Song Challenge - Let it Snow

Another new challenge from The Craft Barn is a fortnightly Song Challenge where we are given the lyrics to a song and have to theme our work on them.  Again I have decided to go with beer mats for my base, having had a break from them last year!  The song this time is Let it Snow and I used a lovely Crafty Individuals stamp for this one.

Calendar Challenge Complete 2015

Here are my year's worth of beer mats for The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge.  I will be making them into a book with my Bind It All when I get round to it!  A very enjoyable challenge!

Calendar Challenge - December

We have come to the final challenge of the year on The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge, and I am pleased to say I have kept up with it every month, unlike a couple of other challenges although one, J52, I will complete when I can.  Our two words this month were Gold and/or Silver and Christmas Trees.  To alter my beer mats I covered them with BP and was going to use my Gold Krylon pen to edge them - but it has been such a while since I used it that it has dried up and the nib got stuck inside!  So I have resorted to using peel offs - which I have to say I have no problem using them from time to time although I know some people hate them at all costs!

I have really enjoyed this challenge, so thank you Craft Barn and I am looking forward to the new one for 2016!

Calendar Challenge - October

Our new words for The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge for October, are Orange and Pumpkin or Fruit.  I used papers and Tim Holtz images and words from my stash for my altered beer mats, as always pleased to be able to use up things I've hoarded for a while!

Calendar Challenge - July

Our two words on The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge for July are Turquoise and Beach Huts.  As luck would have it I managed to find a beach hut stamp in my collection so that was ideal for this challenge!   I enjoyed making these - now I want to go to the seaside!

Calendar Challenge - February

The two words that we must incorporate on The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge for February are Red and Hearts.  I have altered my beer mats using some K & Co bp as a base and then inked and stamped with Festive Berries Distress Ink.  I have used one of my favourite Crafty Individual stamps for the main image and went with that version of 'love' rather than the romantic version!

For those wondering, I don't live or work in a pub!  I bought a huge pack of 100 beer mats some years ago and have been steadily working my way through those ever since!  I might even have to purchase some more as I love working on this size so much and I am running very low!

Beer Mats and Cereal Boxes!

I took part in The Craft Barn's Quotes & Lyrics Challenge last year, and each fortnight I altered a beer mat for the current theme.  Having got to the end of the year I needed to make something with them all and decided to do a book, so I made pages for the book from cereal boxes and found some more quotes for each one to stick on the opposite pages.  Here are a couple of pics of the completed book.

An example of the completed pages.

Q & L Challenge - Faith

We have reached our final challenge on The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics Challenge that has run all year and I am very proud of myself for keeping up with it all!  I have yet to complete my book that I am making but that is first on my list for after Christmas!  Our words this time are Faith and/or Harmony and I chose Faith for my altered beer mat.  I had a stamp in mind when I chose the quote and then realised I had already used it for another mat so luckily had another stamp I could use instead! (Crafty Individuals one).  The quote is by Rabindranath Tagore.

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thank you for visiting my blog each fortnight.  I am looking forward to seeing what the new challenge is going to be in January!

Q & L Challenge - Risk

We are up to the penultimate themes for The Craft Barn's Quotes & Lyrics Challenge which has been running all year.  Our words this time are Risk and/or Heart.  I chose to use Risk for my altered beer mat. The quote is by Plutarch.  I am making a book for all my beer mats which is coming along slowly and probably won't be finished now before Christmas, but will be one of my first jobs afterwards!

Q & L Challenge - Journey

Our two new words on The Craft Barn's Quotes & Lyrics Challenge are Journey and/or Friendship.  I chose to use Journey for my altered beer mat, but was a bit miffed when I got my Tim Holtz stamps out to use for this and found that yet another set of acrylic stamps had disintegrated - a bit of wheel fell off this one.  I won't be buying any more acrylic stamps I've decided, I've lost count of the stamps that I have had to throw away because they fall to pieces - and I do clean and store them properly!  This quote is by Drake.

Q & L Challenge - Moon

The next two words on The Craft Barn's Quotes & Lyrics Challenge are Moon and/or Sensation.  I went for Moon in the end having looked at lots of Sensation quotes but not being able to find one that would fit on my beer mat!  The quote I have used is by Jean Ingelow who was a poet in the 1800's. Luckily I was able to come up with something suitable from my little stamp collection!