Madcap Manor

Good afternoon, all.  It's a sad day, saying goodbye to the Queen.  She has been a constant for my entire life.  I have also been remembering my own parents and grandparents, as I'm sure many others have done, too.  However, life does go on, and being creative, whether crafting or cooking, has always been a comfort in stressful times. So, we're back to normal with a new challenge at  Dream Valley , where our theme is Autumn Colours.   Our sponsor is  The Paper Shelter , whose images are so adorable.  I made my card before going on holiday a fortnight ago, so instead of the gorgeous image that the DT were kindly given I used another, equally gorgeous image:  Autumn is Coming . I love this image, the little girl is having so much fun throwing autumn leaves into the air! I used papers from my stash for the background and to die-cut the Lawn Fawn  Stitched Leaves .  The wooden flowers are from stash, with pearly Nuvo drops in the centre...

  I'm so sorry I'm a day late with my post for Dream Valley Challenges. Yesterday was very busy, our solar panels stopped working (Boo!) but my neice gave birth to her 3rd baby, a little boy. (Yay!) Now we have a couple of engineers in the loft and when they're gone I'll be making a New Baby card!  In the meantime here are the details of the new Challenge. The theme is Springtime so lots of pretty spring colours are in order! Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and I have used the Adorable Easter Bunny digi stamp. So cute! I used papers from a very old paper pad by First Edition called 'Spring Fling.'  The sketch is by Call Me Crafty Al on Youtube and is the June 2019 design. Check out my teamies' creations on the blog and have fun with pretty Springtime colours and blooms! Thanks for looking and take care. love Mags B x

  Good morning! I hope you're all keeping well. We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley which is Back to School. Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and they currently have a sale on for their school-related images!   I didn't use the image they sent, because my printer has been misbehaving, so instead used a very, very old rubber stamp from The Greeting Farm. I used more papers from the snippets drawer. The sentiment is from an old set by Clearly Besotted which sadly is out of print. It reads 'Best Teacher' - because teachers have to go back to school, too!   Go and see what my teamies have made with the cute image from The Paper Shelter, they will inspire you!   Thanks for looking and take care!   love Mags B x

  Hello, my dearios! I hope you had a good weekend. Unfortunately my daughter and her family, who were going to visit from Ireland in July, have decided not to risk the trip until later in the year. It is so frustrating, we haven't seen them since Christmas 2019! Well, we'll have to wait and see what happens. In happier news, there is a new Challenge at Dream Valley and the theme is All Occasions. Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and the DT received an adorable image to work with!  THIS CHALLENGE IS OPEN UNTIL JULY 24TH These little mice are so cute! I used some gorgeous papers from 'Love Story' by First Edition and my mats are ivory Centura Pearl card by Crafter's Companion. The lace came from my stash.  Take a look at my teamies' creations on the blog for some great inspiration!  Thanks for looking, and take care!  love Mags B x

Good Afternoon! I'm sorry I'm late with my DT post for Dream Valley Challenges. We have a lovely Challenge this time - Pretty in Pastels. Time for some Springtime colours, methinks!   Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and the Design Team received on of their adorable images to use. I love to see how different crafters work with a particular image, and my teamies have done a great job! This is Ellie , isn't she sweet? I used a paper from an old pad of 'The Country Diary' flowers as a background and dug out a Spellbinders Labels die to cut out the image. The top left corner was a bit bare, so I added some punched flowers and leaves to fill it. The sentiment is an old Clearly Besotted stamp and the ribbon is from my stash.   I hope you're all keeping safe and well. Today it's exactly a year since Ye Olde Manne and I decided to go into lockdown, spurred on by the news that St Patrick's Day celebrations in Ireland had been cancelled. H...

  Good afternoon, my dearios!  We're starting the week with a new Challenge from Dream Valley and our new theme is No Squares or Rectangles. Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter. One lucky winner will be able to choose 3 of their gorgeous digis as a prize!  I have made a rocker card, using dies from Spellbinders. I made sure that my largest die wasn't too wide to fit into a 6" envelope! Go on, ask me why lol! This adorable image is Teamwork - the pandas are so cute!  I used Tonic Studios Fresh Mint pearlescent card for the cardbase, and the paper is from my stash. The gold-embossed sentiment is by Love from Lizi. I embellished the image mat with Gold Coast Nuvo Drops.   Do go and see my teamies' creations, they have been so inventive in making shaped cards that aren't squares or rectangles!  Thanks for looking, and take care!  love Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! It's time for anotherChallenge at Dream Valley where our theme is Love. Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter who kindly sent one of their adorable images for us to use. Unfortunately my printer broke down, so I couldn't use the image, but luckily I already had the gorgeous Victorian Beauty printed out. (This is the original image, the current one is slightly different but still gorgeous.) She is a delight to colour, and I love the flirty glance she's giving as she checks her hair! I fussy cut her and raised her on foam pads, and cut a pink frame with a Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles die (sadly no longer available.) I used papers from Nitwits' Perfect Pair collection, so pretty! The place where the two papers join is edged with a Love from Lizi Matt Gold peel-off. The Valentine sentiment is from an old Clearly Besotted sentiment set, which sadly is out of print, and embossed it with Ranger's Rose Quartz Embossing Powder. Finally I use...

Hi, guys! It's time once again for our regular Christmas theme at CRAFT Challenge. The lovely image is Holy Night by The Paper Shelter. I used one of my all-time favourite Spellbinders dies to cut the mat Labels Four and Decorative Labels 4 (which sadly I can't find online.) The gold-embossed sentiment is by Clearly Besotted - and is 25% off in their Clearance Sale! The papers are from an old Papermania pad and I added Nuvo Drops to the centres of the flower shapes. Our sponser is The Paper Shelter. Check out the inspiring creations left on our blog by my gorgeous teamies! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! We have another Christmas Challenge for you over at CRAFT Challenge - not long to go before the Big Day arrives! I have used a fun image from The Paper Shelter , this is There's a Penguin in my Cocoa I found a lot of die-cut holly leaves whilst tidying, so I used them for this card, adding Christmas Red stickles for the berries. The vine underneath is made with a Mini Fanciful Flourish die by Cheery Lynn, I cut off the leaves to make it fit. The papers are from stash, and so is the silver puffy snowflake, the ric-rac braid and the ribbon. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley Our fab sponsors this week are: Bugaboo Stamps The Paper Shelter Oddball Art Do go to the Challenge blog and see what my very talented teamies have made to inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! We have a new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge which is Inspired by a Book . Our fab sponsors are: Craft Classes Online The Cutting Cafe The Paper Shelter I used the delightful Coquette from The Paper Shelter. The papers are from Teresa Collins' 6x6 pad Everyday Moments, the flowers, lace and ribbon are from stash. The book I was inspired by is These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer. Go and peruse the creations my teamies have made to inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope you're all well and looking forward to the weekend! Here at the Manor we are having the entire family visiting this weekend for my baby boy's 26th birthday: that's 4 extra adults plus one gorgeous granddaughter! I am busy cleaning and tidying and making sure that delicate possessions are out of the reach of a 4-year-old girl with a very developed sense of curiosity!! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is a Colour Combo (Jo has such a great eye for colours!) Isn't that gorgeous?! I used a lovely ready-coloured image from The Paper Shelter, this is Spring Elves I think they are adorable! I used a ready-coloured image, since what with the Church Crib and Candle Festival last weekend, and also a visit from my sister, time was at a premium. For the background I used Jo's striped papers, and die-cut it with a Spellbinders 5 x 7 Elegant Labels Four die. On the image I drew lightly round the inside of the die in pencil and cut it out, then distresse...

Good morning! Apologies - I'm a day late for the latest Dream Valley Challenge which is Anything But a Card So you can try your hand at a tag, a box, a gift-bag, a working scale model of the Tardis..... Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and the DT were able to use a couple of their gorgeous images! I made a decorated goft bag. I received a We R Memory Keepers Gift Bag Punch Board for Christmas, and I'm ashamed to say I have only recently opened it! It's a very good piece of kit, the instructions are pretty easy, as long as you remember which end of your patterned paper you want to be at the top. Hint: all the punching needs to be done along the BOTTOM edge! Go on, ask me how I know! ;) The bag is decorated with a beautiful TPS image, Moon Spell which is on offer at the moment! I loved colouring her masses of hair! I used a Spellbinders Star Circles die for the mat, and cut it again in silver glitter paper to provide the stars which I fitted into the shapes on...

Sadly, this is the last Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox I want to thank Linda, and all the DT ladies, for the last 2 very enjoyable years. Good luck, Linda, in whatever you do! For our final Challenge we have a classic theme: Happy Birthday! Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and I used this adorable Cheerleader The colours in the photo aren't very accurate, the blue should be teal! The papers were magazine freebies (I'm on a mission to use up all of them!). I used the Spellbinders Floral Oval die to cut the patterned mat behind the image. She has been cut out and mounted on foam pads, and her pom-poms have been glittered. There is more glitter edging the sentiment label, which came with the same set of papers. The ribbon is from stash. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the little leaves were made with a Woodware punch. Do join in at our last Challenge, let's go out with a bang! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! Our theme at Dream Valley Challenges is a lovely one - Flowers Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter - I love their sweet images! They are offering a $20 voucher for the digital shop - what a great prize! I have had the adorable Keeper of my Enchanted Forest for a while, but had not yet printed her out - so this challenge was ideal to colour her up with my Promarkers! I used a Spellbinders Picot Edge circle die for the mint green mat. Behind it I put some cheesecloth (I've seen it used on so many pretty cards, and finally thought I'd have a go!) The papers are from stash (once again, they were magazine freebies!) The flowers are by Prima and by Wild Orchid Crafts, and I used a Woodware punch for the leaves. Finally, the sentiment is by Lili of the Valley. Shoot over to Dream Valley to see the gorgeous creations my teamies have made! They will inspire you to make a floral card! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Dream Valley Challenges are now on Mondays instead of Sundays. Oops, I know this is Tuesday, I'm sorry I'm late with this! Our new challenge is Monochrome - that is, with the exception of skin tones and hair if you're colouring an image of a person, just use shades of a single colour. Our Sponsor is The Paper Shelter and a lucky winner will receive a $20 voucher for the store! I used one of my favourite TPS images, this is Victorian Beauty I wanted it lo look like an old sepia photo. I used Promarkers, and distressed all the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The papers are by LotV/Nitwits, from the 'Country Lady' pad. One layer is edged with a Martha Stewart Doily punch and there's a strip of card glued underneath it to give some variety. The brown cord is crochet thread. I added pearls to the corners and also to the button on the lady's jacket, and Glossy Accented her mirror. The sentiment is a bought die-cut from stash. This is the perfe...

Hi, guys! I'm a bit late today with my post for The Squirrel and the Fox as I forgot to schedule it yesterday. Apologies! Our Challenge is Inspired by a Book and our sponsor is The Paper Shelter who are offering a $20 voucher for their shop to a lucky winner! TPS also very kindly gave the DT some of their fabulous, cute images to use! Isn't this a fun image?! She is Spring Breeze - I love the expression on her face! I coloured her with Spectrum Noirs, and used the 'out of the box' technique on her parasol - basically, you snip round the bit of the image that you want to hang over the edge of your die and then ease it over the die so it doesn't get cut. The papers are all by Pink Petticoat. I used an EK Success 'Apron Lace' punch for the pink scalloped edging, a Martha Stewart punch for the glittered butterflies, and a Woodware punch for the leaves. The lace is from stash, the flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and have spots of glitter added. Do ...

For my DT post for The Squirrel and the Fox please scroll down to the previous post. Ta.) Good afternoon! I hope you're all having a relaxing Sunday! We have a new challenge at Dream Valley and it's Vintage Our lovely sponsor is The Paper Shelter who are offering a $20 voucher for their digi store!!! I used Victorian Beauty on my card, I love her expression, she's so pleased with herself! The papers are magazine freebies from a while ago, they are printed to look like fabric. I used a snippet of gold paper and a Spellbinders die for the shiny mat. I cut strips of lace and gathered along one edge and pulled it tight to make the lace 'doilies' behind the 3 roses. The roses and ribbon are from stash. The sentiment is a very old wooden stamp without any details on it! I coloured Victorian Beauty with Promarkers, and covered her mirror with glossy accents. Go and see the fabulous work done by the DT over at Dream Valley, they are sure to inspire you to t...

Good evening, all! I hope you're having a good week. Does anyone else remember the advert for 'Fry's Turkish Delight - full of Eastern promise'? It's a slab of not-very-authentic Turkish Delight covered in milk chocolate. I used to love the stuff when I was young, but when I grew older it seemed soooo sickly-sweet! We have had work done on our roof, and hopefully that will be finished tomorrow - IF the rain stays away! What with one thing and another (making tea for the builders and DT work) I've only managed to complete one card to share this last week, but I'm rather pleased with it! The delicious image is Arabian Spell from The Paper Shelter. Isn't she elegant??? i wish I had that figure lol! The papers are by K & Co 'Sparkly Sweet' pad, the pastel colours are lovely! I used a fair amount of Spellbinders: Labels Five for the image mat, and Floral Doily Motifs for the long die-cut strip. The die-cut along the top of the horizontal...

I can't believe it's the end of June already! This year is speeding by! And it's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox . This time we're thinking about Christmas - yes, I know it's still months away, but if you make a Christmas card for our challenge you'll have one less to make in November and you'll feel soooo proud of yourself for being efficient! Or is that just me lol? Our sponsor this time is The Paper Shelter who kindly sent the DT some cute images to use. This one is adorable, I love the Victorian vibe! I used Promarkers to colour the image, then cut it out and layered on green card cut with a Spellbinders 'Holly Accents' die that happened to fall into my basket when I was shopping on Amazon! I was so excited when it arrived that I used it at once - and oh, dear, the card got stuck and tore and was such a mess! I'd forgotten to rub over the die with a tumble-dryer towel to make the card easier to remove! So I c...

Good morning! I hope you're all having a relaxing weekend! It's time for another Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and our theme is Inspired by a Song or a Movie Neat challenge, isn't it?! Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and the DT were generously given images to play with. I fell for this cutie immediately! There was only one song (and movie!) that sprang to mind - '9 to 5'! I love that film! The girlie's hair made me think at once of Dolly Parton! In fact, she also reminds me of my Vicar's wife, who is also Church Administrator, so I also know who will be the recipient of this card! Well, it's nice to send someone a random card to make them smile! The gorgeous papers are 'Paris Girl' by Carta Bella, isn't that pink fabulous?! I cut the circular mat with a Spellbinders Picot Circle die. I coloured her with Promarkers and Glossy Accented the lid of her laptop and also her cute specs. I used Kraft card from a Papermania pa...