Animals at That's Crafty Challenges

Hello again, I'm back with my inspiration for our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenges and our theme for the next fortnight is Animals (as you probably guessed from the title!).
I've chosen to use my favourite animal stamps which are Crafty Individuals gorgeous Alice Palace quirky bunnies.

I made the background paper first by applying splats of Distress Stains to watercolour paper - I used Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive and Bundled Sage. I spread some of the colour with a finger for a shabby look. I then stamped a flourish design from Crafty Individuals CI-351 all around the edges with Bundled Sage Distress Ink and right on the edge with Pumice Stone. I think it looks a bit like leafy fronds.
I stamped the bunnies with Archival Watering Can ink on a scrap of card I made a while back which was coloured with Spun Sugar Distress Stain and a splash of Pumice Stone. I added colour to the crowns and a little to the bodies with Distress Markers. I then cut them out.
I added the background paper to a kraft card blank and stamped the text from the Stamp-It Australia Time To Dream stamp set with the grey ink  and fixed the bunnies in place with foam tape.

It's good to enter if you can as the prize is a £20 voucher to the online shop where there are oodles of fabulous goodies.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Totally Tropical

Hi there everyone from an exceedingly tired Fliss. I'm really glad we've almost got January out of the way as it's such a difficult month for those of us in accountancy with HMRC's pesky tax return deadline - we always seem to have clients who leave it right to the last minute - sigh!
This is my first post of two today and this one is to point you in the direction of my project today over at That's Crafty with just a sneak peek this time and you can view the whole creation over at the blog if you'd like to hop over.
It's very bright so it might cheer up anyone who has a dull day.

You'll find the ingredients and recipe at That's Crafty blog as usual and it's worth a look for the inspiration from the Design Team with some gorgeous projects all with full tutorials and unlike magazines, it's totally free!

See you again in a while.
Fliss xx

Bright and Cheery

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and managed to stay warm in the rather chilly weather we're having at the moment.
It's my turn to pick the theme at Make My Monday this week and I picked Bright and Cheery Colours because I felt we could all do with a bit of cheering up in the middle of Winter!
My card is rather eye poppingly bright so you might need your sunglasses - you have been warned!

I started off with a piece of paper from my Gelli plate box which being a lovely warm shade of orange was just what I needed. I stamped it with a flourish design from CI-351 and Ripe Persimmon ink as I wanted quite a subtle effect.
I then stamped the main image together with the butterfly and flowers from Innovative Stamp Creations set on smooth watercolour paper with Archival black ink. I painted the butterfly with Peacock Feathers Distress ink and the flowers with Picked Raspberry then cut them out.
I stamped the sentiment (Flonzcraft) directly on the background paper and then added it to a white square card blank together with the remaining elements.

The Design Team have come up with some fabulous inspiration and I hope can join us.
Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Seeing Stars

Hello all and apologies for my lack of visiting, January is still in full swing with the looming tax return deadline and I can't wait for February to come! We've had internet issues at work too which seem to be due to the current very cold weather - sigh!
I totally forgot to schedule my That's Crafty post too so apologies for that to Laura. My project this week is the card I made for my younger one's birthday last weekend and has been made with my new Carabelle Studio stamps which is a range I'm totally obsessed by at the moment as they're so different.
Hope you like what I created and without further ado here it is!

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual and it's worth a look as it's such a simple card to make even if it might not look like it.

Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Fliss xx

20th Century Style

Hello all, I'm slightly late with my post for the new challenge at Make My Monday this week as the light went before I could take my photo and then the scanner wouldn't work!
This week the theme chosen by Marina is Twentieth Century Style and for my inspiration I've gone back to the 1960s with a retro scooter which should be familiar to anyone (not me I might add!) who remembers the Mods and Rockers.

The stamp was in a retro set that came with a Get Stamping magazine a while back and I stamped it with Archival Jet Black ink and coloured the image with Promarkers. I trimmed the image to a panel and added a turquois mat.
I found the chevron paper after an internet search as I knew I wanted a chevron pattern and I didn't have anything to fit. I printed it out and cut a strip to fit the card blank.
I added the scooter panel to the card and finished off with the text from the stamp set, stamped directly on the card with the black ink.

Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Tick Tock

Hello again! Today's the day for a new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge and for the next fortnight our theme is Tick Tock! 
I have to admit to being a bit challenged myself with this one as I didn't have that much to fit the theme so I decided to think outside the box. Hope you like what i came up with.

Do you see what I mean about thinking outside the box :D

I made the background by first spraying with Sherbert and Bookworm Mister Huey mists. I then ironed on some Bondaweb painted with gold metallic paint and then ironed on some snips of green checked chiffon ribbon.
I stamped the text from the Artistic Outpost Happiness set with Archival Fern Green Ink and stamped on part of the butterfly collage image in the corners. I stamped the butterfly part of the same image on cream card with the green ink and cut it out.
I distressed the edges of the background paper with an emery board and attached it to a card blank then added the butterfly to finish.

The challenge is open for the next 2 weeks and the prize for the randomly drawn winner is a £20 voucher for the online shop.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss x

A Sequence of Moments

Hi there everyone and hope you're surviving the current gales and nasty wet weather if you have that where you are. Not that I've seen much of it as I've been working full time the last couple of weeks so haven't been outside that much!
I also haven't had very much time for crafting having had to work last weekend to finish off something for my hubby. I just managed to squeeze in a bit of time to make my journal page which is my project today over at That's Crafty as I've made the decision to start a loose leaf art journal the size of my Gelli Plate so that I can hopefully make some quick background with inks and paint.
You might need your sunglasses for this as it's very bright! I thought the dark and dreary weather needed a pick me up!

You'll find the ingredients and the recipe over at the blog as usual if you'd like to see how it cam about.

I'll be back a bit later as we have a new challenge today over at the That's Crafty Challenge which goes live at 8am so will see you soon.

Fliss x

Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep!

Hello there, I hope you've all had a good week and better than mine which has been very tiring as I'm working full time at the moment due to being in accountancy and the tax return deadline is fast looming at the end of the month - sigh!
I have a project today over at That's Crafty which is a bird themed tag which involved some of the leftovers from my blue challenge project. Hope you like it!

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you want to wing your way over and see how it came about.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

New Beginnings At Make My Monday

Hello there, I hope you all had a good weekend and managed to be a bit creative as I did. By the time this pops up I shall be back at work, not something I'm looking forward to having being off since Christmas Eve - groan!
Today sees the first challenge of 2015 over at Make My Monday and Jacqueline has chosen New Beginnings as the theme. I've gone a bit outside the box here inspired by some quotes I saw on Pinterest and I hope you like what I came up with.

I've done a little trick you might find useful here as I didn't have a stamp with the text I wanted to use so I had to get a bit creative.
What I did was to ink up part of an A4 sheet of card using Distress inks applied to a 15cm square acrylic block. I used Crushed Olive, Squeezed Lemonade, Spun Sugar and Stormy Sky with a tiny swipe on the pink area with Picked Raspberry. I was thinking of the soft glow you sometimes get at the sun starts to rise. I dried it well with a heat gun and then ironed it flat with a dry iron.
I then typed the text in a Word document, checking the placement by first printing out on to plain paper. When I was happy with the positioning, I put my inked card in the manual feeder and printed the text onto it.
I trimmed the card to a panel to fit my square card blank and then stamped the meadow silhouette from a free Indigo Blu set which came with a magazine using Archival Jet Black ink. I stamped a tiny butterfly from the Crafty Individuals Elements Butterflies set with the same ink and coloured it with A Tombow marker.
I added the panel to a cream card blank and there it was - a clean and simple card! I didn't feel it needed anything else and hope you agree.

Have a great day and a good week.
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Quirky Crafts Challenge - Clean and Simple (hope it's CAS enough ladies)
Natalie and Amy  All Things New
Crafter's Cafe  New
Pink Gem  Something New
Crafty Calendar  What's New

Blue Is The Colour

Hello and welcome to my second post of the day and Happy New Year if you missed the last one.

Today sees the start of our first challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and for the next fortnight our theme is Blue Is The Colour as you probably guessed from my title :)

Here's my inspiration which is a little bird themed wall hanging creation. Hope you like it. You'll have to excuse the pics too as my camera made some of the blue look decidedly purple!

The first step is to cut some strips of smooth paper or you could use scraps if you have some as I did. As the paper was smooth, it took the inks very well. I used a mix of Color Box Chalk Inks and VersaMagic Chalk Inks. I then added a dot pattern to some with the Crafters Workshop Mini Halftone Borders stencil and stamped the others with the Kaisercraft Script and Diamonds stamps in contrasting darker shades.

I then cut a piece of the smooth paper to 3x5 inches and then applied cobalt and white Brusho Crystals to the 3x5 Gelli Plate which I had sprizted with water. I picked up the colour with the paper, dried it off and stamped on the birds with Archival Cobalt ink. I was just able to stamp 2 birds so look out for the second which will be making an appearance very soon!

I cut a panel of the smooth paper to fit across an A5 piece of thick chipboard and colour with light blue ink. Stamp on diamonds with a slightly darker shade.
Cut pieces of the stamped and stencilled strips to fit at the top and bottom of the chipboard (you'll have some left over for another project) and glue these on. Glue on the central panel and add the cut out bird on the right side. Stamp the bird text with the cobalt ink on the left side.
Add some ribbon to finish.

There's a great prize of a £20 voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner but don't forget to check the rules.
Good luck!
Fliss xx

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first post of 2015 which is to let you know that I have a project today over at That's Crafty to share.
This time it's a decorative panel with a decidedly retro feel which I hope you like.

You find a list of ingredients together with the recipe (I am called The Stampers Chef after all :D ) over at the blog if you'd like to see how it came about.

I'll be back in a while for my second post of the day as we have the first challenge of the year over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog.
See you soon!
Fliss xx