Madcap Manor

Good morning! To cheer up your Monday we have a new Challenge at Dream Valley which is Lurve . With Valentine's Day approaching fast, it's a very topical Challenge! The sweet image is Emma With Heart Ballon from Paper Nest Dolls. I fussy-cut her so I could put her against a patterned background. All the papers are from the Love Story collection by First Edition. The heart sentiment is also from the paper pad, it reads 'You Make My Heart So Very Happy.' The lace is from stash, and I added Glossy Accents to the hearts on the image and Spectrum Noir Sparkle to the sentiment heart. Our sponsor is Paper Nest Dolls. I'm entering the current Challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday and this is their fab sketch: Go and see my teamies' gorgeous creations and feel the love! Thanks for looking, and have a good week. love Mags B x

Evening, all! Well, this afternoon we had sunshine yay! Long may it continue! Especially next week, when we have our garden renovated! Out will go the bushes, in will come raised beds and turf, and it will be so much easier to maintain! I can't wait!! I have made a card today, this is for my daughter's BFF who turns 27 on Monday. 27! It's only 5 minutes since she left school!!! I tell you, time has definitely speeded up over the past quarter-century! This sweetie is Owlette, a digi from Tiddly Inks , isn't she elegant? I love her pet owl! I coloured her with Promarkers (list below) and put Glossy Accents on her hat. The mat is cut with a Picot Circle Nestie (I love that die!). The crochet lace, and the blue seam binding that I made into a double bow, both came from The Ribbon Girl. The papers are 'Be Amazing' by My Mind's Eye. I apologise for the faded colours, irl they are rather brighter! I'm entering the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge -...

Good evening, all! Well, it's meant to be Spring now, but it's sooo cold, and more snow is forecast for next week! I hope you're all keeping warm, my lovelies - I have a wonderful burgundy-coloured Slanket (it's like a fluffy blanket but with sleeves) and I am living in it every evening! We had a power-cut two days ago, and spent the evening by candlelight. Thank goodness for my new Kindle, which glows in the dark so I was able to read for the 2 and a half hours we were without power! Enough of this, here's a springlike Easter card: The sweet Bunny is by Penny Black from the 'T for Transparent' Garden Friends set. I love her gorgeous straw hat! She is coloured with Promarkers and I distressed round the edge with Bundled Sage DI. The mat is cut with a Nesties Scalloped Square die. I glittered the tiny butterflies but of course they don't show too well! Papers are Basic Grey 'Porcelain' which I bought back in 2011 and which I had to for...

Here I am at last! I'm sorry I'm late, today ran away with me! I hope you're all keeping well, my lovelies, and not suffering with snow (in the North) or excessive heat (in the South)! It's time for another Dream Valley Challenge . We had a record number of fabulous creations for the last challenge, it's inspiring to see such gorgeous work! The theme this fortnight is 'Girls, girls, girls,' so get out all your pink and pretty stash! We're sponsored by the lovely Robyn's Fetish and the lucky winner will be able to choose 5 digital stamps! The DT were generously given stamps from the store: mine is Easter Girl . Isn't she a doll? I used Promarkers to colour her and stickled her wings and the centre of the flowers.. The basket holds eggs, but I covered them with two tiny sequin flowers. The green mat was cut with a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangle and the leaves used a Woodware punch. Gems are from my stash. The papers are Pink Petti...

Evening, all! I'm taking advantage of a few minutes between washing the dishes and the mass invasion of the family for 'Doctor Who' to post a card I made today. This little cutie is Christmas Dance by LotV and I coloured her in Promarkers. I used Nesties for the sentiment and image mats, and an X-cut star die for the stars. I've used the gold card from a children's craft pack again, it's nice and thick so it embosses really well! Papers are also from LotV, a digi from last year (I don't think they do them any more, now they are selling those gorgeous new paper pads!)  The flowers are from stash - I think the blue poinsettia came from Angel Crafts but don't quote me! I used a Magnolia flourish die and stickled it. The leaves are cut with a Woodware punch and scattered with crunchy glitter. I had a go at making the glittery twirlies that Bev talked about here last week.  You can just about see the twirlies. Next time I'll use finer gl...

Hi, guys! How are the Olympics going? I confess I've been listening to the Test Match from Headingley this last 5 days: I was making this card while South Africa was batting and Broad was taking 5 wickets for a pittance. What a match! But you don't want to hear me blethering about cricket! Here is Miss Anya from the Miss Anya Dressy set by The Greeting Farm. She is coloured with Speccies and the centre of the flower in her hair is stickled in gold. The outer frame is a Nesties Star Circle die, distressed with Tattered Rose towards the middle and Worn Lipstick on the edges. The sentiment is also a die-cut, from a Marianne Sentiments set, and I also stickled it. Papers are Nitwits Tour of London, except for the flower which was cut from an ancient paper by, I think, DCWV? The cover has long since gone from the stack! The flower and leaves are cut with a Spellbinders Rose Creations die and the star brad is from stash. The white seam binding came from Wild Orchid Crafts . ...

Well, I have just spent an amazing week at New Wine, a Christian Conference held at Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The weather was glorious, though just 3 days before we got there the campsite was inundated! In fact, I came back with a tan! Now that I'm home I see I have some new followers - Welcome! I hope you enjoy this madcap corner of blogland! Let me put the kettle on. One of the lovely ladies I travelled with is moving tomorrow, which obviously calls for a card. I will get to the one I made today anon, because I want to show you a card I don't like! You see, I saw on Kim Reygate's Blog that the challenge at Our Creative Corner is to show one of your cards that you don't like and give it a 'makeover.' That actually inspired me to have a go at some self-improvement!  This was going to be sent to my sister when she moved earlier this year. Now, the photo isn't so bad, but irl the colours just shriek at each other! The colouring of the image is blo...

My goodness! We have sunshine (sporadically!) I'm even keener than usual on sunshine, because we now have solar panels on the roof! The electric meter goes BACKWARDS!! So exciting! But enough of this blathering, you cry. What about the card? The cute image is by Elisabeth Bell for Belles and Whistles, from Dies to Dies For . I coloured her with Speccies again. The swirls round her are Whiff of Joy Christmas swirls, stamped in Wild Honey Distress Ink, and I also distressed all the papers with the same ink. My yellow card is very bright, and the distressing toned it down a lot! Papers are Cosmo Cricket 'Togetherness' which are lovely Retro designs. The sketch is by 'Sweet Sketch Wednesday.' I stickled the swirls, the lemon slices and the dots on her bows. The flower is 3 Prima blooms, the blue swirl underneath is a Marianne die, and the green brad is one of a Papermania set I picked up at the Ally Pally last year. The glittery ribbon is from stash, the...

Hi, guys! Just quickly posting before a nice warm bath and an early night! Anyone for Anya is asking for a Father's Day card. I love this cute Greeting Farm lad in his little waistcoat! I coloured him, then cut him out and used foam pads to stick him on a Nesties die-cut. I embossed the die-cut, then distressed it with Broken China DI, and ran some stickles around the blue mat. The sketch is from this week's Sweet Sketch Wednesday and I really like it. The papers are DCWV Garden Party stack, the brown horizontal strip is embossed with glittered dots, very nice! The narrow brown ribbon is from stash. I used an MS punch on the blue strip, then stickled along the top edge. The corners are Wild Orchid and the shiny spots are Paperchase. I'll be posting another Dream Valley Challenge card tomorrow - this last fortnight has sped by! See you then! Thanks for looking, and sleep well! luv, Mags x PS Drat! Chucked out the PM list! Oops!

It's another glorious day and I am wearing a summer dress! Everyone I know has been doing a double-take and saying, 'Mags, you've got legs!' I've joined the Church Flower Arranging Team and had my first lesson today, watching the ladies put together the marvellous arrangements for tomorrow. They talked of rhythm and flow, and 'always leave room for the butterflies' - in other words, don't crowd everything together. It was fascinating! For now, I'll make do with the flowers on my cards, though I have some chrysanths and carnations and daffs soaking in a bucket so I can have a go myself! Anyway, now for the card. This LotV image always makes me smile! The current challenge is Easter . Papers are Basic Grey Sugar Rush, and the sketch is Sweet Sketch Wednesday . I added the candy in the corners to the sketch to echo the bunny's bounce over the Easter eggs and down. The sketch wants 3 embellies on the smaller circle so I added a rose and two buds (fro...

Lookie! I made the Top 3 at SSW, too!!! This is amazing! I feel so chuffed! luv, Mags x

This week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge is 'Monochromatic Christmas. Isn't this Traditional Santa gorgeous?! It was love at first sight when I saw him on The Glitter Pot website. I thought I'd give him a vintage look for his first outing, and I'm really chuffed that he came out so well! IRL the browns are a bit darker, he's not really this faded! And the stickles dotted on his coat and on the star on his walking stick aren't showing too well! I also stickled the snowflake. I used a nice, straightforward sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday which gives the image the main emphasis. Ok, time to see to tea. I can recommend Salmon smeared with pest and baked in foil, it really is yummy! Stay warm this evening! Thanks for looking luv, Mags x Recipe: Promarkers Tan, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Putty, Ivory Papers: Papermania Vintage Christmas Copper stickles Marianne snowflake die Brown card and ribbon from stash