Saturday, 13 June 2026

June DT Project 1 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Nature

Hello June!

Here I am with my first DT Project for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook for June. 

Nature. What a beautiful theme our lovely team member Lyns has chosen for this month.

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:
There’s a fabulous £20 voucher to be won for a randomly selected winner. 
Already I’m seeing some awesome entries so I hope you’ll put something together and join in. 


My first project is a Tim Holtz products one. 
I thought I’d make use of my Idea-ology stash and put a little something together in the large display dome. I decided on a winter nature theme as here in NZ it's currently coming into winter and wanted to create a frosty scene for my sweet little deer.


I die cut some grass in white card from the Sizzix 666069 Modern Festive set and edged these lightly with Distress Ink Iced Spruce. Then I added some Distress Christmas Gritpaste SnowFall to the edges. I also added some of this to the Idea-ology Christmas Pinecones.


I gently edged the Idea-ology Toadstools with Distress Ink Gathered Twigs, added some Distress Christmas Gritpaste Snowfall and set aside. I also blended over some of the flowers from Idea-ology Bouquet with Distress Ink Iced Spruce.

Next it was time to paint my Tim Holtz Idea-ology Salvaged Deer. I painted him in layers with Distress Paint Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain, Tea Stain, Gathered Twigs and Rusty Hinge, and a little Worn Lipstick to his nose. When dry I added some white dots to his back with a Posca pen. I also added a little Distress Paint Picket Fence to under his tail and added eyes with a black Posca pen.


I painted the top of the cork in Distress Paint Rustic Wilderness (the part that would hold all my elements) then added Iced Spruce on top of this as I decided to go with the winter theme. I also distressed the outside edge of the cork with Distress Ink Ground Espresso. 

From the Stampers Anonymous Tidbits CMS488 set, I stamped out the words ‘Example 3’ on thick card and cut this out.


I gave the edges a light distress with my Tim Holtz Paper Distresser tool and then I distressed the edges with Distress Ink Gathered Twigs. I punched a hole in each end with a Crop-a-dile, added an eyelet and then threaded through some string, ready to add after everything was in place. 

Time to assemble the main act. I glued some reindeer moss to the top of the cork using Dina Wakley Heavy Gel Medium. Using a hot glue gun I anchored the toadstools and my deer. I interspersed my die cut 'grass' amongst the reindeer moss. I dotted about a few Idea-ology Christmas Pinecones, glueing these down with the hot glue gun too and also added some of the bouquet flowers.

I put the glass dome on top and then I added my banner with string around the cork to finish. 

And here’s my June nature display dome project all completed. 






I hope you like this and that it inspires you to have a play with your own Idea-ology stash. It really is a lot of fun. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog. 
Have a great day
Hugs
Carol x 

Products used:
(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Display Dome

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Toadstools

Tim Holtz Distress Paints 

Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas Pinecones

Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Modern Festive 666069

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Salvaged Deer

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Tidbits CMS488

Tim Holtz Paper Distresser

We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile Punch & Eyelet Setter

Uni-ball Posca Pen White

Distress Christmas Gritpaste Snowfall


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Wednesday, 27 May 2026

May DT Project 2 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Bugs and Bees

Hello again,

It’s time for my second DT project for May for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook.  The theme this month has been set by my lovely teammate Claire, and its ’Bugs and Bees’. 

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter: https://www.facebook.com/groups/164920247712393.

There’s a fabulous £20 voucher to be won for a randomly selected winner. 

What better than to make a lovely card bursting with bees for spring. In fact I made a few to have on hand. 

I die cut the Gridiron die from Seth Apter Paperartsy and painted this with Tim Holtz Distress Paint Weathered Wood, added some Ranger Distress Texture Paste to grunge it up a bit, sprayed on some Distress Walnut stain and then rubbed over some Rusty Hinge Distress Paint making sure to blend everything over the texture paste.



I stamped out some of the Coneflowers (bees love coneflowers) from Alison Bomber Paperartsy set and also stamped out some bees from the Lavinia Bumble and Hum set. I heat embossed WOW clear embossing powder over the archival ink for the bees to make them stand out a bit more.

I then coloured these in with my Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils and fussy cut out. 

I prepared my card background using Tim Holtz Distress Sprays in Ground Espresso, Cracked Pistachio, Walnut Stain and Fossilised Amber, and stencilled over this with the Tim Holtz Hive THS105 stencil using Distress Oxide Mini Fossilised Amber. 



Afterwards around the edge, I distressed it with my Tim Holtz Distresser Tool. 

I added the background to a border and then onto my main card base. 
Then I layered up my elements with the flowers and bees protruding from Seth’s Gridiron die cut, and added a bit of fake moss in between this. (I raised the bees up on some foam dots so they were a little bit elevated).

I stamped out the sentiment words from the same Alison Bomber stamp set and placed this on the finished scene of one, and I also added a die cut Happy Birthday to another as I’ve got a friend’s birthday coming up soon. I left one blank to add a suitable sentiment as needed. 

I love how pretty this looks and hope you do too. 


Don’t forget, the challenge runs till the end of the month so there’s still time for you to join in. 

Thanks for checking out my blog. 
Have a great day
Hugs
Carol x 

You can find the products I used here:

(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Seth Apter Gridiron Die
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/667051---sizzix-thinlits--die-set-1pk---gridiron-by-seth-apter-185724-p.asp

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pads
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/distress-mini-ink-pads-859-c.asp

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paints 
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/distress-paints-436-c.asp

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (I used Hive but Honeycomb would look just as good)
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ths005-stampers-anonymous-tim-holtz-layering-stencil---honeycomb-24439-p.asp

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Texture Paste
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ranger---tim-holtz---distress---texture-paste---opaque-matte-176434-p.asp

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils 
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/watercolor-pencils-1598-c.asp

Alison Bomber Paperartsy Coneflowers 
https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/paperartsy----e-alison-bomber-49-coneflowers-edition-a5-set-on-ez-179364-p.asp

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Sunday, 17 May 2026

ATC Project with Simon Says Stamp Freebie - May 2026

Hello,
I just thought I’d share with you an ATC I made for a swap group that I’m in. I had to make 10 of these with the theme Graduation and wondered what I was going to do as I didn’t think I had any Graduation type stamps at hand. Or did I?

With a recent purchase from Simon Says Stamp, I was lucky enough to receive their freebie giveaway with purchase. 


It was the ‘Look Hoo’s Graduating Stamp Set and Coordinating Dies’. How lovely was that! 

And absolutely perfect for my ATC project. I decided to write my process up for my blog and here it is.


I made my ATC bases first - 2.5” x 3.5” on 300gsm white cardstock.

Then I created my backgrounds on top of these using the script sheet from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Palette Collection Blue. 


I tore strips to fit half of the ATC but before sticking down I painted the right hand side with Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Black Soot. I then stuck down the paper strips on the left hand side and rough brushed the edges to blend with the painted side. 



Then I took the Graduation Cap stamp from the set and with the Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink pad (it’s awesome), I stamped these randomly over the black side. It actually looks a bit like a chalkboard which I’m very happy with the effect.


I then stamped out my owl and book pile stamps with Distress Black Soot Archival Ink Pad and coloured these in using the Distress Watercolor Pencils with a water brush.



I cut out the word ‘Congrats’ in a black cardstock from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Celebration Words- Script 660223 using my Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick and added these to the left side of my ATC panel.


Using the accompanying Simon Says Stamp dies, it made short work of cutting out all the elements and I had these ready to add to my card in no time.


I layered these up with Simon Says Stamp 3D foam pads and then finally I added some Ranger Glossy Accents to the owls’ eyes.


And here’s my ATCs - all ready to swap.



I wanted to thank Simon Says Stamp for this freebie gift by putting this together and to inspire others that are looking at getting the Simon Says Stamps Look Hoo’s Graduating Stamps and Dies set. It really is very cool and a fun make.


Thanks so much for stopping by blog.

Have a great day

hugs,

Carol xx



You can find all the products I used on the Simon Says Stamp website here:


Simon Says Stamp Look Hoo’s Graduating Stamps and Dies

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/simon-says-stamps-and-dies-look-hoos-graduating-set1222lh


Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils Set 1 and 3

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-distress-watercolor-pencils-sets-1-2-3-bundle-ranger-ranger162-1


Tim Holtz Distress Black Soot Paint

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-flip-top-distress-paint-black-soot-ranger-tdf52937


Tim Holtz Sizzix Celebration Words - Script Thinlits 660223

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-sizzix-celebration-words-script-thinlits-die-660223



Tim Holtz Distress Black Soot Archival Ink Pad

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-distress-archival-ink-pad-black-soot-ranger


Tim Holtz Ranger Water Brush

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-detailer-water-brush-ranger-watercoloring-tip33080


Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick Cutting Machine

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-sizzix-sidekick-starter-kit-black-die-cutting-machine-664175


Ranger Glossy Accents

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/ranger-mini-glossy-accents-glue-adhesive-gac27898


Simon Says Stamp 3D Thin Foam Squares Small

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/collections/at-foam/products/simon-says-stamp-3d-thin-foam-squares-small-st0160

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Tuesday, 12 May 2026

May DT Project 1 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Bugs and Bees

Hi All,

Just ‘buzzing’ in to say hello with my first DT project for May for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook. The theme this month has been set by the lovely Claire and its ’Bugs and Bees’. 

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

Beeing (😁) that I haven’t got all my craft stuff to hand but I do have the essentials, I thought I’d make a 3D scene of Beehives, made with the Tim Holtz Sizzix Paper Village 664741 die set. 
I cut the 3 houses out in plain white card and then cut them out again in the  Distress Holiday Woodgrain card. 
Lining them up, I cut these into segments to look like a layered beehive and glued them back onto the plain white card. I also made a little hole in the top of each one for the ‘bees to get in and out’. 
I cut a piece of MDF for my base to the size 15cm x 21cm and painted this with Distress Paint Rustic Wilderness. 
I cut up some green grassy moss into a finer blend and added this to my base with Matte Mod Podge.
With a hot glue yellow glitter stick, I blobbed the glue onto my craft mat to make some honey. 
I coloured my Idea-ology metal bee with Black Soot Distress Paint and Wild Honey. I added some Finnabair Lavender wax to the wings and added him to the top of a  0.9mm twisted wire which I threaded through a hole I'd made in the base. I wanted him to look like he's buzzing around. I then placed my beehives on the grass.

And here’s my beehive scene for this month’s theme. This was a bit of a challenge for me to make but I enjoyed coming up with the idea - I hope you like it and may be inspired to try something like this for yourself. 





And please do head on over to our group on Facebook to take a look at what my Design Teammates have been making - they’re so inspiring and I’m sure you’ll love seeing what they’ve come up with, as well as the fabulous entries from our group members. It's only the 12th of May, so you've got plenty of time to enter.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. 
Hugs
Carol xx 

You can find the products I used here:
(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Collection 

Tim Holtz Distress Woodgrain Cardstock

Tim Holtz Distress Paints

Tim Holtz Idea-ology

Tim Holtz Mini Distress Ink Pads

Ranger Glossy Accents 

Finnabair Art Alchemy French Lavender Wax

Mod Podge (I used the Matte version but this would work just as well)

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Thursday, 23 April 2026

April DT Project 2 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Easter - bunnies, chicks, eggs

Hello friends,

We’re in full swing in April with our Easter themed challenge (think bunnies, chicks, eggs) as chosen by our lovely team member Christine, and I’m here with my second DT project to inspire you for our challenge for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook.

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

So I decided to make a card with the lovely bunny from Kate Crane Paperartsy stamp set KC019 as my main focus and I used the quote from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous CMS049 Nature’s Discovery. 

First I prepared the background (I made two) using Ranger Distress Mini Inks: Twisted Citron, Worn Lipstick, Wild Honey, which I blended using the Tim Holtz Ranger blender. 

I placed my Kate Crane Stencil PS503 on the background and rubbed through it with a baby wipe to ‘lift’ the ink. It’s interesting to compare the two ‘lifts’ from the first to the second. Obviously the first one was wetter and made the card I was using swell under it more, giving a raised effect. 


Next I stamped my bunny and the cute little bird from the same set, in Archival Black Soot and coloured these in using Ranger Distress Watercolor Pencils. I then fussy cut these out. (I cut the whiskers off the bunny and the legs from the bird). 


I stamped my quote directly onto the background using Ranger Archival Black Soot Ink, lined up where I wanted my bunny and bird to go and stamped these onto the background too. 
I layered the background card onto black cardstock to give it a border and then placed this onto my Kraft card substrate. 

Finally I placed the cut out images and glued these over the stamped images. 
And here’s my finished cards. 


I hope you’ll maybe try this for yourself and be inspired to enter our challenge on Facebook. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog. 
Hugs
Carol xx 

You can find the products I used here:
(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Kate Crane Paperartsy Stamp Set KC019

Kate Crane Paperartsy Stenci PS503

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Nature’s Discovery CMS049

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pads

Ranger Archival Jet Black 

Ranger Distress Watercolor Pencils 

Ranger Blending Tool

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June DT Project 1 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Nature

Hello June! Here I am with my first DT Project for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook for June.  Nature. What a beautiful theme ...