Madcap Manor

Eek! I'm so sorry my post for the new My Time to Craft Challenge is a day late! No excuses - I forgot. Anyway, our theme is No Squares or Rectangles - check out the blog to see what we mean and how my teamies have interpreted the challenge. I went with a circle card - and went out of my comfort zone by making a Shabby Chic card. I was inspired by Craftangel online - the lovely Shilpa makes beautiful cards, and her explanations are so clear. I layered ivory Centura Pearl cardstock with a very old green and gold paper and some white card. The lacy layer is cut with a gorgeous Rainbow Rose Edge Die from tonic studios, I cut it twice to make a circle. I added a strip of rose ribbon across the base. The flowers and leaves are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I added 2 butterflies cut from the ivory and green cardstock with a Martha Stewart Punch all over the page butterfly punch and layered them, then added brown and gold gems from my stash on the bodies. The gold-embossed senti...

Good morning! Happy Bank Holiday Monday for those enjoying the break! Our new Challenge at Dream Valley which is to Use a stamped or digi image. Nice and easy - but it must be an image! I have used one of the fabulous images from Wendy Burns at All Dressed Up Stamps. In fact, this beauty is a rubber stamp from Little Darlings Rubber Stamps, this is Looking Gorgeous. She is so glamorous that I pulled out the flowers and lace! Both are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I built a flower arch for the ballerina to dance under, and added little leaves from a Spellbinders' Foliage die. I also used a Spellbinders Labels 22 die to cut out the image. The paper is from an old paper pad by Tilda called 'Summer Blues.' The ribbon is from stash. Our sponsor is All Dressed Up. Do go and have a look at Wendy's lovely images! The DT has used some of Wendy's images to inspire you, go and see! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's Monday already - where did the weekend go? To cheer you up we have a new challenge at Dream Valley and our theme is Vintage A great excuse to go overboard with lace, flowers, distressing and pretty papers! Our sponsor is the amazing Crafty Ribons Here is my card: My background paper is from an 8 x 8 'Floral Pavilion' pad by First Edition, and I distressed the edges of the paper and the card base with Vintage Photo. The sentiment is from a very old Penny Black sentiment set and says 'Happiness is time spent with a Friend.' I had the oval frame in my stash, it was rather brash white plastic so I dabbed Cranberry and Terracotta Alcohol Inks by Ranger onto it. The shape behind is cut with a Spellbinders die from the 5 x 7 Heirloom Legacy set, and it is also distressed with Vintage Photo. The vine is cut with a Spellbinders Floral Bundle die, the flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and the lace and gem swirls are from stash. 'Vi...

Hi, guys! yet another fortnight has whizzed by, and it's time for another Challenge at Dream Valley . Our theme is Things With Wings - Fairies, Angels, Butterflies - anything with wings should be your focal point. Our sponsor is Crafts and Me . I have used a cute image Glowing Love Girl . I coloured her with Promarkers and glittered her wings and also the magic dust swirling from her wand. I used an old Whiff of Joy swirl stamp and hero Arts Soft Pool ink to make the flourishes around her. I am so sad that Whiff of Joy is closing down. The papers are Promises by Lili of the Valley and Nitwits and the sentiment is also LotV. Lace and ribbon are from stash, and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts Do fly over to Dream Valley, be inspired by my teamies' gorgeous creations, and join in! Thanks for looking, and have a great week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope you're enjoying your weekend! I am at the yucky stage of a cold - why do I always come down with a cold when there's a holiday coming up?!! On to our new challenge at My Time to Craft and it's very topical - New Baby Congratulations to Wills and Kate on the birth of their little girl, and also to everyone who has a new little prince or princess in their family! I have used an adorable image from Saturated Canary - Krista's images are wonderful! This is Butterfly Baby The papers are from the Snippets drawer. I used Copics to colour him - I am still learning what the colours are like, so the blending on the wings is a bit off, but I love that lemon yellow! The sentiment is from a stamp set by American Crafts which I picked up for £1 and is now out of print. I used Mama Elephant Stargazer pigment ink to stamp it, and Broken China Distress Ink around the edges of the image. The butterfly sticker is from stash. The flowers are by Wild Orchid C...

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

Hi, guys! I hope you're all settling down after the holiday season - I love Christmas, but it can get a bit frantic, can't it?! We have another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and it's a chance for you to Show off your new stuff! . Tell us what you got for Christmas and show what you've made! Easy and fun! Our sponsor is Hobbybook - and the prize is 5 digis! Here's the card I made, using one of the sweet images the DT were lucky enough to be given. My 'New Stuff' is the fabulous Inktense Watercolour Pencils that I used to colour the image. The mat is cut with a Spellbinders Big Scalloped Rectangle. The papers are also new, from a pad called 'Floral Pavilion' by First Edition. The swirl is a Marianne Die. The flowers are Wild Orchid and the ribbon and doily are from stash. The sentiment came with a magazine a couple of years ago! Go and see what my talented teamies have created, then grab you new stash and join in! But please tell ...

Good morning! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox! Last time we asked for cards 'Just For Men' which are always a bit difficult, but this time we have a really easy theme: Happy Birthday! Our sponsor is Sweet'n'Sassy Stamps and a lucky winner can choose three digis from the shop! For my card I used one of the adorable Cocoa Mouse digis, this is Cocoa's Chocolates The papers came free with a magazine, they are by Lilly Bimble and they are so pretty! I used my Cheery Lynn french Pastry doily die to cut the doily and distressed the edges with worn Lipstick DI. The ribbon is from Hobbycraft, the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the twigs are made with a Nellie Snellen punch. The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley, stamped in Worn Lipstick distress Ink. Finally, I added Glossy Accents to the tops of the cakes, and glitter to the sugar roses. do scamper over to The Squirrel and the Fox and join in! Thanks for looking! ...

Evening, all! Sorry I'm so late, I've spent the evening stocking the freezer and making chicken soup, and the time ran away with me! But the kitchen smells delicious! I've been playing with my Spellbinders again: I used the Floral Doily set, the largest circle die and the border die. The border die slots along the edge of the vertical strip and just needs touches of glue to hold it in place - thank you, Christina of Card-making Magic for the video demonstration! I used snippets of Vintage papers from Bearly Mine Designs - it's a shame my camera skillz are so naff, because they are so pretty and don't show up well at all! I die cut some leaves with the Spellbinders 'Foliage' dies and Distressed them in Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles, then had a go at a flower arrangement. Here's a side view: I have learned the hard way that an arrangement on a tall stand in Church is not an ideal inspiration for a card - the bouquet looks...

Hi, guys! Happy Jubilee holiday to those who have celebrated! I was asked to make a card for a lady whose bridesmaids are going to be wearing the colours of the rainbow! That's one colour each, by the way, not all seven at once! This is a big card (8" x 8") because the LotV die-cut is large. I used a Martha Stewart punch around the die-cut to give the lacy border. The striped paper is Funky Hand (it was a freebie last year) - aren't those colours lovely?! Flowers are Wild Orchid, and the leaves are a Whiff of Joy die. The ribbon is recycled one of my colleagues at the Toddler Club was going to chuck it because it's not very long - so I snapped it up instead! It makes me feel so virtuous when I recycle! The sentiment is also LotV, the butterflies and flowers coloured with Sakura Stardust pens, and matted onto a piece cut with a Spellbinders Floral Doily die. All the paper lace has been distressed with Spun Sugar DI. The pink roses and hearts on the image ...

Wild Orchid Crafts is having a blog hop that ends on Saturday. There are some scrummy new flowers in the most delicious colours so you may want to pop over and have a look. luv, Mags x

Here's my very first DT offering! The Dream Valley Challenge theme is s nice simple one: Anything Goes! Here's a description of what's wanted and the yummy prizes: Well our first challenge is finally here and what an exciting day it is for us and hopefully for you too. For our first wee Challenge we want you to make anything you like! Its that easy! Normally our Challenges will run fortnightly but this challenge will be for only one week! All you have to do is make anything you like, card, scrapbook page, altered item jewellery etc, ANYTHING GOES!! We have some fab prizes up for grabs for 3 lucky winners! 1st Prize £10 voucher for Lili of the Valley 2nd prize is Fashionista and Dude Simply Sassy set and 3rd prize is wee Windswept Simply Sassy There are pictures on the blog if you want more details. USUALLY THE CHALLENGES WILL BE FORTNIGHTLY, BUT THIS ONE ONLY LASTS A WEEK!! Ok, on to my card at last! The image is Melinda with a Basket of Muffins from Whiff of Joy's ...

My, it's a cold, dull day today! There was too much cloud to see the meteors last night or the partial eclipse of the sun this morning. Is anyone else watching the bbc's live starwatching programme with Prof Brian Cox and Dara O'Briain? Fascinating! This card is for the Whiff of Joy Challenge which has a lovely sketch. I love the WoJ stamps, and this image of Willow with cookies makes me think of my daughter, who loves to bake. Her cupcakes are yummy, though after she's iced them there are always blobs of icing to be scrubbed off the floor, the surfaces, the tiles... I think it's called enthusiasm! She also drinks a lot of tea, hence the teapot charm, which is also from Whiff of Joy Anyway, the papers are a freebie from a magazine, and the bow is made with ribbon cut from a blouse. One of my New Year Resolutions is to USE UP MY STASH!!!!! because soon there won't be any room for me to get in through the door of my bedroom! I hope you're all doing well. Symp...