Madcap Manor

  Hi there! I hope you're all looking forward to a great weekend! To encourage you to keeeeep craftin'! (Sorry, 'Strictly' I couldn't resist!) there is a new challenge at My Time to Craft which is: Floral. So dig out your pretty stamps, dies, papers, stencils and go to town on a flower project!  I received Altenew's Peony Dream Layering Die Set for Christmas which I used for a Thank you card. It's quite easy to fit the pieces together, and you can make a smaller and larger flower from the same set. I used scraps of cardstock, which is always very satisfying! The background is made with a leaf stencil and two shades of green ink. I loved putting this card together, the flowers are so dramatic!  Check out the blog to see my teamies' fab makes!  Thanks for looking and keep well!  love Mags B x

Hi, guys! There is a new Challenge at Dream Valley today and the theme is Flowers. I'm a bit early today as the post on the blog isn't up yet, I hope you don't mind! Our fab sponsor is Sheepski Designs and Andrea very kindly provided some of her beautiful images for the DT to use. I chose the delicate and pretty Wild Roses digi and coloured in Promarkers, not Copics, because I knew that the Rose colours would match my papers. The papers are from my stash, I must have had them 8 years! The sentiment is from an old Penny Black stamp set and is gold-embossed. The lace came from our local market. I also added a gold peel-off from Love From Lizi and Nuvo Drops in Bubblegum Blush. I am so pleased with this card, it turned out just how I imagined it!!! Thanks for looking and have a great week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I have been on my Church's Flower-arranging Team for the past few years, guided by a wonderful lady named Shirley. She is a Jedi Master and I her humble Padawan. She has a wonderful phrase to remind us not to make the arrangement too tight: "Leave room for the butterflies!" She is moving away this Spring to be nearer her daughters. I will miss her so much, even though I know it's the right thing to do. I wanted to make a very personal card for her, so I used a stamp set that came free (along with a stencil) with a cardmaking magazine a couple of months ago. Hydrangeas and butterflies are featured! I coloured the images with Copics having added the butterfly above the flower. I rounded the corners and added Spun Sugar Distress Ink around the edges. The sentiment says: "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies" which I thought was quite appropriate. I added clear Wink of Stella to the blooms, butterfly wings and caterpillar...

Evening, all! I hope you're all keeping well. I was feeling very sorry for myself last week, as I had a nasty cold: but that was put into perspective when I learned that an older friend from Church had had a fall and broken her hip. She's in hospital, hating the food and bored to tears: she is a very good cook and extremely active, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be! My DT make for the new Dream Valley Challenge is my friend's Get Well card, and first here are the details of the Challenge which is Bingo Select three items from the chart, going horizontally, vertically or diagonally: Our sponsors are: Crafts and Me and The Hobby House For my card I used the line at the bottom of the grid, Flowers, Embossing and Blue I used Centura Pearl card and a freebie embossing folder for the background, and coloured the row of dots with a blue Sakura pen. The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is from an old Whiff of Joy set and is gold...

Hi, guys! it's been quite a day - my gorgeous grandchild and her parents paid us a flying visit and we went out for lunch. I'm here to tell you that Spag Bol with long spaghetti is more suitable for face-painting than eating. Lillie got it everywhere!!! Once she gets home I suspect she will be straight into her bath! We also picked up a new printer, since my old one died yesterday. Which would not have been too bad, except that I spilled a cuppa over a (coloured!) printed image for another DT card, and when I tried to reprint, nothing happened! It's been a Comedy of Errors at the Manor recently! However, now I'm here with my DT card for My Time to Craft and our theme is Spring Flowers . Think tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, crocuseseses - roses or sunflowers, though pretty, are right out! I used Daffodils by Lili of the Valley. The papers are from the Snippets drawer, the gems are from Hobbycraft. Gather a posie of your Spring Flower images and join in the fun! ...

Hi, guys! Our theme at Dream Valley Challenges is a lovely one - Flowers Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter - I love their sweet images! They are offering a $20 voucher for the digital shop - what a great prize! I have had the adorable Keeper of my Enchanted Forest for a while, but had not yet printed her out - so this challenge was ideal to colour her up with my Promarkers! I used a Spellbinders Picot Edge circle die for the mint green mat. Behind it I put some cheesecloth (I've seen it used on so many pretty cards, and finally thought I'd have a go!) The papers are from stash (once again, they were magazine freebies!) The flowers are by Prima and by Wild Orchid Crafts, and I used a Woodware punch for the leaves. Finally, the sentiment is by Lili of the Valley. Shoot over to Dream Valley to see the gorgeous creations my teamies have made! They will inspire you to make a floral card! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x