Madcap Manor

Good morning! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this fortnight the theme is very topical - Make It Sporty! Our lovely sponsor is Robyn's Fetish and the DT were fortunate to be able to use some of their cute images. I chose s. s. Hoppity . The rowing events in the Olympics are taking place on the River Lea just a few miles from where I live, so this was the perfect image! I used Speccies to colour him in, and stickled all the water. The corners have been punched with a Woodware punch. The 3 strips of Velvet ribbon are from stash, they hide the join where I glued 2 pieces of paper from Prima's 'Alla Prima' collection. The dragonflies are Magnolia dies, cut from a scrap of yellow paper and then thickly stickled. I only glued the bodies down so that the wings could be raised to give a 3D effect. The sentiment is an LotV stamp. We have been preparing for our Children's Holiday Club at Church, which has an Olympic theme, and

Well, I have just spent an amazing week at New Wine, a Christian Conference held at Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The weather was glorious, though just 3 days before we got there the campsite was inundated! In fact, I came back with a tan! Now that I'm home I see I have some new followers - Welcome! I hope you enjoy this madcap corner of blogland! Let me put the kettle on. One of the lovely ladies I travelled with is moving tomorrow, which obviously calls for a card. I will get to the one I made today anon, because I want to show you a card I don't like! You see, I saw on Kim Reygate's Blog that the challenge at Our Creative Corner is to show one of your cards that you don't like and give it a 'makeover.' That actually inspired me to have a go at some self-improvement!  This was going to be sent to my sister when she moved earlier this year. Now, the photo isn't so bad, but irl the colours just shriek at each other! The colouring of the image is blo

Good morning, all! By the time you read this (if kind Mr Blogger schedules the post) I will be away camping at a Christian Conference called New Wine, in Somerset. The conference is a first for me, though camping in mud isn't, my family used to go camping every year.  My hubby, who's staying at home, predicts trench foot, rust, mud baths... Enough of that! It's time for a new Challenge at Dream Valley and this time the theme is Summer We are being sponsored by Squiggle Stamps and the DT were offered some of their lovely digistamps to play with. I chose Geeky Goth Boy isn't he cute? The bright summery papers are "Sunshine" from the "Little Miss Collection" by Pebbles Inc, I can't remember where I got them, sorry! I used both sides of the double-sided paper, and added an Owls scrap from the Snippets Box. I reversed the main papers for the inside: The Geek is coloured with Speccies. I Glossy Accented his specs and Goth

Hi, all! It's Wednesday, huzza! The weekend is in sight! Think of me on Saturday, when I go with 2 other middle-aged ladies to Somerset, where we'll be camping for a week at a Christian Conference called New Wine. I have camped (though not for years!) but never attended a conference like this. It's the opposite for the other ladies! Wish us luck! Back to today, and a card I made after doing some more colouring of dark skin with my Speccies. This is by Francoise Read for Woodware stamps, and I love him, he's having such a great time! I apologise for the wonky photo, the light today is abysmal. The colours are much brighter irl. The papers are snippets from Nitwits Tour of London set, I love these blues! I used a Nestie to cut the lad out but for once didn't try distressing round the edges, as I thought he'd need a lot of space for the marvellous tricks he's about to do!! The baker's twine is from The Ribbon Girl and the buttons are from my bu

Yay! My scheduled post for The Squirrel and the Fox appeared! And the sun shone today! It's St Swithun's Day, and traditionally whatever the weather is for today, it will be the same for the next 40 days. So maybe, just maybe, we'll be turning off the heating soon! This card is for a young lady at Church who's of Indian origin. I'm not 100% happy with the colouring with Speccies - this was my third attempt. Practice makes perfect, though! I used a new Nestie, Labels Five, to die-cut the image. The papers are Nitwits Cherry Blossom Too from my snippets box. I used a pink heart-shaped doily from stash, and the pink lace came from my local market. The sentiment is The Greetings Farm, stamped in Worn Lipstick Distress inks, then stickled. I also glossy accented the pink iPod. The pink heart is from stash - I found it while tidying because it got stuck on my hand! The flowers are cut with a Spellbinders Rose die set, distressed with Frayed Burlap, then stickled

I had a phone call from a plausible-sounding man saying he was from Microsoft who had identified a Trojan virus on my computer that would steal my data. Because I have computer-savvy friends, I realised it was a scam and put the phone down. (On reflection I wish I hadn't hung up, it would have cost him a fortune in phone charges!) He did sound very plausible, but no firm, whether Microsoft, Virgin, Firefox, anyone, would ever phone you to ask for your details. Stay safe and well! love Mags B x

Good morning, all! At least, I hope it's morning, I'm scheduling this post and if it doesn't work I'll be re-posting after Church, the Supermarket and, most importantly, LUNCH! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox . The entries for the last challenge were lovely, thank you for entering, I got some good ideas for Christmas cards! This fortnight we'd like to see cards made for Kids and Babies Our sponsor is the wonderful Bugaboo and the DT were delighted to be able to use some of their adorable images! Here's my card:  This has been made for a young man who has just turned 4. Isn't this image just right for a boy who loves exploring? I used Promarkers to colour him (list below) and used a Nestie to cut him out, then did the usual trick of drawing round the edge on my matting card and cutting out to give a thin border. The papers are 'U Bug Me' by Bo Bunny. I happened to be browsing the Dies to Die For site (as o

Evening, all! I'm not going to mention the weather... When I saw this adorable Waterlily Tilda I had to buy her - since my granddaughter is called Lillie! She's coloured in Promarkers. I put baby blue stickles on the water and magenta on the butterflies' wings, and glamour-dusted the floral arrangement - and of course it doesn't show in the picture :( I used a Nesties Labels Eight die to cut her out, and distressed the edges with Salty Ocean Distress Ink while the die was still in place - I added more colour at the bottom to extend the pond area. Papers are Nitwits Tour of London, they're so pretty! The ribbon and charm and metal corner are from stash. I went a bit 'wild' with the Wild Orchid flowers! The leaves are made with a Woodware Punch. The butterflies are shiny stickers that were a pressie from my daughter. The lovely sketch is from this fortnight's Sunday Sketch and Stamp it was just right for this! I'm also entering the curren

Good afternoon, all! *peers through curtain of rain to make sure it's still afternoon, not twilight* It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge! This time the challenge is simple - Anything But A Square .  So you can go for a circle card, or a rectangular card, or push the boat out and make a hexagon-shaped one! Our lovely sponsors are One Stop Card Crafts  They are offering a £10.00 voucher for their store.   and Meljens Designs is offering 4 images of their choice. Great prizes! Here is my card, which was made for a lad who has just turned 15 - it's no time at all since he was a baby! I went for a circular Easel card. I used this lovely Meljen Cupcake Birthday image, it's suitable for so many ages! The base, papers and mats were cut with Nesties and Grand Nesties - whatever did we do before die-cutting? Here's a side view: Papers are an ancient pad by Papermania, I like the cheerful yellow! The sentiment/stop is LotV. I put Glossy Accent

    Evening, all! I hope you've all had at least some sunshine today, we had very wet rain this morning but the evening has been lovely! It's a long time since I made a card using a Tickled Pink image. This is Lil' Fashionette 50's Lilith, isn't she wonderful? I love her sulky expression - perhaps Daddy took the T-bird away! (It's a Beach Boys song. Also covered by the Carpenters. Whaddaya mean you're too young to remember either of those beat combos?!) The papers are Bo Bunny Vicki B Collection, they are wonderfully retro! I originally cut the Memory Box circle from the pink paper but it didn't show, so I used the brown card instead and filled in the middle with the paper. The sentiment is by The Greetings Farm. I distressed the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink and put Glossy Accents on the skulls and crossbones. The ribbon was a pressie from my daughter. The flowers are Wild Orchid, and the leaves are made with a Woodware punch. The

Yesterday, Hoddesdon Parish Church's Mothers Union went to see the Great Bed of Ware IN WARE! The Victoria and Albert Museum has lent the beautifully refurbished Bed to the Ware Museum until next April. DO go and see it if you can, it's wonderful, and so is the museum. I made a Thank you card for the lady who organised the trip: I could not resist the new LotV bears. Yep, the family will be dining on lovely cheap 'Mum's overspent on crafty stuff again' soup and home-made bread for the next week once again! It's lucky they like it! This is a small card (5" square) so I made it quite simple. The papers are snippets of K & Co from my snippets box, so I don't know their official names, and the brown matting card is also a snippet. I coloured with Promarkers and added Glossy Accents to the hearts and the bear's nose and also to the LotV sentiment banner. I popped the image and the sentiment on foam pads to give a touch of dimension. The

I'm now on the DT for The Squirrel and the Fox! I've been biting my tongue for the last fortnight so I wouldn't let the cat out of the bag! And this is my first DT post! The theme this fortnight is Christmas in July and the sponsor is Digi Doodle Shop Here's my card: I used 'Christmas Ornaments' from Digi Doodle Shop. Isn't it pretty? Though I was very glad of my thin Promarker nibs when colouring the tiny pine needles! The ornaments have all been Glossy Accented. The papers are Papermania 'A Silent Night' - the burgundy stripes are glittered! The die-cuts are all Memory Box. cut from green paper from stash, and the green-and-gold ribbon was in a candy I won from the talented Lilackat . The sentiment is LotV, cut with a Whimsy Stamps ticket die. Do go and see the fab cards the DT has made, and then get your gorgeous Christmas crafty gear out and make a Christmas card! It's less than 6 months until Christmas - you know it makes sen