Madcap Manor

Morning, all! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this time we'd like to see Something New. That could be using new stash, or a card for a new baby or a new job! Our sponsor is The Digi Garden who are offering 7 digis to a winner! Have a look at their cute images - the DT were lucky enough to be given some of the new stamps to play with, and they are gorgeous! I used Molly's Polka Dot Heart she is so sweet! I used a NEW Spellbinder's die for the mat, it's from a set called 'Opulent Ovals.' I used Speccies to colour her, and dotted pink stickles on the polka dots on the heart. The papers were free with a magazine, flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts, and the ribbon is from stash. I used a Woodware punch for the leaves, which are swiped with a Peeled Paint Distress Ink pad, and the butterfly is another Woodware punch with dots of Liquid Pearls on the body and stickles edging the wings. There are more liquid Pearls on the...

Evening, all! It's freezing tonight, proper brass monkey weather! Brrrrr! With snow on the ground I decided to make a Christmas card! One of the card magazines had a free gift last year of two 'Holly Hobbie' stamps - I used to love Holly Hobbie when I were a lass!  I coloured her with Speccies (I'm sorry, I forgot to make a list *slapped wrist!*) and Glossy Accented her boots, and used a Spellbinders Labels 4 to cut her out. I distressed with Broken China while she was still in the die. The mat is made by drawing round the outside of the die and cutting out. The sentiment is from the same Holly Hobbie set. The poinsettia is from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves cut with a Marianne die (I don't know which set it's from, sorry!) The ribbon is from stash. The paper is 'Rum'n'Raisin' by PaperArtsy which I have had for over 2 years! It's so pretty! I added Platinum stickles to the brown flourish. I used a matching paper withou...

The Mediaeval spelling in the title is a family joke, Hubby isn't quite as old as Chaucer! This is Gus, I think he's my favourite Bugaboo character! The rather naughty sentiment came with him! He is coloured in Promarkers and *Flexmarkers with Glossy Accents on his specs. I used a Spellbinders 'Wonky Rectangle' to cut him out. Papers are snippets, the ribbon and buttons are from stash. Here's an inside view, the buttons show up better here: Simples! Hubby's birthday is at the beginning of February and this year I've got tickets for us to see STEPHEN FRY as Malvolio in 'Twelfth Night'!! So exciting! I'm entering several challenges: Here Come the Boys have BINGO - I used the 4 corners: blue, buttons, image and patterned paper Catch the Bug Challenge also has a Bingo card, I hope it's not too cheeky to enter two Bingo challenges! I used Sentiment, Bugaboo image and ribbon Last but definitely not least is Pixie's Crafty S...

Here I am at last! I'm sorry I'm late, today ran away with me! I hope you're all keeping well, my lovelies, and not suffering with snow (in the North) or excessive heat (in the South)! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge . We had a record number of fabulous creations for the last challenge, it's inspiring to see such gorgeous work! The theme this fortnight is 'Girls, girls, girls,' so get out all your pink and pretty stash! We're sponsored by the lovely Robyn's Fetish and the lucky winner will be able to choose 5 digital stamps! The DT were generously given stamps from the store: mine is Easter Girl . Isn't she a doll? I used Promarkers to colour her and stickled her wings and the centre of the flowers.. The basket holds eggs, but I covered them with two tiny sequin flowers. The green mat was cut with a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangle and the leaves used a Woodware punch. Gems are from my stash. The papers are Pink Petti...

Sarah Wright has Candy . If you pop over to see it, do have a look at her blog, her creations are gorgeous! love Mags B x

Evening, all! I hope you're having a good weekend. Today it's been 'batten down the hatches' day because of the snow - the road in our cul de sac is sheet ice, I kid you not! It's going to be an interesting drive to Church tomorrow morning! Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to win a prize from Sugar Nellie - this gorgeous stamp, which is  Believe by Diane Duda for Sugar Nellie and some lovely paper, ribbon and charms. I spent some time doing housework today having promised myself a session with the prize, and this is the result I used Promarkers to colour her, and a Spellbinders 'Romantic Rectangles' die, and I distressed the edges with Worn Lipstick DI. The wings have been stickled. I used a Magnolia Doohickey die for the three 'leaves' and the roses are from WOC. I also decorated the inside, I'm determined to do this more often, it keeps down the overflow from the Snippets box! I'm going to enter The Sugar Bowl Challenge w...

Evening, all! It's been a bit chilly today, my daughter is wearing her onesie and a sweater and has her dinosaur blanket draped round her like a toga and she's still cold! I'm just grateful for thermal undies! My card tonight is reminiscent of sunnier days. I found the cute Tilda with Water Lily already coloured (with Speccies, I think) and so whipped up this: I'm sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy! I used a Spellbinders Labels Five die and distressed the edges with Tea Dye while the image was still in the die. The papers are from the snippets box again, they are all Bearly Mine. The lace is from my sewing stash, it has a pretty pink thread running through it which is not showing well! I made the bow with the same lace and glued it on. The flowers are all Wild Orchid Crafts (the biggest is a lily of course!) and the leaves are made with a Woodware punch. The gems are from stash. The tags are LotV. I blinged Tilda's dress and bow with dots of stickles. I lo...

Evening, all! Sorry I'm so late, I've spent the evening stocking the freezer and making chicken soup, and the time ran away with me! But the kitchen smells delicious! I've been playing with my Spellbinders again: I used the Floral Doily set, the largest circle die and the border die. The border die slots along the edge of the vertical strip and just needs touches of glue to hold it in place - thank you, Christina of Card-making Magic for the video demonstration! I used snippets of Vintage papers from Bearly Mine Designs - it's a shame my camera skillz are so naff, because they are so pretty and don't show up well at all! I die cut some leaves with the Spellbinders 'Foliage' dies and Distressed them in Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles, then had a go at a flower arrangement. Here's a side view: I have learned the hard way that an arrangement on a tall stand in Church is not an ideal inspiration for a card - the bouquet looks...

Good afternoon, all! Apologies, I meant to schedule this post but it didn't work! However, at last I'm here with my DT card for the first challenge of 2013 at The Squirrel and the Fox and our theme is Anything Goes Our lovely sponsor is Robyn's Fetish who are offering our lucky winner their choice of 5 digistamps! The DT were generously given some images to play with - I chose the adorable 'Puppy Paws' who looks so much like my brother's dog, Millie! I used Speccies to colour her in. The brown circular mat is cut with a Nestie, and the horizontal one with an EK Success punch. All the papers are Snippets, the blues are Nitwits but I can't remember where the pawprints came from. The button and twine are from stash. The sentiment is from a Woodware clear set called 'A Dog's Life.' I coloured 3 tiny heart gems with DR7 Spectrum Noir and glued them over the 'Os' I'm entering Pixie's Crafty Snippets because everything, ev...

Hi, guys! I hope you're all having a good weekend! I am getting back into what my Mum called 'the rhythm of things' - a more elegant phrase than 'back to the old routine' though that's what she meant! Just before Christmas my daughter announced that she was leaving Waterstone's bookshop, where she'd worked for 4 years, at the end of December. As you can imagine, that was a bit worrying! But she immediately got online and within a week she had a new job! It's office work, with office hours and every weekend off! So of course I had to make her a card! This hard-working mouse is by The Greeting Farm, he was the first of their stamps I bought, about 3 years ago. He's coloured in Speccies (list below.) The papers are all Snippets, mostly Nitwits but the blue strip is Pink Petticoat. The Spellbinders corner (from the Parisian Accents set) uses a snippet of pearlised card. The lilac jute ribbon and the spotted ribbon are from stash. I added a ...

Hi, guys! It's been a busy old week - we have had repair work done on our roof, bits of mortar fell out from under the tiles, which is never a good sign! But everything's right and tight now, which is a relief! This week I have mostly been making cups of coffee for the builders!! However, I have made one card since Tuesday, and here it is! Brace yourselves, chaps, this is BRIGHT! It's for my Daughter-in-Law, whose birthday is next week. The weather forecast is for a grey and cold day, so I hope this will cheer her up! The image is Shopping Willow from Whiff of Joy . I coloured her with Promarkers (list below) and added Glossy Accents to her boots and gold Stickles to her necklace. I die cut her with a Spellbinders Labels Ten and drew round the outside for the narrow mat, and distressed with Tea Dye ink. The papers were free last year with 'Cardmaking and Papercraft' magazine. I used a Magnolia Doohickey die for the borders and the stickled pink heart is a Ma...

So many people seem to be under the weather at the moment. If any of you lovely people aren't feeling too good I hope you get well soon! This is made with a Spellbinders Parisian Accents die: I cut one blue and one green strip, trimmed the plain bits of card remaining, and swapped the patterns. Then I put a narrow strip of gold ribbon across the middle and stamped the sentiment (which I see is wobbly - oops!). I am determined to play more with my dies! There's a terrific website Card-making-magic and Christina who runs it has posted some amazing video tutorials! Well worth a visit - it's aimed especially at beginners, but there's plenty to learn!! I'm off to pop this card through the door of yet another neighbour, poor man, I hope it cheers him up! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Jo Channon at Let's Create has this wonderful Spellbinders Die as New Year Candy! love Mags B x

Good morning, all! It's a grey, overcast day in South-East Hertfordshire, but to brighten things up we have a new challenge at Dream Valley and it's the perennial favourite Anything Goes! (I'm a bit early today and I'll add the sponsors once I get back from Church!) The sponsors are Digital Delights by Louby Lou with a $5 voucher, and Washi Tapes who are offering £30 worth of tape for one lucky winner! PLUS there's a 10% discount code for everyone until 1st March! Just enter the code DVC1. My card is for a neighbour who hasn't been well recently: It's another faded picture, I'm afraid, the colours irl are brighter and pinker! I used Carta Bella 'Making Memories' papers and also the flower sticker, which I added to card and cut out, then raised on foam pads. The sparkly ribbon is by Papermania. I used an EKSuccess punch for the scalloped border, and the sentiment is by Whiff of Joy. The only other embellishment was to go round t...

Evening, all! How's your weekend going? Well, I hope! We have taken down the decorations - how bare the house looks now! This week I have mostly been making thank you cards in blue: and in pink: I used a Woodware Clear Magic 'Huge Thanks' stamp on lots of leftover snippets, most of them Nitwits. Then I cut them all out, which took ages because I needed so many of them! Half are lighter colours, half are darker, and I glued them to get a shadow effect. I was going to add punched flowers, but my Olde Manne suggested they look better without. I ended up making 11 of them and my goodness my hand ached when I'd finished the cutting-out! I now appreciate my dies and punches more than ever! I hoped I'd make a big dent in my snippets collection, but it's scarcely noticeable! Thanks for looking, guys, and I'll see you tomorrow for the first Dream Valley challenge of 2013! love, Mags B x PS Sorry about the faded pix again, I'm going to need a...

Hi, guys, I hope you all had a fab Christmas and New Year! Mine was lovely, full of delicious food and drink and good company (and I put on 2lbs!) but now everything is calming down. I'm quite glad to get back into the old routine! I have at last got back to my craft hovel! I still have a fair bit of sorting and tidying to do, but I cleared enough space to make this today: This is an awful photo, but the best of a very bad job. The purple and blue background papers are Nitwits snippets. I used Spellbinders: Parisian Border and Picot Edge Circle dies on plain white card, and Distressed with Salty Ocean Distress Ink. The white satin ribbon and the narrow blue velvet ribbon were both from Hobbycraft. The sentiment is Lili of the Valley, and there is a strip of the blue velvet across the middle. The sentiment and Picot Edge Circle are both raised on thin foam pads. The butterflies and flowers on the sentiment have been stickled. I really enjoyed making this, I have some new d...