Madcap Manor

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! My, the last fortnight has been manic, but finally Christmas is here! :) To keep you entertained, we have another Challenge at C.R.A.F.T Challenge and it's a nice, simple one - Anything Goes! I took a break from Christmas cards to make a criss-cross birthday card. This is the outside: And here is the inside: The cute image is Pretty Dress by Bugaboo Stamps. I matted her onto a circle cut with a Spellbinders die and added dots of white Pearl Pen. The papers are from two Papermania Capsule Collections: Pink and Teal, and I used a Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die for the flower and a sticker from Paperchase for the centre. The lace is from stash. We have some great sponsors: Pattie's Creations Digital Images Bugaboo Stamps QKR Stampede Sassy Studio The sponsor for the Top Three is: Crafts U Print The Sponsor for our Star of the Month for December is The Cutting Cafe Voila! Do join in - perhaps when the rest of the fa...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree... This is the last Challenge for 2014 for My Time to Craft we are back on January 3rd! I used a Winter Trees die from Simon Says Stamp to cut out various shades of card and paper, then paper-pieced them together. One of these has a card outline and patterned insides; the other has 3 paper outlines glued together for strength, and paper insides. The sentiment is from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler stamp set. There's still time to make a quick Christmas Tree card and enter our Challenge! The DT have made some wonderful creations, do go and see them and be inspired! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

I'm DEVASTATED to learn that Wee Stamps is closing at the end of the month due to unworkable EU VAT laws designed for big business but destroying digital nano-businesses. here is a beautifully-written blogpost that explains how many digi products you might use in a single day. All of them under threat (and the writer is shutting up shop at the end of December.) For more info go to EU VAT Action THIS AFFECTS EVERY DIGI BUSINESS WORLDWIDE. So leaving the EU is no solution: Whimsy are also stopping digi sales from January. Sign the petition, write, email and tweet as suggested on the website. Consumers need to have their voices heard. And the rules will be extended to physical items in January 2016. Will non-EU firms be willing to sell to EU customers then? Please spread the word! love Mags B x

The Challenge covers anything NEW - New Year, New Baby, New Job, New Home.... The image is Baby Lainey and Gabby Love by one of our sponsors, Lacy Sunshine Stamps I used Grand Spellbinders to create the rocker card base and the layers. The banner and birds are by Lawn Fawn The ribbon is from stash. Here are our lovely sponsors: Inky Impressions http://www.inkyimpressionsrubberstamps.com/images/logo_new.jpg Sweet Stamps http://sweetstamps.com/_Media/sweetlogo-in-frame.gif Lacy Sunshine http://lacysunshine.weebly.com/uploads/1/6/7/8/16786154/449181053_orig.jpg Sweet'n'Sassy https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGTntTT4pgs_uTTXq2r4de9f8g5OfjKeuoeuWDUS_OE8pfFiQKZe4zMFeIWwknZBo8d1hAOv6fw83w0AgZxfr1TixkPGgJ8NV76v9h2Ft0O7OV8NKvkjrxO3dZHtA92QS-Q8KDYFJv2y_2/s400/NEWLOGOframed165.jpg Go and see the fab makes my teamies have contributed to the C.R.A.F.T Challenge and have a go! It makes a refreshing change from Christmas cards! Thanks f...

This is our last Challenge of the year at Dream Valley - you have four weeks to join in! We have a wonderful list of our amazing sponsors, too many to list here, but go over to The Blog and see what amazing prizes are on offer! My Christmas card uses items from two of the sponsors - Freckled Fawn and My Mum's Craft Shop I used the second largest of the Die-namics Star Stax to die-cut a star, and stamped 'NOEL' in Mustard Seed ink using an alphabet set by Lawn Fawn then sponged over in Scattered Straw DI. I went over it with a Clear Wink of Stella pen. The idea came from a class I took at Online Card Classes The sentiment is from the Avery Elle 'Noel' stamp set and is gold embossed, and I used tiny stamps in Mama Elephant inks (Rainwater and Winter) to stamp on the base card. The Freckled Fawn Washi Tape comes from various of their monthly kits. I stuck them at an angle on a piece of scrap card and added it with foam tape. Then I added the star and a fe...

I am so very sorry, chaps, I thought I'd sceduled Saturday's post! Huge apologies! And it's a great Challenge at My Time to Craft - Make a Scene . You can take a break from Christmas cards by making a beach scene, for instance! Just as long as you use Stamps that is all fine! I went for Christmas! :D I used Simon Says Stamp 'Lots of Snowflakes' stamps on my background, heat-embossed them, then sponged Distress Inks over the top. The snowbank is a SSS Christmas Scene Stencil, I used Wendy Vecchi embossing paste over it, then sprinkled on some Wow! glitter embossing powder and heat set: the paste bubbled to give some gret texture! The Snowman is from a stamp set by My Mind's Eye, 'Winter Wonderland' and the trees and sentiment are by Clearly Besotted. Thanks so much for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! Our challenge at C.R.A.F.T Challenge this week is this great Sketch: I did exactly what it says on the tin, and used the Sketch as is. The beautiful butterfly image is Happiness by Pickled Potpourri who are one of our sponsors this week. I coloured the butterflies with Copics (I'm loving my new Ciaos!) and brushed over some clear Wink of Stella, then used Spellbinders to cut out the image and the pink mat. I added a layer of blue paper from the old Snippets box between the image and the mat to give a bit more interest. The lace and ribbon are from stash. The doily is cut with a Cheery Lynn French Pastry doily die, and the blue butterflies are made with a Martha Stewart punch from another snippet, and also covered with clear Wink of Stella. they are attached only along the body, and the wings bent upwards. Finally, the background paper (yet another snippet!) is by Magnolia - I think it was called 'Orchard' but don't quote me! The lovely senti...

Morning, all! I hope you're all keeping well. I am at the stage of Christmas preparation where I'm like a swan - you know, all calm gliding across the surface of the water, but underneath paddling away like mad!! Or is it just me that feels like that at this time of the year????? We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft and I gotta confess, it's a new one for me. Our theme is to make a Christmas ATC ATC stands for Artists' Trading Card. If you or your kids have ever traded Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon cards, you'll have an inkling of what this is about. An ATC is a small work of art (2.5 x 3.5 inches) that is made to be exchanged with other artists. I've had a look at several videos on Youtube, and many of the ATC creations are just amazing! It's like the crafting equivalent of miniature paintings on ivory! Techniques seem to be important in ATCs, so for my background I blended shades of Distress Inks (Chipped Sapphire and Broken China) and then splattered ...

Hi, guys! How are your Christmas preparations coming along? The Big Day suddenly seems so close, doesn't it? Our new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge will give you a helping hand, as our theme this week is Christmas! I coloured the cute Sweet Danni and Bella from Wags'n'Whiskers in Promarkers and glittered all the fur trim with Stickles. The papers are from a magazine. The snowflakes are cut in glitter paper. The sentiment is die-cut in black glitter card, using a die from Simon Says Stamp We have some great sponsors for our Challenge: A Day for Daisies Wags'n'Whiakers Doctor Digi's House of Stamps The DT have made some wonderful creations with images from our sponsors - go and see! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! We had a visit from the gorgeous granddaughter and her proud parents: there was lots of squeaking and giggling and cake-making! It's Dream Valley Challenges time again! We have a colour challenge: Blue Tones The rule is, except for skin and hair colour on any image, just use Blue . You can go CAS or as elaborate as you like, as long as it's Blue! We have the fabulous Lacy Sunshine as our Sponsor this time! I have used the very elegant Victorian Winter Emily on my card. Isn't she chic?! I coloured her in Promarkers: Denim Blue and Pastel Blue for her gown and gloves, and a brighter set, French Navy, Cyan, Sky Blue and Powder Blue for her accessories. her fur trim has been Stickled. The background papers are from an old pad by Paper Artsy called 'Rum and Raisin' but the middle of the heart is from stash. The heart itself is cut with a die from 'Heartfelt Creations'. The sentiment is from the 'G...