Here comes Sue The Iron!

Yes, Sue The Iron, one of our July T3 winner's is off the sub's bench and onto the playing field! Here is her guest piece...

http://suetheiron.blogspot.co.uk/

"I made this using a small canvas board and the Tim Holtz Postage Stamp die cut from mountboard. The canvas has been painted with Tim's Distress Paints and a brick stencil. The stamps are by Sam Poole's Art Houses and the sentiments have been embossed with white embossing powder. The frame has been randomly stamped with another of Sam's stamps and has also been embossed in white for a nice shabby feel. The houses themselves have been stamped on black and white card, embossed and painted with Perfect Pearls, with a few bits and bobs from my stash to finish off."

This is beautiful Sue, what a fab make! Thank you!

We're almost at the half way marker for this month and we'd like to see more of your makes. Please remember that there is no limit on the number of entries you can make so please keep them coming. The winner gets a £20 shop voucher!

Another great project in a few days... xxx

Trace's second make

Now it's Trace's turn for her second DT piece and what a fab make it is!

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

"For this piece I played with distress stains and lots of yummy die cut layers , as well as texture paste and distress embossing powder mixed with the new distress glitter to create this layered steampunk piece. I love the flexibility within the Distress colours to combine stains, Distress paints and inks with embossing powders and all work so well together to create layers of interest."

This is gorgeous Trace and a great demonstration of how our paints and inks are layers in themselves.

There will be another T3 post in a few days so do please pop back and see. xxx

Jennie's second project

Our lovely, talented Jennie has given us this beautiful make as her second DT project for this month...

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

"I just love these gorgeously subtle vintage papers from Pion Design and they are absolutely fantastic for layering.  I've kept my card quite simple and added some muslin and scrim and altered some white Prima flowers with Distress Inks to create a focal point.  We have two family members expecting babies in September, so hopefully one will be a boy!"

 This is beautiful Jennie, so delicate and elegant, thank you!

It never ceases to amaze us how different interpretations can be so come on, let's see what else you have tucked away in the deep recesses of your crafty imaginations please, lol!

More in a few days. xxx

August’s winners!

Time to announce the winners of last month’s challenge #6 – Quotes & sayings.

The winner, as chosen by random.org is #27 which is…

Rocky of Rocky’s Crafting Blog Well done Rocky! An email with your winner’s badge, GDT offer and a shop voucher are on their way!

The Top 3 have been chosen by Chris this month and emails with T3 award badges and offers of a GDT spot are on the way to the following:

	#10 – Linda of Sticky with glitter Well done Linda!
	#34 – Sue of Stamping Sue Style Congrat’s to you too Sue!
	#63 – Debbie of Daqa doodles Well done Debbie!

And lastly, our DTMSM merit award (DT Members’ Special Mention) goes to:

#50 – Manu of Vintagesavonette Congratulations Manu, I love your idea of a ‘Poem in a box’ and making it a cabinet of nature – fabulous!

Thank you ALL for your beautiful entries, we wish we could honour you all. 

Good luck for future challenges! xxx

Mian's guest project

You know we're off and running when you see the first post from one of our talented winners. Our first this month is Mian, one of our Top 3 merit award winners from July...

http://mianspysselhorna.blogspot.se  

"Hello crafters! My name is Mian (from Sweden) and today I have the honor to be a Guest Designer at Country View Crafts. I was very surprised to be chosen as a Top 3 Merit Award Winner, I’m so happy and honored for this. Thank you so much.

When I heard the theme of this challenge was “Layers” I knew right away that I wanted to make something a little more special then a card. So, I decided to alter this matchbox and I think these are just perfect as Christmas gifts!"

This is beautiful Mian and such a clever idea, thank you!

We hope this piece gives you some additional ideas, we can't wait to see what you're all coming up with. Another fab project will be posted in a few days time but until then 'Happy crafting'. xxx

Challenge 7 for September

It's hello September and hello to all you lovely crafters !!

Another month has flown by and we’re here again at the beginning of another fabulous challenge. This month Brenda has chosen the theme and it’s….

‘LAYERS’

Layer your colours, your textures, your media, whatever it is that takes your fancy – we want to see what interpretations YOU come up with.

As usual, our fab Design Team have come up with a stunning array of projects all in their own style to start you off. This month we have a great treat for you - a special guest appearance from the fabulous Kate Crane of http://thekathrynwheel.blogspot.co.uk/ who I know a lot of you will be followers of. She has donated an awesome piece (below) - THANK YOU KATE!!

We always start the month with a winner and this month it’s Jan Morris, our challenge winner from July…

Jan Morris – July winner & Guest DTM

www.janmorrisart.wordpress.com

“Checking through my emails on my return from holiday I was delighted to find I was the winner of the July Challenge and the bonus of the chance to be a guest designer for Country View Challenges was exciting. The theme for the September Challenge is ‘Layers’ which leads nicely into my latest passion for mixed media art.

I started with a base of 2mm grey board, which I covered with some Bo Bunny paper, then highlighted the edges with treasure gold. My next layer was cream card, which I sprayed with tonal inks. I used a branches mask and harlequin mask and applied texture paste, which I coloured when dry. I also used a chicken wire mask and dabbed through with distress ink in a few areas. I then applied distress ink around the edges of the card, highlighting areas with treasure gold.

I placed cream lace and some blue ribbon across the card and adhered all this to the base. I die-cut a birdcage and frame which I sanded down, then applied black Stazon ink and frantaged both die-cuts.  I then die-cut a bird out of some coloured paper and positioned him in the cage. Next I stamped an image of Elizabeth Bennett, which I coloured with chalks, die-cut to match the size of the frame and then sprayed with ‘spray and shine’ twice to give a glossy finish.  I then placed the top frame over the image with silicone glue to give a raised effect.

Finally, both the birdcage and image were mounted on to the base and then I added some flowers and leaves around the cage. I added flower embellishments from my stash next to the image, a butterfly in a frantaged circle and some metal embellishments to finish.”

Kate - Special Guest for September

http://thekathrynwheel.blogspot.co.uk/

"I took lots of photos to demonstrate all of the layers and will blog these with my post, which you will be able to see here: 

http://thekathrynwheel.blogspot.co.uk/

I interpreted the challenge as multiple layers of inks, paints, stencils, stamps, and stitching, using some of the new images by Dylusions."

Brenda – Permanent DTM

www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com

“Having chosen the theme for this month it took me a while to decide what I was going to do. I have seen lots of pop-up cards over the last year and I know there are dies you can buy to help you make them but I thought I would create my layers by creating my own one. Lots of vintage images from the Tim Holtz Industrial French paper stash and a bit of drawing and cutting and I was there.”

Chris – Permanent DT & Admin

www.mycornerofheaven.com

“This is a fab challenge for me because I love layering things up. Tableaus and wall hangings are my favourite project so it was a no-brainer to choose. A mixture of painting, punching, die cutting, flower making, stencilling and stamping it’s a layer of techniques as well as components.”

Gabrielle – Permanent DTM

www.gabrielle-price.blogspot.co.uk

“The lovely thing about having a journal is that you can use a page to 'mop' up leftover spray ink and paint on the surface of your masks and stencils. This background was completely made from layers and layers of inks and paints from other projects. When it was finished I added the outlines of the girls and numbers and a sentiment from Tim Holtz. I hope you might feel like keeping your leftover inks and paints on a page in your journal, or scrap of card - it's a really inexpensive way to make backgrounds!”

Jennie – Permanent DTM

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

“I love using lots of layers in my scrapbook pages and this one in particular uses up a lot of scraps and some larger pieces some of which I had used for punched shapes.  By using a background page which was beautifully overprinted, and some strategic layering (covering up the holes), I was able to make this layout very quickly.  More details, including how I made the flower, are on my blog.”

Trace – Permanent DTM

www.inkypinkycraft.blogspot.co.uk

“I love creating layers whether with paint and inks or adding layers of texture. I love layering with stamping too, building up soft layers to create an overall effect. This piece started life as a flat piece of mountboard and lots of die cuts, inks, Distress paints and stamping created the finished piece. Oh and this fab new Chemist stamp!”

Thank you ladies for your awesome creations!!

There we are, lots of fab makes and oodles of inspiration to get you started. We hope you like the theme and will enjoy making a project to enter. The (random) winner receives a £20 shop voucher from our host, Country View Crafts and the opportunity to join the DT as a guest the month following the winners post. (This month’s winner will be announced in October and invited to join us for November’s theme.)  As well as an outright winner we also have 3 Top 3 merit awards nominated by our DT and a DTMSM award (DT Members’ Special Mention) all of whom get the opportunity to guest and have their project highlighted in an individual post.

Let’s get to it… Good luck!!

Your Design Team xxx

Last but not least...

...another make from Trace who has donated a third project this month and what a beauty it is!

"For this piece I decided to let the quote ( from Tim Holtz set ) take centre stage and created a layered hanging piece in soft colours. I created layers stamping onto the painted background as well as on tissue and lots of texture from grunge paste, through stencils, with treasure gold brushed over."

This is beautiful Trace, thanks for helping us end the month with a fanfare!

There are still 4 days remaining to get your projects finished and entered so please do join in and show us what you've been making. Don't forget, the winner receives a £20 shop voucher to spend and all our winners have the opportunity to join us the following month as a guest to design a project.

Good luck everyone! xxx

A second make from Chris

We're entering the last week of this challenge but there's still plenty of time to enter. If you're looking for yet more inspiration then see if this hanging from Chris helps...

www.mycornerofheaven.com

"This quotation by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry is one of my all-time favourites. The message is so powerful I thought it would be nice to make it into a hanging, for a lounge or bedroom wall perhaps? You can see more detailed photo's on my blog."

This looks beautiful Chris, thank you!

Believe it or not we still have another DT piece to show you in a few days time so do pop back and see it.  xxx

Gabrielle's second DT piece

We're now ¾ of the way through the challenge and what better could we show you than this fabulous, zingy set of journal pages from Gabrielle!

www.gabrielle-price.blogspot.co.uk

"For my second piece this month I used a quotation from Loretta Young. I used Dylusions Bubblegum Pink and Funky Fuchsia inks for the background and then, when dry, through a stencil. The people are also from the Dylusions range and the focus lady was 'bleached' out using a water brush filled with water. The stamps are Dylusions stamps and the arrow is from the mover and shapers range. The quotation is stamped using individual alphabet stamps - took ages one handed!!! I'd love to see how you're interpreting our theme this month so if you haven't entered yet please do!"

 These are fab Gabrielle, very eclectic - thank you!

We have just over a week left so please let us have your outstanding projects, we'd love to see more. There are still some more DT makes to show you so please don't think it's all over - far from it, we love to see our challenges going right up to the line.

More soon.  xxx

Trace's 2nd DT piece

How lovely to see all your makes and what you're doing with the challenge. Today we're featuring another project from Trace, this beautiful tag book...

"For my second make , I realised that there were so many wonderful quotations, that I love that I decided to make a mini tag book of my favourite quotes from some of my Tim Holtz stamps. I created a tag book using yummy distress paints and inks and lots of stamping before adding my quotes and securing with hitch fasteners, I will be able to add more as time goes on.

One of the pages inside, which I left quite plain to show off the quotes.

 

www.inkypinkycraft.blogspot.co.uk

This is a great tag book Trace and demonstrates how well we can put those quotes and sayings stamps to good use - thank you! 

We're seeing some beautiful projects being entered but we're only jut over half way through the challenge so please let's see more of what your creative thought processes are coming up with!

Another project in a few days. xxx

Here comes Astrid...

Astrid was our DTMSM (Design Team Member’s Special Mention) in June and we think you will see why when you see this stunning project she is featuring for us this month as one of our Guest Designers.

"When I was invited to be guest designer at the Country View Crafts Challenge site I was delighted, especially when I found out that the theme was Quotes and Sayings, as I love adding these to my projects. I decided to make a little 5” x 7” mixed media canvas; - making these is another firm favourite.

I started by adding some texture through a couple of masks and when dry added some strips of Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap and tiny scraps of leftover Scrapbook paper to the canvas with gel medium.

Next I added some Antique Linen and Weathered Wood Distress Paint using a brush rather than the applicator and spritzed with water to blend the two colours. I then added some Golden Fluid Acrylic paint in Paine’s Grey. I find the Golden Fluid Acrylics mix perfectly with the Distress paints as they are of a similar fluid consistency. I also added the eye stamp from the Tim Holtz Classic Favourites set, stamped on tissue paper with Jet Black Archival ink.

It needed something to frame it a bit so I inked around the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. I then decided it was all a bit too dark and yellow, so out came the Dylusions White Linen Spray to tone it all down a bit. As I did not want the eye to disappear I covered that with a damp baby wipe first.

When I was happy with my background, the fun of embellishing it could begin. I added some flowers, chipboard and a scrap of cheesecloth, adhering it with more gel medium. When dry, (keeping the eye carefully covered) I used various sprays and mists over my embellishment cluster and finally added some highlights with Treasure Gold in White Fire, both on the embellishment cluster and around the edges of the canvas.

Finally I stamped the Tim Holtz sentiment from his Way with Words set on to a scrap of one of his paper stashes that I had first toned down with some watered down Gesso. I stamped it in Black Archival and then embossed it with clear embossing powder to make it stand out a bit more. I cut and tore the lines into strips, added them to the canvas and then shaded around the edges with charcoal pencil for a bit more depth and that was it.

I would like to thank Country View Crafts for allowing me this guest design spot and hope you liked my project."

www.astridsartisticefforts.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you Astrid, your project is beautiful and such an inspirational make too!

If you haven’t entered yet we hope this will get your mojo into gear because we’d love to see what quotation or saying you like and what it conjures up in your crafting.

Another make soon. xxx

Jennie's second DT piece

August is flying by and we're already half way through our challenge. Today we have a beautiful make from Jennie, one of our F/T DTMs...

www.jennie-livethedream.blogspot.co.uk

"For my second project this month I have made a small (6" x 4") "meandering" Quotations mini book from a single sheet of 12 x 12 card stock creating some flap up pages and two pockets with tags.  I have decorated it with the lovely Graphic45 Edwardian Lady papers and the rest of the quotations from the Graphic45 Quotations Sheet.

There are more photographs on my blog of how I made the mini-book and all the individual pages." 

This an awesome mini book Jennie - thank you!

If this or any of our other DT projects have inspired you please let us know - better still, why not make your own and enter? We'll be posting another project in a few days, until then, have fun! xxx

Helen has joined us...

Yes, today we have a project from another of our June Top 3 awards - this beautiful (and very clever) card from Helen...

www.diningroomdrawers.blogspot.co.uk

"When I was thinking about the month's theme of 'Quotations and Sayings', this one from Tim Holtz's 'Way With Words' stamp set stood out to me. Over the past several months, we have been adapting to my daughter being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, as well as a couple of other challenges, and I really believe that everything in life truly doesn't need to be perfect in order for it to be happy!

I've loved Sizzix for several years, and have a hearty collection of dies! In particular I enjoy working with those by Karen Burniston. For this card I used her Accordion Album, and accompanying Label and Frame dies. The papers are from Tim Holtz and Cosmo Cricket. (More details are on my blog.) I wanted the card to have a gentle and pretty feel about it."

We don't think anyone could fail to be impressed by this card - fabulous! Thank you Helen!

Our design team members and guests work very hard to bring us their projects so please do share some love and visit their blogs too - you'll find LOADS of fab projects to fire your imagination.

More in a few days folks.  xxx