Madcap Manor

My darling husband came home last night with a box of chocs! No, they weren't for me, they were for one of his work colleagues and he needed me to wrap it. He's not very good at wrapping, even a nice square box of chox. I said what any of you guys would: 'Have you got her a card?' By his expression I knew he'd forgotten. So I made a THIRD card yesterday - a record! I used up the leftovers from the twins' cards. Sorry the pic is so blurry, it was about 11pm. The sketch is a simplified version from Sketch Saturday DH leaves work early, so he'd gone when I got up. Guess what I saw on the bookcase, in full view may I add? Yes, the present and the card. I had to laugh, it is so typical! What a sil-ly Bil-ly! My, there are dark grey clouds in the West - it looks as though we'll have a fair bit of rain tonight. Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x

Commercial cards for twins seem to stop at childhood, as far as I can tell. So it's lucky I'm now a cardmaker, since I have a 23rd birthday to celebrate for a set of twins next month. This is for Clare: And this is for Sarah: The little ballerina is such a happy little poppet! She's Penny Black, and she is one of my oldest stamps. The theme at this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge is 'Lots of Dots' so I've dug out various dotty papers. The sketch is from Cute Card Thursday and I found it a bit trickier than I expected, mainly because the 2 base cards aren't quite the same size, so there was a lot of measuring and re-measuring! I'm pleased with the flowers punched with Retro punches and smothered with glamour dust. When the sun hits them they sparkle like a very sparkly thing! Papers are a mix Basic Grey Green at Heart, Daisy Bucket At the Cape and a mix of scraps from stash. Gems on the flowers were a magazine freebie. The smallest flowers ar...

Evening, all. Sorry I've been out of touch, but the weather has been so gorgeous that I haven't spent much time on the laptop recently. This cheeky lad is King's Jester Charlie by Whiff of Joy stamps. I'm really pleased with it, because I suddenly realised that the checked paper looks like the floor of a mediaeval tiled hall! The sketch is from Friday Sketchers . Those things that look like dice are actually meant to be extra juggling-balls! I used a circle punch for them, and coloured with Pro-markers to match Charlie's outfit. I've only just realised that I coloured him with bare arms! I blame the heat: who'd want to wear a long-sleeved shirt in this weather?? Thanks for looking! love, Mags x Recipe: Promarkers: Almond, Vanilla, Lipstick Red, Crimson, Buttercup, Tulup Yellow, Denim Blue, Azure, Leaf Green, Lush Green, Tan. Papers: DCWV Rockstar; K and Co Hopscotch, rest from stash. Oval and scalloped Nesties; Woodware circle punch; stickles; Craft Creatio...

It's another Penny Black Challenge card! I love these Daisies, they are so versatile. They are coloured with Promarkers. I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday , though I've left too much room at the bottom so it looks a wee bit top-heavy. It's a really nice sketch, I'll be using it again! I put the plain green card through the Cuttlebug with the Daisies embossing folder. The gorgeous big Prima flower came from Crafts U Love Isn't it beautiful? I edged it with Cocktail Pink and sprinkled it with glamour dust, though it doesn't show up very well in the picture. I used some lovely papers from the Ally Pally - MME 'Quite Contrary.' Isn't it hard, making that first cut in papers that you love????? I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, which on reflection is a little too dark. Never mind, we live and learn! I'm entering TWO challenges with this! Penny Black Saturday Challenge and Sketch Saturday Look, the sun's shining! I can ...

The challenge at Anyone for Anya? is 'Don't be square' so I made a Diamond fold card. There's a tutorial on YouTube here The image is Amelia and for once I picked the papers BEFORE colouring her! She's off to Devon, where my sister has a summer job working at Lee Abbey . The Diamond fold is easy - though it needs careful measuring, especially as A4 card is 298cm long, which makes dividing by thirds a little tricky. However, I still know how to do Long Division after hem-hem years since maths classes - and the joy of cards is that mistakes can be covered by pretty paper! Thanks for looking! Recipe: Amelia from 'Happy Day' by The Greeting Farm stamped in Stazon on watercolour paper Coloured with Distress Inks: Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Tea Dye, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade Orange Stickles on every star! Papers are the gorgeous MME 'Bloom and Grow' Flowers are handmade and the yellow ones are by Kaisercraft. The s...

This is the second challenge I've entered! It's for the Lily of the Valley Challenge 53 It's a Sketch Challenge: I turned it on its side, and managed to put the sentiment in the wrong place, chiz. Geometry has never been one of my skills. The stamp came from the Ally Pally, the paper from Hobbycraft, the flowers were a magazine freebie, the bow is from the lovely ladies at my local craft shop, the ribbon from stash. I really enjoyed using the sketch - it's very versatile and not too complicated!! Thanks for looking. Recipe: Papers are Daisy and Dandelion 'Some bunny lovews you' Image coloured with Distress inks: Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstic, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Frayed Burlap, Spiced Marmalade, Black Soot. Martha Stewart heart border punch Scalloped oval Nestie Pink stickles round scallops and sentiment Flowers and sentiment from a craft magazine. Gold stickers and ribbon from stash

I got into cardmaking by way of Teabag Folded Greetings cards by Kim Reygate Sorry there isn't a picture of the lovely cover of the book. I was able to say hello to Kim at Ally Pally and bought the rainbow stamp pad from her. I hope I didn't squee like a teenaged fangirl! Kim doesn't just use pre-printed teabag papers, she makes her own out of patterned paper or paper she's previously decorated, cutting the squares with a punch. I stamped 12 images with a cube stamp, as inspired by Kim's book, using a Kaleidacolor rainbow stamp,and a scalloped square punch to cut them out, made the rosette, matted it on yellow card, and put it against a background of 4 of the squares matted on the same yellow card. I glittered part of the rosette to look like Catherine Wheel spokes. The background is glittered striped card. The card is for a friend who detests 'cute and girly'! Recipe: A4 white paper, Kaleidacolor Riviera rainbow dye pad, Impression Obsession Delft Cube 4 ...

Sorry I haven't updated for a couple of days. Sleeping badly at night = falling asleep in the evening. Tonight I'm for an early night, a bright start tomorrow and time to blog! Sleep well, chaps.

This is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is celebrating its 100th challenge with a Blog Hop as well as a sketch. The rule is to use a PB stamp or sentiment as the focal point. I've used 3 of their lovely stamps! The column on the left was stamped with Versamark and dusted with chalks - I love the rainbow effect this gives. I took the colours for the butterfly from the green Craft Creations paper with little butterflies fluttering across it, using Promarkers and a purple Sakura glaze pen. Ok, now to see if I can work out how to link to the PB site. Wish me luck, chaps, I'm going in. Recipe: Penny Black Stamps: Dearest Wishes 2000K, Bohemian 3864F, Sentiment from 'T For Transparent' Clearly in Love papers: MME Ooh La La 'Lah Dee Dee', Craft Creations Green Meadow Butterflies, Pearlescent green card from stash Promarkers: Buttercup, Tulip Yellow, Leaf Green, Mint Green Others: MS border punch, plain and scalloped Nesties, Art Glitter lilac glitter

This was made for the two lovely ladies at my local card shop in Hoddesdon, Art and Craft - they don't have a website so I can't link. When I bought a blue Woodware punch that makes 5 cherry blossoms in different sizes I was asked to bring something in to show them. Here it is! Katy has been shopping at Art and Craft, Hoddesdon. She has stopped and put down her shopping bags to take a photo on her camera of a cherry tree, and a gust of wind is peppering her with lovely pink blossom. The blossom at the left covers a smudge, but if you don't tell, I won't! Materials: paper is from stash, card from my local shop Stamp and punch are Woodware. Coloured with felt tips eta forgot to say - I embossed her in gold. It's not the most elegant or sophisticated card, I know, but I had fun making it. Thanks for looking!

My friend Julie is a raving fan of Burnley Football Club whose colours are claret and blue. They were relegated this season, so this is a sympathy card. The stamp is LOTV - isn't he adorable? I coloured him badly with Promarkers - as you can see I have only recently begun to use them. Paper is from a magazine (can't remember which one, it was some time ago) and I drew the blue stripes with felt tip. Thanks for looking!

I made this for Karen, who cleans once a fortnight for my 90-year-old Dad. She is such a lovely lass. The front of the card has been trimmed so the line of sheep on the paper on the inside of the card are peering at Bo Peep in puzzlement! IRL the colours are brighter, but I am still learning how to use my cute little new camera. I may have gone OTT with the flowers... Thanks for looking. I hope it makes you smile!

Hi, World! I intend to post pictures of my cards here: though first I must work out how to do that. Luckily I have a 23-year-old daughter who knows about these computamabobs. C ya!