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

Dapper Bunny

Hello crafters!

Today I have a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month the theme is "Mad March Hare" which also includes rabbits and anything Easter!

This time my card doesn't even sport a sentiment on the front as, ahem, it got rather busy! Last year I made a few of these "Floating frame" cards and I just love how impressive they look. 

My focal image is the bunny from the AALL & Create Set "In the Wild" (#529), which I coloured with pencils.

The frame is made of several flowers and leaves die-cut with the Sizzix Thinlits  – Floral Layers die set (664359), which I coloured with Distress inks. I could have die cut into coloured cardstock but this gave me more control over the exact shades, as I don't have all colours of cardstock under the sun! Especially greens since I don't like them and yet there are often necessary for all the trees and leaves so I always run out!!!

And another look at the height:

So, no time to lose, create something for Easter and/or with a bunny in it, to win it! You will find our March challenge here, in our friendly Facebook group. Our prize this month is this lovely bundle....

Thanks for coming by, 

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday Allsorts, Stamping Sensations,

                                                         Addicted to Stamps  challenges

Mad March Hare

Hello crafters!

Today I have a first inspiration make for our Country View Challenge held in the Facebook  group. This month, the theme is "Mad March Hare" which also includes rabbits and anything Easter!

My first card is a Birthday card but can be adapted easily for Easter.

I created a light background of sky and grass with Distress inks and torn paper masks.

I die-cut my sentiment (a combination of 2 Papertrey ink dies and a letter from the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Script set - 662228) out of cardstock and out of foam, glueing them together for more dimension.

The focal point is of course rabbits, the funny Katzelkraft Mini 114, which I stamped on kraft colour cardstock and coloured with pencils.

Those who come here often know how much I dislike fussy cutting but... one has to suffer for one's craft! Yes, I did fussy cut those 5 plus another 2 I thought I might need!

I popped them up on foam pads and, voila, hopping rabbits or one caught on a camera's burst mode...

Anyhoo, I hope I have inspired you to enter our March challenge, if you do you could win a nice bundle (see below), but you will need to belong to our friendly Facebook group here.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield     I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Allsorts,

                                                         Stamping Sensations, and Addicted to Stamps challenges.

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

Love Struck

Today I am featuring over the Country View Crafts Facebook group for the first of my inspiration post for the February challenge, where the theme is "All About Love". 

Inspired by Tim Holtz release of the "Vault" I dug out some of my most ancient Sizzix dies for my make. 

Along with the old Sizzix Bigz Love Struck (657484) I used the more recent Thinlit Heart Mandala by Eileen Hull (665587).

To finish I added the sentiment from a Tim Holtz Sticker sheet.

All in all pretty simple, although I did have a job die-cutting the Mandala, which, being very intricate, needed lots of passes in my machine.

I will be back for a second make later in the month, meanwhile why don't you join the Country View Craft group and enter our challenge for the chance to win one of the latest Sizzix/Tim Holtz die sets....

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts and SSS Wednesday challenges

Love Round

Is it that time already?! Yes, Valentine's day is coming up rather soon so I unearthed all things hearts to make a card for my man.  

The focal image is Crafty Individual "A Walk in the Park" stamp (CI-439) and the sentiment is from the set CI-402 "Just Be My Friend". 

I coloured the couple with pencils and added a background around them with Distress inks. 

I matted my image on glitter cardstock as it was the only red cardstock I happened to have! A bit too bright but it's Valentine and I needed red to balance the pink of the paper (a freebie from a magazine). 

Finally, a small die-cut of entwined hearts finishes the card. 

Is it TOO pink for a man? I do hope he likes it anyway! 

Thanks for coming by, 

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, 

                                                        We Love Stamping and Lost Coast Designs challenges

Bright Birthday

Hello crafters! 

A simple card today for you, because, no matter how hard I tried, I could not come up with a design that would add anything to the image! 

The stamp is Crafty Individuals "Home Sweet Home" (CI-458) inked with the Kaleidacolor "Autumn Leaves" inkpad, on a specialty silk card that takes dye inks superbly. 

Incidentally, I have had this stamp for a while but it is its first outing so I am counting as "new"!

Incredibly easy, no fuss... I only added a mat and sentiment die-cut out of black cardstock to give a bit of contrast with the colourful image. Sometimes, less IS more!

Thanks for coming by, 

 Craftyfield      I am entering the We Love Stamping  and 

                                                           Lost Coast Designs challenges

Blue Monday

Today I have a 2nd inspiration post for our Country View Challenge,
where the theme is "Be Wordy"

Although Blue Monday was officially last Monday, I have a feeling the most miserable day will actually be tomorrow! So, I think, for those brave souls that attempted it, it's time to give up on dry January... and, as the card says...let the drinking be gin!!! 

I used the stamp and coordinating die set Keep Your Gin Up by Visible Image to stamp the glasses and ice cubes in shades of grey. The lemon slices were coloured with pencils as well as the bottle I had stamped in green ink. 

I stencilled the background with an older stencil, Sunburst by Andy Skinner (DecoArt). 

I hope you will join us in the Facebook group to enter our Country View Crafts challenge, anything with quotes, words or sentiment will be welcomed, as long as you use products or brands stocked at Country View Crafts. If you do you could win a bundle of words/sentiment stamps by Visible Image, Tracy Easson and 49 and Market PLUS a pack of chipboard words!

Cheers!

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Stamping Sensations,   
                                                            Allsorts and the Lost Coast Designs challenges 

Wet January

For my 1st Country View Challenge inspiration post, where the theme this month is Be Wordy, I have an alcohol-based card for you... Dry January? Pfft... How are we supposed to get through the most miserable month whilst going on a diet and foregoing our tipples? No wonder we fail our resolutions as soon as we make them! 

I used the stamp and matching die set 99 % Chance Of Wine. All elements stamped and die-cut except the sentiment stamped directly on the base card. For the glasses I used Elements Premium Dye Ink Pad in Merlot, it seemed appropriate! I coloured the bottle with pencils. 

I created a background with Distress inks, using the mini stencil set 28 by Tim Holtz for the brick wall. 

I hope you will join us in the Facebook group to enter our challenge, anything with quotes, words or sentiment 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 bundle of words/sentiment stamps by Visible Image, Tracy Easson and 49 and Market PLUS a pack of chipboard words!  

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Lost Coast challenge

2023 Retrospective

My last post for the year is a slideshow retrospective of my favourite makes of the year.
Enjoy!
The music may or may not start... and you can control the speed and play by accessing the menu:  click on the 3 vertical dots at the bottom of the slide show

 

From the Options menu you can also "Enter full screen" for a closer look! (To exit press Esc).

See you all next year!

 Craftyfield   

Last Christmas...

Hello followers and blog readers, 
I just had to squeeze one last Christmas card! 
Actually, this one can be Christmas or New Year and yes, it's another scene I'm afraid... 

All stamps are from Crafty Individuals. 
I stamped the church (I only inked the church itself) from the CI-474 set in Versafine Pinecone and masked it. 

I created the background sky and snowy hills with Distress inks and paper masks and although the impression is grey there is pink and blue in sky! 

I added the trees, the left hand one is from CI-450, the right hand one is from CI-209 and added the sheep from CI-467. 

A bit of pencil work on the church, path and snow as well as a few touches of gel pen for snow on branches and roof to finish. 

It does feel desolate, but a snow laden sky will do that... 
Only one thing left to say... 

Merry Christmas!

Craftyfield x 

I am entering the SSS Monday, Allsorts and Lost Coast Designs challenges