Astrid's fluttering to the end of the month...

Greetings everyone,

This is our last post for March and what a project!  Astrid is here sharing a beautifully creative card with us all...

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The background to this card was made using Tim Holtz Distress Sprays and the so called salt technique. If you want to see how to do that and see some more detail, please hop over to my blog.

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This is gorgeous Astrid, amazing artwork and so very imaginative - thank you!

Well, now we're done and it really is over to you.  If you'd like to enter then you have until 23:50 // 11:50 pm on March 31st to enter.  Our winners will be announced towards the middle of April so remember to keep a watchful eye for the announcement.

Have a great day and thanks for making March such a pleasure!  >:o)

Chris and the team xxx

Feeling blessed!

Good morning folks!

It's Friday, yay!  I'm looking forward to the weekend and, hopefully, getting some crafting done at some point.  Although we're approaching the end of the month there's still time to get creating and enter our challenge.  Here is my final DT make for March...

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I'm tending to do more and more altered art and home decor projects and less cards these days and absolutely loving it!  My favourite media at the moment is Tim's Distress spray stains and Gesso - these are what I've used on this canvas.

If you'd like to see the details of how this was done then you'll find a step x step post on my blog.

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Astrid will be here on Sunday with our very last post - please don't miss it!

We hope that you'll take the opportunity of the weekend to get something made and entered - you could be our lucky winner of the £20 voucher!

Have a great Saturday and Sunday!

Chris and the team xxx

January's winners

Good evening all!

Sincere apologies to you all, I seemed to have had a complete mental aberration and failed to publish our January winners! (Friends told me my age would catch up to my memory and it has - arrgghhh!)  A big thank you goes to Gail for pointing it out!   Here, late but just as worthy, are our January winners...

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WINNER (Chosen by random.org) of the £20 Country View Crafts shop voucher is...

#85 - Margik of margikscrap

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Our TOP 3 (chosen by Brenda) are...

#85 - Margik of margikscrap

(Congratulations Margik, this is only the second time that a randomly chosen winner has also been one of our Top 3 - well done!!  >:o)  )

Brenda said: "This layout drew me in with the repetitive use of one image. It is cleverly designed with lots of fabulous elements and layers."

#94 - Linda of Life in the Craft Lane

Brenda said: " I love the finished effects that Linda has achieved with her altered journal cover and that she tried a new technique to her."

#158 - Samantha of Craft Room Delights

Brenda said: "Samantha has created a fabulous 3D project using a new die. I love the whole shabby chic appeal to this bird cage."

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Our DTMSM (DT Member's Special Mention) is...

#138 - Ingrid of Ingrid's Crafts Corner

Brenda said: "This is a very beautiful shabby card with lots of textures and layers. The glitter and crackle are gorgeous additions and I love the monochromatic look."

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Well done to all of our winners, emails with badges and invites are on the way to you all!

Have a great week,

Chris and the team xxx

It's a master board from Sue D...

Good morning all,

Something a little different this morning and with somewhat of a tease from our talented Sue D...

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For my second piece this month I've made a master board.

If you head over to my blog here you'll be able to see what I've made with it x

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Ooooooh, there's lots of love in this board Sue, it's beautiful, thank you!  Do be sure to head over to Sue's blog to see what she's made with this.

On Friday we will be announcing our BLOG CANDY winner so if you haven't already left a comment on our initial post, click here and leave one to be in with a chance!

Our next project will be the last for the month and it will be featuring our talented Astrid, on the 29th - cya then!  >:o)

Take care all,

Chris and the team xxx

Sue B's friend is a little cherub!

Happy Monday everyone!

We told you that Sue B would be here this morning to chase away those Monday morning blues and we're not failing in that promise.  Sue's card is gorgeous!...

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A mixed media card using numbers and letters on the background.

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Oh Sue!  Fabulous colours, wonderful texturing, a great design and all on this lovely card for your friend, it's beautiful - thank you!

We're on the downward slope now to the end of the month and the end of the challenge but we still have more to show you.  Sue D will be here on Wednesday with her second make - another beauty!

See you soon, have a great day.  >:o)

Chris and the team xxx

Nikki's dreaming of love...?

Hello there!

It's Saturday, we're ¾ of the way through the month already and here to provide us with some motivation and inspiration is our Nikki with her 2nd project for the month...

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A lot of this card is made from leftovers from a scrapbook page I did. I have combined Paper Artsy chalk paints and Distress Inks including the lovely Cracked Pistachio. Do pay a visit to Addicted to Art to see more details.

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A fabulous card Nikki, great colours, a fab design and a lovely shabby feel to it - thank you!

Have you been making something that you'd like to share with us and our followers?  If you do, why not link up and join in, it's not difficult.  >:o)  Our theme this month means that you can ALL join in, lol!

Sue B will be here on Monday to chase away that Monday morning feeling and, oh boy, we can promise you that she'll certainly be doing that!  

See you Monday,

Chris and the team xxx

A day in Paris - Journalling from Kerstin

Greetings all!

Today we're featuring a beautiful art journalling contribution from a very creative guest and one of our previous Special Mention winners - Kerstin of Scrapbook Dreams...

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Hi and welcome everyone, Kerstin here, I come from Germany. When the team from Country view challenge asked me to be a Guest designer, I was just honoured and happy.

I have been creating for many years now, always in search for new techniques and yet unexplored territory in craftland.

My big passions are colours and structure. I'm a big Mixed Media Style fan and love the things that are old and nobody wants anymore, because they have a history! My newest love is Mr. Art Journal, with Art Journaling I have found one of "my" favourite genre - as it combines words and pictures, thoughts and feelings, application of various innovative techniques and the idea of telling stories in a brave new crafty world! But I also like to invent always new and so I will also often be good for a surprise!

Anything goes - the perfect theme and so I have chosen - no surprise - Art journaling, because it makes me happy!. (It relaxes me and helps me to stress management.)  It's a memory on a very beautiful day in Paris last year.

I hope you will inspired to discover the fascinating world of Art Journaling.  In fact, there are no rules for journaling, anything goes. This is actually the oft-quoted "The journey is the reward" and the images are created precisely.  In journaling very different forms of expression can be used: painting, drawing, photography, collage, stamps, stencils, writing, .... and much more. Often it is a combination of different techniques in Mixed media style, that leads to pages .

On the first photo you can see which materials I've used. I have worked with decoupage technique (napkin), used stencils, stamps, distress inks, laces and grandma's old buttons.

Primed with diluted white gesso, let dry, then use a wonderful napkin with decoupage glue, just the stencils with white gesso, dry it with heating tool. Drawing some branches with black acrylic paint, use some suitable stamps with archival pigment ink and another stencil with distress ink (diamond), glue on some embellishments and last but not least - a personalized text in spidery handwriting and voila - a new art journaling page is finished. Just start having fun and try it out!

Thank you very much for inviting me! 

Best wishes, Kerstin

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This is stunning Kerstin - imaginative and beautifully artistic - thank you!

From cardmaking, tags, scrapping, postcards, journalling, mixed media 3D and home decor projects and much, much more - we would like to see what you're up to!  Join in and risk being one of our winners!  We are awarding TWO £20 shop vouchers from our sponsor, Country View Crafts online shop as well as a special BLOG CANDY for one of our lucky commenters (must be a comment left on our initial March post).

We'll be back on Saturday when Nikki will be sharing her 2nd project of the month - don't miss it!  >:o)

Have fun!

Chris and the team xxx

Jennie's saying it with flowers...

Good morning all!

We have a wonderful start to the day today, a second post for the month from our Jennie and she's saying it with flowers...

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I decided to have some fun experimenting with some bits and pieces, gesso and Luminarte Primary Elements Sprays, Powders and Acrylic Glaze Silks. It was so much fun and I am so thrilled with the final result. Do join me on my blog if you want to see the odd collection of elements I started with and some close up details.

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A gorgeous palette, fabulous textures and what a stunning result - thank you Jennie!

Whatever your style, whatever your preferred type of crafting, let's see what you're creating this month.  Just link up via our first March post and you could be the lucky winner of a £20 shop voucher from our sponsor, Country View Crafts.

We'll be back on Thursday with another guest post, from a previous Special Mention winner, Kerstin.  We hope you'll join us then to share some crafty love!

Keep crafting and have fun!

Chris and the team xxx

It's PaperArtsy today from Gabrielle

Welcome everyone and Happy Mothers' Day to all Mums out there celebrating!

What better than to spice up the day than bright, colourful and inspiring craftwork?  So, it may be sleepy Sunday for some of us but here to wake us all up with this beautiful make using PaperArtsy products is our Gabrielle...

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Gosh! It’s my turn again! The month whizzes by doesn’t it?! For my second project this month celebrating our Blogaversary I took my new obsession with the new Lin Brown for PaperArtsy colour Bougainvillea to a whole new level and made something utterly pink and I LOVE it! As always, there are step by step details on my blog!

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We're loving the design Gabrielle and the colours are gorgeous - thank you!

We don't mind which brands you like, we don't insist or even ask that it to be something our sponsor sells, you can use whatever you like from whomever you like, just make it and enter it!  >:o)

Jennie will be here on Tuesday with her 2nd make for the month - scrummy - don't miss it!

Have a wonderful day!

Chris and the team xxx

Shabby techniques and lots of texture from Carol!

Good morning!

It's Friday the 13th - are you scared?  

It might be unlucky for some but it is most definitely lucky for us because we have a fab guest post from a previous Top 3 winner today - Carol Gill of Crafty-Stamper...

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Hi I am Carol and have been crafting quite for many years knitting, crotchet, cake making and decorating and now card making. I started stamping but as I am now on some Design Teams digis are my passion and have just recently started experimenting with dies and embossing folders. I am delighted to have been chosen to a Guest designer with Country View challenges.

I used my new texture EF from Crafters Companion on silver mirri card , TH blueprint EF , my new Distress stains from Tim Holtz - brushed pewter and tarnished brass and finally Tattered lace die cut bottle.  I made a secret card fold where the front piece lifts off to show the verse inside.

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What a great 65th card, fabulous textures, a great mix of brands and most definitely a winner - thank you Carol!

Have you got something you'd like to share?  If you have, please join in by linking your project HERE.  As well as awarding TWO £20 shop vouchers this month we will also be giving away some blog candy to one lucky commenter from our March launch post!

Remember the old adage - you've got to be in it to win it!  >;o)

Gabrielle will be back on Sunday with another make in her wonderfully inimitable style - see you then.  >:o)

Have a great weekend!

Chris and the team xxx

Brenda's got a big heart!

Hello there!

Today we have Brenda returning with a beautiful home decor project that's all heart!

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My second make for this month's challenge was made at an Andy Skinner workshop at CHSI in Birmingham last month. I have put a link to Andy demonstrating this project on my blog but the reason for adding it here is to highlight that Susan will soon be stocking some DecoArt products. Keep your eye on the shop site for when they come in.

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Gorgeous, we're loving the blue and browns and the textures are fabulous - thank you Brenda!

We told you that there was a wonderful mix of genres and styles to see this month and so far we think we're living up to that....?  We've barely begun so please do remember to add us to your reading list - we publish a brand new project every 2 days throughout the entire month!

On Friday we'll be visited by another of our previous Top 3 winners - Carol Gill - with a fabulous project!  

Enjoy your week,

Chris and the team xxx

A little birdie told Doreen...

Hello out there!

This morning we have something beautiful and bright - a fabulously colourful and creative card from Doreen...

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I am back with my second make.   I have made a collage with  several stamps and a watercolour background.  More details from my blog.

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Wow, we love the colours you've used Doreen and such a fabulous design - thank you!

You don't have to make a huge 3D project to enter our challenge, we love cards, tags, postcards, absolutely everything is appreciated!  Whatever you like to do, including knitting and sewing, show us what you're making and join in.

Brenda will be here on Wednesday with her 2nd make for the month.... you'll love it!  >;o)

Have a great day,

Chris and the team xxx

Pamellia is guesting today - wow!

Greetings!

This morning we have pleasure in introducing you to one of our Top 3 winners from a previous challenge - Pamellia of My Little Craft Things.  Pamellia may be known to you already, she is definitely carving out a name for herself with her wonderful crafty makes...

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Hello Everyone! My name is Pamellia Johnson and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with my wonderful husband and our two little girls, Scully (a teacup Maltese) and Pebbles (a black teacup Pomeranian).

I have been crafting in some form or another ever since I was a little kid, thanks to my very creative and talented Mom. I've dabbled in all sorts of crafts, but I think my true passion is handmade cards. I have only recently tried my hand at mixed media art and altered items, but I instantly fell in love with the messy side of crafting!

When Chris asked me to be a Guest Designer, I was just so honoured and excited. When she told me March 2nd would be their 2nd blogiversary, I knew I had to take advantage of the Anything Goes theme to help them celebrate. So in honour of Country View's Birthday, here is my very first ever steampunk project, a birthday card for my dear ole Dad!

I really wanted the card to have a creaky castle feel, so I slathered up a piece of cardboard with texture paste and used a variety of paints to achieve a old stone wall look. I decided to make the sentiment a hidden element, so I made a little tag and tucked it in between the paper layers. All of my gears were hand made from crafter's clay and treated with a rust technique using various metallic paints. Lots of grit, lots of grime, lots of fun!!

Thank you so much to the Country View team for inviting me to spend a day with them. If you would like to see more photos and details, please visit me at My Little Craft Things.

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Wow!  Fabulous textures and a stunning design Pamellia, thank you so much!

If you like steampunk then why not let us see your techniques?  We want to see all genres so, whatever your passion, please share it with us by joining in our challenge.

Don't forget, we are awarding TWO £20 shop vouchers this month to celebrate our 2nd Blogaversary, both generously donated by our sponsor, Country View Crafts online shop.  We will also be awarding some BLOG CANDY to one lucky visitor who leaves a comment on our main launch post.

Have a wonderful weekend, we hope you manage to get some crafting done!  Doreen will be back on Monday so we hope to see you again then.

Chris and the team xxx

Announcing our February winners

Good evening everyone!

Oh my - we're sooooo delighted to see that we have so many entries to our current challenge already - thank you all very much!  It's now time to announce the winners from our February 'Drips and drops' challenge.  

For the benefit of new readers, we choose the winner of the £20 shop voucher, generously donated by our sponsor Country View Crafts, at random using random.org, random number generator.  Our Top 3 choices as well as our DT Member's Special Mention (DTMSM) are chosen by the DTM who chose the theme for the month, in this case, our talented Sue B.  All are invited to join us as guests in a future challenge.

Here we go....

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WINNER

Our winning entry number is...

and this is...

Chris of pearshapedcrafting

Well done Chris, an email & voucher will be winging their way to you shortly!

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TOP 3 (in numerical order)

Sue's choices and comments...

#25- Ana K 

The solid colours of sunny Yellow and dramatic Black are striking, there is a wonderful balance in this creation, along with flow and movement, it has a simplistic quality but there are such wonderful details and elements included to make it interesting to the onlooker. This is a beautiful piece of work.

#31-Lylac Sparkle Creations.

This Mixed Media  Canvas is a mix of warm and cool colours that juxtapose wonderfully together on the substrate, the design is full of depth with strong contrasts, the texture is gorgeous and sits well with the rusted Heart. 
The liquid glass droplets are impressive.

#49-Impression Scrap.

This Tag is  sophisticated and timeless. Sober Grey is not an easy colour to work with, but adding interesting tactile elements with a dash of regal Purple lifts the whole design. Lys has dripped and dropped beautifully on the substrate.

DTMSM

#58-Building Your World

A wonderful monochromatic palette, there is a surprise to the eye with the  subtle drips and drops to the heavily textured spray of Flowers. The design has great line; directing the eye from one place to another.

Thanks for your choices Sue - congrats to all four chosen, emails will be with you soon.

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A HUGE THANKS to all of you who joined in with February's challenge, brilliant entries and so very varied!

We'll be back at 6.30 tomorrow morning with another project post, it's a stunner from a fab guest - Pamellia!  Don't miss it!  >:o)

Have a great evening,

Chris and the team xxx

It's a fab message from Donna today!

Hi there!

If you're a fan of the more contemporary collage/journalling styles then you'll love what Donna has in store for us today...

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More playtime for my second make...

...details and pics on my blog :)   Donna xx

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Great colouring and collage work Donna - thank you!

From the contemporary to vintage, from CAS (clean and simple) to shabby and grunge, from cards to home decor, whatever your penchant, we want to see what you're up to!  >:o)

To join in simply link your blog post to ours using our lnLinkz linkie tool on our launch post.

More on Saturday and it's a stunning guest make - don't miss it!

Have a great day,

Chris and the team xxx

Something for Mothers' Day

'Morning all,

For us in the UK, Mothers' Day falls on March 15th, so my second DT make for our challenge is a card especially for a Mum...

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This lovely pinky red colour has been chosen for my card.  Using plenty of texture and lace, with a fragment of embossed mica tile thrown in, you'll find all the elements over on 'My corner of Heaven'.  Chris xxx

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If you're making a card for YOUR Mum, why not join in our challenge.  You can enter as many times as you like, all we ask is that you follow our rules.

Having seen all of the projects coming up for the rest of the month, all I can say is "whatever you do, don't miss them!"   We have a wow of a mix of genres and styles, we think you'll find more than one thing you'll like.  >;o)

Have a wonderful week, come back soon!  (Don't forget one lucky person who leaves a comment on our main/launch post will win some blog candy!)

Chris and the team xxx

It's March and we're celebrating our 2nd Blogaversary!

Good morning everyone!

We've been having fun now for 2 years, can you believe it!!??  I'm extremely proud of our team - they're hugely talented - and we're extremely proud to have been supported by all of you!  Whether you've commented or not, whether you've joined in the challenges or not, a big thanks to ALL OF YOU.  A big thanks too, to those who've become official 'followers'.

To celebrate our 2 years, we're having TWO winners this month, each will win a £20 shop voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts.  In addition, at the end of the month, we will be awarding a special BLOG CANDY to one of the lucky people who have left a comment on THIS post.  All winners will be drawn at random using random.org as we believe it's the fairest way of giving everyone a chance of winning.  All we ask is that, if you're entering, you follow our simple (and pretty standard) rules.

Without more ado, let's tell you what our theme is.... can you guess......?

 As we like to do, our previous winner and Top 3s will be guesting with us during the month.  We start our DT line up with our last winner leading us out with her interpretation of our theme and that is...... Andrea!......

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Hi, I'm Andrea and in blogland I'm also known as KandA. I've been crafting in one form or another since before I started school many, many years ago. I live in the East Midlands with my super hubby who is the K bit of the crafty name and is very tolerant of my passion for crafting.

I was so delighted to be asked to join in with this months 2nd blogaversary challenge, especially as I was lucky enough to guest design with their celebration a year ago. With the theme of 'anything goes' I decided to have a play with PaperArtsy JOFY09 & JOFY13 stamps which have been coloured with a combination of Memento inks, Promarkers and chalks on canvas.

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CHRIS

I love making albums and often do so using up my scraps - this one is exactly that.  A mixture of brands and products but ultimately coming together as a little travel destinations album.  The details of how I made it (I always use my own templates) can be found on my own blog, here. Chris xxx

DONNA

Had a play with some new Dina Wakley stamps for my 'Anything Goes' ....

....all details and more pics are on my blog :)

Donna xx

DOREEN

I have made a background of Fresco Acrylic paints and JOFY stamps for my card today

You can get more details from my blog.

GABRIELLE

Congratulations Country View Crafts Projects on your Blogaversary! I am more than a little obsessed by the new Lin Brown for PaperArtsy colour Bougainvillea and it will feature heavily in my posts this month! For my first project I have made a small mdf blank with a sentiment which seemed so appropriate after the day at work I’d had!!! As always, there are more details on my blog!

JENNIE

Such a fabulous challenge theme this month for trying something new! I recently purchased a stamp and die cut flower set from Heartfelt Creations and have been playing around making some different flowers to my usual makes. Hop on over to my blog if you want to know more!


NIKKI

'Anything goes' means time to play with my current favourite stamps - Bird Crazy! Lots of texture too and the wonderful new Big Chat stickers. Be great to see you over at Addicted to Art if you would like to see how I made this one.


SUE B

It was a case of 'Anything Goes'  on this card, I took this theme literally!!!

All the steps are on my Blog.

SUE D
Wow it's March already, I really hope that Spring is on it's way. I've been having a play with one of my new Kate Crane stamps. The full details can be found here on my blog.

ASTRID

For my first project I decided to play with my new Tim Holtz Correspondence papers. I created a little W book following Tim's great bideo. If you want to readd my little story of adventure, just pop over to my blog.


BRENDA

Spring is coming and holidays are approaching so I have made myself a travel scrapbook to take to America with me. It is a hardbound, soft spined book very similar to the one I am teaching at the next CVC workshop - Essential Bookbinding Techniques. (Full details on the shop site). Once you know how to stitch the pages together these are super easy to make.

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Wow ladies, what a line up, thank you all so much!

Whatever your prefered craft, whatever genre you choose, we'd like you to create something this month and join in.  We will be publishing a post every 2 days with a brand new project for you to see and help you along the way.

Good luck everyone, have a wonderful March!

Chris and the team xxx