Madcap Manor

 Yes, it's that time of year: the summer hols are over and a new school year begins.  That's the new theme at  Dream Valley   The challenge lasts one week, not two; but then we will be back to the normal schedule. This very cute image came from Bugaboo.  (I miss them so much!)  I coloured the lad and his huge pile of school items in Copics.  The papers are from a very old pad by Papermania - I thought the brightly-coloured geometric shapes of the background were suitable for school.  (Maths! Not my favourite subject!) I cut the letters from a dull silver-grey glitter card.  The misspelling is deliberate, by the way! Check out the challenge blog for more fun inspiration! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

 Hiya! I'm sorry I'm a bit late with my DT post for  My Time to Craft , I was doing the flower arrangement at Church this morning, and then I had a mammogram this afternoon (ouchies!)  But here am I, faint but pursuing! (My Grannie used to say that, it's probably Shakespeare.) Our new theme is Fantasy or Whimsy.   Fairies, magical beasts, mages, whimsical images of quirky animals or birds or people - whatever takes your fancy. My first card uses 'Magical Day', an older clear stamp from  The Greeting Farm .  This one is out of print, but if you check out the 'Fantasy' tab on their website you'll see another set of cute unicorn images. The papers are from an old First Edition pad which has a unicorn theme.  The background is glittered and I used pearlised card for the mats and  Love from Lizi sway peel-offs  in Teal Mirror, which give some lovely shine.  The sentiment came with the stamp set. My second card is more whimsical, using a very old (2009!) Hero

 Good morning! Welcome to another challenge at  My Time to Craft Christmas  where our theme is Holly. I used a very, VERY old stamp by Woodware for my first card.  It's so old that when I was peeling it off my Misti it tore!  I stamped the image in a pale grey dye ink and coloured it with Promarkers, then stamped again with Versamark and added gold heat-embossing.  I layered the image and the patterned paper (from stash) onto gold satin mirror card.  The sentiment is embossed with the same embossing powder and the berries have been Stickled. My second card is a bit cheeky - the 'Holly' element is mainly the sentiment! I used a 'bubble greetings' stamp by  Taylored Expressions  which is sadly out of print on their website.  I coloured it with Promarkers in a rainbow order and added stickles to the holly berries.  The patterned paper is from stash. Check out my teamies' creations on the blog and join the fun! Thanks for looking and take care. love Mags B x

 Good morning! Happy Friday! Here is our new Challenge at  My Time to Craft  and out theme is Beverages.   It has been so hot recently that my favourite beverage is now... (drumroll)... Water! I hope you're all making sure you're keeping hydrated. I made 2 cards on the subject, one tea-themed (my daughter's favourite) and one coffee-themed (my son's.) I used 2 very old dies for the teapot and mug: both have embossed details, but the card I chose is too busy to show them properly.  The background paper is a scrap (by  Nitwits ) and I used the red spotted card as a mat. These cute coffee cups are made with a die that came in a Simon Says Stamp kit long, long ago.  I paper-pieced the elements, which was rather fiddly! The cardbase has an inch trimmed off the front to show a different patterned paper on the inside.  Both papers are also by Nitwits, though I can't remember which set. Check out the Challenge blog for more fun examples and have a go yourself - there are so

 Good morning! It's another hot and sunny day here in S-E Hertfordshire - the perfect time to tackle Christmas cards! I know it's just my imagination, but making Christmas cards in the summer always makes me feel a bit cooler.  And  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge  is here to help with a new challenge! We also have a Design Team call.  Whether you're a beginner or a long-time crafter, if you'd like to try out a Design Team, contact our Jedi Master Marlene with pictures of 3 cards you've made.  Details are on the blog post linked above. I put together a piece of patterned paper from my stash and an old Simon Says Stamp die of candy canes. The die-cut outline is red mirror card and I inlaid white card to fill the spaces.  The banner sentiment came from Craft Creations - the website has moved and is now  Katy Sue Designs.   I layered a green ribbon over a red-and-gold one for the horizontal strip. Check out my teamies' pretty creations and join in! It's n

 Morning, all! It's time for a new challenge at  Dream Valley ! We'd like to see shaped cards - any shape except square or rectangular. I made a heart easel card for one of the Mums who attended our Church Toddler Group (Early Birds) with her gorgeous little girl.  Sadly, the family has returned home to Slovenia, as they were finding it too expensive to live in the UK.  Fortunately her husband is an HGV driver, so he had a job waiting for him already, and she is a psychiatrist and will be working from September.  We will all miss them! Anyway, this is the card I made for them to wish them well. The gorgeous paper is from an old First Edition pad and has a spot gloss finish on the roses.  The die-cuts are made with a Spellbinders die set and I dry-embossed them to emphasise the detail. Check out the lovely cards made by my teamies and have a go at creating a shaped card yourself! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

 Hi there! Our new challenge at  My Time to Craft Christmas  needs a bit of clarification.  We'd like to see Christmas decorations or ornaments - but as images on a card, not the actual 3-D decorations. My first card is a 5" x 7" and uses a nesting ornament die by Spellbinders. I used papers from my stash, some matte gold card and some glitter cord. My second card is stamped and heat-embossed. The wreath is from the  Winter Whimsy  stamp set by Penny Black.  Since you can't use alcohol inks with embossing powder (it ruins your pens) I used my Misti to stamp the image in grey DYE ink.  Leaving the stamp in place, I coloured the image with Promarkers.  Then I replaced it in my Misti and restamped in Versamark, heat-embossing in the usual way in gold. I used a scalloped circle die by Spellbinders for the matte gold mat and popped it up with foam tape.  The paper is from my Christmas stash. Check out the challenge blog for some great inspiration from my teamies! Thanks fo