Reconstructed wood

Hello crafters!
Today its the Autumn colours that have inspired me, very different from my last offering. And no stamping either... very unusual! 

My base is the result of a lengthier process than expected! I started with a base of a light wood panel which I embossed with the Tim Holtz Folder Lumber, after applying colour with Distress inks  and spraying with water. It's better to emboss whilst wet to avoid the fragile wood breaking.  

Next step is to emboss with a stylus and hand cut "planks". I laid my planks on a piece of Kraft cardstock using gel medium and let it dry under weighty books.

Finally for a more realistic look I added "nails" with a graphite pencil, and took bites of the top planks with a craft knife as this is obviously an old door/wall/gate/whatever...

My embellishments are from Tim Holtz, a Paper Doll, some Field Snippets and also some Vellum Ephemera from Arden Creative Studio . If you wondered what they are like, they are quite sturdy and only semi translucent.

I applied some blue colour to the butterfly with Distress Crayons and some red and yellow to the girls' dresses. 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Outlawz Saturday challenge 

Marcie on a night out

Hello crafters!
For you today I have another inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Silhouettes" hosted by Carol

My tag features Lavinia's Marcie (LAV 916) who is taking a sabbatical from witchcraft until October... 🤣 

All she needed to do was hang up her hat and broom! (I wiped off the ink from these areas before stamping).
My base is AALL & Create paper #9 Tarnished Wonders, inked with Distress and Distress Oxide Inks.
I also stamped Small Pine Trees (LAV 836), Mini Seed Head (LAV30) and Mini Fairy Lantern (LAV 588) which Marcie is now holding to light her way to a fancy soiree.

Lavinia's moon was too big for my tag so I just reserved a portion of a circle top left and added white with Distress Crayon in lieu of a stamped moon.

To create the glow around Marcie I used pastels and white gel pen add a few details to the tag.

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To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the Tim Holtz inspired bundle pictured below from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, 

                                                             Tag-Along (and ATCs), Stamping Sensations, 

                                                             We Love Stamping, Outlawz Saturday, Outlawz and 

                                                             Addicted to Stamps  challenges 

Santa is coming to town

Hello crafters!
Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Silhouettes " hosted by Carol . 

I am not normally one for making "Christmas in summer" but it seemed appropriate as I haven't had the chance to use the  Sizzix/Tim Holtz Vault Christmas Magic die set (666718) very much so far.

I used paper from my stash for the sky and ground.

The sentiment is an old stamp, also from my stash, and I added some iridescent stars with So Soft paint in White Pearl for some shine with the Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencil 43 (THMST043)

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To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the Tim Holtz inspired bundle pictured belowfrom the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge  

All aboard

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "The Great Outdoors " hosted by Jane. 
For my second inspiration I pulled out my most recent Lavinia stamps Double Trouble (LAV963)

I started with a base of white card die-cut with AALL & Create #27 Die set "Tag It Yourself"

I did the stamping first as I needed to know where to leave out "the light", all with Versafine Black ink. As well as the mice, I used these other stamps used (all Lavinia):

- Bulrushes (LAV003)

- Fantasea (LAV721)

- Mini Fairy Lantern (LAV588)

- Forest Moss (LAV857)

I used Elements inks and Distress Inks to colour the background adding ripples in the water with a white crayon. The black mat is the matching die from the same "Tag It Yourself" set.

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To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a a fabulous Paper Artsy floral stamp set designed by Alison Bomber.

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday,

                                                       Tag-Along (and ATCs), We Love Stamping and 

                                                       Stamping Sensations challenges         

Mad as a box of frogs

Hello crafters!
Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "The Great Outdoors " hosted by Jane.
For my first inspiration post I upcycled a box.

I started by painting the sky with Paper Artsy Fresco paints, chosen for their matt aspect. I faded out the sky to the green of the box which I left unpainted so I could stamp on it. I added clouds and painted the pond again with Frescos.

The Bulrushes is a Lavinia stamp (LAV003) and although I originally used the Forest Moss set, also from Lavinia (LAV857), to stamp the rocks, I ended up painting them with acrylic paints as they didn't look right.




The focal point is of course the frog, sat on a mossy "bench" resting on rocks. All of these and the flowers on the right are rub-ons from Stamperia's Hidden Grove collection. 

Until now I hadn't used rub-ons in creative ways and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the design and how easy they are to blend into one's creation. [New ones have been added to my wish list...]

To finish I applied DecoArt Raw Umber paint with a sponge to create a border. 

How cute is that frog!!!

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To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a a fabulous Paper Artsy floral stamp set designed by Alison Bomber.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield),       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Monday, 

                                                              We Love To Create, Creative Artiste, Polkadoodles, 

                                                              We Love Stamping, Stamping Sensations challenges

Have bus pass will travel

Hello crafters!

Today I have another inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Travel" hosted by Zoe Hillman. 

I have chosen the humble bus for my second trip...

For my background I have used a piece of AALL & Create the Ethereal Expeditions paper (#15) and stencilled the brickwork on top (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Mini Stencil Set #28 ). Then I die-cut the background and the matching black mat with AALL & Create Die Set - Climbing Woods (#77).

I die-cut the bus once out of red card and again with mirror and white card pieces to add the details. For the wheels and shadow under the bus I used coloured pencils, for "glass" I used acetate glued from the back. The bus number is peel off stickers.

I used one of the dies in the AALL & Create Die Set Splodazzlers  (#33) to create the silver with a red border circle as a mat for my sentiment.

And since I had the seldom used peel offs out, I added a few stars and balloons, just coz... [must use stuff...]

I had trouble photographing this card due to the reflective surfaces, so here's another look:

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I hope I have inspired you to enter our challenge! To enter, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the Arden bundle pictured below.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge

City Travel

Hello crafters, 

today I have an inspiration make for our June Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Travel" hosted by Zoe Hillman. 
I have chosen the Sizzix Vault Christmas Magic (666718) die set to drive my muse...

My background has been coloured with alcohol inks using a felt pad and the buildings have been die-cut from a piece of Gelli printed canvas textured card.

The car and lorries are fiddly to assemble because they are small but otherwise the scene was really easy to put together.
To match the naïve look of the die-cuts I used the AALL & Create #32 die set Numberama for my base.

Proof this set isn't just for Christmas!

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I hope I have inspired you to enter our challenge! To enter, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the Arden bundle pictured below.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge

Mr O'Neil

Hello crafters!
Today I am showing a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge on the theme "Aged, weathered, distressed or timeworn " hosted by Brenda.

For this tag I chose Paper Artsy Infusions to create the aged/distressed look in the background.

The base of my tag is thin wood cut with the AALL & Create Die set Tag It Yourself #27 and gessoed. I then sprinkled Infusions in Rusty Car, Walnut and A Bit Jaded onto the sprayed tag.

I added some stencilling with white acrylic with the Tim Holtz Mini Stencil #43. 

Bits of washi tape (AALL & Create #107), clip die-cut (AALL & Create #30 Taggletastic) embossed with a mix of Wow Embossing powders, with a note attached (stamp by Andy Skinner), Cello Sticker Tape  (TH94386) and finally paper doll (the imaginary Mr O'Neil now cast as an industry magnate!).

 

The cogs are cut from masterboards created with acrylic paints in black, and Distress Oxides sprays in Salty Ocean, Fossilized Amber and Tea Dye. Then they were die-cut with the Sizzix Bigz L Cogs .

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To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. ">There will be a fabulous prize from the Country View Craft shop, something from a latest release...

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the challenge Tag-Along (and ATCs) and 

                                                          Creative Artist.

Weather Beaten and Sun Bleached

Hello crafters!
Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Aged, Weathered, Distressed" hosted by Brenda. 

I used rust and sun bleached wood as my weathered inspiration.

My base is some recycled lightweight wood (food packaging) cut with the AALL & Create Die set  - Tag It Yourself #27 and primed with gesso.

I applied some rusting powder (Paper Artsy) with water and vinegar as well as Distress Oxide in Patina and let them mingle.

I dove deep in my bits and bobs stash retrieving waste of die cuts (the pennants) and embellishments.

The main image, is the lighthouse from Paper Artsy set HP1202 stamped on fabric. 

Decorative chips from Stamperia, a piece of Washi #106 from Stamperia (bottom right), a snippet of card embossed with a the Mini Lumber folder from Tim Holtz/Sizzix, aged with inks and more were added as embellishments. 

 

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. There will be a fabulous prize from the Country View Craft shop, something from a latest release...

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the We Love Stamping, 

                                                        Snippet Playground and Tag-Along (and ATCs) challenges 

Of Layered Frames and Sticky Grid

Hello crafters!
Today I have a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Use a frame(s)" hosted by Sue . 

This time I created several frames with dies and a hero product often overlooked!

 

Have you got in your stash some of Tim Holtz's Layer Frames?  If it were not for my extensive dithering I would have... but since I missed out on these I finally decided to make my own....

In order to make the frames I needed some shape dies, 2 to a frame, and this, underrated product from Sizzix, the Sticky grid. If you are not familiar with this product it's a double sided sheet of paper printed with imperial measurements and sticky (removable) on both sides. 

As advised by our crafting god, Tim Holtz, I use it to hold in place my cardstock on my blending mat and also in my stamping platform. These I use and re-use many, many times... 

The sticky grid allowed me to place the dies in the precise position required and kept them there whilst cutting the several layers I needed to get the same thickness as the Layer Frames.

I then glued all the layers together and voila my own Layer Frames! 

I was so pleased with the result I carried on with different pair of dies, paper etc... and used them together on a file folder.

Supplies: 

- Graphic 45 paper "Place in Time" 6x6

- Stamperia "Coffee and Chocolate" 12x12

- Prima "Reflections" A4 pad

- Ideology Folio folders (TH94370)

- Ideology Ephemera Pack TH94396

- Tissue Tape (by Tim Holtz)

- Ideology Ephemera Field Notes Snippets (TH94049)

- Ideology Paper Dolls (TH93555)

- Idea-ology- Tiny Clips (TH94025 )

- Spellbinders, Docrafts and MFT dies

- antique bits and pieces from my stash

Here's all the pages of my make:

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the bundle pictured below of a Crafty by Toni stamp set and a pack of 49 And Market die-cut elements from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   

Double Frame

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Use a frame(s)" hosted by Sue . There are so many ways of adding a frame to a card... drawing with inks, adding glitter/foil on double sided tape, die cutting frames with 2 sizes of dies etc... 

For my first make I created my frame with Lavinia stamps:

I stamped the cottage first using several colours of ink and masked it before stamping the path.

With the focal image in place, I added my frame by stamping the Fairy Lantern repeatedly around it and coloured them with pencils.

For good measure I added an actual frame that I had intended to cut with 2 sizes of a die set but had to hand cut using all the maths I could muster!

Supplies: 

- Honeysuckle Cottage Stamp (LAV 687)

- Mini Fairy Lantern Stamp (LAV588)

- Fairy Path Stamp (LAV246)

- Versafine Clair inks

- Coloured pencils

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To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the bundle pictured below of a Crafty by Toni stamp set and a pack of 49 And Market die-cut elements from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Stamping Sensations challenge 

Floral card

Hello crafters!

Today is my second post on the theme of "Mother's Day/Use flower(s)" for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group and hosted by Cassie.

I selected vellum for this card as I wanted to use coloured pencils. 

Why vellum, I hear you ask? Well, vellum has 2 advantages when it comes to coloured pencils: the first is that the paper has a texture that grabs the pencil, allowing more colour to be applied, the second, because it is semi opaque. a second layer of colour can be applied to the back for even stronger depth of colour.

First I stamped the flowers from the AALL & Create "In The Wild" stamp set (#529) in white pigment ink . Then I coloured on top with the pencils.

The image and its mat have been die-cut with the AALL & Create Splodazzlers set (#33).

Finishing touches are some of the little "bits" from the same die set and small brads I have coloured with nail varnish (in pink) and embossing powders (the black and the white brads).

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the fabulous prize pictured below, one of the just released Paper Artsy stamp set from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the challenge We Love Stamping and Polkadoodles 

Exquisite

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held
in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Mother's Day/Use a flower(s)"
hosted by Cassie.

I stamped the flowers first and coloured them, thinking I would mask them before the next step. Unfortunately the masking wasn't 100% proof and a lot of my yellow, blue and orange sprays have obscured somewhat the flowers... Still the grainy effect was to my liking so I kept it!

The stamp set is CMS453 "Exquisite" Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.

Once dry, I die-cut the image and a mat with the AALL & Create Roadway Vistas #78.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the fabulous prize pictured below, one of the just released Paper Artsy stamp set from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Stamping Sensations, 

                                                            We Love Stamping and Polkadoodle challenges. 

Girlfriends Forever

Hello crafters, 

Today I have a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge on the theme of "Romance and Friendship" hosted by yours truly!

I first created my background with alcohol inks on Yupo paper, spritzing with alcohol and dripping  Alcohol blending ink.  Then, I applied Ranger's alcohol lift ink with a brayer to the whole Yupo sheet and transferred the "print" by pressing white cardstock on top of the Yupo. (second prints can be done but will be paler). 

I stamped the Paper Artsy girls from the fifties (HP1207 set) an old one but perfect for this card.

I added a sentiment from a STAMPlorations set (sadly not active at the moment)  

The paper and mat have been cut with the AALL & Create die set #33 - Splodazzlers

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win both stamp sets pictured below from the Country View Craft shop.
 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the  Simon Says Stamps Monday, 

                                                         Addicted to Stamps, Polkadoodle, Stamping Sensations and 

                                                         We Love Stamping challenges 

Bewitched

Hello crafters, 

Today I am kicking off the Country View Challenge on the theme of "Romance and Friendship" which I have chosen since Valentine's day is just around the corner!

If Romantic love is not your thing you can go with Friendship or any other kind of human love (children, family...)

The inspiration for this card is the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Vault set Wicked (666683), on the premise that witches do not always have to be sinister and the old series Bewitched came to mind.

It's not that I don't have any "Romantic" themed stamps or dies but I was itching to use the set, one of my latest purchases from Country View Crafts during the Advent Calendar event (every year my budget downfall...). 

For background I chose AALL & Create #15 Ethereal Expeditions paper. I say paper but at a whooping 350gsm it is very much heavy cardstock, great for card bases and boxes too!

I added some Distress inks to suggest a floor and a wall. 

To the broom, witch, cat and bottles from the Wicked set, I added heart confettis (Memory Box Heart Sprinkles 94112), and the word Love (660218 Sizzix/Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Set 7PK - Handwritten Love). 

The shelf is a freebie die from Creative Stamping magazine( Issue 105) and I have printed the cauldron and fussy cut it.

There you have it, witches aren't just for Halloween! 

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win both stamp sets pictured below from the Country View Craft shop.
 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the  Simon Says Stamp Monday. 
                                                          Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Addicted to Stamps  challenges 

Arctic Antarctic Album

Hello crafters!

Today I have a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge on the theme of "Wintry Scenes" hosted by Rachel.

This one has been a slow burn project... an album to add photos to. 

Warning this is a photo heavy post! 

The above is the cover below a few pages:

There are pocket pages, waterfall, chipboard and small die-cuts to tuck the photos with. But if you want to see all the pages hop to youtube here where my glamorous,  assistant (no, the hairy arms are not mine!) gives a short walkthrough of the pages.

Supplies:

Paper: Arctic Antarctic collection by Stamperia (since I have been slow in the making of the album this collection is not available anymore...) 

Black tape: Stix2

Dies: pages cut with Tonic Studios Keepsake Book Maker die set, various brands for the embellishments.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a a lovely set of Tim Holtz's Tiny Text Stamps from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       

Wintry Scene with Lavinia

Hello crafters!
Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is "Wintry Scenes" hosted by Rachel.

More snow in my scene than in real life in England...

I created the background with Versafine inks and paper masks for the "hills". 

I stamped my Fairy Fir tree (LAV478), Small Pine Trees (LAV836), Forest Moss (LAV857) just peeking from the snow, the Small Robins (LAV928) and Mini Mistletoe (LAV926). Most of those are new to me so I just had to use them!

I die-cut the scene and a matching mat with the AALL & Create #78 - Die-Cutting Die Set - Roadway Vistas die set.

A few dab of gel pen here and there for snow and the white of the mistletoe berries finish the scene.

I hope I have inspired you to enter the challenge! Do hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a prize from  the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday and 

                                                      Simon Says Stamp Monday challenges

Fairy Christmas

Hello crafters!
Today my second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group is another Christmas card.

I created my own snow globe stencil with the help of a die (Crealies CLCZ08) and applied Elements inks with a smoothie.

With another DIY stencil I sponged white pigment ink to create a hill.

I then stamped the Fairy Fir Tree (LAV478) several times with Versafine ink as well a small tree from the Lavinia Tree scene set (LAV219). 

I added Mia (LAV284) holding a Mini Fairy Lantern (LAV588)

For a finishing touch I splattered some iridescent medium with a brush, more interesting than white for "snow".

2 layers of mats and voila a magical Christmas card! As I write this I am realising that this is quite similar to a tag I made last month here.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. a place on Zoe Hillman’s next workshop at the Country View Crafts shop in the new year!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the challenge Stamping Sensations, 

                                                              We Love Stamping and Lost Coast Designs

Artic Conditions

Hello crafters!
Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook group. This month the theme is, of course, "Christmas"!

I created an Hexagon card (I followed the instructions from this video), which folds flat to 5"x7" for easy posting. 

I added acetate to all 3 front panels, partly to make them more sturdy and partly to allow me more decorative options. As I have been going through a "window" period, I thought the panels would be glass and of course with snow... I added some Tim Holtz/Ranger Grit paste Snowfall with the mini stencil set 43 by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous (THMST043). I got the inspiration from Tim Holtz himself, although he favours the stencil THS021 for this purpose but I think mine works well too,

The papers are from the Stamperia Arctic Antarctic collection, the snowman, snowflake and ice skates are die-cut from different colour card with the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Winter Wishes set (666717). I used thick thread to lace the skates to complete the realistic effect. 

This Arctic Antarctic collection is not available anymore and here's my advice... any Stamperia collection you like and have a project in mind don't dither! As soon as I saw this one I knew I wanted it for an album, never mind that it took me years to get around to use it (real life did get in the way) but I am so glad to have this collection on hand.

The greeting is Die'sire Words Die - Merry Christmas.

The card seen in different angle and folded flat:

Making this type of card is simple but time consuming so you might want to reserve it for your special people or when you want your card to be noticed on the mantelpiece!

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win a place on Zoe Hillman’s next workshop at the Country View Crafts shop in the new year!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Monday, 

                                                            Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  challenges