Madcap Manor

Yippee! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge which is 'For a Special Lady.' We have a very special lady sponsoring us - the wonderful Krista Smith of Saturated Canary What amazing talent she has! And one lucky winner will have a $10 voucher for her shop! The DT were generously allowed to choose an image to use. This is Zorana a dancing gypsy Isn't she gorgeous?! I made a criss-cross pocket to hold a detachable message. The fabulous papers are Basic Grey Pyrus, and I made the base from green card. The message insert is edged with gold card cut with a Nestie die.  Zorana has been coloured with Promarkers and the edge distressed with Tea Dye Ink. This is, in fact, going to a special lady, the author Sarah Rees Brennan who has written a terrific trilogy beginning with The Demon's Lexicon . One of her characters is a magical dancer! I'll be sending this via her publisher as a thank you! So have a go at our Challenge, it doesn't have to ...

Oh dear, it's raining again! Of course today's the day my daughter decides to do loads of washing, both clotheshorses are groaning under a weight of wet washing!! Today's card is for our Church Administrator, who retired on Thursday. He was always wonderful when I forgot my keys to open up the hall where we hold our Toddler Groups! He was even more wonderful this week when I dropped my keys down the grate covering the Church hot air heating system! My middle name really should be 'Plonker!!!' I got out my dies for this one. The base, circles and scallops were all cut with either Grand or ordinary Nesties and layered together. I used oddments of card and also a scrap of spotty paper from Nitwits. The sentiment is from a set by The Greeting Farm, and the cute duck was a freebie many moons ago when I was starting carding and came with one of those 'Let's Make Cards' packs.  It's going to be my second blogaversary in May (where does the time g...

Phew! I think I'll just scrape in to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge which this time is for no patterned paper I coloured the cute mouse with promarkers, Glossy Accented balloon and basket, and glittered the flowers. The purple paper has been embossed with a docrafts folder. It took a lot of thought, and inspiration struck almost too late!  Thanks for looking!  love Mags B x  Edited to add: The wreath is by Memory Box, a new acquisition from the Ally Pally (gotta love that show!) The ribbon is from stash. Flowers are all Wild Orchid. Leaves 9which are only just visible!) are made with a Nellie Snellen punch from a scrap of green glittered paper. The green background is embossed with a Cuttlebug Daisy folder, then cut out with a Nesties die. Sorry my original post was so scanty, I was in a hurry! ;) xx

Sadly, I've needed a sympathy card for my neighbours. I used dandelion stamps by Marion Emberson for Personal Impressions, which I bought at the Ally Pally. The sentiment is from Stampendous. I stamped in Faded Jeans Distress Ink and added Waterfall stickles, which unfortunately don't show in the photo. The faux stitching is done with a blue gel pen to give a bit of shine. You'd think something this simple would take no time at all, but 4 attempts ended up in the bin, three because the image smeared, one because I managed to add a massive blue thumb-print! Wot a plonker! I hope you're all keeping well. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening all! What a wet, wet, wet day! I hope none of you was caught in any heavy showers! It's a good evening for staying in and being creative. My hubby is away for two nights, so I'm luxuriating in being able to craft downstairs without someone growling, 'You're not making a MESS are you?' The answer is always - yes! Now for the card! I've had this Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy 'Luv a Latte' stamp for a while, and she is just ideal for my goddaughter's birthday card. I coloured her with Promarkers - and I changed what I suspect are meant to be boots into thick socks. My goddaughter lives in Canterbury, which I know from experience can get soooo coooold! Brr! So thick socks are definitely necessary! Papers are from my snippets box, they were freebies a couple of years ago from a magazine. Lace is from stash, too, and so are the gems. I used a Magnolia doo-hickey die for the swirl and dragonfly which is cut from a scrap of pearlised card an...

Hi, guys! What a blustery day it's been today! I dug out my woolly winter scarf and hat when I went out this morning!  I was at the Ally Pally on Saturday where I met Mags , one of my lovely Dream Valley teamies, and her mum. It was great to sit down and talk about cards with people who understand! The image and papers from today's card were all bought on Saturday. The totally adorable teddy is by Lili of the Valley , I used promarkers and paper-pieced her balloon. The basket has been coated with Glossy Accents. The papers are by K and Co, called 'Lion Sleeps'.  I already had the Penny Black sentiment and the Martha Stewart punch. I used Woodware punches for the flowers, which are pearlised white Papermania card coloured with Tattered Rose and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks. The leaves were also made with a Woodware punch, and the brads and gems are from stash.  The sketch is by Friday Sketch Challenges isn't it great? I distressed the strips and stickled ...

Good afternoon, my lovelies! It's time for another challenge at Dream Valley and this fortnight we're asking for Earth Tones . Think browns, creams, greys, russets, maybe a touch of green... Our sponsor is Bead Crafty who are offering one lucky person a massive £20 to spend in their online store! Have a look at their website, it's an absolute treasure trove! I decided to make some little notecards and a box for them, following instructions on the Scor-Pal website here . It was the lovely Jules who made a set in January who linked to the page. The cards are tiny, just 8cm square. The sunflowers are a stamp by Great Impressions. I had great fun making the paper that I used for my paper-piecing, using Distress Inks as shown by Tim Holtz here . He uses Perfect Pearls, but I sprayed with gold Glimmer Mist, and the sheen is lovely! The box is made from a sheet of Bo Bunny double-sided card, and the ribbon is from stash. It took longer than I expected to cut ...

Hey, guys! How are you doing? Welcome to my new followers! Take a pew, I'll put the kettle on! I'm feeling a bit surreal at the mo, having just seen a lovely documentary on Salisbury Choristers' School on tv, and now there's a programme on Queen!! From Byrd to Freddie Mercury - but it's all good music! Enough of this waffle! This card is for the Anyone for Anya? Challenge whose theme is to use TEAL on your creation. I love that colour! I love the pretty ducks it's named after, too, there are always several on our local RSPB nature reserve. So I coloured Anya's dress teal (with Speccies) and found some shiny teal Paperchase stickers in my stash, too. I distressed the image mat and sentiment (which is Penny Black) with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. The oval and scallopped oval are cut with Nesties. The pink card is pearlised, and is by Papermania. I added dots of Liquid Pearls to each scallop. The bp is Pink Petticoat Vintage Rose Collection, ...

Hi, guys! Is anyone else trying out the new Blogger? It doesn't seem too bad, once you get used to the new graphics. Here's an Easter card for a friend who keeps chickens. I apologise for the shadow on the photo, my Daylight Lamp has been tidied by someone and it isn't in any of the 3 different places he's put it in the past. Bless. The fun image is by Whiff of Joy . I coloured in Speccies (and I think I coloured part of her hat as hair by mistake, silly me!). There are Glossy Accents on her boots and stickles on her hair ribbons. The sketch is from a brand new Challenge called Sketch Challenges isn't it good? The swirl at the bottom of the image is cut with a Spellbinders Floral Motif die. Papers are from yet another freebie stack, this time 'Vintage Rose' by Craftwork cards. Flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts, and I used scraps of ribbon to substitute for leaves.  The sentiment is by LotV and the gems are from stash. I'm entering the Sketch C...

Just an experiment!

Good morning, all! I hope those of you who have had snow aren't too discommoded! Massive apologies for the lateness of this post! We've had internet problems - so frustrating! But here I am at last for this fortnight's Dream Valley Challenge and our theme is Weddings or Love. There's a special reason for this, Mel, one of our lovely teamies got married at the weekend! Our lovely regular sponsor One Stop Card Crafts is offering a £10 voucher for the lucky winner! Now for the card: The image is by Whiff of Joy I think it's so romantic! I used stamps from their 'Christmas Swirls' collection to make an arch effect, using Broken China Distress Ink and stickles. There are more stickles on the yellow trim, and Glossy Accents on the hearts. The pretty paper is by Kate Knight, a freebie from a mag. Gems and lace are from stash. I forgot to list the Promarkers used before I put them all away - slapped wrist! Do have a look at the DT's creations, Mel (the Bride!...