Madcap Manor

My hugely talented and beautiful daughter has shown me where my link was wrong! Huzza!! MASSIVE APOLOGIES to anyone who clicked on the broken link to the Squirrel and the Fox bloghop post only to be told the page didn't exist. Thanks to Lynne, too, who pointed out another mistake! x love Mags B x

Morning, all! If you're looking for The Squirrel and the Fox bloghop, please click here This is going to be a loooong post, so grab a cuppa - or, if The sun's over the yardarm you may prefer a G and T! The current theme at Dream Valley is 'Breast Cancer Awareness' so you need to THINK PINK! You can make anything, not necessarily papercrafts, as long as it fits the theme. My card uses a gorgeous image by Krista Smith of Saturated Canary Isn't she lovely? She looks a bit like my adorable granddaughter! Krista also has a sweet new image, 'Butterfly Baby' and this week she is donating money from this image to a children's charity - there's a link in my sidebar. I'm really pleased with the colouring on this one - Krista's images are a dream to colour! I used Promarkers (list below)and stickled the rose in her hair. The papers are Nitwits, from the snippets box. (Hi, Di! ) The gingham ribbon is from Hobbycraft. The flowers are all Wil...

Hi, if you're looking for my post for The Squirrel and the Fox bloghop, please either scroll down or go here It occurs to me that I should give more details of the card I posted for the hop. The image is Elizabeth, a digi from Make It Crafty . I knew the prize on my blog would be from Make It Crafty, so that's why I used this fabulous image when I made the card last weekend. She was so satisfying to colour, in spite of all the complicated folds and flounces of her dress, which meant lots of shadowing! I made it for a lady who loves Retro stuff, hence the double rings, cut with Nesties, about the image. The papers are Bo Bunny Vicky B. The leaves are made with a Woodware punch and the flowers are Wild Orchid - I coloured the Lily flowers with Burnt Orange Promarker. The sentiment is Lili of the Valley. I stickled the flower in Elizabeth's hair (it doesn't show in the photo I'm afraid!) but otherwise added no bling because I wanted the papers to speak for the...

Hello and welcome to my part in the The Squirrel and the Fox blog hop. If you have come here from Linda's blog, then you’re in the right place. If you just happened to stumble upon my blog, head to The Squirrel and The Fox to start at the beginning and read how the hop works. You can also see all the amazing prizes up for grabs. To celebrate one whole year of The Squirrel and the Fox, the team are giving away some wonderful prizes. There’s even an individual prize for just landing here on this page. To showcase their work, each DT member is also showing off some of their favourite creations. I have chosen this card, made by me this September. This is for a good friend of my daughter who is into Vintage and Retro and who was a Tower of Strength when her relationship broke up. I love the Bo Bunny papers and the elegant Make It Crafty image with her gloves and fan and all those flounce! The prize that is being given away from my blog has been generously donated by Make ...

I am waiting up for my daughter to return from a weekend away, since she doesn't have her keys! So I thought I'd post this card now, especially since next week looks quite busy again! This is for my brother, who in spite of living slap bang in the middle of the country (Derby) took up sailing 5 years ago! The cute image is LotV. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the Promarkers I used - sorry, chaps! The papers are Nitwits from my snippets box. The shiny stickers are Paperchase. The twine is from The Ribbon Girl. eta I'm entering Pixie's Snippets Challenge after too long a time away from the Playground! And that knock on the door is my daughter! I'll love you and leave you, my dearios, and hopefully see you again soon! Take care! love Mags B x

J and C Creations are offering this fab candy of a new Spellbinders Create A Flake die-set! To join in, become a follower of the blog and post the pic in your sidebar with a link back, and comment on their post. Go over anyway to see the amazing cards that the wonderful Jacqui Dennis has made! love Mags B x

Good morning, all! It's time for another Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this fortnight's theme is Celebrate the Occasion Our lovely sponsor this time is the wonderful Bugaboo and one lucky winner will be able to choose 7 digis from their store. I love Bugaboo! This image is from their Har Repotter set and is of The Wise One. He has changed his usual dark robes for a cricket umpire's white coat and a robe in the colours of the Marylebone Cricket Club, which runs Lord's Cricket Ground, 'The Home of Cricket.' Obsessed? Moi? The bp is a snippet from the green Papermania Capsule Collection. The red card is also Papermania and is pearlised. I used Tim Holtz grungeboard letters coloured with Speccies and the sentiments are computer-generated. The cricket ball and his glasses are Glossy Accented. Do run over and see my teamies' great creations! Then make a card for a celebration and join in! There is also a DT C...

Good morning! I'm so sorry this post is a day late, my laptop was dead when I tried to post yesterday. Disaster! So this morning just before calling the cavalry I tried one last time to fire her up and discovered... (dramatic pause)... the battery was flat! What a plonker! So now here's the new Dream Valley Challenge and the theme this fortnight is 'Celebrations.' So put on your glad rags and PAAAARRRTTYYYYY! Our sponsor is Digi Doodle Shop, there will be a prize of a $10 voucher. I used a romantic, old-fashioned image from DDS for my card, coloured in Promarkers, which is for another wedding anniversary. This is a gatefold card, for a change: Here's the inside. The papers are K & Co from my stash. The sentiment is LotV. The butterfly is a Magnolia Doohickey die, the ribbon, gems and charm are from stash. I stickled the rose in the lady's dress. Do go across and see what the DT has done and join in - I hope you all have lots of reasons to ...

Evening, all! I'm taking advantage of a few minutes between washing the dishes and the mass invasion of the family for 'Doctor Who' to post a card I made today. This little cutie is Christmas Dance by LotV and I coloured her in Promarkers. I used Nesties for the sentiment and image mats, and an X-cut star die for the stars. I've used the gold card from a children's craft pack again, it's nice and thick so it embosses really well! Papers are also from LotV, a digi from last year (I don't think they do them any more, now they are selling those gorgeous new paper pads!)  The flowers are from stash - I think the blue poinsettia came from Angel Crafts but don't quote me! I used a Magnolia flourish die and stickled it. The leaves are cut with a Woodware punch and scattered with crunchy glitter. I had a go at making the glittery twirlies that Bev talked about here last week.  You can just about see the twirlies. Next time I'll use finer gl...

Unfortunately some of our lovely DT have had to leave us. So there is now a DT call at Dream Valley If you have a blog, can create one crafty item a fortnight and can comment on a share of the Challenge entries, do put your name forward at the blog! Good luck! love Mags B x

Good evening, my dearios! And a special welcome to my new followers! Have a virtual cookie (calorie-free!!) x I hope everyone is settling down happily after the holidays, it always takes me ages to get back into the old routine! Especially the crafting routine! I am reorganising my craft hovel and cataloguing my stamps (nothing dramatic, just images in files!) and I'm aghast at how many I haven't yet used! So my new Resolution is to use them all at least once. It helps that I won't be at Ally Pally :( because my son is coming to see us :) This LotV LotV cutie is 'Shall We Dance.' I used Promarkers, and Diamond stickles on the lady's fringed dress. The papers are Nitwits: the spotty one is 'Breath of Fresh Air' and the checked one is 'Eggstravaganza.' I used a Martha Stewart punch, and the spotted ribbon is from Hobbycraft. I layered green and pink Prima flowers and put a mesh-and-pearl flower from stash in the middles. There are more...

Hiya! I'm back from a wonderful, sunny week in the Lake District! It's a lovely place for a holiday, we had some great walks and great beer - beer always tastes good when you've spent some hours tramping across the countryside! Anyway, here's my card for the next challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this time the theme is 'Anything Goes'. Our lovely sponsor is Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and one lucky person will win 5 of their stamps! I apologise for the blurry picture, I had to take it in a hurry so I could get it to the recipient on time! This card is for a friend who has just celebrated her 40th wedding anniversary. Her sight is poor, so I needed to make something with a lot of contrast. The background is white card embossed with two Cuttlebug folders, matted onto red card. The Martha Stewart hearts are punched from the same red card and stickled. The glittery ribbon is from stash, and so are the two hatpins. The sentiment is Lili of ...

It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge ! Last time the 'Steampunk' theme was rather difficult, but now we have a nice and easy Challenge that everyone will enjoy - Something Old, Something New. It's an excuse to show off your new stuff as well as digging in your neglected stash! I'm sure many of you will recognise the Lili of the Valley Holly Wreath from last Christmas, and also the sentiment. I coloured in the image last January when I bought the stamp, using Spectrum Noirs - apologies, I don't have the list, after all this time! The ribbon was a freebie from 'Quick Cards' and it's at least a year old! The 'Something New' is the fabulous paper, from one of the beautiful new LotV paper pads. This gorgeous design by Laila is my favourite, because it reminds me of the fabric I used to make my children's Christmas Stockings over 20 years ago! Have a look at my teamies' fab contributions, and have a go yourself! But plea...