Winter Snowscape

Hello crafters, 

Today I have a special Christmas card to show you. When I say special I mean it isn't one of those designs quick to make that we can mass make. No, this one is a labour of love reserved for my closest and dearest!

The card shape was inspired by the Wardrobe die set by Studio Light (SL-ES-CD455). 

I left a blank space at the back for the message and when the card is opened it looks  like this:

The paper I used is from the Winter Tales pad (Stamperia). I added foliage die-cuts (Sizzix Christmas Shadow Box Die Set - 663611), some of which I glittered.

To close the doors I added a chipboard piece from the Quotes And Labels from the same  Stamperia collection.

I liked the design but thought I could do better with the doors and added door mouldings as in this variation below:

Do let me know what you think of these!

Thanks for coming by,

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

                                                         Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Addicted to Stamps, 

                                                         and We Love 2 Create  challenges

Use your stash idea

Happy Sunday crafters! 

I have a weakness for beautiful papers and often grab a pad or a rice paper just because I like the look of it, not knowing how I will use it. Then it lays undisturbed in my stash because I cannot bear to cut into that beautiful paper! Sounds familiar?

The A4 Stamperia rice paper below (Blue Dream from the Colorful Life collection DFSA4746) is one of these that I didn't know what to do with, until I had the idea of using it on a mouse mat. 

My old mouse mat was deteriorating and the top layer was lifting up at the corners. 

I realised that if the top layer was plasticised, underneath was a white paper layer that could accept glue. And the size was a little shorter than A4 but I could still fit sky and sea from the rice paper!

To provide the necessary glide for the mouse and protect the top layer, the rice paper had to be treated in some way. Instead of gel medium, varnish or similar, I thought laminating would be the best idea. Of course since I needed to glue the image to the paper layer of the mat I couldn't laminate as normal, that is to say both sides. So I sandwiched my rice paper between one layer of laminating and a page of copy paper both slightly bigger than my rice paper.

Then it's a matter of cutting out the margins to take out the copy paper and applying a good amount of glue or gel medium to the mat and smoothing the laminated rice paper on top. For this project I used matt laminating pouches rather than glossy.

And here's the result:

I have been using my mat for a while now and enjoy looking at that view everyday as well as having something that is unique and made by my fair hands. Really pleased with the result so much so  I upgraded another mat in the same way!!!

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield   

Pink Christmas

Hello crafters, 

This fortnight, I am hosting the Allsorts challenge and chose the optional theme as "Christmas". As usual, you can also enter with an "anything goes" theme.

Pink is unusual for Christmas cards, but, I was inspired by our Allsorts leader Brenda's gorgeous card and had to try it for myself!

The focal image is from a freebie set included in Simply Craft and Papercraft Issue 237 (Winter Woodland). I simply inked it with different shades of pink and left it at that for a CAS look.

But I did have to mat the image with several layers of die-cuts to fill some of the A6 card size (14.8cm x 10.5): the white and the blue shapes are from now defunct 🥹My Favorite Thing, Blueprints 13, the postal shape is from the AALL & Create  #87 Quirky Post die set.

Finally I stamped the sentiment with a very old magazine freebie set.

And voila... a vision of Christmas in pink! It will not be my go-to colour for the holidays but I think it will feature occasionally!

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And...I have a bonus make for you as I finally got around to make a Christmas décor piece!

I made this on the reverse of my Autumnal panel and you can read the details for the wooden base here.

  

The paper is a freebie from magazine, die-cut with AALL & Create #39 - Infinarty die set. The sentiment is from Tonic Studio and, as it happens, one of the prizes on offer at Allsorts this fortnight! 

The berries, acorn and leaves are made with the Stamperia Woodland Mushrooms mould and I added some pine die-cuts from a number of dies.

I gave all my embellishments some "snow" with white paint, flock and some sparkles (Stamperia).

A closer look :

I am entering this make (with Tasty Berries...)  in the Outlawz Saturday challenge

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Hop over to the Allsorts challenge blog to see all the DT inspiration and upload your projects. There are two prizes of stamps, stencils and dies pictured below for lucky winners, all Christmas themed!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the pink card in the  Lost Coast Designs, Outlawz,

                                                         We Love Stamping, Outlawz Challenges Friday and

                                                          Addicted to Stamps & More challenges

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 

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       

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.

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

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

Rice Paper Christmas decor

Hello crafters, 

I am back again for a 2nd Country View Challenge inspiration make, where the theme is "Christmas". I have upcycled a coffee jar again for another Christmas table centre piece. Warning this a photo heavy post... 

I used 2 of the postcards from the Stamperia  All Around Christmas Rice Paper (DFSA4808) and scraps of translucent paper with inclusions (at least 20 years old...). I applied the DecoArt Decoupage matte medium to the glass, smoothed the rice paper down and applied a layer of medium on top of the paper as well. 

  

That layer allowed me to add some white Distress crayon on the mistletoe berries to make them pop.	I used a silicone tip to smooth the crayon. I couldn't resist adding some light touches of Distress crayon on the leaves and the bells.	On the tree side I added Enamel accents on the tree, here and there,

Distress crayon on the bells and liquid glass on the baubles.

On the top of the jar I applied gel medium and dusted both glitter and Glamour Sparkle for a frosty effect. 
Some twine and a snowflake pendant serves as finishing touch.

Do click on the photos to get a closer look.

Some photos at night...

  

I hope you will join us in the Facebook group to enter our challenge, anything Christmassy will be welcomed for our Country View Crafts challenge, as long as you use products or brands stocked at Country View Crafts. If you do you could win a £25 voucher to win...

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Creative Artiste challenge

Christmas decor piece

It's Saturday!! A weekend of crafts awaits... 

To start you off I will share my Country View Craft Challenge  inspiration make for the Repurpose  challenge. 

The glass container is an instant coffee jar, onto which I have spread gesso, gel medium mixed with sparkles and glass beads.

The piece de resistance is of course the collection of leaves, acorns and berries I have moulded with the  Stamperia Silicone Mould A5 Woodland Mushrooms : 

If you wondered, the other half of the mould has the mushrooms!

I stuck the elements on the jar with a mix of gel medium and white paint and added varying mixes on top as if covered in snow.

I'm hoping it will be a nice table centre piece for the holidays, especially at night...

The other side of the jar...

What will you make to enter our Country View Crafts challenge and be in with a chance to win the very mould I used? The challenge is run in Facebook and you will have to join our friendly group first.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Creative Artist challenge