Baby Love!

 Good morning and a very happy Sunday! As you may know ('cos I've been telling absolutely everyone 😁) I recently became a grandma. This is the first time I've shared any photos so please be prepared for a total cuteness overload!

I wanted to make a couple of pages for my Jane Austen discbound journal. However I don't have a punch for the pages, and as I'm on a craft spending ban until at least 2030 I won't be getting one anytime soon lol. What I do have however is some insert pages for a Happy Planner, (exactly the same size) so I simply chopped them down and attached my papers to them.

Of course, I had to add some stitching - I think it makes all the difference, and it also ties the black edges to the paler pages. I used papers from one of my favourite Relatively Thoughtful collections, The Magic of Childhood.

I printed out some photos, and also die-cut some baby images. The sentiments are from a cut-apart sheet from the same collection.

I always photograph my layouts before I stick them down, just so I can remember where I put everything - yes I have the memory of a goldfish!

A little bit of matting and layering makes all the difference.

These papers are so beautiful they hardly need any embellishment.

I told you there would be a cuteness overload! 

This is how the pages look in the journal. They are so easy to put in and take out - I love them!

The fabulous journal can be found here in the store.

And the papers can be found here.

As always there is daily inspiration to be found on our social pages.

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Have a lovely day whatever you are doing, and thanks so much for looking xx 

A Hug In A Mug!

 Good morning and a very happy Wednesday. It's time for a fun new challenge here at Country View Crafts and this time we want you to"Get Sentimental" and either use a sentiment or some words of inspiration on your project. As anyone who knows me at all well knows, coffee is my greatest inspiration, so here's my first project!

I started by stamping my Katzelkraft mugs, and the coffee rings are a really old Stampotique stamp.

I coloured them in with Prisma pencils and a white gel pen. The Hug In A Mug is part of the same Katzelkraft set.

My fun sentiment is from Carmen's Veranda, and these are words that I live by!

Although I don't use hair curlers, the rest is pretty much me in the morning!

And this is my main stamp set. Susan has a great range of Katzelkraft stamps here in the store.

I'm entering my card into the fun 'food and/or drink challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday

and also Dot's February challenge at Ink Art Designs.

Now it's over to you to join in with our fun challenge! Take care and have a very happy February xx

I'd Sniff You First!

 Good morning and a very happy Sunday. Today I'm sharing a fun card made with the Relatively Thoughtful Vintage Ladies and Gents collection. 

I'm sure Sally didn't have this sentiment in mind when she designed these beautiful papers, but I just couldn't resist!

I started by adding some inks through a stencil to my base card. Although the papers are perfect as they are I'm still an inky stampy girl at heart! I picked a stencil that was close to the design on the paper and used inks that matched the original as I wanted them to complement rather than take over the original.

There are lots of fabulous cut-apart sheets in this collection, so I've chosen two and added a little stencilling again.

This is my base card. It's a huge 10x7 inches as the cut-aparts are so large. I always like to stitch my papers to my base as wonky stitching covers up a multitude of wonky other things!

I thought it would be nice to turn my images into tags. I inked the edges to give them a nice frame, but I was a little heavy-handed with them. Time for more wonky stitching....

You see, I told you it covered up a multitude of sins lol.

This little guy was part of the same cut-apart sheet, and I knew he had to be the star of my card. I've added him to some black card so I can bulk him up a little and give him a frame.

So as my card is nearly finished it's time to start changing it right?? I decided where all my bits and pieces were going and then added some stencilling in the same colours and design as the inks. Time to walk away for a couple of hours and let it all dry.

This has to be one of my very favourite quotes, and I love how it bridges the gap between all the elements.

And here's my finished card again. Two very dapper gents and a snarky dog!

These are my lovely papers, and can be found here in Sally's store in both digital and A4 paper formats.

As always there is lots of new inspiration every day on our social pages.

Relatively Thoughtful

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Have a very happy week whatever you are doing, and thanks so much for looking 

A Vintage Ladies and Gents Folder

 Good morning and a very happy Sunday. Today I'm sharing a folder that I made for my A4 collection of Vintage Ladies and Gents papers.

 I started by gathering my papers, together with the cardboard packaging that I was going to use. It's a couple of inches larger than A4, so perfect for storing my papers without any danger of bending them.

First of all, I prepped the envelope by going around the edges with construction tape. This makes it nice and strong and just gives it all a nice black edge to make the colourful papers pop!

I hadn't really noticed the shaped edge until it was time to cut the papers! I just popped them inside the envelope and drew around the edge. Once the top was the right shape I could just cut the bottom to size. 

I also added a little bit of stamping with a script and a music stamp to add a little more interest.

I joined the two sheets with a panel in the same colour and with the same stamping to tie the two together. I would normally have added some stitching at this stage but my sewing machine was buried in wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows lol.

The other side was a lot more straightforward as at least I had straight edges lol. I stamped my two sheets and joined them again with a panel.

I knew that I wanted to use the cover sheet so I simply matted it on a piece of black card cut from an A3 sheet. Now it was just down to the decoration.

This side was simple, I just added the cover sheet.

For the yellow side, I fussy cut some of the vintage ladies from one of the sheets.

Then I stuck these down and added some stamping again to tie the foreground images into the background.

These images are so lovely - just look at those waistlines though, she didn't get any chocolate for Christmas!

As you can see there's plenty of room for the A4 sheets.

And by adding the cover sheet I know exactly (ish) what's inside!

The collection can be found here in Sally's store, in both 

digital and

physical A4 format.

As always there is loads of inspiration on our socials.

Relatively Thoughtful &

RT Create, Make and Share

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how this came together, take care, and thanks so much for looking x

Minute By Minute

Good morning and a very happy Thursday. Today I'm sharing my second project for the Country View Crafts 'Time' challenge, and this time it's a card.

I started by dropping some alcohol inks on glossy card. I must admit it's a lot easier blowing through a drinking straw lol.

Then I stamped my lovely Tracy Evans stamp.

I wasn't sure if you could splatter with alcohol ink, but it turns out that if you're quick, yes you can!

Next, it was just a case of re-stamping some of the flowers and sentiments and layering over the top.

There are also some ancient Tim Holtz embellishments.

Here's my fab stamp set, Susan has a brilliant selection of them here in the store. 

It's over to you now to join in with our fun challenge for the chance to win a £20.00 voucher to spend in the store.

Take care, have a very happy week, and thanks so much for looking x

Happy New Year

Good morning and a very Happy New Year (again) lol.

For my celebration fun fold card, I've used papers from the Relatively Thoughtful The Great Gatsby  collection.

Repeat after me "this is a top folding card, this is a top folding card" Just remember that, and it won't fall apart in your hands lol.

If you can't use a bit (or a shedload) of glitter for the new year when can you?

My sentiment has been stamped, and I think the font goes perfectly with these papers.

This sentiment has been stamped too, and the teeny tiny glasses have been (very) fussy cut from one of the cut-apart sheets.

The A4 digital collection can be found here in Sally's store, and as always there is new inspiration every day in our Facebook groups

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and 

Relatively Thoughtful

Have a wonderful day whatever you are doing, and a very happy and healthy 2023! xx

I'm Late!

 Good morning and a very Happy New Year!

I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and a great New Year's Eve. Hands up who's giving up food forever ('till lunchtime) and is starting a full-on exercise regime (again 'till lunchtime lol).

We have a fun new challenge to kick off 2023 over at Country View Crafts and it's 'Time'

I started by painting a tag and then adding some background stamping. I tried to choose my stamps right at the beginning rather than keep on digging into the box and ending up surrounded by stamp sets all with one missing!

Then I added some tissue paper, and a bit more stamping, and tried to blend the edges in a little.

Some of these are from the very first AALL & Create release. I can see #5 and #446 in the photo! Susan has a fantastic range of these here in the store.

I hope 2023 brings you everything you wish for. Take care, and thanks very much for looking x