Madcap Manor

Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! The final shopping has been done, the carpets hoovered, the living room tidied, there is wine in the fridge for this evening after the Christingle. If anything hasn't been done it ain't going to be done! And next week, of course, it's New Year! Our theme this week at CRAFT Challenge is New . New Year, New Home, New Job, New Baby.... Our terrific sponsors are: Sami Stamps Scribbles Designs I used a beautiful image from Sami Stamps, this is Looking at my Sweet Such a simple, elegant image needed a simple layout, so I went with the Current Sketch at Sketch Saturday. The papers are from stash, the sentiment is from an old American Crafts stamp set called 'Baby.' I added Wink of Stella to the baby blanket. Challenges entered: Sketch Saturday Thanks for looking, and I hope you all have a very happy Christmas! love Mags B x

This is the last challenge of the year at Dream Valley and it will be open until 16th January! The theme is Christmas We have several amazing sponsors: Doctor Digi's House of Stamps Robyn's Fetish The Hobby House Pop over to the Dream Valley blog to see the great prizes on offer! Sadly, I wasn't able to use a sponsor image this time, as my dear old printer decided to chew up whatever card was fed into it. That kind of thing always happens t the most inconvenient time, doesn't it? So I went with a very old Stampendous stamp and some gold embossing. I layered the image onto some gold card from my stash, leaving a border on each side. The photo doesn't do the gold justice! Thanks for looking, and I hope your Christmas preparations are going well! love Mags B x

Happy weekend, everyone! I hope you're not feeling too stressed as the Big Day approaches! For me, Christmas begins with our Carols by Candlelight service on the Sunday evening before the 25th. There is always a wonderful scent of pine from the flower arrangements, as well as the flickering light og the candles - magical! Talking of Christmas, our new Challenge at My Time to Craft is A Last-Minute Christmas Make and I certainly needed one, since I realised that one friend would be away for Christmas, so I had to get a move on! I made a little 'booklet' containing bags of spices for mulled wine, following this video from My Favorite Things. The outside: The cardstock is from an old First Edition 12 x 12 Village Christmas pad - in fact, it was a wee bit too thick, and I had to fold all the creases to and fro before they would lie flat. The sentiment is by Lil'Inkers from their Big Christmas stamp set, I embossed it in gold and glued just the left side of th...

One week to go and the panic is setting in....... Our theme at CRAFT Challenge this week is one that will become very relevant after the 25th! It's Thank you ! I used a fabulous image from Spyder's Other Corner called Rely-on me Lion I loved colouring him and the cute little mouse! I used a sentiment and conversation bubble, with matching die, from Clerly Besotted - sadly they now seem to be unavailable. I used a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle to cut out the image. The papers are by Bo Bunny, I can't tell you the name because I'd already used the half of the paper with the details! I went over the stars with a clear Wink of Stells brush, and wrapped orange baker's twine from The Ribbon Girl round the background paper. Our sponsors are Spyder's Other Corner Lacy Sunshine Stamps The Cutting Cafe Go across to the Challenge blog to be inspired by my teamies' gorgeous creations! Thanks for looking! love, Mags B x

It's Thursday! That means a new CRAFT Challenge and it's our regular theme of Christmas . I apologise for the delay in posting, I managed to fall asleep this afternoon and I've spent the rest of the day catching up! Here is my card, using one of Bugaboo Stamps' fun images, this is Stella Christmas Sled . Isn't she great? I used Christmas papers from stash, and added Wink of Stella in clear to the hat and scarf, and silver Wink of Stella to the trim on the sledge, and icicle stickles to the fur on her hat. I die-cut some silver card with Lawn Fawn Stitched circles for one mat, then drew round the inside of the dies onto red card and cut it out to make a narrower mat. The vertical strip of paper has an edge punched with a Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment punch, and the green glitter paper is from a leftover snippet. Our great sponsors this week are: Bugaboo Digi Stamps - check out their site, they have freebies so you can try them out. I love their humorous...

For my My Time to Craft post, please scroll down. Well, it's been a Comedy of Errors on the cardmaking front here at the Manor! First I didn't properly schedule my previous DT post; and for this Challenge I read it as Die-cuts or punches, instead of Die-cuts AND Punches! So don't do what I did!!! Our sponsor is the fabulous Di's Digi Stamps . I made some Christmas tags: I used Spellbinders dies for the scalloped circle and the plain circle on each tag. The snowflakes are from a Spellbinders Create a Flake die, and the Ornament is by Marianne. I used silver card and glitter paper for the shapes. I apologise for getting the Challenge a bit wrong! But see what my teamies have done, they will inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

I'm so sorry I'm late with my My Time to Craft card, I should have checked my scheduling!! Our theme is Christmas Animals think of reindeer, penguins, polar bears..... I went with a deer. I used blue Centura Pearl for the card base, and embossed it, then added a stag's head from a set by Altenew and a sentiment, both gold-embossed, My hubby actually said he likes it very much - a very rare event!!! Go over and see the marvellous inspiration that my teamies have made for your delectation and delight! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope you're all well and looking forward to the weekend! Here at the Manor we are having the entire family visiting this weekend for my baby boy's 26th birthday: that's 4 extra adults plus one gorgeous granddaughter! I am busy cleaning and tidying and making sure that delicate possessions are out of the reach of a 4-year-old girl with a very developed sense of curiosity!! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is a Colour Combo (Jo has such a great eye for colours!) Isn't that gorgeous?! I used a lovely ready-coloured image from The Paper Shelter, this is Spring Elves I think they are adorable! I used a ready-coloured image, since what with the Church Crib and Candle Festival last weekend, and also a visit from my sister, time was at a premium. For the background I used Jo's striped papers, and die-cut it with a Spellbinders 5 x 7 Elegant Labels Four die. On the image I drew lightly round the inside of the die in pencil and cut it out, then distresse...

Good grief, it's Thursday already! I hope everyone is looking forward to a great weekend! I will be at my Church's 'Crib and Candles' Festival, I am going to have a stall selling cards for the first time! If any of you are near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire on Saturday, pop into St Paul's Church (opposite Morrison's) and come and say hello! Also there will be.... CREAM TEAS! Now back to your regular schedule. The new CRAFT Challenge is Winter . I made a Winter birthday card: I apologise for the rather dull photo! The image is Snow-covered lamp post by Pattie's Creations Digital Stamps. Of course the most famous lamp post in literature is the one in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' where it stands alone in the middle of a forest in Narnia. So I picked some paper from my stash that has trees on it. The ribbon is also from stash, and the snowflakes were cut with a Whimsy snowflake border die with gold sequins added to the middle. ...

Yikes! I should have posted this on Monday, I apologise!!! At Dream Valley we would like to see Stitching on your project, either real or faux. Or sponsor this fortnight is The Hobby House I went with two variants on faux stitching: The Clearly Besotted flower was white heat-embossed on watercolour paper and then painted. The sentiment is by Altenew from the Halftone Hello stamp set and I stamped it in gold Delicata ink. I used a Lawn Fawn STITCHED rectangle to die-cut the images and added STITCHES around the edge with a brown pen. Have a look at what my teamies have made, and then have a go! Thanks for looking! Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope your weekend is going swingingly! It's a blowy, chilly day here in S-E Hertfordshire, with clouds racing across a pale blue sky - pretty to look at, as long as you're warmly dressed! Unlike many of you guys we have not yet had any snow, but our new Challenge at My Time to Craft is Let It Snow so let's see lots of snowflakes! I used a fabulous digi from Sassy Studios called Snow Queen Portrait she is a joy to colour! I used Lawn Fawn Stitched Circle dies to cut out the image and silver mat. I distressed the image edges with Weathered Wood Distress Ink and then added snowflakes from Simon Says Stamp's 'Lots of Snowflakes' stamp set in the same ink and added Baby Blue Stickles. The background paper is from stash, and the ribbon came from Hobbycraft. The glitter snowflakes were cut with a Memory Box Snowflake Border die. Go and see the lovely, snow-bedecked creations that my teamies have made, and dig out your prettiest snowflake stam...

Hi, guys! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is Christmas Present I used a cute image from Sunsational Stamps called 'Got Presents?' Can you spot my mistake....? Yep, I gave the elf red hair! I got rather carried away with my Copics and coloured too far. However, there's no reason than an elf shouldn't have red hair, is there??? My papers were from stash, and the twine originally arrived tied round a box of soaps, so it was a present, too! At the top is a string of Jingle Bells cut in gold card with a Memory Box die. Our sponsors this week are: Digital Delights A Day for Daisies Sunsational Stamps Sorry there are no logos, I've not yet transferred them from the old laptop!! Now hop over and see my teamies' gorgeous creations, and be inspired! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We have our regular Christmas Challenge at CRAFT Challenge This will be a very swift post, as I'm still transferring files to my new laptop, and this poor old machine is getting hot and bothered! Our sponsors are: Wags'n'Whiskers and Craft Classes Online and Deedee's digis I used 'Zoe and Gemma's Snow Fun' by Wags'n'Whiskers, such a sweet image! I used Promarkers to colour the image and added Stickles to the snow. The papers are from stash. The holly and berries are by Clearly Besotted, and so is the sentiment. Sorry to be in such a rush, but I don't want to be shut down through overheating in the middle of the post! Take care, and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, everyone! We have a Shaped Card challenge at Dream Valley but we want no squares or rectangles! Not even elegant die-cut ones with pretty edging!! Our sponsor is the very lovely Di's Digi Stamps I have made another Christmas card - I'm not tired of making them yet! It's a samll card, just over 4 inches in diameter, and the base was made with a Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle die. The papers are by Lili of the Valley. I die-cut a white circle then used the Memory Box Tiny Village die to make the horizon. The Snowpeople are from the Paper Smooches 'Cool Dudes' set, stamped on watercolour paper and coloured with Inktense pencils, and the sentiment is from Clearly Besotted's Signature Christmas Additions set. I curved the sentiment along the outside of the circle die so it would fit. Sorry about the lack of links, my laptop is close to overheating and switching off! Have a great week and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening, all! Apologies for the late post, I have a new laptop to replace the one which keeps overheating and shutting down, and my daughter's lovely young man has been sorting it out and setting it up this afternoon! Our Challenge at My Time to Craft is to Quilt It! So we'd like to see quilt-type papers or stamps, or else you can cut up papers and make your own quilt pattern, which is what I did. I added white dashes to imitate quilting. The image and sentiment are from an old stamp set by Clearly Besotted called 'My Cup of Tea.' I stamped in Mama elephant Ocean Pigment Ink. The papers are from stash. Go and see what my inventive teamies have done with the theme, and then have a go! Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend! love Mags B x PS this is a slightly wonky photo, the teapot is actually straight, not slanted!!!

Good morning from a very grey and gloomy Hertfordshire! It's time for another Challenge at CRAFT Challenge and it's another great sketch by Jo. And here's my interpretation, using 'Martini Pin Up Sassy' by Sassy Studio Designs Originally I was going to make a birthday card, but I found the Paper Smooches sentiment and since I can't resist a very bad pun, made another Christmas card! There is a lot of bling on this card! Wink of Stella on the red dress and the poinsettia, gold embossing on the sentiment, glossy accents on the olives, and lots of gems! The poinsettia was cut and embossed with a Marianne die, and the ribbon and paper are from stash. Our sponsors: Crafty Ribbons DRS Designs Sassy Studio Designs Don't forget to check out my teamies' variations on the sketch! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's well and truly autumnal today, damp and windy, and fallen leaves are everywhere! Time to have a look at this week's CRAFT Challenge methinks! Our theme this week is Shaped cards - but no squares or rectangles! Instead, go for a circular card, or a hexagon or even a dodecahedron!!! I took the easy route and went with a circle. You'll notice it's another Christmas card! I used Grand Circles and a Grand Scalloped circle and my Grand Calibur to cut the base, gold card, green card and paper (which is from stash and very old!) The 'Noel' sentiment is printed from a fab digi Christmas Alphabet Blocks by Melonheadz Doodles . I hadn't come across them before, but they have some fabulous images, and their alphabets are fun! Melonheadz Doodles is one of our sponsors, the other is: The Stamping Boutique Go and be inspired by my teamies' creation, then take up the Challenge of a Shaped card! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Sadly, I've had to make some sympathy cards recently. I experimented by dropping tiny amounts of Brusho Pigment Powder on wet watercolour card using blues, purples and a smidgen of orange and green. When it had dried I die-cut it with a Memory Box Lovely Peony background die, then added the matching open die-cut in blue cardstock on top. The sentiment is by Penny Black from the Gratitude stamp set. Not too sombre, I hope! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you all had a good weekend! We have a colour challenge at Dream Valley this fortnight: Blue. That is, everything except an image's skin and hair, should be in shades of blue. Looking at my card, you can see that I used shades of blue that are a bit too close in colour, I needed more contrast. You never stop learning in this cardmaking lark! I used Lil Lovely Hearts by our sponsor, Sherri Baldy, and coloured her with Promarkers. The falling hearts have been Glossy Accented, the rose has been glittered, and a blue gem heart is added on top of the heart on her blouse. The papers are by Pink Petticoat . The ribbon and broderie anglaise are from stash, the sentiment is by Clearly Besotted from the Mini Basic Banners stamp set. On the right I added some flourishes cut with the Cheery Lynn Mini Fanciful Flourish die and some flower shapes which have a blob of stickles in the centre. As I said, not enough contrast! Our sponsor is Sherri Baldy Desig...

Good morning! It's a grey, overcast Saturday today, and the England Cricketers are not doing very well in their Test Match in Dubai against Pakistan. So I'll be in my craft room if you want me!! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft and it's a really good one: Inspired by the Beatles ! I went with 'Yellow Submarine' and a Shaker card. I have this fun stamp set by Reverse Confetti called Here We Go which has the cutest car, aeroplane and submarine! I sponged the inside of the shaker window with Broken China and peacock Feathers. The submarine is stuck onto the front of the acetate - to colour it I used Mama Elephant pigment inks, first covering the whole of the stamp in yellow, then going round the edge with orange. The front of the card has been stamped in an ombre pattern with a stamp from the Best Fishes set by Simon Says Stamp, and I used two of the fish from the same set, coloured and cut out and mounted on foam. Even my hubby likes this one...

Good morning! It's a damp, grey and gloomy Thursday - perfect crafting weather! It's also time for a new CRAFT Challenge and our theme is Black and White plus ONE other Colour . Just that! Yes, it is quite Challenging!! I made a Halloween card, using Scarry Mummy from Spyder's Other Corner. The background paper is from an ancient Black and White pad by Papermania. The spiderweb and spiders are Die-namics by My Favorite Things - I don't think it's available now, unfortunately. The spiders are Glossy Accented and have red gems for eyes. My 'plus one' colour is a scary RED!!! The Mummy was lightly coloured with Copics, then cut out and mounted on a home-made wobbler. I took a small piece of quite sturdy card and cut a narrow spiral from the edge to the middle then glued one end to the card and the other to the back of the Mummy. You have to make sure the card is hidden behind the image, and not make the spiral too narrow, but it works! Our spons...

Hi, guys! It's time for another CRAFT Challenge and this week it's our regular Christmas theme. Our sponsor is Stitchy Bear and I used this lovely Holly Bough It's a 5" x 7" card. The papers are all from LotV's Classic Christmas paper pad. I layered them on red and gold cardstock for some festive bling. The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted. I added Wink of Stella to the bow, and Glossy Accents to the berries. Go and be inspired by my teamies' Chrimbo Creations! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya, peeps! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley which this week has a spooky Halloween theme! Our sponsor is Imagine That! . I used an adorable image from All Dressed Up, this is Boo! I can see you! isn't it gorgeous?! I wanted to keep the rest of the card simple, because the image is so delicate. I tell you, it took me half an hour to find suitable papers! Most Halloween papers that I have are very busy and overwhelming. Finally I found these papers in a pad by Studio Calico that came with a kit, I like the tiny geometric patterns! Trot across and see the inspiring Halloween creations that my teamies have made! They are lovely! Have a good week! love Mags B x

Good morning, and Happy Saturday! At My Time to Craft we are looking for autumnal colours - I love this time of year when the leaves are changing! I made a small thank you card, it's only 4 inches square! The white base is embossed with a Spellbinders folder. The image is Flowers N Hearts from Robyn's Fetish, I like the simple lines, and it's so useful for all kinds of occasions! The photo has made the hearts look more coral than amber, I'm no David Bailey I'm afraid! The paper is a snippet from a very old magazine freebie pad, and the orange ribbon is from stash. I gold embossed the sentiment. Go and have a look at what my teamies have made to inspire you, and join in the Challenge! Have a great weekend, and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! We have a seasonal theme at CRAFT Challenge this week: Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving/Bonfire Night . I love this time of year, with all the gorgeous colours of the trees! Our sponsors this week are: Imagine That! and Deedee's Digis I used a fabulous wreath from the Autumn Blessings digi stamp set by Deedee's Digis. My patterned paper was a bit pale, so I stamped little leaf sprigs in various pigment inks by Mama Elephant, then embossed them with clear embossing powder to give a bit of shine. The image is die cut with a stitched square die by Lawn Fawn. The banner sentiment is by Paper Smooches, I gold embossed it onto vellum. Finally I added gold stickles to the berries on the image. The photo doesn't really show the gleam of the embossing, unfortunately! My teamies have made some wonderful creations to inspire you, do go and see them! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

We had good news yesterday: my daughter has been over from Ireland to have her regular blood tests to check that she's still in remission from the cancer she had in 2013. Not only is she still clear, she now only needs to be checked every 6 months instead of every 4 months! Yay!!! Now it's Thursday again, and October! I swear there are fewer hours in the day than when I were a kiddiewink, it's the only explanation for why time seems to evaporate! But Thursdays are good, because Thursday means another fab Challenge at C.R.A.F.T Challenge and this time we have a terrific sketch designed for you by Jo . (Check out her blog for a recipe for Dutch Apple Pie! Yum!) Our fab sponsors: Great Impressions and for the Top Three: Sunsational Stamps And now my card - another Christmas card! (I'm so impressed with myself for getting on with them!) I used Willow With Christmas Candle from the sadly-missed Whiff of Joy. I used a Spellbinders die to cut the blue m...

Yesterday I posted my DT card for Dream Valley which follows a Bingo card. You take ONE line, vertically, horizontally or diagonally, and that determines what you use on your card. Click on the pic to get a clearer view. Now here is the first card I made for the Challenge, using Bookworm Fairy by Hannah Lynn for Crafts and Me who are one of our sponsors. I thought I'd go with lace/ribbon, pink and embossing. So what is it about this card that would have made it ineligible if I'd entered the Challenge? There's EMBOSSING on PINK Centura Pearl cardstock, the image is mostly PINK and there is a row of LACE and RIBBON at the bottom. The sentiment is EMBOSSED, too. But.... the image has been DIE CUT with a Spellbinders Majestic Labels Eight DIE. There are PEARLS added. And there's a panel of PATTERNED PAPER from Lili of the Valley I must have been away with the fairies when making this card, because I've used too many of the items on the Bingo grid! Tho...

Evening, all! I hope you're all keeping well. I was feeling very sorry for myself last week, as I had a nasty cold: but that was put into perspective when I learned that an older friend from Church had had a fall and broken her hip. She's in hospital, hating the food and bored to tears: she is a very good cook and extremely active, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be! My DT make for the new Dream Valley Challenge is my friend's Get Well card, and first here are the details of the Challenge which is Bingo Select three items from the chart, going horizontally, vertically or diagonally: Our sponsors are: Crafts and Me and The Hobby House For my card I used the line at the bottom of the grid, Flowers, Embossing and Blue I used Centura Pearl card and a freebie embossing folder for the background, and coloured the row of dots with a blue Sakura pen. The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is from an old Whiff of Joy set and is gold...

Hi, guys! We have an absolutely wonderful Challenge at My Time to Craft this fortnight: Alice Inspired Yep, we'd like to see anything inspired by 'Alice in Wonderland.' I went with Alice herself! The image is by Christina Dee for the much-missed Tickled Pink Stamps. Bunny Zoe's Crafts do still have some of the stamps if you want to have a look. I used a Spellbinders Floral Oval die and blue Centura Pearl card as a mat for the image. The papers are from stash, I edged the vertical strip with white card punched with a Fiskar's Apron Lace border punch and added lace from Thge Ribbon Girl and ribbon from my stash. The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley. I added a pearly flower and a tiny blue gem to Alice's hat (mainly because I made a right pig's ear of colouring the flower that's there on the image!) and added Wink of Stella clear to the butterfly visible on the background paper. Go and see the inspirational work my teamies have created,...

Morning, all! Our new CRAFT Challenge is a picture inspiration. Isn't it beautiful? Our sponsors are: Bugaboo Stamps and Pickled Potpourri Designs I went for a Bugaboo image, this is Rain, Rain The papers are from stash, the sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp from the Color and Sunshine set. I took the colours from the inspiration picture, and also the watery theme of the image, and added the rainbow umbrella because often when the sunlight catches a waterfall just right, a rainbow appears! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is to use Bling! . Gems, pearls, gold or silver card, glitter - you name it! Our fab sponsor is Scrapper's Delights and the team were given some totally adorable images to use! There is a sale on, too! The cute image of a girl opening a present immediately made me think of a tag. I used a Sissix Tim Holtz tag die to cut two, one out of paper and one out of card to strengthen it. The papers were a RAK from my daughter. All the edges are distressed with Tea Dye distress Ink to give a shabby chic look. The strip of striped paper on the left has been edged with a Fiskar's Threading Water punch, and a length of lace added over the top. The rolled roses are made with an MFT Die-namics Mini Rolled Roses die and the centres filled with gold Glamour Dust. The Butterfly (Martha Stewart Punch All Over the Page) has more Glamour Dust edging the wings, and gems along its body. The gem swirl came from Hobbycraft. The image was ...