Polka Doodles Challenge - Colour Theme

Hello everyone on the day of the Royal Wedding and I'm hoping this post pops up on time as I'll still be in bed having returned from our break in Jersey around 3am.
It's Friday and time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles. Your hostess this week is Enfys and she's chosen a colour theme of Blue, Aqua and Purple.
I had a bit of a struggle with this as our printer has thrown a wobbly and keeps printing things out the wrong colour. I had to rummage in my stash of Polka Doodles bits and managed to find a few pieces in the right colours but had to improvise as you'll see.

As I only had bits and pieces, I decided on a striped background using papers from the Sundae of Seasons CD apart from the purple floral one which is from All Around & Everywhere.
I arranged the strips in a repeat pattern on an 8 x 8 card blank.
The background is quite busy so I opted for simple additions. These being a central border of pale blue with a sentiment border from the Not For Girls CD. I added a butterfly from the Inkadinkado Garden Delights clear stamp set, stamped with VersaFine Imperial Purple ink and coloured with an Amethyst Promarker. I cut the image out and set it on a circular mat of pale blue card embossed with the Quickutz Retro Diamonds folder on a further scalloped mat of purple card.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 8 May to enter and good luck!

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:
CCEE Stampers - Add A Butterfly
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Moving Along With The Times - Anything Goes
The Stamping Boutique - Winged Things

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Blossom Time

Well, I'm back again with my second post for the day which is still very sunny and warm so I thought I'd show you this before setting off for a walk along the seafront.
The card is one of the samples from a class I taught on Monday and I decided to put it on here as it fits several challenges.

The class involved making cards with a cut away front around a stamped images with a further piece of the decorated paper added to the inside of the card.
For this one I stamped the bird cage from the new Papermania set in VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink a third of the way in from the right hand edge of a white 14.5cm square card blank.
I stamped the flowers from the Kanban Peacock set in Memento Lilac Posies and Bamboo Leaves around the card and on a strip of leftover white card. I sponged on Split Pea and Orchid VersaColor inks.
I then stamped a bird from the Papermania set in the sepia ink, coloured it with various Promarkers and cut it out. Serendipity then struck as whilst I was making the card, my younger daughter who was doing some baking interrupted me and I dropped the card blank on top of an open ink pad! Disaster was averted by cutting off the front part of the card, trimming down the side of the cage as intended and sticking the piece on a pink card blank. The other decorated strip was punched with a Martha Stewart border and stuck to the inside of the card blank.
I finished off with some tiny butterflies punched from inked paper and stamped a sentiment from the Papermania set on the cage.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday - Birds/Butterflies
Paper Pretties - Pink, Green and Neutral
Paper Shelter - Nature Inspired
Paper Play - Easter or Spring

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - 3 Patterned Papers

Good morning everyone on a gorgeous bright and sunny Good Friday and wishing you all a very Happy Easter.
It's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles and your hostess this week is Tracie. She would like to see your creations using 3 different patterned papers.
I've taken this opportunity to show you my favourite of the samples I made for Nikky with the new A Double Sprinkle of Kraft CD. In fact, I liked this one so much, it was really hard to part with it!

I made another unusual shaped easel card for this one simply by adding an oval shape instead of the usual square which was the shape of the base.
I covered the base of the card with some of the very pretty kraft floral paper and then the easel section, trimming the top edge with scallop scissors.
I cut out an oval shape from green floral paper and fixed this in the centre of the easel. I added one of the cute girls from the CD and sat her on a log as the CD has quite a lot of elements that are made for scene setting. All images were coloured with Promarkers. I added a touch of glitter pen for some sparkle.
I added a strip of the green floral paper matted on kraft brown and pink spotted paper to the base (this is my third pattern in case you were wondering where it was!).
I finished off with a greeting on a mat of the same kraft paper, some pretty butterflies and a vintage button from my stash as the stopper.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 1 May to enter and good luck!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Show Us Your Stitching With Let's Ink It Up

Hello folks and hope you're all having a good start to the weekend. It's time for a new challenge over at Let's Ink It Up and the theme this time is Stitching which can be Faux or Real, the choice is yours.
I've taken the opportunity to make a piece of artwork showing my maternal grandparents on their wedding day way back in 1916. I always think that the vintage sepia photos are so beautiful and I hope you like what I did with mine.

I started off with a piece of recycling packaging, trimming the side edges with scallop scissors and then painting with chocolate brown acrylic paint. I then stamped on some flowers from the Clearly Inspired Stencil Flowers clear stamp set in Vintage Photo Distress ink. This dried a little lighter than I was expecting but does give a subtle textured effect.
I then tore the edges of a piece of vintage music score, inked it with Old Paper Distress ink, added a flourish design with a stencil free with Simply Homemade magazine and Tattered Rose Distress ink then added faux stitching round the edges using a paper pricker and a brown fine pen.
I then made some fabric look decorated papers using the same stamp set and some Zig markers applied direct to the stamp on green, pink and ecru card. As you see, the colour changes slightly depending on the base card colour. I trimmed the edges with pinking scissors.
Next, I made some flowers with lace, satin and velvet ribbon by running a line of stitches along one long edge and drawing the stitches up to make a circle. I added vintage buttons and altered paper flowers to the centres.
I finished off as you see with altered metal photo corners (alcohol inked to match the other embellishments), lace, braid and pearls, plus some Prima leaves and a gold scrap butterfly. I made a frame for my photo using a tag shape hand cut and stamped and rows of pearls. An altered button was added to the top.

We have a great sponsor for the challenge in Stamping Scrapping who are very kindly offering a set of the stamps for their custom Spellbinders dies to the winner.

You can check out the fabulous online store HERE

The challenge runs until 30 April and with the Easter holiday coming up you might have a bit of spare time to get an entry done. The only thing you need to remember is that no digis are allowed, only rubber and clear stamps as Let's Ink It Up is all about getting inky.

Good luck!
Fliss xx

I'm entering my project in the following challenges:
Fabulous Friday - Handmade/Homemade Embellishment
Truly Scrumptious - Vintage
Delicious Doodles - All Stitched Up
There's Magic In The Air - Fabric & Stitching

Polka Doodles Challenge - Tie The Knot

Morning folks on a rather grey and somewhat cold day. Where did the Spring go? It's Friday yet again so it's time for another challenge over at Polka Doodles. The theme this week has been chosen by teamie Emma and she would like to see a card or project to celebrate a marriage.
For my card, I decided on a neutral colour scheme combined with a slightly unusual shaped easel which I think is really classy.

I chose to base the card on the gorgeous rose collection from the Love and Cherish CD as it comes in several lovely colours and I love the classic cream and beige combination. I added some of the lovely shabby vintage paper from the All Around and Everywhere CD which co-ordinates perfectly with the rose paper I chose.
I started off with a traditional square shape easel and rounded off all the corners. I covered this with papers also rounded on the corners. I then added a circle instead of the usual square and as I don't yet own the large scalloped circle die that is on my wish list, I trimmed my circle with scallop scissors (a fair amount of cursing resulted but I managed to make the scallops meet in the end!)
I added a sentiment from the new A Double Sprinkle Of Kraft CD and finished off with some punched flowers made from paper leftovers and edged with a bronze glitter gel pen (an Ultimate Glitter pen by American Crafts and really blingy) and some glittered flourishes (Sissix die) Some pearls add to the look.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Creative Craft World - Love and Marriage
Scrapbook Sisters - Wedding or Anniversary
Pixie Dust Studio - Say It Out Loud (include a sentiment)


You have until 12 noon on Easter Sunday to enter and good luck.
Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Easter Bunnies

Good afternoon everyone on another lovely, sunny day which makes a great start to the week. I'm very pleased to say that the internet is now working properly again so I will be catching up with everyone over the next few days (it will take a little longer than usual as my girls are home for Easter and I'm sure you all know what that means!).

Before I show you my card, can I give a little reminder that the current Let's Ink It Up challenge is Easter projects and you still have a few days left to get your entries in. As always, no digis are allowed as the challenge blog is all about getting inky. So if you've made any Easter creations using rubber or clear stamps, we'd love to see them and you would be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize from our sponsor, Scrappit. If you hop over to the challenge blog , click HERE to be transported, all the details are available.

Now for my card which is an Easter one, of course!

I couldn't resist these cute vintage bunnies when they popped up over at the Vintage Feedsacks site as my mother in law adores rabbits in common with our whole family and I knew they would be perfect for an Easter card.
I've used the sketch from Moving Along With The Times:

The background papers are stamped using the Inkadinkado Garden Delight set using Memento Grape Jelly and Bamboo Leaves dye inks. The effect was achieved by stamping once then stamping again before re-inking to create a misty shadow look which gives a very pretty patterned paper.
I added 2 pieces to my card blank and then added some checked knotted ribbon to follow the sketch. I added the bunnies on a mat made from a scrap of flourish stamped paper from my bits box.
I made the greeting panel using a copper plant label (very cheap for a pack of 20 at Wilkinsons), punching on a second hole and adding knotted ribbon. The greeting was stamped on lemon card using the grape ink and my Hero Arts Pixie alphabet letters. I then over stamped with some flowers using Memento Pear Tart ink. Some Prima flowers with pearl centres finish off the card.

My card is for these challenges:
Creative Craft World - Easter
Creative Inspirations - Easter
Craft Your Passion - 2 By 2
Moving Along With The Times - Sketch
Paper Cutz - Bunny, Lamb, Chicks or Easter Eggs

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - Sketch Theme

Good morning folks, don't know where the last week went as it's Friday again and my girls will both be home from uni for the Easter holidays this weekend.
It's time for another challenge at Polka Doodles and your hostess is Dee who's provided a lovely sketch to follow.

This isn't as hard as you might think as it can be twisted about a bit and if you need some inspiration, just pop over to the challenge blog to see quite a few takes on it.
Here's mine:

I've chosen to use an image together with papers and a border from the brand new CD, A Double Sprinkle of Kraft, which is the result of a collaboration between Nikky and Sharon Armstrong whose name you may recognise as a magazine contributor amongst other things.
I printed out the sweet image and coloured the little girl and butterfly with various Promarkers. I cut out a rectangular shape and added the image to a mat of plain pink paper.
I followed the sketch as you can see using one of the gorgeous kraft papers (I love this particular one for its vintage, chintzy look) and a striped paper for contrast. I used one of the pretty scalloped borders as well and then added a sentiment from the Sugar Birdies Collectors Edition CD to finish.

Challenges for my card:
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes + Something New
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 17 April to enter and good luck!
Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

April Showers

Hello everyone, no showers here on an absolutely beautiful day that really does feel like Spring at last.

First of all, many apologies for not visiting you all and leaving comments over the past week or so. This will unfortunately continue for a little while as we have mega problems with our internet at the moment. Our service provider recently upgraded their system to what should be a much faster broadband speed but it's had the opposite effect on ours and we've been told we have to buy a new router to correct the problem.
As it takes around 10 minutes for a blog to load up and nearly the same to get to the comments, I haven't been able to do very much (without wanting to throw the computer out of the window anyway!!!). Hopefully this will be resolved soon.
Strangely enough, it hasn't affected the ability to post on here or upload photos so with that in mind, I have a couple of cards to share for various challenges.

The above card uses the photo inspiration from the current challenge over at The Paper Variety and happily fits another couple as well.
The stamp is by Papermania and was stamped with VersaFine Sepia ink and coloured with pencils. I cut the image out with a Go Kreate die and added a couple of toning mats.
The background paper and the border were stamped with a flourish from the Viva Decor My Paper World Floral clear stamp set using Scattered Straw and Wild Honey Distress inks.
I added a border punched with a Martha Stewart punch and a layered flower to finish with a computer generated sentiment.
Challenges for this card:
Crafty Creations - Rain Showers
Creative Card Crew - April Showers
The Paper Variety - Photo inspiration

The next card features Toby Tumble by Cuddly Buddly which I succumbed to at the Brighton Stitches show as the whole family loves bunnies. It uses the colour inspiration from Stampin' Royalty.

I stamped the image with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and coloured with a mix of pencils, Promarkers and Zig pens. I cut it out with a Nestabilities die.
The background papers and border were made as for the showers card using Scattered Straw, Shabby Shutters and Victorian Velvet Distress inks on toning card. The border was punched with a Martha Stewart punch.  Paper roses add the finishing touch.
Challenges for this card:
For Fun Challenges - Bunny
Simon Says Stamp - Spring Colours/Easter
Stampin' Royalty - Colour Challenge

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - No Printed Backing Papers

Good morning all, it's Friday so it's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles. Your hostess this week is teamie Ruth and she's chosen the theme - No Printed Backing Papers. You can either make your own or go clean and simple. Pop over to the challenge blog for some inspiration from the Design Team as everyone has done something different and there are some really inventive creations on show.

You can probably guess that I decided to make my own using -what a surprise- stamps! I wanted a slightly vintage feel to my card and here's the end result:

I've again used my current favourite stamp set, the brand new Polka Doodles Wonderland set, as I'm so enjoying finding more ways to use it.
I made my backing paper with the checkered stamp, stamping in Shabby Shutters, Tumbled Glass, Victorian Velvet and Milled Lavender Distress inks. I stamped again without re-inking in some places for a shabby, grungy look.
I stamped Alice with VersaFine Imperial Purple ink and coloured her with various shades of Promarkers. I then stamped a row of toadstools with VersaFine Olympia Green ink and coloured with a mix of Promarkers and Zig markers. I then cut along the top of the strip around the mushroom heads for added effect.
I added mats to the Alice image and cut round the green one with pinking scissors. I did the same to a strip under the toadstool border.
I finished off with the curiouser sentiment stamped in the purple ink on white card, coloured with a toning Promarker and cut out with a Nestabilities scallop die. I added a plain green circle behind.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 10 April to enter and good luck!
Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx