Madcap Manor

Hi, guys! I hope you're all keeping well! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley and it's a lovely, girlie theme - Pink Birthday. Our fab sponsor is Fabrika Fantasy and the DT were lucky enough to be given some images to work with - I chose the darling Flying Elf. So cute! I chose the Promarker colours from the background paper, which is a very old piece by Kanban, and has lovely silver foiling which really gleams in the light. Because I didn't have quite enough to stretch across my card I added a matted scrap of an old Nitwits paper down the middle to hide the gap. The elf's hair and dress, and the dragon's horns, have Spectrum Noir sparkle added to them. The silver-embossed banner and sentiment are also old, they are by Clearly Besotted. I added pink Nuvo drops around the scalloped mat which I cut with a Spellbinders die, and inked the edge of the image with Spun Sugar Distress Ink. Is this pink enough, do you think? So if you want an excuse to ...

Happy birthday, William Shakespeare! Good evening, all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that going back to work hasn't been too stressful! We have a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge for you to enjoy! I used an old Woodware stamp and heat-embossed it in gold. Then I coloured it using my Zig pens. I scribbled the colour onto a palette (nothing fancy - just a piece of A4 white card that's been laminated!) and used a damp brush to pick it up. I added Nuvo Drops to the flower centres. The sentiment is also gold-embossed, and the sequins are from my stash. The background paper was loose in my Snippets drawer, I have no idea where it's from! Have a look at the festive creations my teamies have left on the blog to inspire you and join in the fun! Thanks for looking, and have a good week! love Mags B x

Evening, all! I'm sitting down with a G'n'T after a fun but rather knackering afternoon at a one-day children's Holiday Club in our Church Hall. The children made Hot Cross Buns, and individual Easter Gardens, and helped set up the big Easter Garden that's now in front of the altar. It was lovely! Now I'm about to order a takeaway, but before then I must tell you about our new challenge at My Time to Craft where our theme is Spring Flowers. I used an old Clearly Besotted stamp called Scribbled Flowers. The stem is separate from the flowers, and I used Lawn Fawn inks to stamp them. Rather than mask the flowerheads where they overlapped, I followed Jennifer McGuire's advice and simply rubbed off the ink in the overlapping areas before stamping. The sentiment is embossed in Emerald City by Love from Lizi. I added a strip of Moss Material Embossed card also by Love from Lizi, to ground the flowers. My teamies have made some beautiful cards, do ...

Good morning, my lovelies! Our new Challenge at Dream Valley is so cute, it's All About Bears. Our sponsor is the amazing Dies to Die For I have been a big fan for many years! At my Church's Toddler Group which I help to run we are a bit low on birthday cards for little boys, so my card for this Challenge is one of several that I'm donating. I used one of my favourite Lili of the Valley stamps, sadly it doesn't seem to be available any more, but do check out their website and Etsy shop for adorable images! I paper-pieced all the balloons, adding Promarker alcohol pens to give some shading for dimension, and also Glossy Accents for some shine. I used the 'out of the box' technique, cutting around the tops of the balloons before using a stitched circle die to cut out the image. Then I added fun foam behind the image to give some more dimension. The papers were hanging around in my stash. I went around all the edges with Broken China Distress Ink. ...

Good afternoon, my lovelies, from a dreicht and rainy S-E Hertfordshire! Having done ALL the ironing I have now earned a happy crafting afternoon! But first it's time to tell you about a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy where it's always Anything Christmas Goes. (ooo, I could just do with a warming glass of festive mulled wine today, it is so cold!) My card is Old School, I used Distress Inks and embossing powders do do some watercolour embossed resist for the background. I added Perfect Pearls to the water I used with my inks, there's a subtle sheen which the camera hasn't caught, sadly. I used all the stamps from Lots of Snowflakes by Simon Says Stamp, embossed them, then dipped the cardstock into watered-down inks on my craft mat. The sentiment is from an old Clearly Besotted set, embossed in Simon's Steel Navy embossing powder. I matted everything onto some silver mirri card. I added Silver Moondust Nuvo Glitter drops to the background to give...

Hiya! I hope you're all keeping well and finding time to craft! I've had quite a few busy days recently, and less time in the Craft Hovel, and I really feel the lack! However, it's now the end of term at the Toddler Club and I intend to spend the next few days crafting and listening to CRICKET!!!!! Yay! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft to encourage you, our theme is Easter or Hedgehogs I made an Easter card using the Amazing stamp set from the March kit by Simon Says Stamp. I used various dye inks to stamp the background in bright Spring colours. The daffodil is a layered die by Altenew which came free with a magazine, and although it's not available from Altenew they do have a very pretty Build-a-Flower Daffodil stamp and die set. The gold-embossed sentiment is a very old stamp! I added orange Nuvo Drops to the banner. My teamies have made the most adorable creations for you, do go and see! Thanks for looking and have a great weekend! lo...

Hiya! There's a new Challenge at Dream Valley which is to make a Shaped Card - but not a square or rectangle! Think circles, ovals, hexagons, teacups, cupcakes..... We have TWO gorgeous sponsors this time: Cute'n'Crafty and Star Stampz. I have made a Rocker Card - the link is to a useful YouTube tutorial - using Birthday Pebbles by Cute'n'Crafty. I used a Scalloped Circle die for the rocker base, as I find that's a bit more stable. The circle-patterned paper came from an old magazine freebie and the gold-embossed sentiment is by Paper Smooches. I used Broken China Distress Ink round the main image and the sentiment, and Spectrum Noir Sparkle on Pebbles' hat and bow tie. I apologise that this post is a day late! Thanks for looking, and have a great week! love Mags B x