Tracy Easson Visits Country View Crafts

Good morning and happy Monday. It's Sue here sharing a project that I made at a recent Tracy Easson workshop - it's the Little Book of Wishes.

I didn't actually make this at Country View Towers as Tracy was there the day before we flew to Spain. Neil refused to do the 350 miles round trip or change the flights to Luton. I know, selfish or what!

Luckily Tracy was a little (lot) closer to home the week before and I managed to sneak a place, so put the cats in the kitchen and prepare to fall in love with mice.

 I'm not saying how the book was made as it's a class that Tracy is still teaching. I will say that it was great fun and I can't wait to take another of her classes.

This is the front cover. Tracy provided everything including thread and the lovely badge.

I just love Matilda Bottoms, she's so cute!

And Morty is such a handsome chap, always with his head up to the sky.

This is page 3. I really enjoyed working with the fabrics, not something that I had ever done before.

This is the middle where we added some paper pages.

And the other side with some fabric clouds added. This is the very sweet Betsy Bottoms.

Lots of words on this page.

And I've added a Tim Holtz die cut to this one.

The lovely Matilda started the book so it seemed only fair that she should end it too.

And finally the back cover with a fabric badge that I made - I never thought that I would say that! I know that I machine stitch my cards but I've never actually made a garment - I've only just progressed to stitching a hem. It was so relaxing to just sit and sew and I really enjoyed finishing my book (though it did take about 10 days, I just wanted to keep adding bits and bobs)

I do hope that Tracy comes back next year, if she does my name will be the first on the list.
All of her stamps can be found here in the store. Have a lovely week, and thanks so much for looking x

Autumn 2019 Visible Image stamp release

Hello hello I'm sorry this is a little late in writing but my goodness life has been busy, in a good way! It's Jane here from Jane's Journal.

I am finally able to showcase the latest Visible Image stamp release for Country View. I have linked everything in this post to the website and if anything is out of stock just put in your details in the box and Susan will email you when her new stock is in.

There are 6 new image sets and 3 sentiment sets.

First up is the amazing Night owl set and what an awesome owl he is, such a great size. These are all first samples I have made with the sets.

He is easy to colour

and makes a real statement on a project.

I also used the Deep in the forest set in the owl card above for some extra branches and texture.

Next is a bestseller called Erika's maple Do check out via the link the special reason and dedication behind this gorgeous set.

I made an autumnal wreath using lots of media to create the leaves.

Don't judge is such an original set and perfect for journalling as well as for cards when someone is not quite feeling on top of things. 

The zip and safety pins are really cool and I made a piece which included a real zip and safety pins too.

Beautiful soul

is a delight to work with and there are so many design possibilities using her. You can colour in her hair, write in her hair, change her position, the designs are endless. Here is one of several I have made. This one uses distress reinkers and a sentiment form the Believe in me sentiment set. Her "festival hair" was created with Stickles.

The last image set is called The right direction 

and is perfect for male projects and cards.There are no less than 9 individual stamps in this set. I had such fun"driving" the little car around my page.

The skyline in this set is brilliant too and how awesome is the retro Ford Capri...one of my old boyfriend's from 1977 had a silver 2 tone one!!!

The last 2 sentiment sets in this release are

Brighten the world

and
Brave and strong

I made a picture using 2 of these sentiments, Beautiful soul and some autumn leaves from Erika's Maple. All the sets work so well together and with other exiting Visible Image sets. 

All these sentiments are perfect for journaling, scrap booking, tags or cards. You have every occasion covered with these brilliant words.

I have made another card for the next Country View Challenge using the Night Owl, which starts on 1st December.
I will share a little sneak peek here but if you want to see the whole project and a full step by step you will need to join us over at the Challenge site here on 1st December

In the mean time we have a "hand stamped focal" challenge running here which you could join in with and perhaps even win a £20 gift voucher to spend on the website?

One final reminder is that Country View offers FREE UK POSTAGE ON EVERYTHING, with no minimum spend. Win,win in my books!

If you would like to see the whole Visible Image range which is stocked at Country View here is the link . Susan has just had a big restock so many previously out of stock stamps and stencils area now back in.

Thanks so much for stopping by...I wonder how many of these fab new stamps will find their way into your Christmas stockings..ho ho ho!

Bye for now,

Jane x

Strata Paste

Hi there,

It’s Celia here and today I’m trying out Andy Skinner’s Strata Paste by Creative Expressions. It has pieces of mica in it which give it a kind of crunchy, lumpy consistency. I applied some to the edges of a tag with a spatula, making it quite thick in some places. I also applied some Stamperia crackle paste, leaving a space in the middle.

When it was dry I coated it in Paperartsy Fresco Finish in Glacier Ice. I then stippled in some darker colours round the edge (Midnight & Turquoise). I stamped a graffiti stamp in the middle, then dry brushed the texture pastes with the Glacier Ice.

The Strata paste gives a very unique and interesting texture, quite different from sand paste, and it contrasts well with the crackle paste. I think it will make a great addition to my arsenal of texture pastes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Celia x