Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! At last here's another Christmas card! We have been having the annual Grand Christmas Tidy Up a little earlier than usual, since at any time we might get The Call to rush to Shrewsbury to behold The Grandchild! (I wonder if the wives of the Magi felt the same when their fellas were preparing to travel to Bethlehem on a moment's notice?!) My Beloved Husband and Adorable Daughter seem to think that the best way to tidy all my stuff is to dump it in my room. Consequently my room looks like a rubbish heap - there are carrier bags of STUFF on the floor and a basket of ironing balancing precariously on the top. So this card is very simple, because I can't get at my drawers. (Apart from those in the laundry basket, but let's not go there!) In Sainsbury's I found 3 boxes of Forever Friends cards on offer (buy 2 get 1 free) and thought I'd try decoupage on them. The first one was rubbish, but this has turned out better. I've a friend who adores these little...

/PB%2Bmouse%2Bin%2Bstocking%2BChristmas%2Bcard%2BDec%2B11.jpg"> It's too long since I've joined in at Penny Black Saturday Challenge . This week's theme is Christmas + Red and Embossing . I love this little Penny Black mouse, all snug in his stocking! I coloured him with Speccies and stickled the fur trim of the stocking. The spots are gold liquid pearls. The fab papers were free with this month's 'Cardmaking and Papercraft' and they are gorgeous! I embossed the mistletoe strip with a snowflakes folder and my cuttlebug, then lightly sanded to make the snowflakes stand out better. The two strips of ribbon are from stash. The gold corner is from Wild Orchid Crafts, the chipboard snowflake is by Woodware and I covered it with gold Glamour Dust, then put it on a large Magnolia doohickey flower die-cut. The swirl is a Marianne die. The sentiment is LotV, stamped in Fired Brick Distress Ink and mounted on gold holographic paper. The sketch is from Friday Sketc...

Oh my, what an awful photo! But it's so grey and gloomy today that this was the best of a bad lot! The purples are MUCH prettier in real life! I made an easel base from a 5" card and stuck the matted image to the flap, a nice simple way to make an easel! This darling image is Christmas Dance from Lili of the Valley. She makes me smile! I coloured her with Spectrum Noirs but I forgot to list them! (Slapped wrist!) There are gold stickles on the stars, and Diamond stickles on the snow. The papers are Nitwits - I think they're both from the 'Still Joyful Hearts' collection, but I forgot to note the name of the set on the back - it's been a very forgetful week, I'm afraid! The sentiment, which is raised on foam pads to make the stop, is also LotV. I used a Woodware corner punch on the image and sentiment for added interest. The Poinsettia is a Marianne die. The ribbon is from stash, and the rose is from Wild Orchid Crafts. Finally I added some Paperchase stick...

Afternoon, all! I hope you're all doing well. It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge and this time the theme is SPARKLE! . So get out the glitter, the glamour dust, tinsel and gems - and remember, it doesn't have to be a card! The prize this time is two Lili of the Valley stamps: Well, I'm in full Christmas flow, so I made a Diamond fold Christmas card following the tutorial on Split Coast Stampers . I used a 12 inch by 4 inch strip: if you use A4 paper you have to adjust the two side flaps, making them 1mm narrower than the centre - it sounds complicated, but it's really quite simple. The folds look like this when you're done: I like that the base card makes the borders so you don't have to mat the papers on coloured card! So what else did I use? The papers are Papermania 'Noel' collection, which are glittered and shiny! The cute Santa, which I cut out and popped onto foam pads, is a Whiff of Joy stamp, coloured in Promarkers. I slathered G...

Well, it's not Christmas yet, but it won't be long! So far I have wrapped 1 (one!) present! My son's birthday is December 5th so I tend to be a bit distracted until after that! Cardmaking, though, tends to get intensively Christmassy rather earlier. Here's another 8-incher! The papers and sentiment came from a magazine freebie but I'm sorry I can't remember which :( The sweet Christmas images are The Greeting Farm. I coloured in Speccies, and Glamour Dusted all the fluffy fur trim on their outfits. The mats behind them are cut with a Nesties die and embossed in a daisy pattern with my faithful Cuttlebug. I used more die-cuts on this card: the Memory Box Frosty border, a Marianne Poinsettia set, and a Magnolia doo-hickey swirl. They all came from Crafts U Love I Glamour Dusted the swirl and border, and added Stickles to the veins of the flower. The stars are Paperchase. The sketch is from Inspirational Card Sketches and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be pe...

This is the biggest card I've ever made - it's an 8-incher! (Don't you dare say, 'Oo, Matron!!!') The image is a Tickled Pink stamp from last year which I picked up in the sale - it looks as though he's no longer available, unfortunately. I coloured him with Promarkers, and stickled his feather, the snowman's pom-pom, and the ground. I distressed round him in Bundled Sage DI. The papers are Dovecraft 'Tis the Season' which I've had for yonks! The sketch is the current Sketch Saturday one, and I really like it! I must use it again to use up some snippets! I faux-stitched around each square in black fineliner to give a bit more definition. I used my gorgeous new Memory Box 'Frosty' die from Crafts U Love in a scrap of gold card. The Christmas tree is a Marianne die, and the swirl is Magnolia. I made the rosette from a 1.5 x 12 inch strip, scored every quarter inch on one side, then scored again between the first scorings on the other sid...

This week I have mostly been cutting out and decoupaging while watching telly. I found these sheets when I was having yet another tidy of my craft hovel. Why does it never stay tidy for more than five minutes????? Unless I'm out.... funny, that! Anyway, today I made them into very simple Christmas cards. And here they are: The last one is Pyramage, which I hadn't tried before, but it's a lot easier than it looks! Thanks for looking, and I hope you're all having a good week! luv, MagsB x

Good afternoon, all! It's time for another Challenge at Dream Valley and this fortnight we'd like to see some STITCHING It can be faux stitching, machine stitching or hand stitching, and you can make any kind of craft, it doesn't have to be a card! Our lovely sponsors are One Stop Card Crafts who are kindly offering a £10 voucher for their shop! Go and have a shufti at the shop, there are loads of yummy things there to tempt you! I decided to dig out my needle and thread and make a small sampler on 16HPI Aida. The pattern is adapted from an ancient book by Louisa Pesel on antique blackwork patterns. I used Holbein stitch, in which you sew every other running stitch, then turn round and come back filling in the rest. I'd forgotten how one has to concentrate with this method, but I only had to re-stitch about a quarter of the main pattern!!! I used DMC gold for the stars and border, and a very slippery but gorgeous Glissengloss for the geometric lines. The pearlescent ...

Hi, guys! It's October already, and time for another Dream Valley Challenge . We had lots of great entries for our 'buttons' challenge - this week it's all about monochrome, so experiment with shades of one colour (except for skin and hair!) and see what you come up with! Our lovely sponsor One Stop Card Crafts is offering the lucky winner a £10 voucher for their online store! I made a Christmas card: I used a scallopped Grand Nestie for the card base, and the next size down for the blue card, and a smaller plain circle for the paper. The cute image is Lili of the Valley coloured in all the shades in the blue pack of Spectrum Noirs. I also used 99 (from the essentials set) and 133, 135 and 142 from the Skin Colours set. I slathered glitter over the snow spatters and the ground and also on the snowflakes, which were cut with a Woodware punch. The paper is Nitwits 'Heavenly' collection, and the ribbon is from stash. The sentiment is also LotV. I really like maki...

I am all over ink and glitter and Glossy Accents! It's a long time since I made a Penny Black card! This week's Challenge is monochrome . I picked up the gorgeous Dovecraft 'Noel' papers in a sale after Christmas, and was inspired to do a vintage colouring by the damask background paper and the glittery paper on the right! The third piece, with writing on, is a snippet by K and Co. The sketch is from Sweet Sketch Wednesday I used Speccies, and glittered the angel's trumpet, wings and the stars. I got some Diamond Stickles at Ally Pally on Saturday, and they seem to pick up the colour of the Vintage Photo Distress Ink I used to stamp the image. I like the effect, though it was pure serendipity (sounds better than 'luck' doesn't it?! The snowflake is a Marianne die, distressed in Vintage Photo and stickled. The lace is from stash, and the card candy was coloured with Natural Oak (Spectrum Noir no 91) and glossy accented. It all took ages to dry! In spite ...

I know, I know, that is a very groanworthy pun! It's high time I made a solid effort on my Christmas cards, and luckily there seem to be a lot of challenges out there to help! This one uses one of the new LotV Christmas images, 'Build a Snowman.' Haven't these little kiddies done a good job?! I coloured with Promarkers, adding Glamour dust to the girls' white trims, and Glossy Accents to the holly in Mr Snowman's hat. The gorgeous ribbon was in my stash (it may have been a magazine freebie) and I mounted it on a strip of white card punched with an MS border and then glamour-dusted. The paper is Dovecraft 'Tis the Season.' The pearls came from Whiff of Joy . The sentiment is also LotV (love that script!) I'm entering this for the Lili of the Valley Challenge, which wants a colour scheme of Green, Red and White - perfect for Christmas cards! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon (after an exciting trip to Saino's) with my Dream Valley DT card. See ...

Phew! I'm just in time for the Lili of the Valley Challenge! This week there's a sketch to follow. The papers are by Kate Knight, free with a magazine last year - the picture makes them look blue, but actually they're a gorgeous teal, and a contrasting bright pink. I coloured this little LotV sweetie with my Speccies, using the turquoise set - it's not a colour I use much, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! I slathered her muff and the ground with glamour dust. The corner flourish is a Nestie, and I stickled the petals of the embossed flower in the corner and also around the edges of the bp. The snowflakes and poinsettia are made with Marianne dies - the flower uses more paper from the same pad. I must say, I'm loving the Grand Calibur (I keep wanting to call it Excalibur!!) that my olde manne got me for my birthday! It embosses beautifully - no more faffing around with shims on my dear little Cuttlebug! The text is also LotV. Ribbon is from stash, an...

Hi, guys! The house is slowly getting back to normal - spending most of a fortnight away is great, but if you leave your daughter at home there will be consequences. Ie heaps of laundry beside the washing machine and a factory's-worth of cosmetics scattered over the bathroom. However, I think we're getting there, the ironing mountain has been reduced to a small hill. On to the card! The image is Penny Black, isn't he cute? I stickled AND glamour-dusted the fur trim and bobble on his hat, and also the double snowflake, which is made with two Marianne dies. The flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts, the sentiment is Lili of the Valley. The bright papers are from my 'Christmas'n'card' snippets box - yes I have begun sorting my scraps, though the other box is just labelled 'Other Box.' And that, as they say, is that. I'm going to enter the Simon Says Stamp Challenge , which is Christmas in August. I can't find my Promarker list - and I have a confession...

I've almost missed the current A Gem of a Challenge ! There's a really nice sketch to use. I coloured this gorgeous girl with the star before Christmas and put her aside, thinking 'There's plenty of time, the Challenge ends on Jan 7th in the evening.' Fatal! I found her this morning when tidying my crafty stuff (again!) and finally finished her card. I'm also entering the ABC Christmas Challenge which this week is 'Anything Christmas' Papers are scraps, and the Promarker list went the way of all flesh last year, I'm afraid! The flowers are also from stash - I'm being quite good with my New Year Resolution to use things up. Pity the diet resolution will fail tonight as we will have a bottle of vino to celebrate ENGLAND BEATING AUSTRALIA 3 - 1!!!!! Have I mentioned that I love cricket? Anyway, hope you all have a good Friday and a great weekend. Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x