Madcap Manor

Happy New Year! Our Challenge at My Time to Craft is Something New. That can be a new event (baby, job, home etc) or new craft stash that Santa has brought you! I have made a New Baby card and also used a new stamp set. The stamp set is by W Plus 9 and is called Party Animal I coloured the cute giraffe with Copics. The balloon was coloured with Distress Inks and blended with a blending tool, then once it had dried I stamped the sentiment with Clearly Besotted's New Baby set in pink pigment ink and clear-embossed it. I fussy cut the images and used foam pads to give dimension. The balloon string is drawn with a black marker. Finally, I added sequins from stash. I hope you all had a happy and peaceful Christmas and are looking forward to 2017. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. We have the Irish Contingent here - Daughter, son-in-law-to-be and grandson! Lots of cuddles for Grandma and Grandpa! Now onto our Challenge at CRAFT Challenge which is Anything Goes . I made a birthday card for a fan of Arsenal Football Club, whose strip is red and white. This cute chap is Toby Glam Guy by Sweet Stamps . I coloured him with Promarkers and added Wink of Stella Clear to the football. I used Spellbinders dies to cut out the image and mat. The paper was loose, I'm not sure who made it. Sorry! The sentiment is by Avery Elle from the Stoked clear stamp set. Our sponsor this week is: Sweet Stamps Thanks for looking and Happy New Year! love Mags B x

Morning, all! Our last Challenge at CRAFT Challenge is Anything Goes I abandoned Christmas cards to make something girly and adaptable for several occasions, using WO Cupcake Tower by Bugaboo Stamps . Cute, or what? The cupcake background paper came from stash, and the strip with teapots came with the same, very old, set of papers. I added Wink of Stella to the cupcakes and the teapots, and also to the girl's dress. The spotty ribbon is from stash, and the diamante butterfly is from Hobbycraft. I used a Martha Stewart heart border punch to edge the teapots horizontal strip. Our lovely sponsors are: Bugaboo Stamps Nikki Burnette The Stamping Boutique which sadly is closing down at the end of December :( Thanks for looking, and have a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Healthy New Year. love Mags B x

Good morning! We have a Christmas Challenge with a twist at My Time to Craft this fortnight: Christmas with non-traditional colours which means no red, gold or green! I went with pink for my card, using Snowman Bells by Bugaboo Stamps: I apologise for the naff photo, the corner where I usually take them is now blocked by the Christmas tree. I decided to make this a Snowwoman, in pink, for a change. The paper by Dovecraft is very old, so sadly no longer available - a shame, since I really like the pastel colours. There is a bit of green on it, but it's mint green rather than pine green, so I think I've got away with it! The ribbon is from stash. I used a Spellbinders 5 x 7 Detailed Scallops die for the mat, and the Modern Stationery Card Creator dies for the background. I added stickles to the snow and Wink of Stella to the hat, scarf and bells. Not quite my last Christmas card, but nearly! I still have a few to make for the neighbours. Awwww, the 5 year old ...

Hi, guys! We have our regular Christmas theme at CRAFT Challenge. Very topical! I am at that stage where speed is of the essence - I usually manage to get my cards for posting done in good time, but then suddenly there's only 10 days to go and I need lots for friends and neighbours, to be hand-delivered! So now I'm in 'simple' mode, aided by mirror card and a lovely image! The adorable image is Little King by Sami Stamps, he is especially heart-melting for me because he reminds me of my little grandson! The fabulous die-cut is Maggie by Sue Wilson. (Great name, eh?!) I like that you can see a cross-shape in it, reminding me of Easter. I used silver mirror card and blue pearlised card to back it. The image is cut with a plain circle die - I fussy-cut the edges of the manger's straw to make the image go 'out of the box' at the edges. Our sponsors this week are: Pickled Potpourri (love that name!) Sami Stamps Thanks for looking, and I h...

Here's my rather belated card for our new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge and the theme is Winter I went with a fairly simple design because the image is so pretty! The digi stamp is Prissy Poinsettia by sponsor Robyn's Fetish. I coloured it with Copics and added gold Stickles to the centre. The image and the gold background are cut with Spellbinders' gorgeous Divine Eloquence dies. Our lovely sponsors are: Robyn's Fetish Doctor Digi's House of Stamps Sunsational Stamps Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! Today is our final Challenge of the year, we are having a break and will be back in January. And our theme is Christmas We have an amazing collection of sponsors, and I went with an adorable image, this is Christmas Post by All Dressed Up Stamps which Wendy kindly gave us to use. Totally adorable! The papers and twine are from stash, and the snowflake die-cuts from glitter card were in my 'Christmas Stuff' folder - I think they are by Spellbinders, but could be wrong! I am madly making Christmas cards because, as usual, December has crept up on me without warning! Go and see the inspiration on the Challenge blog, my teamies are so talented! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya! I'm late again - sorry! My son, DiL and granddaughter are visiting this weekend. My little boy will be 27 on Monday! 27!!! Wehave been celebrating with chocolate cake! Now on to the new challenge at My Time to Craft and our theme is Christmas Animals I have made a shaker tag for my granddaughter's Christmas present. I used some cute images from Lawn Fawn's Toboggan Together stap set, and the matching dies. The blue background has been embossed with a Cuttlebug Dots folder, and I glued some stars from stash onto it. I meant to add a red Christmas hat to the sitting deer, but I forgot! So this isn't quite as Christmassy as it should be! Thanks for looking, and I hope your weekend is going well. love Mags B x

Morning, all! Our new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge is to use this gorgeous Colour Combo Mmm, look at those rich colours! For my card I used this adorable image, Baby Snow from Sponsor Digital Delights by Louby Loo . So cute - and he's on offer on the website for just $1.00!!! I coloured him with Copics and added Gold Stickles to the snowflakes (quite a good way of colouring over areas where my pen slipped!) The poinsettias and leaves are made with layering stamps and matching dies which came with a Hero Arts Kit last year, and I gold-stickled the flower centres. The papers are from the Snippets Drawer, and I used some gold and white twine from Hobbycraft to add a bit more glitz. Our sponsors: Digital Delights and: Sheepski Designs and: A Day For Daisies Check out my teamies' inspiring creations and have a go! Thanks for looking - stay warm (in the wintry Northern Hemisphere) or cool (in the Summery Southern Hemisphere!) love Mags B. PS Sorry ...

Oh rats, I tried scheduling but this ended up in draft! Sorry! Good morning! We have a new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge and it's Not a Card . Just at the right time as I received the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Treat Box a few weeks ago! So cute, just the right size to contain a few Ferrero Rocher chocolates! I used some old heavy paper that was hanging about my stash to cut it, it's quite easy to assemble. The darling image is Winter Elf by Scrapper's Delights. Our sponsors this week are: Imagine That! Digital Stamps Trimgym's Digi Stamps, Papers and Images Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

I'm very late with this post, for which I apologise. I had written the wrong Challenge at Dream Valley in my diary! What a plonker!! So I made a card in a hurry, but I'm quite pleased with it! So here I am at last! Our new Challenge is Winter Animals. I have used a cute Penny Black image from the 'Celebrate the Wonder' stamp set - sadly I can't find a source for it so I suspect it may be out of print. Those mice are so sweet! The paper is from stash and the ribbon is by American Crafts. I layered the image in gold and stickled all the decorations and trim on the Christmas stockings. Quite a simple card, but I wanted the image to stand out. Go and see the amazing work that my teamies have done - their cards are so elegant! I admit, my card is more 'Christmas' than 'Winter'! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

It's Saturday! And it's ruddy freezing here in S-E Hertfordshire! Winter is Coming! So it's a good day to stay in and craft! Our Challenge at My Time to Craft is No Layers. So - no patterned papers, just make your design directly on your card front. It's not a scary as it sounds - the DT have produced some lovely examples to inspire you! Surprise! I made a Christmas card! I made a (US) standard cardbase and Stamped and masked the bow and then stamped the wreath from the Clearly Besotted Joy to the World set. I used Altenew Crisp Inks from the Red Sunset and Green Fields sets, and covered the bow with clear Wink of Stella, The berries have dots of Christmas Red Stickles. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, and heat embossed in gold. I added 3 sequins for added bling (and to cover a smear!!) Right! Back to tidying the Craft Hovel, then it's back to the Christmas cards! Thanks for looking - and thanks for so many lovely comments on the news...

Good morning! We have another Christmas Challenge for you over at CRAFT Challenge - not long to go before the Big Day arrives! I have used a fun image from The Paper Shelter , this is There's a Penguin in my Cocoa I found a lot of die-cut holly leaves whilst tidying, so I used them for this card, adding Christmas Red stickles for the berries. The vine underneath is made with a Mini Fanciful Flourish die by Cheery Lynn, I cut off the leaves to make it fit. The papers are from stash, and so is the silver puffy snowflake, the ric-rac braid and the ribbon. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley Our fab sponsors this week are: Bugaboo Stamps The Paper Shelter Oddball Art Do go to the Challenge blog and see what my very talented teamies have made to inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

The results of my latest scan came in yesterday, and I am in remission from my cancer! It still hasn't quite sunk in! Here are the Thank you cards I made for the Doctors (on the left) and Nurses (on the right.) The background is made using the Bamboo Rose stamp set by Altenew, coloured with Distress Inks. The Thanks word is a die-cut made with an old MFT Die-namics die, the one on the left is cut from pearlised card, the one on the right is coloured with a purple Spectrum Noir glitter pen. I cut the words several times and glued them together to give some depth. Time to get back to tidying the Craft Hovel, and then onwards with the Christmas cards! Cardmaking has been such a help this past few months! Have a lovely weekend, everyone and thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all doing well and looking forward to a good weekend. It's Thursday, which means there's a new Challenge at CRAFT and this time our theme is Winter . Our excellent sponsors this week are: Sweet'n'Sassy Star Stampz Di's Digistamps I was fortunate to be able to choose a darling image from Star Stampz, this is Me and my Snowman - I love the manga look! Though I've been earwormed by the song 'Me and my Shadow, strollin' down the avenue...' recently! This is a birthday card for a special lady who loves pink! I coloured the image with Copics and added Stickles to the white trim on her coat. The background paper is from an old Papermania pad called 'Pink Christmas'. The starry mat is by Spellbinders and is cut in pearlised card. The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, the ribbon is from stash, and the sentiment is an old one from Clearly Besotted. My teamies have made some lovely Winter creations...

Good morning, my lovelies! I hope you have a good week ahead of you! The new Winter Birthday Challenge at Dream Valley is very appropriate for me as there are 3 important family birthdays for me between December and January! I used wintry shades of blue and white, plus two snowflake papers for the background. The image of the airship is from Grand Tour I by Indigo Blu and I stamped it in pigment ink and clear embossed it. The oval mats are cut with a Stitched Ovals Die by My Favorite Things. The brads are from my stash and the sentiment is from an older Clearly Besotted set. Do go and see what lovely creations the team has made, and say hello to Gina, our new DT member! Thanks for looking, and have a great dy! love Mags B x

Good morning! We have a DT CALL at My Time to Craft! . We re a very friendly group, so if you would like to join us, hop over to the Challenge Blog and get all the details there! Now on to our new Challenge which is Distress It! You can use Distress Inks and a blending tool to colour the edges of your papers, or use scissors to rough them up. I did both - and it's another Christmas card! You can just about see that I used Tea Dye Distress Ink to add colour to the background paper, which is by Papermania from an old pad. I also used scissors to roughen the edges, and made sure that I didn't glue up to the edge so I could lift it up (I hope that makes sense!) The totally gorgeous image is Candy Cane Angel by Hannah Lynn for Crafts and Me. I glittered her wings and the fur trim on her outfit. The ribbon and lace are from stash. The snowflake is made with a Laced Pine Sowflake die by Cheery Lynn and I used glitter embossing powder to give it some shine. I heat e...

Hiya! I apologise for the late arrival of my post, but a tiny grandson (and his mum!) is visiting for the weekend and I got distracted! Our Challenge at CRAFT this week is a sketch: We have two lovely sponsors this week: Rick St Dennis MFA and Craft Classes Online I have used a sweet image by Rick St Dennis, this is Canton Chic I used papers from a very old Docrafts paper pad. Miss Canton Chic has stickles on the rose in her hair, and Wink of Stella on the pink flowers on her kimono and lantern. The sentiment and dragonflies are by Woodware - again, it's very old! I added the sentiment on top of a Spellbinders Fancy Tags die-cut. The vines are also made with a Spellbinders die. The flowers are by Prima and the dazzlers are Papermania. The gems and ribbon are from stash. Have a look at how my talented teamies have used this versatile sketch, then try it out yourself! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya! I hope your week is going well and that you're looking forward to the weekend - the clocks go back on Saturday, which means an extra hour's lie-in, hooray!!! Or you could use the extra hour to join in our new challenge at CRAFT Challenge! ;) The theme this week is Add Ribbon, Sparkle and Shine so dig out the ribbon, Glossy Accents, Stickles, Glitter..... Our fab sponsors are: Lacy Sunshine Stamps Crafty Ribbons Now for my card! My papers are from a very old magazine freebie by Raspberry Road.  The sweet image is Strawberry SB Basket from Bugaboo Stamps. There is Wink of Stella Clear on her dress and hat, and Glossy Accents on her hairband and the 'pips' on her bonnet. The shiny butterflies are stickers from my stash. The flowers and leaves are made with punches, the flowers are made from gold-dotted pink card and the centres are gems from my stash. The ribbon has a lovely sparkle to it - I found my Bowmaker recently and made a double bow. Th...

Hiya! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley and it is One For the Girls . Our sponsor this fortnight is Live and Love Crafts who sadly will be closing down soon. Go there to swoon over the beautiful vintage and shabby chic items that are for sale! I have used Ruby-Chocolate-Nature's Way from Bugaboo Stamps to make a card for a particular 'girl'! Isn't that a wonderful sentiment??? I added sparkle to all the purple areas, and Glossy Accents to the phone and the chocolate. The papers, ribbon and diamante are from stash. I used Shaded Lilac Distress Ink to go around the image, since it seemed a bit too stark against the purple mat. I used a Spellbinders' 'Wonky Rectangles' die to cut it, using the 'out of the box' die-cutting technique for Ruby's hair, and I drew around the die and cut it by hand to make the narrow mat. Go and see the very pretty creations made to inspire you by my teamies and join the challenge! Thanks for l...

Hello! It's a beautiful, clear but chilly autumn day here in S-E Herts. Every fortnight when my hubby takes me to hospital for chemo we drive along a road bordered with the most beautiful trees, and over the past few weeks it's been lovely to see them change into their gorgeous autumn colours! And now our Challenge this fortnight at My Time to Craft is Halloween or Autumn Colours I don't oftem make Halloween things, because most of my friends and family just aren't interested, so it's good to have an alternative. This is a very bright card! I die-cut snippets of cardstock in dark red, orange, and gold-spotted yellow with a Spellbinders Majesty die set. For the base layer I drew around the outside of the largest die and hand-cut it. The Fancy Framed Tag is also by Spellbinders and I used the matching diamantes from Want 2 Scrap to bling it up. I embossed the sentiment in gold. The spotted background is actually more green than the picture shows, and it...

Good morning! Christmas is only 2 months away! To help with your Christmas crafting we have our regular Chrstmas Challenge at CRAFT . Our fab sponsor is Digital Paper Crafts I have used this adorable Drummer Boy he is so sweet! The papers are from an old magazine freebie and I cut 2 sheets into triangles to echo the pattern on the drum. The snowflake is by Avery Elle and I added glamour dust to it for some sparkle. The green bakers twine also has a bit of sparkle, though it doesn't show in the photo. The gold-embossed sentiment is by Lili of the Valley . I added dots of a white Pearl Pen in two of the corners, and Glossy Accents on the drum. Have a look at the inspiration that my teamies have created, and get stuck in! Every card made now means one less to be made in a panic in December! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's a grey, wet Thursday here in S-E Herts and I am a bit snuffly with a cold! I hope everyone else is doing rather better! Our CRAFT Challenge this week is a technique: make a Tri-fold card (also called a Criss-Cross card) with a tag Here is a tutorial to remind you of the style. And here's mine! And now with the tag insert: The papers are all snippets in patriotic red, white and blue, making a rather British card! There are drops of ice white Pearl Pen on the cute Owl's crown, and the jewels have been covered with Glossy Accents to give a more regal look. There is a teapot charm attached to the blue bakers twine. The sentiment on the tag is by Paper Smooches and I added the word 'soon' underneath using stickers from an old Freckled Fawn kit. The cute tiny clothes' pegs are from stash. Our gorgeous sponsor this week is the fabulous Pink Gem Designs and the image I used is Keep Calm Owl who is so cute! I really enjoyed m...