Grapes

The change in temperature has been brutal and I do feel a twinge of regret thinking about these scorching sunny days of summer, but Autumn is here and with it, harvests and of course Halloween. 

"Halloween or Harvest" is our theme this month at Country View Challenge, hosted this month by Miriam. 

My first make celebrates the grape harvest which will be turned into wine. Soon enough we will be able to drink the new wine, still a bit fizzy and not entirely "adult", popularised by the Beaujolais Nouveau.

To create this page I used a stencil set (French Vine by Crafters' Companion) which turned out to be a mistake... I thought it was 6"x6" but in fact was a large 8"x8",  too big for cards and so it languished untouched in my stash, until now.

The set comprises 3 stencils allowing an increasing level of detail to be applied each time with darker inks. The stencil does all the work except for the addition of coloured pencil around the grapes, 

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 SSS Wednesday challenge

Mellow Fruitfulness

Welcome to my second inspiration post for our Country View Challenge! The lovely Debs has chosen the theme  "Season of Mists and mellow fruitfulness" and thinking about fruits and harvests I decided to make this this journal page: 

I stamped and masked the pears (Perfect Pear by Rubber Dance) with coloured inks, and over stamped with the screen stamp (Mixed Media Marks #1) also from Rubber Dance, which I embossed in white EP.

For colours,  I used brushos on the background and watercolours for the pears.

The sentiment is from the stamp set by Katzelkraft stamp (KTZ 135).

Time for you to create something for our Country View Challenge for the chance
to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop, only 2 weeks to go so hop to it!

Thanks for coming by,

Craftyfield      I am entering the Paperbabe, We  Love Stamping challenge

New season

It starting to feel a lot like Autumn.... Gone the scorching heat and place to crisp mornings, turning leaves and harvests. In tune with the season the lovely Debs has chosen the theme for our Country View Challenge to be "Season of Mists and mellow fruitfulness". 
This poetic theme immediately evoked the orange tinted sunsets of September and I created this scene: 

On glossy cardstock, I stamped the Moon (431)and the Honeysuckle Cottage (687) and masked the moon. 

I applied dye inks in an ombre style from red(ish) to green(ish) with a brush. 

All the other elements were stamped on top with Black Memento ink: 
Berry Leaves (577)

Mini Forest Mushrooms (564)

Tree Scene

I hope I have inspired you to enter our Country View Challenge. Don't forget there is a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop to win if you link up your projects! 

Just make sure you follow the theme AND the rules.

For more inspiration do check what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog

Thanks for coming by,
Craftyfield     I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Paperbabe and Stamping Sensations challenges

Personalised gift

For my second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, where the theme chosen by the lovely Monika is Birthday (card or gift), I made a keyring tag and a box to present it with. 

The box is actually quite small, 7x5x2 cms (approximately 2"x2"3/4x3/4"), just big enough for the gift. 

This is a matchbox style made out of sturdy cardstock and decorated with scraps of paper. 

You can find a matchox die by Tim Holtz here. 

Enough with the box, if you came from the Country View Challenges blog you will be on tenterhooks to see what is inside!!!  so there you are: 

I have used thin pieces of leather, offcuts of the materials used for the hardcovers of books as "standard leather" and some thick pleather would require steel rules dies to be cut properly.  

Or you could fake it with embossed cardstock, Tim Holtz has designed a fabulous 3D folder this year... 

  

Since I was using thin dies my tag needs a core of a flexible but tough material and I used a bit of my Grunge Paper (Ideology), sadly retired, for my first die-cut. 

I then die-cut 2 more of the tag shape from the thin leather (for the front and back of the Grunge Paper tag) and die-cut the initials from one of them.  

Then I die cut just the letters from a contrasting piece of leather.

The only thing left to do is assemble the layers, add an eyelet and the keyring mechanism (mine was recycled).

You can vary the shapes, circles, hearts, birds and more are all suitable..., decorate the back as well as the front (reverse the colours for example), change the materials stiffened (or painted) fabric would also work... let your imagination run wild!  

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 Allsorts challenge.

Happy Birthday

Will August be another scorcher?! 

To keep cool, staying indoors and crafting was certainly a good option... and the perfect opportunity to craft some Birthday cards in advance. 
The lovely Monika has chosen Birthday as the theme for this month's Country View Challenge, and you can enter either cards or gifts for the chance to win.  

Today I am showing you the card and later on in the month you will see the gift... 

I cut my base card from an A4 piece of sturdy card and cut and score into a stepper card. 

The panels are decorated with scraps of paper and glitter card and die-cut butterflies. 

The sentiment is a die-cut from STAMPlorations (Everyday sentiments). 

For the focal image, I stamped the Joggles cling Rubber stamp Quirky Bird #3 first and masked it, then stamped some texture (Peeled Paint from Prima/Finnabair) and stencilled a sort of wall behind it with the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Layering Mini Stencil Set #28 MTHS028. I coloured the bird with pencils. 

Now you may wonder what this sorry bird has to do with Birthdays? This was in the news recently: "People who are middle-aged or older and can't balance on one leg for 10 seconds are more likely to die in the next seven years than those who can do it, according to a study out this week" 

So obviously there will be a snarky comment inside the card... I'm working on it!

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 SSS Wednesday, Addicted to stamps, Allsorts and                                                                             Paperbabe challenges

Travel the world

I hope you are inspired by our Country View Challenge, which I have the pleasure of hosting this month. If not, here is my second make, a Vintage style tag: 

Supplies:

Greyboard

Piece of patterned paper

Ranger Texture Paste Transparent Matte

Stencil: Carabelle Studio Trame Tissus et chiffres

DecoArt Mixed media paints

Sizzix Thinlits Adventure words 660224

Cosmic shimmer ultra thick embossing powder in Tropic Red

Stamperia Artic Antartic 8x8 pad (map of the world)

I cut my tag out of greyboard and glued a piece of patterned paper, sealing it with the Texture Paste.

Raw umber and yellow ochre paint were added here in there, then texture paste mixed with acrylic colours was stencilled.

I stamped "Carte Postale" from a Crafty Individual stamp, added bits from my UFO box alongside the Stamperia Map of the World.

Finally the Thinlits Adventure words were embossed with the Tropic Red powder and glued on the tag.  

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. Just make sure you follow the them and the rules!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday and Paperbabe challenges

Travelling undercover

And finally the summer months have arrived, the kids (young and old) will be on holiday and it is time to TRAVEL! Yes Travel is the theme I chose for our Country View Challenge this month. 

And having done quite a bit of that recently, an essential item for globe trotting is...

Well it's hidden here: 

Ok I will give you a clue... 

This is a passport holder, it will protect the document and look different too! 

It's a fairly simple project to make, I used half of an A4 Stamperia Stone Paper and half of an A4 rice paper. I used DecoArt Americana Decou-Page Sealer/Glue Matte 8OZ to bond one to the other and embossed the whole with the Sizzix 3-D Embossing Folder - Quilted by Tim Holtz (665734). 

I highlighted the embossing with Walnut Distress ink although it doesn't show much on the photos.

I used the sewing machine to attach the "border" and added colour to the inside with Distress inks.

Several layers of varnish (matte) on top will ensure durability. 

To hold the passport in place, whilst allowing for easy removal, (some customs people don't like them!) I just added an ordinary rubber band but feel free to use something with more pizazz! 

So I am ready to travel, how about you? And where will you go? Do share with us by entering your project 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 SSS Wednesday challenge

In the stars

This is a post I didn't think I would be able to write following a family bereavement, but, serendipity played its hand and here is a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge. 

As I thought about the theme, it seemed fitting. Souls are often referred as stars in the sky and I took it as a sign. 

I used a Paper Artsy star stamp (JM06), the Art Marks and Noteworthy 2 stamps sets, both by STAMPlorations, to create the sentiment. All were stamped and embossed with white EP. 

For added colour I applied some Versamark with a sponge on top of the stars and added mica powders, in different colours. Here's the shine shot: 

Do enter the Country View Challenge with a starry make of your own for the chance to win a £ 20 voucher to the online shop but be quick there is only a week left...  

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the challenge

The moon, stars and Honeysuckle cottage

My lovely team mate Sue at the  Challenge has chosen Stars as the theme for our June Country View  Challenge. Daunting but such a good idea! Here's my take on this theme: 

The Moon and the Honeysuckle cottage were stamped and masked first, before I created the background sky, hills and grass with brayers and brushes using Distress inks. 

I stamped the path, trees and the Dandelions to finish. I lighten the stones on the path with a brush and water. 

Finally I stencilled the stars, a Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Mini Stencil Set #43, with thick Gesso. 

With hindsight I wonder if the placement is the best. my idea was stars around the cottage as if it was magic (with Lavinia we ARE in a magic world!) but in terms of composition I'm not so sure....

Anyway, it's up 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.

Also... I heard they are some special Jubilee bargains to be had... 

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

Cats at play

Today I have an inspiration make for our new Country View Challenge, hosted by Rachel 

who chose Cats and/or dogs as the theme. 

I was a bit worried about what to do as I don't have pets related stash but I had forgotten

 a very old Lakeland set and decided to give it a bit of love... 

The background is Distressed inks with added stamping (Kaisercraft texture clear stamps: Perfume and Botanical) and stencilling (Imagination Crafts MA-24). 
I stamped all the images in the set in Versafine black ink. 

There is no reference on the Lakeland set but I think I saw the very same images in a set by Artemio, also many moons ago. 
Finally I added my journaling, a reverse pun on the proverb, as I was thinking if the cats did their job and the mice have gone away they have earned some play time! 
And yes, in the name of artistic license, I took liberties with the grammar... ! 

Over to you now, you have plenty of time to make something with Cats and/or Dogs and link up your project to the Country View Challenge blog for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,
 Craftyfield     I am entering the Paperbabe and SSS Wednesday challenges

Thursday Throwback - Stencils and powders

Welcome to my second Thursday Throwback posts on the STAMPlorations blog. 
Here are my takes on Shirley's card. 

Card 1 supplies;  Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies and ARTplorations stencil Senecio 1 

Card 2: same as before: Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies and ARTplorations stencil Senecio 1 

Card 3: Beyond the Trees – ARTplorations Slimline stencil and For the Birds Dies - CUTplorations. 

Do hop onto the STAMPlorations blog for the full details.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield