Madcap Manor

Hello, my dearios! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are now rarin' to go! We have a new challenge for you at Dream Valley - Only Girls Allowed. Our lovely sponsors, Star Stampz and Cute N Crafty. Both have gorgeous girly images, do check them out! I used Spring Flower from Star Stampz. The papers are from an old pad by First Edition. I used green mirror card for the scalloped oval, and green glitter peel-offs by Love from Lizi to edge the central panel. The daisy lace and gold gems are from my stash. My teamies' have done a marvellous job, as usual, showcasing images from our sponsors - do go and see! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope your weekend went well! Ye Olde Manne and I are engaged on a Grand Tidy-Up to get ready for family to come and stay at Christmas! And, no, mid-November isn't too early to start - there's an awful lot of STUFF in this house that needs to go!! However, there's always time to make a card or two! Our new theme at Dream Valley is to use No Squares or Rectangles! None at all!!!!! Our sponsor is Star Stampz and I have used the adorable Snowflake Fairy to make a winter birthday card. The card base is cut with a Spellbinders Labels Twenty Two die (annoyingly, it seems to be no longer available) and I drew around the inside of the die on some glittered snowflake paper from stash, and cut it out to give a narrow border. I had a co-ordinating gem set from Want2Scrap which adds a lot of sparkle! I added a ribbon bow and a snowflake charm from my stash, and glitter Nuvo Drops on the snowflakes around the cute girl. Do join in our Challenge, there is pl...

Hi, guys! I hope you all had a great weekend! Who watched Eurovision? I've had a nasty cold, so I watched it well-wrapped up in a blanket with some medication and a wee whisky toddy (or two.) I love Eurovision, it's so kitsch and so much fun! Now I'm almost back to normal and here (belatedly!) with my post for the new Challenge at Dream Valley. Our theme is Summer Colours which is a great reason to dig out your most vivid papers and inks!! This bright striped paper was in my stash, and I used it to choose my Promarkers when colouring this cute image. She is Fireflies from Star Stampz. I added Nuvo Drops in Limoncello to many of the fireflies to give some shine. The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set, I used Spellbinders dies for the images and mats. The ribbon was a magazine freebie long ago. The butterflies were cut with an old Joy! crafts die and glammed-up with some Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen. Our gorgeous sponsor this fortnight is Star Stampz . Do ...

Hello there! We have a fun new theme at CRAFT Challenge. - Add a Charm. I don't know where this last week has gone! I had this little music note charm in my stash so I went with this cute Music Conductor from Star Stampz. I coloured his little waistcoat in red - very smart! The papers are from my Christmas snippets file! I used some blue baker's twine to thread the charm onto, and the sentiment is Label Love by Altenew. Our sponsor is the fabulous Star Stampz. Go and see the 'charming' creations made by my teamies! (Sorry - I can't resist a bad pun!) Thanks for looking and have a good day! love Mags B x

Hello, my lovelies! If you need encouragement for making Christmas cards, our new challenge at Dream Valley is - Christmas! This adorable image is Christmas Star from Star Stampz. So sweet! The papers are First Edition's Merry Little Christmas The gold twine is from stash. The red banner (which I cut a bit short) is printed with 'Merry Christmas' and so I didn't add a sentiment. We have THREE sponsors for this Challenge, which lasts until January 6th 2018. Star Stampz Lemon Shortbread Ppinky Dolls Art Each one is offering a prize of 3 digis of your choice! Go and see my talented teamies' gorgeous inspiration on the Challenge blog! Thanks for looking and have a good week! love Mags B x

Good morning! Our new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge is Not a Card! I made a vellum gift bag for my granddaughter's birthday present, using some beautiful heavy vellum that came with a magazine a loooong time ago! I find vellum quite hard to work with, as there are no second chances if you score the lines wrong, but it only took 2 goes to get this right!! The gorgeous image is Spring Flower by Star Stampz . The ribbon is from stash. Our sponsors this week: The Cutting Cafe Star Stampz Go and see the inspiration my teamies have left for you, put your thinking caps on, and make something that isn't a card!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! We have a technique Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week: Embossing. This can either be heat embossing or dry embossing with a folder - or both! I used an embossing folder on some ivory Centura Pearl cardstock for my background.  The image mat is cut with a Spellbinders die. The gold-embossed sentiment is from a very old Woodware stamp set. The kawaii image (that's 'cute' in Japanese!) is Kimono Portrait by Star Stampz. The ribbon and gems are from stash. Apologies for the lack of detail, I'm on holiday and left the details at home!! Our Sponsor is the adorable Star Stampz. Go and see my teamies' inspiration and get embossing!!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning, lovely people! I hope you all had a good weekend! To cheer you up if you're suffering from that Monday Morning Feeling we have a new Challenge at Dream Valley. It's a nice, easy one, too - Square Cards Only! I have used the adorable Sunshine by Star Stampz. I cut the image mat with the largest Spellbinders' Captivating Squares die, using paper from an old Basic Grey pad called 'Soleil.' The flourishes are cut with an old Magnolia die, and the lace and ribbon and flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts . Our sponsor is the fabulous Star Stampz My teamies have left some lovely inspiration for you on The Blog , do go and see! For once it's hip to be Square! Have a great week, and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you are all keeping well. Our new CRAFT Challenge is to make something for Father's Day or for the blokes in our lives! I used The Dragon and the Knight for my Father's Day card, it's such a cute image! I used a Woodware corner punch to decorate the corners. The background paper is from an old magazine freebie. The DAD die-cuts are made with an old Die-namics alphabet die. The silver card I wanted to use was too bright, so I covered a scrap of card with several layers of silver embossing powder and used that instead. Our sponsor this week is: Doctor Digi's House of Stamps and our Sponsor for Star of the Month is: Star Stampz Now I'm off to do a huge tidy up, as both the grandchildren are coming to visit and I must move stuff out of the reach of little hands! Wish me luck, I'm going in! Thanks for looking, and have a fun weekend! love Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! Happy Monday! Our new challenge at Dream Valley is to use Metal on your creation. By the way, make sure you hop over to the Challenge blog, we have a new and very pretty background! Our sponsor for this challenge is Star Stampz - do go and have a look at the adorable digi images there! I used My Sweet Rose on my card, she is so cute! The papers are from the Saffron paper pad by Basic Grey, which seems to be out of print. That's one of the disadvantages of using up old papers, often they are no longer available. The flowers are various paper flowers from my stash, and they all have gold-coloured brads as centre-pieces. In the top right corner is a filigree metal embellishment that came from Whiff of Joy. The ribbon is from Hobbycraft and the rose on the knot is by Webster's Pages, it was a magazine freebie a long time ago. The ivy leaves are also from stash and very old! The doily behind the image is cut with a die by Apple Blossom dies f...

Good morning! I hope you're all doing well and looking forward to a good weekend. It's Thursday, which means there's a new Challenge at CRAFT and this time our theme is Winter . Our excellent sponsors this week are: Sweet'n'Sassy Star Stampz Di's Digistamps I was fortunate to be able to choose a darling image from Star Stampz, this is Me and my Snowman - I love the manga look! Though I've been earwormed by the song 'Me and my Shadow, strollin' down the avenue...' recently! This is a birthday card for a special lady who loves pink! I coloured the image with Copics and added Stickles to the white trim on her coat. The background paper is from an old Papermania pad called 'Pink Christmas'. The starry mat is by Spellbinders and is cut in pearlised card. The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, the ribbon is from stash, and the sentiment is an old one from Clearly Besotted. My teamies have made some lovely Winter creations...

Good morning and happy Thursday! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is Summer . I have used a cute image from Star Stampz , one of this week's sponsors. This is My Sweet Rose isn't she pretty? I die-cut the image with a Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles die, then drew around the edge of the die onto cardstock and cut it by hand to make the narrow mat.  The papers are from my Snippets drawer and the ribbon and flower are from stash. The Sentiment says 'Dreaming of Summer Days' and is by Lili of the Valley. The sponsors this week are: Imagine That Digital Stamps And Star Stampz Do have a look at the inspiration that my talented teamies have created on our blog, and join in the Challenge! Thanks for looking and here is a picture of my adorable grandson Oscar, who is already a whole week old! How time flies! He is still so tiny that he can lie along Daddy's knees! love, Mags B x