Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! We have a cosmically good Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week: Out of This World! Think stars, moons, planets, spaceships, aliens..... I have made a galaxy background. I stamped and gold-embossed some star constellations from Simon Says Stamp Seeing Stars stamp set then blended on colour with Distress Inks, and splattered watered-down Nuvo Mousse over it to create the stars. The gold-embossed sentiment is from a very old stamp set which has no name, so I don't know where it came from. The cute image is Magical Unicorn by Scrap'N'Dipity. I admit, this unicorn is stretching the theme a bit, but I'm reluctant to use Astrology signs, but the cosmic background is definitely 'Out of This World!' Our sponsor is Scrap'N'Dipity. Zoom over to the blog and see my teamies' gorgeous creations for more inspiration! I hope you're all keeping well! Thanks for looking Love Mags B x

Good morning! To cheer up your Monday we have a new Challenge at Dream Valley with a lovely theme: One for the Girls. An excuse to dig out all your prettiest papers and embellishments for the ladies in your life! I apologise for the rather odd photo, the Glossy Accents was still wet, so I took the picture with the card lying flat instead of upright! The delicious papers are from a very old pad by MME called 'Quite Contrary.' The sentiment is from the same pad, I fussy cut it and added it to some white card and covered it all with Glossy Accents. The sweet image is Jerry from our sponsor Ppinky Dolls. The ribbon and gems are from stash. Go and see the gorgeous, girly creations my teamies have left on the blog to inspire you! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! Apologies for the delay in posting, I've had a gippy tummy today and spent most of it asleep! It's a nice and easy Challenge at My Time to Craft! this fortnight: Die Cuts Only . I used a set of nesting dies by Tonic and layered them with plain die-cut circles. The flowers are stamped and die-cut with an old set from Clearly Besotted, and the sentiment is from the same set. Have a look at my teamies' creations, they are so creative, they will inspire you! Remember, it's Die-cuts ONLY - a die-cut image doesn't count! (In fact, my stamped and cut flowers and my stamped sentiment may be stretching the Challenge a bit too far, come to think of it.) Thanks for looking, and have a good weekend! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We have a new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge which is Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving . We also have a DT CALL so do go over to the blog and check it out! I don't normally 'do' Halloween, but my daughter's partner's family does, so I made a Halloween card. The image is Coraline by Nikki Burnette. I coloured her with Promarkers and added Spectrum Noir Sparkle to the moon. The black lace background paper is from stash. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Celebrations Scripty Sayings stamp set. I also added some orange twine. Our sponsor is Nikki Burnette. I hope you're all looking forward to a good weekend! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope your week is going well! Did you know it's now less than 100 days until Christmas? Scary! Now's your chance to get ahead and join in at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge where it's always 'Anything Goes.' A few weeks ago I posted a card here using a die from a magazine which I inlaid with different coloured card. I've used the same die and also the matching embossing folder for today's card: This time I didn't do any inlay. I went over the border stars with a white gel pen. I love blue and white for Christmas/Winter cards, I think it looks so crisp and fresh! Do go and see what my teamies have made to inspire you! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Don't forget we have a DT Call on until the end of the month! Good morning, all! Brrr, it's a chilly, grey day in S-E Herts:a good day to join in at the new CRAFT Challenge and make something for Christmas. (As long as the weather is fine in Birmingham, where Essex Cricket Club are on the verge of winning the Division One Championship title, I don't mind what it does here. Exciting times!) Right, our theme is Christmas, and I made a card: This cute image is Snowy, Slippy and Flurry from Digital Delights by Louby Loo. I added a lot of stickles! I used paper from an old Papermania pad that has bands of pattern, but it was rather too busy, so I added a green dotted paper fromthe same pad. I added some glittery bakers' twine and the sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Winter Scripty Sayings stamp set, embossed in white. We have two fab sponsors this week: Digital Delights by Louby Loo and Oddball Art. Go and see my teamies' gorgeous work! A

Open to anyone, whatever your age or experience! Check out the details at CRAFT Challenge and sign up. Good luck! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley and it's very topical: Autumn Colours. So that's red, orange, brown, a little green, perhaps. Mind today has been cold and rainy so the autumn colours in S-E Herts are basically grey and more grey!!! I made my card before the last very busy fortnight (Children's Holiday Club at Church followed by a week away near Bath) and used an image from our sponsor, the fabulous All Dressed Up which I already had. Sadly, she is no longer available on the website, but there are plenty more of Wendy's delightful digis to admire! I used some old papers by Kaisercraft from the Peachy Keen Collection and added some lace from stash.  The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley.  I used a Fiskars Threading water punch on the horizontal yellow strip, and the corners are from an ancient Spellbinders die set. The papers have a lovely gloss over the red leaves, and I added Glossy Accents to the balloon - which looks blue in the photo

'Darling, it's better Down where it's wetter, Take it from me!' Yes, you'll be humming the song all weekend now! Yes, our theme for this fortnight's My Time to Craft! Challenge is Under The Sea. This gorgeous mermaid is Siren of Pearls from Make It Crafty.   I used an old Magnolia die for the white card 'lace' and the papers came from stash.  The star stickers are from Paperchase.  I fussy cut the mermaid and added her to the shell image, also from Make It Crafty, on foam pads. As a last hurrah at the end of summer, have a go at a sea-themed creation! There's loads of inspiration on the My Time to Craft blog! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! We have a technique Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week: Embossing. This can either be heat embossing or dry embossing with a folder - or both! I used an embossing folder on some ivory Centura Pearl cardstock for my background.  The image mat is cut with a Spellbinders die. The gold-embossed sentiment is from a very old Woodware stamp set. The kawaii image (that's 'cute' in Japanese!) is Kimono Portrait by Star Stampz. The ribbon and gems are from stash. Apologies for the lack of detail, I'm on holiday and left the details at home!! Our Sponsor is the adorable Star Stampz. Go and see my teamies' inspiration and get embossing!!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I'm posting this from a little stone cottage just north of Bath, in the UK, where Ye Olde Manne and I are having a week's holiday. My sister lives in Bath, and my oldest friend and her parents live in nearby villages, so we have been visiting them. Next year I will have known my friend and her parents for 60 years! I can't quite believe it!!! Anyway, on to the Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and of course the theme is Anything Goes. I used an old Whimsy Stamp, designed by Melissa Jenkins, of a cute fairy using a holly leaf as a sail to blow her along! Unfortunately I left my list of items I used at home! Have a look at my teamies' creations, they will inspire you to get on with your Christmas cards!! Thanks for looking, and I hope you're having a good week. love Mags B x