Jennie’s second DT piece

 Wow! We're bowled over by the beautiful projects you've entered. There's still loads of time for you to enter so please let's see more.

To keep you going here is another beautiful project from Jennie...

 

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

“As much as I love living near the sea I also miss the wonderful walks we used to have alongside cornfields with poppies and daisies.  So for my second tag this month I have created a similar mixed media background but this time used green and yellow mists made from Distress Ink Re-inkers.The poppies and buds were made from the Tattered Floral Die and sprayed with Poppy Red Glimmer Mist.  They have also picked up some black spray which was in my spray box which was a very happy accident!” 

Simply beautiful Jennie, thank you!

 

We hope you're liking all these projects as much as we've loved creating them. Have a great weekend. xxx

Another beauty from Trace

Yes, today it's Trace's turn again and here is her second project for this month and what a beauty it is!

www.inkypinkycraft.blogspot.co.uk

"For this piece, I combined my love of the beautiful blues of summer, from the turquoises of the rolling ocean waves to the skies above and also the gorgeous orangey reds of poppies heads bobbing in the summer sun..using yummy grunge paste, treasure gold, vibrant Dylusions and Tim's wonderful tattered floral die."

 Blooming gorgeous Trace, thank you!

Have we tempted you into entering yet? You have another couple of weeks to put a project together and enter.

Another make in a few days time...   xxx

Lin’s guest appearance

Time for another piece from one of our guest DTMs. This time it's the turn of...

Lin - Top 3 Winner, May

www.artfromherts.blogspot.co.uk

“I was very surprised to be chosen as a top 3 merit winner so thank you. When I saw the challenge was *Sizzling Summer* I sat down with a cuppa and thought what does sizzling summer bring to mind? Well it takes me back to when I was a little girl when summers were long hot sunny days down in Cornwall or Camber Sands with my parents and sisters...lovely memories.  So I took a 4"x4" canvas and painted in a beach. I used a stampin up stamp..(I think it is from a retired set) and stamped the girl on crackly tissue paper. I painted it from the back finishing it with snowflake frescos to make the colours pop. I stuck it onto the canvas using matt medium and touched up the edges so they disappeared into the canvas. I put the canvas into a 6"x 6" wooden box frame which had been distressed. I added a Tim Holt word band with string and some shells, reindeer moss and netting to the bottom and a starfish on the top of the frame. I lightly brushed some walnut stain ink around the edge to finish it off.”

 Thank you Lin for his beautiful canvas, so inspiring.

Keep the entries coming please, they're fabulous! We'll be posting another project (from Trace) in a few days. xxx

Brenda's second project

The heat's been turned up, there are lots of lovely projects being entered and it promises to be a sizzler of a month in more ways than one. We're seeing wonderful representations of the theme again his month, so creative. Some of the colour palettes being used are fabulous and here's one from Brenda which is definitely a sizzler!

www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com

"I have gone with ‘hot 'colours and a warm summer theme. Bees  humming in the garden collecting the pollen couldn't be any more summery to me."

Wow! Very hot colours and a stunning tag Brenda, thank you!

Please keep your entries coming, we love seeing what you create, how and why you've done it and all the creativity you've put into it.

Have fun folks and remember your sun block! xxx

Craftyfield’s Guest appearance

Thank you for all the beautiful entries, please keep them coming. Now we feature the first of our Top 3 winners' projects...

Craftyfield - A Top 3 Winner - May

“When I read the theme of the July challenge, I dreamed of the beach, searing hot sun on the skin… I was already there and I wanted my project to take you there too! Hope I have succeeded.”

http://www.craftyfield.blogspot.co.uk/

“I used a brayer and inks for the background, adding texture and sparkle. The hammock was inked with a combination of inkpad and markers, then masked, before the background was brayered. Rather than adding lots of embellishments I decided to keep it simple, and only added a frame effect for interest and posts to anchor my hammock. You can find more details on how I made this card on my blog.”

Great to see a second example of brayering in this project. A fab, fun card Craftyfield, thank you!

Another project will be posted in a few days. xxx

 

Winners of June’s Die cut challenge…

Wow! What a huge number of entries we had, thank you each and every one of you who took the time to enter projects. The winners are as follows…

 

The winner of the shop voucher is #111, Wendy L of the blog ‘Spanish Crafter’ - well done Wendy!! Wendy entered her gorgeous Golden Wedding card.

The Top 3 this month have been chosen by Trace...

 "Well choosing the top 3 and special mention has been a really tough job as there have been so many wonderful and creative makes...it really has been hard and I had a very long short list to make shorter! So in the end I chose pieces which I felt embraced the challenge and used the die cuts to enhance and complete the overall design and composition. Thanks so much to everyone who played along and supported our challenge." Trace

 In numerical order…

	A Top 3 award goes to #3, Debbie R of ‘Scraps from A Broad’ with this beautiful bag.
	A Top 3 award goes to #211, Inger of ‘Ingers kortpyslerier’ who made this fabulous card.
	A Top 3 award goes to #213, Helen of ‘The Dining Room Drawers’ with this beautifully creative little tea-light holder.

And our DTM’s Special Mention this month, also chosen by Trace…

"For the Special mention, I chose this piece because really to me it celebrated die cuts and used them in such a wonderful vintage feel piece that I just felt was wonderful overall in terms of colour, design and composition. Just a delicate mix of composition colour and die cuts." Trace

#287, Astrid of ‘Astrid’s Artistic Efforts’ with this imaginative ‘inspiration board’.

A huge ‘well done’ to all of you, there were a record number of entries this month and the competition was fierce!

Have a great weekend and we hope to see your projects as entries in this month’s challenge. xxx

Rosie x–Our DTM’s Special Mention

 Happy Birthday America and happy Independence Day to our American followers, have a wonderful day!

In May we introduced the ‘DTMSM’ award – the Design Team member’s special mention. This is awarded by whichever DTM has chosen the topic for the month to the entry which they think has shown the most creativity and originality in their project. The winner of this award also has the opportunity to guest with us...

Rosie x - DTM's Special Mention Winner, May

 

http://www.craftingatsg.blogspot.co.uk/

“I have chosen to make a Suitcase Full of Blooms, as my initial thought at the challenge title made me think of summer holidays.  Then I thought of our own English summer and decided that even if the weather wasn't sizzling here, the colour of the flowers in my garden would be.”

What a stunning array of flowers Rosie and a fabulous idea! Thank you for guesting for us this month and sharing such a beautiful project with us!

Another inspirational piece will be posted in a few days. Have fun! xxx

 

It’s a ‘Summer Sizzler’ for #5 !

Woweeee! Thank you so much for all your support in June, what an absolutely stunning amount of entries! So many of these are worthy of mention – all I can say is if you haven’t taken a look then please do, there are some fabulous and original ideas amongst them. Trace is busy going through all the entries to choose the Top 3 and the DTM’s Special Mention so they will be announced shortly.

Our topic for this month is ‘Summer Sizzler’. It’s up to you how you interpret that, whether it’s by colour, pictorially, by a memory, a photograph, whatever it inspires you to create BUT it must be related to summer in some way. 

PLEASE make sure you adhere to the rules of the challenge when you enter (see the sidebar for an overview and the ‘Rules’ page for the full rundown). The winner receives a £20 shop voucher donated by our host, Country View Crafts together with a guest DT spot. The Top 3 also get guest DT spots as does our DTM’s special mention which is given for the entry showing the most creativity and originality.

As usual, our fab Design Team have made some beautiful items to get your mojo up and running. We’re still missing Gabrielle from the bench and wish her well, hope you mend soon Gabrielle! We start off featuring our winner from May – Julie Owens...

Julie Owens - May's Winner

http://bluebell-woodcrafts.blogspot.co.uk

"I was very pleased to win the last challenge, but was a bit nervous when it came to deciding what to create for my project as the design team projects are always so good.  I love all flowers, and for me Summer Sizzler means bright colours so I decided to use the Claritystamp Gerberas in tooty fruity shades.  I've been practicing with my brayer just lately so did a landscape scene and placed the gerberas in the foreground.  I wasn't sure whether to make my scene landscape or portrait, so did one of each so I could choose afterwards, I decided on the portrait version and made it into an easel card.  I hope you like it!"

Chris

http://www.mycornerofheaven.com

"Some of you will know that I struggle a little health wise and so when I can craft I do, but I like to raise money for charity too. I’m trying to make my DT pieces into something someone might like to give. The colours, and flowers are so bright and summery and the sentiment so apt. I hope it will bring a smile to someone's lips and will be donated to fund-raising for our local animal rescue."

Jennie

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

“Well "sizzling" and "summer" are not two words you put together when living this far North!  But when the sun shines in Shetland you can't beat the blues of the sea and the white sandy beaches.  So my mixed media tag tries to evoke these wonderful summer colours.

I have used scrim, net and muslin to create the texture on the tag and after covering it all with gesso used a selection of sprays and finally stamped images on tissue paper. All the details of how I made the background are on my blog.”

Trace

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

“Well I have ventured in to the world of hot colours for my first Summer Sizzler make, using all the things I love, stamps, rusty wire,dies and some rather scary colours for me...but I wanted to capture that summer sizzle..even if we haven't seen much of that here in the U.K.”

Brenda

http://www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com/

“Hot summers seem to be those times that existed back in my childhood, these days a summer sizzler day takes me off to Lanzarote in August when it gets soooo hot. So I used the colours that remind me of the dry volcanic island, oranges that merge into a hot pink and sky blue. I used JoFY stamps and distress inks to create these rather dry looking plants.”

Okay folks, it’s over to you. Don’t forget, we post new DT pieces every few days so please come back and visit SOON!

Good luck everyone!

Your Design Team xxx

We’re running to the finish line…

Yes, we’re into the last length and running towards the finishing line! Here’s our last project post for this challenge month and it’s a lovely card from Chris.

www.mycornerofheaven.com

"The new Sizzix Flora Grande flower dies are beautiful! Designed by Prima (famous for their paper flowers) they're big and bold so I guess they're aptly named. I used Flora and their new Classique scroll as the basis for this card."

Another fab’ project Chris, thanks!

If you haven’t yet entered your make then you have a few days left to complete it and link it up. The winner gets a £20 shop voucher from our host, Country View Crafts and as everything is P&P free it really is good value! 

See you soon with the next challenge. Enjoy the rest of the month. xxx

Laura’s Wedgwood inspiration

Laura is the third of our Top 3 Merit award winners and this is the second month running she’s achieved it, well done Laura! Yet again she has given us a beautiful, beautiful project.

 

 http://www.laurabomber.blogspot.co.uk/

" I am so happy to be here as a guest designer again! When I was told that the challenge was to be about die cuts I decided to make a frame  - It was made with balsa wood and I used some die cut frames as a template. I had made a few hanging frames recently and wanted a slightly different style. Well if I am making one, why not make three?! So in the end I made a triptych. I decided to make something inspired by the gorgeous Wedgwood pottery. So that is how the creation began...trying to get the die cut flowers and leaves to look like they were part of a porcelain frame.  I added in various other trinkets, pins, buttons and metal charms and covered them with pale blue paint, followed by dry brushing layers of dark brown and white paint until I got the effect I wanted - This is such a fun technique to do and the effects are wonderful"

Thank you Laura, so creative!

We still have over a week to go, there’s plenty of time to submit your entry or, if you’ve entered already, to enter another. Remember, you can enter as many times as you like provided your entry is your own work. We will be featuring Brenda’s second project in a few days so do stop by and take a look.

Have a great weekend. xxx

A box from Chris

We’re not even 3/4 of the way through the challenge yet and we have so many beautiful and creative entries – thank you! For those of you who’ve been sitting on the sidelines wondering whether to join in or not let’s see whether this box from Chris helps.

www.mycornerofheaven.com

 "I was going through my dies and came across this beautiful bird cage and I'm ashamed to say I've had it well over a year and barely used it! I've also recently bought some of the new Tattered Lace dies too which are as yet unused. This is what I came up with."

Thanks Chris, a beautiful box! (Just in case there's any confusion, Chris has gone .com and renamed her blog but you should still be able to get there using the old blogspot address too.)

Hopefully this will provoke a few more thoughts for projects you can enter. We like to keep showing you makes all through the month because the challenge isn’t over ‘til the very last second! Don’t forget to pop back in a few days for the next project post which is from the lovely Laura of Laurart.

We hope you’re enjoying your week! xxx

Up next is Nicola!

The second of our April’s Top 3 to join us is Nicola, aka Paper Profusion with this outstanding butterfly box…

    

    

http://paperprofusion.blogspot.ie/

“I had a butterfly shaped box that needed some redecoration. To meet the 'Die Cuts' theme I've used dies in a few different ways. The most obvious of course are the butterflies cut using every butterfly die and punch that I possess. Two 'on the edge' dies are used to form a rim around part of the box (with grungeboard in between the paper layers). The raised centre panel is texture paste applied through a die cut. Prior to first gesso coat I placed grungeboard die cuts onto the lid for raised texture. Some border dies feature too.

Lots of buffing with distress inks, gilding paste, glass glitter, crackle, frantage, stamping and heat embossing. Finally added pearls and other bits and bobs to make those wings pretty!”

If this doesn’t convince us how well we’re investing every time we buy a die then I don’t know what will. (Hey, let’s face it, there are few of us that need an excuse, lol.) 

Are you still wanting more? We hope so because we’re just half way through and there’s lots more to come yet!

See you soon. xxx

Jennie’s second project

We’re not even half way yet and you’re certainly buzzing!

Today we’re treating you to Jennie’s second project for this month and the first card – what a stunner it is!

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

“For my second piece I have made a layered card using some of my favourite flower and leaf dies, along with dies for the doily, flourishes and sentiment.  I really don't think I could craft without my dies!”

Thanks Jennie, a fabulous card! If you haven’t yet visited Jennie’s blog and seen her great flower tutorials then you’re really missing out. Please do go and have a look, you’ll never have to buy a flower again!

Remember folks, you can enter as many projects as you like as long as they’re your work. Every entry is another chance to win!

More in a few days. xxx