Madcap Manor

Good afternoon, lovely people! I hope you're all having a relaxing weekend. My hubby and I have just spent a hilarious hour working out how to put our new lawnmower together! I think the instructions were originally written in ancient Chinese and translated into English via Latin! Fun times! Here is my slightly late card for Dream Valley Challenges and our theme this time is Make Your Own Flowers or Embellishments . Our lovely Sponsor is Mulberry Crafts who sell the most gorgeous, top-quality flowers! They are offering a Goody Bag as a prize to one lucky winner! I have gone 'Steampunk' with this birthday card for a friend of my daughter. The image is by Papermania, embossed in Detail Black, and sponged with Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap inks. The background paper is by Bearly Mine, and the ticket is by Tim Holtz. WHAT ABOUT THE EMBELLISHMENTS? you cry! I took a leaf (or should that be a cog?) out of my very talented teamie Elaine's book and made ...

I can't believe it's the end of June already! This year is speeding by! And it's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox . This time we're thinking about Christmas - yes, I know it's still months away, but if you make a Christmas card for our challenge you'll have one less to make in November and you'll feel soooo proud of yourself for being efficient! Or is that just me lol? Our sponsor this time is The Paper Shelter who kindly sent the DT some cute images to use. This one is adorable, I love the Victorian vibe! I used Promarkers to colour the image, then cut it out and layered on green card cut with a Spellbinders 'Holly Accents' die that happened to fall into my basket when I was shopping on Amazon! I was so excited when it arrived that I used it at once - and oh, dear, the card got stuck and tore and was such a mess! I'd forgotten to rub over the die with a tumble-dryer towel to make the card easier to remove! So I c...

Good morning! I'm so sorry I've been MIA recently, my baby girl had her first chemo session last week which rather knocked the stuffing out of her, but luckily by her birthday on Sunday she was feeling much better. I call her my baby girl, but she's just turned 27! It doesn't seem possible! I have been crafting, I just haven't had time to blog! So today I have abandoned the washing-up in favour of writing this post, and I have 2 cards to share. First is my daughter's birthday card. The technique comes from This video tutorial by Christina Griffiths. To make the base I used a Spellbinders die and pearlised cardstock from Craft Creations . I used all the dies in the set, alternting blue and white card, and distressed the white pieces while in the die with Broken China Distress Ink. The sentiment from LotV is stamped in the same ink. I added a white organza double bow, and pearls in the corners. The most difficult aspect was getting the card out of the dies...

Good afternoon! if you're looking for my DT card for The Squirrel and the Fox, please scroll down to the last post. It's time for another challenge at Dream Valley! It's Father's Day today in the UK, so our challenge is to make something for Father's Day or, if you prefer, For a Man. Now, I know it isn't easy making cards (or anything, really) for the menfolk in our lives. They don't appreciate flowers and ribbons the way we do. However, that's what a Challenge is all about - think outside the box! And my teamies have some totally fabulous inspiration for you, if you go over to the blog and take a look! This cute chap is Alf, and he's from the fabulous Digistamp Boutique I coloured him with Promarkers - but I can't find the list of the colours I used! I knew I shouldn't have tidied my craft hovel, nothing is where I expect it to be!! The spotty background paper is a snippet from my stash, and so is the brown matting card. I used Sp...

Good morning, all! I hope you're all enjoying a peaceful Sunday. I have had my son and his little family staying for two nights, which was lovely! My son still has the ability to annoy his sister within a minute - do our children ever really grow up?! My DiL and I sat on the sidelines, shaking our heads and playing with my gorgeous grandchild, Lillie, who is crawling (very fast!) and loves to explore in rooms she isn't allowed to visit, like the kitchen! It's lovely having a baby about the place again! Time for my card! This fortnight's challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox is slightly unusual: it's to Use Metal . This could be charms, or brads, or metal flowers or foliage, or corners, or bookplates - anything made of metal that's an intrinsic part of your design. (You may want to Think Tim Holtz!!!) Our wonderful sponsor is Beary Wishes who are offering 3 of their cute digis to a lucky winner! The site also has free digi stamps, so you can 'try before...

Good morning! Huge apologies that I haven't been around much recently, since my daughter's diagnosis with Hodgkin's Lymphoma we have been traipsing from hospital to hospital and from test to scan to test! Her chemo begins on Tuesday and will continue fortnightly for 6 months, after which she will be CURED! Hopefully, having regular appointments will mean that our routine also becomes quite regular! I am overwhelmed by the kindness of my blog friends, your encouragement and positive thoughts are treasured! Once again, thank you so much! love Mags B x

Hi, again! If you're looking for my DT card for The Squirrel and the Fox please scroll down to the post below. Ta. I'm a bit late today, it's been a busy Sunday again, but I'm here at last with a card for Dream Valley . Our theme is Sports - nice and easy, and perhaps a chance to get your Father's Day cards sorted! Our fab Sponsor is Di's Digi Stamps which used to be called 'Di's Digi Downloads' and one lucky winner will receive a $10 voucher to spend in the store! Go over there and have a look, there are some adorable, cute images there! I admit I didn't use a Sponsor image this time. I had this dynamic Karate Kick Girl from Redonkadoodles - formerly known as Redonkulous. I coloured her with Promarkers: I, like so many, am indebted to Kimberly Brown who posts wonderful videos on Youtube, and I used her recommended colour combo for the hair, I really like it! Isn't she fab? I used a Spellbinders Wonky Rectangle to cut her out. ...

Good morning! One of the most interesting things for me about being on a DT for The Squirrel and the Fox , which is an Australian Challenge Blog, is how I now comprehend how the seasons are reversed between here and Down Under. Yes, I knew it intellectually before, but now I can experience it via the Internet. While we are (supposedly) heading into Summer, Down Under it's Autumn, heading into Winter. I hope your weather is better than our cold and grey Spring, chaps! *waves to Aussie friends* Our new Challenge is Winter or Spring and we have the fabulous Saturated Canary as our Sponsor! The amazing prize for one lucky winner is 2 - yes, TWO! - digis! I wish I could enter - though to be honest I have a mahoosive file on my laptop of SC images already!!! This card is made with one of them, this is Picnic and she really speaks to me of Summer with her picnic basket full of goodies to eat and a blanket to sit on! The papers are an old My Mind's Eye set called 'Bloom a...