Madcap Manor

 Hello, my dearios! It is such a cold, wet, windy day today in S-E Hertfordshire, more like November than May! A good day to snuggle in the craft hovel with a big mug of tea and make a Christmas card! Yes, we have another Challenge at My Time to Craft Christmas! and this time our theme is Fairy Lights - also known as Christmas lights!  I have used a funny image from a Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp set that came out last September. Unfortunately it was a Limited Edition, so is no longer available as far as I can see. I used scraps of paper from the Snippets Drawer - both these came from an old Lili of the Valley Christmas pad.  I used Love From Lizi green glitter peel-offs to edge the vertical strip, and the green layers are made with pearlescent card.  The sentiment reads: 'Have you learned nothing from last year's tree?' I finished by adding Glossy Accents to the lights and Nuvo Drops around the image. My teamies have been so inventive with this theme, do check th...

 Good morning! How can it be February already? Time goes very oddly in Lockdown: the days seem long, but the weeks speed up! I find refuge in my craft hovel - and then have to spend ages clearing up my crafty mess!  It is time for a new Challenge at  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge where as usual the theme is Anything Christmas Goes.   We also have a DT CALL so if you're interested do hop over to the Challenge blog for the details.  All are welcome, whatever your level of experience or your style of crafting! I managed to lay my hands on a fun Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp set last year which has some very fun images of Christmas cats, and this cat in a stocking makes me smile - I hope it makes you smile, too. I coloured the kitty with alcohol markers to match the papers, which I have had in my stash for several years.  I used  Mint Moondust peeloffs from Love from Lizi to edge the tree-patterned strip and turquoise Nuvo Crystal Drops in two of th...

Good morning! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is to use Bling! . Gems, pearls, gold or silver card, glitter - you name it! Our fab sponsor is Scrapper's Delights and the team were given some totally adorable images to use! There is a sale on, too! The cute image of a girl opening a present immediately made me think of a tag. I used a Sissix Tim Holtz tag die to cut two, one out of paper and one out of card to strengthen it. The papers were a RAK from my daughter. All the edges are distressed with Tea Dye distress Ink to give a shabby chic look. The strip of striped paper on the left has been edged with a Fiskar's Threading Water punch, and a length of lace added over the top. The rolled roses are made with an MFT Die-namics Mini Rolled Roses die and the centres filled with gold Glamour Dust. The Butterfly (Martha Stewart Punch All Over the Page) has more Glamour Dust edging the wings, and gems along its body. The gem swirl came from Hobbycraft. The image was ...

Evening, all! I must apologise again for being MIA: we have had a most frustrating time with our Internet coverage, in fact after 15 years with Virgin we are changing to BT next week. I hope that will be an improvement, it costs a bit more but at least you get the service you pay for! Rant over! This rather vibrant Thank You card has been received by the person who it was made for, so now I can blog it. Brace yourselves, chaps, it's bright! The papers are all snippets, even the orange and white card. The purple paisley is from a Papermania Capsule collection pad, and I think the orange papers are from the orange pad in the same series. I used a Tim Holtz die to cut out both rosettes, folded them and glued the ends together and added the circle in the middle. Does anyone else get excited when you press down on the middle of this frankly boring concertina and then - pop! - it all squishes together into a rosette? No? it must be just me, then! The orange die-cut is made w...

Good afternoon, lovely people! I hope you're all having a relaxing weekend. My hubby and I have just spent a hilarious hour working out how to put our new lawnmower together! I think the instructions were originally written in ancient Chinese and translated into English via Latin! Fun times! Here is my slightly late card for Dream Valley Challenges and our theme this time is Make Your Own Flowers or Embellishments . Our lovely Sponsor is Mulberry Crafts who sell the most gorgeous, top-quality flowers! They are offering a Goody Bag as a prize to one lucky winner! I have gone 'Steampunk' with this birthday card for a friend of my daughter. The image is by Papermania, embossed in Detail Black, and sponged with Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap inks. The background paper is by Bearly Mine, and the ticket is by Tim Holtz. WHAT ABOUT THE EMBELLISHMENTS? you cry! I took a leaf (or should that be a cog?) out of my very talented teamie Elaine's book and made ...

Good afternoon, my lovelies! Phew, it's hot! I just hope the good weather lasts until the end of the Paralympics - isn't it great that soon we'll be having yet more thrilling sport to enjoy?! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge and this time the theme is STEAMPUNK . Our sponsor is My Mum's Craft Shop  There's a £10 voucher up for grabs! Here's my card:  I had to do a fancy shot because otherwise the sunshine reflecting from the silver card was just too dazzling! The paper is from MME but I didn't note the name - I love the cute antique aircraft! I layered it on silver card then die-cut the circle through the middle and added the silver 'porthole' frame. The Tim Holtz Gadget Gears die-cuts have been swiped with Weathered Wood and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks, and I used Peeled Paint Distress Embossing powder to give a verdigris effect. The rivets are silver pearls from stash. The cute image is Lil Victorian Steampunk Lad Er...

Afternoon, all! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge! This time we'd like to see something for a special man or boy in your life. We have two sponsors this time: one lucky person will win a £10.00 gift voucher from One Stop Card Crafts A second lucky person will win 4 images of their choice from Sassy Studios I made a card for my daughter to give my hubby for Father's Day. The inspiration comes from Rubber Stamping by Kim Reygate which was one of the books that got me into cardmaking. Anyone who has read the book or visited her blog will recognise the technique of embossing and sponging on the torn paper. I used a background stamp by Great Impressions which I think came from Sir Stampalot and stamped on white card with embossing ink, then covered it with glitter embossing powder. A wave of the heat gun and a Harry Potter chant of 'Meltiamus!' and there was the white-on-white pattern. Next came the fun bit, sponging Distress Inks (Peeled ...

Good afternoon, my lovelies! It's time for another challenge at Dream Valley and this fortnight we're asking for Earth Tones . Think browns, creams, greys, russets, maybe a touch of green... Our sponsor is Bead Crafty who are offering one lucky person a massive £20 to spend in their online store! Have a look at their website, it's an absolute treasure trove! I decided to make some little notecards and a box for them, following instructions on the Scor-Pal website here . It was the lovely Jules who made a set in January who linked to the page. The cards are tiny, just 8cm square. The sunflowers are a stamp by Great Impressions. I had great fun making the paper that I used for my paper-piecing, using Distress Inks as shown by Tim Holtz here . He uses Perfect Pearls, but I sprayed with gold Glimmer Mist, and the sheen is lovely! The box is made from a sheet of Bo Bunny double-sided card, and the ribbon is from stash. It took longer than I expected to cut ...

This is the card I made for ye Olde Manne's birthday. He does not do cute, or flowers, or bling, or ribbon! The image is by Whimsy Stamps and I used brown memento ink to stamp it. The background paper is a scrap by Kay and Co. I used a Tim Holtz die for the cogs, which are made with another snippet, and distressed with Vintage Photo ink. He really likes it!!! And I'm rather chuffed at how it turned out, too! My, it's cold! I hope you're all wrapping up warm. Be careful on those slippery roads! My neighbour's son took the corner into our cul-de-sac a bit too fast and began sliding sideways - luckily he straightened up before clipping any parked cars! My heart was in my mouth!! Thanks for looking, and stay warm! love Mags B x