Happiness Is......

Hello! A bit of a happy post as I finally managed to find my favourite bread flour on my weekly shop last week after braving Tescos. Really glad I did! This disappeared from the shelves 5 months ago and I had to restrain myself from buying more than 2 packs.

It's the little things that mean such a lot these days.

Have a really lovely week and will be round to visit soon.

Fliss xx

Always Look For Rainbows!

Hello on a rather dull and blustery day. Hope you're all staying safe and well in our troubled times at the moment.
I have a project to share over at That's Crafty! Blog today which came about as I wanted to create something to show my appreciation for our brave and amazing care workers and this is the least I could do.
If you watched the Hochanda shows yesterday That's Crafty! had, you may have spotted this on the counter next to the gorgeous new stamp designs from the ever talented Melina Dahl. There's rewind if you missed them and they're well worth a look for some amazing demos from the lovely Jo Channon, back in the studio for the first time since lockdown started and her nasty brush with the dreaded Covid-19 virus.

If you'd like to see how I created my rainbow, please click HERE to be transported to the blog.

Have a lovely weekend and see you soon,
Fliss x

More Wildflowers

Hello again, some more pics to share as I took my camera with me on my walk earlier as yesterday's photo was taken with my phone.
Somewhat of a risk to my current hayfever troubles but wanted to take some more photos whilst the flowers were in bloom.
As you can see, there were a lot more than poppies in the meadowed patches.

I'm so glad our local parks department (or at least I think it was them) decided to scatter the wildflower seeds to give us all such wonderful signs of nature to enjoy.

Have a lovely week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Poppy Meadow at the Seaside!

Hello again, just a quick post as I just had to share this photo I snapped a little while ago.

I was driving to deliver my niece's birthday card and couldn't quite believe it when I drove past the most beautiful sight. It was a huge surprise as I was driving along the seafront. On the way home I stopped and took some photos.

Would you believe it but a poppy meadow was growing on the grass greesnward on the seafront and if you look you can see the beach huts in the background. How amazing is that!

Isn't it just gorgeous? I think my watercolours will have to come out again.

Fliss xx

Watercolour Meadow

Hello! I hope you're all well and I'm still struggling somewhat to keep up with everything (I've been working on things behind the scenes that can't yet be shared).
I have got something to share today for once as the ladies in my craft group whom I can't meet up with due to lockdown had the idea of setting up a weekly challenge project which has been very varied having included baking cakes and biscuits (when flour was available!) and making various cards shapes etc.
It was my turn to set the project this week and I wanted something rather different so out came the watercolour paints.
I thought I would share the tutorial I sent to the ladies as it's much easier to do than you might think and doesn't use much in the way of craft supplies.

Supplies:

Watercolour paints
 Selection of brushes including fine and flat
Old store or credit card
Watercolour paper
Acrylic block or plate

Step 1

Add water to blue and green paint to create washes and brush onto a square, rectangle or even a circle or oval of card, the choice is yours!

 Step 2

Add grass green watercolour paint to an acrylic block or plate and then using an old store card or similar pick up paint with the edge and use to create rough blades of grass on the lower half of the paper. You can go up into the sky if you like.

  

Step 3

Add blue paint to the block and repeat the above step with blue, scraping some paint at the bottom to add texture.

Step 4

Using a fine brush and green paint, paint of squiggles and loops as shown in the photo. It might seem strange, but these form rough stalks for the flowers.

Step 5

Using the acrylic block, add pink watercolour paint if you have it (I didn’t so I mixed red and white) then use a fine brush to create clusters of rough dots to form tall flower heads. Water down heavily any remaining paint and flick this over the panel to create splats and dots – this adds lots of interest to the piece.

Step 6

Repeat the above step using bright yellow and also add the watered down dots and splats from a loaded paintbrush.

 Step 7

Repeat the above step including splats with blue watercolour paint. As you can see in the photo, I also added more yellow to the piece.

 Step 8

Add some tiny daisies by creating brown dots for the centres and then using a fine brush with orange to create the petals which are just tiny lines in my case.

To finish the painting, water down white paint and load up the brush to create lots of dots on the panel, including the sky.

 

The finished piece can be used to make a card if you like or you could frame it to make a picture if you like it too much to part with it!

As you see, it really is just a lot of layers and you can add as much or as little detail as you like or change the type of flowers if you fancy some poppies or other meadow type flowers.

I hope you enjoyed this and let me know if you give it a go as I'd love to see it.
Have a good week and stay safe and well.
Fliss xx