Madcap Manor

Good morning! It's Monday again (groan) but to cheer you up we have a new challenge at Dream Valley . (Yay!!!!!) Our lovely sponsor is Di's Digi Designs , do go and see her fab designs! The challenge is One for the Boys and is a chance to make something for the blokes in your life. Remember, it doesn't have to be a card! Though I did make a card myself. I made this for a friend's 60th birthday, luckily he liked the image and sentiment as much as I do! I made something using them for my Dad some years ago and even though he enjoyed it my sister disapproved rather loudly!!! You have to be careful sometimes! Anyway, back to the card. The image is Gus Birthday - Optional by the always-entertaining Bugaboo Stamps. I added Glossy Accents to his glasses and the car, then fussy cut him and popped him up on foam pads. The mat is cut using a Spellbinders die. The papers are from an old Cosmo Cricket pad, Joy Ride, which sadly is out of print. The stars are from...

Hello, chaps, I hope you're having a great weekend We have been visited last week by new grandson (and his Mum and Dad!) which has meant days of baby-cuddles! They left today to travel back to Ireland, which is why my post is a bit late! We'll be seeing them again at Christmas, and I can't wait! Now back to my card! Our challenge at My Time to Craft is to use Fancy Folds - that is, use more than one fold on your card. Visit the blog and see my teamies' great work to get an idea of what we mean. My card is inspired by this video by the amazing Kristina Werner. Where she used a butterfly punch, I used a heart die. And here is the inside: This wedding card was made for 2 of my daughter's friends, who were married last week: the colours were lilac and purple. The papers are from stash, and the heart border was cut with 2 Nellie Snellen hearts dies. The image is The Wedding Cake by All Dressed Up. The roses have Spectrum Noir sparkle on them. Hav...

Good morning! I have scheduled this post, as my new grandson (and his Mummy and Daddy) will be over here from Ireland and I suspect my time will be taken up with baby cuddles! I hope the scheduling works! We have a beautiful Inspiration Picture for you at CRAFT Challenge this week: Use the image as the starting point for your creation - and please tell us on your post what inspired you! I was inspired by the colours and the leaves. The gorgeous image is All Dressed Up' Love to Dance - I love Wendy's images! I added Glossy Accents to the hearts and Wink of Stella clear to her dress and headband. The leaves are cut with Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves dies, using snippets of card. The lower mat is dry embossed, and I put yellow ink over the folder first, to give a letterpress look. The background paper, lace, ribbon and pearls came from stash. Our gorgeous sponsors are: Robyn's Fetish All Dressed Up Do look at my teamies' creations to inspire you! Tha...

Good afternoon! Apologies for the late post, we have been having work done on our roof and in the excitement of supplying mugs of tea for the builders, I forgot! Our new challenge at CRAFT Challenge is Fantasy. So let your imagination roam - fairies, unicorns, dragons, hobbits.... Whatever floats your Elvish cockle-shell boat! I have used the lovely Magic is All Around Us from Scrapper's Delights The paper is from an old LotV/Nitwits pad, and the sentiment is also by LotV. The purple butterfly came free with a mag a long time ago! The ribbon and the little crystal butterfly are from stash. I went over her wings with a clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen. Our lovely sponsors this week: Bugaboo Stamps Scrapper's Delights My teamies have created some fabulous, fantastic inspiration for you, have a look! Thanks for looking! love Mags B x

Apologies for the lateness of this post, guys! But finally here is my card for the latest Dream Valley Challenge. We would like to see Embossing this fortnight, it can be heat embossing, dry embossing - or both! We have the wonderful Live and Love Crafts as our sponsor this fortnight, Sandy is offering a £10 voucher to our lucky winner! I have made..... a Christmas Card! The fabulous Joy stamp is by Hero Arts. I heat-embossed it in cream, then used Distress Inks to colour the background: the embossing resists the ink, so I just had to wipe over the image with some kitchen paper and now it's clear to see. The die-cut is by Spellbinders and after I cut it I embossed it - there are some subtle diagonal lines around the central oval. I made a 5 x 7 card base from blue Centura Pearl. The die-cut is glued flat, the central oval is on foam pads for some interest. Finally I used a white Perle Pen to add some subtle bling. Simples! Have a look at the blog to be inspir...

Hello, my lovelies, I hope you're having a good weekend! It's My Time to Craft Saturday again! Our Challenge is Anything BUT a Card -go and see the fabulous creations my teamies have made to give you some great ideas! (It's a Challenge I always have to think about for a long time, making a card is my default setting!) I have been playing with Distress Inks and watercolour paper, using Tim Holtz's Wrinkle free Distress technique. (The link is to a Youtube video.) I then made bookmarks, since at the time I was using an old envelope as a bookmark which was a bit naff! I die-cut the watercolour paper with the second largest of the Lil' Inkers Pinking Edge Sentiment Flag die, and also from pearlescent cardstock using the largest of the dies. I stamped the images with Ranger Black Archival Ink: the butterflies were magazine freebies, and the vine is from Butterfly Flourish Swirls by Chocolate Baroque. I made a hole protector with a small circle die, glu...

Good morning! I hope you're all well, and looking forward to a good weekend! Thursday is CRAFT Challenge day and we have multiple themes this week: Autumn or Halloween or Thanksgiving Plenty of choice there! I went for an autumnal Shaker card, using Berry Wreath by DRS Designs. The background paper is from an ancient pad which has lost its cover! I dry embossed it before cutting the aperture for the shaker - which meant that the original embossing was squashed! However, it makes a rather nice crinkled effect, so that's ok. The wreath is coloured in autumnal shades with Copics. I die cut the MFT 'Thanks' die 3 times and glued them together to make a raised sentiment. Our sponsors this week are: DRS Designs and Doctor Digi's House of Stamps Thanks for looking, and have a great day! love Mags B x