Madcap Manor

The theme at the Pollycraft Monday Challenge is 'pastel colours' which seemed ideal for a spring-time card. The image is a Pollycraft digistamp. The papers are MME 'Bloom and Grow.' The sketch is from Mojo Monday - I like sketches that show off pretty papers and this one is perfect for that! The lace is backed by a shimmery organza ribbon, to give more definition, and irl it sparkles when the light catches it, but the bow is the lace au naturel. 'Lace and pearls' is the theme for The Corrosive Challenge It's another grey, dank day today. Thank goodness we can make cards in pretty colours to cheer us up! Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x Promarkers: Vanilla, Honeycomb, Satin, Pastel Pink; Canary, Henna; Mint Green, Pear Green, Pastel Green, Buttercup. Nesties and Woodware Daisy Punch

I do like these more grown-up Anyas, they are a bit more elegant than the chibi 'Wild Sprouts'! This card is for a friend who lives in Bristol, where it has been very cold! I used Promarkers, as usual, and the fur trim and her muff have been Stickled and sprinkled with Polar White Flowersoft. Papers are from stash (I am trying so hard to use up my stash, but I've scarcely made a dent in it yet!!) - the brown is K and Co, and the blue spotted is a download from The Creative Cottage, but I can't remember the source of the flowered background. Ribbon is Hobbycraft, flowers are stash, sentiment is written by lil' ole me. My normal handwriting is pants, so anything legible is a plus! And for once the picture is reasonably accurate, because we have sunshine in Herts! It's such a nice change from the wind and rain. I'm entering this card into Creative Inspirations Challenge which is a colour combo of blue, brown and white; and Anyone for Anya? whose theme is '

Lookie! I made the Top 3 at SSW, too!!! This is amazing! I feel so chuffed! luv, Mags x

Here's another larger-than-usual card, I used a saucer as a template. I think this LotV fairy is my favourite - she was the first one I bought - though I love all LotV's stamps! I've been very firm with myself about buying crafty stuff, because I'm saving up for Stamperama in Stevenage in February, so I've been resisting the gorgeous new stamps. It's very hard! The current Lili of the Valley Challenge is for 'things with wings'. I coloured her with Promarkers and stickled her wings and the flowers in her hair. I used 2 Nesties, the background one was a Christmas pressie from my dear hubby, and so was the Martha S butterfly border. Ribbon is from Hobbycraft, flowers are Prima, Wild Orchid and from stash, and the gem brads and pink gingham paper are also from stash. Here's an interior view. The sentiment is by The Greeting Farm. The colours irl are pink and green, but they've come out more coral and aqua. It's so frustrating having photograph

The Force is not with my computer-fu tonight, as I seem to have only half the pretty Pink Gem Banner! I am so thrilled and excited to receive this! Yayyy!!! luv, Mags x

My son and his girlfriend got engaged on Friday! This is the card I made for them - it's a bit OTT! I made a simplified step card for the base: fold A4 card crossways to make a tent fold, then cut down the middle to a bit less than halfway. Fold one of the flaps forward and back to make a nice crease, then invert it to make the step. This side view might be more useful than my explanation! I got the technique from Christina at the card-making-magic website Papers are Bearly Mine Designs and they're gorgeous! Flowers are Wild Orchid, the sparkly purple flourishes are Marianne. The images are Tickled Pink Stamps - I do love their stamps! Oops! I've chucked the list of Promarkers, though I remember Lil' Lad Luca's suit is done in Cool Grey 2 - 5. Martha S's hearts punch was used on the horizontal strip and Nesties fro the shapes behind the images. Ribbon and heart pin are from stash. This is the biggest card I've ever made, and it took ages! I did a bit here

I've almost missed the current A Gem of a Challenge ! There's a really nice sketch to use. I coloured this gorgeous girl with the star before Christmas and put her aside, thinking 'There's plenty of time, the Challenge ends on Jan 7th in the evening.' Fatal! I found her this morning when tidying my crafty stuff (again!) and finally finished her card. I'm also entering the ABC Christmas Challenge which this week is 'Anything Christmas' Papers are scraps, and the Promarker list went the way of all flesh last year, I'm afraid! The flowers are also from stash - I'm being quite good with my New Year Resolution to use things up. Pity the diet resolution will fail tonight as we will have a bottle of vino to celebrate ENGLAND BEATING AUSTRALIA 3 - 1!!!!! Have I mentioned that I love cricket? Anyway, hope you all have a good Friday and a great weekend. Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x

Just an uber-quick post while waiting for hubby to get home from work. I'm entering this card for the Just Magnolia Challenge and the Sketch Saturday Challenge I do like this little Tilda, who looks like Snow White! Papers are Nitwits (buds and blossoms too). I stickled the edges, and Tilda's lace. Oops, there's the front door - gotta fly! luv, Mags x Edited to add: here are some more details. Recipe: the circle has been embossed with the dots Cuttlebug folder, and Tilda cut out and popped onto foam pads on top of it. The sentiment is Whiff of Joy. Promarkers are: Tan, Cinnamon, Burnt Sienna, Blush, Dusky Pink, Pastel Pink; Cocktail Pink, Lime Zest. I like these papers so much, I didn't want to hide them with embellies (and it has to go in the post, too.) Though once again the pic is a bit washed-out, the colours are really pretty irl. Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x

This is '60s Willow from the Lil' Lolita Fashionista series by Tickled Pink Stamps Doesn't she look groovy in her brown cotton flares with the glittery shisha embroidery at the ankles, and her pale orange muslin top with the green silk ribbon. How do I know so much detail? Because I had that outfit when I was a teen! I wasn't as tall and slim, but how I loved those clothes!! The picture here looks a little faded, as usual (I blame the light!) but that's not a bad thing, because the orange card is very bright. The papers are from the Paisley Road stack by Prima, which was part of the blog candy I won from the lovely Joey The patterns and colours are so bright and retro - yes, children, we really did think that fuchsia, orange and lime green looked good together. The flowers are made with a retro punch, the patterned ones are from the dp, curled, and covered with transparent glitter embossing powder. The gleam doesn't show here, but it's so pretty! I'm v

On the radio in the early hours of this morning Sir Geoff asked: If a man speaks in a forest and there are no women to hear, is he still wrong? Lol! Of course you are, Geoffrey!

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

I hope everyone had a good time last night! I must admit, I did feel a wee bit fragile this morning! It was the bubbles in the champers that did it, I'm sure, and not the bottle of wine that my old man and I had polished off before midnight struck!! I've made this card for my sister: before Christmas I stayed with her to help her clean her house (which was left in an awful state by the people who'd rented it last year) so I think she'll appreciate poor Anya overwhelmed by the laundry! The stamp came from the wonderful Dies to Die For in the summer, and this is the first time I've inked her! How shocking is that when she's so cute??! Papers are from the Porcelain stack by Basic Grey, which I bought at the Ally Pally in the spring. I've stickled the edges but otherwise left off the embellies, as I think it looks ok without. The MS punches came from the AP, too. I'm entering this card for the anyone for Anya? challenge, which this week is a sketch. The s