AUGUST CHALLENGE RESULTS .......

A bit late I know - but such a busy weekend!  My eldest son (aged 20) has gone off to a music festival in Croatia (worry, worry!), and demanded my full attention beforehand, and Malcolm has just returned from a photography workshop up in far Scotland with the amazing Bruce Percy - if any of you, or yours, are interested in photography do check his website out - it is great stuff!  Then this afternoon we had a little trip to Whitby (love Whitby!) - bought some gorgeous vintage lace bits, some pretty buttons, and a carved wooden buddha type thing for the garden.  My house is sooo full of arty stuff, I've had to move on to filling up the garden now!

Anyway I'm sure you want the results not a potted history of my weekend - so here goes.....

Our fantabulous Helen Chilton was in charge of this challenge, and as I can't put it better myself the following remarks and comments are in her words:

'Really struggled to choose just 5 of these - there are so many great entries. In the end, I went for those that had really gone for it colourwise - the brightness just shone out even in the thumbnails. So, here goes':

• 16  Samantha Read - really went for it colourwise, and it works!

• 27  Paula - just beautiful - look at the sky!

• 19  Ann B - Love the colours in the background with the watery effect and the envelopes pick out each colour. Also the miniature bathing beauty!

• 5  Elaine - the colours just stood out behind the beautiful old ruin!

• 29  Alipeeps - Amazing range of background colours all pulled together with the flourish!

'Hope that's okay! There were loads I could have chosen - they were all beautiful, so I went for the ones with vivid colours that worked.'

And how bright and beautiful they are - don't you agree?  Thanks Helen for making the difficult decision, and please ladies can you email us at info@craftyindividuals.co.uk with your choice of stamp!

Lovely Lucy Edmondson is in charge of the September challenge, starting on 1st September, so we hope you can join us again folks.

Have a fun bank holiday - if you live in the, rather wet, UK!


Jean x

FOCUS ON .......

All the entries are now in for the August Challenge with 37 gorgeous projects submitted - do check them out!  Helen Chilton is the judge on this one - don't envy her the task of choosing 5 winners, I must admit.  I'll let you all know the winners as soon as I can.  Thanks for entering everyone!

Meanwhile I thought I would have a 'Focus On' post, so you can see the lovely crafting of one of our amazing customers. So today I am focussing on Florence (of 'Florence and Freddie' fame).  Lucky Florence lives in the beautiful mountains of Andalucia.  (Malcolm and I are having a trip to Seville in October - just can't wait!!)

So without further ado I am going to post some of Florence's lovely work using CI products - do check out her blog HERE, for further info and more fabby crafting.

Firstly fashionable lady cards:

Seaside themed cards:

And a seaside hanging:

And to follow a series of projects that I love all using stamps from our Individuals Collection:

I'm just loving them all, and there are lots more to be found on her blog.  Thanks so much Florence for letting me share them with the readers.

Back soon folks,

Jean x

AND THE WINNER IS ......

The winner of the six new stamps and four new glossies is Comment No 21 (the number 21 was chosen by my eldest son).  We scrolled down to find that comment no 21 was by Chris Richards - well done Chris, and do email us at info@craftyindividuals.co.uk, with your address to claim your lovely prize.

And whilst I am in the way of posting I thought you might like to see some of the lovely projects Kim Woods sent over to us recently - which I reckon would also fit the bill of the current challenge Bright and Beautiful (just 5 days to go!):

So much style and attention to detail, as I'm sure you will agree.  Check out our Website Stamp Collections to find many of the stamps Kim used.  I am going to enjoy those jelly beans later - or maybe I will just keep them to look at - definitely a better option for the figure!!

Jean x

p.s. On a sadder note, and for those of you who have so kindly made enquiries, poor puss is not well at all I'm afraid, and I'm told will not recover from this bout of illness in the end.  However he is holding his own at the moment, and seems quite chipper considering.  Ah well that's life, as they say!

NEW PRODUCTS NOW ON THE CI WEBSITE!

As quite a few of you have already seen (and are already buying) - we have some lovely new products available on the Crafty Individuals Website now.

SIX new stamps:

CI-319, CI-324, CI-325 and CI-327 (part of the Individuals Collection)

Plus CI-326 and CI-328 (part of the Elements Collection)

A bit of something there for everyone?!

We also have 4 new Glossy Sheets:

Classic Cars

 Secret Garden 1

Secret Garden 2

Film Strip

Plus three new 'Must-Have's (which you definitely 'must-have'!):

A fabulous Printer's Tray, which comes in layers ready for you to glue together

Which can look something like this when decorated (my own take on this one - love these!):

And 4 Sewing Charms just perfect for that printer's tray, and to team up with our new sewing stamp above.

Plus packs of Decorative Tissue Paper (try colour staining with tea or colour sprays!) (I used it on the back layer of the Printer's Tray - above)

And finally some new items in the Arty/Crafty Gift Shop:

A Crafting 'Pinnie' (every arty girl should have one of these little beauties in her life!)

A new design Tote Bag (bag for life!)

And we have added 3 new Mirror's to this Department too:

If you like what you see, and would like a chance to win all six new stamps plus the four new glossy sheets, please leave a comment at the end of this posting, and we will pick one lucky person at random (tomorrow evening) to receive this nice little package.  Check back folks to see who wins this time around.

Also a quick reminder that there are 7 days left to submit your August Challenge Entry - so don't put it off any longer!

Phew I am totally exhausted after uploading and linking up that little lot.  Hope you like it all???

Jean x

WE HAVE A BLOG CANDY WINNER, AND WE HAVE MORE CHALLENGE INSPIRATION!

Many thanks for the kind comments about my domestic trial and tribulations - things are much the same - but we soldier on!!!

Also thanks for the emails in response to the blog candy offer, and we now have a winner - our 15th email came from a regular customer of ours - Joan Wilcockson, so well done Joan, your goodies are winging their way to you - enjoy!

Now as promised more inspirational pieces from the team and guests to help you on your way to making your 'Bright and Beautiful' Challenge entry.  We have some extremely bright and beautiful entries so far so do take a LOOK.

Herewith three more deliciously beautiful projects from Helen Chilton:

Wow!

Plus two extra sets of pieces in very beautiful colours by Sue Abbott:

Another very pretty card by Isabelle S:

And finally two projects by a couple of 'guests' this evening :-

A sooo lovely beeswax hanging by Samantha Read:

- Must get my melt pot out again!

And another beautiful hanging 'Faith, Hope, Love' by Fliss:

Thanks to all of you for sharing your lovely creations - and do check out the blog links given for crafty instructions and more great artwork.

Bye for now,

Jean x