Madcap Manor

 Evening, all! There's a new challenge at  My Time to Craft : Critters! I've used 2 old images from Paper Smooches, which is sadly no longer trading. I used a basketweave stencil and Distress Ink in Bundled Sage for the background, then coloured and fussy-cut the cute cat.  I love the sentiment, which comes from the same set.  I added gold glitter stickers for some bling. For this background I used a Tim Holtz/Sizzix embossing folder.  The dinosaur is from another Paper Smooches set, and I used the same flitter stickers.  The sentiment is by Taylored Expressions, from their  Simple Strips: Friendship  set.  I edged it with an alcohol pen to make it stand up more. Check out the cute critters on the challenge blog! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

 Good morning! Last time the theme at  My Time to Craft  was 'Fruit' and this time it's 'Vegetables.'  Salads, root veg, corn, peas, greens... Any veg! I made 4-bar cards for a change, because my images looked a bit lost on a US A2 cardbase. Card 1: I love the punny sentiment on this one! The stamp set by Lawn Fawn is sadly out of print.  The background paper and gems are from my stash. Card ": These cute mushrooms are from a stamp set by the much-missed Paper Smooches.  My first version of this card had 'Get Well Soon' as the sentiment, but these mushrooms are poisonous so I had to start again! Check out the Challenge Blog for more inspiration from my lovely teamies! Thanks for looking and take care. love Mags B x

Hello! Welcome to a new challenge at My Time to Craft! Our theme is Springtime Insects - butterflies, bees, ladybirds, ants, dragonflies, moths..... Of course butterflies were the first insect I thought about!  I used old dies from Love from Lizi and rose gold satin mirri card (by Tonic) for my butterflies.  The gold moondust strips are also from Love from Lizi.  The papers are from an old First Edition pad. My second card features bees from Paper Smooches (sadly missed.) I blended Distress Ink behind where the bees and beehive would go and stamped the sentiment which came from the same stamp set.  I coloured the images with watercolour markers then fussy-cut them and glued them in place.  I had a smudge near the sentiment so added 3 gold pearls. Check out the inspiration left for you on our blog and join in! Thanks for looking and stay well! love Mags B x

  Hi there! I hope you're all looking forward to a relaxing weekend with plenty of time to craft. We have a new Challenge at My Time To Craft Christmas and out theme is Angel(s). L et's see one or more angels on your Christmas cards! Now, I know it's only the beginning of March, but it's less than 10 months until the Big Day - and think how pleased you'll be to see a nice pile of cards ready for posting in December! I have made 2 cards, because even though I make them through the year I still had to do some intensive cardage last November! The first is a CAS card made with an image from a Paper Smooches set (I'm so sad that they are no longer trading.) I used a Lawn Fawn stitched square for the image and the mat is embossed with the same gold that I used for the stamping.  The embossing powder is Royal Gold by Love from Lizi, it's gorgeous! The sentiment is from an old Clearly Besotted stamp set. For my second card I went with silver embossing powder (Silv...

 We have another Challenge at  My Time to Craft Christmas  and we'd like to see lots of Snow People this time! Snowmen, Snowwomen, Snowchildren - take your pick! I used an old image from Paper Smooches to make a scene.  The background has snowflakes heat-embossed in white and then sponged with Distress Ink, and the snowy hill is cut from glitter card with an old Memory Box Die.  I used Spellbinders' Dies to cut the image, and a snowflake embossing folder on pearlised blue card for the background. My teamies have made a lovely variety of cards in all kinds of styles, go and see! Thanks for looking and stay safe and well! love Mags B x

  It's Monday! Time for a new Challenge at Dream Valley and our theme is Anything Goes. I made a very quick baby card, using a pack of coloured cardstock that was already cut and scored and which I have had in my craft hovel for years! The cute babygrow is an old die from Paper Smooches and I used a snippet of glittered paper to cut it out.  Behind it is some embossed vellum.  The sentiment came from another old Paper Smooches stamp set.  Finally I added some Nuvo Drops. Clean and simple and very pink! Check out my teamies' creations and join in! Thanks for looking and stay safe! love Mags B x

Does anybody else still find it hard to recall what day of the week it is? For me this has been one of the strangest things about Lockdown! All day I've been convinced it was Thursday! Oopsie! Of course it's Friday, and time for a new Challenge at My Time to Craft!   Our new theme is Good Luck - I think we could all do with some good luck for a change!  I know that a Black Cat is sometimes regarded as a bad luck symbol, but in my family it's always been regarded as good luck. Is that a tradition from the North East of England, which is where my family originates? Or is it common elsewhere? Anyway, this card includes an elegant Black Cat to wish every one of you Good Luck! This gorgeous creature is from Paper Smooches 'Feline Friends' stamp set - sadly, I have been unable to find it online. Admittedly, it is an old stamp set! I used my Misti to stamp her several times in Versafine Onyx Black ink to get good coverage, then added clear embossing powder for some ...

All together now: "Love, love me, do! You know I love you! I'll always be true! So pleeeease! Love me, do!" (Cue Harmonica.) Yes, I remember that Beatles song from when I was young! Now all of you will be singing it all weekend! And perhaps you'll join in at our new Challenge at My Time to Craft! too! For my 'Love' card I have done some paper piecing, using more papers from the Nitwits Perfect Pair digi papers that I used on Monday. I used pearlescent pink card for the die-cut heart outline and the mat. The heart die came from Simon Says Stamp and unfortunately is no longer available. I backed the outline with a scrap of white card and cut around the outside, then glued the patterned paper in the apertures. I used foam tape to give the heart some dimension. The sentiment is from Good Gab by Paper Smooches, and I filled in the little heart with some Nuvo Glitter Drops. I like that sentiment, it makes me smile! My teamies have created some lovely i...

Hi, guys! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft! and it's to use images of a dog, a cat or both on your creation! Cute, or what?! I have made a fairly CAS card. This very elegant cat is from the Nine Lives stamp set by Paper Smooches. I stamped her several times with Versacolor Onyx Black ink to get good coverage, then used clear embossing powder to give some shine. The "You're Purr-fect" sentiment is from another Paper Smooches set, Chubby Chums. I ink smooshed the background using Picked Raspberry and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks, then lightly sprayed with Perfect Pearls to give a nice sheen. I used 2 strips of paper from Nitwits' Bonnets and Bowties collections, and finished with some Nuvo Drops. Do have a look at my teamies' sweet creations and be inspired to join in! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope you're enjoying a good weekend. My daughter is visiting from Ireland and we've just come back from a delicious lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Nomnomnom! Onto our new Challenge at My Time to Craft! and the theme is Inspired by a Film. I have made a card for a bloke, featuring Superman. All the images are from Paper Smooches' Super stamp set, and I fussy cut Superman and the buildings in the background. The papers are from stash, I used a Lawn Fawn Meadow Borders die for the grass. I added clear Nuvo Drops to some of the sars in the sky, and the star on the sentiment is from stash. I hope you all have a 'super' week ahead! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Morning, all! I hope everyone is ok this morning, especially those in the British Isles hit by Storm Ophelia yesterday. It was a bit blowy in S-E Herts, and the sky turned a strange reddish-sepia: I remember 'red dust' from a couple of times in the 60s and 70s when I was at school, but never anything like that! Fortunately the sky is clear and the sun is shining today. How are you doing with your Christmas cards? The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is here to encourage you! As usual, our theme is Anything Christmas Goes! In my never-ending quest to use up my patterned papers I investigated Youtube and found a tutorial on making a pleated card here by a talented lady called Crazy Paper Chick. The paper isn't actually Christmas, but I love the pattern! I scored a piece of 10" x 5" paper at 1" and half an inch alternately, trimmed out a truncated diamond, and folded. Then I re-folded because I had the wrong side of the paper facing up!!! The car...

Good morning! I hope you are all having a good week. After several days of very hot and sunny weather we have suddenly got cold breezes and drizzle. Flaming June, eh? I just hope next week will be fine, as we have our annual Teddy Bears' Picnic at the Toddler Group that I help to run, and it's so much nicer to have it in the Church grounds rather than the hall! In the meantime, we have a new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge which is to Add Ribbon and Sparkle. When I saw this gorgeous Festive Flamingo I knew I had to make her into a Christmas card for a lovely friend who does Ice Dancing - yes, the same sport as Torvill and Dean! (And if you're too young to remember their amazing record-breaking Olympic win dancing to Ravel's 'Bolero' here is a youtube link. Awesome! Anyway, I coloured the Flamingo with Promarkers. Her hat is glittered with gold Glamour Dust and there is Glossy Accents on her blades and the string of lights around her neck (though they d...

Eek! I'm late! Apologies! I really must learn that writing a 'To Do' list is useless if I don't do what's on the list! D'oh! Anyway, our new Challenge at My Time to Craft! is Down on the Farm so we'd like to see Farm animals - horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, cows - or a tractor! I made this Get Well card for a friend undergoing an operation. The cow is purple (and I'll explain why later) and is from Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums stamp set. Such fun images! The flowers and mushrooms and snail are from Lawn Fawn's Gleeful Gardens set. The 'Get Well' is from Sentiment Sampler by Paper Smooches and the 'sooooon' is made with stickers from my stash. So why a Purple Cow? Well, Gelett Burgess wrote this silly poem: I never saw a purple cow I never hope to see one But this I'll tell you anyhow, I'd rather see than be one. Then Carolyn Wells wrote some delicious parodies of well-known poems on the same subject. Tak...

Hi, guys! We have a Technique Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week: 3D Decoupage. The cute Cat image is from Kenny K. I printed 4 images, all the same size, to cut my layers from, and coloured then with Warm Grey Copic markers. The striped paper is very old, I think it was from Papermania, but the pad has lost its cover. The ribbon and sequins are from stash. The gold-embossed sentiment and black pawprints are from the Nine Lives set by Paper Smooches. Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Kenny K Have a look at my talented teamies' 3D creations, they will inspire you to have a go! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all having a good Bank Holiday weekend over here, and a good normal weekend everywhere else! Our My Time to Craft! Challenge this fortnight is Something That Flies so that includes not just butterflies, birds and fairies but also aeroplanes and airships! The inspiration for this card came from the background paper, which is from a freebie pad that came with a mag several years ago. The cute aeroplane is a Reverse Confetti stamp from the Here We Go set, and is cut with the corresponding die. The banner sentiment is from Paper Smooches' Blissful Banners stamp and die set. I trimmed one end of the die-cut and drew lines to make the strings attacing it to the aeroplane. I hope you'll go over to the MTTC blog and see the inspiration that my lovely teamies have left for you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope none of you has been affected by the flooding here in the UK after last night's downpour. The new theme for CRAFT Challenge this week is Animals We have 2 lovely sponsors: Sassy Studio Designs Digital Papercrafts I used Pin Up Cat by Sassy studios. I added some black Wink of Stella to her tail, though it isn't really showing here. The paper is from a very old DCWV stack called Rock Star and the hearts are all foiled. The die-cut cat and fish skeletons are cut from white card with Paper Smooches Cat Icons dies and the sentiment is from the matching stamp set. Meow! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

I'm just zooming by to add another of the cards I've been making recently. My son and his lovely wife celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary earlier this month and this is the card I made for them. The image is from Bugaboo Stamps. The paper, lace and ribbon are from stash. The die-cuts are from Noor Designs The sentiment die-cut is by Paper Smooches. Sorry this post is so short! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's Thursday, and time for another CRAFT Challenge! This week it's the first of our regular Christmas Challenges for 2016! Our great sponsors are Bugaboo Stamps and Oddball Stamps I used a fun Santa image from Bugaboo, Santa Stockings The papers and baker's twine are from stash, and I layered everything on red card and then silver to give some festive bling. Santa's fur trim has been glittered and his boots made shiny with Glossy Accents. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler set. Have a look at my teamies' 'makes' and start your Christmas cards now!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

I have a very cute 'onesie' die from Paper Smooches that's ideal for baby cards, so I made a couple, using up oddments of leftover paper and some ribbon and lace. The onesies have been brushed with clear Wink of Stella. The sentiment is also by Paper Smooches. I hope you've all had a good Father's Day - and my thoughts are with those whose Dad is no longer here. *hugs* Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope you're having a good weekend! Our subject this week at My Time to Craft is Zoo Animals I have made a Shaker Card. I cut a circle in my top panel, then used a Sizzix diamond embossing folder for texture. The cute animals are by Paper Smooches, from the Zoo Crew stamp set. The sentiment is also by Paper Smooches from the Good Gab sentiment set. The border round the circle is die cut from paper stamped with a Hero Arts Woodgrain stamp. Sequins and beads are from stash. Go and see the wonderful creations that my teamies have made, they are sure to inspire you! I'm on my way to Bath to visit my sister, so this post has been sceduled - I hope it works! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x