Madcap Manor

 Good morning! We have a new Challenge for you at  My Time to Craft!  where the theme is Vintage or Shabby Chic.   This is always a challenge for me, as both are outside my comfort zone! I made a Shabby Chic tag: I used an image and sentiment from an old magazine gift of papers and toppers based on the Flower Fairies by Cicely Barker.  I tore strips of patterned paper for the background, distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and added a strip of lace to the right side.  I used some of the paper in the kit to die-cut three butterflies, and pearls from my stash along their bodies.  Then I used a couple of pink ribbons for the tie, I also made a Vintage-y card. The papers, birds and sentiment are from Stamperia's 'Patchwork' collection (sadly this seems to be out of print.).  I cut and tore out the pieces that I wanted and inked the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.  I added a button and 3 resin flowers from my stash. I enjoy...

 Hello there! I hope you're all looking forward to a great weekend.  Here in the UK we are celebrating the Queen's 70 years on the throne.  My church is putting on a Fun Day on Friday, so I am scheduling this post.  I hope I've got it right! The theme of our new challenge at  My Time to Craft!  is A Bird or Birds on a nest, in a cage or with a birdhouse.    I found this chipboard image in my stash and thought I'd have a go at a shabby chic card.  Not my usual style! The background is made with Nuvo Shimmer powders and has a lovely sheen.  The doily, scrap of pink card, lace and ribbon are from my stash.  The wooden word is from the poundshop and I swiped it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to age it.  Finally I added a dazzler to the middle of the bow and a few pearls here and there. This card is the complete opposite! I used an old stamp set from Clearly Besotted and a variety of inks to stamp on a panel.  I tore a piece o...

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...

Hi, guys! Apologies that I'm a day late with my DT post for My Time to Craft. This fortnight we'd like to see your Tags Mine is a mixed media/shabby chic mashup and somewhat out of my comfort zone, but I think it works ok! I used a woodgrain stencil and Indian Gold Nuvo Embellishment Mousse on the tag base. I inked and distressed a scrap of pink patterned paper, and stencilled 'love' using the same mousse. The die-cut fairy and the little shaker bottle came with a kit by Love From Lizi and so did the ribbons and sparkly butterfly stickers. The lace and star gems are from my stash. My teamies have made a wonderful array of tags in so many different styles to inspire you, do go and check them out! Thanks for looking, and have a good weekend! This afternoon I'll be tidying the craft hovel (yet again!) and this evening I'll be listening to the FA Cup Final and making cards! Come on, Watford! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! On Saturday I posted an ATC for the latest challenge at My Time to Craft and I wondered what it would look like made into a bigger card. Here's the ATC: And now here's the card: Both are very pink!! The papers are the same and I used white seam binding on the card instead of ribbon upcycled from a blouse. I used a 2-part MFT Blueprints 18 die for the background, which is why the card is a mirror-image. As before, I fussy-cut the flowers and leaves and added them to give dimension. What do you think? Thanks for looking, and I hope you're having a great day. love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all keeping well! We have a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge which as always is Anything Christmas Goes. I have been sorting my craft hovel (again!) and dug out a lovely filigree leaping stag stamp which came with a magazine last year. I embossed it in Antique Gold embossing powder from Altenew, which is gorgeous, and decided to go for a more shabby chic look than usual. I fussy-cut the image and layered it on a circle of blue vellum and a doily, edged with a string of pearls. The gold-embossed sentiment is from the magazine stamp set. I used Vintage Photo to distress the edges of the cardbase and the paper, which is from stash. The Lace and stars came from an old kit from Crafteezee and the ribbon and flower are from Wild Orchid Crafts . I added Glamour Dust to the wooden stars and the dewdrops are from stash. I also used a lot of Glossy Accents to glue everything in place, as I'd mislaid my glue gun! Now I'...

Hi, guys! I'm sceduling this post, as we will be in Ireland just before Christmas, visiting our daughter, soon-to-be son-in-law and our gorgeous grandson! I hope I get it right!! Our Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week is Anything Goes. I have made a circle card for a Mum - or Mom! I went with a shabby chic look, distressing the edges of the papers and adding some lace and a lot of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. The chipboard 'Mom' and butterfly are from stash, as is the doily that's just visible behind the image. I added a gem swirl from Hobbycraft as the butterfly trail. The lovely image is Teapot from Eureka! Stamps. Our sponsors this week: Melonheadz Doodles and Eureka! Stamps. Go and see my teamies inspiring creations! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all having a great weekend! I'm going to be writing Christmas cards today rather than making them! First let me tell you about our new Challenge at My Time to Craft and we have a terrific sketch for you to follow! Lovely! I turned it around, as the image is horizontal, not vertical, it comes from a sheet of cut-aparts by Graphic45. This is for a Ruby Wedding Anniversary, as I'm sure you can tell by all the red! The paper is from an ancient pad by K&Co, the ribbon and lace are from stash, the pearl heart is from Hobbycraft, and the 3 pearl buttons are by Webster's Pages. The sentiment says 'Love is two people who share one heart' and is a vellum strip that came with a Freckled Fawn kit about 3 years ago! I added it to a strip of green paper to make it stand out more. I distressed the edges of the paper and added Vintage Photo Distress Ink, to give a shabby chic look, but I'm not sure about it as it makes the pear...

D'OH. And DOUBLE D'OH! I didn't post my card last week for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. Sheer forgetfulness, I'm afraid, during the summer holidays I can never remember what day it is! I write lists to myself and then lose them. Wot a plonker, eh? Well, better late than never! The theme, as always, is Anything Christmas Goes. Now, this is RIGHT out of my comfort zone! I had a weird dream about a huge Christmas card that was slathered with lace and muslin and lots of gold trim, and when I woke up I thought, dammit, I'll give it a go! Let me tell you, this card took me all afternoon to make. I tried out different inks and stamps, and finally plumped for Vintage Photo Distress ink and a very old Santa image from Bo Bunny. The torn background paper is stamped with a wood plank effect stamp from Altenew. I added a Spellbinders holly motifs die-cut behind the Santa. The flowers and roses lace and the pearl strip are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The se...

Good morning! I hope your week is going well. We have a lovely new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge and it is to make an Easel Card. Recently I have been trying my hand at the Shabby Chic style, which is rather out of my comfort zone. My style is usually less decorated, but I've seen such lovely creations by Sharon Gurnhill and Bev Rochester that I wanted to have a go. You would not believe how many cards ended up in the Round Filing Cabinet (ie the bin!!!!!) However, I have finally made a card that I am very pleased with, and here it is: And a side view: From the back: the papers came with a magazine a couple of years ago, I distressed the edges with scissors and used Gathered Twigs DI as well. Gathered Twigs was also used on the pink Centura Pearl mat. There is some cheesecloth glued on top of the background paper. There is a white die-cut behind the image and a butterfly by Joycraft on top of that, with pink gems on its body and a diamante 'trail.' I adde...

Hi, guys! I hope you're having a good Saturday and staying warm (in the Northern Hemisphere) or cool (in the Southern Hemisphere.) We have another great Challenge at My Time to Craft! which is Tag It! Either make a card that incorporates a tag, or make a tag on its own. I went with a shabby chic look: The base is cut with a Sizzix die. The paper is by Prima from an old paper pad called 'Fairy Belle'. I went round the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and added flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts. The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley and the crochet lace is from stash. Go across to the Challenge blog and see what my teamies have made, they will definitely inspire you! Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend! love, Mags B x

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 ...

Edited to add: so sorr yfor the delay in posting, I made a mistake when scheduling this. :( Happy Thursday, everyone! And Thursday means a new challenge at CRAFT Challenge! This week our theme is Recycle Please make sure to list the items you've recycled for your creation!! This beautiful image is Pearls in My Hair by A Day For Daisies, one of our marvellous sponsors this week. I coloured her in Copics. The background paper is from the 'Mariposa' stack by DCWV. There is a doily, edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, just visible behind the image. The gold paper is actually wrapping paper left over from Christmas, cut with a Spellbinders Edgeabilities die. The lace is from stash, the ribbon came with a box of Lush bath bombs and smells lovely! The swirl die-cuts are made with a Magnolia die and the flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts except the white one, which is Prima. The wooden bird is coloured with copics and Glossy Accented. The corrugated card is taken from so...