Madcap Manor

Good afternoon, and Happy Monday to you all! It's time for a new Challenge at Dream Valley and our theme is Monochrome . That is, use shades of just one colour - except for face and hair if you're using an image of a person. I went with blue: My Christmas card uses an old Lili of the Valley stamp, sadly she no longer seems to be available. I coloured her with Promarkers - I find monochrome quite tricky, and since I know my Promarkers better than my Copics, I went with the old favourites! All the fur on her outfit is glittered with Icicle Stickles. The papers are also LotV, I distressed the edges and added some Stormy Sky DI. The large snowflake is an old die from Marianne, also now unavailable, it seems, and I used a Simon Says Stamp Season's Greetings die.  fo the sentiment, which I went over with a white gel pen for emphasis. The ribbon is actually an old sticker from who-knows-where (ie my stash!) and the pretty cotton lace  is from Crafty Ribbons.  The ...

Good morning! I hope you're all having a good Bank Holiday weekend over here, and a good normal weekend everywhere else! Our My Time to Craft! Challenge this fortnight is Something That Flies so that includes not just butterflies, birds and fairies but also aeroplanes and airships! The inspiration for this card came from the background paper, which is from a freebie pad that came with a mag several years ago. The cute aeroplane is a Reverse Confetti stamp from the Here We Go set, and is cut with the corresponding die. The banner sentiment is from Paper Smooches' Blissful Banners stamp and die set. I trimmed one end of the die-cut and drew lines to make the strings attacing it to the aeroplane. I hope you'll go over to the MTTC blog and see the inspiration that my lovely teamies have left for you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

I'm so sorry to be late with this post, I had a CT scan at the hospital and then slept all afternoon! Better late than never, though! So at CRAFT Challenge this week we are looking for Back to School creations. I used AKV Boy - school from Bugaboo stamps.  The papers are from stash, they are very old! The sentiment is a sticker, also very old. Our Sponsors: Bugaboo Stamps and Oddball Art My teamies have made some terrific inspiration, do go and see! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good grief, is it Thursday already? Time for a CRAFT Challenge It's our monthly Christmas theme! I used Kendall by Nikki Burnette for my card. I went a bit over the top with the gold card - but, hey, Christmas cards need some bling! The papers are by Die-Cuts With a View and unfortunately are out of print, I do like the bright colours! I went to town on the die-cutting! The frame is made with Spellbinders Decorative Labels 28 and the corners I think are by Whimsy Stamps - I've had the die so long that it's lost its label! The ribbon is from stash and the heat-embossed sentiment is LotV. Our lovely sponsor this week is Nikki Burnette Have a look at the inspiration that my talented teamies have made for you, and join in! Thanks for looking! Merry Christmas! love Mags B x

Is Blogger playing the fool again? I keep getting WV when I try to comment on some blogs. I've checked my blog (in Settings) to make sure WV is turned off, which it is. Why can't Blogger, Facebook etc just leave us alone?! love Mags B x

Happy Monday! At Dream Valley this fortnight we have a theme of Pretty in Pink so go to town with all your pink supplies! Our sponsor is the awesome All Dressed Up and a lucky winner will be able to choose 2 of Wendy's lovely images. I used the sweet Flyaway Butterfly I went a bit overboard with the pink! I'm not sure what the papers are, they came with a kit from Studio Calico. The butterflies are from Joycrafts and the gems, ribbon and bobble trim are from stash. We still have a DT Call on, the details are Here and it closes next week. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

...or both! It's My Time to Craft Challenge day! We have a lovely theme this fortnight, it's Embossing. I used dry embossing (using a folder and my die-cutting machine) and also heat embossing. I enjoyed it so much that I made two cards! This card uses a snowflake embossing folder that came with my Cuttlebug about 6 years ago! The wreath is from Holly Motifs by Spellbinders and the gold-embossed sentiment is from Joyful Greetings by Paper Smooches. This card is made in exactly the same way. The background is embossed with a Spellbinders Flora M-Bossabilities folder. The die-cuts are also Spellbinders, this time from Cascading Grace . The central red piece is embossed and added with foam pads to give a bit of dimension. The gold embossed sentiment is by Clearly Besotted but seems to be discontinued. See what my teamies at My Time to Craft have created to inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hello! On Tuesday I had my 6th chemo session, which means I'm now halfway through! A nice little milestone! It'll be over by Christmas! It's also Thursday, which means a new CRAFT Challenge This week it's Anything Goes - nice and easy! This glamorous lady is Queen of Hearts Hat by Rick St Dennis. The papers are from the Splendid collection by Authentique. I used green seam binding and cream lace from stash, and two wooden hearts which I coloured with a purple Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen. The sentiment reads 'It's a lot of work to be this glamorous' and is from Girls Rock by LDRS Creative. Our fab sponsors this week are: Rick St Dennis Craft Classes Online The Cutting Cafe Look at my teamies' work for inspiration, their creations are lovely! Thanks for looking! love, Mags B x

Good morning, my dearios! I hope your week is going well! Today I shall mostly be listening to the cricket while I potter about. Before then, here is our new CRAFT Challenge which is this lovely colour combo: I have used a pretty image from one of our sponsors, this is Dahlias from SLS Lines My papers are all Snippets, those leftover scraps from previous crafting, so I don't know their origins. The mustard coloured strip has a scalloped edge made with a Fiskars Punch . The ribbon is from stash and the enamel dots are Doodlebug Sprinkles . The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted Our lovely sponsors are: SLS Lines Digital Stamps Kat Scrappiness Have a look on our blog for the prizes you could win, and admire the inspiration that my teamies have made! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya! We have DT Call at Dream Valley Challenges. If you've ever wanted to try a Design Team, now's your chance! We are a very friendly bunch! Hop over to the blog, there's a pinned post with all the details. Give it a go!!! Now for this fortnight's Challenge, and our theme is Buttons and Bows . I have several buttons on my card and there's one real bow and also one on the cute image! The sweet image is Katie Jumping Rope by sponsor Robyn's Fetish .  The papers are from an old pad by Cart-us called 'Flowers & Birds' which sadly seem to be discontinued.  The buttons and ribbon are from stash.  I distressed the image mat with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, and gave her dress some sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella pen. Have a look at my lovely teamies' creations and be inspired! Thanks for looking, and I'll leave you with something I've been singing since I made this card! Ladies and gentlemen - 'Buttons and Bows' sung ...