Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! I hope those of you who had a Bank Holiday on Monday had a good one, in spite of the rain! Here are two more of the Thank You cards I made for helpers at the Church Holiday Club earlier this month. The sketch for this one came from 'Sketch Saturday' 2 weeks ago but I made a boo-boo so didn't enter the challenge. The image is Saturated Canary and the papers are Nitwits 'Tour of London.' The swirl and the flowers are both made with Magnolia dies, and there are gems from stash in the flower centres, and the two shiny dots are stickers. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch, with added gems from stash, and the sentiment is my fab  Marianne die with Stickles. The ribbon is coloured with pens from the Spectrum Noirs Yellows set. This cute laddie is another Saturated Canary digi. The papers are Nitwits. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the scalloped edging, and the bakers twine is from The Ribbon Girl. More of the shiny silver Paperchase stickers...

Eta: obviously I didn't schedule this properly! Sorry for the delay! x Hi, guys! I'm scheduling this post as we're all off to a family 'Do' on Sunday. I hope it works! The Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox is 'One For the Men' and we are sponsored by the wonderful Bugaboo I used one of their wonderful images of Gus, I love this old gent! isn't he great? I used Speccies to colour him, and stickled the water quite lavishly. I distressed with Salty Ocean DI. The digi papers are 'The Boys Zone' by Bearly Mine I used Papermania Kraft to mat. The star is an X-cut die, I stamped a LotV sentiment on it and edged it with stickles. The shiny stars are Papermania and the twine was a magazine freebie. The sketch is from Here Come the Boys which is dedicated to cards for the men in our life! I'm entering their Challenge, isn't it a great sketch? Do paddle over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at my teamies' fab contrib...

Happy Friday! This lad is so happy playing with his dinosaurs! He's Oliver and he comes from a set by The Greeting Farm which came from Quixotic Paperie . The papers (which are brighter irl and so contrast better - curse this dull grey weather!) is 'Alla Prima' by Prima. I edged the strips with Icicle Stickles. The swirly pattern looks a bit like wild, swampy dinosaur territory, I think! The tags are LotV and the stickers are Paperchase. The sketch is from this week's Anyone for Anya? challenge, I really like it! Ok, time to get back to the dreaded housework! Thanks for looking, and have a good weekend! love Mags B x Spectrum Noirs: TN2, FS3, 2, 8; GB11, 10, 8, 6, CT3; TB1, 2, 4, 5; BG 2, 4, 6; TB1, 3, 4, 5; DG3, 2, 1

Evening, all! And welcome to my new followers! The thank you cards I made last week have been distributed, so I'll be posting them over the next few days. They all have a sporty theme, since the Church Holiday Club was about sport.  The first two are made with a digi of Anya from The Greeting Farm  Isn't she cute? The bp on this one is from a book called 'Papers Papers Papers' which I picked up several years ago from The Book People. IRL the lime green dots look like tennis balls. The Tennis Net is made with a Trellis Deep Edger Punch by Martha Stewart. The ribbon was originally a sparkly silver, from Papermania via Hobbycraft, which I coloured with my Speccies. Unfortunately I can't find the lists of colours I made when doing these cards - they are somewhere in my Craft Hovel, underneath all the junk. I suspect that neither Kim and Aggie from 'How Clean Is Your House?' nor the entire Time Team would be willing to excavate in there... The bp o...

Good afternoon, my lovelies! Phew, it's hot! I just hope the good weather lasts until the end of the Paralympics - isn't it great that soon we'll be having yet more thrilling sport to enjoy?! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge and this time the theme is STEAMPUNK . Our sponsor is My Mum's Craft Shop  There's a £10 voucher up for grabs! Here's my card:  I had to do a fancy shot because otherwise the sunshine reflecting from the silver card was just too dazzling! The paper is from MME but I didn't note the name - I love the cute antique aircraft! I layered it on silver card then die-cut the circle through the middle and added the silver 'porthole' frame. The Tim Holtz Gadget Gears die-cuts have been swiped with Weathered Wood and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks, and I used Peeled Paint Distress Embossing powder to give a verdigris effect. The rivets are silver pearls from stash. The cute image is Lil Victorian Steampunk Lad Er...

Hi, guys! I'm sorry I haven't been around much, we had the annual Holiday Club at Church last week, and it's been manic! Fabulous fun, too! This last few days I've been making thank you cards (7 since Thursday!) This is for the wonderful team who supplied us with tea and coffee - I don't know how I'd have managed without them! I have this new die-cut of a teapot and cups by a firm called 'Joy!'  but I can't recall where I bought it! I used Pink Petticoat papers for the die-cuts and smaller square, and the background is a freebie from 'Papercraft Essentials' magazine. I went round the edges of the pot and cups with Old Paper DI to give a bit more definition, as one of the ladies has bad eyesight. The photo is a bit faded, irl there's more of a contrast. The sentiment is a Marianne die, and you're going to see it several times in the next few days! I stickled in Cotton Candy - I've discovered a new way to stickle compl...

I was going to schedule this post, but I've been watching all the Olympics catch-up programmes tonight and I'm still up! Hooray for Mo Farah, Double Olympian, what a star he is! We have also had a visit from my son, daughter-in-law and adorable granddaughter! There was a lot of cuddling and giggling, singing and playing and reading stories. It was wonderful to have a baby in this house again! Now on to the new challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox which this time is 'The Sea'. That could be Under the Sea, On the Sea, or Beside the Sea! I've been humming 'Under the Sea' from Disney's 'Little Mermaid' for several days now - and I bet now you're all humming that catchy tune, too! Our wonderful sponsor is Make It Crafty . I love their digis, and Zoe (their boss) has amazing colouring skillz. You may have seen her articles in the Magnolia Ink Magazines. There's a $15AU voucher for the lucky winner of this challenge! The cute image is...

Krista Smith of Saturated Canary fame will be making 2 free digis available next week. She will also have a Donate button for anyone who wants to contribute to St Jude Children's Research Hospital love Mags B x

Hi, guys! How are the Olympics going? I confess I've been listening to the Test Match from Headingley this last 5 days: I was making this card while South Africa was batting and Broad was taking 5 wickets for a pittance. What a match! But you don't want to hear me blethering about cricket! Here is Miss Anya from the Miss Anya Dressy set by The Greeting Farm. She is coloured with Speccies and the centre of the flower in her hair is stickled in gold. The outer frame is a Nesties Star Circle die, distressed with Tattered Rose towards the middle and Worn Lipstick on the edges. The sentiment is also a die-cut, from a Marianne Sentiments set, and I also stickled it. Papers are Nitwits Tour of London, except for the flower which was cut from an ancient paper by, I think, DCWV? The cover has long since gone from the stack! The flower and leaves are cut with a Spellbinders Rose Creations die and the star brad is from stash. The white seam binding came from Wild Orchid Crafts . ...

Have you been following the Olympics? Isn't it exciting? I do feel sorry for the women running the Marathon today through the rain, but I suppose it's keeping them cool! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge and this time it's to use your Punches and Dies. We have 2 fab sponsors: One Stop Card Crafts is offering a £10 voucher and and Inked Treasures is offering 4 digis! So what did I do? I made a Christmas card! I think that's Number 6 - I have another 40 to do! I kept it quite simple to emphasise the shapes. The image is by Docrafts, and I embossed it in gold. I used my gorgeous new Nesties Labels 5 die. I stencilled with Antique Linen Distress Ink while the card was still in the die, and matted twice, on green and gold card. The gold card is thick enough to be embossed, so it looks as though there are 4 layers here! I think I've shown all the things you can do with a die! I used a Woodware Holly border punch, also layered on green and g...

Hi, guys! Sorry this is so late - I almost forgot about my blog candy! I got my daughter to draw the two names which are MAGS and MacPURP Congratulations, ladies! I'm sorry only two of you could win, but thanks to everyone who entered! Can you send your addresses to me at gauroth AT gmail DOT com - Mags, I'm so sorry but I can't find yours! Hope you're having a good weekend! love Mags B x

This is a Sticky Post . Scroll down for other posts.  I have two things to celebrate with candy! First, it's my birthday on July 8th! And secondly I have over 100 followers! WELCOME! Take a pew, have a cuppa, I'll see if my daughter has made cupcakes! (She's a better baker than I am!) So there are two candies here, both similar, with Papermania Capsule Collection pink papers, a Belles and Whistles Elisabeth Bell stamp, a few flowers, some stickers, an embossing folder or a pattern for a waterfall card... If you're interested, add your name in comments. I'll post anywhere! I won't accept an entry from candy-only blogs, mind. This candy ends on August 1st. love Mags B x

The carol 'While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night' can be sung to the tune of the folk song 'On Ilkley Moor 'Baht 'At' (I hope I have the apostrophes in the right place.) I seem to recall that the tune we now call 'On Ilkley Moor' was actually originally meant for this carol but the Victorians didn't think it sounded respectful enough, which is a big pity. Try singing it yourself - the original sounds so much better! And here is a card featuring a Shepherd and the Angel Gabriel from Lili of the Valley. I used Promarkers, and gold stickles for the stars, halo and to edge the background square and LotV sentiment, and Icicle stickles for the wings. The papers are Nitwits 'Still Joyful Hearts.' I used a Marianne die for the star border which has ribbon from my stash threaded through. I popped foam pads as usual behind the image to lift it up. The stars are stickers from Paperchase - they are VERY sticky, and not in the right plac...