Madcap Manor

 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

 Hi! I hope you're all keeping well.  I have slowly been getting back into the swing of things after the past 2 years and now the Toddler Group at my Church is opening on a Tuesday as well as a Wednesday.  I really enjoy it, I missed seeing my friends in real life - Zoom is fine in its way, but it's not the same! Anyway, you're here for our new challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and not my wittering!   I coloured and fussy cut a poinsettia stamp by Penny Black twice.  I cut one image in half and added the other on top with foam tape.  The leaves are made with an old Spellbinders Foliage die.  The sentiment is by Taylored Expressions.  Finally I added stickles to the centre of the flower. A clean and simple card suitable for a bloke, I think.  Check out the challenge blog for more inspiration! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

  Good morning! I hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was a wee bit breezy as 3 storms crossed the UK but everything seems calmer this morning. It's a good time to take a look at our new Challenge at Dream Valley which is to use More Than One Fold on your creation.  Our sponsor is Morgan's Art World and I used a cute image from the Garden 9 set.  I made a Gatefold card. I used pearlised papers from an old paper pad by First Edition.  The belly band is vellum, the ornate label is by Spellbinders, and the scalloped sentiment label came with a kit by Love from Lizi. Now for the inside: I did no-line colouring on the cute mushroom house using Copics.  The gold-embossed sentiment is also from an old Love from Lizi kit. I needed a 'New Home' card for a friend who is moving in March, so I was very pleased to use this sweet image! Take a look at what my teamies' have done, they have been very inventive with their card folds! Thanks for looking and have a good week.

Art Style  video Ok, first up I must declare an interest here.  This is by my son, who is doing a degree in Illustration at Wrexham University. What he says strikes a chord with me.  He mentions various artists - replace their names with Debby Hughes... Kristina Werner... Jennifer McGuire... and it all makes a lot of sense. Take a look at Brinkelai's videos, not everything will be immediately useful, but I find that they make me think.  After all, cardmaking is also an art form! love Mags B x

  Hi there from a cold, grey, damp, dreicht Hertfordshire! Perfect weather for making Christmas cards! Our new theme at My Time to Craft Christmas is Nativity. I have perhaps stretched the Challenge a wee bit, because my cards feature a children's Nativity Play rather than the Nativity itself, but I so love these images by Lili of the Valley.   The link is to a page with a whole set of these cute digi stamps. I used papers and sentiment banners from my stash, and added tiny star peel-offs by Love From Lizi.   My teamies have made some beautiful Nativity cards, check out the variety! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x

Yes, we're back at My Time to Craft! and also My Time to Craft Christmas! Our lovely Becca is taking over while Shell has a well-earned rest.  Our theme for the next Challenge is All You Need is Love and it will go live at 6pm CST - that's 12 Midnight here in the UK! The background is made with layering stencils from the 'Love and Luck' kit by Gina K Designs - I indulged in this fab kit because I love the heart layering stencils that I used here. I blended lightly over the solid stencil with Spun Sugar Distress Oxide and then used the patterned stencil and the same ink for the layers. Then I cut it down slightly with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die.  The gold-embossed sentiment is from an old Paper Smooches stamp set, on white cardstock cut with a heart die, and I layered it on foam tape. Finally I added some gems from my stash.  Check out the Challenge and feel the Lurve!  Thanks for looking!  love Mags B x

 I have had this 'Patchwork Boat' stamp by Woodware for many years, and I thought I'd use it for my Olde Manne's birthday card.  Making cards for him is very difficult because he does not do Cute in any way at all! Fortunately the paper-piecing was judged to be acceptable! I used 6 papers from an old paper pad, stamped the image on each one and fussy-cut the 'patches.'  I re-stamped the image on some white card, glued down the patches and then cut the image out.  Then, because I had all those extras left over, I made 5 more to give to the Toddler Group at my Church. The background is made with an old background stamp from Hero Arts and Peacock Feathers Distress ink.  The border is made from blue holographic card from Tonic and I added the embossed greeting to 'ground' everything.  Finally I added 3 drops of Nuvo Drops for a tiny bit of bling! He likes it! Thanks for looking and take care! love Mags B x