Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! I hope your week is going well! Our new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge is to make a Waterfall card. I had never made one before, so this was a definite Challenge! First, here are the images that I used. The holly die-cut is from an old Whimsy Stamps die and is covered with Spectrum Noir shimmer. The others are: Merry Christmas, Christmas Snowman, and Angel Wishes digis from QKR Stampede. I added a stamped border to the sentiment image. The completed card is like this: Next time I make one I'll use thinner card for the mechanism, as it's very stiff! Our sponsors this week: Di's Digistamps and: QKR Stampede. My teamies have made some gorgeous examples to show how the technique looks! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

D'OH. And DOUBLE D'OH! I didn't post my card last week for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. Sheer forgetfulness, I'm afraid, during the summer holidays I can never remember what day it is! I write lists to myself and then lose them. Wot a plonker, eh? Well, better late than never! The theme, as always, is Anything Christmas Goes. Now, this is RIGHT out of my comfort zone! I had a weird dream about a huge Christmas card that was slathered with lace and muslin and lots of gold trim, and when I woke up I thought, dammit, I'll give it a go! Let me tell you, this card took me all afternoon to make. I tried out different inks and stamps, and finally plumped for Vintage Photo Distress ink and a very old Santa image from Bo Bunny. The torn background paper is stamped with a wood plank effect stamp from Altenew. I added a Spellbinders holly motifs die-cut behind the Santa. The flowers and roses lace and the pearl strip are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The se...

Good morning! Happy Bank Holiday Monday for those enjoying the break! Our new Challenge at Dream Valley which is to Use a stamped or digi image. Nice and easy - but it must be an image! I have used one of the fabulous images from Wendy Burns at All Dressed Up Stamps. In fact, this beauty is a rubber stamp from Little Darlings Rubber Stamps, this is Looking Gorgeous. She is so glamorous that I pulled out the flowers and lace! Both are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I built a flower arch for the ballerina to dance under, and added little leaves from a Spellbinders' Foliage die. I also used a Spellbinders Labels 22 die to cut out the image. The paper is from an old paper pad by Tilda called 'Summer Blues.' The ribbon is from stash. Our sponsor is All Dressed Up. Do go and have a look at Wendy's lovely images! The DT has used some of Wendy's images to inspire you, go and see! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! Our new challenge at My Time to Craft is Krafty - use kreft on your creation. I love the look of white embossing on kraft, though alcohol markers don't mix well at all with embossed lines, so I dug out my Prismacolor pencils. This is Hero Art's Tall Flowers stamp, sadly unavailable. The die-cut banner and stamp are Streamers by Paper Smooches. I rounded the corners with a corner chomper. Have a look at the inspiration from my teamies, they are gorgeous! I hope your weekend is going well. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! It's nearly Back to School time, and that is our theme at CRAFT Challenge. This is Schoolgirl Sally by our sponsor Sweet'n'Sassy. I used papers from an old magazine freebie. The ribbon and gems are from stash and the sentiment is from Label Love by Altenew Stamps. My teamies have made some gorgeous examples to inspire you, do have a look! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We have our regular Christmas theme at CRAFT Challenge! This cute Santa is from the Christmas Junk Drawer set by Melonheadz Clip Art. The papers are from an old Papermania pad. I used a Memory Box Frosty Border die for the snowflakes and covered them in Glamour Dust. Santa's fur trim has been stickled. I hope all is well with you! This weekend we are visiting beautiful Shropshire for a family reunion, and the Irish contingent are flying in tonight, so I've been madly cleaning and tidying! We have a travel cot which is such a pain to fold up that we tend to leave it in the bedroom, where it gets filled with blankets, pillows etc. So now I have to put them all away in the right cupboards!! Serves me right for being lazy!!! Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend, too! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya! The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge no 12 is here! As usual the theme is Anything Goes for Christmas . I used a die that came with a magazine to do some card inlaying: I backed the image with silver mirri card, which shows through the star and the windows, and added dots of a white gel pen to make more stars in the sky. Inlay die-cutting is a bit fiddly, and you have to be careful not to lose any of the smaller pieces, but I really like it! Have a good weekand thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! To cheer up your week we have a great new Challenge at Dream Vlley which is Christmas Animals. I used a small Hero Arts cling stamp called Small Fancy Reindeer - I love his curly antlers! I used a gorgeous die from Joy!crafts which sadly is no longer available, to echo the curly antlers. The starry ribbon-threader is a very old Marianne die, and I used silver ribbon from Hobbycraft to thread through the holes. I added some of the left-over stars as embellishments. The paper is from stash. Go and see the fun cards that my teamies have made to inspire you! There is a fabulous variety! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

It's Saturday! And it's not raining (yet!) Yippee!!! I had my 3-monthly check up post-chemo yesterday, and all seems well, thank goodness! :) Now on to our new Challenge at My Time to Craft is Hats and Bags. You can use either or both on your creation. I can't find a link to the gorgeous Sarah Kay image, sadly, though if you Google you'll find some places that still sell her stamps. NOT, of course, digi copies of her images on Pinterest or elsewhere, those have been stolen and are why she has stopped doing stamps, I'm told. Anyway, I coloured her in Copics and added Glamour Dust to her ribbons. I used a Joy!Crafts Heart die 6002/0381 for the doily and their Leaf die 6002/0493 for the leaves. The cheesecloth is from stash, as are the flowers and the ribbon. The lace is from The Ribbon Girl. The papers are All About Me by Prima. Go and see what my inventive teamies have done with the Challenge, they will inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mag...

Hiya! We have a fab theme at CRAFT Challenge this week - Anything Goes! I have made a birthday card for a friend who supports Arsenal Football Club, whose colours are red and white. The fun image is Dunderton Academicals . I coloured him with Copics and added Glossy Accents to his glasses, and went around the edges with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I added a frame made with an old MFT Die-namics die, which I distressed with Vintage Photo, then added some streaks of Delicata Gold ink to give the impression of an old picture frame with worn gilding. It shows better irl. The background paper is from an old pad by (I think) Cosmo Cricket - the label has come off! The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted. The little banner stamp is from my first kit from Love From Lizi - all my other banner stamps were too big, but this one was perfect! I had a lot of fun making this - even though my team is Arsenal's North London rival, Tottenham Hotspur - and I wonder what he'd look like d...

Good morning! It's been such a wet week here in the UK, but to cheer us all up we have a gorgeous Colour Combo Challenge at CRAFT. I found some old papers by Kaisercraft which include turquoise, green, pink and cream, and added brown in the image. The sweet image is Macy Boo from Lacy Sunshine. The photo doesn't really show that her dress and stockings are coloured in aqua and green. Her shoes are brown, and all the pink trimmings have added sparkle. I cut the mat with a Spellbinders die, and the butterflies are cut with a Martha Stewart punch, in pale and darker pink, layered together, with pearls along the bodies. The sentiment is LotV. . The ribbon is from stash. Our sponsor is Lacy Sunshine Stamps Have a look at my teamies' inspiring work using these colours! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x