The sound of the sea

Has summer arrived back in your neck of the woods and I'm thinking UK as that's where we are based? I hope it's good for the Bank Holiday weekend. If it is you may well be inspired to go to the beach seeing Trace's next card.

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For my second summertime make this month I have again been inspired by the sea and the creatures hidden beneath, as to me the summer  reminds me of the gorgeous sea air and sounds of the waves. For all the details of how I created this please see my blog . xx trace x

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Oooh I'm definitely tempted Trace, I can hear the waves as they gently lap onto the shore and smell the sea breeze, such a great and evocative card. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Well it's the last weekend to get something made for the challenge, have you joined in yet? There's just a couple of days left, so see you over at the challenge blog soon.

hugs Brenda and the CVC Team

Hazel's gone all out summer colours!

Hello dear friends!

This morning we're delighted to welcome Hazel, a previous Top 3 winner, who is joining us to share her interpretation of our 'Summertime' theme...

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Hi, my name is Hazel Agnew and I have been crafting for a relatively short while!

I have always dabbled with art, and began experimenting with this altered art style when I retired from work recently! 

I have found so much inspiration from fellow “artists” on Facebook and Twitter and several Blog challenges…not least Countryview Challenge which has an abundance of talented designers with a wealth of different styles. I am most comfortable with messy art and work quite spontaneously; often not knowing where the mood will take me! I get ridiculously excited while crafting and my long suffering husband has adopted quite a few encouraging phrases when a piece of work is thrust under his nose!

 

I was over the moon to be in the Top 3 of the CountryView challenge in May. It was my very first award of any kind.

 

 

So, the topic for August is Summertime, and chosen by the extremely talented and inspirational Alison Bomber. It was Alison that encouraged me to join in with the Country View challenges!

I decided to play with the new stamps by Emma Godfrey which are holiday themed. They are so easy to use for this theme and I decided to use very bright summery colours.

I used the Paperartsy fresco paints by Lin Brown which have Bougainvillea in them! A colour that is now a must have, plus Glass Blue.

I worked in my journal; using drippage; Portfolio Pastels through a stencil; making washi tape; painting flowers and adding a recent holiday photo.

 

You can visit my blog for more details at www.craftroomgran.blogspot.com

 

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What a fabulous project Hazel, fab colours and great composition, a beautiful project - thank you!

Come on folks, time to get a shimmy on if you haven't joined in already as we're almost at the end of the month!

We'll be back on Saturday with our last post and one certainly not to be missed!

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Summer in the City

Today Sue is reminding us what summer looks like. With the rain pouring down at the moment here in the south of England, the hot summer colours here are gorgeous.

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For my second piece we've headed back to the city with the aid of some Brusho's and Stampotique stamps. If only Summers were like this here in the UK. More details can be found here

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Thanks for your hot summer page Sue, hopefully it will bring the sun back again before the autumn appears.

Don't forget you can click the August challenge link in the side-bar to be transported over to see our summertime challenge info and the fabulous DT inspirational makes. There are also lots of great entries to peruse as well if you have time.

See you again on Thursday.

hugs Brenda and the CVC Team xxxx

Hearts and flowers from Rachel

Good morning Crafters!

Today we have the second make for this month from Rachel and she has gone for hearts and flowers......

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Hello there! Rachel here today with another make for the wonderful theme of summertime. I have made a series of hangings using wonderful paperartsy goodies. I have been inspired by the garden again and colours - the summer is so full of colours!

You can get details of all the paperartsy goodness I used to make these on my blog here. I look forward to seeing you there!

Big hugs

rachel x

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How fab are these!? A great project Rachel - thank you!

We'd like to see what you're crafting that falls in line with our 'Summertime' theme so why not join in and you could be this month's winner of the £20 voucher sponsored so generously by Country View Crafts!

We'll have another great make for you on Tuesday - see you then!

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Jenny's our guest today!

Welcome friends!

We're delighted today to have Jenny (aka Buttons) as our guest.  Jenny is a previous Top 3 winner and she's taken time out to make something special to share with us...

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Hi there, Jenny Marples here of 'Pushing The Right Buttons'; Mixed Media Designer, Educator, Demonstrator, Design Team lead/member, for several companies/challenges, Craft Stamper Designer and all around busy bee!!! I was thrilled to have been chosen as one of the Top 3 way back in May and had a ball creating this Summertime project.

How many of us get back from Summertime holidays with photos that we do nothing with? I decided it was about time to make use of one, a shot of Jardin des Tuileries from a recent trip to Paris. Having covered the image with a thin coat of Glue n Seal to protect the surface I used Wendy Vecchi Silver embossing paste through Tim Holtz Wildflower stencil to add to the floral border (and obliterate some random strangers in the background!) To add colour Wendy Vecchi's Archival Inks were blended over the stencilled areas. Then it was just a case of using botanical Remnant Rubs, Industrious Border Stickers, a Small Talk sentiment and some Idea-ology Foliage to add to the design. You'll find all of these products in stock at Country View Crafts.

I hope this tempts you to make use of those holiday snaps in a more creative way and don't forget to enter the challenge to be in with a chance to be a Guest Designer too! Jenny x"

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What a great idea Jenny and a beautiful project - thank you!

Do take a hop over to Jenny's blog to see all the details if you can.  We'll be back again on Sunday so we hope to see you then but remember to keep those entries coming!  >:o)

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Canvas, canvas all the way

Greetings dear friends,

This morning we're joined by our lovely Nikki who is sharing this beautiful, textured canvas with us...

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It is another canvas for my second creation this month but a little different to the first. I am still focussing on flowers for summer but this time using grunge paper and treasure gold. More details over at Addicted to Art.

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This is fabulous Nikki, great texturing!

Why not join us?  Everyone has a chance of being our winner so link up with us and show us what you're up to!

We'll be back on Friday with another post, have fun!

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Pastel Summertime Princess!

Hello dear Friends!

For those of you that follow our blog, our post from Jennie today, will not disappoint.  Jennie is well renowned in blogland for her floral works of art but she also has an incredible touch with her palettes.  She is here this morning with her second share of the month...

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As soon as I saw this little girl in the Photobooth pack I just knew her name was Rose! I adore her smile and so wanted to create a Rose canvas for her which I have done using some of my favourite Graphic 45 papers and handmade flowers. Please join me over on my blog if you want to see more details.

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This is GORGEOUS Jennie, it is both delicate as a project but so strong in influence of our theme - thank you!

Jennie has been crafting for some years now but we welcome projects from beginners upwards.  We like to see how you craft, what your style is and how you interpret our theme.  We are lucky enough to be sponsored by a great on-line craft shop - Country View Crafts - and EVERYONE has a chance of winning our £20 shopping voucher.

Whatever your preferred genre, whatever your expreicnce, we want to see what you're crafting.  Do join us by linking your project(s) (via our post on August 1st) and see whether you're chosen as our winner!

Nikki will be here on Wednesday - join us, you won't be disappointed!

Have fun and thanks for visiting!

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Gabrielle's been visiting the beach huts!

Good morning all!

We continue our 'Summetime' theme this morning with a fabulous stamped project from our talented Gabrielle.  We have had such poor weather in the past week or so, this is a grateful reminder of what we HOPE to see in the next few weeks....

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I am really taken with these beach hut stamps from Jo Firth-Young – I’m sure you’re getting fed up with me using them! For my second project this month I made a little plaque for my bathroom. I'm gathering a little collection of beach related items and this fits in beautifully! As always, there's more on my blog including what's inside my beach hut! Gabrielle x

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This is a fabulous make Gabrielle, it reminds us of our traditonal British Summer holiday - what a brilliant example - thank you!

So, where are you up to?  Have you entered yet?  Whether you have or not, you have plenty of time to join in and everyone has a chance of winning!  We want to see what you're up to so please take the time to link your project.

Have a wonderful weekend, we'll be back on Monday!

Have fun!

Chris and the CVC team!  xxx

Two guests today!

Good morning friends!

Today we have two guests sharing their projects and inspiration with us!

Firstly, apologies to Cass, a previous winner, for not including her project on August 1st (totally my fault).  Cass is joined by Amanda, winner of a Top 3 badge, and they are both on top form as their projects will demonstrate...

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Cass of Cass Creating Now

I'm known as Cass in blogland, and lucky enough to be on a few Design Teams.  Although I am still working, I manage to create something everyday, keeps me sane and stops me annoying my husband.  And, luckily he puts up with the mess as I go from room to room, some of my projects can take several weeks and I sought of spread out.

I have made a get well card, with a summery feel of flowers and bright colours.  Hope it suits the Summertime theme.  The image from Faery Ink has been coloured with Copic Pens and mounted on a diecut doiley.  The papers are from Close to My Heart's Taste of Summer and Blossoms collection.  The sentiment is a silver sticker which has also been coloured with copics.

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Amanda of Treasured Moments of Inspiration

Hi everyone I’m Amanda Southern, I am delighted to join you on CVC as a GDT and be part of this months “Summertime” challenge.  I love creating all sorts of projects that range from getting really messy with paints and sprays right through the crafty spectrum to clean and simple. I have an addiction to collecting rubber stamps and can see no let up on being cured on that one! I also love all things mixed media whether that is a card, altered item, canvas etc. It is one such mixed media project that I have to share with you today that captures the Summertime theme for me.

 Summertime memories for me, from being a child, are about wandering over the cliffs and finding hidden sandy coves, collecting things on the beach, playing in the sand and sea and generally have a fab day.  Hopefully this mixed media piece I have created captures that memory.

I started off with just a cheap white picture frame. With I covered with a mixture of bead gel and bandage fabric.  I then covered it all with a layer of gesso. Once that was dry I coloured with distress stains.  Then to start on my centre piece, I raided my bag of beach collected items and chose to use some pieces of driftwood that I had collected which I mounted onto a piece corrugated card.

 I then put a layer of gesso on it to make it easier to add the colours. I then painted the beach scene using Paperartsy Fresco paints.  To give it some foreground detail I stamped Katzelcrafts seagull both on card and tissue, card to cut out and colour and on tissue so I could add the stamped detail of the post to another piece of driftwood so the post was 3D. The flying seagulls were also stamped onto tissue and added using gel medium. All of the tissue stamping was coloured again using paperartsy fresco paints.

I made my “To the Beach” sign using coffee stirrers painted to match the colours. My final quote that I  added is from Tim Holtz Chit Chat sayings.

I hope you like it and it’s been great to be part of this months challenge inspiration

Love

Amanda X

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Wow Ladies, two very different styles and two terrific examples of our theme.  These are both beautiful, thank you so much!

We're delighted to see so many of you joining in already, great projects, thank you!  We hope to see lots more of your ideas and makes and remember,  everyone has a chance of winning the £20 shop voucher so generously sponsored by Country View Crafts.

We'll be back on Saturday with another post so see you then - have fun!

Chris and the CVC team xxx

Another canvas but a totally different twist!

Hello there!

Whatever your preferences, one cannot help but admire those who show a definite CAS style that stands out.  We think that our Doreen qualifies - she continually demonstrates how 'clean and simple' is a work of art.  Her make today may use just a few techniques BUT it demonstrates just how EFFECTIVE they can be! 

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For my second piece this month I have gone  vintage

and made a litle scene...

 More details from my blog.

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Doreen, we LOVE what you do - great work!

Whatever your style, we want to see it, so do join in!

Chris and the CVC Team xxx

Debs has gone all out 'flowery'...

Hello dear Friends,

This morning we have a second contribution from our new DTM, Debs.  She has decided to motivate us with both colour and contemporary imagery - what a beauty!

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Hello everyone, Debs here with my second Summertime project which is inspired by my own garden and all the lovely blooms we have this year. 

This is an 8x8 canvas which I have collaged first before adding all the blooms so lots of texture. Lets see what has inspired you....

Take Care Debs xx

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This is gorgeous Debs!  Whether you're a lover of the more modern imagery, lover of the more vibrant palette, this is a fabulous example of our theme - great work, thank you!

So, what are you all waiting for, let's get busy!!

Have a great day and good luck!

Chris and the CVC team!  xxx

Chris has a canvas to post today!

Hello friends!

Today it's my turn to post and, having been greatly inspired by Brenda's recent canvas workshops, I've created a 'Summer canvas'.  I have a completely different style to Brenda but, nevertheless, isn't that what we do?  We use others' work as our inspiration and motivation...

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For more details, you can see them HERE.

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Whatever your background, whatever your experience, whatever your style, we ALL have a statement to make!  We want to see yours so do come and join us!

Have a great day! 

Chris xxx

Brenda's gone to the seaside!

Hello dear Crafters!

We're inspired today by our DT Member, Brenda. Now, knowing her as I do, I'm sure that her make today has been inspired not just from her own memories but by those of her children and grandchildren.  Whatever her inspiration, this is a fabulous make and one that is sure to motivate many of you to take up your dies, stencils, inks and paints...

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For my second DT piece for our Summertime challenge my thoughts turned to the seaside and collecting shells. Ever since I was a small child I have loved looking for treasures on the beach, but then who doesn't. What inspires you for this Summertime challenge.

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This is beautiful Brenda, a great example of our theme as well a a brilliant demonstration of various media and textures too! - Thank you!

Whatever YOUR thoughts, whatever YOUR skill level, do join in - eveyone has a chance of winning!

Have a great day!

Chris and the CVC team!  xxx