Here's my Un-Boxing video for this month's Tonic Craft Kit, The Apothecary Box! The A5 die set in the kit allows you to create your own Apothecary style drawer unit using whichever combination of dies you like! I nice kit to sink your teeth into an have fun playing around with different configurations! :D
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FINALLY! Here's my Un-Boxing video for Tonic Craft Kit #72! Walk on the Wild Side! :D I adore the cute little critters in this kit and they fit in so well with the previous 4 sets that were called Wild About Zoo! Hope you've been enjoying your kits and perhaps you'll get a little inspiration from my 6 simple cards featuring all the characters :D xxx
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Here's my Up Close video for Tonic Create & Make #5 The Buzzy Bag! this dinky little die set creates a gorgeous large gift bag/box that can have a bee theme to go with the hexagonal shape, or can be completely unrelated to bees! And of course the decorative portions and basic shapes are fabulous for your cards too! :D
And for the corresponding Tutorial video I have shown how to create a multi-aperture shaker card, I don't think I've filmed a proper tutorial on it before and I think it's a great step up from a regular shaker card, so I'm hoping you enjoy seeing it :D xxx
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Here's my Up Close video for Tonic Showcase #44 The Amazing Aperture Box, which is a nice versatile one that you can use in the intended way, leave the side flaps off, or just keep it as an open vessel for a flower too... And of course it has some gorgeous decorative panels for use on your cards as always :D
And for the corresponding Tutorial this month, I thought I'd show my cheats way of doing in-laid die-cutting when you have tiny little pieces in your patterned dies :D Hope you find it helpful :D xxx
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This post is a little different, but it's the one I will link to on all of my Advent videos this year to give you a little info :D
So all these videos are old ones that have been lurking on a hard drive for years! I might not sound quite as cheery in them as I was quite depressed when I filmed some of them, but I'm sure they'll have some useful info in them, and they are packed full of cards and projects that might inspire you! I asked on my Facebook page if you would be interested in my using these old videos for Advent and it was a resounding yes, so even though you might not be able to buy a lot of products anymore, you might have them in your stash, or something similar :D I have plenty of old videos to use up, but if I get a chance I will of course film a few new ones to sprinkle in too :D And there'll be the usual Tonic videos for the month as well!
I won't do a separate product list for each video as a lot of the products aren't available, so instead, here's a list of all the online shops I'm affiliated with and if you'd like to do any shopping, I'd very much appreciating you using my links to do so :D
Hope you have a wonderful December and Christmas!! Christine and Pumpkin xxx
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Here's my Up Close video for Tonic's Create and Make #4 die set, the Festive Votive Holder :D Which coordinates perfectly with Showcase #43 The Eternal Love Lantern! I've created a 3 sided and 4 sided votive for the video, but you could definitely scale up the size, and of course so many of the dies are perfect for you Christmas card making too :D
My corresponding tutorial is using all those small dies from the set to create Christmas Cards that have a cluster feel to them, bringing small dies together to make a bigger impact on your cards, it's especially good if you only have a small die-cutting machine, or if your crafting elsewhere and can only use a small die-cutting machine too :D I do ramble a bit in the video, but I'm hoping verbalising my thoughts might help you create cards like this :D Christine xxx
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Here's my Up Close video for the Everyday Sentiments Cyber Week Stamps and Dies set. A versatile set with different combinations of stamped and die-cut sentiments each with a double bubble aspect for extra versatility! All my cards used backgrounds I created/showed in my Christmas Magic Colour Trend video :D Enjoy! Christine xxx
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Here's my Up Close video for the second Cyber Week set from Tonic! :D Another of their jam packed double A4 Memory Book die sets! And this time, we have a mini frame die included too and some Phenomenal foliage accent pieces too :D Again the elements would look fab on your cards too :D xxx
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Happy CYBER WEEK!! Here's my Up Close video for the first Cyber Week set from Tonic! An interactive gift box die set with a moving element to reveal different panels through windows in the outer box :D I didn't make any cards for the video, but the panels would look fab on cards too!! :D xxx
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Here's my Un-boxing video for Tonic Craft Kit #74 which is called Boots and Bouquets, it's a gorgeous kit with an A6 stamp set that has a coordinating die for every stamp, and as always there's a wonderful selection of Craft Perfect and Nuvo goodies too :D
And for the corresponding tutorial, I thought I'd show you how to perfectly align your stamps and dies, and the different ways to do it too! This tutorial can be applied to all stamp and coordinating die sets you have in your stash, and even helps if you die is made of solid metal too! Hope you find it helpful! Christine xxx
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Here's my Up Close video for Tonic Showcase #43 The Eternal Love Lantern :D A versatile lantern design that can have a beveled or flat top and/or base and you can also add drawers to the bottom and play around with cutting the detail into the sides to make it a functioning decorative lantern too :D
For my corresponding Tutorial for this month's Tonic Showcase I decided to show you a faux embossing folder technique focusing on the 'bride' and 'groom' image dies from the set :D This technique can be applied to any dies you have and gives you another way of using your dies :D Enjoy! Christine xxx
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Happy Halloween! I was hoping to have had a few more Halloween themed videos up for you, but I ran out of time filming them :/ So hopefully you've been enjoying the few that I did manage to film :D And thank you Lourdes for lots of the goodies I've used on them too! :D xxx
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Hello :D I've got another Halloweeney type video for you today, although the techniques are certainly transferable to other cards too :D Also try the inks on white card, you get a totally different look with the fab Interference inks from Lisa Horton :D I've teamed up the background with some Sizzix goodies sent to me by my lovely friend Lourdes, and I couldn't resist trying the Cosmic Shimmer Glow in the Dark Fluffy Stuff on the moon too :D xxx
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I'm hoping to do a few Halloween themed cards again this year, I did the skulls the other day and today's video is using the fab large Boo and EEK dies from Sizzix and Tim Holtz that my lovely friend Lourdes very kindly sent me :D And I teamed them up with some Creative Expressions dies which I just thought paired with the words perfectly :D Enjoy :D xxx
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Here's my Un-Boxing video for Tonic Craft Kit #73 :D This month's kit allows you to create 2 fabulous festive gift boxes, a bell and a bauble! I think they're wonderful 3D makes, and I'm very tempted to make myself a Nespresso pod advent calendar with the bauble :D And of course I had to give you a few ways of using the dies for cards too :D Enjoy! Christine xxx
I adore this 3D skulls embossing folder from Sizzix and I just to try adding embossing powder to the debossed areas by brayering on some sticky ink, embossing the folder, then adding a mixture of Wow embossing powders :D I think my original card that I show right at the end turned out better, but you can see the basic process in the main portion of the video as every card will turn out differently when using these techniques :D
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I have built up a rather big collection of Pumpkin themed things recently after getting my little Pumpkin, I've always loved Pumpkins, but now I have an excuse :D As I need lots of goodies to make people cards from Pumpkin :D :D xxx
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I decided to film an Up Close video with Jane Gill's latest Woodware Collection, I don't have all her sets, but I have the majority :D I really enjoyed playing with the stamps I have from the collection this collection is just my style :D Hope you enjoyed seeing my cards and the stamp close up too :D xxx
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Have you seen the new big pots and new colours of Cosmic Shimmer Iridescent Mica Pigments? I decided to film an Up Close video with the 8 colours I have, but there's a further 6 new big pot colours too (linked below) :D xxx
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I really liked how these 3 birthday cards turned out! I did one for my Mum, one for my friend Lourdes and one for my Nan's 90th and they all went down really well :D Again I was having fun playing with the Distress Watercolour pencils and some new Tim Holtz stamps and stencils too! :D I was also playing around with how I dragged out the colour, I diluted some Cosmic Shimmer Opal Blaze into a waterbrush and used that to give a subtle sparkly look :D xxx
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I adore these little birds in a nest from Francoise at Woodware, they are just so adorable, and I thought they'd be the perfect topper for some backgrounds made with the Tiny Prints background stamps :D
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I really enjoyed Jamie's Festive Collection this year and as I had the whole collection, thought I'd film an Up Close video for you all with my samples :D xxx
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I had so much fun playing with the Distress Watercolour Pencils that my lovely friend Lourdes sent me, and I just had to see if it'd work to sharpen them over a wet piece of card to create a unique background, and I think it pairs really nicely with the Sizzix Leaf Fragment dies too! :D Hope you like the cards :D Christine xxx
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I decided to film an Up Close video with the stunning Industrial Chic Festive Collection from Sue Wilson from a few years back, I was making a bunch of samples for Creative Expressions and while I had everything thought I might as well film a video :D Those of you in the UK might have these dies in your stash and those of you in the US might have bought them recently from Scrapbooking Made Simple :D xxx
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Ever wondered what to do with those bits of cling rubber that house some of the Tim Holtz stamp sets? When I made a card with his bottle brush tree stamps the other day, I weeded the set, then decided to cut the leftover cling rubber into usable shapes, and for these cards I used the 3 wonky rectangles, you'll never get a perfect impressions with them as they have a bit of texture to them, but they work fabulously for a watercolour stamping effect with Distress Inks :D xxx
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Hello :D So I've got a tutorial for you today using an electric wax furnace (kindly sent to me by One Day Saving) for creating wax seals, and I thought we would experiment by mixing clear wax beads with different pigment powders :D I also experimented to see if the furnace would melt embossing powder :D Hope you liked the tutorial :D Don't forget you can use my code CRaFTi05OFF for a 5% discount on the One Day Savings website :D
Here's the sped up video I was mentioning in the video :D
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I really wanted to just have a play with some paints are create a random background, just having fun with different colours and shapes, so I created a full A4 sheet, which I then chopped down and managed to get 5 cards from :D Hope you like seeing the process :D
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I really enjoyed working with the NEW 3D Festive Embossing Folders from Creative Expressions, and while I had my samples, I decided to film one of my Up Close videos :D I didn't realise at the time, but they also brought out coordinating stencils to go with the embossing folders too, so I've linked those where I could find them below as well :D xxx
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While I had all the samples, I thought I'd film an Up Close video looking at the fabulous Papercuts Cut and Lift Festive Collection :D Enjoy :D Christine xxx
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I was experimenting with this technique for one of the cards I showed in my Creative Expressions Halloween Collection video and also in an upcoming magazine commission too, so just had to do a sped up video using it too while I was in the mood :D I used a couple of fab Tim Holtz Stamp sets, and also an older Altenew one called Floral Shadow, which I couldn't find anywhere that still sells it :/ If you like the technique and the cards I made do let me know in the comments and I can always do a Tutorial video showing it too :D Christine xxx
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I originally made this card when this stunning collection from Francoise Read launched, and I really loved how it turned out, and it seemed to go down well on the shows, so I thought I'd recreate it in a sped up video to show you just how easy it is :D Hope you like it! :D xxx
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I adore this Bold Botanicals Stamp set from Tim Holtz another gift from my wonderful crafty friend Lourdes, and I decided to combine it with the fab Brushstroke stamp set as the designs have a lovely tattered edge, and I was also playing around with watercolour stamping with Distress colours first, then adding the black image on top, or stamping in black first, then using Distress Embossing Glazes over the top to add colour :D And I love both outcomes, hope you enjoyed the video :D Christine xxx
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Here is my Un-Boxing video for this months Tonic Craft Kit, Kit #71! A gorgeous marshmallow/hot chocolate themed kit that you can adapt with all sorts of extra die sets to create different themes on the basic set, I mention quite a few other ways of using the main cup/mug in the video, plus I show how I turned it into a Frankenstein's Monster mug too :D
And for the corresponding tutorial video for Kit #71 I decided to show a grouting technique using Nuvo products to fill in or grout a detailed die-cut stuck onto a solid piece of card, then once dry, you place another die-cut over the top :D It's a similar technique to flooding a die-cut with Nuvo drops, I did a tutorial video on that a little while back :D
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Here's my Up Close video for this month's Tonic Showcase, The Vino Vault, it's a large gift box that perfectly houses a full size bottle of wine, or I'm sure it'll fit alternative drinks too, and of course I had to show you a couple of cards made with the set too :D
And for the corresponding tutorial video I finally got around to showing how to create a simple spinner card :D Obviously this interactive card technique can be applied to a plethora of different dies, but I felt like it was a nice obscure way to use this die set, but also gives you a nice idea for a coordinating card for your Vino Vault :D
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I made this card quite some time ago (so forgive the fact that some of the stamp sets aren't available anymore :/) and I came across a photo of it the other day and decided to remake it in a quick sped up video :D Hope you liked the inspiration, it's an easy design to transfer to whatever stamps you have too :D Christine xxx
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I absolutely ADORE this Numbered 3D Texture Fade from Sizzix, a gift from my lovely friend Lourdes :D And I recently brought the Prima Clear Antiquing Wax and so I thought I'd use them both together for this fun 30th Birthday card :D Hope you like it :D xxx
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Creative Expressions have done it again, but even better than last year with even more designers joining in! So here is my Up Close video on the 2023 Halloween collection from Creative Expressions :D Enjoy :D Christine xxx
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Hello :D I'm back with some more Sped Up videos :D This one is a really simple card I made for the launch of the Creative Expressions Mini Layering Stencils, the Interlocking Squares stencil in particular, the original was the orangey version, but I thought as I was filming a video I might as well do a second colour scheme and try it with a different die shape too :D Gwen also demoed a similar version using an oval which looked fab too when they launched on HobbyMaker a little while back :D Enjoy :D Christine xxx
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Tonic have released a couple of Post Box dies sets in the past, but here's another variation on the theme! An almost Mail Box shaped box with a slot to post tiny letters and an opening to retrieve them too, or to add a larger gift :D So here's my Up Close video :D Hope you've enjoyed this years Birthday Week/ Christmas in July celebrations! Christine xxx
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Ever wanted to make your own Advent Calendar? This set is the perfect set for you! It allows you create a little advent town, complete with little Christmas Tree gift boxes too! And I reckon this set mixed in with lots of the previous 3D die sets Tonic has released would create a fabulous scene across your sideboard or mantle piece! So here's my Up Close video! Enjoy :D Christine xxx
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I adore this Beautiful Bevelled Star Gift Box! It's such a satisfying set to assemble and looks so effective! So here's my Up Close video looking at this wonderful die set and showing you a couple of Box samples and some cards too of course :D
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Happy Birthday to Tonic!! It's time for their birthday week celebrations, and they're kicking it off with a double A4 memory book die set :D So here's my Up Close video for the Today's Treasures Memory Book :D It's a lovely shaped book that includes some half cut pages and even a tassel die too :D Enjoy! I'll be back on Wednesday for the next launch I have :D Christine xxx
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Here's my Un-Boxing video for Kit #70 :D This month's kit is a Memory Book kit, but of course I had to show you a slightly different way to use the dies and some cards too :D
And for this months corresponding Kit Tutorial video, I decided to show you how well the Craft Perfect Die Tape works for masking when using the gorgeous Nuvo Mousse and Stone Drops from the kit :D xxx
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Here's my Up Close video showing you the gorgeous thankful harvest box that this die set creates, plus of course a selection of cards that you can create with the dies too :D
And for my corresponding tutorial video, I decided to show a serendipitous technique that I discovered a year or 2 ago :D Hope you like it :D Christine xxx
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Hello, here is my delayed Up Close video for this set soon, I was waiting for my proper set to arrive as I had a prototype for doing the packaging samples :D Hope you like it :D
Here is a sped up video of a couple of the almost completely die-cut cards that I did for the packaging :D Enjoy :D Christine xxx
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Here's my Un-Boxing video for Tonic Craft Kit # 69, it's the first Christmassy kit for 2023 and it's a gorgeous collection with some stunning gingerbread house designs and whimsical trees plus plenty more :D
And for this month's corresponding tutorial, I decided to show just how easy it is to create an overall stamped background using small designs from the stamp set :D
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