Madcap Manor

My goodness, it's Thursday already! Where did the week go??? Mind, I have now bought most of the Christmas Presents (isn't the Internet wonderful?) which is appropriate because our new CRAFT Challenge is Christmas PRESENT not merely Christmas! (I apologise for the wonky picture!) The paper comes from The Magic of Christmas paper pad by Dovecraft. I added strips of Washi to look like ribbons tying up a present . The image of a present is from Christmas Doodles by Pickled Potpourri - such fun images! Icoloured 'From Me To You' in 3 shades of Copics to give an ombre effect. I punched a hole in the corner, added an eyelet and some glitter twine, and made it to represent the gift tag on top of my 'present' card! Our terrific sponsors this week are: Pickled Potpourri and DRS Designs My teamies have had a lot of fun with this challenge, do go and check out the inspiration on the blog! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! I hope you're all keeping well! It's already time for another Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and we're up to number 20! As ever the theme is Anything Christmas Goes. I used an old wood-mounted stamp and versamark ink on watercolour paper, then heat-embossed in gold. I used Distress Inks to colour the image by tapping an ink pad on a palette and using a waterbrush. I'm not brilliant at watercolouring, but I like the way the ink puddles between the embossed lines to give variety. The palette, by the way, is a piece of white card that's been run through a laminator - a great idea from Kristina Werner. Good luck with all your Christmas card making! Put on some seasonal music and craft, then reward yourself with a mince pie and a mug of chocolate!! Thanks for looking and have a good week! love Mags B x

Good morning! Our new Challenge at CRAFT Challenge is Not a Card! I made a vellum gift bag for my granddaughter's birthday present, using some beautiful heavy vellum that came with a magazine a loooong time ago! I find vellum quite hard to work with, as there are no second chances if you score the lines wrong, but it only took 2 goes to get this right!! The gorgeous image is Spring Flower by Star Stampz . The ribbon is from stash. Our sponsors this week: The Cutting Cafe Star Stampz Go and see the inspiration my teamies have left for you, put your thinking caps on, and make something that isn't a card!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We have a new Dream Valley Challenge for you and it's a corker: Add Texture. I have made a Christmas card (surprise!) using a sweet image from our sponsor, the wonderful Digistamp Boutique. Seriously, go and have a look at their fun, adorable images! Here is my card: This fun trio is Happy Penguins and even my hubby, who does not 'do' cute, likes them! The senstiment comes with the penguins. I added Flowersoft to the trims on their hats, which gives a nice fluffy look. My background is dry embossed with a snowflake pattern and I added some Nuvo Drops for some shine. The silver trees are made with silver Nuvo Mousse and a stencil which came with the November kit by Love From Lizi and I roughed-up the mousse before letting it dry, then cut out the trees. Lots of Diamond Stickles were added to the hand-cut 'snow banks!' It's a very sparkly card! My texture is: dry embossing; Nuvo drops; stickles; Nuvo Mousse, and Flowersoft! Do you th...

Hello, my dearios! Yesterday I had my latest post-cancer check-up, and I'm delighted to say I'm still in remission! The NHS really is a National Treasure, the staff are amazing and so kind. Thank you, ladies and gents, for seeing me through my treatment last year! But I'm here to tell you about the new Challenge at My Time to Craft which is Winter Birthday. A very useful Challenge, as I have 3 important birthdays between now and January! The gorgeous image is Winter Fairy by Sylvia Zet for Whimsy Stamps. I added a lot of Stickles to the 'fur' on her coat and her earmuffs, and Spectrum Noir sparkle to her wings. The papers are from stash, as is the ribbon, and the snowflakes are cut with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes die. As usual my teamies have produced some lovely examples to inspire you, do go and see! Thanks for looking and have a good weekend! love Mags B x

Good morning! It's time for our regular Christmas theme at CRAFT Challenge How are you getting on with your Christmas crafting? At this time of year I can be found muttering 'DON'T PANIC!' in true Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' style! Every card made now means one fewer to make later! I had fun with the fold on this card, I cut a strip off the front and added the sentiment to the back. The image is Christmas Owls from Pink Gem. Aren't they fun? I coloured each one slightly differently, adding Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen to the furon the hats, and a spot of Glossy Accents to the stars. The papers are from the snippets drawer and so are the copper-coloured mats. The sentiment is a very old wood-mounted stamp and is gold-embossed. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner to make sure it was straight - such a useful crafting tool! Our wonderful sponsor this week is Pink Gem Designs. Go and see my teamies' gorgeous work and be inspi...

Hello! We have a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. It doesn't seem like a fortnight since our last one! In the summer I bought a magazine about making Christmas cards, which included papers, a stamp set, some chipboard images, decoupage images and a 'how to' magazine, all for a tenner. I've been using a lot of the papers to make some quick cards. I used coloured cardstock for my card bases: they are all A4, but I can make one A2(US) card and also a 4 x 4 inch card from each sheet! Here are 3 of them: Sorry about the glare, it was a sunny day! I used 2 of the chipboards and also added a lot of shimmer with clear and coloured Spectrum Noir glitter pens. The 'ricrac' trim is made with a narrow Stitched Scalloped Borders die by Lawn Fawn which I die-cut from a longer strip of paper, then flipped the die and arranged it so that the second scallops were offset. They also have the full shimmer treatment! The papers are very brig...

Happy Thursday, all! My goodness, the nights have suddenly turned very chilly here, I have a woolly blanket wrapped around my legs to keep them warm! Winter Is Coming! And that's my cue to tell you about the new CRAFT Challenge where our theme is Winter. I have made a winter birthday card, as I always need several at this time of year. The image is Fenna Snowflake from Scrap'N'Dipity. I used papers from my scrap drawer for the background and banner. The stars are from Paperchase and the Sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set by Altenew, embossed in Simon Says Stamp's Steel Navy embossing powder which came with last month's kit. I added drops with a white pearl pen around the image to look like snow. Our sponsors this week are: Scrap'n'dipity and Lacy Sunshine My teamies have left some lovely wintry inspiration for you on the blog, do go and see! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening, all! I'm sorry this is so late, it's been a busy day - rather more busy than expected: and thereby hangs a tale. I want to sort all the linen and get rid of several worn sheets and duvet covers. However, the baby travel cot is still in front of the cupboard, and it's full of baby stuff that needs to be put away first. I have a box to put them in which will go under the bed, but before doing that I had to make room by sorting all the boxes already under the bed and throwing things out. Do you ever make 'To Do' lists that seem quite reasonable at the time but take a lot longer than expected? That was me today! I have cleared the boxes under the bed and that's all! I reckon I won't be sorting the linen until Wednesday!!!!! But now I'm having a sit-down and a cuppa and can tell you about our new Challenge at Dream Valley where our theme is to Add a Sentiment. We also have a DT Call so do check it out! Our lovely sponsor is the awesom...

Morning, all! Our new Challenge at My Time to Craft! is Paper Piecing. In case you haven't come across this technique before, it's where, rather than colouring your stamped image, you stamp it again on patterned paper, cut out the pieces and glue them in place instead. I used an old stamp by Woodware called 'Patchwork Christmas Tree.' Sadly it's now unavailable. The key with paper piecing is to use an image with clearly-defined shapes - have a look at my teamies' lovely creations to get a better idea. I used a selection of green papers for the tree, and a scrap of red for the heart, which has been covered in Glossy Accents. I also added Stickles to one of the 'patchwork' patterns and the star. The background paper is from stash and the ribbon is from Hobbycraft. The sentiment is from an old magazine freebie stamp set and the gems are also from stash. I made a second card, too: I only have another 2 dozen Christmas cards to make! I've ...

Hi, guys! This week at CRAFT Challenge we have a fabulous sketch! Isn't it great? I think the 3 squares look like tiles, so that inspired my interpretation. The image is Magnolia Block by Sweet'n'Sassy Stamps. I coloured each image with Copics, then added a thick layer of Glossy Accents over the top. The paper is from the 6x6 paper pad from the Rose Cafe collection by Bo Bunny. I also used a Simon Says Stamp Small Banner Die for the sentiment. Our fab sponsor is Sweet'n'Sassy Stamps. Go and see my teamies' gorgeous interpretations of the sketch, and have a go! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi! Here at last is my post for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge I apologise for the delay. Suddenly Christmas seems much closer, so I am trying to make at least two of every Christmas card now! This time I made two Shaker cards. For this one I used a Spellbinders 2010 Heirloom Ornaments die to cut the window. I cut it again from gold cardstock and then, without removing the die, traced around the edge and cut it out to make the frame. The sequin mix is from Little Things by Lucy and the paper is from stash. The sentiment is cut in the same gold card with a Simon Says Stamp die. This is made in the same way but with circle dies for the window and frame, and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp's Deco Christmas Tree die. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x