A textured tag from Sue

We're just through the first week and we're still going strong - how are you doing? This beautifully textured tag is by our talented Sue......

---

Sue of Stamping Sue Style

For my second piece this month I've made a tag and stepped into my comfort zone of shades of brown ! I love the sentiments by Wendy Vecchi and this image of the man just seemed to sit perfectly on the side.

---

The depth of colour and texture on this tag is delicious Sue!! Beautiful - thank you!

How are you doing? Have you thought of something creative on a masculine theme yet? We hope so because we want to see them and every entry has an equal chance of winning the £20 shop voucher from our sponsor, Country View Crafts.

Alison will be here next, on Thursday, with her second project so please be sure to pop back and see what she has been up to!

Have a fun day,

Chris and the team xxx

Jennie's saluting the skipper!

Jennie is sharing her 2nd project of the month with us today and dedicating it to her nearest and dearest...

---

Jennie of Live the Dream

"A very masculine card inspired by the piece of paper from the Tim Holtz Destinations Paper Stash. When on board our boat we live by the clock for tides and navigation and use sheets like these for the calculations (I say we ….. ! I only do a little bit …..).  I have been meaning to use this wonderful timepiece embossing folder for ages, so this was the perfect opportunity.  It looks quite effective given it is made from gold card stock and  Black Distress Paint! If you want to find out how I made it then hop over to my blog for more details.

A perfect birthday card for the Skipper I think!"

---

Fabulous use of these Tim Holtz materials Jennie and a terrific example of just how layering up can make such a difference - brilliant! Thank you!

You may not be into vintage or be a Tim Holtz fan but we all like to layer up now and again to add interest to whatever we're making. What are YOU creating? We hope you're going to join us and show us what male oriented projects you've thought up.

Sue will be here on Tuesday with another of her fab makes so please come back and visit us then. Have a great weekend!

Chris and the team xxx

Our May winners

Thank you all for supporting our May 'Nature's glories' challenge, we had lots of stunning entries once again. It amazes us how you come up with some of these creations - so, so creative!

We're  delighted to announce our winners as follows.....

Chosen by random.org, winner of the Country View Crafts' £20 shop voucher is:

#155 Karen B of Being Karen - Scrapbook page:

Congratulations Karen, your voucher and badge will be emailed to you shortly.

---

As it was Donna's choice of theme for May, she has the honour of choosing our blog badge winners...

Our Top 3 badge winners are:

#88 Julie Anne Lee of magpie heaven

"Fabulous texture on the canvas, lots of interest and lovely colours."

#94 Paula Whittaker of  Just For One Day

"Every side of this little ATB is gorgeous!"

#107 Maddy Herbison of Izzwizz Creations

 "Each and every panel of this screen card is beautiful."

Congratulations go to Julie, Paula and Maddy for your gorgeous entries, blog badges are winging their way to you!

---

Our DTMSM (DT Members' Special Mention) badge for May goes to:

#114 Katy Leitch of Postcards from the Attic

"Such a great and innovative use of recycled packaging, a lovely piece."

Well done Katy, great work, a badge is on its way to you too!

---

Thank you to everyone who has visited, commented and/or entered our May challenge, your support is appreciated.

Have a great weekend,

Chris and the team xxx

Julie is guesting with elegance!

Toay we are featuring a guest and Top 3 blog badge winner from April's challenge, Julie Lavalette. Julie is sharing her creative and elegant style of crafting with us...

---

Julie Lavalette of Juliz Design Post

"Hi, My name is Julie Lavalette and I live in Central Scotland. I have enjoyed crafting from a young age and found my love for paper craft reignited about 8 years ago when I needed Wedding invitations for our Wedding. I love my craft to tell a story and to become keepsakes or heirlooms for my family and adore all things Vintage. I think I was born in the wrong era. I have a dolls house which I also enjoy crafting for and I like to go around Antique Fairs to window shop or museums for inspiration. I also love a car boot sale to find my little treasures to alter or add to a project as find myself more recently crafting in a mixed media style."

---

When Chris sent me the theme ‘ Only Men Allowed ` for my project I must admit I initially panicked a bit and thought I don’t do men things... So this was a big challenge to me, but I do love a Challenge.  It took me about 2 days and probably nights thinking what I was going to do and then I remembered the Opening Ceremony at  the Olympic Games and the part where they went through the Industrial Revolution and it all looking very masculine and the men standing with their Top Hats on. I now had an idea and started to plan my project.

I wanted to give my project depth with lots of layers so it gave the impression you were peeling back the years through History and stepping back in time. I started off by ripping some layers off a piece of cardboard to reveal the corrugation and sealed with a coat of Gesso. I then layered a mixture of papers, stamping, texture paste with stencils and freehand, also adding die cuts using various mediums all over my project. Thanks for having me over at Country View Challenges and I hope you all have enjoyed my project as much as I did in making it.

---

Wow, the detail of this project is quite, quite stunning Julie - a fabulously stylish steampunk piece, beautiful! Thank you for guesting with us today!

In every post we publish, our team and our guests strive to bring you variety of ideas and genres to tempt and challenge you. We look forward to seeing what you're up to in YOUR craft rooms.

Jennie's up next, on Saturday, with another beautiful make. We hope you'll join us.

Chris and the team xxx

Gabrielle is playing with super heros!

As it's Gabrielle's theme this month she has the pleasure of leading the line-up of individual posts. She has chosen to share this fabulous family journal page layout with us...

---

Gabrielle of crafty thoughts

"For my second project this month I thought about my dressing up loving son and when I found this photo it just had to be used! Tom LOVES dressing up and using his imagination in play (he's hoping to be an actor when he's older so he's clearly practicing now!). The paints are from PaperArtsy and the arrows are from one of Tim Holtz's stencils. The superheroes were coloured with Portfolio pastels on a black and white photo. Hope you've joined in with us this month!"

---

Bright and zingy, great for Summer and yet most definitely a 'masculine' project Gabrielle - fabulous, thank you!!

Whether, like Gabrielle, journalling is your bag or whether you like tags, card making, altered art, whatever it is we would like to see where your imagination is taking you. Entering is as quick and easy as typing in a few details to link....

More on Thursday with a guest post.

Chris & the team xxx

A new challenge and some new designers!

Hello everyone, it's June, the beginning of a brand new challenge (#16) and we have some new DT Members too! We are extending our team to bring you more posts and projects throughout the month so please join me in saying hello to our fabulously talented new DTMs...

WELCOME ALISON

WELCOME DOREEN

WELCOME SUE B

We have added our new DTMs' bio's to our Team page so please take a look and see what they've been up to.

This month it is Gabrielle's turn to choose our theme and she has chosen....

'ONLY MEN ALLOWED'

You can submit any genre of project you like as long as it clearly demonstrates a masculine theme. The winner will be chosen at random to receive a £20 shop voucher from our sponsor, Country View Crafts. There will also be blog badges awarded to a further 4 entrants who the DT feel have created the most inspiring entries.

We know that sometimes it's a struggle to make things for the guys so our talented DT Members have crafted a fabulous display of projects to get you motivated...

---

Gabrielle of crafty thoughts

"I love Oscar Wilde's witty comments and this one leapt off the page! The dapper chaps are a PaperArtsy stamp that seemed a perfect fit with the quote! The tag had paint thinly scraped across it with a palette knife in many layers which creates lots of texture in the background and a perfect home for my smart chaps! Do check out my blog for close up photos that might show these layers in more detail."

Jennie of live the dream

"I have got a bit addicted to making these pop up card boxes! and thought it about time I made a male-themed one.  Once you get the hang of the measurements they are very easy and quick to produce and then it is all about having fun decorating! There are more details on my blog and a link to a great tutorial for the card box."

Sue B of Scrumplescrunch

"A few firsts for me this month; number one, my first creation as part of this very talented team at CVC, and secondly which is a biggie, my first ever Masculine card! When I was told the theme; 'Only Men Allowed' I did not know what I was going to do, I had some precut cogs and gears, so worked with them alongside G45 paper. It is a steampunk creation, which is also a first."

Sue of Stamping Sue Style

"For my first project for this challenge I've revisited something that I made in a Tim Holtz workshop and thought it was time that I gave it another go ! My plans are that I will add tags to the book as the binding mechanism will hold loads more !"

Alison of Words and Pictures

"Hi everyone!  I'm absolutely delighted to be sharing my first Country View Crafts creation with you.  I hit the metal for this tag, and my favourite crafty men of all: Tim Holtz and Umbrella Man.  The steely, stormy blues really please me - I hope you like it too - and if you'd like to see more details, do come and visit me at Words and Pictures."

Astrid of Astrid's Artistic Efforts

My husband travels a lot and I made a little accordion fold journal for him in which he can put his photos and journaling notes if he wishes. I used the Sizzix Big Ticket die which is just the perfect size (5.25 x 3.5 ") for this. For instructions on how I made this, please visit my blog.

Brenda of Bumblebees and butterflies

"I have made a triptych tribute to my Dad for Father's Day. The main background frames are made using the Cameo Frame and Pediments dies and each of the elements signify something about him."

Chris of My corner of heaven

"This shadow box was made especially for my GP who is retiring this month. Rather than buy a bottle of champagne I thought he might like something a little different - he did! The bottle labels show that the bottles contain all I wish him - good health, joy and laughter. You can find a list of the materials and tools I've used together with a step x step on my blog."

Doreen of Doreen's Dream

Hello to you all,well here I am my first post for Country View Crafts I am so happy to be here with  all these talented crafters. For my first creation, as it is Fathers Day on the 15th of this month here in the UK, I have made a Fathers Day Card. You can get details of how this was made over on my blog.

---

We hope you like our line up, there are plenty of ideas to think about. We have lots more to show you y from our DTMs during the month so please pop back every few days and see what's new.

Hopefully, you'll seize the theme and jump in and join us, we're bursting to see what clever and different ideas you can come up with. As Fathers' Day falls in June for many countries (not all) around the world we're hoping that this will serve as a great opportunity for you to make something and enter..... we shall see! >;o)

Please remember to check out our rules for entering as we should hate for you to be picked and passed over because you haven't complied. The rules are very simple, you can find them HERE.

As ever, our challenge closes just before midnight on the last day of the month - GOOD LUCK!

Chris and the team xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Colour, colour and more colour!

Our last post for this month would have been from one of our Top 3 guests but sadly she had to decline due to previous commitments. So, I'm filling in today with this colourful card...

---

Chris

of My corner of heaven

Don't you just love 8" x 8" cards? I do and today we have a decorative edged one displaying seed packets, foliage and flowers. Using dies, Dylusions, molds, paper clay and more, I had fun, fun, fun, putting this together. As usual, you will find a step x step over on my own blog.

---

There are two days to go everyone so please link your final entries in good time!

We'll see you in..... JUNE!

Chris and the team. xxx

Chris has birds on her box

It's my turn today with my second make for the month and this time I've chosen altered art and birds.... I lurrrrrve birds....

---

Chris

of My corner of heaven

This little monochromatic box was transformed from bare, light wood to this with just a little Fresco paint, a stamp and some simple die cuts. It will be given to a friend next month as part of her birthday present - she is a huge bird / nature lover and it's somewhere to put her house keys as she is always mislaying them, lol!

I hope you like this quirky little box. You can find the what and the how on my own blog.

---

 You have less than a week to go folks to get your projects completed and entered but we STILL have another post for you.... in a few days.

Chris and the team. xxx

Astrid is playing with the classics today!

Welcome again Astrid! Today is Astrid's first solo appearance for us as our newest DTM and she has pulled out all the stops to create this stunning piece to share with us...

---

Astrid

of Astrid's Artistic Efforts

Nature is so full of colour and can fill us with awe and wonder! I decided to play with my favourite dragonfly stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Classics 1 set as I have always had a special love for dragon flies and ,wanted to try to capture some of it's fragile beauty and shimmering colours. For details of how I put this card together, please visit my blog.

---

This is stunning Astrid, on first look I thought it was a canvas - someone will be very lucky to receive this card! Thank you!

There's just over a week left folks so start finishing your projects (or start one quickly, lol). We still have more projects to show you so please don't think it's all over yet!

Very soon...

Chris and the team. xxx

Anne is bursting with butterflies!

Our DTMSM (DT Members' Special Mention) badge is awarded every challenge to the entry we think has the most creative and original inspiration behind it. It might just be a blog badge but we hold it in high esteem! Our guest spotlight today is our DTMSM winner from March who has taken time out to share her latest passion with us...

---

Anne)

of Redanne

I was so thrilled to be given a DTMSM Award for my storage box, it is a real honour to be sharing a project with you today!  I have been crafting most of my life in some form or other and since discovering stamping and die cutting about 7 years ago, I have never looked back. I am slightly addicted to the new Artist Trading Block (ATB) trend.

Once I was given the theme of 'Nature's Glories'  I just had to create something with the new large Eileen Hull ATB die that I purchased from Country View Crafts and also my Tim Holtz Butterfly Frenzy strip die.  Is there anything more glorious in nature than a butterfly?

The box was die cut, assembled and decorated with some beautiful Maja Design papers, Distress Inks and a few butterflies from the strip die were added.  There is a little surprise inside the box.

A kaleidoscope of butterflies burst out when the box is opened.  The butterflies are also from the strip die, they have each been edged with Broken China Distress ink and mounted onto some acetate to give them some movement. If you would like more details, you can find these over on my blog.

---

Wow, we love this explosion of butterflies Anne - amazing! Thank you!

Are you motivated? Are you inspired? Feeling creative? We hope so because we'd like to see more entries for our 'Nature's glories' challenge! There is still almost 2 weeks left so plenty of time for you to get crafty and enter a project.

Next up is a project from one of our DTMs..... just a few days.....

Chris and the team. xxx

Mary Elizabeth is chasing winter away!

It's another big share from one our of March Top 3 winners today and it's GORGEOUS! A mixture of mixed media and altered art, this inspiring piece is a wonderful take on Donna's theme this month...

---

Mary Elizabeth

of ME and my walk on the creative side

I am blessed to have grown up in a creative family.  They created with words, music, photography, wood-work, clothing, doll-making, plants & gardens, food, machinery, etc.  Our home was an amazing place.  Personally, I loved to draw and preserve memories.  I seriously considered going to art school, but I fell in love with teaching and now I teach mathematics at university.  Life is funny sometimes, isn’t it?  Anyway, I continued to play around with scrapbooking as the years went by; however, it’s only been in the last year that I seriously got back in touch with my creative roots.  I’ve never been so happy.  I am excited to have found and be inspired by this wonderfully talented online community.  Many thanks to everyone at Country View Challenges for being a part of that inspiration :)  — Mary Elizabeth

It is finally feeling like Spring in the mountains of North Carolina and I am celebrating the new “Natures Glories” challenge theme by creating my own lovely bouquet of  Daffodils.  At the time I began experimenting with my floral creations, we were still having snow and I was dreadfully tired of the cold.  I used Tim Holtz’s Composer Tissue Wrap to create the almost translucent petals.  I mixed some of Tim’s Distress Ink with Matte Multi Medium and painted that on the tissue wrap to give it a little more durability when I die cut the petals from Tim’s Tatter Flower Garland.  The daffodil centers are just a half circle that rolled up to form a cone with some small pearls on the inside.  I could not help myself, I grunged my flowers up a bit.  I made the stems out of plastic drinking straws that were covered with more tissue wrap and tissue tape.  

I wanted to display my flowers in a special vase, so I tried a Wendy Vecchi technique that I learned in Creative Chemistry 102.  I covered a plain glass vase and painted it with Matte Glue and Seal and Rock Candy Crackle Paint.  The faux cracked glass look turned out fabulous.  I then decided I wanted the glass to have a little color.  After trying several ways to color the glass and/or the crackled finish, I finally ended up lightly coloring the crackled finish with a Salty Ocean Distress Marker. 

This project kept me going on those snowy gray days.  I hope others will enjoy it as well.

---

Thank you Mary Elizabeth for this original and creative piece!

Wow! How diverse can we be? Lots and lots of lovely ptojects, all so very different and we love the fact that we can share so many genres with you!

We're now half way through the month and we hope you're cracking on with your projects and getting them ready to enter. Don't forget, there is a fab £20 shop voucher for our winner, chosen at random, so EVERY ENTRY HAS A CHANCE OF WINNING!

We'll have yet another fabulous guest highlight for you in a few days.

Chris and the team. xxx

By the light of Doreen's moon...

It's a guest highlight today and Doreen was one of our Top 3 winners from March who has kindly shared her time and creativity to guest with us....

---

Doreen

of Doreen's Dream

Hello…..I am Doreen a very enthusiastic crafter living in Sheffield, I am married to Tommy and have three grown up children and three grandchildren. I have always crafted in one way or another over the years but paper crafting has been my love for about 4 years now. I started making scrapbooks but cardmaking has now taken over I especially like stamping and getting my hands inky. I was really honoured to have been asked to be a guest designer.

I am so excited at being picked as one of the top three and being asked to produce a sample for the challenge blog.

For my card, I have first stamped the image and clear embossed using black Versafine ink, I then masked off the moon and using Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean and Black Soot distress inks sponged the background. This was then matted onto some white and green card after stamping on the birds. I stamped the sentiment onto a tag made from the same green card and then decorated with some Burlap ribbon.

---

A fabulous card Doreen and a great interpretation of our theme this month - thank you!

We're seeing some beautiful projects being entered already this month, thank you for joining in. Don't forget you can enter more than one should you choose to, but please follow our simple rules.

Another guest highlight in a few days.

Chris and the team. xxx

Tweet, birdie, tweet!

If you've not seen these gorgeous, gorgeous bird stamps from Ranger then you're in for a treat today with some stunning journal pages from our Gabrielle...

---

Gabrielle

of crafty thoughts

For my second project I wanted to challenge myself to not use flowers and those gorgeous Scribbly Birds (by the very lovely Dina Wakley) seemed to fit the bill! My children bought these for my Mother's Day present - how did they know?! The birds are perched on torn pieces of Terminology Tissue Wrap. I didn't want to cover up the background too much as I was really please with the vibrant colours - quite brave for me!

---

Beautiful pages Gabrielle, great choice - thank you!

We love bringing you variety here at Country View Challenges because we love all types of crafting and encourage everyone with something original they've made to join in and enter.

Our next post is a guest highlight in a few days time, we hope to see you there!

Chris and the team. xxx