Madcap Manor

 Morning, all! Welcome to the new challenge at  My Time to Craft Christmas ! Let's get cracking on those Christmas cards - it's not long until the Big Day! I used the adorable  Build a Snowman  stamp by Lili of the Valley.  Their images are always so sweet, perfect for kids! I added stickles to all the trim on the children's clothes and Glossy Accents to the holly berries on the snowman's hat.  The paper is from my stash, as is the holographic card. My second card is from a kit called 'Christmas Market' which came with  Papercraft Essentials magazine.   We have a funfair locally at Christmas, and the children so love going on all the rides! This is a decoupage image, which gives such great dimension.  I'd love to have a ride on this merry-go-round myself!! Check out our Challenge blog and see the various gorgeous creations that my teamies have made! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

 Well, autumn is definitely on the way! Tonight is the equinox, too, when daytime and nighttime are equal in length.  From today there will be less day and more night all the way to Christmas.  Wrap up warm! But we can enjoy the gorgeouscolours of Autumn in the mean time, and that's out theme at  My Time to Craft.   Becca has made a chart of autumnal colours to use: Pick at least three for your creation! My first card is a D/L or slimline design. I used beige, green, brown, purple, red, orange and yellow, with a gold sentiment.  The beige strip has a decorative edge cut with a  Slim Lacy Edges  die by PinkFresh Studio.  The leaves are cut with Lawn Fawn's  Stitched Leaves  oak die. My second card is made with patterned papers in purple, green, tan, yellow and red.  The papers are by P13 an unfortunately are out of print.  I used Jess' Crafts  Template 2  for the sketch. Check out your papers and cardstock in thes...

 Afternoon, all! I hope your week is going well and that you have time to craft.  Especially if you make Christmas/Winter cards - there's no time like the present for getting a satisfying stack of cards readybefore the panic sets in around 1st December!! Yes, we have another Challenge at  The Holly and Ivy  to entertain you. I am once again concentrating on using up my paper pads, and one of the best resources I've found is  Jess Crafts  on Youtube.  She also has a blog with templates, and this card uses  a template from her section on using up a paper pad.  The snowglobe sticker is also from my stash, and the sentiment is from the  Winter scripty sentiments  stamp set by Lawn Fawn. Check out our challenge blog and use up those patterned papers! Then you'll have room to store new ones!! Thanks for looking and keep smiling. love Mags B x

Good afternoon, all.  It's a sad day, saying goodbye to the Queen.  She has been a constant for my entire life.  I have also been remembering my own parents and grandparents, as I'm sure many others have done, too.  However, life does go on, and being creative, whether crafting or cooking, has always been a comfort in stressful times. So, we're back to normal with a new challenge at  Dream Valley , where our theme is Autumn Colours.   Our sponsor is  The Paper Shelter , whose images are so adorable.  I made my card before going on holiday a fortnight ago, so instead of the gorgeous image that the DT were kindly given I used another, equally gorgeous image:  Autumn is Coming . I love this image, the little girl is having so much fun throwing autumn leaves into the air! I used papers from my stash for the background and to die-cut the Lawn Fawn  Stitched Leaves .  The wooden flowers are from stash, with pearly Nuvo drops in the centre...

 Good morning, all! It's a lovely bright September day here in S-E Hertfordshire, but there is definitely a nip in the air.  Christmas will be upon us before we know it! Time to check out our new challenge at  My Time to Craft Christmas!  and get some Christmas crafting underway! I love making Christmas/Winter cards, it's a theme with so much variety - almost anything goes! Even bikinis and beach scenes for those in the Antipodes!   Food and Drink at Christmas are vital, of course.  Chez the Manor we have always had salad on Christmas Day (followed by The Pud, of course!) partly because the family loves salad and partly because the prep and washing-up are so much quicker.  However, in my cards today I've gone with more traditional fare: mugs of hot chocolate, and Christmas Puddings! The die-cuts on this card came from a magazine, and the papers are from a pack by Echo Park called  A Gingerbread Christmas .  I used a  gold moondust p...

 Hi there! I hope you're all keeping well.  We have a new Challenge for you at  The Holly and Ivy  where it's always Anything Christmas Goes. I have made a 5" x 7" card, using pieces from a kit which came with a magazine some months ago. There is some gorgeous gold foiling on the die-cut image, so I added gold mirror  peel-offs  by Love from Lizi to cover the join between the two papers.  The banner sentiment ('The reason for the season') came from the same kit. Check out our challenge and kick-start your Chrimbo mojo! Thanks for looking and take care. love Mags B x

 Good morning! We are back to our normal schedule at  Dream Valley  and our new theme is Embossing.   It can be either kind, whether using an embossing folder or a scoreboard; or using embossing powder and a heat gun. It's a very pretty pattern of butterflied.  I used pearlised pink card for the background, first spraying it lightly with water to make sure it didn't crack.  The butterfly die came from  Love from Lizi  a couple of years ago, and I used some of the circles of card that came out of the die-cut to embellish the top right corner.  I backed the butterfly with vellum to give more definition.  The sentiment is from the  Thoughtful words  die set by Christina Griffiths. Take a look at the Challenge blog for more inspiration and get embossing LIKE A BOSS! (My hubby has just sighed and shaken his head at that awful joke.) Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x