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. 

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 

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

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 

Vintage vibe and glitter

Hello crafters, 
I have been in a Vintage mood lately and decided on a Mixed Media play for a door sign.

I used Distress Oxides sprays as well as Prima Blooms sprays to add a bit of lustre to the background.
I added some stamping with Versafine inks not realising that they would not dry on top of the Prima sprays... Having smudged some of the stamping, I had to use clear EP to preserve the stamping. The stamp I used is Crafty Individuals 'Just the Ticket Border' (CI-498).

For my focal point, I die-cut a doily with a prima die and embossed it with a mix of Peacock and Seaglass Wow! powders which have glitter in them.
The large tag is 'Chunky Vintage Typewriter Tag' (CI-455) also from Crafty Individuals, stamped and embossed with black EP.
Embellishments are Ephemera Field Notes Snippets (TH94049) and Tiny Clips (TH94025) both Tim Holtz® Idea-ology™, a paperclip adorned with a button and a piece of washi tape (AALL & Create #13 - Fasteners).
Finally, I added mini brads at the 4 corners the top ones fixing the wire that will be used to hang the sign.

Another photo to (hopefully) show the shine:

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, Stamping Sensations and 

                                                       Addicted to Stamps, 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

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

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

Paper Doll and Snippet tag

I am back for my last Vintage inspiration piece for our Country View Challenge, where the theme, Vintage, is one I favour.  Today's project is a tag: 

The base is a heavyweight cardstock cut into a tag. I collaged a piece of an old book (top left) and a piece of Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Botanical Collage Paper. 

I coloured the tag with several layers of Distress Oxides inks spritzed with water on the mat. 

The focal point is a paper doll and elements from the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Ephemera Field Notes Snippets popped up on foam pads and a piece of muslin. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed all my Vintage makes and are inspired to join in our Country View Challenge! Remember there is a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop to be won....

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the SSS Monday challenge and Allsorts challenge

Inspired by Tim Holtz

June Vintage 1 st post

Welcome to June and a new Country View Challenge, which I have the pleasure of hosting! 

Regular followers will know I have a thing about Vintage so, yes, this is my choice of theme for this month. 

And today I have not one but TWO inspiration makes for you, both with lots of Tim Holtz products since he is very much a master of the genre! 

Here's the first: 

I started with a blank piece of 7"x5" cardstock and stamped the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Exquisite Stamp Set (CMS453) in a light sand colour. 

I used pencils to colour the image and stencilled the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz mini stencil set 10 (MST010) with green ink. 

I then aged my page with Distress inks in a combination of Walnut Stain and Antique Linen. 

I stamped bits of the text (also CMS453 stamp set) in the background.

The embellishment cluster is composed of several items from the Tim Holtz® Idea-ology™ - Ephemera Field Notes Snippets (TH94049), a paper doll, bits of paper ribbon lace (Lakeland) and a frame highlighted with metallic waxes.

************
My second make is much brighter but the imagery is still very  much Vintage:

The tag base is a sturdy piece of white Mixed Media cardstock onto which I collaged pieces of Tim Holtz® Idea-ology™ Botanical Collage Paper (TH93705).

I stencilled some Ranger Texture paste (transparent matte) through a bit of die-cut cardstock (I used an old Memory Box die).

I sprayed the tag with a combination of Distress and Distress Oxides sprays and sprinkled some Brushos as well.

When dry, I added colour with Distress crayons to the leaves and flower and darkened the edges with Walnut Stain ink.

Finally the focal point is made of the TH/Idea-ology Ephemera Field Notes Snippets (TH94049), a paper doll and die-cuts from the Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 5PK Wildflower Stems #2.

A spattering of white acrylic paint, some Nuvo drops pearls and voila.. 

Your turn to create a make with a Vintage feel, photos and stamps from olden times, Victoriana, steampunk... pretty much anything pre 1900's will do, and link up your project to the Country View Challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the tag in the Allsorts challenge and both makes in                                                                 the  SSS Wednesday challenge 

Eventful Journey

Happy 1st of May! 

For those of us having a bank holiday it might be the opportunity to fit in more crafting in the week and maybe enter our new Country View Challenge, hosted this month by Monika. 

She has chosen "Vehicles" as the theme and my first project features an old car:

 

I made the background with several layers of acrylic paint (a mix of PaperArtsy and Cosmic Shimmer matt paints) using a brayer and Distress foam. I added a brick wall (from Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencil Set 28) and splodges (fromTim Holtz Mini Layering Stencil Set 43). 

I stamped the old car image (from the Stampers Anonymous set CMS021) in black Versafine. Sadly I lost some of the detail of the stamp because of the texture of the paper... hey ho as Tim (Holtz) says "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". 

 I didn't and I hope you won't either! 

Talking of accidents... I had a major one with a bottle of Nuvo Drops (A Tonic Studio product). Even though the bottle was almost unused the product had dried at the top and couldn't come out of the very small opening. But I was on a mission, so I squeezed and I squeezed... lo and behold the bottle exploded, propulsing paste on the walls, table and even my hair. You've been warned...

I did save the little blob I had planned to add to my left hand corner wheel but the rest of the (broken) bottle went into the bin.

I added the cogs from the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Bigz L die - Mechanicals (665225) and the words from the Sizzix Thinlits Adventure Words set by Tim Holtz as embellishments.

The sentiment is also from the CMS021 stamp set.

Plenty of inspiration on the blog from my teamies so I hope you will join us and link your Vehicle projects to the Country View Challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop. 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge

Tag-a-thon 2022 edition

Welcome to my second inspiration post for our Country View Challenge, hosted this month by Jo.  The theme is Tags and with Christmas fast approaching I decided to revive my "Tag-a-thon" crafting sessions. 

They are easy enough to make with scraps of paper, abandoned stamped images, die-cuts etc... and are useful for the gifting season.

I did 3 tags on around paper, stamping and die-cutting so that every type of crafter can find inspiration. 

 

For the papers, Graphic 45 is fabulous for that Vintage feel. I also rate highly the Stamperia collections, both brands being stocked by Susan. 

Here I used an old collection, Christmas Emporium of which I got 2 pads (don't ask...)

For the stamped tags, I pulled out the Snarky Cats (Tim Holtz) I had so much fun with last year! 

I stamped in grey ink and coloured the cats with pencils.

To finish, I added a bit of sparkle with tiny gold stars confetti.

I am entering these tags in the Allsorts, We Love Stamping, Stamping Sensations and Paperbabe challenges.

For the die-cut tags I selected pieces already cut (Memory Box, magazine freebie) and added washi tape, leaves, dew drops, gems and/or stars to embellish. 

These tags also join the Allsorts challenge.

With 9 new tags in my stock I should sail through Christmas...

To make the tag shapes I used both out of the box die (STAMPlorations Tag O'Coffee) and partial die-cutting with tag shapes and rectangles in order to get the size I needed.

You stil have plenty of time to create 1 or several tags for the Country View Challenge blog! Don't forget there is the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   

Cats aren't just for Christmas

For my previous inspiration make for the May  Country View Challenge, on the theme of Cats & Dogs, I used a very old set bought in Lakeland when they sold crafts items (I still rue the day they stopped!). But now I was in a quandary... what else could I possibly use for the theme?!
Well... Snarky Christmas cat to the rescue!

The background of the tag is a Gelli printed paper with layers of DecoArt Mixed Media fluid acrylics.

I stencilled some bricks (Tim Holtz Mini Stencil Set #43) on the right with a mixture of Cosmic Shimmer Multi-Tex, glue and Distress Oxide re-inker in Salvaged Patina. On the left I used the Tim Holtz Mini Stencil Set #28.

I stamped and paper pieced the cat from the Snarky Cat Christmas set (CMS416) without its distinctive Christmas hat and the ribbon knot on the box.
The sentiment is from the Snarky Cat Halloween set (CMS407) layered onto some of the AALL & Create Washi Tape #13 - Fasteners, which I also added below right.

And of course the dog from a Paper Dolls pack! Not sure this particular canine is that menacing but, the scene still made me smile...

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield    I am entering the Paperbabe, Allsorts ans SSS Monday challenges