Showing posts with label Donna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donna. Show all posts

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Donna's going out wth a bang!

Hi to you all!

Yes, most of you will have seen our recent DT call and we're sorry to say it is because our talented Donna is leaving us.  She may be going, but she is most definitely going out with a 'bang' with this beautiful project...



Well it's time for my second 'Shabby Chic' make and more importantly my last post as part of the DT.......it has truly been a privilege to be part of such a talented group of artistic ladies and I've enjoyed every minute. Unfortunately work and other commitments mean I must step down, but not before showing you this second make......


...using many of the same products and techniques as my first but hopefully showing how the same products can produce a different end product.  Please stop by my blog and say hi if you get the chance :)

Donna xx



This is gorgeous Donna, thank you!

Donna has been a valued member of out DT for the past 18 months and we're sure you'll want to join in with us in saying a huge thank you for all her hard work and fabulous projects.  We'll miss you Donna but we wish you well for the future!

Doreen will be here on Thursday with another wonderful project so we hope to see you then.

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Monday, 1 June 2015

Summer is here and what a June challenge!

Welcome, friends!

Yes, We're officially into 'Summer' and, whilst we know many of you will be spending less time in the craft room and more time out in the garden, our lovely Astrid has chosen a theme for this month to entice you to join in - it is...




We're hoping that you will ALL join in.  If this is not a genre that you're used to crafting, perhaps you've NEVER attempted it, please do!  Our outright winner of the £20 shop voucher, generously sponsored by Country View Crafts, is chosen at random.  Our four blog badge awards are chosen by the DT and we often recognise those crafters who have stepped outside of their normal boundaries of comfortability to try something new and join in wth us.  All we ask is that you follow our simple rules so that you don't inadvertently disqualify yourself.  The challenge remains open until 11.45 pm/23.45 hours on the last day of the month.  Winners are announced usually around the 10th of the following month.

Our DT have excelled themselves again this month and provided a crafter's feast for the eyes.  They are led out by TWO previous winners, who have created makes especialy for you - thank you to both Becky and Paula, your projects are stunning!!...




Hi, I'm Becky from 'Crawsome Creations'. I've always been 'arty' and always felt that is where my future lay but I took the safe option and am now in a secure adult type job which has zero opportunities for artistic flair or imagination!  Hence all my crafty longings are now fitted into the tiny amount of free time I have between a full time job, a husband, a young son and a very lively cocker spaniel.


~  o  ~  O  ~  o  ~


I have to admit that shabby chic does not come naturally to me! I'm much more of a brights and grunge person but I was determined to give it a go. I decided to take an altered art approach and made over an empty pickle jar. I primed the jar with a couple of coats of white gesso before using texture paste through a harlequin stencil. Once dried I sponged over Tim Holtz distress paints in bundled safe and tumbled glass. The next step was adding a decoupage rose and peacock image in a dusty attic frame.  The remainder of the project involved trying to 'artistically' arrange ribbon, pearls, paper flowers, dusty attic butterfly and beads to create a the finished piece. I'm pleasantly surprised at how it turned out considering half way through the project I felt completely lost! Thank you so much to CVC for giving me this opportunity, it's great to be here :)







Morning All – My name is Paula and you’ll have to excuse me as I’m rubbish at writing about myself…..so, what’s there to say – I started card making in 2004 and have been playing/creating ever since. I’ve had work published in UK and US based magazines. I mainly love to make clean and simple pieces using minimal materials but now and again I’ll dip my toe in to the mixed media side of things.

~  o  ~  O  ~  o  ~



When I was told the topic was ‘Shabby Chic’ – I have to admit I was scared stiff because what is Shabby Chic! Anyhow, I had a look round and just went with my gut instincts. I’ve used a Wendy Vecchi Arts Parts Arched Frame as my base and covered it in a thin layer of white gesso. I then used DecoArt Modelling Paste through a Tim Holtz Stencil. Once the modelling past was dry, I took sandpaper to the frame to give it a work look, followed by some brown ink and stamping a splatter effect stamp around the edges too. I made the roses using the Tim Holtz Sizzix pine cone die and the centre panel is patterned paper and a stamped image of a woman. For more info just hop over to my blog http://justforoneday11.blogspot.co.uk






June Often being the month of wedding I decided to make a card that could be used as a wedding card. Layers and home made flowers often define Shabby Chic for me, so that's what I did. More details can be found on my blog




I have thoroughly enjoyed making a shabby card for Astrid's fabulous challenge theme, it seems years since I last made one. One thing I do when I have a design I like is make two or three of them so I can add them to my card box as I never seem to have enough choice these days.




Just recently I've started to challenge myself to use products I have that are rarely used.  For my Shabby chic make I decided to use two colours that don't often see the light of day - yellow and orange.  I also made use of this rarely used stamp too.  You can find the step x step pic's and products used over on my blog if you'd like to see them.   Chris xxx



I'm never really sure exactly what Shabby Chic is but hopefully my first make where I've combined a distressed embossed background with some vintage images and some floral elements, all in soft muted colours fits the bill.....


...details are on my blog, please stop by and say hi :)
Donna xx




Hello , I have got to say I am totally out of my comfort zone with this months challenge, I could never figure out how two words Shabby and Chic could be remotely related to each other but there you go... I have come up with what I consider Shabby Chic. I hope you like it
More details from my blog.




Shabby Chic! Well, I haven't tackled this theme in a long time! That's the lovely thing about challenges, they often ask you to think outside your current comfort zone!  I hadn't use this birdcage die for a long time and so made a simple plaque. As always, there's more on my blog here!   Gabrielle x


Shabby Chic is just about my all time favourite style so I put together this card using all the elements which for me are "shabby chic".  It was a great design for using up some much loved Maja Design papers and scraps. Please do visit me on my blog if you want to see some more close ups.




For my first 'Shabby Chic' post of the month I have made some cute little wall hangings using fresco paints and the cracked glass technique. There are more details over at Addicted to Art today.




The theme Shabby Chic is one of my favourites, this is my go to genre whenever I have a creativity block. Do not let the word Shabby fool you, even though the look is at times unstructured the effect can look timeless. More details on how this card was made up is on my Blog.




For my second piece this month I decided to alter a mirror with all my favourite shabby chic elements - lace, hand made flowers, fancy metal, buttons and pearl pins. Most have had a coating of gesso and were then sprayed with Victorian Velvet and Vintage Photo Distress Ink Sprays.  Please do visit my blog if you want to see more.



Wow, great work everyone - fabulous projects, a great variety in style, lots of inspiration!

We hope you like our line up, we also hope that it motivates you to have a go and join in.  As usual, we will be posting a new project by either a DTM or a guest every alternate day for the rest of the month.  Having seen them all, we can tell you that you're in for a huge treat!

Good luck everyone!

Chris and the CVC team xxx





Sunday, 3 May 2015

A wow of a scene from Donna...

Good morning everyone, we hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend!

As is our custom, we kick off our individual project posts with the theme owner going first so it's over to Donna...



A quiet scene with a solitary circling bird flooded with cool yet vibrant colour for my second make on this them...
...full details and some step by step pics are on my blog :)
Donna xx



A stunning scene Donna and what fabulous use of colour - gorgeous!  Thank you!

If you're a stamper then this theme will be right up your street, we can create such amazing scenes with creative use of our stamps.

We hope this is whetting your appetite...?

Our next post is Tuesday and Gabrielle will be here to show you what she has chosen for her second project.

Thanks for dropping by!

Chris and the team xxx

Friday, 1 May 2015

Welcome to May's challenge...

Happy May 1st everyone and welcome to this month's challenge!

Donna has chosen our theme for this month and what a great theme it is...


Whether you're a stamper, into your dies, perhaps you're making Christmas cards already, there are so very many ways we can create 'scenic' projects.

Here are examples from our talented DT to give you something to think about...



So my turn to pick the theme this month and for my first make for the Simply Scenic challenge I've gone for a scene bursting with lots of warm bright colours...
...there are step by step pics on my blog :)
Donna xx


Donna set me a real challenge this month and so I've had to have a good think to what constitutes a scene! I chose to use a photo from a photographic session for my simple journal page (simple and a scene... think I just about fitted the brief!) More details, as always, are on my blog. Gabrielle x


I decided to use a favourite photograph of the Eiffel Tower for my art journal page and just about everything in my stash with a Paris theme! Please hop on over to my blog if you would like to see some more details.


 
The theme this month inspired to me to create a couple of scrapbook pages using photographs from my visit to South Africa earlier in the year. Be great to see you over at Addicted to Art if you would like to see some more details.


I have to admit that I struggled with Donnas Challenge this month, I constructed this collage/mixed media picture over a period of weeks, it was a case of stopping and coming back to it, adding media until I was happy with the look.
I have a step by step on my Blog.


What a scary challenge this month from Donna, but a challenge wouldn't be a challenge if it wasn't challenging right?
Here's my beach scene, and details can be found here on my blog x


For my first project this month, having struggled a little with the theme I went for a collaged 
scene using all my favourite Tim Holtz goodies and a new house die . Some tissue tape, Decoart crackle paste and plenty of idea-ology helps to complete my scene. All the details can be found on my blog here. Trace x


A scenic card using some simple masking techniques and having fun with Distress Inks. For a step by step and more details, do come over to my blog.


I used some lateral thinking for this challenge.  My wall hanging depicts a scene from bygone days or perhaps it could a scene from a play....?  Step x step pictures can be found here, on my blog.  Chris xxx



Thank you team, so many different takes on the theme and all beautifully done!

We hope these have inspired you to join in....?  Our lucky (random) wnner will receive a £20 shop voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts and 4 others will be chosen by Donna to receive blog badges.

Please remember to familiarise yourself with our simple rules before you link so that you don't disqualify yourself.

Have a great holiday weekend, we'll be back with the first of our individual project posts on Sunday, hope to see you again then!

Good luck!

Chris and the team xxx




Friday, 17 April 2015

Donna's been squirreling away her kraft card

Hello out there!

We're continuing our theme this morning with a gorgeous card from Donna in her own wonderful style...



For my second make of this month I've taken some Kraft for a little trip to the English countryside...
 ...a little step by step is on my blog if you fancy stopping by :)
Donna xx



This is beautiful Donna, kraft card makes such a fab basis for a nature themed project - thank you!

We'd like to see what you're making with kraft card.  Make something and join in with us by linking to our original post and be in with a chance of winning our CVC £20 voucher, a blog badge or an invitation to guest with us!

Doreen will be here on Sunday with another of her beautiful makes - we hope to see you then!

Chris and the team xxx

Wednesday, 1 April 2015

It's our April challenge!

Good morning craft lovers!

It's April 1st but there's no April fools here today, just a great line up of creativity and imagination from our DT to inspire you to join in our challenge this month!

Sue D (aka Sue the Iron) has chosen our theme for the month and what a great theme it is...


Whether we're into card making, scrapping, mixed media, altered art or any of the other popular crafts, we can all find ways of using kraft card in our projects so this really is a challenge where you have carte blanche.  We're looking forward to seeing all the creative and inventive ways you can come up with for using kraft in your projects, all we ask is that you follow our simple rules.

You can enter as many projects as you like and the winner of our £20 shop voucher, generously donated by our sponsor Country View Crafts online shop, will be chosen at random using random.org.

As usual, we have a previous winner joining us today and leading out the DT...



Hello, I’m Chris, usually known as ‘Pearshaped Chris’!  I’m thrilled and honoured to be asked to take part at Country View Challenges as a Guest Designer.  I started crafting as a young girl, encouraged by my Mum, who used to knit, sew, use natural dyes etc ; although in those days it was known as ‘saving money’!!!  It was only recently, when asked about my crafting, that I realized I have been doing crafty things for pretty much all my life, although once I retired I had more time for it!  I enjoy most aspects of crafting, especially if it involves getting messy or trying something new!


I love using Kraft card and love the effect of white and pastels on the card. I needed an anniversary card for a young couple so used two of my favourite bird stamps to make this card. I hope you will pop over and see what Mr Bird is planning!



Hi, it's my turn to choose the challenge theme this month and I've gone for Kraft card. I love using kraft, it just seems to make all the other colours pop. For my first creation I've used a Sheena Douglass stamp to make a Fathers Day Card.
Full details can be found here on my blog.


 I love playing with neutrals and was tempted stay neutral that but decided the kraft looked great with a splash of colour in the shape of abandoned coral. I made a box to fit my collage style cards into...treasured  family memories in a box . All the details can be found here.


Springtime has to be blue/greens, grasses and butterflies for me... and so my butterflies are very krafty!  They're made with the Bigz/Texture Fades butterflies released this year.  I've also used the kraft card with one of the new Tim Holtz Mixed Media Thinlits, and mounted the whole tag onto kraft card too.


 
 I love using Kraft card, it is so versatile. For this birthday card I used it as the base of my card, but also behind the leaf aperture that was created with the Tim Holtz Layered Leaf die. If you want to see more, just click here


 I made this card for Chris's birthday which was just a couple of days ago using Tim Holtz papers and dies as well as some other bits and pieces. Both the card itself and the butterfly are kraft card, although the butterfly has been painted , crackled, inked and splattered, so it's not so obvious here.


My 'Hope' triptych has a background of treated, textured kraft card with kraft flowers and leaves.  Kraft card is such a great medium to work with.  Details of the how with the what can be found in a picture format step x step here.  Chris xxx


I often use Kraft card, it's such a versatile and easy card to work with so this was a fun challenge.  For this make I've used one of my favourite techniques, combining Kraft with gesso and embossing it...
...there are more photo's and a how to on my blog if you fancy dropping by :)
Donna xx


I have decided to make a start on my Christmas cards, I know you might be saying it is too early but at least I won't be panicking at the end of the year.
More details from my blog


I love kraft card and just how versatile it is! For this postcard I used Translucent Embossing Paste to reveal the kraft card beneath so it became the pattern in the background. As I am going to post my postcard I needed to keep the decoration very flat so I kept the decoration simple, and to a minimum. There are, as always, more details on my blog! Gabrielle x


Crafting with Kraft - a favourite of mine! I recently taught a beginner's scrapbook workshop here in Shetland and based one of the layouts on Kraft cardstock. I find it is very versatile and works well for vintage layouts as well as modern ones.  For a few close ups and how I made a second layout from the same elements please hop on over to my blog.


I have used Kraft card as the surface to create a grungy background using gesso, inks and sand paper. there are more details over at Addicted to Art today.



Phew, what a line up and welcome back to the ranks Trace! >;o)

We love sharing our projects with you and we hope you like them just as much as we've loved making them.  As ususal, we'll be bringing you a new, themed project every other day from today throughout the rest of the month so please bookmark us and remember to come back and visit.

The challenge is open to all crafters and we'd like YOU to join in.  To do so is very simple, just make your project demonstrating out theme and post it on your blog/web page then link that page to us using the InLinkz linkie below.  As well as a £20 shop voucher from Country View Crafts awarded to the (randomly chosen) winner we also award blog badges to our Top 3 chosen projects and to one special project that we think has shown the most originality.  All winners are invited to come and guest with us in a future challenge.

Now it's over to you!  We hope you'll have fun with this theme and look forward to seeing just exactly what you come up with.

Have a fun month!

Chris and the team xxx



Thursday, 5 March 2015

It's a fab message from Donna today!

Hi there!

If you're a fan of the more contemporary collage/journalling styles then you'll love what Donna has in store for us today...



More playtime for my second make...
...details and pics on my blog :)   Donna xx



Great colouring and collage work Donna - thank you!

From the contemporary to vintage, from CAS (clean and simple) to shabby and grunge, from cards to home decor, whatever your penchant, we want to see what you're up to!  >:o)

To join in simply link your blog post to ours using our lnLinkz linkie tool on our launch post.

More on Saturday and it's a stunning guest make - don't miss it!

Have a great day,

Chris and the team xxx

Sunday, 1 March 2015

It's March and we're celebrating our 2nd Blogaversary!

Good morning everyone!

We've been having fun now for 2 years, can you believe it!!??  I'm extremely proud of our team - they're hugely talented - and we're extremely proud to have been supported by all of you!  Whether you've commented or not, whether you've joined in the challenges or not, a big thanks to ALL OF YOU.  A big thanks too, to those who've become official 'followers'.

To celebrate our 2 years, we're having TWO winners this month, each will win a £20 shop voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts.  In addition, at the end of the month, we will be awarding a special BLOG CANDY to one of the lucky people who have left a comment on THIS post.  All winners will be drawn at random using random.org as we believe it's the fairest way of giving everyone a chance of winning.  All we ask is that, if you're entering, you follow our simple (and pretty standard) rules.

Without more ado, let's tell you what our theme is.... can you guess......?


 As we like to do, our previous winner and Top 3s will be guesting with us during the month.  We start our DT line up with our last winner leading us out with her interpretation of our theme and that is...... Andrea!......



Hi, I'm Andrea and in blogland I'm also known as KandA. I've been crafting in one form or another since before I started school many, many years ago. I live in the East Midlands with my super hubby who is the K bit of the crafty name and is very tolerant of my passion for crafting.

I was so delighted to be asked to join in with this months 2nd blogaversary challenge, especially as I was lucky enough to guest design with their celebration a year ago. With the theme of 'anything goes' I decided to have a play with PaperArtsy JOFY09 & JOFY13 stamps which have been coloured with a combination of Memento inks, Promarkers and chalks on canvas.



I love making albums and often do so using up my scraps - this one is exactly that.  A mixture of brands and products but ultimately coming together as a little travel destinations album.  The details of how I made it (I always use my own templates) can be found on my own blog, here. Chris xxx


Had a play with some new Dina Wakley stamps for my 'Anything Goes' ....
....all details and more pics are on my blog :)
Donna xx


I have made a background of Fresco Acrylic paints and JOFY stamps for my card today
You can get more details from my blog.


Congratulations Country View Crafts Projects on your Blogaversary! I am more than a little obsessed by the new Lin Brown for PaperArtsy colour Bougainvillea and it will feature heavily in my posts this month! For my first project I have made a small mdf blank with a sentiment which seemed so appropriate after the day at work I’d had!!! As always, there are more details on my blog!


JENNIE
Such a fabulous challenge theme this month for trying something new! I recently purchased a stamp and die cut flower set from Heartfelt Creations and have been playing around making some different flowers to my usual makes. Hop on over to my blog if you want to know more!


NIKKI
'Anything goes' means time to play with my current favourite stamps - Bird Crazy! Lots of texture too and the wonderful new Big Chat stickers. Be great to see you over at Addicted to Art if you would like to see how I made this one.


SUE B
It was a case of 'Anything Goes'  on this card, I took this theme literally!!!
All the steps are on my Blog.


SUE D
Wow it's March already, I really hope that Spring is on it's way. I've been having a play with one of my new Kate Crane stamps. The full details can be found here on my blog.


ASTRID
For my first project I decided to play with my new Tim Holtz Correspondence papers. I created a little W book following Tim's great bideo. If you want to readd my little story of adventure, just pop over to my blog.


BRENDA
Spring is coming and holidays are approaching so I have made myself a travel scrapbook to take to America with me. It is a hardbound, soft spined book very similar to the one I am teaching at the next CVC workshop - Essential Bookbinding Techniques. (Full details on the shop site). Once you know how to stitch the pages together these are super easy to make.



Wow ladies, what a line up, thank you all so much!

Whatever your prefered craft, whatever genre you choose, we'd like you to create something this month and join in.  We will be publishing a post every 2 days with a brand new project for you to see and help you along the way.

Good luck everyone, have a wonderful March!

Chris and the team xxx