Madcap Manor

 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

 Evening, all! We have a new challenge at My Time to Craft which is Embossing. Any kind of embossing - heat embossing, using an embossing folder or embossing paste - check out the fab examples on the Challenge Blog to see what we mean! I made 2 cards.  The first uses an old Cuttlebug embossing folder: The papers are from my stash.  I used a One Sheet Wonder sketch by Jess Crafts, and a flower using an old Memory Box die. The second card is heat embossed in gold on black cardstock: I used a background stamp by Simon Says Stamp and the die-cut sentiment is by Pinkfresh Studios.  I'm sorry about the glare, it was a grey day when I took the picture and the camera-flash reflected off the gold. Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

Hello, my dearios! I hope you're all looking forward to an enjoyable and relaxing weekend. We have a new challenge at My Time to Craft to keep you entertained!   Our theme this time is Embossing either heat-embossing or dry-embossing. I went with both, following This video from the lovely Natasha Foote. The technique begins at 3 minutes 10 seconds. I used an embossing folder and brayered white pigment ink over the raised side. (Natasha used Versamark, but pigment ink was easier to see to make sure I had good coverage - and since it stays wet for longer than dye ink it's fine for heat-embossing.)  I used an embossing bag on my plain cardstock to prevent powder from sticking where I didn't want it and ran it and the folder through my Cuttlebug. Then I sprinkled on gold embossing powder and heat-set it.   The gold embossing sits in the debossed pattern and gives a very pretty look, though the photo doesn't do it justice. A sentiment and some gold ribbon...

Good morning! We have a technique Challenge at CRAFT Challenge this week: Embossing. This can either be heat embossing or dry embossing with a folder - or both! I used an embossing folder on some ivory Centura Pearl cardstock for my background.  The image mat is cut with a Spellbinders die. The gold-embossed sentiment is from a very old Woodware stamp set. The kawaii image (that's 'cute' in Japanese!) is Kimono Portrait by Star Stampz. The ribbon and gems are from stash. Apologies for the lack of detail, I'm on holiday and left the details at home!! Our Sponsor is the adorable Star Stampz. Go and see my teamies' inspiration and get embossing!!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good heavens, it's Thursday already - and the first day of Autumn, too! It's also time for a new CRAFT Challenge and it's a Technique Challenge: Embossing. This cutie is (JACK) Let's Go Out by Crafty Sentiments, isn't he a dapper chappie? The blue background has been dry embossed with a Cuttlebug Dots folder and the sentiment (from the All Boy stamp set by Simon Says Stamp) has been heat embossed. The red paper is a snippet. Our sponsor is the awesome Crafty Sentiments The prize is 3 of their lovely digis of your choice. My teamies have left you lots of inspiration on the blog , do join in the fun! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening, all! I hope you're all keeping well. I was feeling very sorry for myself last week, as I had a nasty cold: but that was put into perspective when I learned that an older friend from Church had had a fall and broken her hip. She's in hospital, hating the food and bored to tears: she is a very good cook and extremely active, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be! My DT make for the new Dream Valley Challenge is my friend's Get Well card, and first here are the details of the Challenge which is Bingo Select three items from the chart, going horizontally, vertically or diagonally: Our sponsors are: Crafts and Me and The Hobby House For my card I used the line at the bottom of the grid, Flowers, Embossing and Blue I used Centura Pearl card and a freebie embossing folder for the background, and coloured the row of dots with a blue Sakura pen. The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is from an old Whiff of Joy set and is gold...

Good morning! At CRAFT Challenge we have a technique challenge for you: Embossing That can be dry embossing or heat embossing, whichever takes your fancy. Our sponsors are: All Dressed Up and DeeDees Digis I used one of Wendy's beautiful images from 'All Dressed Up: I dry embossed the background and added dots from a green pearl pen. I heat embossed the sentiment, which is from LotV. The patterned paper and lace are from stash, and I used a Martha Stewart punch for the borders. Thanks for looking! love Mags b x

Good morning! (At least, I hope it's morning when this post goes up, I'm at a wedding on Saturday!) Our new Challenge at My Time to Craft is Christmas Decoupage . Now, Decoupage and Teabag Folding were the first 'techniques' I ever used on cards, long before I knew about Stamping or Blogs or Challenges! Cutting and manipulating and layering paper is so relaxing! The foiled decoupage is by Dufex, a firm that sadly no longer is trading. It is quite detailed to cut out. I layered the pieces with silicon glue from Pinflair, and layered it on a piece of gold card to give a narrow border. The card base is Centura Pearl, embossed with a diamonds folder by Sizzix. I hope you'll all go over to the Blog and see the fabulous Christmas Decoupage makes of my teamies! Then have a go yourself - decoupage seems not to be so common these days, but do try it if you haven't done any before, it's very satisfying! Remember, it's Christmas Decoupage - that means i...

Hi, guys! I'm sorry I'm a bit late with this post, I'm having problems with my poor old laptop! Here at last is my card for this week's challenge at My Time to Craft and this week the theme is Stitching - Real or Faux I went for 'faux' stitching. The Spellbinders 'Floral Ovals' dies have a border of tiny holes, so I used a blue gel pen to add 'stitches'. There are more around the edge of the background which has been embossed with a butterfly Embossability and very lightly swiped with my Broken China Distress Ink pad. I distressed round the die-cuts, too. The flowers and ribbon (which has some real stitching on it!) are from stash,the blue leaves are made with a Woodware punch. The butterflies were cut with a die that came free with 'Simply Cards and Papercraft' magazine this month and I added blue pearls from Hobbycraft to the bodies. I've recently discovered Christina Griffiths' blog and youtube videos, and this card i...

Good afternoon, all! Where has this week gone? I dreamed last night that I got everything ready for Christmas only to discover it was Boxing Day and I'd missed it! It was quite a relief to wake up and realise there is still time to get ready! Here is a card that I made in various colours for several lovely friends. Apologies for the glare from the silver mirri card, I was using my Daylight lamp and just couldn't get an unshiny picture! The sleigh is a big Papermania stamp which I heat embossed, adding a sprinkle of glitter embossing powder to the mix to give a bit more sparkle, which unfortunately hasn't been picked up by the camera. The paper is by LotV. The sentiment is also LotV. The snowflake is made with a Spellbinders label from the Floral Doily set. I cut 3 of them and layered them, I'm rather pleased with the effect! I expect to be rather busy this coming week, which includes a trip to Shropshire to see our Granddaughter and celebrate her first birth...

Evening all! And welcome to my new followers! Pull up a chair, pour out a glass of your favourite tipple, you are very welcome to this Manor of Madcapness!! While waiting for the supermarket delivery yesterday, I made 4 Christmas cards to this design: Hooray! It's a CAS card! I find CAS cards quite difficult, because if you make a mistake you can't cover it up with embellishments! I'm so pleased with this one that I made 4! The image is a Woodware clear stamp from the 'Christmas Greenery' set by Francoise Read. I stamped with Embossing Ink and then embossed with Evergreen 'Heat It Up' embossing powder. If you squint hard you can almost see how it shines! The leaves looked a bit stark left white, so I gave them a very light wash of Evergreen Boughs Distress Ink. I used a square Woodware punch to cut the images out (it JUST fits!) and glued them onto ridged gold card from the Pinflair Shop in Hertford. The ribbon came from the same place, the gold tri...

Afternoon, all! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge! This time we'd like to see something for a special man or boy in your life. We have two sponsors this time: one lucky person will win a £10.00 gift voucher from One Stop Card Crafts A second lucky person will win 4 images of their choice from Sassy Studios I made a card for my daughter to give my hubby for Father's Day. The inspiration comes from Rubber Stamping by Kim Reygate which was one of the books that got me into cardmaking. Anyone who has read the book or visited her blog will recognise the technique of embossing and sponging on the torn paper. I used a background stamp by Great Impressions which I think came from Sir Stampalot and stamped on white card with embossing ink, then covered it with glitter embossing powder. A wave of the heat gun and a Harry Potter chant of 'Meltiamus!' and there was the white-on-white pattern. Next came the fun bit, sponging Distress Inks (Peeled ...

A quick Easter card: I made 9 of these while listening to the cricket this morning! The beautiful cross is by Wild Rose Studio, and came from Handy Hippo . I embossed it in gold and added some colour with brush markers - it's an age since I tried that technique, I'd forgotten how good it looks!! Some gold card and a Labels Ten Nestie, plus a Penny Black sentiment on the inside, et voila! Simples! I'm entering this into a new-to-me challenge The Squirrel and the Fox whose theme is 'Easter.' I hope you're all enjoying a sunny day - don't forget the sunscreen and a hat if you're going out! I'm so short I look like a mushroom in a hat, but that's just too bad! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Evening, all! It's really chilly tonight, so I've dug out my purple snuggle-blanket! I also made 2 cards today! This one uses a very old stamp, which I found when tidying some weeks ago. It's by First Class Stamps Ltd and there's a Sun stamp somewhere in the house, too. Time to tidy up again, methinks! I embossed in white glitter powder and then sponged with blues from a Kaleidocolor rainbow pad, using a square mask. The challenge at Less is More is for a one-layer embossed card. Here's a detail shot: The stamp's quite detailed, and I think would look better with a much finer embossing powder, but it does glitter very prettily! Hope you're all having a good evening! Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x