Universal Birthday card

Welcome to my second inspiration piece for our Country View Challenge, hosted this month by Evelyn., who chose "Time" as the theme. Think clocks, clockfaces, watches...

This time I made a card :

The focal stamps are from the Visible Image Somewhere in time set, stamped in Versafine Black and Memento Summer Sky Blue,

I added a "to" with an alphabet stamp set and a die-cut word from the Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 7PK - Handwritten Celebrate by Tim Holtz, which I embossed with several layers of Frantage aged copper embossing powder.

Over to you now, link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop, but make sure you follow all the rules for your entry to be valid!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   

Timeless

Happy New Year! 

The new year reminds us of the passing time and would you believe it Time is the theme the lovely Evelyn has chosen for our January Challenge at Country View Challenges. Clocks, etc... 

For my first inspiration post, I had fun making this Vintage inspired tag:

To make my background I stuck a piece of Gelli printed paper on a sturdy base. I used a variety of stamps and stencils to build the Gelli paper with Fresco paints.
I added some Tissue tape and embossed all around the tag with Frantage embossing powder in  Aged Rose.
The clock and Timeless sentiment is from a Stamperia sheet of chipboard stickers (Romantic Journal collection)

The lace and flower head are from my bits and bobs box.

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   

12 Days of Christmas Treat box

Today I am showing  my second inspiration piece for our Country View Challenge. 

Initially my idea was to create an advent calendar with 24 boxes but I realised the finished article would be too big and as I could only gift the calendar after the 20th of December it was a bit meaningless. So instead, I figured a "12 days of Christmas box" would be an adequate replacement. 

I used Graphic 45 papers to make 12 match boxes and covered 2 sturdy pieces of cardboard to serve as top and base for the box tower.

Before assembing the boxes I added a brad through an eyelet to create a draw knob and die-cut numbers from 1 to 12. 

Finally I glued a first layer of boxes on the base, alternating the position, which create a square shape, with an empty square in the middle. Then I stuck the other layers on top and added the top cardboard to finish.

 I am planning to fill each box with an array of treats, mixing the traditional chocolates with dried fruits all wrapped in tissue paper.

Your turn now to create something on the theme "Christmas" in our Country View Challenge. You could win a £ 20 voucher if you link your project...

 Plus there is still 4 more days of Advent offers at the Country View shop!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts challenge

Tri-fold card for Christmas

Welcome to the 1st of December and our new Country View Challenge! 

An easy one for you... the theme is "Christmas". You can enter any projects with any supplies on this theme, as long as you follow ALL the rules! 

I made the Z fold type card shape using an old die (Presscut) but it is an easy one to make with 4 scored lines and 2 cuts out of an A4 piece of card. It has the advantage of offering lots of surface for decorating... 

For the front I stamped trees and snowflakes in black ink and the big tree and baubles in coloured ink with the Bottle Brush Trees Paperbabe Stamp set, on white card. 

On the sides I added white card stock with velvet effect stickers from my underused crafting supplies. 

A merry Christmas die-cut serves as the sentiment.

On the reverse , I simply added patterned papers and a piece of white card for the message.

And the beauty of the shape is that, when folded, it fits a standard envelope!

There you have it, something that will stand out on the mantelpiece...

I hope I have inspired you to enter the Country View Challenge blog, if not have a look at my fellow teamies projects and don't forget if you link your project you are in with 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 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   

Adorable Girl Tag

This month we have an easy challenge theme for our Country View Challenge, chosen by Jo, which is Tags. Any tags as long as they are not part of another project such as card, journal page etc.. 

Here is my first inspiration make: 

First I applied several layers of Distress and Distress Oxide inks, drying the tag between layers. 

I added stamping in white ink with a script from my own collection and in Merlot (Lavinia Inkpad) with Rubber  Dance Wild flowers.

A bit of paper and real lace, a piece of string, some hearts and dew drops enhance the main image from a sheet by Crafty Individuals.

Finally I used the Shine like a star sticker sentiment from STAMPlorations to finish

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 and Paperbabe,  challenges

Halloween tag

Having illustrated the Harvest theme last time, I am taking up the challenge of making something on the Halloween theme for our Country View Challenge, hosted this month by Miriam. 

I first stamped the moon (Lavinia ) and masked it before creating the background with layer upon layer of Distress and Distress Oxide inks (including sprays). 

I added inks with Distress foam to darken the sides and distressed the edges . 

Next I stamped the birds and the branches (both stamps by Crafty Individuals). 

The cat is stamped (freebie from a magazine) and fussy cut, I hand drew the pumpkin, coloured it with pencils and fussy cut it before gluing down. 

I made a broom with a toothpick and a die-cut shape from a very old Spellbinders set and a bit of string.

Finally the sentiment is die-cut with the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Script set (662228). 

*******
Over to you now, you have 2 weeks to link up your Halloween or Harvest project to the Country View Challenge blogfor the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

*******

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the SSS Wednesday, We Love Stamping, Paperbabe, 

 Lost Coast Designs, and Stamping Sensations challenges

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