Wednesday 29 April 2015

Nikki's krafting with texture

Hello out there!

Well, we've reached the end of the month - where did it go?

Nikki is bringing us our final post for the month and she's been busy...



For my first make earlier this month I completely covered the Kraft card with inks and paint. Today I  wanted it a lot cleaner and love how the card is a great surface for stamping and embossing. A few more details over at Addicted to Art today.



This is great Nikki, what a fab way of showing us how simple stamping with kraft can be so effective - thank you!

Well folks, if you haven't joined in yet, you have until 11:55 pm tomorrow to get your project finished and linked.  We'll be back on May 1st with a new challenge so until then...

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Chris and the team xxx

Monday 27 April 2015

Ana's wowing us today!

Hello dear crafters!

This morning we are absolutely delighted to post the project of not only one of our regular challenge entrants and Top 3 winners but of someone who is making quite a name for herself!  Artistic, talented and always ready to contribute, we welcome the very talented Ana K!




Hello dear crafters... I'm really delighted to be here with you again. My name is Ana and I am from beautiful Slovenia. Creating came into my life by accident, but quickly I became addicted...I love everything old or old looking and that you can see in my creations...I love to create mainly collages, but I also love making altered projects and books...during creating process, I completely “eliminate rest of the world” and I can say that crafting is my escape from reality...



For this month challenge I decided to make a collage...Craft card is perfect for crafting and can be used in so many ways….with a help of scissors and white acrylic paint can be easily transformed into wood looking background….




Ana, this is so beautiful and such an artistic and creative way to use kraft card - thank you!!

Crafters, you have just a few days left to finish your projects and enter, we hope you will!

Have a great day!

Chris and the team xxx

Saturday 25 April 2015

Jennie has a telegram from Paris

Hello there!

We're kicking off the weekend with a wow of a project from our Jennie...




 This is such a great challenge for me as I nearly always use Kraft cardstock for the base of my cards! I have decided to make an easel card for my second piece this month and also used some Kraft die cuts in my collage. I love adding soft colours with the Kraft and the pinks of the handmade flower (Victorian Velvet and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink) go so well I think. There are some more details on my blog if you would like to join me.
 


This is gorgeous Jennie, demonstrating just how beautiful kraft can look - thank you!

We have just under a week to go folks so please start thinking about making your entry if you haven't done so already!  >;o)

We'll be back on Monday with our final guest post for April and the only clues we'll give you are that she is carving out quite a niche for herself and we're fortunate to see her as one of our regular entrants here at CVC.... don't miss it!

Have a great weekend!

Chris and the team xxx

Thursday 23 April 2015

Olga is sharing her floral card...

Greetings everyone!

Today we're joined by Olga Direktorenko from the Ukraine who was chosen as our Special Mention winner in February.  Olga, of Building Your World, has made a beautiful card to share how she uses kraft card her way...



Hi everyone,
My name is Olga and I am from Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine where I live with my dear husband, our three wonderful children and a dachshund. I have always been attracted to visual arts and when I got acquainted with paper craft about a year ago I immediately fell in love with it. It is also a great pleasure to realize there are so many talented crafters around the world that are ready to share their passion and experience.


 I love using kraft card in my projects, especially for fall and winter holiday ones. But this time I will try to make a spring kraft greeting card. 





I like how it turned out. I think there is something... well... British about it :)))) What do you think?

Thank you for looking and have a wonderful happy day!



A stunning card Olga and so cleverly put together - thank you!

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, you have just 7 days remaining to join in our challenge.  Although we're approaching the end, we still have more to show you, the DT squeeze every last day they can to post!  >;o)

Our lovely Jennie will be here on Saturday with another gorgeous make so we hope to see you then!

Have a great day,

Chris and the team xxx

Tuesday 21 April 2015

A postcard from Gabrielle...

Greetings everyone!

Today we're joined by our talented Gabrielle (and she's using one of my most favourite images of all time) with this stunning make...



 For my second project this month I made another postcard where I made good use of the properties of kraft card. Kraft card has a brilliant surface for paints and will also stand up to being sanded quite vigorously and so forms the basis of my postcard. As always, there are more details on my blog! Gabrielle x



This is fabulous Gabrielle, what a brilliant way to use kraft - thank you!

Whether you're into cards, tags, scrapbooks, journals, postcards, altered art or anything else, we're convinced that you can make something using kraft.  Readily available, easy to work with and, as Gabrielle has pointed out, great for texturing and sanding, what a fab theme for you to work with this month!

We'll be back on Thursday with another guest project which you won't want to miss!  See you then!

Chris and the team xxx

Sunday 19 April 2015

Doreen is all overcome!

Welcome everyone!  >:o)

Our talented Doreen is with us this morning to share her 2nd make for April and she's taking the opportunity to demonstrate kraft with PaperArtsy products - beautiful...



Hello to you all,I am back with my second sample
I have used a Kraft Tag, Kraft Card and some Fresco paints.
Details from my Blog



This is gorgeous Doreen, kraft card is such a great contrast - thank you!

Whether you're a stamper, a painter, into mixed media, whatever it may be, we'd like you to step up and share your crafty ideas and talents with us.  You have until April 30th to enter and you could be one of our lucky winners!

Gabrielle will be with us on Tuesday so please come back and join us again then.

Enjoy your Sunday!

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 15 April 2015

It's kraft and gesso from Brenda today

Good morning all!

One of the things I love is to see is well-seasoned and talented crafters challenging themselves to try different things, to experiment with techniques and products, because that's how we all develop, how we progress and keep things interesting.  

When I look at Brenda's blog I see all the artistic and imaginative pieces of art she creates (and most ARE art!) but she is here today to share something simple that she hasn't done before but boy, it is soooo effective!.....





I find it really hard to create straight onto cards when I make them but I took the plunge here using some stamped images and collage pieces with daubed gesso as the base layer.



These are gorgeous Brenda, you always manage to make things look soooo creative - thank you!

To join in our challenge all you have to do is to use kraft card.  You can make something as simple or as elaborate as you like, kraft card is the only requirement to join in other than following our rules of course!  >;o)

We have another fabulous project on Friday, from Donna, so please make a note and pop back to visit us then.

Chris and the team xxx

Monday 13 April 2015

Imaginative kraft from Lys

Good morning all!  >:o)

To start off our week we have a guest sharing a gorgeous, imaginative project with us. Many of you will already know Lys of Impression Scrap and for those of you who don't, you're in for a treat...



Bonjour! My name is Lys and I live in a village in south west of France. I started scrapbooking about 10 years ago and I just discovered mixed media and the huge possibilities it offers to creativity. I have too little time to craft beside my full time job as a psychologist, but meeting children everyday gives me the opportunity to leave open the door of this wonderful, inventive and inspiring world that is childhood.



I’m so happy and honored today to join  Country View Challenges’ team! The theme “use kraft card” was a bit baffling for me, as these days I play more often with Spring colours… but a challenge is a challenge! So I made this page, quite light, showing how a shrub pops out its wintry peel coat to open to the Spring sun…

Thanks Chris and the beautiful team of Country View Challenges for inviting me today!
Best wishes,
Lys.



This is beautiful Lys, thank you!  What a great example of using kraft to create something different and inspiring!  For those of you wanting to see more of Lys's work you can find her blog here.

Brenda will be here with her 2nd project on Wednesday, don't miss it!  >:o)

Take care,

Chris and the team xxx

Sunday 12 April 2015

BLOGAVERSARY WINNERS!

Good evening folks!

This evening we have great pleasure in announcing all the winners from our March Blogaversary challenge. We had an amazing response, thank you all so much for joining in!

Our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts, donated TWO £20 vouchers so we have two voucher winners as well as our Top 3 and DTMSM badge winners.

Here we go...



Winners of the £20 vouchers chosen by random.org are...


http://justforoneday11.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/another-one.html




AND

http://crawsomecreations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/gone-bit-grunge.html



http://crawsomecreations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/gone-bit-grunge.html



This time it was my turn to choose our Top 3 and DTMSM badge winners so here are my choices and  comments...

Firstly, can I say that my job was an extremely hard and vexing one, not only because there were so many gorgeous entries but because the standard of the entries was so high.  I love all kinds of crafting, all genres and styles and that's what we encourage here so it was a pleasure viewing all the entries and seeing such a broad mix - thank you ALL!

Our Top 3 (in numerical order)

http://cakescardsandcraftybits.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/spray-starch-and-brushos.html

I love to see striking CAS cards! CAS is an art form in itself and this one hit me right between the eyes.  When I read Karen's post I had the added pleasure of learning that she had been playing with household items to achieve the striking effects she's created.  They say nothing is new in crafting and I guess that's so but I do love to see people playing around to achieve their own techniques.  Nice one Karen!  >:o)



http://vintagehandmade45.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/art-journal-page-imperfect-person.html

Another striking make, this gorgeous art journal layout leapt from the screen and shouted at me. Artistic in both design and colour palette it is both beautiful and one of those eclectic treasure makes that lingers in one's memory. Stunning - well done Branka!



http://linseyrickett.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/baby-dress-keepsake.html

A clever, contemporary (pseudo vintage) make celebrating the birth of Linsey's friends' first baby.  Well designed, cleverly put together and a great little keepsake for her friend to put away to show her daughter when she's grown.  Beautiful - thanks for sharing this Linsey!



DTMSM (DT Members' Special Mention)

This selection has been especially difficult, I've managed to whittle down my list of 14 to just two and I cannot choose between them so there will be TWO DTMSM blog badges awarded...


http://lizscreativecorner.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/ladies-day.html

Liz's dress form is gorgeous!  It is not the idea of the dress form itself that has won her this accolade but the way in which she has interpreted the dress and put it together!  If you haven't seen it, please hop over and take a look at the detail.  The pleats of the skirt, the shaping of the paper and the way it has been decorated, all brought together with such aplomb to achieve the overall effect - gorgeous!  A great make Liz, well done!



http://lindasimpsoncraftypieceofheaven.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/gone-artsy-dt-project.html

This fabulous little stampunk piece has been made from.... a Pringles tube!  As a lover of recycling an upcycling I thought turning this mundane piece of packaging into such a lovely art piece is inspiring.  I can imagine using this for anything from storing spaghetti in the kitchen to being my button box in the craft room.  It would also make a great storage container for one of the guys too!  Great work Linda!



A HUGE thank you again to ALL of you that entered, it was such a joy to see so many of you joining in!  Another HUGE thank you goes to ALL of our followers and commenters, without your support we wouldn't be here.

Have a great month and good luck to all of you for this month's challenge!

Chris and the team xxx

Saturday 11 April 2015

Astrid's crossing over today.....

Good morning all!

It's Saturday, it's the weekend, and what better than a beautiful crafty vintage project from our talented Astrid.....



Kraft card can be used in so many different ways. For this project I made a very vintage style Crossover card with matching envelope box, tags and gift card holder. Details can be found on my blog like usual.



Oh Astrid, such a clever idea and what a gorgeous project - thank you!

Your project can be vintage, it could be contemporary, we don't mind because we love all genres here.  Whether you prefer something quick and simple or something more complex, we'd like you to show us exactly what you're doing with your kraft card.  Remember, one of our entries will be chosen at random to win the £20 shop voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts.

We hope you'll bookmark us and pop back again on Monday when our second Top 3 guest will be joining us!

Have a fun day!

Chris and the team xxx

Thursday 9 April 2015

Debs has made us a little book...

Hello there!

We're delighted to have our first Top 3 guest with us today.  Debs (Deborah Wainwright) was a Top 3 winner from our February challenge and she is joining us to share her 'kraft card' make with us....



Hello everyone my name is Deborah Wainwright although my friends call me Debs. I live in Essex with my husband and my cat Kashmir. I am so thrilled to be here as a guest. 

I have always been creative from drawing as a child, learning to knit and crochet, as well as having a go at making jewellery, but nothing grabbed me as much as crafting which I started two years ago in March. 

I enjoy all kinds of making art, from sketching to Mixed Media. I enjoy getting painty and inky and seeing where it goes. I tend to create intuitively which sometimes works well and other times not so well but for me the process has been become the focus.

Today I'm sharing a little a little book made from Kraft Card which I have decorated for my husband to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. 

Inside are some photos from each anniversary and there are also three little tags which pull out and represent each year. The fourth is yet to be created.
I have used a mix of paints and sprays with fabric as well as Kraft Card. On the book itself I have used crackle paste to age it as well as adding some rusting techniques all of which you can see in more detail on my blog.



A fabulous project Debs and a great example of how kraft card can be used - thank you!

Astrid will be with us on Saturday and another beautiful project so we hope to see you then!

Chris and the teamxxx

Wednesday 8 April 2015

Our BLOG CANDY winner!

Good evening friends!

We have pleasure in announcing our blog candy winner from our Blogaversary commenting competition tonight.  We asked random.org to choose our winner from the number of comments we'd received at the point our challenge closed, here is the result...



Our blog candy bundle goes to.....



crafty creations

Please contact us using the email widget on the sidebar and let us have your details so we can post this to you.



We'll be announcing our challenge winners over the weekend.

Have a lovely evening,

Chris and the team xxx

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Alison's using kraft with mixed media

Good morning everyone!

We hope you all had a good Easter holiday and commiserations to those of you that had to work!

Alison is with us this morning to share her 2nd project and what a beauty it is!...



For my second krafty creation of the month I've been playing with the Mixed Media thinlits again, and this time it was the honeycomb die which started the whole thing off.  There's a crackly krafty bee collecting pollen to create glossy, crackly honey in his krafty honeycomb, and it's all over a gesso-printed background.  Come and check out the details over at Words and Pictures.



This is beautiful Alison, we're loving your style - thank you!

No matter your choice of genre, whether you're into mixed media or not, tags, journals, cards, whatever your preferences, we'd like to see how YOU are using kraft card.  The lucky winner will be chosen at random so remember, your entry just might be the lucky one!

We'll have the first of our Top 3 guests appearing on Thursday so please join us to share in the fun!  >:o)

Chris and the team xxx

Sunday 5 April 2015

Trace is all heart!

Happy Easter Sunday folks!

We're delighted to have our talented Trace back with us in the team and she's joining us this morning to share her 2nd DT make for April and what a make it is!...



Well for this make I made a little book with plenty of space to fill with messages for that special someone. I used kraft resist paper stack, plenty of distress goodies including the new abandoned coral and a wonderful Eileen Hull die to make this mini book. All the details can be found on my blog here. x



This is fabulous Trace, beautifully done and a great example of using kraft card - thank you!

Alison will be with us on Tuesday sharing her second project so please remember to hop back and join us.

Have a great Easter holiday!

Chris and the team xxx

Friday 3 April 2015

A krafty journal from Sue D...

Good morning all!

This morning we start the month's individual project features and as Sue D chose the theme, she gets to post the first and what a beauty it is!...



Hi, it's my turn again to get crafty with the kraft, and this time I've used some Dina Wakley stamps and paints and made a journal page.
Full details can be found here at Sue The Iron x



This is gorgeous Sue, what a fab journal cover and a great example of using kraft card to start us off - thank you!

Each of our DTMembers craft in their own style and we all have different genres we prefer. So, whether you like contemporary, vintage, shabby or any other style you're bound to find at least one example of it posted here throughout the month.  Most of our DTMs provide a full, step x step post on their personal blog so if you'd like to see the detail you can hop across to see the techniques and products they've used.

Whilst we love sharing our projects with you, we like to see what YOU'RE up to so please join in with us by entering our challenge so we and our followers can see what you're making.

Thanks for such a great theme Sue, it' a corker!  Have a great month everyone!

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