Madcap Manor

Good afternoon, my lovelies! It's time for another Challenge at Dream Valley and we'd like you to use either dies or punches or both on your creation!  Our sponsor is All Dressed Up Stamps, and Wendy kindly sent the Design Team a couple of images to use: I went with Country Girl who is so cute! I used a lot of Spellbinders dies on my circle card! The colourful background paper came from a pad from Love from Lizi called 'Kaleidoscope.' So summery! I used the same colours for the image. The green trim is from my stash, and the 'hello' die is a very old one from Simon Says Stamp.   I have been trying out different sizes, shapes and folds for my cardbases recently, I find that it sparks new ideas! Take a look at my teamies lovely work on the Challenge blog and dig out your dies and punches! Thanks for looking and take care. love Mags b x

 Good morning from a warm and sunny S-E Herts! Dare we hope that Summer is on its way? We have a new Challenge for you at My Time to Craft and our theme is Floral . That is, please make your focal point flowery.  I used items from the May 2021 kit by Love from Lizi - the kit is sold out, but there should be some of the gorgeous papers and decoupage still available. I made a simplified Bridge card, following instructions and measurements on this video by Kelly Acheson.  The flower pot has some gorgeous glitter on the flowers and butterfly, and the resin roses came in Lizi's kit. I really like this fold, it's a great way to use up scraps and snippets of paper! Please do go and see the inspiration left on the blog by my teamies, their cards are all lovely! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

Hello, good morning and welcome! It's another cold, grey May day in S-E Hertfordshire, very suitable for doing some festive and cheerful Christmas crafting! And we have a new challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge to inspire you!  I have chosen to make some tags this time, using up scraps of card from a Hunkydory magazine gift from last year. The papers are in fact border designs from some of the cardstock that came with the kit.  I added snowflakes made with an MFT Die-namics layered snowflake die set - maddeningly, I can no longer find it on their website, so it must be out of print. The snowflakes are cut from no-shed glitter cardstock by Tonic, and the ribbon and baker's twine came from my stash.  I made 4 of each design - they were a bit fiddly, but I'm pleased with the result. Check out my teamies' gorgeous creations on the blog, and join in the challenge! It's never too soon to start Christmas crafting! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mag...

 Hello, my dearios! It is such a cold, wet, windy day today in S-E Hertfordshire, more like November than May! A good day to snuggle in the craft hovel with a big mug of tea and make a Christmas card! Yes, we have another Challenge at My Time to Craft Christmas! and this time our theme is Fairy Lights - also known as Christmas lights!  I have used a funny image from a Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp set that came out last September. Unfortunately it was a Limited Edition, so is no longer available as far as I can see. I used scraps of paper from the Snippets Drawer - both these came from an old Lili of the Valley Christmas pad.  I used Love From Lizi green glitter peel-offs to edge the vertical strip, and the green layers are made with pearlescent card.  The sentiment reads: 'Have you learned nothing from last year's tree?' I finished by adding Glossy Accents to the lights and Nuvo Drops around the image. My teamies have been so inventive with this theme, do check th...

  Good afternoon, my lovelies! It's a busy day today: Ye Olde Manne is pottering in the garden while I am sorting out the bags and boxes that have been stored under our bed. Why do we have 4 bags of old clothes? I foresee several trips to the charity shops in the near future!  In the mean time, we have a new challenge at Dream Valley , sponsored by Heather Valentin at The Color of Love.   Our theme is Use your favourite colours  - I went with yellow, blue and green. The sweet image is Rory's April Showers, May Flowers.   All the papers, ribbon and shiny stickers are from stash, and the sentiment is from a sticker sheet that came with a Simon Says Stamp kit a couple of years ago. My teamies have made some gorgeous creations, do take a look! Thanks for looking and stay safe.   love Mags B x

Morning, all! We have a new challenge at My Time to Craft! which is Inchies. Inchies are 1" squares of cardstock or chipboard which you decorate.  I had heard the term but never tried the technique because I thought it sounded fiddly, but actually this was very fun and easy! For a card you can add a line or a square of inchies - usually they seem to be used in groups of uneven numbers. As you can see, I went with a square layout. All the papers came from an old 6 x 6 paper pad by First Edition.  The paper on the squares has a spot gloss finish.  I layered them on some heavy card which gives a wee bit of dimension.  I added tiny flowers from Hobbycraft, and the sentiment is from a Pretty Pink Posh sticker set that came with a Simon Said Stamp kit some years ago. Go and see what my teamies have done, they will give you some great ideas on how to use inchies! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x.

  Hello! I hope you're all keeping well. I am in the middle of a massive Spring Clean - lots of exercise is involved: stretching, kneeling, climbing up and down a stool to reach the top cupboards, sneezing at the dust.....   I have also had time to make a card for The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. In fact, I made 6 to the same sketch, following Alicia's Sheetload of Cards video for November 2020. If you've never come across Alicia, check out her videos!She is so enthusiastic and inspiring. The papers and gold-embossed sentiment came from an old Mega-pack by Love from Lizi which is sadly no longer available. I layered the papers on some gold mirri-card to give a festive shine.   It's a lovely sketch, ideal for using up 6x6 papers.   Have a look at the Challenge blog, be inspired by my teamies and craft for Christmas!   Thanks for looking and take care.   love Mags B x

 Hi there! I hope you're all looking forward to a good weekend! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft Christmas which is to make a DL or Slimline card. Otherwise known as 'Tall and Skinny!' (I wish that described me, too!!!)  I have used a beautiful image by Francoise Reade for Woodware Stamps, this is Patchwork Angel. I heat-embossed the image and sentiment in gold, and layered it with a gold-coloured tone-on-tone paper.  She is so elegant that this simple treatment worked better than my first idea of using Copics! Slimline cards are very on trend at the moment, have a go! My teamies have left some wonderful work on the Challenge blog to spark your ideas. Thanks for looking, and take care! love Mags B x

  Hello there! It's Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK, and as is traditional, the weather is filthy. Cold, grey, windy, wet..... An ideal time to check out our new challenge at Dream Valley!    We'd like to see embellishments on your creation! (Remember, it doesn't have to be a card.)   Our sponsor is Di's Digi Stamps - check out her fab images! I used Daffodil Delivery which I have as an uncouloured image. I coloured the bunny and flowers with Copics. The papers are from a very old Basic Grey pad, which I have almost used up! My embellishments are: a ribbon and gems from my stash; and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen plus Glossy Accents on the sentiment.   Take look at my teamies' creations, then dig out your embellishments and join the fun!   Thanks for looking, and take care!   love Mags B x