Madcap Manor

Good morning! Mahoosive apologies for the lateness of this post, I was so convinced I had scheduled it for Monday that I forgot to check!! Don't you hate it when that kind of thing happens? Or is it just me that it happens to??! Anyway, welcome to another Challenge at Dream Valley and it's a romantic theme this time - Wedding . My children's friends are all at the age when weddings loom on the horizon, so these cards are becoming increasingly useful - in fact, my card was made with a very special wedding in mind! Our sponsor is the adorable Lacy Sunshine Stamps and the lucky winner will be able to choose THREE of Heather's cute digi stamps! A fabulous prize! So what did I do? I made an easel card! I used a 6 x 6 inch card for the skeleton of the card with the fold at the top, just folding down the top flap to meet the fold. Then I mounted card and paper cut with varying sizes of Nestabilities Labels One and Grand Labels One dies. The pale blue card is Centur...

Good morning! I hope you're all enjoying your weekend! It's The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge time once again! Our theme this time is Mother's Day Our sponsor is Doodle Pantry do have a look at their lovely digis! There are even some freebies so you can 'try before you buy'! On my card I used Rose Bloom . I used Spectrum Noir pens to colour two of the images, and cut out the flower from one and decoupaged it on top of the other, using foam pads. Then the whole image was added to a mat of white card and green card die-cut with a Spellbinders Stately Circles die, and also added with foam pads. The background paper is from the 'Floral Pavilion' stack by First Edition, the dots and roses are all glossy - very pretty! The ribbon is from stash. The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley. I added some Cotton Candy Stickles to the flowers on the sentiment and also in the main image. I'm pleased with how it turned out - the rose was a joy to colour, t...

For my DT card for The Squirrel and the Fox please scroll down to the previous post. Ta. Good afternoon, all! I hope you're having a happy and relaxing Sunday afternoon! Our new challenge at Dream Valley is up and running, and it's a great colour challenge: Monochrome - use shades of just one colour (apart from skin and hair if you're colouring a person.) There are some lovely examples from the DT - and the amazing Mel has once again created something awesome from paper, you really must go to the Challenge blog and see it! Our sponsor is the fab Robyn's Fetish and a lucky winner can choose 5 digis from the shop! I already had the beautiful Gilded Christmas Dove and I made a Christmas hanging: Here is a close-up: I coloured with Spectrum Noirs, GB7 to GB1. I added gold Liquid Pearls here and there. The ribbon is from my sewing box, I sandwiched it between the image and a backing of gold card from my stash. I need to find a large yellow bead to hang ...

Good evening, all! Phew, what a scorcher it's been today! Here at the Manor we are in danger of running out of suncream, and the Olde Manne has been wearing his straw trilby to protect the bald spot on his crown that he swears is not there because he can't see it! I sheltered in my craft hovel to make this card: The stamp is by Personal Impressions and is called 'Oriental Collage.' I coloured with Spectrum Noirs, there's a list below this post. The blue flower has been stickled. The little blossoms in the corner were punched with a Tonic Retro Daisy punch, and the leaves were done with a Woodware punch. The pearls are from Hobbycraft. The seam binding came from The Ribbon Girl. The background paper is from an old Dovecraft set called 'Oriental' and the script is a scrap of handmade paper, which has a lovely matte texture. I'll be back tomorrow with DT cards for The Squirrel and the Fox and Dream Valley Thanks for looking! love Mags B x ...

Good morning! It's the weekend, huzza! I hope you're all having a bit of crafty 'me-time'. It's time for another challenge at My Time To Craft and this week the theme is 'Kraft.' Use it for matting, embellies, your image - anything! I had never coloured on Kraft before and I was a bit anxious how my inks would look on the darker background, but 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' and with the help of This video by Kimberly Brown I had a go. The Kraft is from a Papermania stack, it has a very pretty mottled appearance and a distressed grid pattern in white. The image is by Francoise Read for Woodware and is from the 'Flower Doodles' clear stamp set, I stamped in Versamark and embossed with opaque white powder and coloured with Spectrum Noirs. The sentiment is LotV, matted onto the Kraft and glittered round the edges. The corner flourish is a Memory Box die that I got at Ally Pally and I glittered it, too. Papers are 'Bonnets a...

Hi guys! I can't tell you how glad I am this week's over, I've been laid-up with tonsillitis and it was vile! I've been living on soup while the Old Man tucked into steak, pork chop, bacon sarnie... all cooked by me, please note, but just too painful to eat! My neighbour has been a Tower of Strength, she even noticed I was running low on hankies and bought me some more when she was out shopping. So I have made her a thank you card. The image and the papers were both magazine freebies, they are taken from 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' - such a beautiful book, Edith Holden was an incredibly talented artist! I used Speccies to colour the image and added stickles to the flower centres, and distressed with Bundled Sage ink while still in the die. The butterflies are made with a Martha Stewart punch and also stickled. The flowers are made with two sizes of Woodware Daisy punches and have a tiny pink gem in the middle, the leaves are also from a Woo...

Happy Friday! This lad is so happy playing with his dinosaurs! He's Oliver and he comes from a set by The Greeting Farm which came from Quixotic Paperie . The papers (which are brighter irl and so contrast better - curse this dull grey weather!) is 'Alla Prima' by Prima. I edged the strips with Icicle Stickles. The swirly pattern looks a bit like wild, swampy dinosaur territory, I think! The tags are LotV and the stickers are Paperchase. The sketch is from this week's Anyone for Anya? challenge, I really like it! Ok, time to get back to the dreaded housework! Thanks for looking, and have a good weekend! love Mags B x Spectrum Noirs: TN2, FS3, 2, 8; GB11, 10, 8, 6, CT3; TB1, 2, 4, 5; BG 2, 4, 6; TB1, 3, 4, 5; DG3, 2, 1

Good morning! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this fortnight the theme is very topical - Make It Sporty! Our lovely sponsor is Robyn's Fetish and the DT were fortunate to be able to use some of their cute images. I chose s. s. Hoppity . The rowing events in the Olympics are taking place on the River Lea just a few miles from where I live, so this was the perfect image! I used Speccies to colour him in, and stickled all the water. The corners have been punched with a Woodware punch. The 3 strips of Velvet ribbon are from stash, they hide the join where I glued 2 pieces of paper from Prima's 'Alla Prima' collection. The dragonflies are Magnolia dies, cut from a scrap of yellow paper and then thickly stickled. I only glued the bodies down so that the wings could be raised to give a 3D effect. The sentiment is an LotV stamp. We have been preparing for our Children's Holiday Club at Church, which has an Olympic theme, and ...

Good morning, all! By the time you read this (if kind Mr Blogger schedules the post) I will be away camping at a Christian Conference called New Wine, in Somerset. The conference is a first for me, though camping in mud isn't, my family used to go camping every year.  My hubby, who's staying at home, predicts trench foot, rust, mud baths... Enough of that! It's time for a new Challenge at Dream Valley and this time the theme is Summer We are being sponsored by Squiggle Stamps and the DT were offered some of their lovely digistamps to play with. I chose Geeky Goth Boy isn't he cute? The bright summery papers are "Sunshine" from the "Little Miss Collection" by Pebbles Inc, I can't remember where I got them, sorry! I used both sides of the double-sided paper, and added an Owls scrap from the Snippets Box. I reversed the main papers for the inside: The Geek is coloured with Speccies. I Glossy Accented his specs and Goth...

Hi, all! It's Wednesday, huzza! The weekend is in sight! Think of me on Saturday, when I go with 2 other middle-aged ladies to Somerset, where we'll be camping for a week at a Christian Conference called New Wine. I have camped (though not for years!) but never attended a conference like this. It's the opposite for the other ladies! Wish us luck! Back to today, and a card I made after doing some more colouring of dark skin with my Speccies. This is by Francoise Read for Woodware stamps, and I love him, he's having such a great time! I apologise for the wonky photo, the light today is abysmal. The colours are much brighter irl. The papers are snippets from Nitwits Tour of London set, I love these blues! I used a Nestie to cut the lad out but for once didn't try distressing round the edges, as I thought he'd need a lot of space for the marvellous tricks he's about to do!! The baker's twine is from The Ribbon Girl and the buttons are from my bu...

Evening, all, I hope you're well. It's been a SCORCHIO! day - summer is here! Hooray! Unfortunately a dear friend is confined indoors recovering from an operation, but I hope this Whiff of Joy image will cheer her up. I used Spectrum Noirs to colour her. I'm a bit annoyed, because when I pulled the lid off the green pen to do the final colouring the whole nib came off and the inner tube went flying across my desk! Splodges all over my papers! Luckily none landed on the image, but I had to cut her out instead of using a Nestie. So I shall be a lot more careful with these pens in future. I'm just glad no ink landed on my background papers, which are from the first Nitwits download I ever bought, eighteen months ago, called 'Cherry Blossom. The flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and the metal spray is from stash. The gold corners are Whiff of Joy, and so is the sentiment. I put Glossy Accents on the potion bottles. I coloured some white seam binding with Spun Sug...

Hi, guys, and welcome to my new followers! Nice to see you! My lovely friend Jacqui gives me a lift to and from the Toddler Group 3 times a week, so I wanted to make her a card. She has an adorable little dog, who is a lot hairier than the one in this 'Penny Black' image, but it's the thought that counts! Papers are Basic Grey 'Pyrus' apart from the doily, which was cut from a snippet with a Marianne die. I also used a Memory Box die for the green flourish. Flowers and lace are from stash. I paper-pieced the dress and handbag and used Speccies for the rest. The image mat is distressed with Tea Dye and there's a line of stickles round the edge, too. I'm entering this into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge which this week has this great sketch! I hope you're all having a good week - it's one day nearer to the weekend! Huzza! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x Spectrum Noirs: TN1, 2, 3;FS2, 3, 6; DG3; CG1, 5

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 ...

Good afternoon, all! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge and this fortnight the theme is - use BUTTONS! Our sponsors are Digis With Attitude who are offering a $10 voucher for their store. There are also freebies on the site, if you want to try before you buy! My card features a DWA image, Gardening Tween . These Tweens make me think of those 'Bratz' dolls!! I used a Nestie to cut a hexagon, just for a change, and coloured her with Speccies and then distressed the edges of the hexagon with Spun Sugar Distress Ink. The bp was free with a magazine: it's 'Vintage Rose' by Craftwork Cards . The flowers were punched with EK Success Retro punches from more paper from the same stack, and the pearlised buttons are from my mother-in-law's old button tin. The leaves are made with a Woodware punch, the shiny pink ribbon is recycled from a birthday present, the gems are from stash and the sentiment is LotV. The DT has had a great time with the theme, go on o...

It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge already! Take this picture as inspiration and go where your fancy takes you - think garden parties, summer weddings, tea parties, delicate leaves and sprays of flowers, a still life of glasses and bottles, or take the colours from the picture as your starting point. And please tell us what the inspiration was, too, it's always fascinating to see how different people react differently to the same picture!! It doesn't have to be a card, either! We have two yummy sponsors this fortnight: and: The DT were lucky enough to have some great digi images from Sassy Studios to play with - I used I'm Every Woman - Bubble Bath . Wish I had legs like that!! The firm also has some gorgeous images of elegant ladies from films like 'Gone With the Wind' and some fun Pirate images - quite a variety!! My card: I saw a Christmas card made by Dawny Phillips in this zig-zag style in 'Cardmaking and P...