Gabrielle - Part 2

Oh my! The competition is hotting up with all these stunning makes, wow, wow, wow! To keep you going here is another beautiful make from Gabrielle...

"I made a giant tag using Dylusion inks and some fabulous JoFy stamps from PaperArtsy. The little butterfly was stamped onto vintage book paper (available from any charity shop!) and not glued down completely so it can still fly!"

There's one week left for you to enter so let's keep the momentum going with your beautiful crafty makes please.

Now we did tell you last week that we have a special guest designer in May and a few people have been trying to guess but our lips are sealed! A clue? Did we promise you a clue? Errr, ummm, well, without letting the cat out of the bag we can tell you that our guest is a lady and more than that we're not saying so you'll have to wait and see, lol.

Have a fab' week everyone. xxx

Butterfly madness...

We're half way through the challenge and what fabulous makes we're seeing, well done everyone!

With another 2 weeks to go here is a second make from Chris called 'Butterfly madness'...

"This grungy butterfly piece can be used as a photo' stand, a mobile or just as an ornament. With layers of stains and inks and a random coating of gold embossing powder it serves as a base for the distressed butterflies and flowers."

Don't forget, you can now enter as many times as you like with whatever craft makes you like so keep them coming please.

Although we can't tell you what the challenge will be next month, we can tell you that we have our winner and runners up from March guesting alongside a very special guest designer. Maybe we'll give you a better clue next week [g].

Have a great week everyone. xxx

A second butterfly piece from Trace

We're 6 days in and already we have lots of entries, how fab' is that? Thank you all so much for sharing your creativity with us. If you've not made anything yet but want to have a go then this second gorgeous make from Trace may inspire you to get going... thanks Trace!

"For this piece I went for one of  of my all time crafty favourites and made a tag. I used more distress paints , distress stains and distress inks as they all combine so beautifully together. I used the same stamp sets as piece one to show how they can be used to create versatile looks and added texture with embossing folders."

Challenge #2 for April

Wow, wow, wow! What beautiful entries we've had for last month's challenge and so many too, we're blown away with the response so a huge THANK YOU for your support!! Winners will be announced shortly but first we have to deal with a few housekeeping bits and then, of course, launch this month's challenge...

We spent a lot of time dealing with emails and queries this past month and several things have become apparent so we're changing the rules. From today onwards you can enter as many times as you like and what you like. Other rules apply so check them out HERE please.

So, without further ado, the challenge for this month is 'BUTTERFLIES'. Here are the initial makes from our talented Design Team which we hope will give you some inspiration...

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BRENDA

"This butterfly box was originally a vintage thimble display box purchased from an antique stall in Bridport. It has been given the shabby look with layers of paint, crackle paint and walnut stain distress ink. Filled with lots of little goodies and a multitude of butterflies."

CHRIS

 

"This miniature started out as a 2"x3" frame. Add a Tim pediment, paint and crackle and it becomes the base for my tiny 'Butterfly garden'. The flowers and butterflies are distressed very lightly to give a gentle shabby chic feel without it being too heavy."

 GABRIELLE

 "A combination of Tim Holtz dies, Ideaology, PaperArtsy paints and stamps were used to make this Spring birdcage. The birdcage was cut from Grungepaper and inked with Tarnished Brass Distress Stain and clear embossing powder."

 TRACE

 

 "For this piece I  went for my new found favourite toy the wonderful distress paints, lots of great Tim Holtz stamps and one of my favourite colour combinations of blues and browns. I added lots of inky layers and plenty of stamping to create my canvas on its easel."

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 We hope these beautiful makes from our Design Team will inspire you to share your creativity with us again this month. Ladies and gentlemen, we're off and running for April - Good luck!

Winner & top 3 for March

WINNER

It has been an amazing month with so many beautiful, beautiful entries and all are worthy of a prize for one reason or another! I don't think any of us appreciated when we started that we would have so many entries and of the obvious quality that they all are. For that reason we've decided to use random.org to pick the winner.

The winner of the March 'Pick and mix' challenge is:
#19 - butterfly (Alison) with her beautiful Glampunk birdhouse

 Congratulations Alison!


 TOP 3 MERIT BADGES

Each of the Design Team members will be taking turns to decide the top three merit badge winners and this time it is Brenda's choice.

"Hi all, it's Brenda here and I have the priviledge of choosing the top three for our first ever challenge at Country View Challenges, but I have had the most difficult job in the world. We had 93 wonderful entries and each one has taken time and energy for you to produce and the standards of each piece have been amazing. So, having gone through all the entries again, I decided that I needed some guidance for myself (it must be the teacher in me, lol) and a way of making choices that weren't just based upon my favourite styles but on criteria that give a meaning to the decision making.

I wanted to choose pieces that are different types (ie card, tag, journal, box, frame, hanging, scrapbooking page, etc, etc) and look for use of materials, use of colour, techniques used, how shape, form and texture were used as well as different styles of craft/art. How did this help you may ask? Well it did and I was able to whittle a very long list down to just three (in several stages I may add).

In the order of entry number I have chosen...

#2 - Alison at Craftytrog's Inky Adventures

I loved Alison's journal entry with her self-portrait and fabulous colours done in oil pastels. Alison has used words to express her feelings and create memories for the future.

#49 - Jennie Atkinson at Live The Dream

Jennie's monotone tag in greens has a wonderful feel of spring and she has used lots of ways to include texture and I particularly love how the visible elements are united and fit perfectly together to create a fabulous composition.

#52 - Laura at Laurart

I chose Laura's frame hanging not only for the lovely piece she ended up with but for the processes she went through to achieve it. Laura describes her journey from having the idea for a tag to finishing with a balsa wood frame that can be hung on display.

I am loving the new entries already submitted for challenge #2 so thanks for joining us on our new journey.

Hugs {Brenda} x0x"

Congratulations Alison, Jennie & Laura!

DON'T FORGET OUR GIVEAWAY!!!!!

This month is our launch month so there is an additional competition to win our launch GIVEAWAY!!! You don't have to enter a craft piece so click HERE to find out how to enter.