Madcap Manor

Good morning, all, from a sunny and chilly S-E Herts! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Ours was quiet, mainly because we were both going down with colds!! Now things are getting back to normal, and we have our last CRAFT Challenge of 2017, which is Anything Goes. I have made a birthday card for an old friend, using one of Bugaboo Stamp's fun images. This is Gus Birthday - Golden Years. The sentiment reads 'If these are the Golden Years, I am NOT impressed!' The papers are from stash and I used an MFT Vintage Buttons die (sadly unavailable) and some blue Centura Pearl cardstock for the embellishments. Our fab sponsors: Digital Delights and Bugaboo Stamps My teamies have left some great inspiration on the Blog, do go and see! Thanks for looking! Wishing you all the best for a happy and healthy and crafty 2018! love, Mags B x

Hi, guys! I'm sceduling this post, as we will be in Ireland just before Christmas, visiting our daughter, soon-to-be son-in-law and our gorgeous grandson! I hope I get it right!! Our Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week is Anything Goes. I have made a circle card for a Mum - or Mom! I went with a shabby chic look, distressing the edges of the papers and adding some lace and a lot of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. The chipboard 'Mom' and butterfly are from stash, as is the doily that's just visible behind the image. I added a gem swirl from Hobbycraft as the butterfly trail. The lovely image is Teapot from Eureka! Stamps. Our sponsors this week: Melonheadz Doodles and Eureka! Stamps. Go and see my teamies inspiring creations! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! As Christmas gets closer I find myself making CAS cards that are quick to reproduce! Some metallic embossing and a bit of mirri card for bling, a die-cut or two, et voila! Here is my simplest card yet, for the last Challenge of the year at My Time to Craft! It's open until January 5th. The silver-embossed wreath is made with an old Penny Black wood-mounted stamp, and the sentiment is from an old Clearly Besotted set. The bow is a Tattered Lace Smaller Bow die and I filled in the knot with red Nuvo Drops and added Wink of Stella to give some shimmer. The background paper is from a 12 x 12 sheet that was hanging about my Christmas supplies box without a name, but the snowflakes all have some very pretty glitter on them. Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hello, my lovelies! At CRAFT Challenge we have our regular Christmas theme! This cute image is Snowman Broom from Crafty Sentiments. I love his smiling face! I have used up some old papers from stash, adding red Nuvo Drops to the berries on the bushes. The silver ribbon and the blue gems are from Hobbycraft, and the sentiment is made with a Sizzix Thinlits Holiday Words Script die and brushed with a clear Sparkle pen. Our lovely sponsors: Crafty Sentiments and Bugaboo Stamps My teamies have made some great cards using images kindly given by our sponsors, do go and see! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Hiya! It's our last Challenge of the year at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and as always the theme is Anything Christmas Goes! I have made a set of gift tags. The Spellbinders Heirloom Ornaments stamp came with a magazine a few years ago and it echoes the shape of the 2011 Heirloom Ornaments dies. I embossed some in silver and sone in gold, then fussy cut around the edges. I used the coordinating die to cut out pink and blue card as backing, then used my crop-a-dile to punch holes and added ribbon. Simple, but I like them! I hope you're all getting along ok with your Christmas preparations. Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

Hello! We have a gorgeous Colour Combo for you at CRAFT Challenge this week! Such rich colours! The DT were given some fab papers by Jo, our boss, from her site: Trimgym's Digistamps and images and if you go to the Challenge blog you can see that my teamies made excellent use of them! The fun image is Ambrose King of the Road by Doctor Digi. Fans of 'Noddy' will recognise the car! I dry embossed a strip of yellow card to act as a 'road'. I also added some doubled-up twine from stash and tied a knot. The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted from the Message Me set, and the banner is made with a Simon Says Stamp Sall Folded Banners die. Our Sponsors: Melonheadz Doodles Doctor Digi Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Dear Blogger pals, I apologise that I haven't been around recently to thank you for your comments or to appreciate your lovely creations. However, now that our Christingle Service has been more-or-less organised, and the Christmas Parties at the Church Toddler Club have come and gone, I hope to be here for you more! I always appreciate your comments, they are so encouraging! Thank you! love Mags B x

Hello, my lovelies! If you need encouragement for making Christmas cards, our new challenge at Dream Valley is - Christmas! This adorable image is Christmas Star from Star Stampz. So sweet! The papers are First Edition's Merry Little Christmas The gold twine is from stash. The red banner (which I cut a bit short) is printed with 'Merry Christmas' and so I didn't add a sentiment. We have THREE sponsors for this Challenge, which lasts until January 6th 2018. Star Stampz Lemon Shortbread Ppinky Dolls Art Each one is offering a prize of 3 digis of your choice! Go and see my talented teamies' gorgeous inspiration on the Challenge blog! Thanks for looking and have a good week! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope you're all having a great weekend! I'm going to be writing Christmas cards today rather than making them! First let me tell you about our new Challenge at My Time to Craft and we have a terrific sketch for you to follow! Lovely! I turned it around, as the image is horizontal, not vertical, it comes from a sheet of cut-aparts by Graphic45. This is for a Ruby Wedding Anniversary, as I'm sure you can tell by all the red! The paper is from an ancient pad by K&Co, the ribbon and lace are from stash, the pearl heart is from Hobbycraft, and the 3 pearl buttons are by Webster's Pages. The sentiment says 'Love is two people who share one heart' and is a vellum strip that came with a Freckled Fawn kit about 3 years ago! I added it to a strip of green paper to make it stand out more. I distressed the edges of the paper and added Vintage Photo Distress Ink, to give a shabby chic look, but I'm not sure about it as it makes the pear