Madcap Manor

Hello, my dearios! Well, we're back from our holibobs in North Shropshire! We were very lucky with the weather and had a very relaxing week. I read a couple of books by a new author, J M Alvey, they are murder mysteries set in Classical Athens and they are so very good! The first is 'Shadows of Athens' and I recommend them highly! Since returning I have slowly got back into the usual routine, but I took some time out from the post-holiday washing and ironing to make some cards. Does anyone else find they have to schedule their cardmaking activities amongst all the weekly work? I used items from the Love from Lizi September card kit, which included a lot of ephemera in gorgeous colours. The kit is sold out, but I may be able to give you an idea of how to use ephemera from other brands. I apologise for the wonky photos! The frame is popped up on foam tape and the striped paper is pearlised. The sentiment is made with a Clearly Besotted die. The glitter stickers come

Hi, guys! I hope you've had a good weekend! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley which is Things With Wings. On Friday I mentioned that I've been looking through my card kits, trying to use up my stash, and I came across a Simon Says Stamp stencil and stamp set which are perfect for the Challenge. From the April 2018 kit I used the butterfly stamp set and the matching stencil. I used the stencil and Distress Oxide ink to blend the colours over the butterfly shapes. The sentiment came from the same set, and so did the sequins and card base. Unfortunately I needed a card for a friend who's been going through a rough time, and I think butterflies are always appropriate for such a time. I'm glad to say she liked it! Go and see my teamies' fab creations, you'll be amazed at the variety! Thanks for looking and have a great week! love Mags B x

Hi, guys! As you read this I will be travelling home after a week spent in Shropshire, close to where my son and his family live. It's a beautifulpart of the country, stuffed full of history and with some fabulous walks by the River Severn. Of course, as a fan of Ellis Peters' 'Brother Cadfael' mediaeval mystery series I love exploring round Shrewsbury, where the stories are set! Do visit, if you ever have the chance. Anyway, I have scheduled this post, and I hope I've got it right! Our challenge this time is simply - Birds. I have a gorgeous pink flamingo on my card! I have been sorting through my card kits and came across one from Simon Says Stamp last year which included the One Cool Pineapple stamp set, which is still available to buy on its own. I LOVE this stamp set! I stamped and coloured the flamingo and used a circle die to cut it out, then added streaks of Copics in blue to make the water round its feet. I also gave the water some sparkle with a

Christmas is creeping ever closer, but at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge we are here to help! In other words, we have a new Challenge for you! I have been channelling my inner Kristie Marcotte and have made a set of 4 cards. Kristie's videos show how she uses card sketches to use up an entire 6 x 6 paper pad, and I get ideas from her about how to mix papers without a card being too busy, and also ideas on using up snippets! Do go and have a look! The card sketch is Operation Write Home #146 - unfortunately I don't seem able to add the image here. The papers are from an old DCWV Christmas paper pad which came with a magazine. The gold-embossed sentiment is by Clearly Besotted and sadly is out of print. I added some gold peel-offs from Love from Lizi for added bling. I am quite a slow cardmaker, but doing an 'assembly line' using the same sketch is quicker, and the various papers make them not too 'samey'! Check out my teamies' creations

Hi, guys! We had a visit from our daughter this weekend and in between seeing her old friends she was watching Korean Drama on the tv! I found it quite interesting - though I'm not normally one for the soaps! Anyway, she's now on her way home to Ireland and the house seems a bit empty! Hopefully she'll be back before the end of October, with hubby and son in tow. So we have a very topical new challenge at Dream Valley: Autumn Colours. . Our sponsor is Sheepski Designs and the lovely Andrea generously sent some digis for the DT to use. I have used Lilly - isn't she lovely? The papers came from a mysterious pad that has lost its details, which I found while tidying the Craft Hovel last week. It's amazing what I find when I do that! I coloured Lilly with Promarkers and matted the image and papers with gold mirri card. I added a Sway Peeloff from Love from Lizi over the join between the two papers. The corner stickers are from my stash, and the sentiment is fr

Hiya! I'm sorry this post is late - my daughter is over from Ireland for the weekend, and I'm afraid with all the excitement I forgot! Anyway, we have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft which is to make Anything BUT a Card. That can be a scrapbook page, embroidery, anything! I have made some little boxes for Christmas presents. They are based on This video by The Posh Paper Lady. I used 6.5" papers from Kaisercraft (a very old Christmas pad!) so I was able to add lids to the boxes rather than glue everything down. All I did was add half an inch to one of the top flaps, score it, and cut off the opposite flap to give room to tuck the lid in. The snowflakes are cut in silver mirri card using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes die. I'll add tags nearer the time, once I've found suitable gifts to go inside! My teamies have been so creative, do go and look at their lovely work! Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend! love Mags B x