Fred's Fishy Christmas

Hello! Hope you're all ready for the big day. I'm nearly there at last with just the wrapping left and a couple of stocking fillers to buy - yippee!
I didn't say here but last Friday we had yet more drama as my poor father in law suffered a mild stroke late in the evening and ended up back in hospital. Luckily he has recovered quickly and we'll be collecting him late this afternoon to bring him home. A great relief as we were not sure he would be home for Christmas.
I have my last post of this year over at That's Crafty! Blog today and Donna's cute Fred has come out to play with 2 rather cheeky looking mice. From the expression on his face, he looks as if he's been up to no good.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and see you soon.

Fliss xx

News and That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, this is my first post in a couple of weeks as the beginning of last week I was struck down out of the blue by a very nasty stomach bug which took quite a few days to clear and managed to completely upset my digestive system making it sensitive to caffeine, dairy etc etc so I couldn't eat what I would call properly until yesterday. I was so relieved to finally be able to drink tea as I really missed having a cuppa plus for nearly 2 weeks I was completely exhausted and lacking energy.

Today is the first day I got out of bed not wanting to crawl in again so I think I'm finally on the mend thank goodness.

On top of this we've had family drama as I got an emergency summons from my in laws on Wednesday afternoon and arrived to find my father in law on the floor with my mother in law who is now sadly suffering from dementia, crying and hovering around him. My father in law tried to get up but couldn't and didn't want me to call for help but I called an ambulance very against his wishes and both he and my mother in law were eventually taken into hospital (some 4 hours later!). The paramedics were really lovely and said he had to be x rayed as when they got him up he couldn't stand. It turns out he has a fractured hip and has to have a scan today to find out how bad it is. We're hoping it isn't bad as he's now 93 years old and surgery at that age is tricky.

Anyway, enough of my woes and I need to let you know I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today having missed last week due to being ill.

I'm sharing a trio of artist trading coins - the latest trend - with a fishy theme and if you'd like to see them all which are created with Magda's cute sea critters, please hop on over.

It will take me a while to catch up so I will see you as soon as I can.
Fliss xx

Sarah's Card

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good week. It's gone very windy and rather chilly down here on the South Coast so if it's the same where you are, stay warm.
Just a quick post to share the card I made for my daughter's birthday today (she won't see it as she doesn't read my blog). It's quite a simple one and features one of Tracy Easson's Wonky Tonk girls which I've had for a few months and have only just had the chance to ink up.

I do love the quirky look of these images and I stamped her directly on the card blank with black ink. I then stamped on the flowers from the same set in the left hand corners.
I followed this with the little scattered flower stamp from one of the other sets, stamped randomly around the image with black ink.
I then coloured all the images with Zig clean markers and finished off with the birthday text which was a stamp free with a magazine. That's it - done!

I don't often do a card this quickly but really enjoyed colouring the images so I think there may be more to come.

Enjoy the rest of your day and week.
Fliss xx

My Favourite Monster for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am. My week has been rather busy as we had my eldest nephew's wedding last Saturday which all went off very well and everyone had a really lovely time. This was followed by Sunday lunch in Arundel at our favourite restaurant there as a belated birthday celebration for yours truly.
After that I did manage a little crafting and first up is to let you know I have my usual Friday project over at That's Crafty! Blog which this week is a rather bright and zingy door hanger.

I just couldn't resist this adorably cute and quirky set of monsters from Elenazinski Art for Paper Artsy so I think you'll be seeing some of the others very soon!

I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has a great theme that would come in handy for Christmas makes although that's not actually what I've done as my inspiration - you'll have to waite and see!

Fliss xx

Coffee and Tea

Hello folks, I'm a bit late with my inspiration for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday. This is because I had an extremely busy weekend and then had a very early start this morning to take my car in for a service so I'm writing this in need of matchsticks to keep my eyes open!
Our theme this week has been chosen by Joan and she would like us to take Coffee or Tea as our inspiration. I managed to mislay my coffee and teacup stamps (until I'd made my card of course!) so the cute digital image from Aurora Wings came to the rescue. Isn't the little kitten adorable?

I printed out the digital image on to smooth cartridge paper and coloured with a mix of Aquamarkers, watercolour pencils, Derwent Inktense pencils and Distress inks. I then trimmed it to a panel and applied Tumbled Glass Distress ink round the edges with an ink applicator.

Here's a little close-up so you can see the cute kitten a bit better.

I then printed out the roses corner image also by Aurora Wings on to the cartridge paper, coloured it as before and cut the image out.
I then dry embossed a panel of lilac pink card with a Cuttlebug Anna Griffin folder and glued this to an A5 cream textured card blank. I die cut 2 Marianne Design lace corners from light aqua paper and glued these on the right hand corners, adding the cut out rose image on the left.
I stamped the sentiment (from the Kanban coffee and tea set I couldn't find earlier!) on the teacup panel with Archival Watering Can ink and glued this on to finish.

Have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Aurora Wings Challenge - Flowers
Glitter n Sparkle - Embossing - Heat or Dry
Come and Get It - Got Flowers?
Pile It On - Cute Animal
Just Us Girls - Embossing
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - Anything Goes/Add Flowers
Southern Girls - Animal Crackers 

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

Pretty In Pink

Morning folks, a bit of a pink alert here as I think my creation for today has the most of that colour that I've ever put on one of my creations - I think I went a bit overboard!
The reason for the pink is today's new challenge over at Make My Monday which was chosen by our former team member, Jan, and is Pretty In Pink.
I've used my favourite fairy stamp for my card which is a Faerie Poppet image by Christine Haworth and I think she's rather adorable.

I'm sure you can see what I mean by all the pink now!

I stamped the little fairy on to smooth cartridge paper with Archival coffee ink and then coloured her with Aquamarkers adding detail with Prismacolor pencils. I then trimmed the image to a square panel and added mats of pink and pale green.
I made the background paper by painting a square of watercolour paper pink then embossing it with a Crafters Companion trellis folder. I then swiped it with Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid and Galaxy Gold inks for some shimmer. I stamped some tiny peg flowers and hearts in some of the trellis debossed areas.
I then die cut a doily (X Cut) and a butterfly (Cheery Lynn) from fuchsia pink card and made a double layer for the butterfly by tracing round the die on lighter pink card and cutting it out.
I stamped the birthday sentiment (Flonzcraft) with Memento Lilac Posies ink and hand cut it out, adding a pale green mat also hand cut.
I assembled the card and finished off with some pink gems.

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

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:
Come and Get It Challenges - Fairy Fantasy
Dragonfly Dreams - Things With Wings
Feeling Crafty Challenge - One For The Girls/Ladies
Quirky Crafts Challenges - Fairy Ring (Sparkle and Sentiment in my case - thanks Cazzy!!!)

First Challenge Of The Year At Make My Monday

Hello folks, a slightly late post about the first 2014 challenge launched today at Make My Monday with the theme chosen by Laura which is one I love:

Embossing

I decided on a cute card this time with an until now uninked stamp which I thought I ought to give an inking as a challenge to myself. Here's what I made:

I stamped the image by Bildmalarna with my favourite Archival Coffee ink on smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with a mix of Aquamarkers, Distress Stains and Prisma pencils. I then die cut the image to an oval and inked the edges with yellow.

I covered the card blank with rosebud paper from the Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD and used a scrap of the same paper in blue to make a heart shape with my own paper template which I also used with kraft card, embossing this with the Cuttlebug roses folder to match all the other roses.

I embossed a scrap of lemon yellow card with the Creative Expressions Trellis folder and stamped a Crafty Individuals butterfly with the coffee ink and coloured with Aquamarkers. I assembled the card as you see, adding a sentiment by Flonzcraft to finish.

I hope you're all managing to survive the nasty weather being thrown at us yet again and that none of you have been flooded out.

Have a great week.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Santa Robin For That's Crafty

Hello there, I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend like me.
Today's post is to tell you about the project I have for you today over at That's Crafty which features an absolutely adorable little owl by Stampendous.
Here's what I made and you'll find all the details over at the blog.

Isn't he just so cute!

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

Childhood Memories

Good morning folks, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and it's Monday again so we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday which this week has the theme of Childhood Memories.
In my case I thought of my treasured teddies and it gave me the chance to ink up again a stamp I must have had for around 10 years and can't bear (no pun intended!) to part with. I hope you like what I made.

I think you can probably see why I love this cute ted as he looks so cuddly. I stamped him on kraft card with coffee Archival ink and added just a little colour with Luminance pencils. I find that because they're highly pigmented, they show up really well on kraft card. I trimmed the card to a panel and inked round the edges a little.
I made the background paper by using ink daubers to apply Distress inks to hammer card. I used Stormy Sky, Victorian Velvet, Wild Honey, Frayed Burlap and Milled Lavender. I inked the edges with the blue ink and added the paper to a kraft card blank.
I then die cut the pink panel using a Marianne die and as the card was quite thick I found that it didn't quite cut out all the sections but I do quite like the effect.
I finished off with braid, flowers, pearls and a button.

Have a great day.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Smile

Good morning folks and a special welcome for my new followers, so lovely to have you on board ladies and I'm so pleased you've decided to follow my art journey. I hope you all had a good weekend and managed to get some crafting done as I did, some of which I'll be sharing over the next week.
Today's piece of artwork is my inspiration for the new challenge over at Make My Monday with a theme chosen this week by Rosie who would like to see a creation with a 3D Element or Dimension.
I decided on a little wall hanging heart which I picked up at our local branch of The Range for just £1 and knew it was just made for altering.

I first added some Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paint in Vintage Lace applied with a sponge as it gives a much softer effect than using a brush.
I then stamped on at random the second largest daisy from the Crafty Individuals Elements set CI- 206 Flower Heads using Archival Olive ink. I then used second generation stamping with the same ink to add more smaller daisies in between.
When the paint was dry, I painted the larger daisies with Titanium White paint and allowed it to dry. I then knocked the colour back a little by brushing over with a wet brush. This softened the paint up for a softer look.
I then stamped several more of the daisies on to smooth white card with the olive ink and coloured them with pastel pink and yellow and soft lime Promarkers. I cut them out with decoupage scissors.

I stamped Little Lu-lu by PaperBag Studios with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and when the ink was dry, coloured her with Promarkers. I trimmed around the image on the left side and added her to the painted heart with foam tape, trimming off the excess down the side of the heart.
I added the daisies with foam squares, layering them up a little and finished off with stamped text and some pink pearls.

Have a great day and hope you will enter the challenge, you'll see from the DT inspiration how many ways you can add dimension to your creations.

Fliss xx
Some challenges for my wall hanging wooden heart:
One Stop Craft - Pastel Colours
Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes
QKR Stampede - No Squares Allowed

Birthday Girl

Hello again, I'm back with my second post for the day which is to tall you about the new challenge we have for you today over at Polka Doodles which is to make a card for the Birthday Girl.
I decided to make a shaped card using the decoupage kit on the Candy Doodles CD. The shape is one that's particularly appropriate for our house as my younger daughter and I love making cupcakes.

I simply printed out the template and all the decoupage elements, cut the pieces out and layered them up with foam tape. I added a ticket sentiment coloured with a pink Promarker. Very quick and easy!

Have a lovely weekend especially as the warmer weather seems to have reappeared.
Hugs, Fliss xx

In The Summertime With Polka Doodles

Hello again and I'm wondering if any of you are now singing as I don't know about you but I can remember a certain song that usually gets played in the summer - showing my age I know!

This week the Polka Doodles challenge theme has been chosen by Asha and she would like to see a Summer Birthday Card

I always think of flowers when I think of summer so I've made a shaped card for my inspiration and I hope you like it.

I made the card from a single 8x8 card blank by cutting it into 2 squares. I folded one square in half to make the card base and die cutting a large circular scallop shape from the other.
I printed out the floral border from the Sugarplum Daisy CD on to cream card and die cut it into a circle. I inked the edges and added it to the scalloped circle.
I covered the base with a leftover piece of green paper from the same CD and then attached the scalloped front.
I printed out some butterflies from the CD, coloured them with Promarkers and cut them out.
I also printed out the cute image from the new Fredericka CD and coloured her with Promarkers, adding detail with Prismacolor pencils then cut her out.
I assembled the card as you see adding some flowers and a sentiment left over from my sample making session when the Sugarplum Daisy CD.

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

Patchwork Parade

Hello again, sorry about the rather naff title, it's the best my poor tired brain could come up with at the moment!
We have a new challenge for you today at Polka Doodles which was chosen by our head doodler Nikky and it's actually a theme close to my heart as Nikky has challenged us to create a Birthday Card Using Scraps.
I do love to use up my scraps in various ways and decided on squares this time. Hope you like it!

I used a variety of papers most of which (I think) came from the Cherryblossom Lane CD and cut them into 3cm squares. I cut a square of scrap card to fit my kraft card blank and covered this with double sided tape then stuck the squares on having first decided on the placement.
I embossed a kraft card tag with the Cuttlebug daisies folder and then added the cute Molly gypsy pre-coloured image from the Fredericka CD - these are really handy if you're short on time as I've been lately.
I finished off with one of the lovely sentiments from the CD which I trimmed to a panel and then inked the edges with VersaColor orange and marigold inks.

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

Some challenges for my card:
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
The Crazy Challenge - Use Sentiments

To Die For

Hello again, my second post of the day is to tell you about the new challenge today over at Polka Doodles and this week the theme is To Die For so you need to use die cut shapes on your creation. I managed quite a few on mine and I hope you like it as this time it's rather girly (I love the images on the new Fredericka CD and Nikky has a new one in the making which we're all really excited about - I wish I could tell you but have to keep my mouth firmly zipped!)
Here's my card which I hope you like:

I really love colouring up the images on the gorgeous Fredericka mini CD and have made a patchwork style card as I love faux stitching.
I printed out the cute image on to thick cartridge paper and coloured her with Aquamarkers. I die cut the image to an oval panel and made faux stitching around the edge with a paper piercer and a brown fine pen.
I cut up some squares of decorated paper scraps and added faux stitching round the edges using a paper piercer and the fabulous Tim Holtz ruler (if you haven't tried this I highly recommend it as it makes adding faux stitching so easy).
I assembled the elements on a scalloped card blank embellishing with a die cut doily and flower (Marianne Design) and butterfly (Cheery Lynn) and finished off with a ticket sentiment from the CD.

Hoping that you have a really lovely weekend - especially in the UK with the Bank Holiday on Monday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Dutch Dare Card Challenges - Flutterby Butterfly
Addicted To Stamps And More - Anything Goes
Ruby's Rainbow - Squares
I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes

Anniversaries

I'm back! It's Polka Doodles challenge time today and this week the theme is Anniversaries.
I've taken the opportunity to share one of the samples I made for Nikky with the new Emma Canning Digistamp Heaven CD as the image is rather appropriately called Happy Anniversary.

I printed the image out on to thick cartridge paper and coloured it with Aquamarkers. I then hand cut it into a heart shape and inked the edges with purple.
I covered the card blank with panels of paper from my bits and pieces box, the purple one is the Sugarplum Daisy CD and the red and blue stripes are from the Pretty Sweet CD.
I added bunting from the Cherryblossom Lane CD and some die cut hearts together with one of Emma's sentiments to finish.

Have a really great weekend.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes
Divas By Design - Anything Goes

Birthday Bling

Hello again, I'm back as promised with the details of the new challenge over at Polka Doodles today which was chosen by doodler, Alethea, as today is her birthday.

Happy Birthday Alethea - hope it's a good one!

Alethea would like to see birthday projects with some added bling which in my case is quite subtle as it comes from some glitter card.

 

My image is the lovely Libby the gypsy girl from the new mini CD, Fredericka, recently launched by Nikky and she's my favourite on the CD. I think she looks so sweet with her basket of mushrooms although I hope she's not going to eat them as some of them appear to be toadstools!

I printed her out on to thick smooth cartridge paper and then coloured her with my new obsession, Distress Stains as they're so wonderfully easy to paint with and you can mix the colours to make even more shades. I usually dab them on to a ceramic plate and pick the colour up with a paintbrush. I die cut the image with a Papermania frilly die and added it to a mat of pink glitter card die cut with the next size up die in the set.

I covered the 8x8 card blank with some pretty ditsy patterned blue paper from the same CD and added a central border of mushroom paper, trimmed along the scalloped edge in the pattern and added to a glitter card mat. Before sticking the border in place, I tied some pink chiffon ribbon round and finished with a bow.

I added a cream doily, matted the sentiment from the CD on more glitter card and finished off my design with a lacy design metal butterfly (these were a bargain from The Range - only £1 for 4!).

I hope you have a lovely day and a great weekend.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Ribbons - Anything Goes With Ribbon
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Sisterhood Of Crafters - Free For All

Fancy Folding

Hello folks, another gorgeous sunny day but guess who'll be stuck indoors working - sigh! As it's Monday, we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and this week the theme is Fancy Folds, so you can make whatever you like as long as it has more than one fold on it.
I actually started something else for this one but due to a busy weekend, couldn't quite get it finished in time. After a lot of head scratching, I decided to share one of my samples made for Nikky from the Cherryblossom Lane CD as it's an easel card and fits the theme. It's also very springlike, perfect for the current weather which has finally decided to be Spring!

I printed out the cute bunny cyclist and die cut the image with a Nestabilities scalloped circle die then added this to a circular mat of spring green paper from the CD.
I made an easel shape card blank from a square scalloped 8x8 size white card and covered the base and front with papers from the CD having trimmed both bottom edges with a Papermania emboss and cut scallop border die.
I added a central border to the base of toning floral paper and finished off with a die cut and matted sentiment cut out with a Nestabilities scalloped oval die. I used some flower shaped buttons to make the stand. 

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Scrappy Frogs - Think Spring
One Stop Craft - Not Square

April Showers

Here I am again with details of the new challenge over at Polka Doodles which is to create something inspired by April Showers.
I immediately thought of the sweet image by Emma Canning called Rainy Days which you can buy on her own or as part of the new Digi Stamp Heaven CD which has loads of Emma's images and sentiments.
Here's my card:

I printed the image out on to thick, smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with a mix of Aquamarkers and pencils. I die cut the image to an oval, added faux stitching round the outside with a pokey tool and brown fine liner then inked round with a brown ink pad.
I covered the card with brown pinstripe paper and then added panels of blue paper with faux stitching added. I finished off with a die cut sentiment treated in the same way as the image panel and a paper flower with a faux button centre (Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD).

This is the last of my posts scheduled to pop up whilst I'm away and I'll see you all tomorrow.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Tres Chic For That's Crafty

Hello again everyone, today's my turn to post over at That's Crafty and I've been playing with my Prima doll stamp again, this time to make a tag. I've used Promarkers, as frankly I need the practice and colours that are quite muted and eerily similar to those in my wardrobe at the moment!
Here's what I created:

If you'd like to see what I used and how I made it, then please hop on over to the blog and you'll find everything you need there.

Have a great day and back shortly with another post - I know, busy, busy!
Hugs, Fliss xx