Madcap Manor

Good morning! We have a fabulous sketch for you at My Time to Craft this week! I got out my Inktense pencils, watercolour paper, and a cute owl stamp by The Greeting Farm: The gorgeous papers are Lili of the Valley/Nitwits Country Lady. I distressed all the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink and added dots of green pearl pen on the little banners. The sentiment is from a Woodware Hubby is now champing at the bit to get down to the supermarket (not!) Thanks for looking, have an awesome weekend! love Mags B x

.....Find Vodka and Party! Hi, guys! I've had this stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie for a very long time! I found her stamped but not coloured in a folder, and since I'd just got the Avery Elle Berry Good stamp set with its fabulous sentiment, I just had to put the two together! I apologise for the faded picture, the colours are a bit more vibrant irl. The papers are from the 'Nook and Pantry' 6 x 6 paper pad by Basic Grey. You can see that I'm trying to use up stash, these papers, like the image, are several years old! The baker's twine is from stash, and the shiny stickers are by Paperchase. I've been making a few more cards than usual recently, a lot of my friends or their children have summer birthdays. The housework has been suffering, however: tomorrow I have a huge pile of ironing to do! And I must clean out the fridge, I found some celery there that was a week past its sell-by date. Luckily it was still good enough to go into a Minestrone!...

Good morning! This week we have a theme at CRAFT Challenge that is rather special to me: Inspired by a Book . Here at the Manor we have books absolutely everywhere! Our Sponsor is Scrapper's Delights and the DT were very lucky to be able to use one of their cute digis. I chose Robot Chip 2 - isn't he a friendly chap? I used some very old papers that were knocking about my desk - actually, I used them for last week's CRAFT Challenge, and hadn't put them away!!! The sentiment is from a set of sentiments that came from the late, lamented Pollycraft, many years ago. I added some little eyelets as decoration. The book that inspired me is 'I, Robot' a collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov - the film of the same name was based on a SF Detective series he wrote, beginning with The Caves of Steel . Yes, I'm a SF/Fantasy geek! Roll over to our Challenge and see what books have inspired my teamies, then pick your favourite book to inspire you! Th...

Hi, guys! My baby girl turns 29 today - where has the time gone? She is a tea addict so this image, Lucy Loo Mad Hatter by The East Wind is perfect! I love the way her pinky finger is elegantly cocked! The background paper has silver glitter stripes, it's by DCWV from their 'All Dressed Up' stack - this is an old set, and may be unavailable. The ribbon is from stash. I can't remember where the sentiment came from! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's nearly Midsummer's Day, so of course the weather is cloudy, grey and chilly, with intermittent drizzle! A good day for going through cupboards and filling bags to go to the Charity Shop. (WHY did I buy that ghastly bright blue and black retro print dress that makes me look like an elephant??) Alternatively, it's a good day to enter our new Challenge at Dream Valley and this time our theme is Girly Our wonderful sponsor is All Dressed Up Stamps . If you haven't come across them yet, RUN, don't walk, to the shop - the images are absolutely gorgeous! I used So Pretty I made the shaped card base with an XXL Frilly #2 die by Go Kreate, and the layers were cut with a Large Frilly Frame #4. All the papers came from a 12 x 12 'Summer Blues' pad by Tilda. I fussy cut the roses from the same pad and added stickles. There is a strip of lace hiding in there behind the flowers, and some sequins for a bit more girly sparkle! Go and s...

I have a very cute 'onesie' die from Paper Smooches that's ideal for baby cards, so I made a couple, using up oddments of leftover paper and some ribbon and lace. The onesies have been brushed with clear Wink of Stella. The sentiment is also by Paper Smooches. I hope you've all had a good Father's Day - and my thoughts are with those whose Dad is no longer here. *hugs* Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning, all! I hope you're having a great weekend! My daughter and her Young Man are staying with us this weekend. Sacha's birthday is on the 23rd of June - Midsummer's Eve. We named her 'Helena' when she was born, partly after my Mum, whose name was Helen, and partly after one of the characters in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer's Night's Dream.' Then, when she began learning Russian at Secondary School she had to choose a Russian name, and went for 'Sacha.' She preferred that to 'Helena' and changed her name - it took me several years to get used to it! But enough of this, you want to know what the new challenge is at My Time to Craft . Our theme is Fairies which is very appropriate, since there are a lot of fairies in 'A Midsummer's Night's Dream'! I used an adorable image from Lili of the Valley , this is one of their cute fairies, but sadly she is no longer available. However, there are loads of oth...

Good morning, good morning, good morning! Thursday means another CRAFT Challenge and this week the theme is Wedding or Anniversary . This is the 'wedding' time of year, so the theme is very appropriate! We have fab sponsors: Bugaboo Stamps Eureka Stamps I used a Bugaboo image starring the awesome Gus and Stella . This image is 'Deck of Cards.' The sentiment is finished on the inside and reads Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond. By the end, you wish you had a club and a spade. The papers are from stash, and I used a spellbinders Wonky Rectangle to cut the image. I used little wooden hearts inked in black or red and Glossy Accented, then I added the tails to the spades with a black pen. Have a look at what my CRAFT teamies have created, they will inspire you! Thanks for looking! love, Mags B x

Hi, guys! It's the weekend! Hooray!! At My Time to Craft we have a great theme this week: All White Except the Image . The stamp is by C C Designs, one of the Swiss Pixies . Sadly, this older image isn't available, but there are plenty of other cuties on the site. When making a white-on-white card I always go for texture and layering. I used Centura Pearl card which has a pretty gleam. The base is embossed with a Sizzix Hearts embossing folder, and I layered two sizes of the Spellbinders Opulent Ovals dies on top, using foam tape. The image has been fussy cut and also added with foam tape. The sentiment tag is by Lili of the Valley Go and see my teamies' inspirational work, especially if you've never done a card like this. You'll be amazed by the clever cards they have made! Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all enjoying a sunny Thursday! Our theme at CRAFT Challenge this week is Christmas We have two great sponsors: Rick St Dennis and The Paper Shelter I used Yep, I have my methods by The Paper Shelter. So cute! I coloured him with Copics, and added a lot of glitter to the snow and Santa's fur trim. The papers are by Dovecraft. I used the Memory Box Frosty Border die for the snowflake die-cuts, which are glittered, and the Poinsettia is made with a Marianne Die. The sentiment is by Paper Smooches. Go see the inspiration that my teamies have created, and have a go at a Christmas card - it's never too early to start! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening, all! I have a card to share tonight, one of several I made over half term. I have been having a sort-out of Crafty stuff and came across a stamp set that came with a magazine some time ago: all the images are disigned to fit Spellbinders' Circle dies. So I had a play. I used Copics, and added gold stickles to the flower centres and wink of Stella to the wings. The paper was also a freebie, several years ago. The pink lace and the silver stickers are from stash, and the sentiment is by Lili of the Valley. This is a very bright, very pink card!! I hope your week is going well! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning, all! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley and it's Father's Day Our sponsor is Doctor Digi's House of Stamps . The DT were lucky enough to have an image from them to use, but unfortunately something went wrong and I have used Sporty Guy from Saturated Canary instead. I used a spellbinders die for the 'hinges'. the papers and bakers twine are from stash, and the sentiment is from Label Love by Altenew, stamped in Hero Arts navy Shadow Ink. Go and see my teamies' creations, they have made some very fun cards! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Happy Saturday, everyone! Our new Challenge at My Time to Craft! this week is a topical one, with Father's Day rapidly approaching: For a Male . Cards for a bloke can be difficult, since you can't smother them with flowers, lace, ribbons and gems! For this card, my inspiration came from the paper, an old stack by DCWV called 'Rock Star.' The background papers and the label came from the DCWV set, I added a narrow strip of gold card to each side of the central paper to give a good finish. the gems and stars are from stash. The Zombie guitarist is an old digi by Bugaboo Stamps , sadly he no longer seems to be available, and he is coloured in Copics. If you need to make a card for your bloke or your Dad for Father's Day, go and be inspired by my teamies' cards! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all having a good week! It's time for another CRAFT Challenge which this week is a gorgeous colour combo: I used a digipaper by Trimgym's Digistamps Papers and Images Made by our CRAFT boss, Jo. it's a fabulous combination! The image is Spring Chicken from Pickled Potpourri. I added pink Stickles and a pearl to her flower and also to the corner pieces, which are cut with a Whimsy Shapeology die.. The ribbon and lace and pearls are from stash. The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted. Our sponsor is: Pickled Potpourri Go and see the inspiration my teamies have produced, and join in! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x