Madcap Manor

Evening, all! I hope you're all well! I have spent some time in ye olde craft hovel today, and I've made another Santa card! This is my second-favourite Santa image, after the Penny Black one that I used for yesterday's My Time to Craft Challenge. He is an old stamp from Whiff of Joy and he seems to have been discontinued, sadly. He is such a cheery chappie! I'm sorry about the photo, irl the colours are brighter - and there's lots of glitter! I coloured Santa with Promarkers and stickled all the fur trim on his outfit. The mats were cut with Spellbinders dies. I thought the white mat looked dull, so I stamped some Whiff of Joy Christmas Swirls with Tea Dye DI and stickled them. The papers are from Hobbycraft. I used a Martha Stewart Star border punch along the horizontal piece. The little snowflakes are made with a Martha Stewart PATP corner punch, they are stickled and have gems in the middle. The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley. Now I need to say ...

Good morning, all! I hope you're having a good weekend! My daughter is over from Dublin. She has a job there, and now she and her partner are looking for their own place. Exciting! Children grow up so fast!!! it's time for another Challenge at My Time to Craft and this time it's Christmas in June . Well, it's never too early to get the Christmas cards started, is it? (I apologise for the naff photo!) I have some old die-cut sheets of images from Lili of the Valley coloured by the amazing Bev Rochester . I love these cute children decorating the tree - and I wish i could colour like that!!! The striped paper came from a pad of 'Back to Basics' Christmas paper by Dovecraft, and the sentiment is from a sheet of foiled Christmas sentiments, both of which came from Hobbycraft. The ribbon is from stash, and the snowflakes are made with a Martha Stewart punch and then glittered. Go and see the gorgeous Christmas creations made by my teamies, and make a C...

No, that's not 'Three Kings of *Leyton* Orient' which is a soccer team from North London that several of my friends follow!!! The current challenge at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge is to use THREE of something. Well, call me old-fashioned, but one particular Christmas 'threesome' sprang to mind! The images are by Francoise Read for Woodware and I have had them for ages - unfortunately, they don't seem to be available any more. I coloured the Kings with Promarkers, I hope you can tell that one King is African, one is Caucasian, and one oriental. They have all been cut out and mounted on foam pads for dimension. I added Glossy Accents to the gifts and gold Stickles to their robes and crowns - and to the Star over Bethlehem. The papers are from Hobbycraft, I think it's their 'Vintage Christmas' collection, but don't quote me, as they are all loose in my 'Christmas box'. I cut the tan paper to look like hills and used Dis...

I have seen a lot of these Starburst (or Sunburst) cards on Facebook recently and thought I'd have a go! The check background is from a Papermania Capsule Collection stack and the starburst papers are from a 'Forever Friends' pack that was another magazine freebie. I stickled between the lines to give a bit of sparkle! The butterflies are made with a Woodware punch, glued in the centre so the wings lift up, and I stickled them and added a pearl to each body. The baker's twine is from stash and the sentiment was another magazine freebie. This is my second Starburst card - and my first Christmas card of 2014! All the papers are snippets! I used Broken China Distress Ink round the edges. The tiny snowflakes are cut with a Memory Box die, and stickled. The sentiment is by LotV and is embossed in silver. I'm really pleased with how they turned out! Challenges I'm entering: The first card is for Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge as I used mo...

Good afternoon, all! We have a lovely challenge today at Dream Valley which is Animals The sponsor is Robyn's Fetish Digi Stamps and one lucky winner will have 5 digis from the shop! I used an image I already had, this is Mouse with Christmas Cookie He is coloured with Speccies (list below). The fur trim has Glamour Dust on it, and the yummy cookie has been Glossy Accented. The papers were another magazine freebie - I love the gingerbread men on the back paper! The sentiment may have also been a freebie, it was all on its ownsome in my 'Sentiments' file. I used a Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch-Around-the-Page punch and also a Snowflake punch which has also been glittered. The spotty ribbon and the green gems are from stash. Go and see the lovely work done by my talented teamies! Remember, you don't have to make a card, as long as it follows the Animal theme! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! Challenges I'm entering: Robyn's Fetish Ch...

Good evening, everyone! I hope you're all having a good week. I've been a busy bee with the dreaded housework, it's horrible to do though it helps when something funky comes on the radio and I can dance with the vacuum cleaner! (Though not as well as Freddie Mercury does in the video to 'I want to break free!) I've also made a Christmas card, using a lovely LotV stamp, Little Ivy she is adorable! I coloured here with Speccies (list at the end) and used the Blender to give just the faintest pink shadows on her surplice. Her wings were shaded with grey then slathered with Glamour Dust. The gold metal corner came from Whiff of Joy a couple of years ago; and the green-and-gold ribbon is from Pinflair in Hertford. So is the gold paper used to mat both the image and the LotV sentiment. Gems are from stash. The gorgeous papers are 'Silent Night' by Papermania, the spotted paper is actually shiny gold dots on cream paper. I also did the inside (it'...

Evening, all! It's freezing tonight, proper brass monkey weather! Brrrrr! With snow on the ground I decided to make a Christmas card! One of the card magazines had a free gift last year of two 'Holly Hobbie' stamps - I used to love Holly Hobbie when I were a lass!  I coloured her with Speccies (I'm sorry, I forgot to make a list *slapped wrist!*) and Glossy Accented her boots, and used a Spellbinders Labels 4 to cut her out. I distressed with Broken China while she was still in the die. The mat is made by drawing round the outside of the die and cutting out. The sentiment is from the same Holly Hobbie set. The poinsettia is from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves cut with a Marianne die (I don't know which set it's from, sorry!) The ribbon is from stash. The paper is 'Rum'n'Raisin' by PaperArtsy which I have had for over 2 years! It's so pretty! I added Platinum stickles to the brown flourish. I used a matching paper withou...

This is one of half a dozen identical cards I made when I had no Internet, using Nativity, a Woodware stamp by Francoise Read. Mine is an acrylic stamp, part of a set which I have had for about 4 years but it now only seems to be available as a wooden one from Woodware I heat embossed the image in gold.  I used Promarkers but I can't find the list :( - sorry! The mat is gold card, the paper is by Bearly Mine, but it's a snippet so I don't know which collection. I layered it onto blue card because more gold detracted from the emphasis on the image. The haloes have been edged in gold stickles and that's all the embellishment I used. I'm entering Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge where the theme is 'Use something more than six months old.' I'm going to love you and leave you, lovely bloggers, because I have managed to come down with tonsillitis and a nice warm bath and an early night with a bad book are calling me! I hope you're all d...

Hi, guys! I hope you've all had a good day! Welcome to my new followers! I'm so glad to have you along! I meant to post this card yesterday but I was at an e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y l-o-n-g meeting last night and didn't get home until bedtime! I love these Caroling Snowmen by Meljens Designs They are really putting their heart into their singing, aren't they? I used Promarkers to colour them - how did I manage without the removable fine nibs? The fur on their hats has been covered with glitter, and so has the fab snowflake, which is from the Spellbinders 'Create a Flake 4' which is candy I won from J and C Creations I used Nesties to cut the image and the mat and also the label, which is a trimmed-down Fancy Tag. The Postmark sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps. The papers are another freebie pack from 'Quick Cards Made Easy.' I have so many of these packs! The star stickers were a RAK from my daughter, and the ribbon is from stash. I decorated the in...

Have you been following the Olympics? Isn't it exciting? I do feel sorry for the women running the Marathon today through the rain, but I suppose it's keeping them cool! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge and this time it's to use your Punches and Dies. We have 2 fab sponsors: One Stop Card Crafts is offering a £10 voucher and and Inked Treasures is offering 4 digis! So what did I do? I made a Christmas card! I think that's Number 6 - I have another 40 to do! I kept it quite simple to emphasise the shapes. The image is by Docrafts, and I embossed it in gold. I used my gorgeous new Nesties Labels 5 die. I stencilled with Antique Linen Distress Ink while the card was still in the die, and matted twice, on green and gold card. The gold card is thick enough to be embossed, so it looks as though there are 4 layers here! I think I've shown all the things you can do with a die! I used a Woodware Holly border punch, also layered on green and g...