's all the hospital stuff - thank you so much for 'listening' to me here,

we've been on quite a journey over the last couple of years and you have all been

such amazing support to me.

Other news...

Today is the Sapphire launch day on Create and Craft.

I discovered that this little beauty is exclusive to them so if you would like one

grab one quick!

The price of £39.99 is for the machine and 14 dies!

Please stop by tomorrow for Friday Die Day,

a craft project instead of all my nattering - hurrah!

Take care friends.

Sapphire!

Hello friends

Again today revealing something new...something very special and new!

If you've been watching Create and Craft you may have caught the adverts

regarding this little delight so today I thought I would explain a little more.

This is Spellbinders Sapphire - 

a new die cutting and embossing machine that is easy to use and portable. 

Isn't it sweet!

This lightweight machine (less than 1.9 pounds) can cut/emboss dies up to 2 ¼” 

wide with the turn of a handle. It has a fold up tray and 2.5” feed, 

a locking suction base and a easy crank handle.

The machine comes with all the plates you need, consisting of A) white base plate, 
B) blue embossing plate, C) grey cutting plate and a tan embossing mat - 
it's the normal sandwiches you use with your Grand Calibur so nothing new to learn there :)

There is a new range of of coordinating blue Sapphire dies but it will also work with your

smaller designs of the Nestabilties and Shapeabilities family. 

So here's my thinking - it is nice and dinky, it's going to be perfect to take away

to your holiday home, take abroad, have on a lap tray in the evenings in front of the TV,

on your craft desk...it's going to free up quite a lot of space.

Long train journeys...book a seat with a table!

Also a a great gift for someone just starting out in craft and new to die cutting.

Where can you get one??

The Sapphire is being launched on Create and Craft, 10am this Thursday.

The price is £39.99.

Look out for my good friend Kim Hupke from Spellbinders who is flying over

from America especially to demonstrate.  

Also take a look at the design boards, I was busy making those last week :)

I'm really excited about this new launch, the die selections are wonderful too.

Other news:

Elliott, Mum and I are off to the Royal Marsden today, we have an appointment to 

discuss future MRI scans - fingers crossed please as we hope to negotiate Elliott

being referred to open sided MRI scanners.

Pleased to say the bluebells have now come on a treat - can you spot my

Blue..bella!?

Take care friends.

New and a Quick Flutter!

Hello friends

Do you have a Tool 'n One? 
If so, I'm delighted to tell you about the new Stylus Tips that are coming to the
UK very soon.  These are invaluable for embossing, petal shaping and more.
There's three sizes - small, medium and large, all interchangeable and in a
plastic pouch for easy storage.

For more details please see Stacey in a video here and I will announce as soon as I have

them in stock.

Yesterday I thought I would have a 'quick flutter'..in craft language that's a speedy Butterfly card!

I created my card base using 6 x 6 Matting Basics B.

 I added a further set of matting with a stamped message.

 Cut/emboss Butterfly twice, added a gemstone and affixed to the front of my card -

a very quick flutter card!

 The 6 x 6 Matting Basics are available on the website here...

 and Butterfly is available here.

 I'm back in my cabin today catching up with projects and getting ready for 

a weekend of classes and demos.

I hope you are all having a good week.

Take care friends.