Madcap Manor

Hello! I hope you're all keeping well and finding time to craft.  Even in the summer I make Christmas cards, it saves so much wear and tear on the nerves in December! To inspire you to do the same we have a new challenge at  My Time to Craft Christmas  where our theme is Candles or Lanterns.    My first card uses an old die by  Tattered Lace  which I think came with a magazine.  It took several passes with a shim to cut it - my dear old Cuttlebug's life is drawing peacefully to its close.  But it's so gorgeous it was worth the hassle! The background is a speciality paper from  Tonic Studios  which seems to be out of print.  I added a silver mirror border, and the card base is made from the same blue card that I used to back the die-cut.  The silver-embossed  sentiment is by Taylored Expressions. My second card is heat-embossed in gold, with a gold mat on a 5x7 card.  The image is by  Woodware  but unfo...

Evening, all! It's been a cold, dreich day, and I have been wrapping Christmas presents! With some music on in the background it's a very soothing activity. They will be delivered this weekend along with cards for the neighbours, and then all that remains is to shop for the Big Day.  We will be on our own this year, which is sad, but we will be having facetime with the grandchildren, which is some consolation. I'd rather have a quiet Christmas this year, knowing I'll still be around to celebrate in style next year!  Anyway, we have another Christmas challenge at My Time to Craft! which is Monochromatic Christmas. We're looking for shades of one colour on your creations! I went with blue. The stamp, which is perfect for a slimline card, is a clear stamp by Woodware Craft Collection. I can't find them online - are they still in business?  I heat embossed the outline onto watercolour card and painted the image. I layered it onto blue patterned paper and b...

Hi there! I hope you're all keeping well. I have been busy wrapping presents for the family to post tomorrow. Not long until the Big Day! In case you still need some encouragement to make a Christmas card, we have the last Challenge of the year at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge.   T his Challenge lasts until 18th January 2021.   I used another topper and card set by Hunkydory Crafts to make a card and a tag to go with the present for my lovely next-door neighbours. This set is no longer available, but they have some gorgeous Christmas things on their site! Other than the gorgeous green mirri card around the images there is no extra bling!  It's hard to realise that we are approaching the end of 2020. This year has dragged so much at times, and of course we've still got a long time to go before the virus is gone. However, we've made it this far, we can carry on for a couple more months!  Stay safe and well and keep crafting!  love Mags B x

I am such a numpty! I was convinced that the last Dream Valley Challenge for the year was next week. So convinced that I only realised when I went to post my card. D'Oh!!!  We will be back on January 11th!   Our theme this time is Christmas! .  We have some terrific sponsors for this challenge, check out the blog post for details! I used an older digi from sponsor Di's Digital Stamps which sadly now seems to be unavailable. The background paper and sentiment banner are from my stash. I added Frosted Lace stickles to the snow and snowflakes.  Isn't this an adorable image?  Go and see what my teamies, who are much more alert than I am, have created, and join the fun!  Take care and stay safe!  love Mags B x

Exciting news! Our lovely Shell is setting up a new blog starting on January 15th called My Time to Craft Christmas! Go and see the details on today's post at My Time to Craft! where you can see what it's all about! DT applications welcome!  For today, we also have a seasonal challenge: Christmas Animals. I used a pre-coloured image from Lili of the Valley stamps which I've had for a long time. The backing paper, ribbon and sentiment are also old. I'm using up my stash! Unfortunately this image of the bear family is no longer available, but do check out the other adorable stamps on the site. And there's a SALE!  Thank you for your kind words about the quilt I made for my sister, I'm absolutely chuffed! Now I'm considering making one for my bro and sis-in-law! Sewing is as addictive as papercrafting!  Go and see my teamies' sweet creations on the Challenge blog, and check out the details of the new Christmas Challenge blog!  Thanks for looking...

Good morning! I hope you're all keeping safe and well and finding time to craft. My cardmaking has taken a back seat this past fortnight, as I have finally replaced my ancient sewing machine and have been digging through my fabric stash to make a quilt for my sister's Christmas present. It's not exactly an heirloom, and I've made a few mistakes along the way, but it's the first quilt I've managed to finish! I'll add a picture at the end of this post.  But onto the Challenge, which as always is Anything Christmas Goes. I don't have many cards for blokes in my stash, so I dug into an old kit by Love From Lizi . I cut out the stag picture from one of the sheets of patterned paper and popped it up on some scrap cardstock on top of another paper from the kit, which I layred onto cream pearlescent card. The 'Joy' sentiment is a sticker, layered on the same cream card.  The rest of the sentiment is from an out of print Clearly Besotted stamp s...

  Hello, my loves! There is a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge so now is a great time to add to your stockpile of Christmas cards! The Big Day will be here sooner than we think!  For my card I used an older collection from Hunkydory Crafts - I have collected quite a few of these over the years, and it's high time I used them up! I had a go at another slimline card, this one is 3.5" by 7.5". The background has a very subtle blue stripe, and a spray of snowflakes on the left.  I layered it onto gold mirri card for some festive bling! The gold-edged images and the striped strip came from the kit, and I added 5 star sequins from my stash. The text is the first verse of 'We Three Kings.'  Thanks for looking, stay safe, KEEP CRAFTING AND CARRY ON!  with love Mags B x

Evening, all! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley which is to use Dies and/or Punches on your creation.  Our sponsor is the fabulous Di's Digital Stamps. , check out her adorable images, they are so cute!  Di doesn't supply images for other DT Challenges, I gather it's because she was taken advantage of by people sharing her images, which is of course illegal. So instead I made a Christmas card that is almost entirely made with dies! The Poinsettia die is a very old one from Spellbinders, and the greeting is the Holly Berry Dies set by Concord and 9th.  I used some old Christmas papers from my stash, along with some gold card by Tonic. Then I spritzed the card with Glimmer Mist, which is sparkly in real life but not in the picture!  We also have a DT Call so hop on over to the blog to check out the details!  Thanks for looking, and stay safe!  love Mags B x

 Hello! Happy Friday! There's a new Challenge at  My Time to Craft and it's Clean and Simple Christmas. Three quarters of the card should be empty space. I have used a red rubber stamp called Bubble Greetings Jolly  by Taylored Expressions and coloured it with alcohol markers. The yellow 'O' is covered with shimmer pen, and the holly berries are dotted with Glossy Accents, but those are the only embellishments.  I really like this stamp! Go and see what my teamies have made for more CAS inspiration! Thanks for looking, and keep well. love Mags B x

  Hello, my dearios! I hope you are all keeping well. It's a grey, chilly day here in S-E Hertfordshire: winter is definitely on its way! But to cheer us all up there's a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge !   I used a very, very old Stampendous stamp which is long out of print for my card.  (In fact, everything on the card, from the LotV papers to the image and sentiment are old!) O gold-embossed the Christmas tree and added tiny gems to the centres of the snowflakes.  I used a corner rounder on the image piece and the glitter mat. This really sparkles! Go and see what my teamies have been up to and join in the fun! Thanks for looking, and take care! love Mags B x

 It's a grey, cold, wet day! Time to wrap up warm, get into your craft space and make something Christmassy! Yes, we have a new Challenge at  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge! I used an old pre-coloured image from Lili of the Valley.  This is Winter Fairy, and she is available as a digi stamp  Here. I used silver mirri card for my layers.  The snowy paper and silver sentiment banner are from my stash.  I also added Spectrum Noir sparkle to the snowflakes on the image. Go and see the lovely creations my teamies have made! Thanks for looking and stay safe and well! love Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! I can't believe it's already the end of September! The evenings are definitely getting darker. Winter is coming! It's time once again for a new Challenge at  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge.   I am concentrating on using up older stash, and so I dug out an old Christmas kit by  Hunkydory.    I love the image of Santa in his sleigh, it has an elegant retro feel.  I matted the background on silver mirri card and used a scallop punch to add a narrow border to the vertical strip. Have a look at the challenge blog, my teamies' creations will encourage you to join in! Thanks for looking and stay safe and well. love Mags B x

I'm so sorry I'm late with my post for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge.   Whenever I cut down a sheet of A4 card to make an American A2 card base, I have a 4" wide strip left over. So I have made some small 4 x 4 inch Christmas cards. I used up some Christmas papers I had hanging around, and layered them on gold glitter card. Then I gold-embossed an elaborate sentiment that came with a magazine onto another spare scrap of white card, went around the edges with embossing ink and embossed again.  Finally I added various strips of ribbon from my stash and a few Nuvo drops around the sentiment. Go and see what my creative teamies have done and join in! Christmas is getting closer, after all! Take care, my dearios, and thanks for looking. Love, Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! I'm sorry this post for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is late. I'm still having difficulty remembering what day it is! I have been playing with Distress Ink blending. I was really pleased with the background for this card, so I dug out the Frosty Trees unmounted stamp from Chocolate Baroque.  Because it's an unmounted grey rubber stamp I had to fasten it to my Misti door with pieces of rolled-up washi tape. I stamped several times in Versacolor Onyx Black and clear-embossed the image.  Then I layered it onto silver glitter card and edged it with paper from my snippets stash. No need for a sentiment as the trees have a Christmas script pattern!  Go and see my teamies' lovely creations and join in the fun!  Thanks for looking, and take care!  love Mags B x

Hello my dearios! I have some good news: my son has had a heart operation which we've been expecting any time over the last couple of years, and it's all been a great success! He spent 12 days in hospital, bored out of his mind, but is now convalescing with us for a while before travelling home to his own family. I hadn't realised what a weight of worry was on my mind until it was lifted! In more good news, we have a new challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge! These tags are made with dies from a Tonic Studios kit, I think the stained glass look is very effective. Do go and see what my teamies have done and join in! It may be the middle of August, but Christmas will be upon us before we know it, so it's always satisfying to get ahead with all the cards! Take care, my lovelies, and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning, my dearios! I hope you're all keeping well. Our son has come up from Shropshire to stay for a while. He has an operation on Friday to replace his faulty heart valve, and he'll be convalescing with us for 4 weeks afterwards, so we are going back into Lockdown to shield him. Not that Lockdown is much different from normal life, we aren't what you might call gadabouts! A brisk stroll around the local bird reserve is more usual than a trip to the Bright Lights of the Big City! Just as exciting for you lovelies - The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is back after our summer break! I have made a pyramage card, using an old Hunkydory kit. Instead of using foam pads between the layers I used doubled pieces of card to keep the profile low for posting = and to use up some of the tons of white card scraps that I have! The image is very pretty, it has gold foiling. I have a lot of Hunkydory kits gathered over the years, it's high time I actually used them...

Just a quick post today, my lovelies, to let you know about the new Challenge at Dream Valley which is Christmas in July. All the elements came from Pink Paislee's Together for Christmas papers and ephemera. Gotta go - our fence blew down and two panels are disintegrating, so we need to break them up and take them down to the dump! It's very exciting!!! Take care, stay safe and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hello, my lovelies, I hope you're all keeping safe and well! Today, for the first time since March, I accompanied my hubby to the supermarket to shop! I was a bit nervous about crowds, but it was all very civilised, quite a few people were wearing masks, and the social distancing seemed to be working well. Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of King Henry II, was placed under house arrest for 20 years when she sided with her sons in rebellion against the King, so 4 months of semi-isolation could have been a lot worse! Anyway, you're here for our next challenge at My Time to Craft! which is Christmas in July. The Operation Write Home sketch that I used is a favourite of Kristie Marcotte who uses sketches to use up an entire paper pad! She has a great eye for matching patterned paper. I used an old Christmas pad by First Edition, matted on blue cardstock. I die-cut 3 snowflakes with a die from Whiff of Joy, using white glitter cardstock. The sentiment is heat-embossed...

Good morning! I hope you're all keeping safe and well. We have a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge to take your mind off the stresses of lockdown. I must admit, I've rather lost my cardmaking mojo recently. Whenever that happens I have a sort through some of my craft stash, and usually that sparks a bit of creativity. This time I was sorting my Christmas papers and found a very, very old Papermania pad that includes red and gold papers that made me think of opulent Victorian decorations. I dug out a vintage-style rubber stamp from Stempelglede and gold-embossed it. I layered the image and background paper on some dull gold paper from my stash. The glitter snowflakes are cut with a die from the sadly-missed Whiff of Joy. I edged the gold paper strip with Peel Offs by Love from Lizi. I think it turned out ok! Check out the Challenge blog for some fabulous inspiration from my teamies! Thanks for looking, and take care! love Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! It's been hot and humid today, so of course now is the time to think of making a Christmas card! Yes, our latest Challenge is up at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. I tried my hand at a slimline card, and you'd think it would be quick and easy to do. The papers come from an ancient Papermania pad, I cut a snowflake border from a blue sheet and glued it onto the stocking-border paper. The sentiment was from the same paper pad. Then the fun began. I spent well over an hour trying to work out what to put on the left-hand side, once I realised that my die-cut and layered Poinsettia was both the wrong colour and didn't relate to any of the papers! Then I tried a holly wreath mounted on a vellum circle, too. Nope. Finally I used a very old Christmas tree die from Whimsy, cut from white glitter card, and that worked. Hooray! What a performance, eh? Go and see my teamies' cards for some lovely inspiration, and join in the Challenge. I hope yo...