Leave a little sparkle

Sorry for my absence and thank you so much for all your kind thoughts and messages with regards to my dad passing away just before Christmas.

I would also like to thank Craftyfield for kindly covering for me during my absence as it was my turn to host this month’s challenge over at Country View Challenges; to welcome in 2022 I’ve chosen the theme of A Year to Sparkle and Shine.

“We would like to see LOTS of sparkle and shine on your projects, no “token” gems or sequins please; you really need to go sprinkle that sparkle! This means that you can use lots of different sparkly and shiny products (like metallics, sparkly embossing powders, glitters, lustres, foil, glazes, mirror cardstock, mica sprays or paints etc) as part of your designs”

I created this mini art journal page as inspiration; you still have until the end of this month to join me with your sparkly creations. I do hope that you will join in the fun, it would be so lovely to see you there!

I started by applying two coats of Villainous Potion Distress Paint to my chipboard page. Then when dry, I used a stamp from a Christmas Time stamp set by Tim Holtz to add all the starbursts using VersaMark Watermark Ink and two types of Gold Ranger embossing powder.

Next I stamped the wording and added some tiny stars around the page using a new Dovecraft stamp, the Watermark Ink and Gold Ranger embossing powder. Then I stuck the cute sparkly dog in place which I had fussy cut from an old recycled Christmas card and to finish, I used a white Uniball gel pen to add some highlights and the snowy foreground.

You’ll find lots more sparkly and shiny inspiration from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I look forward to visiting you and seeing what you make and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop, Country View Crafts! Before you enter your project, please read the rules!

Stay safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you. Hugs, Jo x

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges. , I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

Art Journal Journey and the lovely Erika from BioArtGal who is hosting this month with her Let’s Face It challenge; I think the sparkly dog’s face looks super cute on my page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #159 – Anything Goes challenge with my sparkly page.

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog and their LTSCB #153 – Anything Goes challenge with me Leave a little sparkle page.

Out with the Old, in with the New over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the new word stamp and old recycled Christmas card image that I used to create this page.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Four Legged Friends challenge with the sparkly dog I added to my page.

Anything Stamping Goes with the option of Wings challenge over at We Love Stamping with my stamped Leave a little sparkle page.

Sparkly Snowflakes

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing these very sparkly snowflakes for January’s A Year to Sparkle & Shine challenge, which I’m delighted to be hosting this month.

The chipboard background was covered with white gesso and then some Ranger Texture Paste was applied through a snowflakes mini stencil by Tim Holtz. When dry, I coloured the page using Peacock Feathers and Prize Ribbon Distress Ink. All the other snowflakes were recycled from Christmas present wrapping; the felt snowflakes were coloured using the Distress Inks and when dry, they were arranged onto the page with a large snowflake. I covered them all with lots of Icicles Ranger Stickles Glitter Glue which made them shimmer and shine beautifully. The wording was from a Christmas Sticker book by Tim Holtz and reads “the snowflakes come down, the winds of winter blow”. For some extra sparkle, I added lots of Crystals, from a Twinkle Stars set by Creative Expressions, to the centre of the large and each of the stencilled snowflakes.

I hope you are inspired to join our A Year to Sparkle & Shine challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts.

Snowflakes decorate my windows this time of year and these window clings are very sparkly too (grin!)

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out the products over at Country View Crafts too.

I hope that you’re staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you. Hugs Jo x

A Year to Sparkle & Shine

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m so delighted that it’s my turn to host the challenge over at Country View Challenges this month, so to welcome 2022 I have chosen the theme of A Year to Sparkle and Shine.

We would like to see LOTS of sparkle and shine on your projects, no “token” gems or sequins please; you really need to go sprinkle that sparkle! This means that you can use lots of different sparkly and shiny products (like metallics, sparkly embossing powders, glitters, lustres, foil, glazes, mirror cardstock, mica sprays or paints etc) as part of your designs.

For my very sparkly art journal page, I started by covering the background with Silver DecoArt Extreme Sheen Metallic Paint and then sprinkled some Black Sparkle Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder over the top and heated it with a heat gun. Then I added some rub-on transfers from a Numbers pack from Tim Holtz and the wording which were Metallic Alpha Stickers by Tim Holtz. To finish, I added Crystal Twinkle Stars from Creative Expressions.

Here’s all the crafting goodies from Country View Crafts that I used to create this page (grin!).

For more inspiration please see the amazing sparkly and shiny creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I look forward to visiting you and seeing what you make and you never know, you might even win a £20 voucher for the shop! Before you enter your project though, please read the rules! 

Stay safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you. Hugs, Jo x

Christmas Wishes

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges for this month’s Christmas Anything Goes challenge with my Christmas Wishes art journal page.

The collage background was created using lots of Christmas Ephemera from Tim Holtz; they were stuck in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a baby wipe and then I painted a thick layer of gesso around the edge of the page. I applied a layer of Ranger Texture Paste over the edge of the page too, using a palette knife, to make it look like icy snow. The candles and foliage were die cut from Tim Holtz Kraft papers using a Candlelight and also a Festive Bouquet Thinlits set by Tim Holtz. I added more colour and shimmer to the die cut pieces using some Craf-T Lustre waxes and they were edged using Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink. Before sticking the candles in place, I applied some of the Lustre wax to create the candle’s glow and I also splattered the page with white gesso. To finish, I added the “Christmas Wishes” wording which was from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Anything Goes challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have two chances to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

I love Christmas and here’s a beautifully embroidered mat, that adorned our festive table whilst visiting family recently – wishing you a Safe and Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year! x

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can find most of the products that I used over at Country View Crafts too.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #158 – Anything Goes with my Christmas Wishes page.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog and their MLCCB #41 – December Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas art journal page.

Challenge #106 – Anything Goes Christmas over at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Blog with my Christmas Wishes page.

Cold As Ice challenges at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with my snow laden scene.

Yule Tide

It’s a new month which means we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for December which is Christmas Anything Goes.

This challenge is perfect as I love all things Christmas and I created this Yule Tide page to celebrate and wish you a Happy December and all the very best for the festive season!

I started by covering the page with Christmas Collage Paper from Tim Holtz and then I edged the page using Gold Ranger Embossing Powder. The snowflakes were die cut from some white cardstock using a Mini Paper Snowflakes Thinlits set from Tim Holtz and then covered in the Gold Ranger Embossing Powder.

To finish, I added some word stickers which were from a Tim Holtz Christmas Sticker Book and read “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night”, “Baby it’s cold outside” and “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” and also some images from a Tim Holtz Ephemera Pack which read “Special Delivery” and “December 25”; they were all edged with the Gold Ranger embossing powder before sticking them in place.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Anything Goes challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

This Yule Tide page had me yearning for this chocolate Yule Log that we buy every Christmas from a local bakery, it’s so yummy – not long to wait now (double grin!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Tim Holtz and Ranger products that I used.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to join the following challenges:

Yuletide Delights over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my Yule Tide page.

Paperbabe Stamps and their #157 – Anything Goes challenge with my Christmas page.

Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my Yule Tide page.

Challenge #106 – Anything Christmas Goes over at The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge with my Christmas art journal page.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Sparkle Mode challenge with the gold embossing powder adding sparkle to my page.

Christmas Gift Bag

Today I’m over at Country View Challenges sharing these pretty Christmas gift bags for this month’s Christmas Gifting challenge. I’ve filled them with a couple of Christmas presents already – perfect (grin!).

Each bag was created from a piece of white A4 cardstock using an easy and fun folding method – please see full instructions below.

I started by stamping the poinsettias onto a piece of white A4 cardstock using a Christmas Time stamp set from Tim Holtz with Crackling Campfire and Rustic Wildness Distress Inks.

To create the bags, place the cardstock in front of you on a flat surface, making sure to place it in “portrait” orientation so that the top of the bag is on the right-hand side, then use a metal ruler and a stylus to score a crease mark 4cm wide down the left-hand side of the cardstock. When you’re done leave this unfolded as it will later become the bottom of the bag.

Of course if you have them, you may find it easier to use the groove on a Tonic Studios trimmer with a bone folder to make all the fold marks instead (this photo shows the 4cm wide crease mark).

Next turn the cardstock so it’s “landscape” in orientation and place a crease mark 1cm wide along the right-hand edge of the cardstock and sharply crease the fold. Keeping the cardstock in “landscape” orientation and leaving the 1cm folded, score a crease mark in the centre of the cardstock and then sharply fold.

Run a bead of glue along the 1cm fold and press the cardstock together where they overlap, weight down and leave to dry.

Orientate the bag so the openings are at the top and bottom and then make a 2cm wide score mark vertically down each side of the bag, which will crease mark both the front and back of the bag. Open the folds and use the crease marks to fold the bag inwards to create an accordion effect.

Next create the bottom of the bag using the scored crease lines to fold the left and then the right-hand sides inwards making sure you crease the bottom folds all the way to the corners to create a triangle of folded paper on either side; I sharply creased the triangle folds using a bone folder.

Then fold the triangles over each other like an envelope and stick them in place using a bead of glue and leave it to dry.

To finish, I punched two holes in the top of the bag using a We R Memory Keepers Tools Crop-A-Dile Hole Punch & Eyelet Setter; the holes are 4cm from each edge of the bag. Then I attached a tag using some red recycled ribbon; the tag was created using some of the white cardstock, the Christmas Time stamp set and Distress Inks again and embellished with a gold bell.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Gifting challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the  (grin!).

I hope that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can find most of the products that I used over at Country View Crafts too.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #156 – Anything Goes with my Christmas gift bags.

MIUCB #55 – Anything Goes + 3-D Project over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with the folding techniques I used to create this 3-D gift bag.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog and their MLCCB #40 – November Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas gift bags.

Challenge 130 – Christmas Presents over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge with my Christmas bags that I created for presents this year.

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and their Challenge #105 – Anything Christmas Goes with my pretty Christmas gift bags.

Stamping Sensations and their Christmas challenge with my stamped Christmas gift bag and tags.

Christmas challenge over at We Love Stamping with my stamped Christmas gift bags and tags – thanks so much Brenda for highlighting this challenge in your lovely comment!

Mr Frost Tags

It’s a new month so we have a new challenge at Country View Challenges for November which is Christmas Gifting (anything but a card).

This challenge is being hosted this month by the lovely Miriam who says “this could be a handmade gift or even packaging for a Christmas gift – no cards this month”.

I can’t believe that Christmas is nearly here so it was nice to get a head start making these fun Snowman Tags for this years Christmas presents.

I started by die cutting the snowman using a Mr. Frost Thinlits set by Tim Holtz from some white and black linen textured the paper. I also die cut the main body of the snowman, hat and scarf again from some cardstock to back the tag and provide more strength.

I coloured the edges of the main body of the snowman with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink using a blending tool, the scarf and hat band using red and green TriBlend Spectrum Noir markers, his carrot nose using Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and the twig arms using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The die cut pieces were layered together using Liquitex matte gel medium and I added a holly gemstone embellishment to the hat.

I used a We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile Hole Punch & Eyelet Setter to punch a hole in the hat and threaded through a piece of black paper twine. The wording on the back of the tags was stamped using a Sketch Greenery stamp set from Tim Holtz and black Archival Ink.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our Christmas Gifting (anything but a card) challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

I love how these tags turned out and can’t wait to add them to Christmas Presents this year. Here’s how they are currently displayed in my craft room; it looks like they will make wonderful Christmas tree decorations too (grin!).

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Country View Crafts also sell both the Mr. Frost Sizzix Thinlits Set by Tim Holtz and the Sketch Greenery stamp set by Tim Holtz that I used to create these tags.

Challenges

As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and their Challenge #104 – Anything Christmas Goes with my Christmas tags.

Any Holiday Occasion over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with my snowman Christmas tags.

Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #155 – Anything Goes with my festive tags.

MLCCB #40 – Anything Christmas Goes over at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog with my Mr. Frost Christmas tags.

Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with my Mr. Frost tags.

Mere colours …

As I shared a Halloween page to launch our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge over at Country View Challenges this month, my second creation is an autumnal art journal page featuring a beautiful quote by Oscar Wilde.

For the background I stuck a piece of kitchen towel onto the page which had been stained with Crackling Campfire, Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso and Peeled Paint Distress Inks. It was stuck down using Liquitex matte gel medium. When dry, I stamped some fern images over the top using a Leaf Prints Tim Holtz stamp set and Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink. Then I used the fern stamp again to add the gold ferns using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and some Gold Ranger embossing powder. I edged the page using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and I stamped the quote using an old alphabet stamp set and some black Archival Ink. To finish, I used a white gel pen to make the letters stand out more; the quote is by Oscar Wilde and reads “Mere colour … can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways”.

I hope you are inspired to join our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

At this time of year, I always find myself thinking for our dearest friends in Maine (America) and the holidays we’ve enjoyed with them. The autumnal colours and ferns remind me of our woodland walks around their lake property.

Like the quote says, the autumnal colours speak to my soul – so breathtaking (grin!).

A few years ago, we even celebrated our wedding anniversary whilst we were there (double grin!). It seems like yesterday that me and my hubby got married but this year we find ourselves celebrating 33 years of marriage – sending my hubby all my love on our Anniversary and always! x

I hope that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Ranger and Tim Holtz products I used too.

Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my autumnal coloured October page (15x15cm). Fall Gratitude challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog as I’m being thankful and paying homage to the autumn season with my quote and fall colours. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumnal page. LTSCB #150 – Anything But A Card over at Love to Scrap Challenge Blog with my autumnal mini art journal page celebrating autumn. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Not A Card challenge with my autumnal mini chipboard art journal page. Challenge #6 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media autumnal page; this is a new challenge so I thought I’d join in the fun!

Leave your fears behind

The new challenge for October over at Country View Challenges is Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween.

This challenge is being hosted by the lovely Corrie who “would like you to make something in yellow ochres, burnt oranges, muted greens and/or browns OR you could go all out on the oranges, greens and/or purples with a Halloween project”.

I love autumnal colours so I created this Halloween page to wish you a Happy October!

I covered the bottom of the page with Crackling Campfire Distress Ink and the top of the page using Fossilized Amber Distress Ink using a blending tool; blending the two colours together when I reached the centre of the page. Next I used two Visible Image stamp sets which were a “Leave all your fears behind” stamp set for the crow, trees and wording, and a “Learn to fly again” stamp set for the birds. Layering the different stamp images together, to create my page design, using black archival ink and black Ranger embossing powder. I finished by splattering the page with some water, to reactivate the Distress Inks so that some of the ink was removed too when I mopped up the water with some kitchen towel, which completed the grungy Halloween look.

For more inspiration please see the amazing creations from my fellow Design Team members over at Country View Challenges.

I hope you are inspired to join our Autumnal Colours and/or Halloween challenge too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

October means that it’s time to add some Halloween pieces to my autumn display like these fun pumpkin window clings – wishing you a happy autumn and Halloween!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link. You can also check out Country View Crafts as they sell many of the Tim Holtz/Ranger and Visible Image products I used too.

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Tracey from Hotchpotchcreations  who is hosting this month with her My favourite colour is October challenge with my October autumnal colours/Halloween page. Challenge #144 Autumn Colours over at Sparkles Monthly Challenge with my autumnal coloured Halloween page. Touchy Feely challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the glossy texture that I created using the embossing powders on this page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #153 – Anything Goes with my autumn colours Halloween page. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my art journaling Fall/Halloween page.

Nature

Today I’m sharing a nature page, from my mini art journal, for this month’s The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges.

This page features some beautiful Stamperia papers including a collage of leaf images for the background, a pretty bird sitting amongst some oak leaves and the “Nature” wording.

I started by cutting lots of leaf images from a piece of Forest design paper by Stamperia and collaging them onto the page using gel medium. When dry, I edged the paper pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I fussy cut the bird sitting on a branch, the three oak leaves and “Nature” wording; they were edged with the Dark Sepia marker and then stuck in place which finished the page.

I hope you are inspired to join our The Leaves begin to Fall challenge over at Country View Challenges too, if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a £20 voucher to use on the Country View Crafts (grin!).

The autumnal design and oak leaves on my page were also inspired by recent visit to the Royal Oak in Garstang with our family.

As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing a beer that we enjoyed …

… and some of our delicious food; this is chicken, bacon and leeks in a Lancashire cheese sauce – yum!

Hoping that you are all staying safe and well!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.

Challenges As well as Country View Challenges, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey and lovely Wendy K from wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com who is hosting this month with her Vintage challenge with my vintage autumnal page. #144 Autumn Colours challenge over at Sparkle Monthly Challenges with my autumnal coloured art journal page. Lots of Layers challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog with all the layers of paper I added to this nature page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #152 – Anything Goes with my nature art journal page. LTCCB #62- September Anything Goes over at Love to Craft Challenge Blog with my vintage page.