4 Little Birds

I'm back with another post today as I've just got a card back from a friend who snaffled it to copy as she liked the design so much and at the time I hadn't taken a pic of it.
Here it is finally and hope you like it!

It might not be obvious from the photo but the card has a cut away front and a further piece of background paper to match the front design is attached to the inside of the card,
I stamped the gorgeous little birds by Crafty Individuals directly on the card with VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink and coloured with inks. I then stamped flourishes from my favourite Viva Decor My Paper World clear stamp set around the edges of the card with Memento Pear Tart ink (don't you just love that name!). I then added a tiny design I've had for ages with Memento Lilac Posies ink. I sponged VersaColor Split Pea and Topaz over the top.
I cut the card front away round the birds image and lined the card inside front with pink card which I trimmed to make a pink border round the edge of the cut away section.
I stamped a further piece of white card in the same way as the front and attached this to the inside right edge of the card, I finished off with a greeting panel also stamped with flourishes to match and some flowers I punched from inked and stamped card with pearl centres.

I'm entering my card in the Creative Craft challenge - Make Your Own Backing Papers (how could I resist this one!!!)
Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Dezinaworld Celebratory Giveaway

Hello everyone on very very hot, thundery day. We've got a little sea breeze thank goodness as I popped out earlier and felt the heat pressing down on me so I should everyone inland is suffering a bit.
Just a quick post here in the middle of DT work to let you know about my friend June of Dezinaworld's giveaway if she reaches 500 followers. She's almost there now and if she reaches 550 then she'll be awarding her fabulous giveaway to 3 lucky followers.
Do pop over for a look as the giveaway prize is some absolutely stunning collage sheets and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is a post about it like me and add your blog link on June's post. You also have to be a follower of course - how easy is that!

Good luck June!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Make My Monday Sketch and Floral Challenge

Good morning all on a very warm and sunny Monday. I hope you all had a lovely weekend with some sunshine and managed to sit in the garden for a while as I did.
As it's Monday, we have a new challenge over at Make My Monday and it's the last one with this month's flower theme - it's a lovely sketch from Jacqueline this time which I really enjoyed doing.

I've gone for one of my favourite colour combinations, lilac and green, and have used a gorgeous iris stamp from Circa Design which I stamped with VersaFine Smokey Gray and coloured with Prisma pencils.
I set the floral panel on an embossed lilac mat, larger on one side so that I could added some punched flowers made from inked paper and pearls to tie in with the sketch.
My background squares are green Bazzill card embossed with the Craft Concepts butterflies folder and some decorated paper from my bits box. It was created using Artifacts stamps from The Stamp Bug and VersaColor inks in purple, lilac and pink.
I finished off with a sentiment from Hobby Art over-stamped with flourishes and Lilac Posies Memento ink for added texture.

You have until 12 midnight on Saturday 2 July to enter and good luck!

My card is for the following challenges:
Paper Sundaes - Choose At Least 2 from Purple, Gems. Wings, Paper Piercing
Sew Many Cards - Dry Embossing
Stampin' For The Weekend - My Favourite Things (Making my own background papers, dry embossing and my Prisma pencils for colouring)

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx
PS: Can't wait for the next challenge as July is my month to choose the theme and I'm sure that those of you who know me can probably guess what it is (clue - it begins with a v)

Anniversary

Hello everyone and hope you've all had a lovely weekend. I'm here with a very quick post as I want to watch Popstar to Opera Star at 8 o'clock.
Today my lovely hubby Andrew and I celebrate our 29th anniversary which I actually find rather scary as sometimes it only seems like yesterday when we walked down the aisle. It's like that with our girls who are now 22 and 20 and the time seems to go ever faster once you have children.
I have the card I made him to show you and as he doesn't like anything too fussy, this is about as simple as I can manage.

I made the background panels by repeatedly stamping a Hampton Arts carved heart with Tattered Rose, Milled Lavender and Frayed burlap Distress inks on beige parchment card.
The hearts are the same card sponged with Fired Brick, Barn Door and a mix of Worn Lipstick with Victorian Velvet DIs. I stamped on a border design from a tiny Prima set, using contrast shades of DIs. I then cut them out with a Cuttlebug heart combo set die and embossed them with one of the folders in the set.
I added some Papermania Gemstone stickers that I just picked up for £1 from the bargain section at The Range and finished off with a sentiment from a Dovecraft stamp set, stamped with VersaFine Crimson and over-stamped with the heart in Spun Sugar DI.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Scrappy Frogs - Simply Red
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Embossing
Sweet Stampin' - Something Old/Something New (the stamps are the old & stickers the new)
Daring Cardmakers - Something Old/Something New as before (couldn't manage the rest!)

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - Red, White And Blue Colour Theme

Good morning everyone from sunny Sussex. The sun has at last returned this morning after a lot of rather showery weather this week so I'm hoping it stays nice for the weekend.
As it's Friday, we have a new challenge for you over at Polka Doodles. Ruth is your hostess this week and she's decided to be a bit patriotic with a colour theme of Red, White and Blue. It's also our stashbox stamps week so we get to show you Polka Doodles stash with stamps that aren't.
I've gone rather glamorous and vintage with my easel shape card as you'll see.

I decided this rather glamorous showgirl  from a Kanban clear stamp set would look lovely dressed in red so I stamped her and coloured her frock and hat with a ruby Promarker then added a touch of cherry marker. As you see, she also has red hair for which I used apricot, ginger and carmine. I then cut the panel out and set it on a red mat.
I made an easel shape card which I covered with a gorgeous shabby chic paper from the Paper Boutique 3 CD. I added faux stitching around all the edges with a white opaque pen.
I then added texture and sparkle with some lovely crunchy white crochet lace and lots of blingy gems which were a pound shop bargain. I finished off with some flourishes and pretty red and white flowers with a favourite greeting by Hero Arts which I think suits the glam lady very well.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 3 July (eek! July already!) to enter and good luck!

My card is for the following challenges:
Craft Us Crazy - Red, White & Blue and Summer Theme - Either or Both
Crafts and Me - Stitches
Crafty Creations - Let It Shine
I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty - Red, White & Blue

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Make My Monday Tag Challenge

Good morning everyone on a rather wet and soggy Monday and hope you all had a good weekend.  It's time for a new challenge over at Make My Monday and continuing with the June theme of Flowers, Jacqueline would like to see a tag. This could either be a tag on a creation or just a tag as the DT have done both.

I took the theme literally and made a tag in my favourite arch shape with an oriental theme.

As you can see, I've gone for quite bold colours. I started off by sponging the tag with Mustard Seed Distress ink and then stamped on some blocks using home made fun foam stamps and Barn Door and Dried Marigold DIs.
All the images came from a Habico Chinese Flowers clear stamp set and I stamped on a floral block and some Chinese script with VersaFine Majestic Blue ink. I then stamped a flower spray with the same ink on cream card and coloured it with Promarkers. I then sponged on some inks. I notched the corners and added the panel to mats of black and gold card.
I made some faux ribbon with strips of cream card which I stamped with the script then rubbed with olive ink. I added this to the tag twisted through a Chinese coin and finished off with another coin at the top.

You have until 12 midnight on Sunday 25 June to enter and good luck!

My tag is for the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp And Show - Some Metal
Creative Inspirations Paint - Bright Colours
Gingerloft - Asian Inspiration
Pile It On - Show Me Some Metal

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Fetch A Sketch

Good morning everyone, hope you're having a lovely Sunday. Many thanks to everyone who left such kind comments about my tumble on Friday and I'm feeling so much better today. The swelling in my hand has gone down a bit so I actually have some grip back without the ouch factor so hopefully will be fully recovered soon.
This is just a very quick post to tell you about the pre launch party over at Fetch A Sketch the new challenge blog set up by my fellow Polka Doodle teamie and friend Ruth and Jenny who was also on the team at one time. As it seems that most crafters' favourite is a sketch (as shown on Feline Playful) this is one I know you'll want to follow.

Ruth and Jenny have candy on offer to celebrate the launch so why not pop over to see what it's all about. The first challenge goes live on 27 June and I'm really looking forward to it.

Fliss xx

Sailing

Hello everyone and I hope you're having a better start to the weekend than me as I have rather a lot of aches and pains today as well as a really painful thumb. And no, it wasn't exercise but a rather spectacular fall in the local Morrison's car park! It was tipping down with rain and I managed to put my foot on a very wet and slippery section of tarmac. Next thing I knew, my feet went out from under me and I landed in a very ungainly heap at the feet of a very startled lady loading her shopping into her car boot.
I managed to twist my left thumb and badly bruise my left knee when I landed so I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself today! I have to carry on though as my elder daughter is returning from Sheffield today and her room is rather messy.
I have a card to show you that is my father in law's Fathers Day card which we have to give him today as he and my mother in law are off to Sidmouth first thing tomorrow.

My card uses one of the maritime themed images from an Aspects Of Design nautical set which is stamped with VersaFine Smokey Gray and coloured with Promarkers.
The background paper is Papermania kraft card stamped with a Fiskars stamp roller system stamp in brown and green.
I finished off with a panel embossed with the Cuttlebug swirls folder and a sentiment from the stamp set.

My card is for the following challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - Fathers Day
Dutch Dare - For The Boys
Rainbow Lady's Challenge - I Am Sailing

Thanks for looking and hoping you all have a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - All Of A Flutter

Good morning everyone, it's Friday again and almost the weekend thank goodness. It's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles but before I tell you about it I have some news about the winner of my blog candy from the Blog Hop. The lucky person my daughter picked out of the hat is:

Mandy of A Sprinkling Of Glitter

Many congratulations to you and if you email me your postal address, I'll get your candy off to you!

Now to this week's challenge which has been chosen by Emma. As the theme is All Of A Flutter, she would like to see your creations with pretty things with wings.

I've used elements all from the A Double Sprinkle Of Kraft CD and being very short on time, chose the pre-coloured images. I inked around the edges of the central panel featuring the very cute Winnie the owl and also my main background paper.
I assembled it as you see using a pretty border, a tree I cut out and a butterfly cut out and rounded to a 3D shape with an embossing ball tool. I finished off with a stamped sentiment from the Sensational Sentiments stamp set.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 26 June to enter and good luck!

Challenges for my card:
Paper Crafting Journey - Our Feathered Friends
Southern Girls - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

A Die Cut Or Punched Flower With Make My Monday

Good morning everyone, it's the start of yet another week and I'm hoping mine is better than the last one which for me was very difficult on several fronts which I won't bore you with. I'm also hoping for some sunshine after yesterday's rainy day although at the moment we have yet more rain!
As it's Monday we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and continuing with this month's theme of Flowers, this week we would like to see a die cut or punched flower on your creation.

The background panels on my card were actually inspired by an article in a free copy of The Times newspaper that I was given in W H Smith last week. The article featured some gorgeous fabric panels and curtains by the Designers Guild. The curtains had vertical stripes in various colours with white embroidery on them and were really striking.
My panels use the batik technique of clear embossing images on white card, sponging on ink then ironing to remove the embossing powder. This gives the white areas a really striking contrast. I used a flourish stamp from the Polka Doodles Daisy Doodles stamp set and a diamond border by Impression Obsession. The inks are Shabby Shutters, Milled Lavender and Scattered Straw Distress inks and as you can see the ironing altered some of the ink colours a little.
My flower is made from white card cut out with various sizes of the Nestabilities Blossom die set and sponged with Victorian Velvet Distress ink. I layered them up after scrunching them and finished the flower off with a toning paper flower and a pearl.
I added one of my favourite Tim Holtz sentiments, stamped in black and set on a mat of scrap decorated paper from my bits box. I finished off with some green flourishes cut with a Sissix die set and some Making Memories border strips that were a bargain in T K Maxx.

You have until 12 midnight on Saturday 18 June to enter and I hope to see you there.

My card is for the following challenges:
Just For Fun - Use At Least One Tim Holtz Product (DIs and Sentiment)
4 Crafty Chicks - Handmade Flowers
Stamp Something - Something Punched/Die Cut
Totally Gorjuss - Flower Power

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Blog Hop And Lots Of Candy

THE BLOG HOP IS NOW CLOSED AND THE LUCKY WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED VERY SOON!

Good morning everyone, we're having a mega celebration with a blog hop and candy galore as it's Polka Doodles 3rd Birthday - where does the time go?!

To celebrate we have a very special challenge and you'll have to follow the blog hop to find out what to do and along the way, you'll see all the fabulous candy - in my case there's some extra goodies as I managed to miss my own blog anniversary last month as I was so busy.

Here's what you need to do to be in with a chance of winning some of the fab prizes:

• Follow each of the DT in order and collect a word as you go

• Write the words down as you go and it will state a message at the end

• Each stop along the way has Blog Candy

• Leave a comment on each of the Design Team posts in the hop to be in with a chance of winning their candy

The Blog Hop will end on Sunday 12 June at 12noon GMT (this has been extended because of the commenting problems)

The theme of the celebratory challenge is MALE and here's my card for some inspiration:

I've used the vintage cyclist gent from the Not For Girls CD as apart from my hubby the dads in our family are pensioners and not keen on most of the usual male themes. This one is perfect for a slightly more vintage style card.
The papers and sentiment I used are from the Fathers Day and Family Kit and I inked all the edges as well as rounding the corners. I finished off with some computer generated text from a certain Queen song which sprang to mind the minute I saw this image and now won't go away! Are you singing too?

Now I'm sure you want to see the fab candy so here are a couple of pics:

 
 Nikky has generously provided the brand new A Double Sprinkle Of Kraft CD which is a must have from my point of view as the papers are to die for.
My candy is all sorts of bits including card blanks, 3D stickers, glitter wire, ribbon and beads. You might want to click on the photo for a better look as the packaging  caused some glare.


Now for the Hop details:


You should have arrived here from Emma's blog but if you didn't, don't panic as a full list of the order is on the main challenge blog so just pop over to see where to start.


The word you need to collect from me  is, strangely enough, COLLECT and you now need to hop to 

D'Anne's blog

So that's it and don't forget to leave me a comment to be in with a chance of winning the fab candy above - you have to be in it to win it!

Good luck,

Fliss xx 

Polka Doodles Challenge - Something For Dad

Good morning all, it's Friday again and I've had rather a manic week for various reasons so I'm glad the weekend is almost here. I'm hoping this post pops up as scheduled as I'll be at the hairdressers for an early appointment so I can park without any trouble.
This week's challenge over at Polka Doodles has been chosen by Ruth and her theme is Something For Dad which is a perfect opportunity to get those Fathers Day cards done.

I have another vintage style offering as my inspiration for this challenge:

I've used some vintage car collage style backing paper and a retro car stampie from the Not For Girls CD for the card.
I set the car on a mat of white card, embossed with the Cuttlebug gears folder then sponged with Wild Honey Distress ink and swiped with Rusty Hinge. I added copper peel off hinges on each side, pierced holes through and tied some twine in the holes.
I dabbed some Black Soot Distress ink on some Maya Road chipboard gears for an antique look and added these to the card. Text generated with a Dymo finished the card off.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 19 June (Fathers Day!) to enter and good luck!
I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Craft Us Crazy - Masculine Theme/Colours
Delightful Challenges - Fathers Day
Paper Play - Fathers Day/Man's Card
Crafting For All Seasons - Fathers Day
The Paper Variety - Father/Special Man

Thanks for looking, and have a lovely weekend,
Fliss xx

Red Flower Challenge At Make My Monday

Good morning everyone on a rather soggy day - we had loads of rain in the night and it's still rather grey. I'm feeling anything but though as, with great excitement, I can give you the details of the first challenge at Make My Monday.

The theme for June has been chosen by our leader and the challenge owner Jacqueline of deezines art. She has chosen flowers and the challenge for this week is to make a creation with  Red Flowers as the focus.

I really loved doing this one and apart from the rather annoying fact that I couldn't find my poppy stamps (and still can't so sort out is necessary!), made a card with a gorgeous stamp that has sat unused in my collection for a while.

The colour inspiration for my card actually came from the latest Play Date Cafe challenge:

I made my background paper by sponging Shabby Shutters Distress ink on beige parchment card (Southfield Stationers) and then stamping on a couple of the designs from the Viva Decor My Paper World clear stamp set "Crown,Lion,Wings" and Hero Arts Old French Writing with Crushed Olive DI. I then tore the edges.
I stamped the gorgeous flower (B Line Designs ZFF240F Spring Bloom) with VersaFine Olympia Green and coloured it with Prisma pencils. I then inked around the flower, cut it out with an oval cutter and inked the edges.
I set the floral panel on a scrap of corrugated packaging which I painted in a shabby fashion with lilac acrylic paint. I then stamped a couple of butterflies (also B Line Designs) with the same green ink, coloured as before, cut them out and added them to the panel.
I finished off with a pretty red ribbon bow from which I added a heart charm that I made with gold wire. The heart is by Hampton Art and I stamped it with Barn Door DI on a scrap of card sponged with Crushed Olive, embossed it with clear powder and cut it out. I set all the panels on a card blank on which I stamped a flourish design from the Viva Decor set all around the edges with Milled Lavender DI.

You have until midnight on Saturday 11 June to enter and I know the DT are all very excited to see your creations.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
The Play Date Cafe PDCC84 - Colour Theme as above
One Stop Craft Challenge - Texture
Delicious Doodles Challenge - Texture

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Roses Are Blue (And Green)

Hello everyone, rather nasty weather we're having at the moment as it's been a very rainy afternoon after the hot although very windy weather of the last couple of days. Hope you've all had a good weekend.

I've managed to do some crafting some of which is under wraps as it's DT work but I have a card to share which I've made for June of Dezinaworld's Spot Challenge which is now back - yippee! June has been looking after her Mum and Dad over the last few weeks so has had very little time to herself so it's really lovely to have the challenge return.

Here's my entry:

The challenge theme is Colour Swap - do something in the colours you would normally not see and I decided on blue and green roses as I definitely haven't seen any that colour!
I made my background paper by blowing up one of the lovely roses in June's fabulous collection of Flower PNGs and altering the colour a little to make it blue. I printed it out on linen card, inked around the white parts with green ink then stamped on a lace mesh design (B Line Designs) with olive ink. I stamped the text (also B Line Designs) with Smoke Blue VersaColor ink.
The green roses are from the same set of Flower PNGs and I cut out 3. The pretty lady who happily came with the blue rose is from the Colour Girls (1) collage sheet and I gave her wings made from a butterfly from the beautiful Butterfly PNGs set.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Polka Doodles Challenge - Something With A Secret

Hello everyone, it's Friday yet again so it's time for another challenge over at Polka Doodles.

If you haven't yet had a go at the Blog Hop with prizes galore, the deadline has now been extended another week to noon on 12 June due to all the problems people have had leaving comments at the moment. If you still have them, I can recommend Firefox as I haven't had any problems at all and I think it's Internet Explorer at fault.

And now on to the challenge this week which has been chosen by Nikky and she would like to see a project with a Secret Element. I've made a card and also have a mini tutorial to share on how I made the chintzy floral papers on my card which I did because I ran out of printer ink at the exactly the wrong time - why is it that it always does that at the most inconvenient time possible! Still, I did get to be creative with my stamps.

As you can see, it really is easy to do vintage style with Polka Doodles stash. I had some mannequins left from when I made the Sundae Of Seasons CD samples for Nikky - these are a favourite as my younger daughter is studying for a degree in fashion design (she is very excited at the moment as yesterday she found out that she'd gained the highest mark in her year group for her last project - I can't tell you how pleased we are for her!!!)
I stamped on the torso portion of one of the mannequins - you can see how easy it is to make the paper below, using a tiny flower from the Daisy Doodles stamp set and various shades of VersaColor ink. I then ran a bronze glitter pen round the edge and cut it out.
I cut out a panel with a further matching mannequin and decorated it with the same technique, lighter inks and a slightly larger flower. I added this to a kraft mat and a further mat of the chintzy paper using the technique on peach card.
I made a large piece of background paper using the layering technique and the largest dotty flower, attaching this to the card blank. I added a piece of coffee coloured lace. I then attached the mannequin panel to form a pocket and glued braid at the top and bottom.
I altered some silk flowers with Promarkers and glimmer mist (Vintage Pink) and added this with a vintage button centre. I then added a stamped sentiment (Creative Expressions Sam Poole sewing set).
I then made a tag to fit in the pocket with the other pretty mannequin from the CD again making papers using the technique below. I added a stamped sentiment and a portion of tape measure from the CD with a vintage button at the top - as you can see it makes a great pull tab.

Mini Tutorial
As you'll see it really is easy to make my chintzy paper, the only extra tip being that the larger your base paper, the larger your flower stamp needs to be or it will take ages. This is a slight variation of my Millefiori Stamping Technique (there is a link on my side bar) and I chose the name for this as it's Italian for 1000 flowers.

Step 1 - I used VersaColor Smoke Blue

Step 2 - I used VersaColor Lilac

Step 3 - I used Umber

Step 4 - I used Cinnamon then Sand Beige to fill any remaining gaps

So you can see it really is easy and all that's involved is layering up the stamping.

I'm entering my project in the following challenges:
Divas By Design - Florals (quite a lot here!)
Paper Creations Ink - Ribbon Or Lace

I hope you find this useful. You have until 12 noon on Sunday 12 June to enter the challenge and don't forget to pop over to see the other gorgeous DT projects as there's som fabulous inspiration there.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Make My Monday Challenge Blog

Good morning everyone on a lovely bright and sunny day here in Sussex. It's finally warm again after a few days of getting out the woollies again!
I have some fantastic news to share which has me very excited and happy at the moment as Jacqueline of deezines art has asked me to join the Design Team of her new challenge blog, Make My Monday.

The first challenge goes live on Monday 6 June and I can't wait to share my first creation with you all.
Congratulations go to my new team mates:

Suzanne

Caz

Cath

I'm looking forward to working with Suzanne and Caz again and to getting to know Jacqueline and Cath.

I hope you can make some time to pop on over to the challenge blog and become a follower so that you don't miss the weekly challenge details as I know we have some great themes in store for you.

Thanks for looking,

Fliss xx