Monday 29 December 2014

Alison's musical memories...

Hi everyone!

Our wonderful Alison is last this month and she has some BEAUTIFUL tags to inspire you and give you the final motivating push to join in...





Nothing makes me nostalgic more quickly and easily than music.  I can travel through time and space just hearing the opening notes of particular songs, and that's especially true at Christmas.  The carols I've sung, the people I'm immediately surrounded with in my memory, raising their voices with mine... So these Victorian carollers were an obvious choice for me.  As with my first tag, I'm hoping to get some sunnier pictures, so hop over to Words and Pictures to see whether they've arrived.



These are gorgeous Alison and encapsulate so many nostalgic elements - thank you!

If you have the time then we would like to see more of what nostalgic crafty makes you can show us.  Whether they be childhood memories, historic scenes, whatever a nostalgic Christmas means to you, we hope you'll share them with us.  You have just under 3 days to go as the challenge closes at 5 minutes to midnight on December 31st.  We'll be relying upon random.org to chose the winner so every entry has a chance of winning the £20 shop voucher from our fab sponsor, Country View Crafts online craft shop.

There is no post on the 31st so from all of the team we'd like to wish you all a happy, healthy and wonderfully crafty New Year!

Chris and the team xxx

Saturday 27 December 2014

Did we see Santa?

Good morning folks!

I'm lucky enough to have 3 slots this month as I'm filling in for a T3 with my final make for our festive theme and it's Santa!




Christmas isn't Christmas without Santa, rooftops and snow so I couldn't resist using this scene for my last nostalgic make.  The step x step pic's can be found here.  Chris xxx



We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are now enjoying a fun holiday.  If you're back to work already then well done, we hope you're managing a break here and there!

Chris and the team xxx

Thursday 25 December 2014

Nikki's Christmas Day tag...

Yay!!!!  Santa has been!!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Our lovely Nikki is here this morning to share her Christmas Day with us with this beautiful Christmas tag...





Well if I have my timing correct, Chris will be posting this on the blog on Christmas Day!
So I just want to say a Merry Christmas to you all whatever you are doing, wherever you are.
 If you feeling crafty then do hop over to Addicted to Art where there are some more details on this tag.



A beautifully festive make Nikki, it reminds me of the lampposts you see in some streets, festooned with lights and Christmas decorations as you shop.... thank you!

A huge 'Happy Christmas' to all our crafty blog friends out there from the CVCC team - we hope your Christmas is happy, healthy and all you want it to be!!

Chris and the team xxx

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Sue D's nostalgic Santa...

Hey there!

With just two more sleeps to go, today's project from our lovely Sue D is just the ticket...




Well Christmas is most definitely almost upon us, so here's (hopefully) the last of my cards with a matching gift tag.  I've used lots of lovely metal for these, and details can be found here at Sue The Iron.



What a gorgeous coordinated set Sue and so poignant with the festive Santa, the children and pressies - thank you!

Are you going to be too busy to craft in the next few days or have you got everything sorted and ready for the big day?  Whatever you're doing, wherever you'll be and whomever you're with, we wish you all...

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS!


Chris and the team xxx

Sunday 21 December 2014

Pretty poinsettias from Sue B...

Hello there!

Today's project is a second make from our lovely Sue B.  It's a traditional themed project from her...





Poinsettias and Red and White are very traditional colours at Christmas-time.
It is also nostalgic for me, more pics on my Blog.



Traditional indeed Sue and what a beauty!  Thank you!

If Sue's gorgeous card doesn't get you in the festive mood then perhaps nothing will, lol!  Whtever your thoughts on the festive season we'd like to see what nostalgia you can come up with!  Please remember to follow our (simple) rules.

Sue D is up next, don't miss it!

Chris and the team xxx

Friday 19 December 2014

Kerry has lots of texture today!

Good morning folks!

This morning we're featuring another guest project, our DTMSM winner from October, Kerry. Kerry has made a stunning Christmas decoration, very original and creative...




My name is Kerry (aka Kezzy) and I’m extremely honoured to be here today.  I started crafting in 2006 and blogging in Jan 2011.  I work part time as an accountant mainly at home due to a bad back, I have two children 15 and 17 and I live with my partner and our dog Jasmine who is almost 13.  Art is a huge part of my life, especially during times when I’m in pain as I can lose myself in paint and stamps, I reckon if art was a pill then everyone would be pain free lol.  I definitely am in to mixed media, I lurrrrrve working with paint, stamps, inks and general messiness.  I taught myself to crochet last year and have become addicted to bright colourful yarn and love to make bright funky flowers for my art.  It’s a big year for me as on the 1st September I became 40, I have a journal ready and decorated so I can record this special year, as they say, Life begins at 40 and I feel good in the knowledge that as long as I have ART then everything will be alright.  I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this project for you today, and have lots more photos, plus a full step by step of how it was made.



For me Christmas memories is all the decorations and the seasons bits and bobs, I love to walk through markets and see so many Christmas trinkets that you never see normally.








Wow. such a fabulous Christmas project Kerry, the colours and textures are gorgeous!  Thank you!

Poor Kerry has not been at all well lately and we're grateful that she has struggled through it to be with us today so I'm sure you'll all join us in wishing her a speedy recovery.  Get well soon Kerry!!!

We'll be back on Sunday when Sue B will be sharing her second project for the month with us.  Have a fab, fab weekend everyone!

Chris and the team xxx

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Jennie's festive, floral lantern...

Good morning folks!

Our Jennie is well known for her beautiful handmade flowers so we're delighted that she has managed to incorporate them into this festive, nostalgic piece...




When I was about thirteen my mother bought a white tinsel christmas tree and for many years we made white and green decorations for it. So this little Christmas Luminary brings back memories of a green and white Christmas! There are more pictures on my blog and details of how I made the white flowers using the Tattered Poinsettia die and the little frosted ones too.




Soooo beautiful Jennie, what a fabulous addition to any festive table, thank you!

Whether it's florals or robins, snowmen or trees, whatever it happens to be, we'd like you to express it by way of a nostalgic project and enter it for this challenge.  Are you feeling lucky? It doesn't matter if you're not because we will be picking the winner at random so no matter how experienced you are, or what genre of crafting you like, everyone has a chance of winning the £20 shop voucher from our sponsor, Country View Crafts.

Come on folks, let's see what your memories conjure up!

Have a great day!

Chris and the team xxx

Monday 15 December 2014

Gabrielle's decorating the tree...

Hello there!

It's the 15th of the month so we've reached the midway mark!  Where does the time go to?  If you're going to have a busy week then take a breath, grab a cuppa and take a look at Gabrielle's second make for this month before you jump into the day...




The theme this month is Nostalgic Christmas and this got me thinking nostalgically...! When I was a child we would make Christmas decorations for the tree and I thought I might make one for our tree this year. The base is an Art Part and I added a stamped wreath and a little sparkle! The ribbon is a little sari fabric and I will retie the bauble on the tree when it has been chosen from the Christmas tree shop! We have a tradition in our house  that my husband takes my son to buy a tree that is the same height as our son and then my daughter and I decorate it! Funny what traditions you have isn't it?! If you would like more details on how to make this bauble, my blog has all the information! Gabrielle x



A gorgeous tree decoration Gabrielle, nostalgic for so many of us, thank you!

If you're planning on joining us for this challenge do remember that you can enter right up until 5 minutes to midnight on New Year's Eve!  We'd like to see as many nostalgic Christmas makes as you can muster. 

More on Wednesday and this time, from our clever Jennie!

Have fun out there!

Chris and the team xxx

Saturday 13 December 2014

Donna's nostalgic postcards...

Good morning all!

It will be another busy weekend for most of us, shopping, decorating trees, all the accoutrements of Christmas.  Before you get too busy, here is Donna's second DT make...



Another nostalgic postcard from me......


 ...I'm liking these nostalgic postcards and nice and cheap to post as well! Lol!  More pics are on my blog.  Donna xx



Another gorgeous postcard Donna, beautiful, thank you!

Whatever you're making this month, if it has a nostalgic element to it, we want to see it.  A friend showed me a Christmas cake she made the other day and to me, that was reminiscent of times gone by so perhaps you might want to enter one YOU'VE made.  Whatever your items, whether paper, card, knitted, sewn, whatever they are, as long as they evoke some nostalgic thoughts or memories, then please do enter them.

We'll be back on Monday, well, Gabrielle will be, to share her next make.

Have a good weekend!

Chris and the team xxx

Thursday 11 December 2014

It's a Magpie blog candy!

Hi everyone,

We have another Magpie Day today and we're repeating our blog candy prize as it remained unclaimed last month.  (If your entry is ever the lucky number pulled out of the hat then PLEASE do claim your candy within 14 days using the contact email widget on the sidebar.)

Here is the candy prize....


The lucky number chosen by random.org is...

Jane's Journal - Congrat's!!!!


Email us please with your name and address so we can get your prize in the post!

Donna will be here on Saturday with another beautiful project, see you then we hope.  Have fun!

Chris and the team xxx

Wednesday 10 December 2014

November's winners...

Good evening all!

Most of us will be busy midst card-writing, putting up the dec's, clambering around the attic to find the Christmas tree baubles etc - we don't have long to go! We're making the time tonight to announce our wonderful winners from November's 'Bugs, bees & butterflies' challenge....

The winning number chosen by random.org is...





Debby of My Scrap Time Creations



Our Blog badge awards have been chosen by Nikki, here are her choices and comments...

Top 3



#5 - Elaine of Craft my life "A beautiful canvass with back lighting."




#7 - Sara of Sara's closet "A stunning autumnal creation with stunning butterflies."




#48 - Donna of Inky and Quirky "A wonderfully created, colourful journal page."


DT Members' Special Mention



#44 - Jackie of Creating without crayons "I adore on the fabulous texture on this altered card box including lots of butterflies and bees."



Well done to everyone who entered, fabulous, fabulous makes and many congrat's to our winners!

Another post in the morning folks - have a lovely evening!

Chris and the team xxx

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Chris's got Christmas carols in mind...

Hello folks!

Today is my turn to share a second make for the challenge theme and I've decided on a tag for this one...





My second DT make for the month centres upon Christmas carols and the music we associate with Christmas.  This was is a strong memory from throughout my childhood because between school choirs and church/Sunday school, Christmas songs and carols were a huge part.  (Details here.) Chris xxx




Thanks for joining us today, we'll be back on Thursday with a Magpie Day!

Chris and the team xxx

Sunday 7 December 2014

Brenda's retro memories...

Hi there, it's Sunday and time to take a breather from the busy festive preparations before we get too close!

This morning we're joined by our talented Brenda who is sharing her nostalgic memories with us in this beautiful card...




A Christmas card using the Tim Holtz retro ornaments and packages dies. I was inspired by my memories of those gorgeous glittery and shiny baubles of the 50's and 60's (yes I am really ancient lol) and the old fairisle patterns we used when knitting jumpers - aaaaaah memories!!



A gorgeous card Brenda and a fab mix of styles brought together so cleverly, thank you!

Whether you're into retro, vintage, shabby, CAS or something else, we'd like to see what you make of our 'Nostalgic Christmas' theme.  The winner will receive a £20 shop voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts to spend in their craft shop.

We'll be back in a couple of days with another project for you, have a great Sunday!

Chris and the team xxx

Friday 5 December 2014

Stunning home decor from Ingrid...

Hi everyone!

It's going to be a busy weekend with so little shopping time until Christmas but we have to get our crafting time in too, right?  To get you motivated we're having a guest post today from a very talented lady whom many of you will know already, Ingrid Kristina.  Ingrid was a Top 3 winner in our October challenge and she is here today to share this gorgeous make with you...





Hi there, my name is Ingrid Kristina V, aka Inka (short for Ingrid). I’m in my early 30’s and live in London with my Fiancé and our two little girls. I have always been a crafty soul and enjoy cardmaking, art journaling, creating fine or mixed media art and more, which I share regularly on my blog Ingrid's Crafts Corner.

My cardmaking style is clean, simple and contemporary, with bold and bright features, as well as artsy, grungy and fun.

My art could be described as grungy, textured, vintage, but I also like to play with colours and visual textures. I have an enormous passion for mixed media and love the creative freedom it gives me. I’m consistently on a lookout for new trends and right now my favourite toy are Brusho crystals so hop over to my blog to see what ‘mess’ I created so far. J I also love to experiment and often develop new techniques that I share with excitement with my blog buddies.



I am very honoured and excited to be here as a Guest Designer today! Thank you for inviting me!

I am currently very much in love with vintage Christmas designs so when I was invited to guest design and found out about the theme for the December challenge, ‘Nostalgic Christmas’, I squeaked a little with excitement! I love everything about Christmas. It’s magical, it goes tightly hand in hand with family traditions. This is the precious time when the family gets together and enjoys freely the frivolities of life whilst not forgetting why we celebrate. I’ve been actively crafting and blogging for about a year now and I am very much enjoying creating for Christmas! Anything from cardmaking to wintery tags, alterations and home décor is now on my books! I have so many ideas running through my head right now I just hope I will have the time to do it all! I plan to alter all of our Christmas tree decorations so that’s something to look forward to!

I created a mixed media vintage wall hanging for this challenge and I’m keeping my inky fingers crossed that you’ll like it. The overall idea was to create not only something special because it is for the Country View Challenges blog, but also something that looked like it was once hung somewhere and left there for many, many years! I hope I have captured this. The canvas was made grungy but glitzy, the vintage image of Santa crackled and the metals rusted…. There was a LOT of distressing, colorizing and creating from scratch to give the illusion of ‘old’, or in another fancy word ‘vintage’ J. I absolutely adore the image on this piece… what’s more nostalgic than knowing that the story about ‘Santa’ has been one of the most beautiful lies we’ve been telling our children for centuries! It’s a beautiful tradition that brings the mystery and excitement into our young lives! I cherish this memory of my childhood and hope my children will one day too! I will certainly do my best to create the magic for them every year just like my parents did it for me and my younger brother!
 

I hope you will find a moment to hop over to my blog here where I will share more photos, how I created this Christmas wall hanging and will also include three mini tutorials/tips on how to make these pine branches from scratch, how to create subtle sparkle in your grungy and distressed background and how to customise your clear embossing powder with any colour just like I did with the seal on my letter for Santa here. Everything that you see on this wall hanging is handcrafted and my own design (apart from the little die cut branch and the printed images) so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thank you very much to the oh-so talented Design Team at the Country View Challenges for selecting my creation and therefore an opportunity to show you all what I love and am passionate about. I feel very honoured! Thank you!

Talking about Christmas, I hope you will all have a wonderful time this December and enjoy the special holiday time to the full! Blessings!

Ingrid xxx



Wow, this is stunning Ingrid, such a beautifully festive piece, thank you!

Whatever nostalgic memories you have of this festive time, we'd like to see them so grab your card, papers, embellishments and glue and let us see what you can make.  The winner will be chosen at random so everyone has a chance of winning!

Brenda will be here on Sunday with her second make for the month so we hope to see you here.

Have a great weekend!

Chris and the team xxx

Wednesday 3 December 2014

A Victorian mini book from Astrid...

Good morning!

Following our major parade we now commence the individual DT and guest projects for December.  As Astrid has chosen the theme for this month it falls upon her to be first in line.  Here is her second DT make for the month...





For my second project this month I created a little vintage Victorian mini book that's going to be a gift for a friend. For a detailed description of how to make such a little book, please visit my blog.



Oh Astrid, this is gorgeous!  It certainly evokes a sense of nostalgia, thank you!

Now you don't have to make your project vintage in genre, it can be as contemporary as you like as long as it depicts a nostalgic scene or subject.

We'll be back on Friday with our first guest piece and it's a stunner!  See you then.

Chris and the team xxx

Monday 1 December 2014

December’s festive challenge…

Good morning all and welcome to December’s festive challenge!

We’re all feeling the Christmas spirit and ready to challenge you to a month of glorious festive crafting.  Astrid has chosen our theme for December and she’s getting straight to the point with her theme of…

NostalgicXmas

Whatever you are in the world, whatever your religion/faith, whatever Christmas means to you, we’d like to see what you make that has a sense of nostalgia about it.  It doesn’t have to nostalgic in the sense of a ‘vintage’ piece, just something that evokes a memory or a time past.  Whether a card, a tag, a scrapbooking or journal page, altered art, a postcard, 3D or home decor project, in fact any crafty item you care to make is perfectly fine as long as you follow our clear and simple RULES.

We will be posting a project every day throughout the month as we usually do including a sprinkling of guest posts.  You have until just before midnight on New Year’s Eve to enter your project and our lucky (randomly chosen) winner will receive a £20 shop voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts.

To start us off we have a parade of makes from the DT who are led out this month by our October winner, Samantha…



 

Samantha_CNV00011
Hi, my name is Samantha Wade.  I live in the West Midlands with my husband Peter and two ragdoll cats (the girls)
I have always been interested in crafts and addicted to paper crafting and all things creative.You will find me in my craft room in my spare time or the garden which is my other passion.


Samantha_IMG_0439-rs

Ingredients
Card 21cm x 15cm
Pion Papers Days of Winter, church and borders and forget me not (beautiful papers).
Spellbinders floral die used on image, dusted with glass glitter.
Edges of paper distressed.
Christmas vellum, die cut with Sue Wilson French Collection die set.
Flowers are white blossom coloured with distress ink Iced Spruce, cheese cloth, stamens to make the spray.

Samantha_IMG_0443-rs



Astrid1_1Astrid





















I made a little tag card out of two matching tags and had great fun making different backgrounds and embellishments. To see a step by step for this project, please visit my blog



Brenda1_P1190279a
Brenda
















Christmas is a very special time in the Brown household and much of my love for Christmas stems from my childhood days when our Mum made it the most wonderful time of the year for Chris and I. These images evoke many of those nostalgic times. Hop here.



Chris


















 With a typical 50s/60s childhood you can imagine that Christmases were quite different but I remember them as magical.  As Brenda and I lay in our beds, the coal embers glowing in the dark and frost on the INSIDE of the window panes, we always thought we cold hear Santa's sleigh bells.  Now how much of that was wishful thinking and how much was real no-one really knows!  No matter how hard we tried to stay awake, we never ever caught him coming down the chimney but a pillowcase full of gifts, fruit, nuts etc was always left at the foot of each of our beds.  With a real tree and lots of fresh, real holly and mistletoe from the garden, and always a potted poinsettia centre place on the table or sideboard - they are certainly times to remember.  Yes, definitely magical..... More details of my card can be found here.  Chris xxx



Donna1_photo-rsDonna













 I love some of the really old Christmas postcards that you see so decided I'd make my own version.  All the details are on my blog  Donna x




Gabrielle1_IMG_8071-rsGabrielle
























  I LOVE Christmas! I love getting the decorations out and as I put each one out I remember where each one came from. I love looking at all the presents wrapped up and ready to give out (though the shopping and wrapping can be a little less enjoyable!) and I love the excitement from the children and the anticipation of what Christmas Day will bring. So to add to these memories I made a hanging to join my growing collection. The base is an Art Part and the Tim Holtz stamp was stamped on tissue paper and the back of it painted. As always, there are more details on my blog! Gabrielle x
 


Jennie1_Nostaligc ChristmasJennie



























Christmas for me is all about candle light - I love the candle light carol services and the opportunity to sit around the fire musing through a book on Boxing Day with candles alight all around. We have candles lit all year round  these days, but when I was young candles were only lit at Christmas (well in our house anyway - the utility box of candles in the kitchen was for power cuts only!) So for my nostalgic piece I have decorated an LED battery candle which can be alight for the whole of Christmas with no fear of being knocked over.  Please visit my blog if you would like to know more.



Nikki1_IMG_5731 copyNikki




















For my first Nostalgic Christmas project I made a tag using the wonderful poinsettia bigz die and stamps from Tim Holtz Deco Christmas set. A step by step is available over at Addicted to Art - be lovely to see you there.



SueB1_nostalgic-rsSue B

























Candles and Holly are are nostalgic for me.
More pics on my Blog.


SueD1_SAM_0744-rsSue D














I don't normally go in for the vintage creations, so when I saw that the theme was nostalgic Christmas, I just thought back to when I was small when Christmas was still full of magic, and not an X Box in sight. I've used two different sizes of ceramic tiles to make coasters and a table mat. Full details can be found here at Sue The Iron.



Alison1_nostalgic christmas 1Alison
























I've gone with celebrating one of the oldest traditions there is - the bringing of greenery into the house to celebrate the Christmas season.  I can remember when I was a child going to pick out our Christmas tree from rows and rows of them planted on a hillside, and the tree and big vases of holly and ivy are still the most important part of Christmas for me.  I hope to get some sunnier pictures of this tag to capture the shimmer, so hop over to Words and Pictures to see whether I succeeded!



We hope you’ll find something in our line up which motivates and inspires you to join in.  You can enter as many times as you like provided that all entries are original and have been posted on your blog from today onwards.  Most if not all of our DTMs have provided step x step posts for you with more detailed photo’s if you’d like to see/follow them.

It’s over to you now, so good luck and we’ll see you in 2 days with another project!

Chris and the team xxx