Madcap Manor

 Hi, guys! Happy Monday! I hope you've all had a great Easter weekend.  It has been very special for me because my daughter, son-in-law and grandson have come over from Ireland to stay.  We have done a lot of playing in the local playgrounds, we've had picnics, played football, and had a lot of storytime, too! Not forgetting Easter eggs! I loved every minute. They leave early tomorrow but hopefully will visit again soon. Anyway, back to our new Challenge at Dream Valley  which is to use Embellishments.   Our sponsor is the fab 'All Dressed Up' digital stamps.  I have a wedding coming up soon (Covid permitting of course) and used Wendy's cute 'Over the Moon' image.  I suspect it's out of print, as I can't find it, but she has so many gorgeous wedding images in her Etsy shop, do check them out! The background is from an old First Edition paper pad, and the XOXO paper has a spot gloss effect.  I used a Spellbinders circle die for the image and the ma...

Hello, my dearios! I'm sorry I'm late with this post, I have had a horrible stomach upset today. It was my own fault, I made a delicious Tagliatelle Carbonara yesterday with butter, streaky bacon, onions, brie and cream. Sadly, my insides can no longer cope with very rich food, and I spent half the night 'calling Ralph and Hughie on the Big White Telephone,' to use our friend David's graphic phrase. Too Much Information? Anyway, I spent a lot of today asleep, and didn't realise it was Friday until half an hour ago! Whoops! Anyway, now I'm here, feeling much better and ready for my DT post for the latest Challenge at My Time to Craft. Our new theme is Summer Wedding. I made this card for the son of a good friend, who was due to marry his Young Man in June. Unfortunately the wedding has been postponed until next year. I used a Tonic Studios die from a kit for the border, and inlaid the flowers and leaves with Tonic's Satin mirror card. The ribbon...

Hi, guys! I can't believe that it's already a whole month since Boxing Day! Next month we will be celebrating St Valentine's Day - and our new CRAFT Challenge has a theme of Love/Valentine's/Anniversary . Very topical! I have made a wedding card for a friend's daughter, who is getting married in the spring. The colour she has chosen is a gorgeous burgundy, so that sorted out my colour scheme! I made a circle card to echo the moon on this gorgeous Over the Moon image by All Dressed Up Stamps. I used Copics to colour it - I made sure to scribble off the pen tips first, since I've found that my reds and greys can be very juicy. I covered the flowers and the bride's veil and gown with clear Wink of Stella. The paper is from an old magazine freebie, and I cut it with a Cheery Lynn die. The card base is cut with Grand Nestabilities circle dies by Spellbinders, and originally I was going to use the gold heart brad to hold them together, but it was easi...

Hello, chaps, I hope you're having a great weekend We have been visited last week by new grandson (and his Mum and Dad!) which has meant days of baby-cuddles! They left today to travel back to Ireland, which is why my post is a bit late! We'll be seeing them again at Christmas, and I can't wait! Now back to my card! Our challenge at My Time to Craft is to use Fancy Folds - that is, use more than one fold on your card. Visit the blog and see my teamies' great work to get an idea of what we mean. My card is inspired by this video by the amazing Kristina Werner. Where she used a butterfly punch, I used a heart die. And here is the inside: This wedding card was made for 2 of my daughter's friends, who were married last week: the colours were lilac and purple. The papers are from stash, and the heart border was cut with 2 Nellie Snellen hearts dies. The image is The Wedding Cake by All Dressed Up. The roses have Spectrum Noir sparkle on them. Hav...

Good morning! And Happy Thursday! Great excitement here at the Manor, as our daughter had her second scan and her baby is a boy! He's due in July. She has already bought him three adorable onesies with dinosaurs on them! On to today's CRAFT Challenge which is a Sketch Our sponsors are: The fabulous Robyn's Fetish And the adorable All Dressed Up I used Love Birds from Robyn's Fetish - too cute! For the background I wove strips of 1 1/2 inch wide paper together. The heart die-cut mat is a Spellbinders die and the sentiment is an old one by Stampendous. I added Wink of Stella to the birds' hearts and to the boy's crest and the girl's bow. The heart gems are from stash, I coloured them with a red Copic to match the hearts on the image. Do go and see the gorgeous variations on the sketch that my teamies have created, and also have a look at a special offer from KennyK, 50% off two of their digis! Not bad, eh? Thanks for looking! lov...

Good afternoon! I hope all is well with you, especially those who are having winter weather and commuting through snow and ice! Be safe! I went to a wedding on Saturday which was wonderful, the Church was absolutely full! The Bride's family have attended our Church for many years, and members of the congregation came to the service and enjoyed delicious cake and fizz afterwards. It was a really special day. One of the great things about cardmaking is being able to tailor your creation to the recipient. I don't think I'd have found a grey and yellow card in any shop! I layered Spellbinders dies in yellow Centura Pearl and grey cardstock (which looks blue in my naff photo), and the glitter silhouette is made with the 'Dancing Couple' die by Tattered Lace. The flowers were cut with a Woodware Daisy punch and have gems in the centre. The ribbon is from stash. I like using dies for special occasions like this, they look so delicate (and they are so easy to use l...

Hi, guys! I hope your week is going well! I am almost caught up with the washing and ironing created by our holiday last week in beautiful North Cornwall - we were only away for a week, so how come there was so much washing?! I took a break from the dreaded housework to be creative. This card is for a lovely couple who will be married on Sunday: I have known the bride since she was a baby, it doesn't seem like over a quarter of a century ago! As you can see, I got out my dies! The base card and Spellbinders Floral oval are in blue Centura Pearl. The Spellbinders decorative Labels 8 layer is cut from white card. The Tattered Lace dancing couple was cut twice, once in white card and once in silver glitter paper, I glued them together to give the image more body. Finally I added gems to the top and bottom of the white layer. Quick and easy, but quite effective, I think! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x Challenges entered: My Mum's Craft Shop use dies or punches

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...

Hi, guys! I hope your week is going well. Mine is just.... going! Surely it was Monday yesterday? I know I've been busy with STUFF this last few days, and lots of bags of STUFF have gone down to Oxfam, but I look round my house and it still seems chaotic! I'm sure everyone else has this problem!! My neighbour's lovely daughter was married recently - the whole family is remarkably good looking, and the bride looked as if she'd just stepped out of the pages of 'Vogue'! So I knew I wanted to do something a little bit special for her. This card is made with the Spellbinders 'Butterfly Corner' die and is based on one made by the inspiring Christina Griffiths . The video instructions are here Here is the back: I used Centura Pearl card throughout. I embossed the front and back pieces with a Spellbinders Butterflies Impressability which shows up better irl. The corner die cuts were all covered in white glitter. The one on the back makes a pocket, whic...

Evening, all! I hope you're all keeping well. We have had glorious sunshine for several days in a row, it's wonderful! My nephew was married on Saturday, so I can at last share the card I made for him and his lovely missus. The delicate, romantic image is by Whiff of Joy and I used Promarkers, with the fine pen nibs, to colour it. The hearts have Glossy Accents on them, and the centres of the blue flowers and the bride's tiara have been stickled in gold. I used gorgeous Spellbinders Decorative Labels Twenty Two, in pink and purple, to mat the image and also some very pretty paper from Pink Petticoat's Vintage Rose Collection . The label is another Spellbinders die, from the Parisian Motifs set, and the sentiment is by Stampendous. I tied a triple bow with ribbon from my stash and added a very sparkly sequinned flower. The gorgeous 3D butterfly stickers are by K & Co. I really enjoyed making this, I love creating something special for friends and family! ...

I'm having another go at scheduling - wish me luck, I'm going in! Good morning, all! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this time we have a theme of Love Our sponsor is the talented Kenny K . One lucky winner will be able to choose 5 digis from the shop! Now, I must confess that I'm not a massive fan of his very sexy images, they just don't appeal to me, but the others are really fun! The DT were fortunate to have some images to use - this one is his Happy Couple digi stamp, isn't it great? I have a wedding coming up next month, and I know the 'happy couple' will love this! I used Speccies (I can't find my list of colours, I may have chucked it when I was tidying!) I used Cotton Candy stickles on the bouquet and the bride's tiara and the trim on her dress and veil. I cut around the bouquet before using a Nesties circle di to cut out the image, I like the effect it gives! She is just about to throw her b...

Evening, all! Well, the 'flu has gone, huzza! I really appreciate being able to breathe again! And I can read without falling asleep - always a bonus! My daughter's ex-boss married her girlfriend today, so now I can show the card I made for them. I've never made a card for a same-sex marriage before, but this beautiful Lovebirds image from Squiggle Stamps came to the rescue. It's sad that Squiggle Stamps are closing, but some of their images will be available through The Stamping Shack I coloured the digi image with Sunkissed Pink and Rose Peach Flexmarkers, and also with Sakura Stardust pens which add a lovely gleam that the camera hasn't picked up, chiz. I used a Nestie to cut out the image and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The card is ivory coloured, and I cut the edge of the front with a Magnolia die and also distressed with Vintage Photo. The papers are Bearly Mine Vintage, from the Snippets Box. The gorgeous lace is from Th...