Spring is in the Air

It may not feel like it but spring officially began a week ago on 20 March.  There are little tell tale signs of the return of the warmer weather and nature awakening, the hedgerows are full of nodding daffodils and, if you look closely, the trees are in bud.  The lambing season is well underway and birds can be seen gathering nesting material.  However, here in the UK it is still pretty cold, especially at night and this weekend there has been sunshine, wind, rain and hail.

However, in recognition of the changing seasons for the next two weeks our challenge theme is 'Spring is in the Air'.  We should like you to show us what spring means to you.  As always with our challenges, you can use any materials you like, to make anything you like, for example, a card, a box top, a gift bag, a scrapbook page, an ATC, an inchie, etc.

Our Design Team have come up with a few ideas to show you what spring means to them.

Card by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Card by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Card by Dionne

We should like to give you the opportunity to join in the fun at Crafty Boots Challenges and, therefore, we are offering guest design team spots to the winner and two runners up of this challenge.

This challenge will remain open until 12 Noon on Sunday, 10 April. There are very few rules but, if you would like to read them for yourself, you will find them here.

We are looking forward to seeing your projects, good luck.

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Easter Mid Challenge Reminder

Welcome back to Crafty Boots Challenges, we are already half way through our 'Easter' Challenge. As always, we have had some gorgeous entries for this challenge and, as always, the Design Team are really enjoying seeing each and every one.

The winners of this Challenge will be given the opportunity to be featured in a future challenge as a Guest Designer.  Ina won our recent 'Ribbon and Lace' Challenge, as you can see Ina is a very talented card maker.  Pop over to her 'Vintage by Ina' blog to see more of her lovely work.

Ina

My name is Ina Twigt and I live in the Netherlands with my husband and my two daughters.  My other daughter is married and has one daughter.  I am a grandmother and it is very very nice.

I started out learning 3d decoupage, but now I also make scrapcards.  I started to colour with Faber Castell pencils and Distress markers.  I love this.

I'm proud to be a guest designer here to Crafty Boots.  Thank you for giving me the chance to show one of

my cards.

Here are some more ideas for Easter from our very lovely Design Team ladies.

Cards by Dionne

Gift Box by Jess

Card by Dionne

Tags by Lisette

Card by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Card by Dionne

This challenge will remain open until 12 Noon on Sunday, 27 March.  Please click here to go directly to the challenge.

Easter Challenge

It's time for a new challenge here at Crafty Boots Challenges.  This year seems to be passing by at an alarming rate and already Easter is just around the corner.

For the next two weeks we want to see your Easter projects.  You can use any materials you like to make anything you like, for example, a card, a box top, a gift bag, a scrapbook page, an ATC, an inchie, etc. It is entirely up to you, just as long as it has an Easter theme.

Our fabulous Design Team have been busy making their Easter projects:

Card by Lisette

Card by Jess

Card by Dionne

Easter Garden by Lisette

Card by Jess

Card by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Card by Dionne

We should like to give you the opportunity to join in the fun at Crafty Boots Challenges and, therefore, we are offering guest design team spots to the winner and two runners up of this challenge.

This challenge will remain open until noon on Sunday, 27 March. There are very few rules but, if you would like to read them for yourself, you will find them here.

We are looking forward to seeing your projects, good luck.

Something for the Lady Mid Challenge Reminder

Welcome back to Crafty Boots Challenges, where it is time for our mid challenge reminder. Our current challenge celebrates all of those wonderful ladies in our lives, we have called it 'Something for the Lady'.

The winners of this Challenge will be given the opportunity to be featured in a future challenge as a Guest Designers.

Pamellia is a one of our regular Guest Designers, she is such a talented artist and an inspiration to us all, we really love her work.  Pamellia has made a video of how her card was made and placed it on YouTube.  We are so excited about this, it is such a treat - Pamellia you really know how to spoil us, thank you.  You can view her video by clicking here.

Pamellia

  Hello Everyone! My name is Pamellia Johnson and I live on Lake Aquitaine in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with my wonderful husband, our two little girls, Scully (a teacup Maltese) and Pebbles (a teacup black Pomeranian), and more recently, a family of adorable squirrels as well.

Thanks to my very creative and talented Mom, I have been crafting in some form or another since I was a little kid. I've dabbled in a variety of crafts, and my true passion has always been card making. I have recently discovered the world of mixed media and since getting back in touch with nature, I find I just can't stop myself from reaching for those crackle pastes and paints!  I am always discovering new products and learning new techniques. I find a great sense of satisfaction in working out a process from beginning to end, even the bumps in the road teach us about our art and ourselves! Be it a card or a Christmas decoration, there's no denying the sense of accomplishment a DIY project can bring you.

I recently started to video different mixed media techniques and placing the videos on YouTube, I have made one for this card, you can view it by clicking here.  I hope you enjoy it.

The rest of the Crafty Boots Design Team has also been busy, here are a few more pieces to inspire you.

Card by Lisette

Card by Jess

Fairy Jar by Dionne

Canvas Love Heart by Lisette

Card by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Fabric Covered Note Books

This challenge will remain open until 12 Noon on Sunday, 13 March. Please click here to go directly to the challenge.

Something for the Lady

Happy Leap Day and thank you for joining us for another Crafty Boots Challenge, where we are celebrating all of those beautiful, wonderful, glorious, inspiring ladies in our lives and our theme for the next two weeks is 'Something for the Lady'.

Customs and traditions vary from country to country but here in the UK it is Mothering Sunday on the 6th of March. The date for this celebration is not exactly fixed because associated with the Christian church calendar and it is always held on the forth Sunday in Lent, which is 3 weeks before Easter Sunday. 

I have been looking at why the UK does not call this day Mother's Day and why the date is out of step with many other countries.  I had always believed that Mothering Sunday had something to do with the Victorians and those people in domestic service being allowed to return home to see their mothers but, in fact, the tradition is much older. Whilst the day has long been associated with mothers, and family, for centuries it was the custom for people to return home to their ‘mother’ church on Laetare Sunday (the middle of Lent).   Apparently those who observed this tradition were said to have gone ‘a-mothering’.  Of course, the day often turned into a family reunion and a chance for children working away from home to spend time with their mothers.

As it is not the day mothers are celebrated everywhere we are not limiting this challenge to Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day.  We are looking forward to seeing your projects specifically for the female of the species, those special ladies in your life, mother, daughter, wife, best friend etc.

This week we are turning a spotlight onto the work of Design Team Member Lisette - aka Mrs Beez.  

Lisette enjoys working in a wide range of paper craft styles and is widely respected in the craft world.  As well as being part of the Crafty Boots family, she also designs for Gecko Galz, My Artistic Adventures and Anything but a Card.

Mother of two amazing boys, this seems to be the perfect challenge to feature her work and to thank her for being such a great inspiration to the rest of us.

Cards by Lisette

Card in a Box by Dionne

Chocolate Box by Dionne

We should like to give you the opportunity to join in the fun at Crafty Boots Challenges and, therefore, we are offering guest design team spots to the winner and two runners up of this challenge.

This challenge will remain open until 12 Noon on Sunday, 13 March. There are very few rules but, if you would like to read them for yourself, you will find them here.

We are looking forward to seeing your projects, good luck.

No Stamps Allowed Mid Challenge Reminder

Welcome back to Crafty Boots Challenges, where it is time for our mid challenge reminder. Our current challenge is 'No Stamps Allowed', where you can use anything for your project, just as long it is not a stamp or digital stamp.

The winners of this Challenge will be given the opportunity to be featured in a future challenge as a Guest Designers.

Pamellia and Jane won our recent 'Snow and Sparkle' Challenge, as you can see they are both very talented ladies, pop over to their blogs to see more of their amazing work.

Pamellia

  Hello Everyone! My name is Pamellia Johnson and I live on Lake Aquitaine in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with my wonderful husband, our two little girls, Scully (a teacup Maltese) and Pebbles (a teacup black Pomeranian), and more recently, a family of adorable squirrels as well.

Thanks to my very creative and talented Mom, I have been crafting in some form or another since I was a little kid. I've dabbled in a variety of crafts, and my true passion has always been card making. I have recently discovered the world of mixed media and since getting back in touch with nature, I find I just can't stop myself from reaching for those crackle pastes and paints!  I am always discovering new products and learning new techniques. I find a great sense of satisfaction in working out a process from beginning to end, even the bumps in the road teach us about our art and ourselves! Be it a card or a Christmas decoration, there's no denying the sense of accomplishment a DIY project can bring you.

Thank you so much to the Crafty Boots team for inviting me to spend the day with them. I am thrilled and honoured to be here with such a talented group of artists. 

Jane

  Hi I am Jane from Jane's Journal. I have been a make and do girl since I could hold a pencil.  As well as a avid paper crafter I am also a silversmith, jewellery maker and cake decorator.  Recently I have had fun exploring mixed media. I also love gardening.  I am looking forward to early retirement in March after working for 34 years for the NHS as a physiotherapist. There will be plenty more time to craft and see more of my darling 2 year old granddaughter.  

I really enjoyed this challenge of no stamping allowed, it was a hard one though as I usually stamp on all my creations.  You can see the design process over at my blog today , do pop on over, a warm welcome awaits you there.  

Thanks to Crafty Boots for inviting me to guest design today, it's been a pleasure.

As always our Design Team have a few more ideas to share with you:

Cards by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Card by Jess

Cards by Dionne

This challenge will remain open until 12 Noon on Sunday, 28 February. Please click here to go directly to the challenge.

No Stamps Allowed

A new challenge starts here today.  The theme was chosen by the very talented Lisette and for the next two weeks. No Stamps Are Allowed - this includes rubber and cling type stamps as well as all forms of digital stamps.

As always with our challenges, you can use any materials you like to make anything you like, for example, a card, a box top, a gift bag, a scrapbook page, or an ATC, an inchie.  It is entirely up to you how you choose to interpret the theme, just as long as you do not use any stamps.

Our fabulous Design Team have been busy doing just that and here are a few projects to inspire you:

Card by Lisette

Card by Dionne

Card by Lisette

Pair of cards by Dionne

We should like to give you the opportunity to join in the fun at Crafty Boots Challenges and, therefore, we are offering guest design team spots to the winner and two runners up of this challenge.

This challenge will remain open until 12 Noon on Sunday, 28 February. There are very few rules but, if you would like to read them for yourself, you will find them here.

We are looking forward to seeing your projects, good luck.