Harlequin Flower

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a good weekend. I'm very inky fingered here having been experimenting with Tim Holtz's fabulous Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge technique from page 53 of his Compendium of Curiosities which is the subject of this week's challenge at Linda Ledbetter's Studio L3.
My creation turned out a little different to my original plan as I couldn't find my grunge board (a really big tidy up is on the cards I think!) and used instead some harlequin patterned grunge board squares that I did come across in my search. The end result is a little more blingy than intended because the pattern on the grunge board caused the alcohol ink to behave in a different way.
Here it is!

I arranged my treated squares in a grid pattern to fit this week's challenge 77 at Stamptacular Sunday and glued them to a piece of silver embossed card rubbed with Royal Purple Stazon ink.
I inked a larger square of the same card with Olive Green Stazon ink and then stamped on Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz paisley with the purple ink.
I cut out some metal flowers with the Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Florals die and coloured these with alcohol inks. I stamped the paisley design on the larger flower petals. I added a brass charm in the centre.
That's it from me until next week as I'm off to Ally Pally to the Big Stamping and Scrapbooking Show tomorrow and have a very early start!

Movie Queen

I'm on a roll here with my second post of the day which is my entry for this week's Sunday Stampers challenge, More Like The Movies. The first time in ages too as I've been so busy lately that I don't know where the last few weeks went - I think my 2 girls stole them if you know what I mean!
My entry is somewhat retro as it was determined by the stamps I own and stuff already printed out in my stash. It also concerns my favourite movie queeen, Audrey Hepburn, whom I still consider to be the most elegant woman ever.

I made a background on white card with black ink and B Line Designs Eiffel Tower, Art Impressions Manhattan Skyline and a film strip which I think is by Stamp Attack.
I stamped Audrey by B Line Designs in black on blue and vermillion card and cut out squares.
I assembled the card with the addition of some cinema tickets from the Eclectic section of the Polka Doodles Not For Girls CD and some text made with a Dymo machine.

I'm now off to do a VAT return - how about that for down to earth with a bump!

Polka Doodles Challenge - Hidden Element

Morning all, it's Friday yet again so it must be Polka Doodles time and this week's challenge has been set by teamie Claire who would like to see a hidden element in your creation.
I have to admit that I cheated slightly with mine, still being printerless and had to make my card from scraps left over from my samples for Nikky's fab new CD, Sundae of Seasons.
I made a simple gate fold card which reveals a pretty inside when opened up.

I made a floral wreath from the gorgeous flowers and leaves in the Autumn scetion of the CD and I just love the beautiful colours here (probably because I'm an Autumn girl myself lol)
I added some of the pretty papers to the front of the gatefold, cutting part out with an oval cutter to show off the wreath better.
I covered the inside with some more pretty paper and added a greeting from the large slection together with a pretty basket of flowers which match the flowers on the wreath.
How easy is that!
You have until 12 noon on Sunday 3 October to upload your creations and please don't forget our 10 challenge rule as we often have to discount the most beautiful creations because of this.

I also have some news which I forgot to tell you about in that on Monday I found out that I won last week's challenge over at Craft Your Passion and am now the proud owner of 2 lovely digital stamps from Lauretta and Corinne. Thanks ladies!

Very Vintage

Hello everyone, hope you've got better weather than the South of England as it's raining cats and dogs here at the moment. I'm taking the opportunity (as we all would!) to catch up on some crafting although with a slight glitch as I currently have no printer.
Happily the creation I have to show you involves lots of stamping, painting, embossing and glittering so the lack of printer didn't come into it.

You can probably see why my card is very vintage. The background paper is made using my Distress Ink Grunge Background technique (link to tutorial on side bar) and because the card I used was quite absorbent, it came out even more grungy than usual. I used Crushed Olive and Victorian Velvet DIs with Inkadinkado's Garden Delight clear stamp set.
The decorative bar is a scrap of card embossed with the Cuttlebug Ornamental Iron set folder. I rubbed Pearlescent Olive Brillance ink over the raised areas and then sponged Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet in the recesses. I added a small further border of pink paper trimmed with the Martha Stewart Arch Lattice border punch and embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile folder.
I painted a scrap of corrugated packaging with Olive acrylic paint, tore the base and then smudged on embossing ink and embossed with copper powder. I added a lovely image from Art Freebies blog and then smudged on some Tarnished Brass Distress Stickles.
I finished off with a fabric flower from a bargain bag at a local haberdashery shop, some Prima leaves, some wire and bead sprays that I made and some haberdashery flower stamens. You might not be able to see the sparkle that well in the photo but the heart beads are glittered and the round beads are irridescent.
I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Sir Stampalot September Challenge - All Distressed
Delightful Sketches - Make It Sparkle
Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes
and Tuesday Taggers - It Takes All Sorts ( this is being sponsored by Ribbon Oasis - http://www.ribbonoasis.co.uk/ worth a look for some gorgeous ribbons)

Thanks for looking
Fliss x

Heart Hanger

Hello everyone, finally managed to get some crafting done after a ton of accounting work and uni preparations for my daughters who are now both settled in their accommodation.
I have my entry for a couple of challenges to show you. The first is the main focus as it's the colours for PDCC47 of The Play Date Cafe:

Here's the little heart shaped hanger that I made:

The hanger itself is made from a thick piece of recycled card packaging that I cut a heart shape from using a pattern I made. I painted it with turquoise acrylic paint and then stamped with various background stamps (these came courtesy of a dear crafting friend who recently very sadly lost her battle with illness and generously said that her crafting buddies were to take any of her stamps that we could find good use for. Thank you so much for this Phyl, we all miss you loads)
I then added some dotty patterned paper in red and green trimmed with a Martha Stewart dot lace scallop punch. The finishing touches are a flower punched from patterned paper with a button centre, some white crochet lace, a butterfly sticker and the really sweet image which was a free download a while back from Carol Anne's Boutique. Some black and white dotty ribbon made the hanger.
Finally I'm also entering my hanger in Challenge 122 over at A Spoon Full Of Sugar which is Anything Goes.

Polka Doodles Challenge - Easel Card

Another post from me today as being Friday, it's Polka Doodles challenge time again. This week's theme of EASEL CARDS has been chosen by team mate Brenda as she says she's addicted to them - I second that as I just love them too! Good wishes go out to Brenda too as she's been feeling under the weather lately - hope you feel much better soon Brenda.
My contribution is one of the samples I made for Nikky from the absolutely stunning collection of papers, images and sentiments on the brand new Polka Doodles CD, Sundae of Seasons. I have no idea how Nikky managed to fit all this on one CD as there's a massive amount of stash there all ready to be printed out. Nikky is on Create and Craft TV on Monday 20 September at 10am and the show is a must just to see the variety on this year round CD.
My easel card has been made from the stunning Sewing collection which is a favourite of mine as my younger daughter is starting her Fashion degree at Kingston University next week and we will be taking her up there tomorrow (along with a massive amount of stuff!)

I'm sure you can see from the photos why I love this collection so much and I have to say the collection of papers on there is from my point of view, the best yet. The papers have a very vintage feel to them rather like fabric and the colours are so beautiful with lots of deep reds, greens and teals with some softer pinks, aqua and golds.
Don't you just love the mannequin here which can be cut out too and there are also some black and white versions to colour yourself or print out on patterned paper.
The challenge is open until 12 noon on Sunday 26 September and don't forget to take a look at the other DT creations as there's some very spooky stuff there!
I'm also going to enter my card in the Craft Your Passion challenge with the theme of Easel Cards and the Crafts and Me challenge with the same theme.

Something Yummy At Raise The Bar

Morning everyone on this very chilly day - I woke up to 8 degrees this morning so I think Autumn has arrived!
Those of you who saw my previous post will know that I'm a Guest Bar Tender at Raise The Bar this week and the challenge Joni has cooked up for you is SOMETHING YUMMY. For my card, I was torn between chocolate and cupcakes but in the end the chocolate won - big yum!

I've had this Rubber Romance stamp for a while and decided to give her an airing here. I stamped her in Memento black ink and coloured her with Copics and Promarkers. I cut the panel out and inked the edges.
I made the background paper by stamping a Magenta flower in Lilac and Lime Versacolor inks, then overstamped a Hero Arts flower with Pear Tart Memento ink.
I added a border of purple card and another of Martha Stewart punch trimmed lilac card. I embellished the card with pearls and an inked. punched flower and added a greeting by Impression Obsession.
Be sure to pop over and see all the other yummy creations as there's some fabulous inspiration there.

Autumn Fairy

Hello everyone, hope you're all OK. I've been very busy making samples for the new Polka Doodles CD which has its' first airing on Create and Craft TV on Monday 20 September at 10am. If you've got time it's well worth a look as this is the best one yet of Nikky's gorgeous crafting CDs.

I had some fantastic news last Friday as I found to my great surprise that my Flora Doodle card for the URLooking Good challenge at Raise The Bar had made the Top 3 and the prize is to be a Guest Bar Tender for the new challenge tomorrow. I can't tell you the theme yet but it's sure to be popular as it's something we all like!

I've only just got this made in time for the current challenge at Raise The Bar with the colours Orange, Brown and Green as I managed to lose my box of Distress inks and only found it this morning.
It also fits another challenge and I've put all the links below the details of my card.

I made the background paper by stamping a skeleton leaf by B Line Designs in Dried Marigold and Crushed Olive Distress inks then over stamped with a skeleton leaf Rubber Stampede in Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo. I then sponged a little Dried Marigold over the top.
The mat panel round the image is made in the same way using glossy card and Pumpkin and Olive Green Stazon ink. I stamped the fairy by Judikins in Memento Rich Cocoa and coloured her with Promarkers.
I then stamped my favourite maple leaf by Personal Impressions in Rich Cocoa several time, coloured then with Promarkers and cut them out.
I assembled the card as you see, adding a border punched with the Martha Stewart wrought iron punch, inked with Vintage Photo and embossed with clear powder.
I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Raise The Bar - Orange, Brown and Green
Creative Card Crew - Autumn
Thanks for looking.

Fliss x

Serenity

Managed to sneak in another post here whilst in the middle of my samples for the gorgeous new Polka Doodles CD which is on Create and Craft on 20 September.
I already had the elements of this card but hadn't assembled it as I've been really busy. When I saw that it fitted 2 current challenges, I decided to finish it off.
The challenges are Pile It On which requires Layers on your creation. There are lots on mine from layered stamping on my background papers to layers of contrast matting.
The other challenge is the Alphabet Challenge and this week's theme is T for Trees. As I've used part of the gorgeous Serenity set by Artistic Outpost, I think this fits perfectly.

Apologies for the slightly wonky photo, I'm not drunk honest!
I made the main background paper using my Distress Ink Grunge Background technique (see side bar Tutorial list) with Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress inks. I stamped the flourishes from the Elusive Images Spring plate first in Crushed Olive, then in Pine Needles.
The border strip was made by stamping the flourish with the same 2 shades on cream card. This technique produces a good mix and match look which is really easy to do. I then inked a further strip of card along the edges with the Pine Needles ink and trimmed both long edges with a Martha Stewart punch.
I stamped the main image on cream card and added a little colour with Luminance pencils. I then cut it out and mounted on 2 contrasting shades of card.

Polka Doodles Sketch Recipe Challenge

Morning folks, it's Friday again (don't know where the last week went!) so it's time for another challenge at Polka Doodles which has been set by our head doodler Nikky. Nikky has been very busy working on the new CD which is on Create and Craft TV on 20 September and she will also be at the Harrogate show over the weekend, so if you're lucky enough to be going do pop over and say hello to her.
Now, on to the challenge which is a sketch and a recipe - follow the sketch, add 3 brads and no fabric ribbon allowed.

I've rotated the sketch for my card so that the flap opens on the right hand side:

I've used papers and embellishments from the Paper Boutique CD, the Secret Garden and Floral Bouquet sections and printed out the blue scroll paper on both sides so that my opening flap had the design on the inside of the flap. I trimmed the edge with scallop scissors for a pretty finish.
I added a lovely butterfly from the Stampies section of the All Around & Everywhere CD and my 3 brads finished off the opening bar.
The rest of the DT have created some fabulous takes on the sketch, rotating it every which way, so if you're stuck for inspiration do take a look as it's easier than you might think.
I've got a very busy weekend ahead as I have to post off my samples for the fabulous new CD on Monday (I absolutely love this one which will be the most used ever for reasons which will become clear when you see what's on it!!!) and my daughter Claire is going back to Sheffield uni tomorrow and at this stage, I have no idea how all her stuff is going to fit in the car - she might have to sit on the roof!
Have a great weekend.

Flora Doodle

Hello everyone, hope you've all got a sunny day as we have here on the South Coast today. I've just scraped in here with my entry for this week's Raise The Bar challenge which is to make something inspired and based on your blog background.
Those of you that know me will be aware that I actually designed my own blog background so I had to have a go at this one to get me in doodling mode again. Here's my card which uses some of my stamps as well as some hand doodling to go with the designs.

I've used 2 of the flower stamps to make a 3D effect flower and made the leaf and stalk section from another stamp by trimming the central section. I rounded all of the pieces out with a large embossing tool before assembling the card.
I made a doodles border with scalloped edges for the side of the card and then doodled the butterfly for the top corner. The background panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough folder.
If you're interested in looking at the stamp designs, there is a link to the Hobby Art online shop which will take you to all of my Oodles of Doodles designs.
Thanks for looking.
Fliss x

Polka Doodles Challenge - Shaped Card

Happy Friday everyone, the weekend is nearly here and it's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles which this week has been set by our techno whizz teamie, Ruth.
You will notice that the theme is to make a shaped card, by which Ruth means an unusual shape rather than circles, squares etc. but silly me saw that Ruth wanted the DT to use some of the fabulous Polka Doodles templates for shapes and totally missed the shaped card bit. What an idiot I am!
Having missed the shaped bit, as I wanted to do something a bit different, I chose the Baking Time set to make a recipe folder. This came about because my younger daughter is off to Kingston uni in a couple of weeks, having gained a Distinction in her Art Foundation course, and at the moment we're trying to gather all the things she needs. She loves baking so a recipe folder was on her list and here's the one I made:

You can probably see from the photo which designer inspired this and I found some Polka Doodles papers and decorative elements which capture the style perfectly.
I painted the edges and spine of a plain kraft ring binder from W H Smith with blue acrylic paint. I then covered the file with papers from the Funky Flower section of the Paper Boutique CD as they're in mouth watering shades. I trimmed the edges of the pieces with pinking shears before sticking them on to give a pretty fabric look.
i then used the template to trace and cut out the apron, complete with pockets, and the oven gloves from some of the contrasting polka dot papers. I inked all the edges to make the pieces pop out more.
I decorated the file with some of the yummy strawberries and embellishments from the Candy Doodles CD and then added the apron and gloves.
The back is covered with pretty flower dot paper from the same set with a strawberry band to make everything match. A photo of this will be going on later when the light lets me take a decent one.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 12 September to get your entries in and don't forget to have a look at the rest of the DT creations as most of them are shaped cards made with just some of the great templates on offer.