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

Snowy scene with Lavinia

Hello crafters!

I am back for more inspiration for our Country View Challenge on the theme "Winging It" Hosted by Fiona.

I stamped the Fairy Fir Tree (LAV478) several times (1st and 2nd generation stamping) at the bottom of the tag with Versafine inks. I stamped the Moon (LAV431) and masked it.

I stamped and embossed Miniatures stars (LAV152) in white.

I added colour across the whole tag also with Versafine inks and  Smoothies, then stamped Mia (LAV284) to push the moon in place...

To finish I used gel pen on the tree branches and splattered some white acrylic ink over the tag.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win all 5 of the newly released Layer It Up Washis by AALL & create from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

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

                                                         Addicted to Stamps challenges 

Hummingbird

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Winging It" hosted by Fiona.

I chose this Lavinia Hummingbird for my Winged creature as it is a recent addition to my stash.

My background is alcohol inks on yupo paper.  I stamped the Hummingbird Small (LAV894) and the Open Dandelion  (LAV745) with Brilliance inks, letting them dry a full 24 Hours before colouring.

Since I didn't have small nib sizes of acrylic or Posca pens, I used water based markers to colour the bird. Those eventually dried, but, being a transparent medium, the background colours do show through.

I wanted the Dandelion in white and tried gel pen on the petals with mixed results: yes the gel ink dried and yes it added a bit of white but not enough to hide the background colours. [Add to shopping list: small nib acrylic pen...].

I then used my new favourite die (AALL & Create die set #32 Numberama) to cut both image and mat, before assembly on a white base card.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win all 5 of the newly released Layer It Up Washis by AALL & create from the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the Allsorts, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, 

                                                         Stamping Sensations and We Love Stamping challenges 

Layer It Up Washi

Hello crafters, 

I have been playing with some new supplies (for me) and I am quite excited!

I am talking of the Layer It Up Washi tapes from AALL & Create. 

If you are not familiar with these read on...

They come in a 2.5cm wide, 10 meters long roll, with a pattern repeat every 40cm (approximately). A 40cm length can be cut in 10cm chunks and layered one below the other to reveal a complete image. Below is the image I put together on a piece of card with the Leaf Out My Book tape (#101).

The roll will allow you to make some 25 such images, but, of course, you can still use the tape as any other washi!

As to styles, AALL & Create has large variety of tapes including themed ones for Christmas with either cute cats, dogs, foxes, bunnies and bears! (Country View Crafts has them here). Imagine securing your wrapping papers with them!!

Anyhoo, I made this card with the image as the focal point, which I had decided to die-cut with AALL & Create #32 die set to give it a more organic shape than the square I had as in the above picture. I used a partial die-cutting technique as the die is longer than the image.

The background is a Graphic 45 paper (A place in time 6x6 paper pad)  and I cut a mat from Chatsworth, a very old paper pack by Paper Artsy (a collector item, I believe Chatsworth and Thorndon Hall were the only 2 ever made). 

A stamped sentiment completes the card (Sentimentally yours SYC007).

Hope you enjoyed the read and, as usual, thanks for coming by!  

 Craftyfield              I am entering the Allsorts challenge.

Halloween Door Sign

Hello crafters!
Today I have a second make on the Halloween theme for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. Still inspired by Tim Holtz and his latest release, I made a Halloween plaque to hang on a door.

The base is a recycled piece of light wood (ready meal container). I first tore a large piece of Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Halloween 2024 Collage Paper (TH94393) and glued it in place with Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte, adding smaller pieces on top (insects).

Then I used Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray  (now stocked at Country View Crafts... yeah!!!).

 
When dry I added Distress Crayons (Halloween  Ranger Tim Holtz® Distress Pearl Crayons 2022 - Halloween Set #4)
I added Ranger - Tim Holtz® - Distress® - Texture Paste - Translucent  and sprinkled several colours of Wow Embossing powders (Violine, Grape, Chai Latte, Olive).

I added ephemera  (Tim Holtz® Idea-ology™ Halloween 2024 Ephemera Pack TH94396), a paper doll (Tim Holtz® Ideaology™ TH93555), a sticker (TH94263) a die cut number (AALL & Create #32 - Die-cutting set - Numberama)  and a hand drawn pumpkin. 

The book is made of 2 pieces of  ephemera folded and glued together, a book of magic spells maybe... 

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the Halloween Whatnots stamp set from Tim Holtzs' latest release!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the We Love to Create, Allsorts, Creative Artist, 

                                                           Simon Says Stamp Wednesday,  challenges 

Druggist Window

Hello crafters!

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

For my card I took inspiration from a great lover of all things Halloween, Tim Holtz!

I started by applying a large piece of Botanical Collage Paper (TH93705)  to my base and gave it a Vintage look with Antique Linen Distress ink. I also coloured the flowers and leaves with Distress crayons (Halloween #4 set).

Then, I used Distress Collage Medium Matte to add pieces of the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Halloween Ephemera Pack (TH94396) and a paper doll.

Inspired by Tim's windows (TH94390 Baseboards Halloween 2024), I created my own with rectangle dies and a piece of acetate. 

I finished the card by adding more ephemera, a sticker (TH94263), zig-zag sewing on one side and matted the whole onto a black card.

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win the Halloween Whatnots stamp set from Tim Holtzs' latest release!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday and

                                                         the Allsorts challenges 

Signs of Autumn

Hello crafters!

I am back for a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group, still on the theme of "Autumn Richness". This time I used the colours of Autumn for this whimsical scene.

I started by a Distress Oxide sprays background (Tea Dye, Picked Raspberry and Walnut Stain).

The stamps I used are all Lavinia, stamped with Versafine black:
- LAV 564 Mini Forest Mushroom

- LAV 630 Mini Seed Head

- LAV 745 Open Dandelion

- LAV 859 Scout Small

I gave a hint of a hill for the scout to stand on, and the plants to rise from, with some Distress ink. 

To mat my focal image, I made a decorative mat by cutting the same border die (Spellbinders Borderabilities Lattice Borders 2 S4-218) on all four sides of a piece of red cardstock. One way of making use of these old dies which never seem to see the light of day!

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the Stamping Sensations, Allsorts, 

                                                         We Love Stamping, and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenges

Autumn has arrived

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Autumn Richness" and to celebrate the new season, not that it's my favourite, I chose to make a decor item. 

The base has been recycled from a particularly big wooden packaging, the lightweight kind that comes with some ready made dishes. It was round but I cut it as an Octagon and flattened it (I have worked out that an ordinary steam iron works well for that). 

For the background to the "Autumn" I used the AALL & Create die set Infinarty (#39) and the Lavinia stencil Leaf Trails (ST017) with Distress inks.

I added my title, die-cut with the Sizzix Alpha set 662228 and stamped 2 leaves (stamp from my own collection).

The 3D elements are the fantastic mushrooms moulded with the Stamperia Silicone Mould Woodland Mushrooms (KACMA502) and the fallen leaves a mix of die-cuts and punched leaves from cardstock inked with Distress Oxide inks.   

For now, I have left the knots of the twine as you can see them whilst I mull over how I am going to transform the back into a Winter/Christmas decor piece, but, if possible, I will hide them with metallic leaf brads.

To give you an idea what it looks like in situ in the house: 

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

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the  Allsorts, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday

                                                        Stamping Sensations,   We Love Stamping, 

                                                        Simon Says Stamp Monday challenges 

Coffee and Lace

Hello crafters!
For my second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, held in the Facebook group, on the theme "Use Lace and Buttons". I once again stayed away from stamping using (finally) some of those hoarded papers!

I created a background with Distress Oxide Inks splatters in Worn Lipstick and Salvaged Patina. Then I simply added my embellishments:

- a piece of Sizzix Thinlits Heart Mandala die (665587 by Eileen Hull),
- 2 pieces of paper from the Stamperia Coffee and Chocolate pad
- a Vintage piece of lace.
- a button threaded with twine.
Another quick card to make, bar the background which needs drying time and the makeover I gave to the button. To make it more interesting and to match the colours, I embossed my button with a mix of EPs.
Whilst I had the buttons and EP on hand, I transformed several at the same time for future use...

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamps Monday challenge.

Lace and Buttons

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 Lace and Buttons".

I created a shaped card using a Spellbinders die on one side of my base card.

The paper is from a freebie pack (Melissa Frances). I added lace that had been donated to me, a Prima flower and a button, all of those so old as to be rightly referred to as antiques...

For something new, albeit in a Vintage vibe, I added several elements from a pack of 49 And Market Mini Laser Cut Elements (Krafty Garden). 

If you want to make a card in a hurry, without any stamping or inky/painty mess, these elements are ideal! Feels like cheating...

To enter the challenge, hop on to our friendly group here and upload your project to the challenge album. You could win this fabulous stamp set from Tim Holtz/Stamper Anonymous latest release donated by Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday 

                                                          Simon Says Stamps Monday and Allsorts challenges

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

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