Madcap Manor

Evenin', All! Halfway through the week already - it'll be the weekend before we know it, huzza! Just a short post today, I ought to be making the tea but I've just finished off a card, and here it is! Isn't she cute? She's a Penny Black stamp I've had for ages. I coloured her with Speccies, they are so vibrant! The papers are Tilda 'Winterbird' which was a bargain, half price at Hobbycraft!! Well, yes, I broke my stash diet for them, but - half price!! Cute Card Thursday has a theme of 'Music and Dance' and I'm almost too late to enter!!! Penny Black Saturday Challenge is to use a bargain and say what it is - well, I think these papers are going to be the bargain of the year! The Prima flowers and Wild Orchid roses are from stash. The ribbon is actually a stamp by LotV which I coloured, then Glossy Accented, then Decoupaged. Papertake Weekly wants us to highlight a part of our cards, and I hope that fits the bill! The lovely, simple sketch

Evening, all! What a grey, rainy day it's been! I hope you're all tucked up snug and warm and dry! One of my Sunday School kids has just had a tooth removed and she's been feeling sore and miserable, so I dug out this poorly LotV bunny to make a card for her. I love the big bottle of carrot juice and the yummy grapes in this image! I added Glossy Accents to the spoon and bottle to give some shine. This week's theme at Lili's Little Fairies (it's the new name for the LotV challenge) is 'Lavender and Lace'. I used papers from the 'Heather' Papermania Capsule Collection stack. The lace, which is mostly covered, unfortunately, is from my local market. The flowers are Wild Orchid, sprinkled with gold Glamour Dust. The little pearls are from stash. The sentiment is from Whiff of Joy. I also decorated the inside (otherwise the card kept falling over lol!) reversing the two papers: The wonderful sketch is from this week's Sketch Saturday , it was ju

Just a heads-up because the remarkable, uber-talented Krista of Saturated Canary is offering a free digi if you become a follower and sign up to her newsletter. So run to her blog, chaps, and sign up! ;) love Mags B x

Afternoon, all! I hope you're having a restful weekend! It's Dream Valley time again, and our theme this fortnight is Animals . Our wonderful Melly is giving a surprise package as a prize for the winner! So here's what I did: I used one of the lovely Lili of the Valley ready coloured squares, so useful! The butterflies and roses have been stickled, though as usual the camera hasn't picked it up! The bp is from the Snippets Box, it's Pink Petticoat Vintage Rose set of digipapers. So pretty! The ribbon is recycled from a box of chox, the punched butterflies are made with a scrap of wrapping paper. The flowers are Wild Orchid, and the sentiment is also LotV, stamped in Broken China Distress Ink. I also decorated the inside: The bp here is a patchwork, as I didn't quite have enough to cut one piece, but I stuck butterflies over the join near the fold, so it looks ok! The sentiment is Penny Black. I'm entering Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge again, beca

Afternoon, all! I hope you're all having a productive weekend! I was sorting my stamps the other week and came across this little sweetie from Penny Johnson for Stampavie which I've had for ages! What a huge bunch of flowers! He's coloured with Speccies, the roses are stickled and there's Glossy Accents on the bow. I used a very nice Sketch from Fetch A Sketch . The gorgeous bright papers are free with the current issue of 'Quick Cards Made Easy' and the colours are so pretty. The ribbon is paper raffia ribbon and I dotted it with gold Liquid Pearls - and smudged one blob! But the smear of gold shimmer on the raffia looked so good that I added more smears, and also on the bow! Serendipity is a wondrous thing! So my tip today is - smear liquid pearls on your raffia to give it some bling! (It also gives your fingers some bling!) The blue flowers and yellow pearls are from stash, and the sentiment is LotV. It's great being back into a normal routine again! Than

Hey, guys! I hope you're all well! I've not been around as much as I'd like, mainly because I've begun the Gigandor Super-splat Tidy Up and Chuck Out - well, the old man will be retiring in 8 years, when we expect to move, so I ought to get a start on clearing out now, so I have enough time!!! This is my first card of 2012 - I know, it's shocking! It's 3 weeks since I carded!! Anyone for Anya? has a lovely sketch this week and I have a teenage girl's birthday coming up, so lovely Miss Anya Winter jumped out of the stamps drawer! I used Promarkers and one of the Flexmarkers that my lovely hubby got me for Christmas to colour her, and Ice Stickles on her muff and fur trim. I distressed the oval with Milled Lavender ink, and stickled around the edge. I used a Nestie for the frame, and the pearls are from Whiff of Joy. The sentiment is also TGF, I think, and the scroll is also by Spellbinders. I cut it from card and also shiny purple paper which I think was ori

There's amazing candy on the Ideas to Inspire blog! There are 12, yes, twelve stamps available! So do pop over and join in! love Mags x

Hi guys! I hope you're all settled into the New Year now that all the excitement is over! Welcome to the first Dream Valley Challenge of 2012, where Anything Goes! Our first sponsor for 2012 is One Stop Card Crafts who are offering a £10 voucher for the store. There's a Clearance Sale on at the moment, too! You don't have to make a card, either, just craft to your heart's content! We do ask that you submit no more than 3 times, and that you link to the Challenge blog. And no backlinking, please!! Ok, you'll be astonished to know that I made a Baby Girl card to celebrate the arrival of my granddaughter Lillie! The image is by Woodware, coloured in Promarkers - I forgot to write down which, but I think I used most of the pink range!! The bubbles, water and puddles have been stickled. The image and mat were cut with Go Kreate Frilly dies. The Wild Orchid Sweetheart flowers are popped on top of green flowers cut with a Magnolia Doohickey die to give the effect of le

Happy New Year! I hope you lovely people all have a wonderful, crafty 2012! Here's a card I made for my hubby to give our daughter. She is a fan of Steampunk and Hubby doesn't do cute at all, so of course I had to use one of my favourite Tickled Pink stamps. The current Tickled Pink Challenge is to choose a favourite challenge from last year. I combined two - no. 45 'Vintage' and no 38 'Buttons and Twine. The designer paper at the back is Bearly Mine's 'The Boys Zone.' The vertical strip was made with Distress Inks following Tim Holtz's video here on 'Perfect Distress.' I then stamped a key pattern on top (can't tell you the stamp, it's packed away upstairs, sorry!) The cogwheels are a Tim Holtz die. I coloured the paper in the same way with Distress Inks, then put it through a crimper to give texture before die-cutting. The sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps, and so is the die I used to cut it. The 'twine' over the key pattern i