All About the Gold

Hello crafters!
Today I am showing more Stencil Magic inspiration for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This time I have used stencils with foils... 

I applied DecoArt Black Gesso as the base for my page. When dry I collaged a printed image (freebie) to this background with DecoArt Decoupage medium.

I then used several stencils (Mini Stencils sets 28,35 and 39 all from Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz with Cosmic shimmer Flake and Glitter Glue. This medium allows foils, metallic flakes or glitter to be applied on top, any time after drying, so there is no need to hurry up. Washing the stencils immediately though is strongly recommended....

I used 2 types of foil, Stix2 foils which work with adhesives and Go Press foils which are designed to work with heat (think Hot Foil Plates) but also work with the glue. I used both types because I wanted to have the 2 shades of gold.

I added colour around the gold stencilled areas and to darken or lighten certain "lost" areas of the image, such as the eyes with pencils, water based pens and gel pen (I tried different medias with varying degree of success).

With the foil reflecting light and surrounding colours getting a picture that gives a good idea of what the page looks like in real life has been difficult so here are 2 other photos in different lighting, the first taken with the sun on the page and the second in artificial light at night, 

In hindsight I should have painted the back of the image behind the woman with white paint or gesso to get the areas to shine through, whereas with the black Gesso she looks a bit too dark and that's without considering her decidedly morose outlook... 
Still, the end result gives a good impression of a centuries old painting, which I'm not unhappy with and I certainly had fun making this project.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the FULL set of newly released Ranger/Tim Holtz® Distress Spritz 😲, yes you hear that right the FULL set... so what are you waiting for!!!

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield   I am entering the Creative Artist, We Love To Create, 

                                                           SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday and Allsorts challenges

Beach games

Hello crafters, 
Although the British weather yet again disappoints, my thoughts are definitely turned to sunny beaches... 

 

The stamps are all Crafty Individuals: "Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses" (CI-459) and "By the Sea" (CI-454).

I used Versacraft and Brilliance inks to stamp and coloured the image with pencils.

I think the card is crying out for additional details, maybe some stitching or inking all around and some more detailing of sea and sand with pencils but... I chickened out having already spoiled my first attempt!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge 

                                                        We Love Stamping, Stamping Sensations and Allsorts challenges

Stencil technique with gel medium

Hello crafters!
Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Stencil Magic".
With different techniques and mediums, the possibilities are endless...
My tag uses medium with a stencil to preserve a colourful background: 

For the background I used my most colourful Distress Oxide  Inks. 

I then applied gel medium through one of the Tim Holtz Mini stencil set 10 (THMST010).

 

 

When dry I added water splatters, and Distress Oxide spray in Tea dye, wiping the inks off the gel medium. 

The focal image is a Paper Doll accompanied by several Field Notes Snippets, a doily die-cut and a butterfly die-cut from an inking session leftover piece of card. I also gave my lady a bit of tissue tape (old Ideology/Tim Holtz) to stand on, coloured with inks.

I added some liquid glass beads which came out yellow as they picked up the underlying tea dye pigment rather than stay clear...

Not for the faint hearted but instead of a light coloured spray you can use a dark ink instead for maximum contrast.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the FULL set of newly released Ranger/Tim Holtz® Distress Spritz 😲, yes you hear that right the FULL set... so what are you waiting for!!!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the Allsorts and We Love To Create challenges

Seaside panel

Hello crafters!

Only a week left to enter our "Seaside" challenge at Country View Challenges held in the Facebook  group and I have some more inspiration for you. 
This is a plaque that will be hanging from a door.

The base for my plaque is recycled wood from food container (unused).

The other elements are from a pack of Stamperia Decorative Chips - Sea Dream Sea Shore (SCB53), they are, like my base, made from wood. Now this is an old collection, but I tend to grab the Stamperia items that I like even if I don't have a project in mind, because they tend to go quicky.

If you wanted to do a project like this one, they are plenty of alternative packs of chips on various  themes such as dance, couture etc...

I first painted the background on the wood panel making sure I had the right colours where the chips had opened areas. I also painted the lighthouse chip, first with gesso then colours using DecoArts Mixed Media Fluid acrylic paints.

The words chips were embossed with white followed by Wow! Blue Pearl embossing powders.

This is a really easy way to make a "painting" without any actual drawing skills and I have enjoyed making the process and am quite pleased with the result.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a seaside inspired bundle by Art by Marlene.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday and Monday                                                                       challenges, and the Allsorts challenge

Seahorse and alcohol inks

Happy Saturday crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Seaside"

I dove deep in my supplies... 😉

The focal image is Sebastian by Lavinia (LAV496) stamped on a background made with the alcohol lift ink technique.

I added some bubbles with pencils and white gel pen, some stamped stars (LAV152) and after a long period of dithering left it at that lest I spoiled the background.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a seaside inspired bundle by Art by Marlene.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the We Love Stamping, Stamping Sensations,

                                                             Addicted to Stamps and  Allsorts challenges

Wonderful Wild Flowers

Hello crafters, 

It seems summer is here at last and to celebrate I crafted this wild flower meadow.

The focal image has been built up with stamps from the Crafty Individuals set "Wild Flowers" (CI-226), inked with watercolour crayons.

The background sky and grass is also watercolour crayons, shaved over water applied with a brush. 

I then revisited my older supplies and added several layers of papers, some die-cut, one punched and some distressed and/or torn. The many layers is unusual for me and, despite my best efforts, I still didn't incorporate as many as I had planned! It just goes against the grain.

A flower made with punches and patterned vellum and a sentiment die-cut add the finishing touches. 

 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, Stamping Sensations, 

                                                               We Love Stamping and Addicted to Stamps challenges

National Gin Day

Hello crafters!
 I am back for a second dose of humour for the Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group where the theme is "Make Me Smile".

Are you preparing for the 8th of June world event? [1]

 Hmm... I am proposing a reschedule...  

[1] National Gin Day 2nd Saturday in June 

I used the stamp and matching die sets "Keep your Gin Up" by Visible image. 

The bottles at the back are stamped directly on the card front whilst the foreground 3 have been die-cut.  I stamped with dye inks in various colours and coloured the images with pencils. 
I created the sentiment on the computer.

So, no time to lose, create something funny and enter the challenge for the chance to win! You will find our May challenge here, in our friendly Facebook group. Our prize this month is 3 inkpads of the new release of Versafine Clair inks.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts and We Love Stamping challenges

Snail Pace

Hello crafters, 

There's slow and there is snail pace... Last year I signed up for Care December, a free course offered by Kasia from Everything Art. I didn't get around to start until after the event finished and completed it in February.... Care December it wasn't!! It is now May and I still  haven't got around to publish any of the projects, although most of my efforts don't merit a public viewing...

But today is the day... so here's my favourite page of the journal from the course:

 

The page is constructed of snippets from book, clothing and lace, even the heart is recycled from packaging.

I am not a sewist and I do not do embroidery and fully intended to skip that project but then I thought it wasn't in the spirit of things, and I am glad I did.

I used a stamp (from the "Lentement mais surement" stamp and die set by French brand 4enscrap) to guide my stitching, one given by a dear crafty friend.  A closer look at these cute gastropodes:

Heads up: 

We Love Stamping challenge is celebrating its 15 years and there will be a special prize bundle for June's challenge on the 2nd of June.

This week is also the 15th anniversary of the Allsorts challenge, which of course my snails will be joining, 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield             I am also entering the SSS Monday challenge

Make Me Smile

It's the middle of the month but today is my first post for May's Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. The theme is "Make Me Smile" and I immediately thought of those Visible Image alcohol based stamp sets.

I first printed the sentiment on my base card to avoid spoiling a finished image... tip: always print a draft on cheap paper first!

I stamped bottle, glass and cork on white card and die-cut the images with the matching die set (99% Chance Of Wine). I coloured the bottle and cork with pencils.

 

I used the stencil Morocco by Daily ART to create a wallpaper impression and applied Distress inks for the table.

Finally I positioned the die-cuts on the based card.

I hope this card makes you smile and inspire you to enter our May challenge, if you do you could win 3 of the new colours of Versafine Clair inkpads, but you will need to join our friendly Facebook group here if you haven't already.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield      I am entering the Allsorts and Stamping Sensations challenges

Stepper Card and Butterflies

Hello crafters, 

A quick post as I am aiming to enter the Allsorts challenge where the theme is "Show us your folds". Paper construction is not my forte but stepper cards are within my reach, albeit with help from a die...

The die is Step Card by Presscut, the set comes with dies to cut decorative papers for each section as well as the card base and I used some old magazine freebies to decorate the panels.

The stamp in the focal portion of the card is Crafty Individuals "Beautiful Butterflies" (CI-231). I stamped and embossed it, then I applied dye powders, a blue Brusho and Cerise Infusion (Paper Artsy). I should have known better... The strength of the powders overwhelmed the piece so much I had to tame it with Distress Oxides and white pigment ink.

I will add a sentiment, probably die-cut words, when required but I am not sure if I should place it in the middle of the background or at the bottom on the pink card. Suggestions welcome!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield               I am also entering the SSS Wednesday and 

                                                                   Stamping Sensations challenges

Distress Oxides and Old Supplies

Good morning crafters and happy bank holiday weekend for our UK based friends!

The more I play with Distress Oxides the more I like them for easy and quick backgrounds. This was the starting point for this tag, that and going Vintage both in style and supplies...

When the inks were dry, I stamped a script stamp in white (Crafty Individuals "Inky Script Background" CI-436) and the "Dragonfly Post" CI-001 stamp also Crafty Individuals in black Versafine.

As I had the sewing machine out for a very rare foray into clothes repair, I took the opportunity to add a stitched frame.

Looking through my older supplies, I added a STAMPlorations die-cut (Life is Good) a dragonfly brad, button die-cut, small flower and hole protector (from very old dies) to finish the tag.

Now back to my UFO mountain...                                             UFO: unfinished objects

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the We Love Stamping challenge

Spring in Paris

Hello crafters,

the temperature in the UK isn't spring like at all so it's no wonder we dream about April in Paris!

I made a journal page using lots of my Paris inspired stamps and added spring colours to liven it up.

The background is Distress Inks, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and a touch of Twisted Citron Distress Oxide applied with an acetate sheet.

The stamps are all Crafty Individuals: Singing Merrily (CI-309) top left, bottom right and in lighter colours here and there. Iconic World Views (CI-228) in the photo frame, Just the Ticket Border (CI-498) and Imagine Child (CI-101).

I also used bits of stamps or stamps sets as fillers if they had a Paris theme.

The photo frame is from the So Spring die set by Studio Light, the Eiffel tower is Marianne Craftables Eiffel Tower CR1220 and "Soir de Paris" has been stamped on a ticket die (Happy Days Ticket Stubs Dies By Xcut XCU503150). The butterfly is cut from leftover background (Impression Obsession IO DIE008-I)

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Stamping Sensation, We Love Stamping,

                                                       SSS Wednesday challenges

Purple Crocus

Hello again! 

I have another flower card today... I just had to use this AALL & Create stamp that I won at Stamping Sensations challenge last month.

The result sadly doesn't quite match my initial vision, but I am showing it here anyway

 keeping it real...

The stamp is from the Crocus set (#624) by AALL & Create, the heart die (cut in white and then black) is from the Studio light "So Spring" (SS78) die set, and I used a scalloped die to cut the black card (Julie Hickey Designs, JHD-CUT-1003).

Once stamped, I coloured the crocus with pencils and added a bit of white acrylic splatter to finish.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, Stamping Sensations and

                                                     We Love Stamping challenges

Of Friends and Flowers

Hello crafters!

More floral inspiration for you today as I am featuring over our Country View Crafts Facebook group. This month I chose the theme, "Flower Power".  

My second make is a mixed media tag with a touch of Vintage.

I first applied different colours of acrylic paint on a gessoed tag, choosing bright colours. 

Then I stuck pieces of Tim Holtz Botanical paper with gel medium. When these were dry, I coloured them with Distress crayons.

Next, I applied a thickish layer of Crackled paste, which turns transparent when completely dry. To enhance the crackles, I brushed a fairly wet wash of brown acrylic paint all over the tag and using a soft cloth wiped off the excess.

My focal image is a Paper Doll that I coloured with Distress Crayons and framed with paper flowers from my stash, adding some enamel accents for the flower centres.

The bee and butterfly are from the Ideology/Tim Holtz Field Notes Snippets as is the cluster bottom. The sentiment is from the Garden Treasures (JH1003) stamp set by Julie Hickey Designs,

Link up your project here for the chance to win a set of Distressed Watercolour pencils from the Country View Craft shop, just make sure flowers are the prominent feature of your make!

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, SSS Monday challenges

Botanical Prints

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Flower Power" chosen by yours truly! 

A simple and popular theme, all I need to see is flowers as the prominent feature of your make.

Back in February Tim Holtz did a Live all about the Distress Watercolour pencils. These pencils being woodless they can be dunked in water without problems which allows for fun techniques. 

This was my inspiration for these makes, plural because once you start... let's just say this is perfect for mass production! A sample of the prints I did:

The technique is really simple, one spritz of water on the stamp, then apply any colour of pencils you choose to the stamp. If the water evaporates spritz some more and carry on. When all the stamp is coloured as you wish, another spritz and stamp. More water for a more watercolour effect and less if you want to keep more of the stamp details.
The stamp I used is from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Exquisite set (CMS453).
For substrate, I used hot pressed watercolour paper to keep as much detail of the stamp. Watercolour paper is ideal for this but I did have some success on cartridge paper although it did buckle and flattening it afterwards wasn't easy.

I made 2 of my prints into these cards:

This is the one is entered in the Allsorts challenge,

and:

I hope I have inspired you and if you haven't yet do join our friendly group here and link up your project for the chance to win a prize from the Country View Craft shop. I will be back with a second floral make later in the month.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Allsorts,  We Love Stamping,

                                                         and Addicted to stamps challenges

Dapper Bunny

Hello crafters!

Today I have a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Mad March Hare" which also includes rabbits and anything Easter!

This time my card doesn't even sport a sentiment on the front as, ahem, it got rather busy! Last year I made a few of these "Floating frame" cards and I just love how impressive they look. 

My focal image is the bunny from the AALL & Create Set "In the Wild" (#529), which I coloured with pencils.

The frame is made of several flowers and leaves die-cut with the Sizzix Thinlits  – Floral Layers die set (664359), which I coloured with Distress inks. I could have die cut into coloured cardstock but this gave me more control over the exact shades, as I don't have all colours of cardstock under the sun! Especially greens since I don't like them and yet there are often necessary for all the trees and leaves so I always run out!!!

And another look at the height:

So, no time to lose, create something for Easter and/or with a bunny in it, to win it! You will find our March challenge here, in our friendly Facebook group. Our prize this month is this lovely bundle....

Thanks for coming by, 

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday Allsorts, Stamping Sensations,

                                                         Addicted to Stamps  challenges

Mad March Hare

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month, the theme is "Mad March Hare" which also includes rabbits and anything Easter!

My first card is a Birthday card but can be adapted easily for Easter.

I created a light background of sky and grass with Distress inks and torn paper masks.

I die-cut my sentiment (a combination of 2 Papertrey ink dies and a letter from the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Script set - 662228) out of cardstock and out of foam, glueing them together for more dimension.

The focal point is of course rabbits, the funny Katzelkraft Mini 114, which I stamped on kraft colour cardstock and coloured with pencils.

Those who come here often know how much I dislike fussy cutting but... one has to suffer for one's craft! Yes, I did fussy cut those 5 plus another 2 I thought I might need!

I popped them up on foam pads and, voila, hopping rabbits or one caught on a camera's burst mode...

Anyhoo, I hope I have inspired you to enter our March challenge, if you do you could win a nice bundle (see below), but you will need to belong to our friendly Facebook group here.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Allsorts,

                                                         Stamping Sensations, and Addicted to Stamps challenges.

Spring is coming...

And not soon enough! Today I have a Spring inspired card with a floating frame, one of last year discovery for me and now a firm favourite of mine.

The bird is "Sweet Robin Redbreast" by Crafty Individuals (CI-456). I stamped it in grey ink, coloured it in pencils and fussy cut it.

The flowers and leaves are die-cut with Crafters Companion Country Lane Perfect Peony die set, the branch from the Sizzix Thinlits Die Set "Christmas Shadow Box" by Courtney Chilson (663611) and the Spring sentiment, Chocolate Baroque - "Breath of Spring", has been die-cut with a Papertrey ink die set (Memory Clips Die).

I gave a slight hint of sky in the background of my base card with Distress Inks. Then, it was a matter of positioning all the elements and sticking them down with foam pads. You might see the dimension better in this photo:

I will warn you now... another floating frame make will be coming here soon!!!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Allsorts, We Love Stamping,

                                                      Stamping Sensations, SSS Monday

                                                      and the Lost Coast Designs challenges

Love tag

Hello crafters!
Today I have a second piece of inspiration for our Country View Crafts Facebook group for the February challenge, where the theme is "All About Love".

On a gessoed tag, I built the background using Distress Oxides sprays in Walnut Stain and Picked Raspberry, stamping partial areas of Stamperia images from the set Lady by Antonis Tzanidakis (WTKAT09). 

When all of this had dried, I added stencilling with transparent texture paste (Ranger/Tim Holtz) to which I added drops of re-inker (Worn Lipstick, Prize Ribbon and Salvaged Patina). The stencil is Lavinia Leaf Trails ST0017.

I put together a cluster on top of a doily cut with 665587 - Sizzix Thinlits Die - Heart Mandala by Eileen Hull.

I used a Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Paper Doll (TH94235) and some Field notes Snippets (TH94049)

The sentiment is in the form of 2 die-cut words (from the TH /Sizzix Thinlits words 660218 Love) and a Wooden heart from my bag of bits is the final touch.

That's all for this month of inspiration at Country View Craft group ... if you want to be in with a chance to win one of the latest Sizzix/Tim Holtz die sets, you'd better hurry and enter our challenge as it closes at 12 GMT today! 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge