$60 Heartfelt Creations prize this month

This month it's my (Brenda) turn to share two of my favorite projects from the last twelve months, it seems rather odd doing this as it's usually me who prepares the posts and it's fine showcasing the work of the other DT's but not so easy when it's my own.

It comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am most comfortable crafting with inky fingers and lots of colour. At school I was never arty and in fact my art teacher gave up on my by the time I was about fourteen as it was apparent that I never enjoyed his lessons, so I was offered the opportunity to double up on cookery lessons which delighted me and led me to excel in something I actually enjoyed and which gave me the grounding for my future career. 

So it came as something of a surprise to me that when I fell into cardmaking by accident about fifteen years ago I actually enjoyed it - I wonder what my art teacher would make of that if he knew ?

I chose this piece from a post last August as one of my favorites as I adore the warm vibrant colours created with Dylusions which I love working with. It was a commission for one of my daughters for a TA who was leaving to travel the Far East so the brief was to reflect that part of the world in some way as well as being large enough for all the teachers and staff to sign - about 80 in total so a good volume of space required. The inside below contained several pages for the signatures and messages.

It was a little harder to choose my second piece as I have created a lot of scenic pieces which is probably my favorite type of crafting but in the end decided on this one from December using another favorite medium Pan Pastels, as I said in my post then it could be the scene at the end of my garden as like many of us I have fairies living there...........my blog isn't called Floral Fantasies for nothing !

Many thanks for taking a peep today and I need to remind you that this months 'Summer Blooms' theme will be running for another couple of week so still plenty of time if you have not joined in yet or want to share a second or even third piece with us, why not when there is a fabulous $60 prize to be won from Heartfelt Creations.

July challenge - Summer Blooms

Good morning all you crafty people, I hope you are ready for a new challenge which this month is..............

******Summer Blooms******

As always you can enter up to three times, combine with other challenges, all we ask is that as our name suggests we do want to see some stamping as a focal element of your work, entries not fitting that requirement may well receive comments from the DT but those entries will not be eligible for the prize and Top 3 spots.

Once again we have a wonderful prize for one very lucky winner from this months sponsor.........................

Heartfelt Creations provides a unique line of artistic stamps, detailed dies and designer papers. Many of our stamps coordinate with our exclusive Spellbinders™ dies. The innovation of our stamps paired with matching dies offers a whole new dimension of possibilities and quickly adds eye-popping 3D depth to any project. Our designer papers are designed to coordinate with our product collections adding the perfect complement to any Heartfelt Creations stamp or die. And here is the fabulous prize on offer which is so complimentary to this months theme. The prize is a $60 voucher to spend at their store, but please note PP&S will apply outside the US.

Our Guest Designer Samantha has made a beautiful Summer Blooms card for us using a selection of dies including some from this months sponsor....................

And her are the creations from the Design Team, I am sure you wil agree that they have really embraced the theme and I hope you will pop along to their individual blogs to see how they created their DT pieces.......

Brenda


Eret

Lynne

Maddy

uses Heartfelt Creations "Chateau Gate" die

Pinky

Sally

Tracy

Good luck to you all and we are looking forward to seeing all your lovely creations.

An InLinkz Link-up

June winners

Good afternoon to you all, it's time to announce our winner and Top 3 for June, I seem to be repeating myself month after month but with each challenge you amaze us with the quality and volume of entries and June was no exception, a huge thank you to each and every one of you.

So the lucky winner of the prize from Crafty Individuals is............................

Dora

We loved the intensity of colour and wonderful inking and stamping

Congratulations Dora, please mail me with your full name and postal addy and I will let you know how to claim your prize.

And our Top 3 are..............................

Norma

What a delightful and well thought out farmyard scene

Joan

Super Cornflowers and Poppy with the little mouse center stage

Fiona

Lovely layout and perfectly coloured image

Congratulations to you all, please collect our Top 3 badge to display on your own blog sidebars.

I will be Sunday with a new challenge and another fab sponsor.

Inspiration from Lynne

Good morning I hope you are all enjoying the Summer weather.

Today we have some inspiration from Lynne who is sharing two of her favorite creations from the past year and she has written a lovely post so I will hand over to her.......................

The first of my favourite creations from the past year or so was easy to choose: the altered mirror which I posted on my blog in February here.

The main reason for choosing this was the sense of achievement I gained from actually having completed the project! I had had the mirror in my stash for several years, and kept promising myself that I would get round to using it at some point. It took a while, but I did it in the end. I think it was the pretty Botanica papers (from Craftwork Cards) that finally spurred me into action, as the subject matter really appealed to me.

I still have two more blank mirrors, but I am making no promises as to when they might find themselves transformed!

My favourite project is often the one I am currently working on or have just finished, so I had to think a bit harder about my second for this post. I eventually decided on the altered domino pendants I made for pay-it-forward gifts, in November last year. I described them on my blog here.

Again, I had had the blank dominoes for years, longer even than the mirrors! I guess I was waiting for a reason to use them! I like making things in miniature, especially little scenes and landscapes. I think that stems from years of having to work in a room barely bigger than a cupboard, with a space of about 6 square inches on my desk to craft in. I have a lot more space now, but still tend to work on a small scale. I think a large blank canvas would scare me!

I also love working with alcohol inks, and jewellery making, which both came together in this project.

Thank you so much Lynne I am sure everyone enjoyed your post as much as I did.