Wednesday 27 February 2013

Spring Beauty

Hello folks, hoping that you're all having a good week. So sorry I haven't managed to get round to visit for a while, I've been really busy with work and other stuff and it's only just begun to slow down so I should be round to you all very soon.
I just popped online to share one of the cards from the stamping workshop I taught last week because I happened to spot that the new Addicted To Stamps And More challenge is Addicted To Stamps! As this description fits me rather well (as I'm sure you know lol), how could I resist, especially with my passion for making my own stamped backgrounds!


We went very flowery for the workshop using pretty Spring shades as you can see and tried out a new background technique as I decided to experiment with my pastel pencils after spotting an article in a magazine by Kim Dellow and the background paper was one of the results.
I stamped the roses and rosehips from the Stampendous jumbo cling rosehips set with Weathered Wood Distress ink on off white card. I then used my rather dry Tumbled Glass Distress ink pad to add some texture all over. I then scribbled on pink and yellow pastels and rubbed them gently with my fingers to blend them (unlike ink, the pastel washes off straight away too which in my case was very necessary as I had an interview in the afternoon!!!).
I stamped the gorgeous Stampendous Garden Gal with VersaFine Majestic Blue ink on off white card and stamped an extra rose spray with the same ink. I coloured the images with Prismacolor pencils and blended the colours with Zest It.
I added some colour to the roses on the background paper with pastel pencils and again blended lightly with my fingers.
I trimmed the main image to a rectangle and added it to a pink mat then cut out the coloured rose. I assembled the card as you see, adding a Marianne Design Anja lace corner in lilac and twisted the rose around the image panel. I finished off with the sentiment (Hobby Art) stamped with Memento grape jelly on a scrap of rose paper leftover from the crafting session and added to a pink mat.

You may have thought blue a strange choice for stamping the image if you read all my instructions but can you see how well it goes with the Weathered Wood stamped background. I also think it makes the pencil colours really sing out.

See you soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Linking up to Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge - Addicted To Stamps!

Monday 25 February 2013

A Rose For My Rose

Good morning folks, hoping you enjoyed the weekend which sure disappeared fast as Monday is here again!
We have a new challenge for you today over at Make My Monday and this week the hostess with the mostest is Caz who has chosen a colour theme of Pink and Black.
I have to admit that a tiny bit of green sneaked in on my creation as I couldn't leave the rose leaves completely pink lol. A bit too against nature for me although they do have a pink blush on them.


I wanted to make a fairly vintage style creation so my much loved woman with rose stamp (an elderly Rubber Stampede image) was inked up with black. I coloured the rose and the woman (who I have to admit reminds me of Billie Piper - strange the thoughts you get sometimes!) with pencils and watercolour pencils. I trimmed the image panel and added it to a pink mat then a larger black one and added the stamped sentiment under the image.
I made the background paper by sponging Tattered Rose Distress ink on a square of card then stamped on the Kanban rose with black ink and coloured this with pencils. I then stamped on some script (Hero Arts Old French Writing) with Victorian Velvet Distress ink.
I assembled the card as you see, finishing off with a Marianne Design die cut scalloped border, adding pearls to the flower centres.

Hoping that you have a great day. Mine involves VAT returns - ugh!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Creative Inspirations Paint - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Dies/Punches
Happy Campers - Use a Favourite Stamp

Sunday 24 February 2013

Not Just For Christmas!

Good morning everyone, hope you're all having a lovely weekend. If you're wondering about my post title it's because it's time for a new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and the theme for the fortnight is a colour one - Red, Black and Brown.
My first thought when I saw this was robins and this is how my card came about as I decided that robins and holly aren't just for Christmas lol. You'll have to let me know what you think!


My card is quite a simple one as my first effort went rather wrong and ended up in the bin so I then decided that a simpler style would suit the image and paper scrap I wanted to use much better.
The stripy paper which came from my bits box was made using Barn Door and Frayed Burlap Distress inks repeatedly for a grungy look.
I stamped the robin (Artistic Outpost - Birds Of A Feather) with Memories Artprint Brown on thick cartridge paper and coloured the image with watercolour pencils. I trimmed it down and added a red and a black mat.
I added the stripy paper to the kraft card blank after matting it on black card. I then embossed kraft card with the Cuttlebug holly spray folder and cut it out. I swiped the raised areas with Vintage Photo Distress ink.
I assembled the card as you see, twisting the holly round the image panel.

The Design Team have made a very inspiring array of creations to show just how many things you can create with the colours.
Have fun!

Hugs, Fliss xx

Thanks to Terry, I'm also linking this up to the Artistic Outpost February Referral Challenge

Friday 22 February 2013

Fashion For That's Crafty

Hello folks, hope you're all ready for the weekend and I don't know about where you are but down here it's fr-eeeeezing!
I'm here today with my project for That's Crafty which is a rather grungy offering because I've been playing with my Distress Stains. I've also used my new Kaisercraft stamps to make a fashion inspired card which I've sent to my younger daughter at Kingston uni as she's in the middle of her final collection designing and is rather stressed out at the moment and I'm hoping this will cheer her up a little.


The materials list and the instructions - not too long I promise, are over at the That's Crafty blog so if you'd like to see how I made it you'll need to hop over there.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Wednesday 20 February 2013

A Thank You From The Heart

Good morning folks and especially my lovely new followers. A big welcome from me and so lovely to have you here.
My post today is my mid week motivation for this weeks Ribbon and Buttons theme at Make My Monday chosen by yours truly. I decided to make a flowery creation with my recently rediscovered Twinkling H20 paints which I used to paint the flowers although you might not be able to see the lovely pearly shimmer in the photo.


I made the background paper by layer stamping a flourish from an elderly Impression Obsession clear set also recently discovered - can you tell I've been having a bit of a clear out lol. I stamped my chosen flourish with Adirondack Aqua and Pink Sherbet having first inked the card with Milled Lavender Distress ink.
I stamped the flowers (Crafty Individuals) with Memories Artprint Brown and painted them with the H20 paints - English Lavender, Northern Lights and Gold Dust. I cut them out and embossed the reverse with a large embossing ball tool. I stamped the leaves (also Crafty Individuals) with VersaFine Spanish Moss and cut these out.
I embossed a die cut heart (Papermania) with the Cuttlebug Victoria folder and then made a little faux button with a Nestabilities blossom die, embossed with the same folder and pierced holes with a pokey tool.
I assembled the card with some pretty polka dot ribbon and added a sentiment (Hobby Art) stamped on a scrap of card left over from my Monday class demo (a flourish from the same set over card coloured with pastel pencils - more on this technique soon)

So there you have it and hopefully it will encourage you to enter if you haven't yet done so!
Fliss xx

Monday 18 February 2013

All Buttoned Up

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was rather busy as I'm teaching a workshop this morning and I also had to prep for an interview in the afternoon so please keep your fingers crossed for me - I could do with some good luck and thoughts coming my way!
Today sees the start of our new challenge over at Make My Monday and this week it's my turn to choose the theme. I picked Ribbon and Buttons as there are so many creative ways of using these on your projects - you need only look at the Design team inspiration to see how true this is! Also, can I remind you that we have a DT call out at the moment so if you'd like to join our friendly team, all the info is on the BLOG.


I've made a vintage style card with a fabulous stamp from Just Rite called Grandma's Attic. I stamped the image which is A6 in size on a square of white card with Archival coffee ink leaving the space on the left side.
I inked the image using an acrylic block with Antique Linen Distress ink applied round the edges and Tattered Rose in the centre. I distressed the edges with an emery board and then inked them with Vintage Photo DI.
I stamped just the mannequin portion of the image again with Memories artprint brown and coloured various elements with Promarkers. I then cut them out and added them to the panel with foam tape.
I trimmed a panel of red card with pinking shears and added this to the left side of the card. I embossed a panel of kraft card with a Papermania folder, scored and folded this in half and punched 2 holes then threaded ribbon through and knotted it.
I finished off with some metal buttons and a stamped and die cut sentiment with tiny heart shaped buttons added.

Hope you have a good week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Addicted To Stamps Challenge - Use Kraft
Sugar Creek Hollow - Metal Mania (my buttons are metal)
Stampin For The Weekend - Distressing
Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes

Friday 15 February 2013

A Little Shabby Chic

Hello again, I'm back with details of this weeks challenge over at Polka Doodles where we'd like to see a bit of Shabby Chic in your creations.
For my inspiration I decided to do some stamping (no surprise there!) and out came my much loved Wonderland Stamp Set. Here's what I made and hope you like it:


I covered my card blank with a variety of paper layers from the Wonderland CD which really is full of shabby chic fabulousness. I distressed all the edges with an emery board.
I stamped Alice with black ink and coloured her with Promarkers. I then made a frame by cutting a circular aperture in a square of paper and stuck this over the image before adding some faux stitching.
I then stamped a row of toadstools to look like a little grassy bank and coloured these with Zig Art and Graphic twin markers. I cut them out round the toadstools and added this to the corner of my card.
To finish off my creation, I added the stamped and die cut sentiment on a mat with faux stitcjing, some black pearls and a butterfly from the Candy Doodles CD.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Happy Campers - Shabby Chic
Anything Goes - Vintage/Shabby Chic

All At Sea For Thats Crafty

Hello folks, hoping you're all having a good week and had a lovely Valentines Day yesterday with hopefully a card from a loved one.
This is my first post of the day to tell you about the project I have over at the That's Crafty Blog today which is a very nautical card just right for any man in your life that likes the sea. You'll need to head on over to the blog for the complete view and a set of instructions on how I made it as it has a slightly unusual element.
Here's a sneak peek for you:


I'll be back a bit later on with my next post as it's Polka Doodles week this week and Team B has a new challenge for you.

See you later!
Fliss xx

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Valentine

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good week so far. I'm here today with the valentine card which I've made for my hubby, a fairly simple one for me as he doesn't really like anything fussy.


I stamped the heart (Hobbycraft) on kraft card with crimson red and vintage sepia VersaFine inks and then cut them both out.
I die cut the cherish border (Memory Box) from kraft card and added this to my white card blank. I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts) underneath with the crimson ink.
I added my stamped hearts together with some of the little hearts leftover from cutting out the border to the top of the card with foam squares.

Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow and that you get some valentines sent to you - I'm hoping that my hubby remembers!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
 Craft Your Passion - My Valentine
Creative Creations Challenge - It Must Be Love
Fashionista Challenge - Valentines
Love To Create Challenge - Feelin The Love

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Coming Up Daisies!

Hello folks, I'm here today to show you the project that I have on the Polka Doodles and Studio 12 Blog which went up later than planned as I had to make an unexpected trip to Brighton this morning to meet up with a lady at a recruiting agency about a job (some of you may know that I've been searching for more work for a while now) so fingers firmly crossed here for some good news!
Now for my project which is another wall hanging (I seem to be addicted to these at the moment lol) and this one is not only heart shaped but also very floral which is the reason for my title.


It's very easy to make, just requiring a fair amount of cutting out but this doesn't need to be perfect as I inked all the edges.
I re-sized and printed out the pretty bright daisies from the Heavenly Garden Collection on the first Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD. I then cut these out (something to do while you're watching TV or listening to the radio!) then inked the edges with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink.
I die cut a large heart shape from an A4 sheet of acetate and then cut out the centre with one of the smaller dies in the set. I added the daisies with foam tape and a piece of wired ribbon at the top to hang it up.
Simples!


Hope you're having a good day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Monday 11 February 2013

Make My Monday DT Call


Hello again folks, this post is just to let you know that we're having a DT call over at Make My Monday as we need some more creative juice to join our team and here's what our lovely Jacqueline has to say about it:

"Hello crafters, we are having a DT Call as we are looking to increase our team numbers. We are a very friendly team of ladies with a wide variety of crafting tastes, we each take turns in choosing the weekly challenges and posting the occasional Mid-week Motivation spot. We have a commenting rota so you won't have loads of work to do but you must be prepared to write up the challenge posts and the Mid-week Motivation posts for your hosted challenges."

If you would like to join us here at Make My Monday, here is what we want you to do:

1) Create a card or project - ANYTHING GOES - wow us create something spectacular.
2) Link up your creation using the linky tool below.
3) Please link your post only not your whole blog.
4) Do not back link your creations - they must be made especially for this DT Call.
5) Please do not enter any other challenge with your creation.
And finally
6) HAVE FUN!

So if you'd like to join us, all you have to do is create a gorgeous project (doesn't have to be a card, anything you like) and head over to the Make My Monday blog to link it up.

Good luck!
Fliss xx

Dreamboat

Good morning folks, hope you all had a good weekend despite any horrible weather as we had here which was wild, wet and very windy yesterday, definitely time to stay indoors and craft!
Today sees the start of a new challenge at Make My Monday and this week, your hostess with the mostest is Suzi B who would like you to Add A Charm to your creation.
When you see my card below, the reason for my title will become clear as it was inspired by the beautiful vintage image dreaming of her man who can just be seen at the top of the gorgeous postcard from The Graphics Fairy.


My background for the card came about due to my resolution to use up the bits in my scraps box this year. The pale pink flourish paper was made by applying Victorian Velvet Distress ink to the card with an acrylic block and stamping on a Viva Decor flourish with the same ink. I embossed some dusky pink card with a Crafts Too folder and cut this into 2 strips.
I then made up the background by applying the strips to a square of thin card with double sided tape, adding in some ribbon. I find it easier to do it this way as you can trim any bits off if the strips are not all exactly the same length! I then added this to a pearly pink card blank I made.
I printed out the image - isn't she just lovely with those blushing cheeks - and trimmed the edges with deckle scissors then added to a brown textured card mat. I then attached the silver heart charm with some blue ribbon (recycled from a top with ribbon hangers).
I die cut the gorgeous flower bouquet (Memory Box) from kraft card and darkened the colour by sponging on Gathered Twigs Distress ink.
I assembled the card as you see, adding a metal corner charm and some pearls to the flower centres.

The Design Team have made some fabulous inspiration so don't forget to pop over for a peek.
Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Stampin' For The Weekend - Something Metal
Addicted To Stamps - Pearls and Swirls (my swirls are on the background paper)
Pan Pastel UK Challenge - Love and Romance

Sunday 10 February 2013

Tales Of The Riverbank

Hello folks, hoping you're all having a lovely weekend and managing to fit in some crafting like me.

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and I had a bit of a dilemma with this one as I couldn't decide which of my many stamps on this theme to use! The challenge is Birds which is why I had the struggle but I finally decided on a riverside theme as I wanted to ink up my gorgeous Artemio kingfisher stamp. I made a little piece of artwork that will probably end up on the wall although I haven't yet added the hanging element. Hope you like it.



I made my background paper first with a square of thick watercolour paper which I sprayed with water and then swiped on Distress Stains in Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold. I dried this off and then stamped on the large fern leaf sprig from the Hero Arts Fern stamp and die set with VersaFine Spanish Moss. I stamped some on scrap paper first for a faded effect.
I cut a slightly larger square of recycled greyboard and inked round the edges with Distress Embossing Ink then heat embossed with Fran-tage Aged Green Embossing Enamel. I distressed the edges of my background paper with an emery board and added this to the greyboard panel.
I stamped the kingfisher on thick smooth cartridge paper with Memories black ink and then coloured him with Tombow markers and pastel pencils. I cut him out to leave a narrow off white border.
I made the distressed panel by applying Tumbled Glass Distress ink to a rectangle of the cartridge paper direct from the pad and then stamped on the Kaisercraft Wood Panel stamp with Weathered Wood DI and embossed with the Cuttlebug distressed stripes folder and swiped the ink on the raised areas.
The embellishments were made by  stamping the fern with the moss ink and the dragonflies with VersaFine Deep Lagoon. I then coloured the 2 dragonflies with Tombow markers then cut them out with the die and sponged with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with sparkly powder. The fern was die cut and because of the large white areas left, I sponged on some Crushed Olive DI to make them blend in.
I assembled the panel as you see with a mix of double sided and foam tape.

The Design Team have a gorgeous array of very different creations on the catwalk so don't forget to pop over for a look. We also have our usual lovely sponsor, Marina of Cottage Crafts with a voucher to spend in the online shop for our randomly drawn winner.

Have a lovely Sunday.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my recycled art panel:
Craft Us Crazy - Get To Cutting (die cutting in my case)
Sarah Hurley Challenges - Anything But A Card
Divas By Design - Winged Things
Stamping Sensations - Fur and Feather (think you can see I have feather tee hee!)

Friday 8 February 2013

Roses For My Love for That's Crafty

Hello again folks, I'm back again as promised with this time only a sneak peek I'm afraid of the project I have over at That's Crafty today which is my Design Team creation complete with a list of the materials and how to make it.
As mentioned yesterday, it's hearts all the way at the moment and this one is no exception as I've made a little heart shaped wall hanging piece which started off as a sheet of grey board packaging.


If you'd like to see the whole thing, as I'm hoping you will, then you'll need to hop over to the BLOG and I'd be so pleased if you would. It's worth it to see some of the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team's creations.

Have a good day and a great weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Thursday 7 February 2013

The Dance Of Life

Hello folks, hope you're having a good week so far. I'm here today with the first of quite a few projects you'll be seeing over the coming week which all feature hearts - no guesses why that is lol
Today's project is a shabby chic, vintage style card which uses some of my favourite colours for vintage creations - burgundy and beige with of course, loads of texture.


The main vintage image on my card is from a collage sheet called Dance by June of Dezinaworld - some of you may remember June's hacking problems of a while back which forced the closure of her online store but I'm very happy to say that she's now in the process of rebuilding the store which you can find HERE. Well worth a look as there are already some gorgeous collage sheets there.
I made a background paper using Glimmer Mists in Vintage Pink, Emperor Gold and Olive Vine on beige card and then stamped on the flower (from a set by Time To Stamp called Glamour Girls from the Craft Fairy) with Crimson Red and Spanish Moss VersaFine inks. I then die cut the heart shape with a large Go Kreate die set. I inked the edges with a burgundy VersaColor ink pad.
I embossed a square of beige parchment card with a Papermania embossing folder then distressed the edges with an emery board and my fingers. I did the same with a slightly larger square of burgundy textured card and layered these to my card blank with some beige rose patterned lace.
I printed out the roses (from a rose postcard - The Graphics Fairy) in 2 sizes and cut them out. I stamped the sentiment (Penny Black 3641F full of life) with the crimson ink on beige card and cut this out.
I assembled the card as you see using both double sided and foam tape for depth.

I'll be back tomorrow with my project for That's Crafty - cue more hearts!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Sugar Creek Hollow -  Romantic Love
Deep Ocean Challenge - Love and Lace
Top Tip Tuesday - Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Crafty Cardmakers - Vintage Love

Monday 4 February 2013

A Little Persuasion

Good morning folks, hoping you had a better weekend than me as I got woken up at 7am yesterday by my hubby saying the boiler wasn't working so we had no heating or hot water and I had to get up! Don't know about you but I would rather have stayed snuggled up under the covers! Instead, I had to get up and put layers of clothes on to go and clean out and feed the bunnies whilst hubby looked for a solution on the internet. Happily a few hours later all was sorted but it took ages for the house to warm up as yesterday was really cold.
Anyway, enough waffle and on to my reason for this post which is to tell you about the new challenge over at Make My Monday which has been chosen by Mynnette who is challenging us to create a project based on the cover of Jane Austen's Persuasion, which you'll find under my card. When I saw the cover, my thoughts immediately flew to my Stampendous Parasol Portrait stamp and here's the resulting card:



I've made a step card using a template from the Robert Addams Fabulous Folds CD and made my background papers by applying Victorian Velvet Distress ink to the card using a large acrylic block. I did this several times in order to achieve a shabby chic effect and then used both stamps from the Stampendous jumbo cling rosehips set and VersaFine Smokey Gray ink to add the flowers. I coloured these with pastel pencils and added them to the card sections.
I then stamped the parasol portrait with the grey ink and coloured her with the pastel pencils. I trimmed the panel and added this to a green die cut panel (Papermania set) which I embossed at the base with the sentiment folder from a very elderly Cuttlebug border folder set called With Love.

The Design Team have made some very varied creations based on the cover so do pop over for a peek as I promise you, it's not as hard as you think!

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Catz - Anything But Square
Moving Along With The Times - Punch It Out

Saturday 2 February 2013

Wishing Upon A Star

Morning folks, I think I'm going to be last past the post with this card which I was inspired to create by the Pan Pastel UK Challenge who are Seeing Stars and also Simon Says Stamp And Show who are also seeing stars. Finally too, an entry for my fellow DT member at MMM, Mynnette's Inkspirational Challenge.
I almost didn't finish my card as we had a meeting in our house yesterday which is a bit like running a hotel and we went out for a meal in the evening - however, guess who ate so much she didn't feel like any breakfast this morning!
Enough said I think and here's my finished creation:


The card came about as I rediscovered a piece of swirly background paper in my scraps box which I made a while ago using the Complex Creation unmounted stamp set by Artifacts (from The Stamp Bug) and stamped with pink and purple shades of VersaMagic inks. I tore the edges and layered it up with some torn edged striped mauve vellum and some lavender embossed paper which I've had for a very long time (I'm in a use it or lose it phase!)
I stamped the glamorous star (Paper Artsy) with VersaFine Imperial Purple, coloured her with Promarkers and cut her out. I layered her on to a die cut star, inked with Pink Grapefruit VersaMagic and stamped with one of the swirly stamps using Concord Grape VersaMagic ink.
I finished off with the text created with my Dymo machine.

Hoping you have a lovely weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Pan Pastel UK Challenge - Seeing Stars
Simon Says Stamp And Show - Seeing Stars
Sunday Stamper - Wishing Well - Wish
Inkspirational Challenge - Anything Goes (finally Mynnette!)

Friday 1 February 2013

Hearts And Flowers

Well, here I am again with my second post for the day which is all about the new challenge over at Polka Doodles today which has what is, for me at least, a rather romantic sounding set of requirements as this week we would like to see

Lots of Layers Plus Pink and Red

As it brought out a bit of romance for me, I immediately thought of roses which I really love and here's the resulting card.


Everything I've used on my card comes from the latest CD, Cherryblossom Lane. I cut panels of various pink papers and tore the edges then inked them with fuchsia pink before adding them to my card blank.
I then hand cut 2 heart shapes from red pearlised card and embossed one with a Cuttlebug hearts folder. I added a decoupaged rose image from the CD which I layered up with foam tape and I printed out the lovely sentiment on to pink stripy paper from the CD and hand cut this into a heart shape.

Hoping that you have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Travels With My Aunt For That's Crafty

Hello folks and a big welcome to any new readers here, lovely to have you and to be able to share my creations with you all.
I have a sneaky peek here of my project for today for That's Crafty and you'll need to head over to the Blog if you'd like to see the whole card and details of how I made it.






This one has a bit of a country feel to it (sort of Country Diary etc) but you'll need to hop on over if you're interested in seeing how the card came about - a bit of meandering was involved lol

Back later with my next post for the day - I'm a busy bee at the moment!

Fliss xx