Madcap Manor

 Good morning, good people! I hope you're all keeping well. It seems quite a while since Christmas, I have finally got back into the daily routine now that all the decorations have been put away and the dead needles from the Christmas tree have been swept up! However, we can bring back the excitement of Christmas by making cards all year round! Yes, The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is back! I apologise for the shine in the photo, it's been very grey weather-wise, and the flash on my camera reflected from the embossing on the card.  I used an old stamp from Bo Bunny for the image and the sentiment is by Clearly Besotted.  Everything has been embossed with copper embossing powder, I like how it goes with the vintage style of the image. For some wonderful inspiration check out the challenge blog! It's never too soon to begin making Christmas cards! Thanks for looking and take care. love Mags B x

Morning, all! Happy weekend! Our new Challenge at My Time to Craft is to make a box or a bag with a matching tag. Quite an unusual Challenge - and it rhymes, too!! My tag was die-cut with a Simon Says Stamp Tag Die and the box was cut with the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Treats Box die. I used 2 co-ordinating Bo Bunny patterned cardstocks, both now out of print. I love the teal colour! The rose die is from a Love From Lizi kit from last year. I die-cut the outline from antique gold cardstock, then inlaid green and pink. It took ages, but I love the effect! Here's a close-up of the tag: and here's the box: The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted and the ribbon is from stash. My teamies have worked wonders with the theme, as usual, do take a look! Then, if you want a change from making a card, go for a box or bag and a tag! Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend! love Mags B x

D'OH. And DOUBLE D'OH! I didn't post my card last week for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. Sheer forgetfulness, I'm afraid, during the summer holidays I can never remember what day it is! I write lists to myself and then lose them. Wot a plonker, eh? Well, better late than never! The theme, as always, is Anything Christmas Goes. Now, this is RIGHT out of my comfort zone! I had a weird dream about a huge Christmas card that was slathered with lace and muslin and lots of gold trim, and when I woke up I thought, dammit, I'll give it a go! Let me tell you, this card took me all afternoon to make. I tried out different inks and stamps, and finally plumped for Vintage Photo Distress ink and a very old Santa image from Bo Bunny. The torn background paper is stamped with a wood plank effect stamp from Altenew. I added a Spellbinders holly motifs die-cut behind the Santa. The flowers and roses lace and the pearl strip are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The se...

Does anyone else remember The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band? No? They were very good! This week I have mostly been involved in our Church Holiday Club. The Church became 'Space Academy' with posters of the planets everywhere, space-themed bunting, and even a more-than-life-sized cardboard cutout astronaut! We were looking at the stories of Daniel and his friends (Shadrach! Meshach! Abednego! - the children shouted out the names every time they were mentioned.) It was great fun! I made several Thank you cards for the organisers, using a cute Bugaboo Rocketman image. (And forgot to write down the Spectrum Noir colours I used - oops! Phasers on stun, Mr Spock!) This design was for the Commanders (the leaders and helpers for our 2 groups of children): And this design was for the organisers: The papers for both are from the Bo Bunny 'Blast off!' collection. On the second card I added a dot of a silver-grey Sakura gel pen to each star to give a bit of a shine, and used a ...

Good morning, all! At least, I hope it's morning, I'm scheduling this post and if it doesn't work I'll be re-posting after Church, the Supermarket and, most importantly, LUNCH! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox . The entries for the last challenge were lovely, thank you for entering, I got some good ideas for Christmas cards! This fortnight we'd like to see cards made for Kids and Babies Our sponsor is the wonderful Bugaboo and the DT were delighted to be able to use some of their adorable images! Here's my card:  This has been made for a young man who has just turned 4. Isn't this image just right for a boy who loves exploring? I used Promarkers to colour him (list below) and used a Nestie to cut him out, then did the usual trick of drawing round the edge on my matting card and cutting out to give a thin border. The papers are 'U Bug Me' by Bo Bunny. I happened to be browsing the Dies to Die For site (as o...

    Evening, all! I hope you've all had at least some sunshine today, we had very wet rain this morning but the evening has been lovely! It's a long time since I made a card using a Tickled Pink image. This is Lil' Fashionette 50's Lilith, isn't she wonderful? I love her sulky expression - perhaps Daddy took the T-bird away! (It's a Beach Boys song. Also covered by the Carpenters. Whaddaya mean you're too young to remember either of those beat combos?!) The papers are Bo Bunny Vicki B Collection, they are wonderfully retro! I originally cut the Memory Box circle from the pink paper but it didn't show, so I used the brown card instead and filled in the middle with the paper. The sentiment is by The Greetings Farm. I distressed the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink and put Glossy Accents on the skulls and crossbones. The ribbon was a pressie from my daughter. The flowers are Wild Orchid, and the leaves are made with a Woodware punch. The...

Hi, guys! Sorry I'm so late, Friday night tv is actually rather good at the moment, there was a slightly strange hybrid of concert and drama, mixing a performance of Beethoven's 'Eroica' symphony with a telling of the circumstances surrounding its first performance. The programme was a bit of a curate's egg, not quite satisfying as either music or drama, but it did include Frank Finlay as Joseph Haydn. Frank Finlay is always a plus! Oh, do get on with the card, Margaret!! This adorable image is by Sarah Kay for Stampavie - I love her big straw hat and the cute chicks! I used my Speccies but didn't make a note of what I used because this began as an idle experiment. I must say, blowing my own trumpet, that I'm rather pleased with the hat! Papers are Bo Bunny Vicki B and they are lovely and bright! The ribbon is actually olive green, recycled from a top. I used my new Martha Stewart 'Cherish' border punch, and die-cut a Marianne swirl. The flowers are...