Madcap Manor

For my DT post for The Squirrel and the Fox please scroll down to the previous post. Ta. It's Dream Valley Challenges time again! Next week it's Mothering Sunday/Mother's Day in the UK, and so that is our Challenge this fortnight. Our sponsor is Kenny K and the winner can choose 3 digis from their website. Not bad, eh? I'm afraid I didn't use a Sponsor image, because I don't have one suitable for a Mum! Instead I used a lot of die-cutting! All the papers are from my 'freebies from magazines' box. The teapot and cups are by Joy! and the others are by Spellbinders. The flock letter stickers are from stash. I wanted this to look like a table with a cloth, a lace mat, and a teaset. I now think it's a little busy - I hould have made the tablecloth out of plain paper - but that's how we learn! Inside the card is a little pocket and a teabag. Make yourself a cuppa, then go and see the fab creations made by my teamies and be inspired to ...

Hi, guys! I'm a bit late today with my post for The Squirrel and the Fox as I forgot to schedule it yesterday. Apologies! Our Challenge is Inspired by a Book and our sponsor is The Paper Shelter who are offering a $20 voucher for their shop to a lucky winner! TPS also very kindly gave the DT some of their fabulous, cute images to use! Isn't this a fun image?! She is Spring Breeze - I love the expression on her face! I coloured her with Spectrum Noirs, and used the 'out of the box' technique on her parasol - basically, you snip round the bit of the image that you want to hang over the edge of your die and then ease it over the die so it doesn't get cut. The papers are all by Pink Petticoat. I used an EK Success 'Apron Lace' punch for the pink scalloped edging, a Martha Stewart punch for the glittered butterflies, and a Woodware punch for the leaves. The lace is from stash, the flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and have spots of glitter added. Do ...

Evening, all! How are you keeping? Did you all have a good weekend? We visited my son's family near Shrewsbury, which was so lovely! The sun smiled on us - in fact I am a wee bit bronzed, as we all went for a play on the swings at the local park! One of the best things about having a granddaughter is that it gives you a reason to play and giggle - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! My card is one I made a couple of weeks ago for a friend who was not so fortunate on her holidays, as she injured her wrist. She has received the card, so now I am blogging it. It's another Starburst card. The gold-embossed sun in the corner is a stamp I have had for many years, and there are no details as to where it's from, I'm afraid. The sentiment is by Whiff of Joy, and the banner is a Lawn Fawn 'Bannerific' stamp: I coloured it with Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress Inks then added some Crystal Stickles. Super simples! Well, it's time to climb the woo...

For my DT post for The Squirrel and the Fox please scroll down to the previous post. Ta. Good afternoon, everyone! We have a new challenge at Dream Valley which is Big Birthdays Our lovely boss-lady had a special birthday this weekend, so this challenge is in her honour! We are asking for Special birthdays - eg 1, 18, 21, or any of the ones ending in a big, fat Zero! Our Sponsor is the amazing Robyn's Fetish Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is proud to sponsor this challenge Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More, a division of I Did It Creations, was created and owned by Robyn Weinrib. Robyn offers a wonderful variety of digital stamps and digital papers designed to meet the needs of all digital paper crafting addicts for every occasion Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is happy to award the winner 3 digital stamps The DT were lucky to have some images to work with: this is Heloise the Garden Girl isn't she sweet? A lovely friend wi...

Good morning, my lovelies! I hope the sun is shining for you today! The Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox is Autumn or Spring which is appropriate for crafters in both hemispheres at the moment! Our sponsor is Sweet'n'Sassy Stamps and there is a great prize of 3 of their digis for the winner! The DT were fortunate enough to choose images to work with: this little mouse is Cocoa, isn't he cute? I used Promarkers - for Cocoa's fur I dotted on the colours rather than using the normal circular mothions, to give the impression of fur. Unfortunately I can't find my list of colours I used - I knew it was a mistake to tidy my craft hovel! The blue bow has been Glossy Accented. The mat uses a Spellbinders Floral Oval die, and I distressed the edges with Worn Lipstick DI. The papers were a freebie with a magazine some time ago and for a change I added them as triangles. The sentiment is by Penny Black, I thought it suited Cocoa and the big bunch of flowers! Th...

Hi, guys! I hope your weekend is going well! Here's another card that has reached its destination, so now I can blog it. I am trying out more of a CAS style, inspired by people like Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire . I find CAS tricky, since when you make a mistake you can't just bung an embellishment on top to hide it!! The picture is a bit faded, the light wasn't very good on the rainy day when I took the photo (quite aside from the fact that I am no David Bailey!!) The bird is from an old Hero Arts set Birds and Branches and I used Distress Markers to colour it. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches' Sentiment Sampler . The flower and brad are by Papermania. The papers were loose in my drawer, I can't remember their origin. I used a fiskars 'Bubbles' punch, and the ribbon is from stash. I added Gold Stickles to the bird's crown. I rounded the corners with a We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper - isn't that a wonderful name?! It's i...

I was asked to make a couple of cards for my friend's brother's birthday. He's a fan of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Come On You Spurs!) so the card from my friend was quite straightforward. The second was from my friend's kids - both of them love 'Doctor Who' and I went for an 'Alien' theme. The football background paper came from my stash, and the main image is a computer 'Wallpaper' from the net, which I downsized to fit the card. I layered it on silver, white and blue card. The sentiment is heat embossed in blue. The numbers are die-cut from silver card with a Memory Box die. The cute alien is an old digi from Pollycraft. I replaced the original balloon he's holding with a larger one from a 'Simon Says Stamp' Valentine set, and added the die-cut numbers from the same Memory Box die set. The papers are Cosmo Cricket. The sentiment also came from Pollycraft, I embossed it in white. The name is made with some Basic Grey sti...

Evening, all! I hope you are enjoying calmer weather now, we have seen two days' sunshine in a row for the first time in ages! What a difference it makes! Sadly, I have had to make a sympathy card. They are so hard to make. I used a Stampendous stamp called 'Agapanthus Cluster.' I stamped it in Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and dabbed it while the ink was still wet with Turquoise Perfect pearls, then misted it with water to set the Perfect Pearls. There's a lovely sheen when the light catches it. I can't remember where I got the coloured base card, it's been in my stash for several years! The ribbon is from Hobbycraft. The sentiment is also from Hobbycraft: it's a clear stamp and I carefully cut the words apart so that they would fit on the banner, which is from the Lawn Fawn 'Bannerific' stamp set. I added shading with a Weathered Wood Distress Marker. I hope you are all keeping well. There seem to be a lot of cold and flu bugs going around...