Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! My baby girl turns 29 today - where has the time gone? She is a tea addict so this image, Lucy Loo Mad Hatter by The East Wind is perfect! I love the way her pinky finger is elegantly cocked! The background paper has silver glitter stripes, it's by DCWV from their 'All Dressed Up' stack - this is an old set, and may be unavailable. The ribbon is from stash. I can't remember where the sentiment came from! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I'm so sorry I've been MIA recently, my baby girl had her first chemo session last week which rather knocked the stuffing out of her, but luckily by her birthday on Sunday she was feeling much better. I call her my baby girl, but she's just turned 27! It doesn't seem possible! I have been crafting, I just haven't had time to blog! So today I have abandoned the washing-up in favour of writing this post, and I have 2 cards to share. First is my daughter's birthday card. The technique comes from This video tutorial by Christina Griffiths. To make the base I used a Spellbinders die and pearlised cardstock from Craft Creations . I used all the dies in the set, alternting blue and white card, and distressed the white pieces while in the die with Broken China Distress Ink. The sentiment from LotV is stamped in the same ink. I added a white organza double bow, and pearls in the corners. The most difficult aspect was getting the card out of the dies...

Good evening, my lovelies! I hope none of you has been troubled by the flooding in some parts of the UK, the pictures on the News have been awful. And, look, it's raining again! I think I'm going rusty. Twenty-six years ago tonight, after a very hot and dry day, I was in hospital with my brand new, gorgeous baby daughter asleep beside my bed. She was so tiny and cute! Now she's all grown up, but she can still be cute now and again, when she's in the mood lol! She also bakes amazing cupcakes, which do my diet no good at all! So when I saw this Whimsy stamp by Meljen at Angel Crafts I just had to buy it! This week, Sacha's favourite colours are red and blue, which is convenient because I could use Nitwits Tour of London papers. They are so pretty! Though every time I go on the website there seem to be more and more totally irresistable papers! The doily, which is Cheery Lynn French Pastry Doily Die from Dies to Die For (they have a sale at the moment! But I...

Happy New Year! I hope you lovely people all have a wonderful, crafty 2012! Here's a card I made for my hubby to give our daughter. She is a fan of Steampunk and Hubby doesn't do cute at all, so of course I had to use one of my favourite Tickled Pink stamps. The current Tickled Pink Challenge is to choose a favourite challenge from last year. I combined two - no. 45 'Vintage' and no 38 'Buttons and Twine. The designer paper at the back is Bearly Mine's 'The Boys Zone.' The vertical strip was made with Distress Inks following Tim Holtz's video here on 'Perfect Distress.' I then stamped a key pattern on top (can't tell you the stamp, it's packed away upstairs, sorry!) The cogwheels are a Tim Holtz die. I coloured the paper in the same way with Distress Inks, then put it through a crimper to give texture before die-cutting. The sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps, and so is the die I used to cut it. The 'twine' over the key pattern i...

My daughter has got engaged! I'm so pleased, he's a lovely lad! SQUEEE! luv, Mags x

But at least the weekend isn't far off! On Saturday I'm going with my neighbour's son to a concert of videogame music at the Albert 'All. He has never seen a live orchestral concert! Nor has he eaten Japanese, so we're going to Wagamama for our grub. Yum! Enough waffling! This card, you won't be surprised to learn, is for a Harry Potter fan! The image ('The Brave One') is from Bugaboo , their Har Repotter set. The papers are very shiny, the stripes and the spots are gold. They're Papermania's 'A Silent Night' stack - gorgeous burgundies and greens and gold! I've had them a year and this is, I think, the first time I've used any. But if I don't use my papers I'll soon be buried under a heap of them, and there won't be room to buy more!! I used my new Marianne Christmas Stars border die, threaded with yellow ribbon from Hobbycraft. The flowers are yellow Prima and red Wild Orchid, and I punched fronds with a Nellie Sne...

... that a girl going to a Zombie Party must be in want of a Jane Austen dress. Sorry I'm late, I've just spent over an hour photographing the bratette, because she didn't like most of the pictures! The pattern is Simplicity - next time I'll buy size 14+! The fabric (which was lovely to sew) is sheeting: Saino's has brown kingsized sheets on offer for £6.50 and two were more than enough! I did enjoy getting out my sewing machine! Thanks for looking! I should be back to the old cardage tomorrow! Sleep well! luv, Mags x PS oh dear, in the corner you can see the wires from the playstation, laptop, tv, etc; and behind them is a collection of books. Sorry!

I have been 'sew' busy making a Jane Austen dress for my daughter! But - oh, no! - there's a 2-inch gap at the back! Now, I know she's a size 12 (I'm not jealous, really!) and the pattern says it's Size 12, but I really think a Size 10 girl would have trouble with this one! Maybe '12' in the US is '10' or '8' over here. What's annoying is I always cut a bit large, and stitch a bit narrow, to make sure there's enough 'give.' Never mind, I can patch it, but it's rather annoying! Hopefully it'll be done by tomorrow and I can post a piccy! I hope you're all doing well! luv, Mags x

Once again it's Dream Valley Challenges time and this fortnight's theme is "SURPRISE!" You can make a pop-up card, or include a hidden tag, or have a lift-the-flap element - there are links on the Dream Valley blog to sites with examples and tutorials to whet the appetite! The sponsor is They're offering a $10 Canadian dollars voucher to spend in their shop so do stroll across and have a dekko at what's there! I've been away in North Wales this last week, so didn't have time to use one of the digis, unfortunately. Instead I used a Lili of the Valley image called Sprinkled With Sugar isn't it adorable? The tag and sentiment are also LotV. The papers are Basic Grey 'Nook and Pantry' (I think - they were in my snippets box!) I used foam pads to stick the image onto the front, leaving the side open to insert the tag. I die-cut the scrolled base of the tag using a Nestie in the same card that I used for matting, so it would look like part of...

My daughter Sacha and her friend Rae have a baking blog, The Dukes of Marzipan . They're both very good cooks! luv, Mags x PS Sacha's boyfriend, contrary to local rumour, will not be posing as Daisy Dukes in micro-shorts. We are all very pleased about that!

My poor little girl hasn't been well this week so I made her this. Her favourite colours at the moment are red, blue and black - all the time I was making it I was muttering to myself 'It'll never work!' but it turned out better than I feared! The patient likes it, anyway, which is the main thing! The sketch is from Sketch Saturday . I love those triangles! The image is a Whiff of Joy stamp. I love her, she looks as if she's just stepped out of a fantasy tale! I glittered one of her potion jars and put Glossy Accents on another jar and her shoes. The card candy is stickers from Paperchase; the sentiment is also Whiff of Joy. Papers are a mix from stash - Daisy Bucket (black and white) Bo Bunny (red) and Papermania capsule collection (blue.) I used a MS Punch Around the Page set for the edging. Suddenly a lot of people I know are under the weather, or having birthdays, or both, and I have a list of card requests! Which is so nice (it makes me feel appreciated) but t...

My daughter isn't feeling too good today, so I made this very quick card to cheer her up. The image is Evie from Tickled Pink Stamps I hope it makes Sacha smile! The sketch is from Sketch Saturday and it was so simple to put together! Gotta go and stock up on Lemsip for my baby girl! Thanks for looking, and have a good evening. luv, Mags x Recipe: Stamps: Lil' Lolita Evie; Penny Black text Promarkers: Tulip Yellow, Almond, Vanilla, Pastel Pink, Burnit Orange, Honeycomb, Azure Papers: DCWV and Basic Grey Lime Rickey Woodware North-West corner punch Black paper and card candy from stash

My baby girl was 24 yesterday, and this is the card I made for her. I am amazed at how easy it is to make an easel card - the pictures on other peoples' blogs look so complex and lavish, but it's really simple! My Old Man Does Not Do Cute, but even he admitted it was good! I'm especially pleased with the little strawberry charm, from Whiff of Joy which is hanging on a twisted cord which I made from 2 pink embroidery threads. The inside: I distressed round the adorable Lili of the Valley image and also the card for the sentiment on the inside, with Tattered Rose distress ink, and stickled. Two of the papers are Basic Grey 'Nook and Pantry'; but the pink paper on the right and on the inside isn't, but I can't recall where it's from, sorry! The big flower is Prima, the small ones from my local Art and Craft shop, and they've been shimmer misted in gold but it doesn't show up in the picture. Let's be frank, I am not a very good photographer, bu...