2014 In Review

Hello and welcome to my last post of the year as I've decided to join in with Debby of A Scrap Journey's sharing your favourite 5 projects of the year.
Thanks too go to Mynn for pointing me in the direction of her Blog Highlights of 2014 Link Party which I'm also joining in with :) 
Before we get to my selections I hope you all had a really lovely Christmas and managed to grab a few sale bargains as I did. We had 15 for Christmas evening which went very well as we acquired a roulette wheel a couple of years ago and a good time was had by all!
Now for my choices of my 2014 favourites which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, although restricting it to 5 was a bit tricky I have to say :)

My first choice is actually the one I made the most recently and is a mixed media wall hanging which I made as a DT contribution for That's Crafty. I love the pink and green colour combination as it's so Springlike and it has loads of texture and of course, butterflies which I'm sure you know how much I love.

Next up is a little mixed media arch on a favourite theme of mine - steampunk. It also has lots of texture and I love the arch shape.

Now I have some cards to share. The first I love because of the bright red and yellow combined with the black and white. I particularly like the layout of this one and the the washi tape which is stamped using a fab Kaisercraft set.

This card uses my favourite means of making background paper - Distress inks and of course, stamping! For this one I created a sort of frame effect with the Crafty Individuals flower stamp. I've used a favourite Paperbag Studios image too as she reminds me of my younger daughter at the same age.

Last up is a clean and simple design which is my favourite of the Christmas cards I made this year. It also uses my newest favourite stamps which are Dina Wakely's scribbly birds.

I hope you like my choices and here's to a very creative 2015!

Happy New Year everyone.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello everyone, just popping on to wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year too.
I've been a bit of a bad visitor in the last few months due to being very busy at work and then having very traumatic things happen as well which have turned 2014 into the worst year for ages. I'm hoping that 2015 will be kinder.
In the meantime, I have a card to share to wish you a great festive season and I hope you all have a lovely time.

Another outing for my favourite Christmas set from Mr Holtz and the trees were stamped several times without re-inking with Memories Creamy Coffee chalk ink on a die cut oval.
The deer was stamped with VersaFine Majestic blue and cut out. I covered the card blank with some Bo Bunny paper free in a magazine and addd the elements you can see together with a stamped sentiment also free in a mag.

See you next year!
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Cards Und More - All About Christmas
Deep Ocean Challenge - Christmas Is All Around
Holly Jolly Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
Just Inspirational Challenges - Christmas

Longing For Spring

Hello everyone, I hope you're all nearly ready for the big day. I still have some things to do and am hoping to get it done over the weekend so fingers crossed!
I'm sharing a mixed media piece over at That's Crafty today which I hope will bring a breath of Spring to the current dismal and chilly weather. Hope you like it.

You'll find a detailed tutorial over at the blog with lots of step by step pics if you'd like to see how my creation came about.

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

A Child Is Born

Hello all, I'm a day late with my inspiration for the current challenge at Make My Monday with a theme chosen by Jacqueline this week which is NATIVITY.
It had me a tad stumped I confess as I don't really have anything that would fit the theme so a Google search finally turned up a vintage postcard which I used for my card. Here's the result and hope you like it as this time there's no inking involved - very unusual for me as you know!

I've used papers from a Bo Bunny set which was a magazine freebie as I like the rich red as a contrast to the colours on the image. The only other addition was the embossed gold card I found lurking in my craft stash and I punched out a star to embellish as it made me think of the 3 wise men.

Hope you can join us and have a great week whatever you're doing.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Anything Goes At That's Crafty!

I'm back again with the details and my inspiration for our new challenge at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and this time the theme is Anything Goes!

As you can see, it's butterflies all the way today! I've made my card with my newest Carabelle Studio stamp which is perfect for a bit of decoupage.
Ingredients:
Carabelle Studio - Libellules et Papillons
Carabelle Studio - Texture Etoiles
Distress Inks - Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn
Archival Jet Black Ink
Dymo Machine & Tape
Ink Applicators

Recipe:
Colour a piece of paper with ink applicators and the red and yellow Distress inks. Stamp with the star background and the red ink.
Stamp the collage image roughly in the centre with the black ink and stamp again on plain paper, first re-inking.
Paint the butterflies on the plain paper stamped image with the red, orange, blue and green inks and cut out the images. In the case of the dragonflies, you only need the wings.
Attach the background paper to a card blank then add the cut out images over the top of those on the paper.
I made the text panel with the Dymo machine and added it to the card.

Hope you can enter and this time you have 3 weeks to join in as That's Crafty is on the move!

Have a great weekend,
Fliss xx

Some Sparkle

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week and are surviving the now rather chilly weather we now have.
I'm really looking forward to the weekend as my hubby and I are off out tomorrow. We're having dinner at a lovely house owned by one of his clients followed by a show involving 2 opera singers. We went to Glyndbourne a couple of years ago with one of his other clients and really loved it.
I have a project to share today over at That's Crafty as I've got my creative mitts on one of Sir Tim's fabulous layered dies. Hope you like this.

As you can see the die is amazing as it comes with its own texture fade folder which gives it a very realistic look. You'll find all the details over at the blog with the recipe and ingredients for my creation.
I'll be back a bit later on with details of our new That's Crafty Challenge too which goes live at 8am and I know you'll love the theme this time.

Fliss x

A Little Angel

Hello everyone, I hope you had a better weekend than me as I had to work to finish something off so I'm not a happy bunny at the moment!
I did manage to finish off my card for our new challenge today over at Make My Monday so it wasn't all bad news :)
This week our theme is ANGELS so I decided to ink up for the first time a lovely vintage style stamp by Crafty Individuals. Hope you like my inspiration.

I stamped the angel collage with Memories Creamy Coffee chalk ink and coloured her with pastel shades of Aquamarkers. I then trimmed the image to a panel by hand and added it to a mat I created by swiping silver Encore Metallic ink round the edges and heat embossing with Winter Wonderland embossing powder.
I made the blue background paper by dry embossing paper with a Darice snowflake flourish folder round the corners and then inked it with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I added this to a mat made in the same way as that for the collage panel.
I assembled the elements onto a card blank and stamped the Christmas greeting directly on the paper with the coffee ink.

Hope you can join us.
See you again soon,
Fliss xx

Christmas In Blueprint

Hello everyone, hope you've had a good week and better then mine as I've been extremely busy with work all week even though I've supposed to have had a couple of days off too! No rest for the wicked it seems :)
I have a project to share over at That's Crafty today featuring a creation made with one of Sir Tim's beautiful blueprint images. It's the first set I've got my inky mitts on and I love it so much I may have to indulge myself with more!

It actually looks much better in real life as i struggled to get a good photo with the light being so bad at the moment - nasty dull and cloudy weather which my camera doesn't like.
You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual and I'd love you to visit if you can.

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

A Season Of Mists And Sprays

Hello folks, sorry about my title but I couldn't resist because today sees the start of a new challenge at Make My Monday and Laura's choice of theme is Sprays and Mists :)
My inspiration is a little late because after I made my background paper a few days ago. Mr Mojo decided to go on a long walk and I've only just managed to get something put together.

The background paper didn't come about in the usual way that using mists would as being a rather messy crafter (you should see my lovely blue fingers!), I tend to get it everywhere!
What I did was to spray on to a craft sheet rather than a piece of paper. I used Sticky Fingers Aqua and Delphinium Summer inks. Once I had sprayed on the inks, I then pressed an A5 piece of cartridge paper into the ink to pick up the colour. Because I did it this way, I was able to colour a couple of pieces of paper with the one spraying session. I simply misted the leftover ink with water and ended up with the paler version I used here.
I stamped on some snowflakes from the Tim Holtz reindeer flight set and heat embossed them with white detail powder. I then cut a piece to fit my card blank and sprayed on some Dylusions White Linen to make the paper look even more snowy.
I then die cut an oval panel of cartridge paper with an X Cut nesting die and stamped on the trees from the set with VersaFine Deep Lagoon ink - I only inked the stamp once and then repeatedly stamped to add depth. I then inked around the edge with VersaColor Lapis Lazuli.
I stamped the deer from the set with Memories Creamy Coffee chalk ink and cut the image out. I stamped the sentiment with the same ink and hand cut this to a panel.
I distressed the edges of the background paper before adding it to the card blank and assembled the remaining elements as you see.

Have a great week and stay warm!
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Incy Wincy - Christmas - No Red or Green
Challenge Up Your Life - Turquoise and Brown
Stamping Sensations - Simply Christmas
Opus Gluei - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Glitter & Sparkle - Use Some Snow

Peek A Boo!

Hello again, I'm back as promised with the details of the new challenge over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog which has the theme this time of Face which I took to mean that you can make anything you like which has a face on it.
Here's my inspiration and hope you like it:

Ingredients:
Stampendous Cling Stamp - Blossom Beauty
Crafty Individuals Elements Stamp Set - Flower Heads
Kaisercraft Single Clear Stamp - Vintage Fence and Butterflies
Brusho Crystals
Distress Inks
Archival Ink - Watering Can and Fern Green
Stamping Paper
Circle die or cutter
Grey board

I used the vintage fence stamp to make what I think looks very like a shabby brick wall and stamped it with the grey Archival ink. I die cut a circle in the upper half.

I coloured this with a mix of Distress inks and Brusho crystals which I made into paints. I then stamped quite a lot of flowers with the fern green ink and painted them with Brusho crystals. The crystals are fab as you can mix them to make even more colours.
I then cut them out - I recommend doing this whist listening to the radio or TV as it takes a while!
I stamped the face on a scrap of stamping paper and coloured her.
I then checked the placement and glued the face panel to a square of grey board and glued the brick wall panel over the top.
I then arranged the cut out flowers around the face to make her look as if she's peeping through a hole in the wall.
I finished off with the secret garden text and a painted butterfly (my favourite by Kaisercraft).

I hope you can join in as there's a fab prize of a £20 voucher for the online shop for UK residents.
Have a great day and a lovely weekend,

Fliss xx

Bird On A Bough For That's Crafty

Hello all, a quick post to let you know that I have a project today over at That's Crafty using another of Dina Wakley's gorgeous scribbly birds and this time it's a little decorative panel which I hope you like.

If you'd like to see how I made it, you can find all the details over at the blog as usual.

See you again soon with news of our new challenge over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

Fliss x

Black and White With A Hint Of Red

Hello folks and hope you had a good weekend. I had a bit of a difficult time on Friday as I managed to end up totally contact lens less after a complete disaster first thing when trying to put them in! I can't really explain what happened - it was just extreme clumsiness after a week of sleeping badly.

As I'm blind as a bat without I had to phone in to work and say I couldn't go in (owing to the fact that even if I'd got there I'd have to work with my face 6 inches from the computer screen :)

Needless to say, I had a horrible day as I couldn't see to do much at all. I did see the optician on Saturday and she's rescued me with some permanent soft lenses until my new gas permeables get fitted. This was just a well as we had booked to see The Imitation Game that evening and I was able to go. If you haven't seen it, I can highly recommend it although I might be slightly biased as I adore Benedict Cumberbatch - such an amazing actor!!!

Anyhow, enough waffle and on to the reason for today's post which is to let you know that we have a new challenge today over at Make My Monday chosen by the lovely Suzi B who has picked Black and White with a Hint of Red.

Quite clean and simple for me although that could just be the abundance of white!
I stamped the cute penguin by Stampendous with Archival Jet Black ink and coloured his scarf with a red Aquamarker. I then trimmed the image to a panel and added a red mat.
I dry embossed the card blank itself with a Darice snowflake flourish folder. I then stamped the sentiment (Lindsay Mason) with the black ink, adding a red mat as before.
I assembled the card as you see, adding 2 glittery trees die cut with a Crafters Companion Die'sire tree die set.

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

Some challenges I'd like to enter:
Come and Get It - Winter
Allsorts Challenge - No Designer Papers Allowed
Fantasy Stampers Challenge - Cute Christmas
Animal Friends Challenge - It's Cold
Card and Scrap Challenge - Chistmas Card or Box
Christmas Cards All Year Round - No Patterned Paper
Dies R Us Challenge - Christmas
Scribbles Designs Challenge - Penguin Paradise
The East Wind Challenge - Baby It's Cold Outside

Scribbly Red Robin For That's Crafty

Hi all, just a quick post today to let you know that it's my day for a project at That's Crafty and this week I have a clean and simple Christmas card to share that could easily be made in bulk, something essential for the festive season.
Here it is and hope you like it:

He's a really cute fellow don't you think?

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Hugs,

Fliss xx

Glitter and Sparkle

Hello all, I hope you had a lovely weekend and managed to fit in a bit of crafting as I did as I'm slowly getting there with my festive heap of creations so fingers crossed I manage to get there in the end!
Today see the start of a new challenge at Make My Monday and this week, we'd like to see your creations with a bit of glittery sparkle.
What more could I do but add another festive bit of inspiration :)

My lovely snowman is from a Polka Doodles CD, Here Comes Christmas, and he's my favourite from there. I coloured him with Aquamarkers, trimmed him to a panel and distressed the edges.
The background paper is Dovecraft and I glued it to a kraft card blank. I then added a panel of red glitter card and a computer generated strip of text.
I added a frayed piece of hessian (burlap) and glued the snowman panel over the top.

Have a great week.
Fliss x

Some challenges for my card:
Card Mania - Use a Digi (My snowman)
Dream Valley Challenges - Anything Goes
Get Creative Challenges - Anything Goes + Optional Glitter (My card has some)

Vintage Style

Hello again, I'm back as promised with the details of our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which for the next fortnight has a theme close to my heart, VINTAGE.
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

Ingredients
Carabelle Studio Cling Stamp - Un Ange a Aimer
Crafty Individuals Flourish Stamp - CI-173
Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Embossing Folder -Floribunda
Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamel - Aged Bronze
Archival Coffee Ink
Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Fired Brick
Embossing Ink
Aquamarkers
Smooth Stamping Card
Kraft Card
X Cut Nesting Dies - Ovals - Large, Doorplate - Large
Doily

Recipe
1. Make the background paper. Cut a piece of stamping card to fit your card blank - mine is 8x8 because the angel is quite a tall stamp (almost 15cm including the wings). Ink up with Antique Linen and Tattered Rose DIs.
2. Use the flourish stamp and embossing ink to stamp a design in each corner of the inked paper and heat emboss with the Frantage enamel. Add the brown inks around the edges and on the embossed corners.
3. Stamp the flourish design over the paper with Tattered Rose and VIntage Photio without using an acrylic block. Do this repeatedly until you're happy with the effect which will be shabby chic like vintage wallpaper.
4. Stamp the angel and wings on stamping card with the Archival ink and colour with the Distress inks and Aquamarkers as desired. Cut the images out.
5. Dry emboss a panel of stamping card and one of kraft card with the embossing folder. Ink the stamping card panel with the pink and brown DIs. Inks a doily with the Vintage Photo.
6. Stamp the sentiment with the coffee ink and die cut with the smallest oval die. Die cut the second smallest doorplate from a scrap of card and stamp and heat emboss the flourish design with the aged bronze Frantage. Ink with the pink and brown DIs and glue on the sentiment oval.
7. Distress the edges of the background paper before gluing to the card and then glue on the remaining elements as shown.

Don't forget that the prize for entering is a £20 voucher for the online shop though please chack the rules first. Good luck!

Have a great weekend,
Fliss xx

Stag Night

Hi everyone, a bit of a pun for my post title as it's the name of the stamp I used for my masculine Christmas card for That's Crafty today by IndigoBlu which is great for the men in your life for either the festive season or a winter birthday.
Here it is and hope you like it. All details over at the blog as usual if you're interested in how I made it.

He's a rather handsome fellow don't you think?

Thanks for looking and back a bit later with the details of our new challenge today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

Hugs, Fliss xx

Berries and Foliage At Make My Monday

Hello everyone and first up today is an apology for my lack of visiting lately which is because life has got in the way of everything with lots of family stuff going on and work has been exceedingly busy too making me rather exhausted.

I'm slightly late with my post for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has a theme chosen by Jacqueline, perfect for adding to your festive heap, BERRIES AND FOLIAGE

• I decided on holly for my card as it happily has both berries and foliage, starting off by making the background paper which I coloured with Gamboge and Olive Green Brusho Crystals then swiped with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink for some added shimmer.

• I then inked up my old Papermania holly stamp with Brilliance Pearlescent Olive ink, adding a little Pearlescent Ivy round the edges of the leaves and inking the berries with Pearlescent Poppy using a sponge then stamped on the coloured paper, re-inking as I went.

• I stamped the sentiment on deep cream card with Olympia Green VersaFine ink, then die cut with an X Cut die and added to a gold mat. I stamped the holly on stamping card with the same ink, swiped on colour with Peeled Paint Distress ink and coloured the berries with a marker and a Spica pen.

• I embossed the side of a square kraft card blank with athe Cuttlebug holly sprig folder and assembled the card as you see, adding the cut out single holly sprig to finish.

Have a good week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Calendar - It's All About Christmas
A Crafty Mess - Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge - T For Traditional Christmas
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes

2 For 1 For That's Crafty

Hello everyone from an exceedingly windy and wet South of England. I thought I was going to get swept away as the wind is so strong at the moment so not good when you have to drive along the coast to work like me!
It's my That's Crafty project day today and this week I'm sharing something rather bright which actually made 2 projects for the price of one simply by ......... (I'm a tease I know but you'll have to pop on over to see how I did this!)
Here's a sneak peek to entice you - or I hope so at least :)

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Hugs,
Fliss xx

Vintage Style

Hello there, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed some sunny weather as we had a really warm Saturday with 22 degrees on the 1st November! Apparently cold weather is on the way though but I actually don't mind as long as it's not wet!
Over at Make My Monday we have a new challenge today with a theme chosen by yours truly and one which is close to my heart too, you've guessed it - VINTAGE

 I've inked up what I think must be my favourite image, the lovely Le Brun by B Line Designs which I found out a few months ago is based on a self portrait by a French lady artist of the same name. Her art is truly beautiful and so inspirational. I stamped the image on smooth cartridge paper with Memories Creamy Coffee chalk ink and coloured her with Prisma pencils then trimmed around the image on 2 sides. I added her to a shaped kraft card panel.
I then made a background paper by inking smooth card with Spun Sugar, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet and Vintage Photo Distress inks applied with an ink applicator. I stamped on a Stacy Stamps lace background design with the coffee ink, not using an acrylic block for a vintage shabby effect. I then cut an aperture in the paper with an X Cut die and will be saving the panel to use on another project.

I then die cut a trellis from kraft card with a Cheery Lynn die and made a background panel to sit behind it with antique cream card embossed with an X Cut rose folder.
I assembled the card with the embossed panel and die cut trellis sitting behind the aperture and added the image panel on the side, decorating with pearls. The finishing touch is a German gold scrap butterfly that has been in my craft stash for quite a while.
I left off a sentiment for the moment as I like to have a few cards that can be made suitable for several occasions.

Have a great day and a lovely week.
Fliss xx

PS: There will be candy soon as today is my birthday and I want to thank everyone who has been so kind in my recent difficult times.

Some Like It Hot!

Hello again, I'm back with details of the new challenge today at That's Crafty which has the theme of Hot and Spicy which I interpreted as colours so I have a rather bright creation to share with you this time.

As you can see, I'm still on a bird theme here too having finally inked up some Carabelle Studio stamps which have been in my craft stash for a good couple of months.
My background paper is the result of quite a lot of layering and started out with the aplication of some Brusho Crystals to a piece of wet watercolour paper. This produced a splattered look but as the paper was very wet the powders disolved and spread about. I helped the process a little with a wide paint brush.
The next layer was some spritzing with some Cosmic Shimmer mica spray which added a little sparkle. I then stamped on a Deep Red background stamp with Barn Door Distress ink to add texture followed by random stamping with the triangular background stamp from the Carabelle set with Fired Brick.
I then stamped on the circular design from the Stampendous NK Studio Wired set with white and yellow acrylic paints. I stamped on the flowers, masking as I went until happy with the effect and then used a Dylusions stencils to add the leaves with Black Soot Distress ink, doodling with a fine black pen to join everything up.
I stamped the bird and sentiment together with some smaller flowers of the same design on some scraps from my gelli plate leftovers as the slightly lighter orange shade made a contrast with the chilli red background. I cut these out and glued them to the background paper after distressing the edges with an emery board. I then glued the paper to a card blank to finish.

I used:
Carabelle Studio Stamp Set - Femme et Oiseau
Stampendous NK Studio Stamp Set - Wired
Crafty Individuals Elements Stamp Set - Flower Heads
Dylusions Stencil - Lucious Leaves -
Brusho Crystals - Brilliant Red and Orange from the Starter Set
Archival Jet Black Ink
Distress Inks - Barn Door, Fired Brick, Black Soot
Cosmic Shimmer Mica Mist - Golden Fish
Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Paints - Haystack, Nougat

If you're UK based it's great to enter for a fab prize of a £20 voucher to the online shop. Good luck!

Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Minuet Bird For That's Crafty

Hello folks, Happy Halloween and I hope you've all had a good week. Mine has been exceedingly busy so I'm looking forward to the weekend.

This post is to point you in the direction of my project today over at That's Crafty which is another Christmas card for my slowly growing heap of festive creations.

This goes to show what you can do with a stamp that's not actually meant to be a Christmas image but he looks rather cute as a robin don't you think?

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual and hope to see you there.

I'll be back a bit later on as we have a new challenge for you today over at the Challenge Blog and all will be revealed at 8am.

Bye for now,
Fliss xx

Shabby Chic at Make My Monday

Hello folks, a very late post for the challenge this week at Make My Monday chosen by Suzi with the theme of Shabby Chic.

I'm sure you know how much I love that and I managed to get it made in time but due to lack of camera and computer couldn't get it posted in time - sigh! The good news is my replacement laptop is being delivered today so hopefully it will be up and running some time at the weekend when my dear and clever hubby can sort it all for me. The insurance company is sending a voucher for my camera too so I should have one again soon and not have to keep borrowing!

Enough of my troubles anyhow and here's my shabby chic creation with a pic underneath to show how I made the background with just one Crafty Individuals stamp.

My image is the gorgeous Spring Gal by Stampendous but as you can get Winter pansies, you'll have to imagine she's a Winter Gal instead! I stamped her with Archival Plum ink and coloured her with Prisma pencils then trimmed her to a panel and distressed the edges with an emery board.

The background paper started off as a leftover piece of inked paper made with my Stampendous Mono Printing plate (available at That's Crafty) and Distress inks - Spun Sugar, Tattered Rose, Bundled Sage and Pumice Stone which I applied to the plate and misted with water.
I decorated the square I cut to fit my card blank with Crafty Individuals CI-173 flourish stamp without using an acrylic block - this gives fabulous shabby effects. I used VersaColor Atlantic Blue ink and first stamped the whole design in opposite corners. I then inked up parts of the image and stamped round the remaining edges. I finished off by stamping small parts of the image all over until I was happy with the effect.
Very shabby chic don't you think?

To make my card, I distressed the edges of the paper with the emery board and attached to the card. I added my image together with a flourish cut from smokey blue card with a Cheery Lynn die and finished off with a Flonzcraft sentiment stamped with Archival Cobalt Blue ink.

My DT mates have made some beautiful inspiration for you so do pop on over for a look.

See you soon.
Fliss xx

Simply Bright For That's Crafty

Hello there, sorry for my lack of visits lately everyone which is because I still haven't got very much in the way of computer time at the moment and am really missing my laptop.
A very quick post to let you know I have a project today over at That's Crafty which is a rather bright and simply designed card made with my trusty Inkadinkado stamping gear which is fabulous when you need something in a hurry.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual and thanks if you decide to go and visit.

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

More Spookiness!

Hello, guess who's late again with her post for the new challenge this week at Make My Monday. Teamie Joan has chosen the theme of Halloween as the spooky date is drawing near.
I had to go mostly digital for my inspiration due to the lack of actual Halloween stamps and I hope you like what I created.

I've used some Halloween images from the lovely June of Dezinaworld before she had to close down her online shop due to various difficulties and it's a real shame as you can see from the beautiful main collage image which is a favourite of mine.
I used background papers from a Polkadoodles Halloween download pack and used one for the background and 2 more to make panels as you see. I then assembled everything adding the cut out pumpkin and cat from June together with the bird (in black to resemble a raven) and cage die cuts by Sit Tim and cut from black paper.

I hope you can join us as we'd love to see you entering.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Quoth The Raven!

Hello there, I'm a day late with my post for the new challenge over at That's Crafty due to lack of time and this fortnight we'd like to see your SPOOKY creations with a certain creepy date fast looming.
I actually don't have that much in the way of spooky stuff so my trusty IndigoBlu Hocus Pocus stamp set came to the rescue.

A rather eye poppingly bright creation here as you see.

I started by making a piece of background paper applying Ripe Persimmon Distress ink to some smooth card and then stamped on the Kaisercraft Diamonds pattern with the same ink.

I then wanted to cut a window to add the main raven collage image underneath so I used an X Cut nesting die to work out the placement. Having done this, I stamped the collage image on a piece of smooth cartridge paper with Archival Jet Black ink and coloured it with Aquamarkers. I then used stencil to extend the image slightly to fit in the size of aperture I wanted. I used the Mini Specimens stencil by The Crafters Workshop which is fab for this sort of thing and made the arch shape at the top and grunge dot pattern at the bottom using Black Soot Distress ink.

I cut the aperture in the orange paper and then stamped on the spider and web image with the black ink in the top corners. I used a fine black pen to extend the cobwebs in places. I then stuck the raven panel to my card blank, checking placement and trimming a little and added the orange frame over the top. I finished off with the text stamped with the black ink using alphabet stamps.

If you're a UK resident, we'd love to see you enter as the randomly drawn winner will receive a £20 voucher for the online shop.

Hopefully see you soon.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Smile For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I'm finally back with my project for today at That's Crafty which is something to encourage me to do what my post title says, something I've actually found quite difficult to do lately with all the problems we've had lately.
I'm really sorry I haven't been able to come and visit but I've only had short bursts of computer time on a borrowed machine lasting around 20 minutes or so and it's very hard to do all I need to in that space of time.
I should hopefully have a new laptop to replace my stolen one in a couple of weeks so please bear with me until then.
In the meantime, here is today's project and as usual, you'll find all the details over at the blog.

See you again soon.

Fliss xx

Children or Babies At Make My Monday

Hello everyone and many thanks to those who left a comment on my last post about our shock just over a week ago. I much appreciate your kind thoughts which cheered me up a little.
Still not much in the way of good news although the police have linked 5 other cases to ours and have a person of interest as they call it so fingers crossed they manage to get somewhere.
I'm here today slightly late with my creation for today's new challenge at Make My Monday with Jacqueline's theme of Children or Babies. I chose children as I love the image I used by Paperbag Studios which reminds me of my younger daughter who had plaits between the ages of 7 and 10.

I made the background paper with a daisy stamp from Crafty Individuals Elements Flower Heads sstamp set, stamping in Memories Creamy Coffee to mafe a sort of frame round the edges. I then applied Squeezed Lemonade, Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress inks with a sponge applicator. I distressed the edges with an emery board and added the panel to a chocolate brown mat to leave a small contrasting border.
I made a card blank with some dusky pink hammered card and stamped daisies round the edges with the brown ink. I then added the background panel.
I stamped the image (called Little Lu Lu) with the brown ink on smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with Aquamarkers. I trimmed her to a panel and added mats of bright blu, dusky pink and chocolate brown to tone in, leaving a slightly wider border at the bottom to add some pink pearls to.
I stamped a butterly (B Line Designs with blue ink and coloured with Aquamarkers before cutting out. I checked the placement and then stamped the Flonzcraft sentiment directly on the background paper before adding the image panel and butterfly to finish.

Have a great week everyone and stay warm.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Learning To Dance In The Rain

Hello everyone, I'm here today with a heavy heart because I'm having to do what my post title says at the moment and my mixed media collage was what caught my eye.
I got home from work on Friday and when I shut the front door, heard a very odd tinkling sound like falling glass and then notice a smashed patio door with a hole near the base in our dining room. To cut a long story short, some nasty person had entered via the hole and helped himself to most of our portable electronics.
The most gut wrenching thing for me being not that he took my beloved Mac laptop but my backup drive too so I've lost several months worth of my accounting stuff which will have to be done all over again - sigh!
I've also lost my camera and my hubby's was taken too so I won't be able to take photos of anything I create even when I do feel like doing any which is definitely not now!
As you can probably image, I feel really sort of wired and unable to settle to anything so I'm doing the dreaded h word as scrubbing seems to be therapeutic! At least I'll have a very clean house afterwards!

I'm writing this on a borrowed computer which luckily had some of my artwork stored on it so at least I haven't lost everything.

I'll see you all when I can so bye for now.
Fliss x

My Blue Heart

Hello everyone and welcome to my post for today, especially my new followers, so lovely have have you here ladies.
Today's post is to let you know about the project I have over at That's Crafty which is to hopefully inspire anyone who hasn't yet entered our challenge for the fortnight over at the Challenge Blog as you still have a week to enter for a fabulous prize.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as always and I'd really love you to pop on over as the Design Team have some fabulous tutorials to share.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
See you again soon,
Fliss xx

A Season Of Mists

Hello everyone and welcome to my slightly late post for the new challenge over at Make My Monday today which has the theme of Autumn or Fall Colours. Very appropriate now because I woke up this morning to a chilly 8 degrees!
I hope you're all well and feeling better than me as I'm currently a bit under the weather with the first cold type thing I've had since January last year when my dear hubby gave me an unwanted New Year present!
My inspiration is very Autumnal as it's a favourite season of mine being an Autumn girl by birth. The photo doesn't quite do it justice as there are more colours in there than really show as I chose a palette of warm Autumn shades.

I made the background paper first with a piece of textured cartridge paper, applying Sticky Fingers Autumn spray inks in Blackberry, Olive, Autumn Gold and Maple to a craft sheet and pressing the paper in to pick up the colour. I find it a bit less messy than spraying directly on the paper and of course, this way you get more from the colours as you can colour more paper with the leftover inks.

I embossed one side of the dry paper with a Darice Autumn leaf flourish folder and swiped over the top with Brilliance Pearlescent Purple, Rust and Olive. I stamped the remaining paper with a Prima Engravers clear stamp and coffee brown ink. I then distressed the edges with an emery board and added splatters of Rusty Hinge Distress ink.

I painted a kraft clothing tag (it already had distressed edges!) with some brown and bronze acrylics to cover up the logo and text then stamped over the top with the same Prima stamp and the coffee brown ink. I also swiped the edges with Rusty Hinge ink for definition.

I made the leaves with an extra scrap of card coloured with the leftover spray inks and die cut them with a Marianne die before adding extra colour with Distress inks (Rusty Hinge, Frayed Burlap, Forest Moss and Mowed Lawn).

I added scraps of corrugated kraft card to the tag and then glued on the leaves and some kraft paper flowers with music score print. I tied a piece of twine through the top, then added the background paper to a kraft card blank with the tag and some cut up computer generated text.

See you soon and take care,

Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Lexi's Creations Challenge - Autumn Colours
Lunagirl Moonbeams Challenge - Autumn
Dies R Us Challenge - Fall Festival
The East Wind Challenge - Feel The Fall
Rubber Dance Challenge - Colour

All You Need Is Love

Hello, I'm back again, this time with details of our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which this time has the theme of All You Need Is Love.
I decided on a fairly clean and simple look for my card which I felt would suit my planned sentiment better as it's quite bold and graphic in style. So here it is and hope you like it.

I created the heart shape by die cutting the shape in a piece of thin card with the X Cut Homespun Heart nesting die and using the aperture to make a stencil. I then sponged Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold and Worn Lipstick into the heart shape.

 

I then stamped Kaisercraft's Flutter image with Archival Watering Can ink diagonally across the inked heart and added portions of the image only at the top and bottom to extend it across the paper. 

I stamped the butterfly portion of the image again along with the largest butterfly from the Kaisercraft Butterflies set.

I then painted the images with Distress inks - I used Picked Raspberry, Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers.

I assembled the card as you see to finish, stamping the sentiment from the Kaisercraft You! set with the same grey ink.

Hope you can enter (although you need to be a UK resident to be eligible for the prize) and it's a fab prize too as it's a £20 voucher for the online shop.

Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

To Die For

Hello folks and welcome to my first post of the day which is to point you in the direction of my project today over at That's Crafty which is all about making use of those dies you might have lurking in your collection like me.
I set myself a challenge to include as many as I could on my project without going totally overboard. I hope you think I've succeeded.

You'll find all the details over at the blog.

Thanks for looking and see you a bit later with my next post.

Fliss xx

Welsh Holiday Pics

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a good week and this is a very quick post from me to share some of my pics from last week when we had our trip to Wales. Absolutely no fiddling with the pics either as the weather was fabulous and the light produced very good photos.

First up is a pic of our hotel taken from the side of Lake Vyrnwy which is actually a reservoir and is surrounded by hills and lots of fir trees as you'll see below.

Next I have a pic of the tower in the lake which is Victorian and is actually what my hubby calls the plughole!

Now here's a pic of another lake we visited, Tal y Lynn (lynn is the Welsh for lake) and in common with our lake was like a mirror.

Next is a photo of my favourite Welsh town, Llangollen, pronounced Clan-gothlan, which has the River Dee running through the centre as well as a canal. It also has fabulous art and craft shops and a vintage clothing shop where I was lucky enough to pick up a beautiful green and plum check wool and cashmere jacket (the shoulder pads have to come out though as I don't want to resemble Hilary Devey!!!)

Finally, I have a couple of photos of Port Meirion (does anyone else remember The Prisoner?) and they don't really do it justice. It's a rather strange place but fascinating even so.

See you again soon and hope you enjoy the rest of the week.

Fliss xx