Madcap Manor

  Hi there, and welcome to another Challenge at Dream Valley.    We would like to see some bling on your creations this time. I made a very shiny card! I heat-embossed an old Simon Says Stamp image and painted them with mica paints.  They show up so well on black cardstock! Then I tried splatter with gold and white paints - as you can see, I'm not a very good splatterer, I need more practice!  Finally the sentiment is die-cut from gold card. Check out my teamies' creations and join in! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

  Hi there! I hope you're all looking forward to a great weekend! To encourage you to keeeeep craftin'! (Sorry, 'Strictly' I couldn't resist!) there is a new challenge at My Time to Craft which is: Floral. So dig out your pretty stamps, dies, papers, stencils and go to town on a flower project!  I received Altenew's Peony Dream Layering Die Set for Christmas which I used for a Thank you card. It's quite easy to fit the pieces together, and you can make a smaller and larger flower from the same set. I used scraps of cardstock, which is always very satisfying! The background is made with a leaf stencil and two shades of green ink. I loved putting this card together, the flowers are so dramatic!  Check out the blog to see my teamies' fab makes!  Thanks for looking and keep well!  love Mags B x

Happy New Year!Welcome back to My Time to Craft! Our first theme of the year is Thank You!   I apologise for the quality of my photo: the Christmas tree always stands in front of the window, so the light is not the best!  We took the decorations down on Wednesday and the place looks a bit dull now, without the tinsel! I used some Polkadoodles die-cuts which came with a magazine a looooong time ago on a slimline card.  The pink background paper is from my snippets drawer, and the border at the top is a scrap of ribbon.  Finally, the sentiment is die-cut with an old Clearly Besotted die. Check out the inspiration on the challenge blog and join in! I hope you're all keeping safe and well.  We may be back in Lockdown, but we always have our crafting to keep us going! With all best wishes for 2021 love Mags B x

 Hello, my lovelies! I hope you're all keeping well. We have grey skies and a lot of rain here in S-E Herts! I learned the hard way that my shoes have holes in them: my socks are dripping into the sink and my feet are cold! To brighten the day we have a new challenge at  My Time to Craft! and we'd like to see Autumnal Colours.   We are also looking for Guest Designers so if you'd like to join us for a month, making something for 2 Challenges, check out the blog post for details. Our first Guest Designer is the lovely Hazel (Didos) she has made a gorgeous card! I got out my Distress Inks and some watercolour paper for the background of my card and ink-smooshed in warm autumn colours.  Then I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls spray to give some shimmer. The grass stems are die-cut from green mirri card using an old die-set by Concord & 9th called 'Layering Leaves'  Sadly, it no longer seems to be available on their website.  Finally I rounded the...

Hello, my dearios! Well, we're back from our holibobs in North Shropshire! We were very lucky with the weather and had a very relaxing week. I read a couple of books by a new author, J M Alvey, they are murder mysteries set in Classical Athens and they are so very good! The first is 'Shadows of Athens' and I recommend them highly! Since returning I have slowly got back into the usual routine, but I took some time out from the post-holiday washing and ironing to make some cards. Does anyone else find they have to schedule their cardmaking activities amongst all the weekly work? I used items from the Love from Lizi September card kit, which included a lot of ephemera in gorgeous colours. The kit is sold out, but I may be able to give you an idea of how to use ephemera from other brands. I apologise for the wonky photos! The frame is popped up on foam tape and the striped paper is pearlised. The sentiment is made with a Clearly Besotted die. The glitter stickers come...

Hi, guys! We had a visit from our daughter this weekend and in between seeing her old friends she was watching Korean Drama on the tv! I found it quite interesting - though I'm not normally one for the soaps! Anyway, she's now on her way home to Ireland and the house seems a bit empty! Hopefully she'll be back before the end of October, with hubby and son in tow. So we have a very topical new challenge at Dream Valley: Autumn Colours. . Our sponsor is Sheepski Designs and the lovely Andrea generously sent some digis for the DT to use. I have used Lilly - isn't she lovely? The papers came from a mysterious pad that has lost its details, which I found while tidying the Craft Hovel last week. It's amazing what I find when I do that! I coloured Lilly with Promarkers and matted the image and papers with gold mirri card. I added a Sway Peeloff from Love from Lizi over the join between the two papers. The corner stickers are from my stash, and the sentiment is fr...

Hi, guys! I'm just popping by to post a couple of cards made with the Love from Lizi October card kit. The first is a thank you card for my bro and sis-in-law, who we visited last Sunday. I CASEd a card made in this video from 2009 by Kristina Werner for Two Peas in a Bucket, a USA shop that has sadly closed down. The videos are still available, though! The papers, peel-offs and embossing folder is from the kit. The circle sentiment is an anciet one from Hero Arts and the ribbon is from stash. Here everything, except the sentiment, is from the kit. The papers have a lovely Retro feel, I think! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! Our new challenge at Dream Valley is to use Autumn Colours. Our sponsor is the fab Dies to Die For"> I used an old Lawn Fawn stamp to mask 3 sunflowers and a vase. It's a very versatile challenge this time - go and see my teamies' creations and be inspired! Thanks for looking and have a great week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! This week at CRAFT Challenge we have a fabulous sketch! Isn't it great? I think the 3 squares look like tiles, so that inspired my interpretation. The image is Magnolia Block by Sweet'n'Sassy Stamps. I coloured each image with Copics, then added a thick layer of Glossy Accents over the top. The paper is from the 6x6 paper pad from the Rose Cafe collection by Bo Bunny. I also used a Simon Says Stamp Small Banner Die for the sentiment. Our fab sponsor is Sweet'n'Sassy Stamps. Go and see my teamies' gorgeous interpretations of the sketch, and have a go! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya! I hope your weekend is going well! Maybe you're enjoying a relaxing time In the Garden which would be a wonderful coincidence as that is our new theme at My Time to Craft! I am not a gardener, my awesome super-power is to kill plants, sadly, but I do like sitting out with a g'n't admiring the flowers that my hubby tends so succesfully! And I like colouring in images of flowers and of garden creatures! This image is an old stamp by Lili of the Valley and is sadly unavailable. The papers are from stash and the ribbon was a RAK from my daughter. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

(To see my post for The Holly and Ivy Challenge, please scroll down.) Good morning! I hope you're all keeping well! At CRAFT Challenge this week we would like to see Thank you creations, with the option of making something for a teacher, since it's nearly the end of term! I made my card some time ago, and it has already been posted, so I hope I can remember the details!! The image is Just to Say Freebie from Scrappers' Delights. The papers are from stash and the corner stickers are from Paperchase. The 'Thanks' is cut with a very old MFT Die-namics die, from purple holographic card, and the 'teacher' label is handwritten. Our sponsor is Scrap N Dipity who are new to me - have a look! The prize is 3 digis from the shop! Have a look at my teamies' gorgeous creations to get an idea of Scrap N Dipity's quirky style! Thanks for looking, now I'm off to play a bit more of my new videogame: I have a Wraith to hunt so that a small ch...

Hi, guys! I spent a wonderful weekend in Oxford staying with a schoolfriend recently, and made this card for her. I used an old wooden stamp by Funstamps, which I gold-embossed and coloured with Copics - carefully, because alcohol ink can affect embossing. I layered it on pearlescent blue card and foam-mounted it. The paper is from the 'Soleil' pad by Basic Grey. Thanks for looking, and I hope you're all having a good week. love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We have a really original Challenge at Dream Valley this fortnight: Vintage with Music. That can mean adding music patterned paper to your vintage creation, or using a music-related image. Have a look at the inspiration from my lovely teamies to get an idea. Now, vintage and shabby chic are two genres I find are a definite challenge!! I spent a lot of time perusing Pinterest! I'm really pleased with this! It's not as elaborate as some of the wonderful cards I saw on Pinterest! The lovely image is from the Roses Collection by Digistamp Boutique. The papers are from my stash. I used a Sue Wilson die to cut the borders from ivory cardstock and distressed them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The crochet lace is from stash, and there is a string of pearl trim from The Ribbon Girl down the middle. The 'Thank you' chipboard sentiment is by Scrapiniec also from The Ribbon Girl. We have two excellent sponsors: Digistamp Boutique Crafty Ribbon...

The results of my latest scan came in yesterday, and I am in remission from my cancer! It still hasn't quite sunk in! Here are the Thank you cards I made for the Doctors (on the left) and Nurses (on the right.) The background is made using the Bamboo Rose stamp set by Altenew, coloured with Distress Inks. The Thanks word is a die-cut made with an old MFT Die-namics die, the one on the left is cut from pearlised card, the one on the right is coloured with a purple Spectrum Noir glitter pen. I cut the words several times and glued them together to give some depth. Time to get back to tidying the Craft Hovel, and then onwards with the Christmas cards! Cardmaking has been such a help this past few months! Have a lovely weekend, everyone and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all well, and looking forward to a good weekend! Thursday is CRAFT Challenge day and we have multiple themes this week: Autumn or Halloween or Thanksgiving Plenty of choice there! I went for an autumnal Shaker card, using Berry Wreath by DRS Designs. The background paper is from an ancient pad which has lost its cover! I dry embossed it before cutting the aperture for the shaker - which meant that the original embossing was squashed! However, it makes a rather nice crinkled effect, so that's ok. The wreath is coloured in autumnal shades with Copics. I die cut the MFT 'Thanks' die 3 times and glued them together to make a raised sentiment. Our sponsors this week are: DRS Designs and Doctor Digi's House of Stamps Thanks for looking, and have a great day! 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

Good morning, my dearios! I hope your week is going well! Today I shall mostly be listening to the cricket while I potter about. Before then, here is our new CRAFT Challenge which is this lovely colour combo: I have used a pretty image from one of our sponsors, this is Dahlias from SLS Lines My papers are all Snippets, those leftover scraps from previous crafting, so I don't know their origins. The mustard coloured strip has a scalloped edge made with a Fiskars Punch . The ribbon is from stash and the enamel dots are Doodlebug Sprinkles . The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted Our lovely sponsors are: SLS Lines Digital Stamps Kat Scrappiness Have a look on our blog for the prizes you could win, and admire the inspiration that my teamies have made! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I apologise for the lateness of this post! There is a new challenge at CRAFT Challenge and it is Thank You (Teacher) In other words, make a thank you card, with the option of making it for a teacher. I used Stella Calendar Month September Isn't she fun?! The papers are from the Boyfriend paper pad by Cosmo Cricket. The die is a Spellbinders Labels Eight and the border is made with a Fiskars Notebook Border Punch . The star stickers are from stash and the sentiment is from Altenew's Label Love stamp set. Our sponsors are: Bugaboo Stamps The Paper Shelter Di's Digistamps Have a look at my teamies' fab creations and then join in! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

One week to go and the panic is setting in....... Our theme at CRAFT Challenge this week is one that will become very relevant after the 25th! It's Thank you ! I used a fabulous image from Spyder's Other Corner called Rely-on me Lion I loved colouring him and the cute little mouse! I used a sentiment and conversation bubble, with matching die, from Clerly Besotted - sadly they now seem to be unavailable. I used a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle to cut out the image. The papers are by Bo Bunny, I can't tell you the name because I'd already used the half of the paper with the details! I went over the stars with a clear Wink of Stells brush, and wrapped orange baker's twine from The Ribbon Girl round the background paper. Our sponsors are Spyder's Other Corner Lacy Sunshine Stamps The Cutting Cafe Go across to the Challenge blog to be inspired by my teamies' gorgeous creations! Thanks for looking! love, Mags B x

Good morning! We have a seasonal theme at CRAFT Challenge this week: Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving/Bonfire Night . I love this time of year, with all the gorgeous colours of the trees! Our sponsors this week are: Imagine That! and Deedee's Digis I used a fabulous wreath from the Autumn Blessings digi stamp set by Deedee's Digis. My patterned paper was a bit pale, so I stamped little leaf sprigs in various pigment inks by Mama Elephant, then embossed them with clear embossing powder to give a bit of shine. The image is die cut with a stitched square die by Lawn Fawn. The banner sentiment is by Paper Smooches, I gold embossed it onto vellum. Finally I added gold stickles to the berries on the image. The photo doesn't really show the gleam of the embossing, unfortunately! My teamies have made some wonderful creations to inspire you, do go and see them! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x