Curiouser and Curiouser

Hello everyone, you can probably guess what's coming from the title. I hope you have better weather than me as it's a rather grey, rainy and miserable day here - looks like the Spring was last week!
I have a piece of altered artwork to share with you that came about because the frame I've used fell down when I was actually looking for something else and when I saw it, I thought it looked about the right size for the Alice stamp I've been playing with and happily it's a perfect fit!

The frame was a different colour originally and I painted it with buff, pink and white acrylic paints. I stamped on the checkered design from the Wonderland stamp set by Polka Doodles with black Stazon ink and then sponged on a little of the white to distress it a little.
I stamped Alice twice and coloured just the background on one and Alice on the other. I used Promarkers in various shades to colour with and added shadows for definition with Warm Grey 3. I cut the Alice image out and rounded out the figure with a large embossing ball tool. I attached her to the background with foam tape, layering 2 pieces at the top to add to the illusion. I added a bottle to the frame to finish.

I'm entering my frame in this week's challenge over at Try It On Tuesday with a theme of Alter It - Revamp A Frame which happily popped up at just the right moment.

Thanks for looking and also hello and thank you to my new followers - it's lovely to see you.
Fliss xx 

Challenges

Happy weekend everyone and hope you're having a lovely one. We started off with grey skies here but it fortunately turned very quickly to the sunshine we've had every day this week so far.
I've got a couple of very different cards to show you for 2 different challenges.
First up is another card made with the brand new Polka Doodles Wonderland stamp set which I can't get enough of at the moment and have a few more things in progress too.

The card blank is made from some of the lovely checkered paper from the CD of papers which match the stamps (and will be popping up again as there are some gorgeous to die for grungy flourish papers which I adore - says she, drooling -lol)
The patchwork squares were all coloured with Promarkers, including the checked ones as the white variation of this paper design is fabulous for inking/painting/colouring with markers etc. etc. The purple ones were embossed with the Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough folder as was the central orange one which was first wet embossed with clear powder.
The gorgeous rabbit was cut out after colouring.

I'm entering this one in the current challenge over at Daring Cardmakers, the theme being The Book Club, and having got into Alice again with these stamps, I'm about to read the book again for the first time in many years!

And now for the second one:

This one features the lovely new Chrysanthemum stamp which I bought having seen Rachel Jackson's gorgeous project in the April issue of Craft Stamper. It's by Circa Design. I stamped it with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink nd coloured it with pencils. I added it to an olive green mat.
The lighter background paper was made by stamping a flourish from a My Paper World clear stamp set by Viva Decor in Victorian Velvet Distress ink on dark cream card. The dusky pink panel was embossed with the Craft Concepts Gem Flourish folder. I finished off with a flourish cut with a Sissix die and a floral border in the same green punched with a Martha Stewart double edge punch.
The greeting panel from from Polka Doodles Sensational Sentiments unmounted stamp set.

I'm entering this one in the Sunday Stamper challenge - Die Cuts

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - Spring Has Sprung

Hello everyone and hello Spring! Don't know about you but we've had the most beautiful Spring weather all week and I'm hoping it lasts for the weekend.
As it's Friday, we have a new challenge over at Polka Doodles and this week your hostess is Claire. She would like to see projects with the theme Spring Has Sprung and what Spring means to you.

Before I show you my card, I'd also like to tell you that our Nikky will be on Create and Craft tomorrow at 12 noon.  She will be demonstrating the brand new Wonderland set of unmounted rubber stamps and the matching CD of papers so don't forget to have a look (another of my samples is at the end of this post),

And now for my card, as it's Stashbox Stamp week, I've chosen a stamp of the flower which most means Spring to me:

 

I have quite a few tulips in my garden in these shades although they're not actually out yet, just the daffodils and bluebells. I really look forward to seeing them as the bright colours against the deep blue of the bluebells look gorgeous and mean that Spring has finally arrived.
The stamp I've used is by Hero Arts and I stamped the tulips in VersaFine Olympia Green ink. I coloured them with pencils and then cut them out. I layered them on a mat of textured white card with some red card underneath which I hand cut to make the slightly curved edges.
I added some of the gorgeous papers from the Sundae of Seasons CD to my card blank and finished off with a border punched with the Martha Stewart double edge flower punch, a sentiment from the Candy Doodles CD and a gingham bow.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 3 April to enter the challenge and good luck!

I'm also entering my card in the Sew Many Challenges new challenge 48 - Spring Fling

As promised earlier, here's another of my Wonderland samples:

I have so enjoyed working with these stamps and am in the middle of some altered artwork which will soon be ready to show you.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Let's Ink It Up - New Feature!

Good morning everyone, I'm here with some great news about a brand new feature over at Let's Ink It Up as Suzanne has had the fabulous idea of having a Featured Stamper every fortnight and this could be YOU!

For full details on the new feature and how to take part, hop on over to the Challenge Blog and whilst you're there, if you haven't yet entered the current challenge, you might want to take a look as it's an easy one this time - DIE CUTS AND/OR PUNCHES - and of course, some stamping.

Hoping to see you there!
Fliss xx

Just Because

Hello everyone on an absolutely gorgeous sunny Spring day on which I managed to go out without my coat for the first time this year. I actually saw people in shorts and vest tops - totally mad as it wasn't quite that warm!
I have a card here that I made with bits and pieces of the decorated paper from a class I taught on Monday when we made very easy to do stamped mix and match papers with pastel cardstock and Distress inks.
The card uses the inspirational sketch for this week's Papercraft Star which I had to have a go at as it's so lovely.

The background papers I made use a flourish stamp from the Viva Decor My Paper World Floral Embellishments clear stamp set which is never put away at the moment as I'm forever using it. The papers mix and match really well because I used the same stamp and then stamped on the card in an ink only a shade or two darker then the card.
I used Scattered Straw Distress ink on the cream card, Shabby Shutters on the green, Victorian Velvet on the pink and Scattered Straw also on the lemon card. As you can see, the same ink looks quite different on the cream and lemon card.
I stamped the chrysanthemum by Circa Design with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink, coloured it with pencils and cut it out. I added it to a heart shape I hand cut out then embossed with the Craft Concepts Gem Flourish folder and then added a few pink pearls.
I assembled the card as you see with a sentiment from the Polka Doodles Sensational Sentiments stamp set, a pale green panel embossed with the gem folder and white card punched with a Martha Stewart double edge punch.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Papercraft Star Challenge 38  - Sketch
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes
For Fun Challenges - Flowers and a Sentiment

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Lets Ink It Up Challenge 11 - Die Cuts/Punches

Hello everyone and hope you have the glorious sunny day that we have here today. I'm really excited to at last be able to share with you the first project I've made as part of Team B for the Lets Ink It Up challenge blog which I was thrilled to bits to be asked to join. The new challenge is to use Die Cuts and/or Punches.

The challenge is being sponsored by Taylor Van Bruggen of Taylored Expressions

Taylored Expressions is an online store full of whimsical rubber stamps, coordinating kits and fresh ideas. You'll find everything you need to satisfy your creative sweet tooth!
Tune in to Taylored Expressions blog for inspiring ideas and how-to videos!
The fabulous prize so generously provided by Taylor is the gorgeous Tweet Hearts stamp set (valued at $21.95) - click HERE to take a look.

Here's the project I made for the challenge and I have to say that making altered artwork is starting to become an obsession with me!

I started off with a blank papier mache frame which I painted with 2 shades of olive green acrylic paint.
I made a central panel with thick white card which I sponged with Shabby Shutters and Crushed Olive Distress inks. The stamps I used are all from Paper Artsy Hot Pick 1005. The grass was stamped with Stazon Olive Green and the flowers with Cactus Green. Fuchsia Pink and Pumpkin Stazon. I stamped a couple of extra flowers, cut these out and layered them on top for some dimension.
I stamped the flourish design on the open areas with Shabby Shutters ink for some texture, added the bird stamped in black and cut out then the text.
For the finishing touch, I punched out a border of flowers using the Martha Stewart double edge punch from old music score (rather appropriately titled The Woodpecker Song), inked it with Victorian Velvet and Crushed Olive Distress inks and glued it on. It's really easy to turn this particular punched border into a frame as it trims well to fit all sorts of shapes.

The challenge runs until 31 March and please remember that digital stamps are not allowed as Lets Ink It Up is all about getting inky with rubber and clear stamps.
Don't forget to head over to the challenge blog for some amazing inspiration from the other Team B inkers.

Finally, I'm entering my artwork in the following challenges:
Delightful Challenges - Green
Fairytale Challenge - Green and Pink
Fab 'n' Funky - Green
Pixie Dust - Go Green
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Up In The Air with Green
By The Cute And Girly - Springtime

Good luck and thanks for looking.
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - All About Books

Good morning everyone, it's nearly the weekend so it's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles and this week your hostess is Tracie and she has set a theme of All About Books.
There is a reason for this as those of you going to the Great Northern Papercraft Extravaganza over the weekend will be able to see. Details are on the Polka Doodles shop website.
Our Nikky has designed a gorgeous new set of stamps with a mini CD of matching papers (stunners!) that are right up my street - they're based on the favourite book of the moment for quite a lot of crafters - Alice in Wonderland.
The Design Team have made loads of samples for Nikky to take to the show and I've been itching to show you some of mine for weeks! Nikky also has a brand new CD which she will have at the show, along with Sharon Armstrong (whose name you may recognise as a frequent magazine contributor) as they have collaborated to make this CD.
Here are a couple of my samples (more to follow next week):

The naughty, sheepish Knave card uses some of the papers from the CD and the main piece was inked around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink.
The bunny Knave and the plate of tarts were stamped in black, coloured with Promarkers and cut out. I then made a heart template, cut out a heart shape from white card, stamped the checkered design and inked it up with Fired Brick Distress ink.
I assembled the card as shown with some playing cards to add to the effect.

My Alice card was made by cutting an aperture in a piece of the checked paper from the CD with a Nestabilities die and running a dark grey Promarker round the edges for emphasis.
I stamped Alice twice on white card and coloured her with various Promarkers on one and just the background on the other. I cut Alice out and stuck her on top of the background with foam pads. I stuck the white panel to the card and then added the frame on top with foam tape.
I finished off with more stamped images coloured with Promarkers and cut out. The key was cut out to form a heart shape and make it stand out more.

So it's your turn to make a project inspired by your favourite book. You have until 12 noon on Sunday 27 March to enter and good luck.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

A Secret Garden

Hello everyone on a rather blustery day down South, although the sun is trying to peep out from behind the grey clouds. I hope you're all having a good week so far.
You may want to get a cuppa and a biscuit before you start reading as this post is rather long!
I have a little piece of art to show you which was the creative result of thinking about this week's Take A Word Challenge - Green - and what green actually means to me. I've decided on 3 things, the first being Spring when everything begins to green up after Winter, the second one is the ecological green and in particular recycling and the third thing is green in the sense of inexperienced which in this case I took to be a child.
I challenged myself to include all of these things and here is the finished piece:

The base of the piece is made from a piece of packaging and I painted it with green gold and olive acrylic paints and then stamped on a flourish design (My Paper World from The Craft Barn) with Olive Green Stazon ink. I then painted a strip of corrugated card saved from a file I bought with the same paints only I painted the olive first on this one for a different effect. The strip had 2 holes already punched in it so I tied on some ribbons recycled from clothing (the sort the shops put on to stop things falling off hangers).
The circular piece is made from a piece of circular packaging and had a hole in the middle but I covered this up. I made a circular piece of decorated paper using my Distress Ink Grunge Background Technique (link to tutorial on side bar) using Crushed Olive Distress ink and the same flourish stamp. I then cut out a further circle, embossed it with the Tim Holtz Texture Fade Damask folder and then sponged on Shabby Shutters Distress ink. I swiped the ink pad over the top of the raised areas to add a little contrast.
I stamped the Sleeping Boy image by La Blanche (now available from Sir Stampalot) with VersaFine Olympia Green ink, coloured just the roses and leaves with pencils and cut him out. I added the image to the circular panel with foam tape.
I finished off with some leaf sprays rescued from an old flower arrangement and a butterfly from my stash - not recycled but I think the pink on the wings nicely picks out the pink of the roses.

My piece of artwork is for the following challenges:
Take A Word - Green
Stampin' Royalty - Texturize

I've now got some not very good photos to show you of the visitor we had in our garden early this morning, eating the spilt bird food under the tree where the bird feeder is hanging. Not that unusual you might think, but we live one road back from the seafront!

The photos are not brilliant as I had to hang out of the bedroom window so as not to frighten the pheasant off before I could take some pics.

Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the photos.
Fliss xx

Spring Green

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good weekend. Spring actually felt like it was here this morning but the weather has now started to turn grey again.
Before I show you my creation I'd just like to say that my very best wishes go out to those suffering from the earthquake after effects in Japan as I've been so horrified with all the devastation caused by the tsunami. Those of you that know me will be aware that my elder daughter Claire is studying Japanese at Sheffield uni and returned a few months ago from spending a year over there at Tsukuba university. Whilst there, she made a number of Japanese friends and has been very upset by the disaster. As far as she can tell her friends are all OK as Tsukuba is quite a distance from the area hit by the tidal wave and only suffered a loss of power due to the power station shut down. I can only hope that the power station causing problems can be made safe.

After the doom and gloom, I have a piece of artwork that I finished today which was made with Spring in mind, inspired by the sunny weather of the last couple of days.

My wall hanging is made out of squares from my bits and pieces box and was inspired by the current and sadly last Compendium of Curiosities challenge - Design Details, on page 67 of Sir Tim's awesome book. I can't tell you the techniques as these are in the book and hopefully you have a copy. The pieces I decided to display use most of the techniques that I really enjoy doing to make my background papers and all except the diamond stamped paper (left over from a very long time ago) were made using Distress inks in various ways. They mostly involve my 2 favourite colours, Crushed Olive and Victorian Velvet which I also used to colour the stamped flowers and the butterfly which are all by Hobby Art.

I'm entering my creation in the following challenges:
Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities - Design Details
Sir Stampalot March Challenge - Spring Is In The Air
The Artistic Stamper March Challenge - Spring Has Sprung
Meljen's Designs - Green

I've also got a little reminder that there's still time to enter the current Lets Ink It Up challenge - Show Us Your Embossing which has another week left for you to make your creations. It's really easy as all you need to do is break out those embossing folders or embossing powder and combine them with some stamping - please remember that no digital images are allowed as the LIIU challenges are all about getting inky.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - Colour Theme

Good morning everyone, hope like me that you woke up to a lovely sunny day and no wind at last as it's been very breezy over the last few days.
It's Friday so it's time for another challenge over at Polka Doodles and this time it's my turn to choose the theme. As we haven't had a colour challenge for a while I decided that I'd like to see your creations using:

Black and White + One Colour

It's entirely up to you which colour you use and you really should hop over to look at the rest of the Design Team creations as there are some really gorgeous projects to inspire you.

For my creation, I've made a simple card this time, using cool green as the colour choice.

All the elements on my card are from the Sugar Birdies Collectors Edition CD and I've been wanting to use the striking flourishes for quite a while. The embellishments were all cut out and adhered with foam tape for a 3d look. The only other addition was a white central border punched which the Martha Stewart daisy border punch.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 20 March to enter and I can't wait to see your creations.

I'm entering my card into the One Stop Craft week 121 challenge too as it also has the theme of Black & White + One Colour.

Fliss xx

Nauticalia

Hello everyone and thank you for your kind thoughts about my hubby. He's fine today apart from apparently, "a dull ache", and is eating OK although he has to be careful for a week or so - lots of fish and pasta on the menu! I also had to cut his pasta up for dinner yesterday and mash some veg so it was a bit like feeding a child again!
I have a card to share that I actually made for his birthday just before Christmas and forgot to post on here so it's here now as it fits several challenges.

It's quite bright as I was thinking of a sunset when I coloured the image panel. The ship collage and the text on the background paper are from the Aspects of Design 02 - Nautical set. This is available from The Stamp Man.  I stamped the collage in VersaFine Smoky Gray and coloured it with various shades of Distress inks.
I made the background paper using the Tim Holtz compass mask and Distress inks and stamped the nautical text on with Faded Jeans Distress ink.

I'm entering the card in the following challenges:
Cards For Men - Water
Creative Craft World - Male Card/Project
Moving Along With The Times - For A Male

Thanks for looking.
Fliss xx

Blossoms And A Butterfly

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good day. The sunshine has reappeared here and I've just got back from going to the dental surgeon with my hubby who lost a tooth several weeks ago and decided to go the implant route (no pun intended!) and he didn't want more work in the future which may happen with a crown. He's just had the first part of the treatment and is fine apart from the woolly mouth sensation.
I have a card to share with you from my file of photos of as yet unblogged (is that a word?!) cards which fits several challenges.

The background paper for the card was made by embossing one half of a square of white card with the Cuttlebug Victoria folder and using the debossed side. I sponged Milled Lavender Distress ink on the flat half and then stamped on a flourish from the My Paper World flourish set in the same ink.
I then swiped the ink pad over the debossed side as this gives a slightly stronger inked effect.
I stamped the gorgeous blossoms and butterfly image (item 1183 by La Blanche) which is a new type of silicone stamp with fine detail requiring very little pressure for a beautifully stamped image in black ink and coloured it with various Prisma pencils. I cut this out with a Nestabilities scalloped circle and mounted this on a circle of plum paper.
I finished off with a strip of the same plum paper (by Polka Doodles) punched with the Martha Stewart double edge doily punch. I added lots of pearls!

I'm entering the card in the following challenges:
The ABC Challenge - P is for Pearls
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
The Sunday Stamper - Nature
The Stamp Man Challenge - Curls and Swirls (on my background)

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Serene In Green

Good afternoon all and hope you have a lovely sunny day as we've had on the South coast. I actually managed to eat lunch in my sun lounge as it was so warm.
A quick post today with my entry for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge which is a colour splash - black and white with a splash of whatever you fancy this time.

As you can see, I decided on green for my simple card. I made a background panel with white card embossed with the gorgeous Craft Concepts Wings butterfly folder and adhered this to a white ribbed card  with a small piece of green paper trimmed with the Martha Stewart Arch Lattice border punch peeping out.
I stamped the grasses from the My Paper World set (Flowers and Butterflies I think) in black and cut this out with a Nestabilities scalloped circle doiley . I die cut a further one from green paper and stuck them together so that the circles overlapped. I stamped the butterflies from the same set and coloured them with a Meadow Green Promarker. The stamp set is from the Craft Barn.
I made a central partial border with a strip of green card and a piece of white punched with the Martha Stewart Linked Trim double edge punch (my new toy and I love it!). I finished off with some green pearls.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Bird's The Word!

Morning peops and sorry about the title of this post - I couldn't resist! I have a card to show you that I'm entering in the Take A Word challenge which this week is Birdlife and it's given me the opportunity to show you a card that I actually made as a sample for Nikky and it's been sitting there waiting for the right challenge.

The little bird and bird cage come from the Polka Doodles Paper Boutique Volume 3 CD and I used the black and white digital stamps to make my card. I coloured everything with various Promarkers and decided to make the cage look distressed and vintage.
I achieved this (I hope!) by inking it with embossing ink and then embossing with verdigris, copper and tarnished gold embossing powder to give a rusty, aged effect.
I used some of the pretty papers on the CD to make the background and then created a large flower using some of the black and white digis on the All Around & Everywhere CD, printing some out on patterned paper and colouring others with Promarkers. Some paper flowers and a pearl were added to make the centre.

I'm also entering this one in this week's Stamp Something challenge which is Use A Digi.

Hoping that you all have a lovely week and thanks for looking.
Fliss x

Polka Doodles Challenge - Flower Power

Good morning everyone, hope you have the sunny day we have here on the South coast although it is very chilly being 1 degree outside. Before I tell you about this week's challenge, I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who left me such kind comments after my debit card problems yesterday - I really do appreciate it and you did manage to cheer me up a lot.
Now to the challenge over at Polka Doodles. Your hostess this week is Colette and she has chosen a theme of Flower Power and would like to see 3 Handmade Flowers on your project so no Prima ones this time! A good excuse to dust off the punches and dies though.
My contribution this time is rather girly as I wanted to use my favourite fairy and some pretty Spring like colours - I was thinking crocuses which is the reason for the purple!

I stamped Gracie and her wings in black Memento ink and coloured them with various Promarkers. I cut them out and set her on a mat of white card, cut out with the Nestabilities Blossom die and embossed with my new embossing folder, Craft Concepts Gem Flourish.
I made a background with papers from the Sundae of Seasons CD, cutting the green one out with a large Go Kreate fluted square die. I added a strip of pink paper punched with the Martha Stewart dot border punch, some stitched ribbon and green pearls from my stash.
I punched my flowers from some paper scraps with an X Cut Dimensional floral punch and added tiny punched flowers and pearls to the centres.
I finished off with a greeting from the Sensational Sentiments stamp set cut out with the same Nestie set and coloured with Promarkers.

You have until 12 Noon on Sunday 13 March to enter and good luck!
Fliss x

Mirror, Mirror

Hello everyone, hope you're having a better day than me today as I've just spent ages in the bank after a rather awkward experience earlier trying to pay for something with my debit card unsuccessfully which seemed crazy when I knew there was money in the account.
It all started yesterday evening with a strange phone call I had from a man who said he was phoning from my bank about my debit card. I was very suspicious as there have been phone scams on the go lately, and eventually rang off as I was not satisfied the call was genuine.
I went to my bank branch and was told there was a flag against my debit card and I then spent a long time on the phone with the fraud department. It appears that a load of card details including mine were discovered on a police raid with the result that a stop has been put on my card and I now have to have a new one.
I'm hoping I don't need to use a debit card before the new one comes as the whole thing as well as being rather scary is a right pain! I shall be breaking out the chocolate shortly having got this lot off my chest!!!

And now for the actual reason for this post which is a card I have to show you:

I'm sure you can now see the reason for my title as I think it does look a bit like an ornate mirror frame.
I embossed the Cuttlebug frame on white card, rubbed embossing ink over the raised areas and embossed with gold detail powder. I then sponged on Victorian Velvet Distress Ink. I stamped the little girl (Crafty Individuals) and coloured her with various Distress inks then cut the image down to fit in the centre of the frame.
I embossed a piece of cream card with a Sissix folder and swiped Galaxy Gold Brilliance ink over the raised areas. Some of the ink went on the bits in between adding to the shabby look.
The other piece of decorated paper is a scrap from my bits box which was a rose spray stamped and embossed in gold and then Victorian Velvet sponged on.
To finish the card I added lace and gold braid and a flower altered with Victorian Velvet and Crushed Olive inks. A tiny suede look flower and pearl finish off the flower embellishment.

My card is for the following challenges:
Stamptacular Sunday - You've Been Framed
Paper Play - Shabby Chic/Vintage

Thanks for looking (and putting up with my rant!)
Fliss x