Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! And a warm welcome to my new followers! Thanks for coming by! I hope your week is going well. We had an exciting day yesterday, as the new tv digi-box, phone and Internet were installed! Everything seems to be working a wee bit faster and, even more importantly, we haven't lost the Internet in the last 24 hours! I took the afternoon off, since the ironing is always with ye, and set up a mini-assembly line to make 4 baby cards: It wasn't much quicker than doing them individually, since as usual I kept putting things down and being unable to find them a minute later! I also managed to sit on a pencil and stab myself in the bum! Now, that takes real talent! Here's my favourite of the cards, I love the soft green Promarker colours: I used a different colour combo for the face and hands, since I saw this video on skin tones by Kimberly Brown yesterday. The image and the sentiment are both by Lili of the Valley The papers are all snippets, even the green

Good afternoon, my lovelies! (Please scroll down for my DT post for The Squirrel and the Fox ) It's Dream Valley Challenges time again! Our new Challenge is Summer Days - now, how many of you are humming the song from 'Grease'? Our sponsor is the wonderful and witty Bugaboo Stamps - I love Bugaboo! I have had Sunbonnet Sue Strawberry Basket and Sunbonnet Sue Strawberry Jam in my files for a while now, and this challenge was ideal to print them out! In fact, there's a whole section on the Bugaboo site devoted to 'Sunbonnets' and they aren't all cute little girls! I used Spectrum Noir pens this time (the list is below) and I Glossy Accented the strawberries. I used a Spellbinders Wonky Rectangle die to cut out the image, and drew around the edge of the die on my green card and cut it out to make the narrow mat. The papers are by Raspberry Road and came free with a magazine. (Honestly, I have so many of these freebie pads, I really must get a mo

Ahoy there, me hearties! It's time for another Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and this time we want you all to put on your cute Sailor Suits and make a card with a Nautical or Sea Life theme! Arrr! Our sponsor is Oak Pond Creations who are offering a lucky winner 3 free digistamps of your choice! Go and have a look-see at their fabulous images! The DT were given some digis to play with, I chose the adorable Beach Crabs they are so cute! I can't remember what this kind of card is officially called, but the front has been trimmed into a triangle. The papers are 'Splash' by Echo Park, they're gorgeously bright! I coloured the image with Promarkers, and added gold stickles here and there to the sand. The image is cut with a Spellbinders' Deckled Rectangle die, the deckle looks a bit like waves! or is that just me? The dancing starfish were cut from a Nitwits paper from the From the Sea collection, and I used gold stickles round the edges. Th

Evening, all! While our Internet was down last week I tidied my craft hovel (again!) and came across a set of decoupage sheets that were free with a magazine. The sheets are from Crafts U Print and I used two of them to make some quick cards. The first is a New Home card: The top flap has been cut round with my Xacto knife and the decoupage has been put together with thin foam pads to give just a slightly raised effect: A bit of gold stickles and it was done! The second card is very Art Deco: The background paper is made by me: I sponged Weathered Wood and Faded Jeans Distress Inks onto card, then stamped with a small flourish stamp in Weathered Wood and also Silver Color Box ink. Again I used thin foam pads: I used Waterfall Stickles this time, along the borders of the image and the sentiment. It took longer to cut out all the elements than to assemble the cards! Thanks for looking, see you tomorrow with 2 DT cards - if Mr Blogger posts them for me, that is! Sta

Evening, all! I must apologise again for being MIA: we have had a most frustrating time with our Internet coverage, in fact after 15 years with Virgin we are changing to BT next week. I hope that will be an improvement, it costs a bit more but at least you get the service you pay for! Rant over! This rather vibrant Thank You card has been received by the person who it was made for, so now I can blog it. Brace yourselves, chaps, it's bright! The papers are all snippets, even the orange and white card. The purple paisley is from a Papermania Capsule collection pad, and I think the orange papers are from the orange pad in the same series. I used a Tim Holtz die to cut out both rosettes, folded them and glued the ends together and added the circle in the middle. Does anyone else get excited when you press down on the middle of this frankly boring concertina and then - pop! - it all squishes together into a rosette? No? it must be just me, then! The orange die-cut is made w

Good afternoon! I'm sorry I'm a few hours late with my card for Dream Valley I just had to listen to the cricket: we won, but it was a damn' close-run thing! Anyway, this time we would like you to show off your Fancy Folds . Our sponsor is Whimsy Farm Twine and one very lucky winner will be able to choose 3 spools of the most gorgeous twine! I also used twine (from The Ribbon Girl ) on my easel card. The image is by Hero Arts, Clear Design - Layered Flowers . I stamped the big bloom 3 times on orange paper and decoupaged them with thin foam tape. The leaves were stamped and fussy cut from a scrap of green Nitwits paper from the snippets box. More Nitwits papers, from the Bees Knees set, were used for the background paper and also the Memory Box Spring Border die. The sentiment tags are LotV and the orange tag is by Spellbinders, from 'Framed Tags One.' They all have orange gems added to them to look like fasteners. I glittered the edges of the petals w

Good morning! The new challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and the theme is to use 'something spooled.' That can be lace ribbon, twine, string - anything that comes of a spool. Our sponsor is the fab Robyn's Fetish and a lucky winner will be able to choose 5 digis from the shop! The DT could also use some images, I chose English tea cup isn't it pretty? I used a Go Kreate large Frilly Die to make the shaped card blank. The background paper is by Bearly Mine, I love the roses! I used a Spellbinders Stately Circles die for the mat. The image is coloured with Speccies, and the roses have been Glossy Accented. The flowers are by wild Orchid Crafts, and the fern is made with a Memory Box die (it was a pain to cut, even in Excalibur, my gorgeous Grand Calibur!) I used two spooled items - a length of lace, and some organza ribbon. Do go and see what my teamies have made, they will inspire you to dig out your spools and have a go! Thanks for looking! love M

Good evening, all! Phew, what a scorcher it's been today! Here at the Manor we are in danger of running out of suncream, and the Olde Manne has been wearing his straw trilby to protect the bald spot on his crown that he swears is not there because he can't see it! I sheltered in my craft hovel to make this card: The stamp is by Personal Impressions and is called 'Oriental Collage.' I coloured with Spectrum Noirs, there's a list below this post. The blue flower has been stickled. The little blossoms in the corner were punched with a Tonic Retro Daisy punch, and the leaves were done with a Woodware punch. The pearls are from Hobbycraft. The seam binding came from The Ribbon Girl. The background paper is from an old Dovecraft set called 'Oriental' and the script is a scrap of handmade paper, which has a lovely matte texture. I'll be back tomorrow with DT cards for The Squirrel and the Fox and Dream Valley Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening, all! I hope you're all keeping well. We have had glorious sunshine for several days in a row, it's wonderful! My nephew was married on Saturday, so I can at last share the card I made for him and his lovely missus. The delicate, romantic image is by Whiff of Joy and I used Promarkers, with the fine pen nibs, to colour it. The hearts have Glossy Accents on them, and the centres of the blue flowers and the bride's tiara have been stickled in gold. I used gorgeous Spellbinders Decorative Labels Twenty Two, in pink and purple, to mat the image and also some very pretty paper from Pink Petticoat's Vintage Rose Collection . The label is another Spellbinders die, from the Parisian Motifs set, and the sentiment is by Stampendous. I tied a triple bow with ribbon from my stash and added a very sparkly sequinned flower. The gorgeous 3D butterfly stickers are by K & Co. I really enjoyed making this, I love creating something special for friends and family!

Good evening! It's been a busy day today, the most important event was when we (well, my Olde Manne) fired up the new Flymo (which we struggled yesterday to put together with much study of the instructions and helpless giggling.) It worked! Hallelujah!!! I love the fresh smell of cut grass. Well, it's July, and my sister's birthday happens on Friday. I'm very pleased with myself for wrapping and posting her presents in good time, usually it takes me by surprise and I have to apologise for being late! My sister teaches music (piano and flute) and I decided to make her a picture. The gold frame came from a charity shop, it's really pretty! I stamped and embossed the lady at the piano and the chandelier, both by Stampendous, using Versamark ink and Detail Black embossing powder. Then I sprayed Ranger Colorwash onto my craft sheet and used it to paint my background with up-and-down strokes. The Stampendous music background was stamped with Salty Ocean Distress