Guest DTM piece - Karen P

We love having part of our challenge community crafting along side us. Our Top 3 Merit award winners are all invited to join us and the time at which they appear is a little pot luck and also scheduling dates to avoid other commitments. Our first Merit award winner strutting her stuff is the lovely Karen P of Stamping in pINK.

http://stampinginpink.blogspot.co.uk/

"This is a mini canvas - 5"x7".  I've made it as a gift for my husband as he loved it when it was finished so a little something from me to him! I used Marianne, Memory Box and Sissix dies plus a mini Tonic butterfly punch and different inks, paints, papers and card."

This is beautiful Karen, thank you for joining us on the bench this month and sharing your creativity.

Another member of the team will shedding their overalls to display their talents in a few days time so please pop back and see us soon.

Have a great weekend,

xxx

Winner and Top 3 plus….

Wow, our 'How does your garden grow?' challenge resulted in such fabulous entries it was hard to know where to start! THANK YOU ALL so much for sharing your beautiful projects with us! A BIG  THANK YOU too, to all our guest designers - the very arty Lin Brown (PaperArtsy) of Yours artfully), Alison (butterfly) of Words and Pictures, Laura of Laurart, Alison of Craftytrog's Inky Adventures and Jennie of Live the dream for supporting our challenge community and sharing their inspiration and creativity with us. 

This month we've decided that we are going to introduce something new - the 'DTM's Special Mention'. Each month the Design Team Member who has chosen the theme gets to choose the Top 3. We want to introduce this special mention for the entry we think has shown the best creative and original interpretation of the theme. The winner will get their own special blog button and will also be invited to guest as a designer for the following month's challenge. So, let's get to it! 

The winner (decided by random.org) is:

Congratulations to #79 - Julie Owens, your £20 shop voucher and winner's badge is on it's way! We hope you'll guest for us next month.

This month, the Top 3 have been chosen by Chris:

"I have to reiterate what my colleagues have expressed in previous months - it is so hard to choose! There have been so many beautiful entries it's difficult to know where to start. My thoughts on challenges is not how much you have but what you do with it. Therefore, I've based my decisions on how well I felt the project met the theme and on composition - the creativity with which the elements chosen had been brought together to convey the theme."

In numerical order:

	#23 - Asia King
	#30 - Lin
	#73 - Craftyfield

Congratulations to all three, your badges should be in your in-tray. We hope you'll join us as guests next month too. 

Chris’s DTM's Special Mention goes to:

#39 - Rosie x

"I've chosen Rosie's entry because it demonstrated the creative thought of doing something different. Starting with a photo', then using recent techniques and stitching, but adding parchment in an unusual way. I found this piece quite refreshing."

Congratulations Rosie, our first ever winner of the DTMSM award, your button should also be in your letterbox and we hope you'll step alongside us next month! 

Well done everyone and thanks again for taking part. xxx 

A second piece from Trace

As Trace has chosen this month's theme we've asked her to clean her inky pinkies (sorry, couldn't resist the pun on her blog name) and show us her second make of the month. How fab is this!!?

http://inkypinkycraft.blogspot.co.uk/

"Another die cut hanging board...but with a very different feel, soft and vintage for this one.I just love how die cuts can be made to look so very different every time . It is also amazing how they can all be combined together."

Wow, so many die cuts! We love this Trace, thank you!

We hope you're getting inspired and working on pieces to enter. Don't forget, the lucky winner received a £20 shop voucher!

xxx

Challenge #4 - June

Woweee, where did May go? We blinked and it was gone! Well challengers, the time has come for us to close one challenge and open another, so here we GO!

The challenge for June is a topic set by Trace which is (drum roll here please)...

DIE CUTS

Die cuts is the only requirement of the challenge so the interpretation is completely down to you. Look in your tool kits and get your imaginations going because we’re looking forward to seeing how creative you can be, what you've got and what you've made with them.

As usual, our fab Design Team Members have been working hard to come up with their own interpretations which we hope will help inspire you. Gabrielle will be taking a break this month and we wish her well soon but we see Jennie from Live the dream joining us as a f/t member of the DT – we’re sure you'll make her welcome.  

Don't forget that we also have our April winner, Sam, featuring alongside us today and our Top 3 Merit winners will be featuring all through the month too. We hope you like what we've created for you.

Sam – Feeling blue

“I was so thrilled to have won a £20 voucher and to be asked to be a part of the CVC’s DT as I shop there all the time which is the main reason I was so keen to support the new blog challenges. I used the negatives of the Postage Stamp Frame, Arch Frame Movers & Shapers and Mini Cabinet Card by Tim Holtz all cut from grey board.”

    

“I made a shadow box type back also from grey board as I wanted to give the piece some depth. The images are a mixture of PaperArtsy/Lynne Perrella Rubber Stamp sets LPC022, LPC023 and LPC005. The bottom left image is a Dina Wakley stamp – Grunge tree.”

http://sam21ski.blogspot.co.uk/

Trace – Steampunk hanging

http://inkypinkycraft.blogspot.co.uk/

“I love all things steampunk and so how could I resist cogs....and more cogs... I love how die cuts can be made to look so different depending on what they are cut from, how they are coloured and whether they are embossed...the world is your oyster..So here is my steampunk inspired die cut piece.”

Brenda – Childhood album

    

http://www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com/

“I am sure dies are part of every crafters tool kit and once upon a time I rarely used them but with so many new ones coming out, I keep buying more! This is a mini album created using the Tim Holtz Vintage Cabinet Card and the Mini Cabinet Card, used together to make frames. I love the Sizzix Bigz dies as they cut through so many materials, here I have used greyboard and card.”

Jennie – Sewing room hanging

http://www.jennie-livethedream.blogspot.co.uk/

“I love the fact that dies allow you to cut lots of layers all at once which is just perfect for creating this folded paper look which works so well with the Tim Holtz Sewing Room Dress Form.

My dies are always out on the desk and so I also used the TH Weathered Clock Die and a little Cuttlebug Heart Die.  The net leaves were cut from the TH Tattered Leaves Die and then zapped (quickly) with a heat gun to crinkle them up.”

Chris – Little birdhouse

http://www.mycornerofheaven.com/

"I wanted to create something that used different sized die cuts from the BigShot Pro down to the standard BigShot or Cuttlebug and this is what I came up with. I've even included the grass strip die using the SideKick. With the exception of the 4 tiny roses and the bird everything else was cut using dies. As a crafter who struggles with dexterity more often than not it's amazing what we can create with dies! You can see more pic's and what dies I used on my personal blog.”

Thanks to all our DTMs for these stunning projects, there’s plenty of inspiration in them. So, now it’s over to you! The Linkie is open and running, the clock is ticking and we’re dying to see how you’re going to meet the challenge. (Sorry about the pun, lol.)

Don’t forget the winner receives a £20 shop voucher and the chance to join us in August along with the Top 3 Merit award winners. We’ll be posting new projects for you to see every few days so please remember to come back and see us soon.

Good luck everyone!

Your Design Team xxx

Chris's second make

Last but not least we have Chris's second make, a beautiful garden clock...

"Florals are so very popular so I wanted to make something a little different for my second piece. If you look carefully around the edges of the clock you will see the peeled paint distressing which has been done using embossing powder. I've been used to using Viva's Inka-gold metallic pastes but Brenda introduced me to Paper Artsy's Treasure Gold - wow! This was my first time using them and I love them!"

A beautiful clock, thanks Chris.

We have just a few more days to go so please, if you want to enter, don't leave it too late.

Have a great week! xxx

Brenda's second make...

If you love making tags well, you're in for a big treat, because here is another beautiful tag from Brenda for her second make for this challenge...

"A tag using the gorgeous distress paints which have been used on the focal image and metal embellishments. This is a size 8 tag, but I love extending them  using backing card which creates greater possibilities in adding a sentiment and enlarging your overall design."

 A work of art Brenda, thank you!

There's still more to come, we'll be posting another make from Chris in a few days time so please make time to pop back and see it. xxx

Gabrielle's second make

Phew! Your gorgeous makes keep on coming, thank you! If you haven't entered a piece yet or are looking for ideas or creativity then why not have a look at Gabrielle's second make for some...

"I took the idea I had from my first project and decided to make a complimentary plaque so I could display them together. So I used the same stamps and PaperArtsy paints but added some Grunge Paste through a stencil to change the background a little. The two layered flowers were made by painting grungepaper with a little Butternut paint first before stamping the flowers with more white and blue paint. The sentiment was a little too long for my little plaque so I cut it so it says 'Secret Garden'."

Thanks Gabrielle, another beautiful piece of art to get us motivated!

Well, it's over to you now - if you haven't entered something yet time is marching on, we're two thirds the way through the challenge.

In a few days we'll be featuring Brenda's second piece so do be sure to come back and see us.

Have a great week! xxx

Another DT member - Jennie !!

Hi everyone,

We're having another fabulous month, thank you all soooooo much! It's with great pleasure that we announce a new arrival - Jennie of Live the Dream!

You've all seen the quality of Jennie's work from her guest DT piece so we're delighted that she will be joining us as a full time DT member from June 1st.

Welcome Jennie!

Your Design Team xxx

 

Alison's guest piece - 'Grow some love'

Yes, we promised you another make from our other 'Top 3 merit' badge winner, Alison (aka Craftytrog) and here it is...

"Here’s how my piece ‘Grow Some Love’ was made…

I took a piece of packaging, about 5 x 4 “, and glued on some pieces of torn music sheet. I then gave it a base coat of gesso. Next, I used Bombay Inks in blues & greens, to create a water colour background. I used my fingers to add some more gesso in places & around the edges, to tone down the colour.

I stamped the heart flowers from the Paperbag Studios Little Feet plate three times, onto my base. I stamped the large heart, the baby’s face, & a Chocolate Baroque flower onto some music sheet, then cut them out & glued them in place. I used a water brush & some teal Bombay ink to add some colour around the baby’s face.

I used alphabet stamps to create the words on some plain music paper, cut them out, edged them with black ink, then glued them in place.

I finished off my artwork, by punching two holes, adding some eyelets, & a piece of lace to hang it with."

Another wonderful make to get you thinking and making, thank you Alison!

We're now half way through our challenge month but if you thought that's it then think again for we have more great makes lined up for you to see - the challenge isn't over until the last second! In a few days time we'll have another post showing Gabrielle's second make.

Hope to see you soon, happy crafting! xxx

A second piece from Trace

Here is Trace's second DT piece for this challenge and what a beaut it is!

"Still in my foil flower filled garden , I created a card to show how one flower and an embossed background can make an effective and simple card."

Such a beautiful card! Wow Trace, what a winner, thank you! Even if you're not into card making this piece cannot fail to inspire. Why not join us in our challenge this month? You too could be a winner!

Another piece will be posted in a few days, this time from another third 'Top 3' merit badge winner, Alison (Craftytrog).

Enjoy your crafting everyone. xxx

Laura's guest piece

Laura of 'Laurart' is the second 'Top 3' merit badge winner from March. We are delighted that she said "Yes" when we asked her to do a guest piece for us and here it is...

"The title of this challenge led me to the nursery rhyme and I really wanted to incorporate elements from it - silver bells and cockleshells and pretty maids. A paper maché hanging of three circle frames provided the perfect way to place the pretty maids all in a row....Pastel music paper was chosen as a background, and I selected some vintage style images of ladies. Antique Linen Distress Paint covered the frames  - sadly the stamped Bundled Sage Distress paint doesn't show up well here in the photos taken in bright sunlight. The silver bells - made with cut out card covered in pewter crackle paint, and 'cockleshells' were an essential element. Keeping the colour scheme delicate, a pale peach rose and die cut flowers covered with Tattered Rose Distress stain were added. And that is how my garden grew!!!"

 Another fabulous make to get your creative juices flowing, thank you Laura, this is beautiful!

We will be featuring another new piece in a few days so do pop back and see all the other delights we have in store for you. xxx

Winner & Top 3 Merit awards for our April challenge

There was such a fabulous response to our April 'Butterflies' challenge we must say a HUGE THANK YOU once again to all the entrants and also to all our followers that comment and support us but don't necessarily enter.

Winner

The lucky winner of the £20 shop voucher is #38 - sam21ski - Congratulations Sam! An email and winner's badge should be waiting for you in your mailbox.

Top 3 Merits

Our Top 3 Merit awards have been chosen by Gabrielle:

"Ok! I have been through all of the entrants and it was really, really tough! I had to cut a 'shortlist' of 20+ down - it was really difficult!

134 - Paper Profusion - I loved the butterfly corsets, the detail and the whole sense of movement! Fabulous!

29 - Laurart - I loved the collage and the fabulous array of colours! There was so much to look at the even looking three times I still saw more! Loved it!

2 - Karen P - I loved the multi-coloured background and a great use of the technique. I also liked how the butterfly flies across the card!"

Congratulations to our Top 3 as well! You should have emails and badges in your in-trays too.

For all other entrants, thank you for stepping up for the challenge and sharing your work with us, giving us all such inspiration!

Your Design Team xxx

A DT piece from Jennie

Jennie of 'Live the Dream' was one of our March 'Top 3' merit badge winners and what a worthy winner she was. This is the piece she has done especially for her guest DT debut for us.

"I made a shadow box from recycled packaging and decorated it with some of my handmade flowers and muslin leaves.  I added more texture with some scrim and twine.  I love the Tim Holtz Wrinkle Free Distress technique and this made a great watery background for the white embossed corn.  I wish my garden grew like this!"

 This is fabulous Jennie, thank you!

Hopefully this piece will inspire some of you to make your own piece and enter the challenge but do call back in a few days to see another guest piece from Laura.

Have fun. xxx