Madcap Manor

 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...

  Evening, all! We have a new Challenge at My Time to Craft which is to make a Halloween card or to use Autumn Colours.   I used papers from my stash and the October sketch by Alicia of Call Me Crafty Al on Youtube. I stamped some tiny leaf sprigs on the yellow background using Mustard Seed Distress Oxide ink to give a bit more interest. For the leaves I ink-smooshed Distress Inks onto watercolour paper and die-cut leaves with Lawn Fawn's Stitched Leaves dies. The die-cut sentiment is made with an old MFT die, and the ribbon behind the vellum circle focal point is from my stash.   Go and see the inspiration my clever teamies have left on the blog and join our topical Challenge!  Thanks for looking and take care!   love Mags B x

Hi, guys! We had a visit from our daughter this weekend and in between seeing her old friends she was watching Korean Drama on the tv! I found it quite interesting - though I'm not normally one for the soaps! Anyway, she's now on her way home to Ireland and the house seems a bit empty! Hopefully she'll be back before the end of October, with hubby and son in tow. So we have a very topical new challenge at Dream Valley: Autumn Colours. . Our sponsor is Sheepski Designs and the lovely Andrea generously sent some digis for the DT to use. I have used Lilly - isn't she lovely? The papers came from a mysterious pad that has lost its details, which I found while tidying the Craft Hovel last week. It's amazing what I find when I do that! I coloured Lilly with Promarkers and matted the image and papers with gold mirri card. I added a Sway Peeloff from Love from Lizi over the join between the two papers. The corner stickers are from my stash, and the sentiment is fr...

Hi, guys! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley and it's very topical: Autumn Colours. So that's red, orange, brown, a little green, perhaps. Mind today has been cold and rainy so the autumn colours in S-E Herts are basically grey and more grey!!! I made my card before the last very busy fortnight (Children's Holiday Club at Church followed by a week away near Bath) and used an image from our sponsor, the fabulous All Dressed Up which I already had. Sadly, she is no longer available on the website, but there are plenty more of Wendy's delightful digis to admire! I used some old papers by Kaisercraft from the Peachy Keen Collection and added some lace from stash.  The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley.  I used a Fiskars Threading water punch on the horizontal yellow strip, and the corners are from an ancient Spellbinders die set. The papers have a lovely gloss over the red leaves, and I added Glossy Accents to the balloon - which looks blue in the photo...

Good morning! We have a seasonal theme at CRAFT Challenge this week: Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving/Bonfire Night . I love this time of year, with all the gorgeous colours of the trees! Our sponsors this week are: Imagine That! and Deedee's Digis I used a fabulous wreath from the Autumn Blessings digi stamp set by Deedee's Digis. My patterned paper was a bit pale, so I stamped little leaf sprigs in various pigment inks by Mama Elephant, then embossed them with clear embossing powder to give a bit of shine. The image is die cut with a stitched square die by Lawn Fawn. The banner sentiment is by Paper Smooches, I gold embossed it onto vellum. Finally I added gold stickles to the berries on the image. The photo doesn't really show the gleam of the embossing, unfortunately! My teamies have made some wonderful creations to inspire you, do go and see them! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

here is my belated post for the new Dream Valley Challenge, which is the very topical Autumn Colours . Think red, orange, brown, tan, green..... Our sponsor is the wonderful Robyn's Fetish . I used a gorgeous autumnal image called Cornucopia I used papers and card from stash to layer, and Tea Dye Distress Ink around the die-cut image. The sentiment is made with stickers from an old docraft set which I've had for 5 years! It's always good to use up stash!! My teamies have made some gorgeous autumnal creations, be sure to check them out to be inspired!! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Good morning! I hope your weekend is going well! Our new Challenge at My Time to Craft is 'Fantasy' - a really fun theme! We also have a DT CALL - all the deets are on the blog, do go and see! The DT are a lovely bunch, so friendly and welcoming! Here is my Fantasy card, starring Autumn Fairy a digistamp from The Greeting Farm. I love her sly expression! I coloured her with Spectrum Noirs and glittered her wings. The papers are all from an 'Origins' 6x6 pad by Basic Grey, including the leaves, which were cut using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Leaves Dies The sentiment is from Penny Black Gratitude clear stamp set, and so is the flower motif. Well, I don't know if there is an Autumn Fairy at the bottom of my garden, but there are certainly a lot of leaves! Go and see the fantastic creations from the Team (especially Ema's!) and also the details of the DT Call! Thanks for looking! Mags B x

(Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I thought I had scheduled Sunday's posts, obviously I did something wrong! Apologies!) Good morning, all! When you read this we will be entertaining my son, DiL and gorgeous granddaughter for the Bank Holiday weekend! I hope it stays fine! It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and it's a seasonal theme! It's Spring Down Under and Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, so you can choose Spring or Autumn for your theme! The sponsor is the aptly-named Delicious Doodles and a lucky winner can choose 4 digis from the shop! I used one of their pretty images, this is Pumpkin Corner isn't it gorgeous? I coloured it with Promarkers and *Flexmarkers. The papers are both embossed: the background using a Spellbinders Autumn Leaves Embossability and the orange paper with a Cuttlebug Dots folder. I used a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Square behind the image, I cut it into quarters and glued them in place. The sentiment is...

Hi, guys! I hope you're all keeping well. It's Mothering Sunday in the UK - I hope all you Mums out there are being pampered! It's also time for another challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and the theme is a Spring or Autumn card (depending on which Hemisphere you live in.) Our lovely sponsor is Oak Pond Creations and Kimberley is offering a lucky winner three digis - go on over and have a look at her site, there are some gorgeous images there! The DT were given some digis to play with, and I fell for this fabulous image at once! Apologies for the faded picture, the colours are brighter irl! I used Promarkers, and distressed round the image with Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink. The heart has been Glossy Accented. The mats have all been cut with a Nestie. The paper is Papermania Capsule Collection and the flowers are made with my faithful Woodware punches. The gems are from stash, they are transparent ones coloured with Gold Promarker. Do go and have a look a...

Hi, guys! Sorry I'm so late, Friday night tv is actually rather good at the moment, there was a slightly strange hybrid of concert and drama, mixing a performance of Beethoven's 'Eroica' symphony with a telling of the circumstances surrounding its first performance. The programme was a bit of a curate's egg, not quite satisfying as either music or drama, but it did include Frank Finlay as Joseph Haydn. Frank Finlay is always a plus! Oh, do get on with the card, Margaret!! This adorable image is by Sarah Kay for Stampavie - I love her big straw hat and the cute chicks! I used my Speccies but didn't make a note of what I used because this began as an idle experiment. I must say, blowing my own trumpet, that I'm rather pleased with the hat! Papers are Bo Bunny Vicki B and they are lovely and bright! The ribbon is actually olive green, recycled from a top. I used my new Martha Stewart 'Cherish' border punch, and die-cut a Marianne swirl. The flowers are...

This card is for a new challenge blog, The Cutie Pie Challenge which has a very nice sketch. Tilda is coloured with Speccies. The papers are snippets again - the horizontal strip is pearlised and through bad planning I managed to cover the pretty pattern! I put blobs of gold liquid pearls round the scallopped oval, and Glossy Accents on Tilda's shoes and orange stickles on her flowers. The ribbons are from stash and so are the flowers and the crystals. The round orange stickers are Paperchase. Right, I really ought to keep on with sorting my room (again!) Thanks for looking! luv, Mags x Spectrum Noirs: Browns - 91, 94, 98, 100, 104; Greens - 42, 43, 48, 175; Skin Tones - 132, 133, 135, 142; Yellows - 24, 33; Warm Grey 1