Madcap Manor

 Good morning! It's another hot and sunny day here in S-E Hertfordshire - the perfect time to tackle Christmas cards! I know it's just my imagination, but making Christmas cards in the summer always makes me feel a bit cooler.  And  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge  is here to help with a new challenge! We also have a Design Team call.  Whether you're a beginner or a long-time crafter, if you'd like to try out a Design Team, contact our Jedi Master Marlene with pictures of 3 cards you've made.  Details are on the blog post linked above. I put together a piece of patterned paper from my stash and an old Simon Says Stamp die of candy canes. The die-cut outline is red mirror card and I inlaid white card to fill the spaces.  The banner sentiment came from Craft Creations - the website has moved and is now  Katy Sue Designs.   I layered a green ribbon over a red-and-gold one for the horizontal strip. Check out my teamies' pretty creations and...

 Hi there! I hope you're all looking forward to a good weekend - with some me-time for crafting! We have a new challenge at  My Time to Craft!  where the theme is The Sea .  So anything beside, on or under the sea! My first card is definitely Under the Sea (darling, it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me!) The mermaid is from a stamp set that came with a Simon Says Stamp card kit several years ago, and sadly it's now out of print.  The background is a blend of Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers and )of course!) Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxides.  I splayyered it with water and with a silver mica spray.  I coloured and fussy cut the Mermaid and her underwater friends as well as the sentiment. Card 2 is a nautical one, ie On the Sea. I used Lawn Fawn's  Float My Boat  stamps and dies for the images and the background paper is from my stash.  This is a mini slimline card, 6" x 3". Check out the challenge blog and my teamies' inspirat...

 Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to add tomatoes to a fruit salad. Good morning! Yes, our new theme at  My Time to Craft!  is Fruit.   Oranges, lemons, strawberries, melons, kiwis, pineapples, pears, grapes, mangoes... So yummy! The June kit by  Love from Lizi  includes some fab melon paper and a cut-apart, so I used those for my first card. I used pale blue pearlescent card as my mats and added some blue Nuvo drops as decoration.  I think it looks very refreshing for a hot day! My second card is made with one of my favourite stamps by Simon Says Stamp , the 'One Cool Pineapple' set, which I'm very sorry to say is no longer available.  Chiz. The background paper is from stash, and the fruit bling is from the June '22 kit by Love from Lizi.  The cool shades came with the stamp set, I embossed and fussy cut them and glued them in place. Check out the fruity cards that my teamies have made to inspire you! Tha...

 Hi there! It's time for a new Challenge at  Dream Valley  and the theme is Summer Colours.   It's astonishing to realise that next Wednesday is June 1st - where did May go??? And of course next weekend we have the celebrations of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and an extra Bank Holiday.  I'm involved in a Fun Day at my Church, we are all hoping and praying for fine weather. But you want to know more about the Challenge! Our gorgeous sponsor is  All Dressed Up Stamps  and Wendy has sent the DT two of her adorable digis to use.  Seriously, check out her shop, her images are fabulous! I used  Little Flower Girl  she is so cute! I used a gorgeous paper from an old paper pad by My Mind's Eye called 'Howdy Doody.'  Such bright colours! I layered the image on yellow and orange cardstock and matted the paper onto orange: we have marigolds in the garden which are bright orange and look fantastic! The sentiment is the  Painted hello die ...

  Hi there! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft and our theme is Around the House. Think kitchens, living rooms, conservatories, bookshelves, flowers in a vase, furniture, a fireplace, reading a book, playing a computer game or Scrabble...   As an ex-Public Librarian who lives in a house with bookshelves everywhere, I went with reading and books!   My first card uses a Lili of the Valley coloured image called Story Time.   Such a cute scene! The background paper is a scrap from a Nitwit Collections set. I see that now they are producing paper pads in collaboration with Crafter's Companion, as well as their own digi bundles.   My second card uses a stamp set by Simon Says Stamp called 'To Thine Own Shelf' which is sadly unavailable. I used various brightly-coloured dye inks to stamp a very graphic design. I'm very good at smudging designs like this, being too impatient to let the ink dry properly, but this time I did it all right...

Hello, my dearios! I hope you're all keeping well this Friday evening and looking forward to a relaxing weekend.   We have a new challenge at My Time to Craft Christmas which is to use a very yummy photo as the inspiration for your creation. You can be inspired by the colours, the biscuits, the patterns or the sweets - as many or few as you choose!  I went with the Gingerbread and Candy canes!  I stamped Gingerbread people on my background, using a pale beige ink which did not want to be photographed clearly, chiz.    The focal point is a die-cut from an old Simon Says Stamp kit, inlaid with red holographic card, and the green bow is from the same die-set, cut from a scrap of green satin gloss card - I always keep scraps of speciality card, they come in useful so often!  The circle die-cut is made with a very old doily die from Cheery Lynn and the sentiment is by Paper Smooches. I am 'shopping my stash' (using what I already have, in other wo...

Good morning on a muggy, grey August day in Hertfordshire! I just hope that there is more sunshine by the end of the week, when we go to the Lake District for a week's holiday! It's our first in 2 years, and I can't wait!   I don't think we'll be spotting any Mermaids in Lake Windermere, but we have plenty of mer-mazing cards at My Time to Craft as that is our new Challenge.   My only Mermaid stamp set is an old one from a Smon Says Stamp card kit from a couple of years ago. Very cute! I used a die from Ptretty Pink Posh's Stacked Edges 1 to cut strips of card which I paper pieced to make the background. I fussy-cut the images, then added sparkle pen to all the shells.   Check out the mermaids swimming around on the Challenge post, they are all so varied and pretty!  Thanks for looking and take care!   love Mags B x

Hello, my lovelies! I hope you're all looking forward to a great weekend. Our son will be visiting for a few days, as he has a hospital appointment in London, so when I did the weekly supermarket shop this morning I made sure to buy some BEER so that he and his Dad can bond over the football on Tuesday! It seems quite strange that we are now halfway through the year. It'll be Christmas before we know it! To help ease the pressure we have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft Christmas and our theme is Clean and Simple : about two thirds of the card should be blank (technically known as 'white space' though it doesn't necessarily have to be white.)  I made two cards to the same design. and I was originally going to inlay the green die-cut (an old Simon Says Stamp die) with the green, but decided they looked better without. I gold-embossed sentiments and added gems from my stash and they were done!  If you need more details of what's considered 'Clean...

 Good morning! How can it be February already? Time goes very oddly in Lockdown: the days seem long, but the weeks speed up! I find refuge in my craft hovel - and then have to spend ages clearing up my crafty mess!  It is time for a new Challenge at  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge where as usual the theme is Anything Christmas Goes.   We also have a DT CALL so if you're interested do hop over to the Challenge blog for the details.  All are welcome, whatever your level of experience or your style of crafting! I managed to lay my hands on a fun Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp set last year which has some very fun images of Christmas cats, and this cat in a stocking makes me smile - I hope it makes you smile, too. I coloured the kitty with alcohol markers to match the papers, which I have had in my stash for several years.  I used  Mint Moondust peeloffs from Love from Lizi to edge the tree-patterned strip and turquoise Nuvo Crystal Drops in two of th...

Well, wouldn't you know it! Our new Challenge at Dream Valley is Summer Colours just when the weather has changed from hot and sunny to cold and rainy! Time to stay indoors and craft, I think! Our Sponsor this fortnight is Crafty Sentiments and the DT recived some of their lovely digi stamps to use in our Challenge. I used Looking Up which is so cute! My papers are from a very old Papermania pad. I used a Spellbinders' Captivating Squares die (now out of print) for the image mat, and an old My Favorite Things 'Plentiful Petals' die for the flower. I edged the green paper with a ribbon from my stash, and also a Jade Green Glitter peel-offs by Love from Lizi. The sentiment die is the Simon Says Stamp Bold Hello die. Go and see my teamies' bright and cheerful creations and join in the summer fun! Thanks for looking, and stay safe. love Mags B x

Good morning! We have an intriguing theme at Mt Time to Craft which is Off the Edge. That's when you die-cut (or trim!) around your image to make a shaped edge - here is a video from Penny Black to give an example. I didn't have a die for this Simon Says Stamp image, which is from the Stronger Together stamp set which was in this mont's card kit, so I used my scissors to trim it. I painted the leaves using watercolours, then splattered the card with green, yellow and gold paint. The hello die also came with the kit, I cut it from some pealised green card. Then I lined the inside with a snippet of checked paper and finally rounded the bottom right corner. I should have made this a side-folding card rather than top-folding, because cutting along the fold at the top was a bit tricky! My teamies have done some lovely work to show you, do go and see! Thanks for looking! Stay well! love Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! This year seems to be racing by, how can it be March already??? And now it's time for another Challenge at My Time to Craft! which has the theme Farmyard Animals. Think sheep, cows, pigs, chickens..... I used an image from an old Simon Says Stamp set called 'Birthday Farmyard Animals' which is sadly out of print. I coloured the Chickie with Copics and die-cut a panel with a stitched rectangular die, leaving space for the ribbon and sentiment. I blended Broken China and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxides over white cardstock for the background, then used the same inks and Simon's 'Screened Leaves' stencil (also out of print) to give a tone on tone background. I really like how it turned out! My teamies have made some gorgeous creations in so many different styles, do check them out! Thanks for looking, and have a good weekend! love Mags B x

Apologies for the late post! I made a second card with the Simon Says Stamp December 2019 card kit. This uses the stamp set Gnome for the Holidays which is very cute. My teamies have done sterling work to inspire you, go to The Holly and Ivy and be inspired to join int! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's so cold today, and the last dregs of Storm Ciara mean it's also quite windy still. My heart goes out to those suffering from the floods, I can't imagine how awful it must be to lose everything like that. I hope the Powers That Be get off their bottoms and do something to prevent it ever happening again. However, life goes on, and today it's time for a new challenge at The Holly and Ivy. I have used items from the December 2019 card kit by Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment is from the Gnome for the Holidays stamp set and I used the adorable Lil' Gnome die to paper piece the image, colouring his nose and beard with Copics. All the papers came with the kit. I added a red and gold ribbon from my stash to 'ground' the Gnome. As usual my teamies have made some fabulous cards in all kinds of styles to inspire you, so do go and see! Thanks for looking, and have a good day! love Mags B x

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! I hope you've had a good weekend! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley which is Things With Wings. On Friday I mentioned that I've been looking through my card kits, trying to use up my stash, and I came across a Simon Says Stamp stencil and stamp set which are perfect for the Challenge. From the April 2018 kit I used the butterfly stamp set and the matching stencil. I used the stencil and Distress Oxide ink to blend the colours over the butterfly shapes. The sentiment came from the same set, and so did the sequins and card base. Unfortunately I needed a card for a friend who's been going through a rough time, and I think butterflies are always appropriate for such a time. I'm glad to say she liked it! Go and see my teamies' fab creations, you'll be amazed at the variety! Thanks for looking and have a great week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! As you read this I will be travelling home after a week spent in Shropshire, close to where my son and his family live. It's a beautifulpart of the country, stuffed full of history and with some fabulous walks by the River Severn. Of course, as a fan of Ellis Peters' 'Brother Cadfael' mediaeval mystery series I love exploring round Shrewsbury, where the stories are set! Do visit, if you ever have the chance. Anyway, I have scheduled this post, and I hope I've got it right! Our challenge this time is simply - Birds. I have a gorgeous pink flamingo on my card! I have been sorting through my card kits and came across one from Simon Says Stamp last year which included the One Cool Pineapple stamp set, which is still available to buy on its own. I LOVE this stamp set! I stamped and coloured the flamingo and used a circle die to cut it out, then added streaks of Copics in blue to make the water round its feet. I also gave the water some sparkle with a ...

Hello, my dearios! I hope you're all looking forward to a good weekend, with plenty of time to craft! We have a new challenge at My Time to Craft which is Clean and Simple. I have used items from the Simon Says Stamp April card kit to make 2 cards to the same layout. I made 2 cards because I used 2 papers to die-cut the wellie boot and just swapped them around! I die-cut the base from white card and coloured in the flowers, then paper-pieced the boots. I added shading with grey alcohol markers to give more definition. Finally I went over the boots with Glossy Accents. My teamies have made some beautiful cards to inspire you, do go and see! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good afternoon, my lovelies, from a dreicht and rainy S-E Hertfordshire! Having done ALL the ironing I have now earned a happy crafting afternoon! But first it's time to tell you about a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy where it's always Anything Christmas Goes. (ooo, I could just do with a warming glass of festive mulled wine today, it is so cold!) My card is Old School, I used Distress Inks and embossing powders do do some watercolour embossed resist for the background. I added Perfect Pearls to the water I used with my inks, there's a subtle sheen which the camera hasn't caught, sadly. I used all the stamps from Lots of Snowflakes by Simon Says Stamp, embossed them, then dipped the cardstock into watered-down inks on my craft mat. The sentiment is from an old Clearly Besotted set, embossed in Simon's Steel Navy embossing powder. I matted everything onto some silver mirri card. I added Silver Moondust Nuvo Glitter drops to the background to give...

Hiya! I hope you're all keeping well and finding time to craft! I've had quite a few busy days recently, and less time in the Craft Hovel, and I really feel the lack! However, it's now the end of term at the Toddler Club and I intend to spend the next few days crafting and listening to CRICKET!!!!! Yay! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft to encourage you, our theme is Easter or Hedgehogs I made an Easter card using the Amazing stamp set from the March kit by Simon Says Stamp. I used various dye inks to stamp the background in bright Spring colours. The daffodil is a layered die by Altenew which came free with a magazine, and although it's not available from Altenew they do have a very pretty Build-a-Flower Daffodil stamp and die set. The gold-embossed sentiment is a very old stamp! I added orange Nuvo Drops to the banner. My teamies have made the most adorable creations for you, do go and see! Thanks for looking and have a great weekend! lo...