Chocolate Raspberry and Cream on the Catwalk

Hello my lovelies, don't you just love the week between Christmas and New Year, its the perfect time to relax, catch up on some TV and eat too much lol. Its great for catching up on some crafting too so why not pop over to Fashionable Stamping Challenges and join us for our new challenge which is a colour challenge chosen by my lovely DT Sister Yvonne - 'Chocolate Raspberry and Cream' sounds yummy doesn't it?  Pop over to the challenge blog and check out all the gorgeous inspiration from my teamies and also find out about the fab prize from our sponsor Flonzcraft.

I've made a little book, the colours have really bleached out on the photos unfortunately. I was inspired by this gorgeous project by Rebecca over at the Frilly and Funkie blog and followed the tutorial to create the pages for my little album. I've used stamps from Flonzcraft and Chocolate Baroque. The gorgeous pink papers are from Pion Design. I've added some metal charms and some shabby pink frantage here and there too 

I've added lots of die cuts, seam binding ribbon, lace and added some pretty die cut butterflies here and there too

Some of the pages have punched borders and I've also dusted off my embossing folders to add some texture here and there too

I've made loads of paper flowers, you can't have too many flowers can you?

I've used lots of distress inks in Walnut Stain, Tea Dye, Victorian Velvet and Old Paper and added some pearls here and there for a bit of interest

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

4 Crafty Girlz: anything goes

Artistic Stamper: anything goes

Crafts 4 Eternity: Something new (papers)

Creative knockouts: anything goes

Docerela Creations: anything goes

LEJ Designs: anything goes

Sparkles Forum: anything but a card

Stampin for the weekend: anything goes

Stamplorations: stamps and silhouettes

well done if you've managed to get to the end of this post, I got a bit carried away with the pics lol. 

I hope you're going to join us for our new challenge.

Thanks for popping by, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Guest Designer at Frilly and Funkie!!

Good morning folks, woooo hooo what an exciting day!! I was chuffed to bits to be the DT's choice for a guest designer spot over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge, of course I jumped at the chance to play along with such a talented bunch of ladies. Anyway the challenge is to create a card or project that reflects the abundance of the harvest season and the gratitude we express at Thanksgiving. Hmmmm, I had to get my thinking cap on for this one and I decided to take inspiration from the harvest theme and the beauty of nature and here is my project .....

A couple of weeks ago I was busy decluttering ( I don't know about you but I'm always decluttering and the house is still full of clutter lol) and I came across a funny little handbag that was a free gift with some make up. It had been gathering dust for years and was looking very sad, I decided that I'd keep the clasp and as I was prying it off the bag I thought I'd keep the bag and add it to my huge pile of stuff waiting to be altered. Here's the before pic

I began by giving the outside a coat of gesso and then smothering it with a layer of Flitter Glu and Kroma Crackle before blasting it with my heat gun. I'm so loving this effect at the minute, I'm crackling everything in sight lol. Once it was dry I added some colour with my PanPastels and gave it a coat of Maimeri Glossy Gel Medium, it looks a bit like a dragons egg doesn't it?

For the inside I stamped two little scenes, the top one with stamps from Joanna Sheen and the bottom one using a Clarity Stamp, I coloured them with Graph'It markers and created a cloudy sky with some PanPastels. I layered the little scenes up over loads of tissue paper. Next It was time to add lots of leaves and other goodies. I die cut lots of leaves from kraft Glassine, coloured with Memento Inks in various shades of yellow, red, purple, green and orange. I crumpled all the leaves up for some texture. I added the leaves around the edges of the little scenes, adding some little berries, lots of raffia and some die cut flowers made from Crinoline Fabric. 

To finish off I added some gingham bows and some little rusty bells. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations: Fall colours

Cuttin and Stampin: Autumn harvest

Heck of a Challenge: Autumn colours

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: anything goes

Sweet Stampin: Woods, trees, leaves

There she goes: Leaves

Thanks to the lovely ladies at Frilly and Funkie for inviting me to join you for this challenge, its such an honour :-) and thanks to you for popping by today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Pretty in pink at VSC

Good morning, can you believe its July 1st already? Isn't this year flying, or maybe I'm just getting old lol. Well as its a new month, we've got a new challenge at Vintage Stamping Challenges and the theme this month is 'Pretty in Pink'. There's a voucher up for grabs from our regular sponsor Flonzcraft so I hope you're going to join us.

I've used one of the lovely Manga images from Flonzcraft for my card. I've used a scrap of bp from my stash to cover a shaped card blank, distressed it with a craft knife and done a bit of embossing around the edges. I've layered the image up over some cheesecloth and popped in a little vintage image (part of the packing from an order at The Funkie Junkie). The ribbon flower is also from the Funkie Junkie. To finish off i've added some little pearls, a seam binding bow and a button tied with a little twine.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

As you like it: 3 favourite embellies and why

My 3 are ribbon, flowers and pearls because they always look pretty and feminine)

Crafting for all seasons: girly

Crafty Catz: Say it with flowers

Hannah and friends: Monochrome

Joanna Sheen Challenge: don't be square

Wags'n'Whiskers: cute as a button

I'd better go and get the bus to work. It seems a shame to be stuck inside on a lovely morning like this but needs must I suppose. Have a lovely day and thanks for popping by

Claire xx

Lots of layers at PanPastel UK

Good morning my lovelies, hope you're having a good weekend. I haven't been around much over the past few days as my internet is really playing up, not sure if its the weather or what but hopefully it will soon be back to normal. Anyway back to the important stuff, we've got a new challenge starting at PanPastel UK and this week our theme is 'Lots of  Layers' . Of course you don't have to use PanPastels but we love it when you do :-) As usual our lucky winner will receive a fab PanPastel starter kit from Berni our lovely sponsor at Your Creativity Store although due to the latest increase in postage, the prize will only be available to UK entrants but of course there's always the honour of the PanPastel winners badge for your blog. Here's my DT project for this weeks challenge:

My lovely friend Shirley made a similar project to this a few weeks ago (have a look here, its fab!) and I just had to have a go at making one, Shirl was inspired by this video tut by the talented Miranda. I've used stamps by Indigo Blu and Chocolate Baroque, all the layers have been coloured with PanPasels (of course lol) in Magenta and Turquoise and distressed with a little black. I overstamped with a gorgeous button card stamp from Indigo Blu and added a little black velvet ribbon belt with a blingy buckle.

I popped my dress form up on a little cake stand thingy from the pack of Wendy Vecci art parts that i've been hoarding for ages, I gave it a coat of Maimeri Gesso, coloured with Pans and stamped with a fabric texture stamp from Indigo blu.. I've added lots of embellies, including paper flower, flowers made with Maimeri Light Modelling Paste and a silicone mould. I've also added a few charms, a butterfly,  a teeny tiny coathanger and a fan. I've also added lace, velvet ribbon and some iridescent bead trim. The sentiment is a stamp from Chocolate Baroque and I've popped it in a little frame from the pound shop. The dinky little cotton reel is from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, wound with some embroidery silk from my cross stitching days. 

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Country View Crafts: die cuts

Crafty Friends: use a charm

Little Red Wagon: No patterned paper

Inspired by Stamping: Vintage

Sparkles Forum: Vintage or steampunk

Sugar Creek Hollow: Mixed media

Thanks for popping by, have a lovely crafty day

Claire xx

New Beginnings at PanPastel UK

Good morning my lovelies, we've got a brand new challenge starting at PanPastel UK and this week our theme is 'New Beginnings'. As always there is a fabulous PanPastel Starter kit up for grabs thanks to our lovely sponsor Berni from Your Creativity Store so I do hope you're going to join us. If you've got a minute, check out my teamies gorgeous projects, they're sure to inspire you.

I've made a wedding card for my DT project using PanPastels and stamps from Indigo Blu. The background was made with Ultramarine Blue PanPastel and Tint, over stamped with a swirl stamp from Indigo Blu and embossed with white EP. The next layer is glittered card, masked with the scrummy Fancier Lattice mask from SplodgeAway and coloured with Ultramarine Blue PanPastel. I've coloured white card with the same Pans and stamped the couple with Versamark and embossed with white EP. I've used nesties to die cut the couple and layered them up over a pretty doily. I've used some pretty lace, white seam binding ribbon (from the Funkie Junkie Boutique) and a heart charm. I made the heart using Maimeri Light modelling paste, coloured with panPastel.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Allsorts: true blue

Cupcake Craft: lots of layers

Daring Cardmakers: Stencil it

Frilly and Funkie: time for weddings

Pretty little Ribbon Shop: Lace

Well i've got a pile of ironing waiting for me this morning, its all good fun isn't it? Hopefully I'll be able to whizz through it and spend the afternoon in my craftroom. 

Thanks so much for popping by 

Claire xx

In the pink at PanPastel UK

Good morning my lovelies, Sunday already and so its time for a new challenge over at PanPastel Uk and this week we're 'in the pink' so we want to see all your gorgeous pink projects to be in with a chance of winning a fabby PanPastel starter set from our lovely sponsor Berni at Your Creativity Store. 

I began by making a background using Permanent red tint PanPastel and stamped with a ruler stamp from EcoGreen with Tea Dye distress ink. My dress form die cut was embossed with a texture fade and coloured with more PanPastels, I made a little skirt from a scrap of fabric and some tulle and added a little ribbon belt with a blingy diamante buckle. 

The sentiment was a freebie stamp with Simply Homemade, layered up over a corrugated die cut heart. I've added a couple of tiny cotton reels wound with pink twine (from the lovely Linda over at the Funkie Junkie Boutique) and i've used the twine and some little pearls to add a bit of a swirl across the card. The seam binding ribbon and lace were from The Ribbon Girl

My flower is a bit of recycling, I'd got pink PanPastel everywhere and used a couple of babywipes to mop it up, the babywipes were such a pretty colour I let them dry and die cut them with tattered florals, layering them up with a pretty pearl brad.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Crafts and Me: lace

Crafty Sentiments: use a sentiment

Everybody Art : Fabric

Happy Campers: use lace

Jellypark: girly Girl

Milk Coffee: shabby chic/vintage

Penny's Papercrafty: die cuts/punches

Perfect Sentiment: dry embossing

Pumpkin Spice: flowers

Simply Create too: anything goes

Pop over and check out my talented teamies projects if you've got a few minutes, they have really come up with some gorgeous projects again this week. Well i've got a date with a basket of ironing and a pile of paperwork for work so i'd better get to it

thanks so much for visiting

have a lovely Sunday

Claire xx

A touch of green at PanPastel UK

Good morning folks, and a big warm welcome to me new followers. Its lovely to 'meet' you.  I hope you're having a good weekend so far. I'm having a lazy one as I've got a bit of a cold and don't seem to have an ounce of energy so yesterday was spend lolling around on the sofa. Today sees the start of our new challenge at PanPastel UK where our theme is 'a touch of green'. Here's my DT project, which was one of the samples I made for the Graph'It markers show on C&C. As always our lucky winner will receive a fab PanPastel Starter kit from our generous sponsor Berni from Your Creativity Store.

I must apologise for the pics of this project, now my photography skills are pretty poor at the best of times but for some reason my camera really struggles to take a pic of anything purple, how weird is that? Anyway for my little canvas I took some Ranger tissue wrap stuff and coloured the back with yellow green shade PanPastel and some magenta extra dark and then applied the tissue to the canvas with Maimeri glossy gel medium. Once that was dry I applied light modelling paste through my favourite harlequin crafters workshop template and let that dry before applying gilding flakes to through the template (using flitter glu). I added more gilding flakes around the edge of the canvas too.

The poppy is a stamp from Chocolate Baroque, coloured with Graph'It markers and added some depth with PanPastels. I used Ranger black enamel accents for the centre and again used Maimeri glossy gel to fix the poppy to the canvas. The little heart embellie was also coloured with PanPastels and Graph'It markers, stamped with text and gold stazon and a layer of glassy gel. The wings were a freebie from Craft stamper, I 've used Clearly for Art modelling film, coloured with Graph'its and stamped with gold stazon and attached them with some cute little hinges from The Funkie Junkie boutique, adding some tiny purple gems. Here's another pic of the heart which shows the colours a little better:

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

2 sisters: flowers for spring

Artistic inspirations; Flowers

Die Cutting Diva's : green and gold

Funkie Junkie Boutique: Sunday share

Just add ink: just add green

One Stop Craft: anything goes

Wags'n'Whiskers: go green

Have a lovely Sunday, its dry here this morning so hopefully I won't get drenched taking the dogs out. Barney, our labrador puppy is really struggling to understand that his lead is for me to lead him and not the other way around lol. 

Thanks for popping by, and for your comments they always brighten my day

Claire xx

Love Actually at Crafty Ann's

Good morning folks, well for a pleasant change i'm not rushing off to work today as I've got a long weekend off yipppeeeeee! The weather isn't looking to clever though so I don't think I'll venture much further than the park with the dogs and my craftroom. I'm getting to be a bit of a hermit these days lol. Anyway before I ramble on any more, its time for a new challenge over at Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog and we've got a bit of a move title theme going on and this time our challenge theme is 'Love Actually'

As always my teamies have come up with some gorgeous projects to inspire you so if you've got a minute do pop over and have a peek at them. Our lucky winner will receive a fabby prize from Crafty Ann's Digi Shop too so don't miss out, you've got to be in it to win it as they say :-)

Apologies for the weird angle of the pic and the iffy lighting, its been so grey and dismal here I've tried using my Ottlite to take my pics. Never mind, not long until Spring and hopefully some sunshine too. 

For my DT card I've used one of my favourite images from Crafty Ann, this one is part of the lovely  Morning Glory set of 3 images (for only £0.60, what a bargain!) and the paper is a freebie (do pop over and check out Crafty Ann's freebies page as there are some beautiful papers and a Scrapbook kit too!

i've stamped the bp with my favourite Chocolate Baroque swirly stamp and embossed with white sparkly EP. The image has been coloured with Graph'It Markers and promarkers, distressed with Victorian velvet distress ink and stamped with the 'With Love' sentiment. I've added some cheesecloth and dotted faux pearls around (to hide the glue - shhhhhh don't tell lol). The lace is from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the organza ribbon is from my stash. 

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Can you digi it: Love is in the air

Crafty Cardmakers: Vintage love

Divas by Design: love/romance

I love promarkers: For the girls

Incy Wincy: Texture

Ribbon Carousel: love is in the air

Stamping Chef: ribbon/lace

Well I'm watching out for the nice man from Tesco with my food shopping (and my chocolate fix, craft mag and a bottle of wine or two lol) and then I'm away to my craft room for a few hours

Thanks for popping by today and for all your lovely comments

Have a good Friday

Claire xx

Love and Romance at PanPastel UK

Good morning folks, how's your weekend going? We're having a nice quiet weekend and bracing ourselves for snow later today but it won't bother me too much as apart from walking the dogs i won't be going much further than my craft room. This mornings project is my DT project for PanPastel UK, i've created a little canvas with a romantic theme. 

I began by sticking a beautiful floral napkin to the canvas with Maimeri Matte Gel Medium, once that was dry I applied White and Magenta tint PanPastels to tone the colours down and then added a little Payes Grey. I used my favourite harlequin template from Crafters Workshop and mixed Maimeri Iridescent paste with some gold acrylic paint and popped some on the canvas. The 'love' sentiment is a Chocolate Baroque stamp, embossed with Gold EP onto a tissue, again i used Maimeri Matt Medium to adhere to the canvas. I made some little hearts from air dry clay and coloured them with Magenta tint PanPastel, then some gilding flakes. The lace, ribbon and beautiful little lace heart are all from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. I've added  die cut swirls, a little pearl buckle and a metal corner. The paper flower was made with a Chocolate Baroque stamp and coloured with Magenta PanPastel.

I'm entering this canvas in the following challenges:

Allsorts: Valentines

Frilly and Funkie: lacey, heartsy valentine project

In the pink: Valentines/Romance

Simon Says Stamp: Heart

Deep Ocean: love and lace

As always our lucky winner will receive a fab prize of a PanPastel Starter Set from our generous sponsor Berni at Your Creativity Store. If you are stuck for inspiration pop over and check out my teamies wonderful creations, they are such a lovely talented bunch of ladies!

Thanks for popping by today.

Have a happy Sunday

Claire xx

Birds at Fashionable Stamping Challenges

Good morning blogland buddies, here's my first post of the day which is for our new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges where our theme, chosen my our lovely teamie MeggyMay,  is 'Birds'.  Our lucky winner will receive a prize from the lovely Marina at Cottage Crafts so you won't want to miss out. Don't forget we are a rubber stamping challenge so no digis are allowed. If you need some inspiration my teamies have come up with some stunning projects to get those creative juices flowing.

I've made a book card with a coordinating tag for my DT project, the stamp I've used are all from Chocolate Baroque: Curly Birds, Live out Loud  and Sing your Song. I won't go into all the details on how I made the project or you'd end up covered in dust and cobwebs but i've used lots of distress inks (tumbled glass, broken china, bundled sage - all blended on my SplodgeAway mat, spritzed with glimmer mist and covered with cling film), Teal zeal memento ink, Gilded Ivory Embossing powder. I've added some faux pearl string, cheesecloth, paper rose buds and some utee flowers. My lovely teamie Joanna has a fab video tutorial on her blog - check it out here and have a go, they are soooo much fun to make!! Here's a pic of the inside:

The tag has a quotation from Oprah Winfrey stamped on it, its one of my favourites it always motivates me and makes me feel positive

The front cover has a bird in a tree stamped with a Marianne birdcage die cut over the top, I've added more flowers (rosebuds from Wild Orchid Crafts) and lace (also from WOC), seam binding ribbon coloured with distress inks, some little heart pearl pins and a metal butterfly coloured with a little gesso. I was lucky enough to win some goodies from the Ribbon Girl a couple of weeks ago, wow what a fabby selection of goodies and these little butterflies are a real bargain, love em!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Anything goes: Monochrome

Artistic Inspirations: Embossing

Crafty Boots: Blue and white

Delicious Doodles: No designer papers

Divas by Design: things with wings

Its all about the vintage: lace and pearls

Paper Minutes: quotes

Stampin for the weekend: something metal

Unique Crafters: lace and fabric

thanks for popping by, I do hope you're going to join our birds challenge

Have a lovely Sunday whatever you are doing. 

Claire cc

CDAC Challenge

Good morning folks, my card share today is for the new challenge over at Crafters Digital Arts Centre using this beautiful freebie from the sponsor Shelley's images. Do pop over and have a look at the challenge as this is such a beautiful image and you get the lovely sentiment too! 

I've used kraft card for the base card and for matting and layering. The image is coloured with promarkers, cut out and liberally sprinkled with glamour dusts. I've moutned the image over some die cut nesties and used one of Tim's vintage backing papers. I've added some pretty laee and seam binding ribbon from the Funkie Junkie boutique and added some spellbinders die cut cherry blossoms with little faux pearl centres, this is the first time I've used this die and I just love it!!

Here's a close up of the image, i've used panpastels in permanent red tint and white for distressing, they give a lovely delicate colour. 

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Bunny Zoe's Crafts: anything goes

Crafty Bloggers Network: flowers

Crafty Calendar: what's new?

Dream Valley: girls, girls, girls

Marker POP Challenge: pink

Pile it on: Heart

Ribbon Girls: pink and ivory

Stampin for the weekend: something girlie

I hope you're having a good week. I usually love the snow but I'm getting a wee bit miffed as we've got a covering of snow but not enough to have a few days off work lol. Still I shouldn't complain. At least this week is whizzing by, hopefully by the time  I leave work I'll be able to squint and see the weekend in the distance. Have a good day and stay warm and cosy if you can 

thanks for popping by

Claire xx

A vintage challenge

Good morning, we're back with our first challenge for the new year at Vintage Stamping Challenges and this time our challenge is 'Vintage' with the optional extra of using your new stash. As always there is a great prize up for grabs from our generous sponsor Flonzcraft and of course my lovely teamies have come up with some gorgeous projects to inspire you 

I've used a shaped card blank, distress inks modelling paste and mica powder to create the background for this card. The two glamorous ladies are a lovely stamp by Flonzcraft - coloured with distress markers and I've decoupaged their dresses for a little more depth. I've added a fan made using a Joanna Sheen stamp, crinoline flowers made with tattered florals, a doily, buttons, feathers and faux pearls from my stash.  Here's another pic to show the detail

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Mess: sparkle/bling

Crazy 4 Challenges: ribbons and bows

Totally gorjuss: anything goes with ribbon

my poor laptop is playing up at the minute so I'm still very behind with my blog visits so apologies for not visiting, hopefully normal service will be resumed before too long

have a happy Monday

Claire xx

Surprise us at FSC!

Hello folks, I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas and New Year break. I've got 9 days off work now so hopefully lots of time for crafting :-)

Back to business as we've got a fab new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges where our theme is 'Surprise Us'. Our lovely teamie Joanna suggested that we should all make a project to send to one of our DT sisters so next week I'll be posting my project out to ...... nope not telling, that would spoil the surprise lol.

I've altered a little board book box using acrylic paint to create a crackle background, and adding lots of gold embossing. I then made a panel using alcohol inks (wild plum, cranberrry and snow cap) which I stamped with a gorgeous Chocolate Baroque flower stamp and embossed with Gilded Ivory EP. ?Unfortunately my photography skills don't get any better so the photos are pretty rubbish. I added some lace, ribbon and little flowers (from The Funkie Junkie boutique) I made a little brooch to go in the box, using crinoline fabric coloured with the same alcohol inks and white netting, I added a button and stiched some crystals and seed beads around the button centre. Here's another pic which is perhaps slighly better, or maybe not lol. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

C.R.A.F.T: Not a card

Fab'n'Funky: ribbon/lace

Live and Love Crafts: anything but a card

Simon Says Stamp: anything goes

Try it on Tuesday: Lucky Dip (Stamped image and ribbon)

As always our challenge is sponsored by the lovely Marina from Cottage Crafts with a voucher for the lucky winner so don't miss out!  Don't forget though, we're a rubber stamping challenge so no digi stamps allowed :-)

Thanks for popping by today, have a lovely Sunday. If you have time grab a coffee and pop over to visit my DT sisters as they have really come up with some gorgeous creations this time

Claire xx

Ta da!!

Phew I finally finished my festive Christmas bunting inspired by Linda's fabulous 12 tags of Christmas Challenge. You can find all the details of the challenge here and see Linda's beautiful 12th tag here. The challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie boutique and there are some amazing prizes!  Although my camera is still poorly sick and drying out in a bowl of rice I did manage to get the pics from the memory card so I could show you the finished result. The bunting was so long I had to split it and I've put one on the dresser in our hall :

and the second in the dining room. 

And here's a pic of the final pennant:

I made this with a background stamp from Christmas Flourish by Chocolate Baroque, a bauble stamp (also from Chocolate Baroque) and lots of distress inks. I added some gold mesh ribbon from my stash, a stamped sentiment, a couple of die cut holly leaves and a poinsettia made from Crinoline fabric. The sprig of holly at the top of the pennant was actually a bit left over from putting up the Christmas decorations, you know how it is with all the bits on the floor? Well it seemed a shame to throw it away so I popped it on my pennant.

I'm also entering this project in the following challenges:

ABC Challenge : D is for Deck the halls

Brown Sugar: red green and cream

Come and get it: anything Christmas

Fussy and Fancy: tags and banners

Squirrel and the Fox: Christmas

Sunday Stamper: Holly

The eagle eyed amongst you may notice that there are actually 11 pennants instead of 12, thats because our puppy Barney managed to get his paws on one and chew it up! He's full of mischief and I have to keep a beady eye on him while I'm crafting as he's always looking for something to chew.

Right before I go and watch Strictly, thanks for popping by and a huge thank you to Linda at The Funkie Junkie for such an inspirational challenge, I've really enjoyed every inky minute of it.

Claire xx

Christmas at PanPastel UK

Good morning, eeeek  I'm running a little late this morning as we've got gremlins in the house. Barney has managed to spill his water bowl all over the floor so the kitchen was awash lol. Just got that mopped up and I managed to drop my camera in my coffee - not a good idea. Anyway its time for a new challenge over at PanPastel UK, where we've got a Christmas theme this week. As always our lucky winner will receive a fab PanPastel Starter kit from our generous sponsor Berni at Your Creativity Store.  

For my DT project I've created a little scene using Stampendous stamps and PanPastels and altered a photo frame using Maimeri Light Modelling Paste and more PanPastels (of course lol)

I applied the Maimeri modelling paste and used the triangular comb to create a wood grain texture and left it to dry. Once dry I applied Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna PanPastels and then a coat of MaiMeri Gloss Medium to seal the 'woodgrain' effect.

The main image is a Whiff of Joy stamp, coloured with distress markers. I added a frame of holly leaves made bycolouring white card with various shades of green PanPastel and then stamping lots of holly sprigs (stamp from Molly Bloom) and cutting them out. I finished off by adding red gems for holly berries, some seam binding ribbon and a gorgeous brass snowflake charm.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Creative Moments: anything but a card

Delicious Doodles: anything but a card

Decorate to Celebrate: Christmas

Fab'n'Funky: Vintage Christmas

Incy Wincy: christmas with snowflakes

It's all about the vintage: Christmas

Loves Rubber STamps: Let it snow

Ribbon Carousel: Holiday spirit

The Stamp Man: In the bleak midwinter

Whiff of Joy: Snow

Thanks for visiting and for your lovely comments, I'm off to see if I can dry my camera off now

Claire xx

Linda's Tag Challenge number 10

Hi there, this week is flying by isn't it? I'm starting to get all excited about Christmas, I can't wait to see Barney our lovely puppy with his presents lol. Anyway before I start rambling on, here's my 10th pennant for my festive bunting, inspired by the fabulous Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge. Do pop over to Linda's blog, you can see her 10th tag here and find out all the challenge deets here. The challenge is sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique and there are some amazing prizes so its definitely not to be missed! 

I think this is my favourite tag so far although the photo isn't too good so you'll have to use your imagination a bit lol. I created the brick background using a Crafters Workshop mask and Maimeri Light modelling paste, once that was dry I added some colour with distress inks (Tea Dye and Vintage photo) and finised off with a coat of Maimeri Gloss Medium. The icicle border at the top is cream card, die cut with a Marianne die and liberally dusted with glamour dust. The die cut numbers are coloured with Fired Brick distress ink, attached with gold brads.

The bauble is made using a gorgeous freebie vintage image from Linda's blog (thank you Linda!!), I don't have a bauble die so I stamped a Chocolate Baroque bauble on some card, cut it out and then applied the image using Maimeri gloss medium. I gave the finished bauble a couple of coats of gloss medium and edged it with a gold krylon pen. The flower and foliage were made with Tattered pine cones die, laterd up over a scrap of cheesecloth. The other bits and bobs are from my stash.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Craft Room Challenge: make a tag

Crafty Bloggers: Anything goes

Crazy Challenge: Christmas

One Stop Craft: Christmas friends

Ribbon girls: Christmas projects

Sugar Creek Hollow: Stencils or masks

Unstampabelles: Christmas no stamps

Well I've been full steam ahead trying to get all my pennants finished and hopefully I'm winning now, I think this one is my favourite so far, I love the vintage image and the brick effect too. Linda's tags have been such an inspiration, I'm thoroughly enjoying playing along

Thanks for popping by today

Claire xx

The Funkie Junkie's tag challenge number 9

I had a lovely few hours in my craft room at the weekend catching up with the Funkie Junkie's 12 tags of Christmas challenge. You can find out all about the challenge at Linda's blog here and you can see Linda's 9th tag here. If you want to play along you'll have to get your skates on as the tags all have to be complete by 17th December!! The challenge is sponsored by 'The Funkie Junkie Boutique', one of my very favourite shops so its well  worth playing along as there are some fab prizes.

Here's my take on Linda's 9th tag, if you've been following my entries you'll know I'm making some festive bunting and I'm so excited about finishing it off and actually seeing all the pennants together!! 

For this one, I used Maimeri Light Modelling Paste and the triangular comb tool to create a wood grain effect on the pennant, once it was dry I painted with brown emulsion paint and then crackled it with PVA glue and cream emulsion paint. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons and the lovely swirly flourish at the top is from CaroLines rubber stamps. I've stamped a kraft tag with a Chocolate Baroque sentiment and embossed with gold EP. I don't have any star dies so I used Molly Blooms star stamps to create my stars using grungeboard and gold EP for the little stars at the top of the tag. I used corrugated card from the Funkie Junkie distressed with fired brick distress ink. . The burlap is also from The Funkie Junkie. The buttons, holly leaves and other bits and bobs are from my stash. Here's another pic to show the detail:

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge: vintage

Charisma Cardz: Christmas

Crazy Amigo Challenge: Hanging objects

Creative Card Crew: Stars 

Jellypark: stars are shining

Milk Coffee: Christmas Decorations

Paper Play: Christmas is coming

Top Tip Tuesday: Christmas

Well its certainly starting to look like Christmas, its sooooo cold and frosty here it almost looks like we've got snow. I hope you're getting on well with all your Christmas preparations, its such a busy time of year isn't it?

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

The Funkie Junkie's Tag challenge: number 8

Good morning folks, yipppee Saturday at last, I love the weekend!! I'd like to say hello to my lovely new followers, its great to 'meet' you, I'd love to pop by and follow your blogs but I can't always see your blogger profile. If yours isn't visible it would be great if you could leave me a message or email me so I can visit you too. Anyway here's my 8th pennant inspired by Linda's fab Tag Challenge over at the Funkie Junkie . You can see Linda's tag here, its gorgeous but I didn't have many of the 'ingredients' to had to raid my stash and improvise a bit. If you haven't checked out the challenge you can find all the details on Linda's blog here. The challenge is sponsored by Linda's online store the Funkie Junkie Boutique so there are some fab prizes up for grabs.

I've created a background using the marbled stains technique (I used picket fence, tarnished brass and Vintage photo distress stains) which I overstamped with a Stampers Anonymous crackle stamp. The bells are a Joanna Sheen stamp and the poinsettias are a stamp from Chocolate Baroque. I already had this cute little Santa coloured up, so I cut him out, adding some flowersoft (eeeek, I actually used flowersoft lol) and popped him on a Szzix die cut that had the same background treatment, this time overstamped with a holly background stamp from Chocolate Baroque.

I've added some red pompom trim and some ribbon to the top of the bunting and to finish off I've made a flower from Crinoline fabric (also from The Funkie Junkie), die cut with tattered florals and coloured with Festive Berries distress ink, the centre is a faceted clear bead attached with gold stickles but the sparkle doesn't show up too well in the pic.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Bearly Mine: Santa is on his way

Deep Ocean: Christmas

Everybody Art: Christmas

Oozak: anything goes plus red

Paper Playtime: Christmas Colours

Pretty Little Ribbon Shop: Christmas

Tuesday Alchemy: anything but a card

Only another week to get my Christmas bunting finished for Linda's challenge, Ive got another two done and waiting for some daylight to take their photos so that means two more to make,  guess what I'll be doing today lol??? Thanks for popping by

Claire