True Blue

Morning everyone, it's starting to brighten up here now after a very foggy evening yesterday which is just as well as I have to venture out today having stayed in the warm yesterday.
I have a very blue card here which I've made in response to June's Dezinaworld Spot Challenge, Hues of Blue. This is a colour I love so I had a hunt through my scraps again and managed to find some bits to use up by altering them with inks.

The background paper was made using my Distress Ink Grunge Background Technique (see sidebar for link) using Tumbled Glass and Broken China DIs. I then stamped on a floral spray design from My Paper World by Viva Decor (from The Craft Barn) with VersaFine Majestic Blue ink.
I altered a scrap of white card by embossing with a Tim Holtz Texture Fade damask folder and sponging on Tumbled Glass ink then swiping more colour over the raised areas. I punched a border design on a scrap of navy card with a Martha Stewart punch and stuck the blue strip to this. I added a piece of lace inked with Tumbled Glass then a layered up piece of blue card punched with a Martha Stewart punch with navy underneath.
The image is from June's Blue Beauty collage sheet and the butterfly from her mega set of Butterfly PNGs. I rounded the butterfly out with a large embossing ball tool for a 3D effect.

Thanks for looking.
Fliss x

Fairy Garden

Hello everyone, it's an absolutely freezing day down in the south although no snow as yet apart from a tiny sprinkle yesterday that didn't stay. Hope you're all managing to keep warm.
I'm here today with my finally finished entry for June of Dezinaworld's incredible challenge where everyone that takes part is a winner so click HERE for all the details, but hurry as it ends on 4 December.

You'll probably need sunglasses to look at my artwork as I've gone a bit over the top for a real riot of colour - well we all need cheering up in this cold weather. So sunglasses at the ready (tee hee!) here it is:

Just teasing as to break you in gently, here's the piece of artwork before additions. It started off as a piece of packaging from the inside of a box and I painted it with various shades of blue and green acrylic paint. I then stamped on it with black ink various flower and leafy sprig images mostly from Inkadinkado's Garden Delight clear stamp set.

You'll probably realise why I mentioned sunglasses now! To make my fairy garden, I've used 2 of Dezinaworld's brand new png sets, Flowers and Butterflies, and each one contains 30 bright and beautiful images perfect for all types of artwork including digital.
I've also used some of the gorgeous fairies from June's beautiful fairy themed collage sheets.
I printed out the various images, some on matt card and some on pearl photo paper, cut them all out and gently rounded out all elements by rubbing on the back with a large ball embossing tool.
I assembled all the pieces using a mix of tape and foam tape (sometimes in 2 layers for more definition.
I finished off with some floral trinket pins by Maya Road for a little added texture.
Thanks for looking and I hope this has brightened your day a little.
Fliss x

1950s Style

Hello everyone on this cold and frosty day. I woke up this morning to the coldest day so far this winter with a temperature of 0 degrees and a wind chill of -1 - brrrrrr!
I'm here with a card to show you which fits a couple of challenges and involves some of my favourite things - fashion, the 1950s for its wonderful elegance and vintage collage but sadly no stamping (very unusual for me!!!)
The first challenge is Gingersnap Creations GC77 Chestnut Theme Challenge - Haute Couture  and I shall be doing all these challenges as they all involve sewing themes, a real favourite of mine.
My creation also fits this weeks Dezinaworld Challenge which is to create something based on your favourite era.

I've used various images and ephemera that I found on the internet combined with some of the gorgeous vintage style papers from the Polka Doodles Sundae of Seasons CD.
The main image has been outlined with a Letraset Fineliner to make the edges stand out and various areas were coloured with Promarkers to give the image a bit more life.
Some text printed with a Dymo machine finish it off.
Thanks for looking.
Fliss xx

Madonna and Child

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a better day than we have down South as it's still windy and raining.  At least I'm not in Cornwall though as it sounds awful down there and my good wishes go out to anyone affected by the flooding.
I have a card to show you that I designed with a particular friend in mind as she loves vintage images and olive and red shades. I think it fits the just announced colours for this week's Play Date Cafe as shown below and I could do with something going right as I've had a right old week with things going wrong on the craft side!
It also fits the challenge over at Dezinaworld which this week is Mother and Child and June is worth a visit as she has a second challenge running with prizes for all on offer.

The gorgeous vintage image is one I downloaded a while back from Art Freebies which is worth a look for lots of beautiful images. I mounted the image on turquoise card and red velvet paper.
I've used a piece of decorated paper from my stash which was made using my Distress Ink Grunge Background Technique (see Tutorial links on my sidebar if you're interested) using Distress inks in Crushed Olive and Fired Brick. The flourish stamp is from the Serenity plate by Artistic Outpost.
I added a red velvet paper border punched with the Martha Stewart dot scallop punch, a text panel inked and stamped with Crushed Olive Distress ink and a layered floral embellishment to finish.

A Pink Christmas

Hello everyone on a very dark and windy evening. I'm here today with a very pink card which is for this week's challenge at Dezinaworld and June's theme is Hot Pink and Silver.  If you haven't yet had a go at this challenge, it's worth it as the prize is one of June's gorgeous collage sheets or sets.

I made the background paper by stamping a snowflake (Art Impressions H-2753) randomly on white card and embossing with silver powder. I then sponged on Worn Lipstick Distress ink.
I added an image from the Dezinaworld White Christmas set, a strip of silver corrugated card, various pink and silver layered flowers and a computer generated sentiment.

Fliss x

Angel Face

Good afternoon everyone, hope you're having a good week.
I'm here today with a creation that fits 2 challenges, the first of these being Gingersnap Creations Color Challenge GC72 Neutrals Plus One and the second being this week's Dezinaworld Challenge with a theme of Angels.
My good wishes go to June of Dezinaworld too as she's not been able to do much blogging or crafting due to a very painful shoulder and arm. Hoping you get better soon.
Here's my creation:

As you'll see by the photo, my plus one is blue. The background paper is a scrap of vintage music score which has been sponged with Pumice Stone Distress ink. I attached this to a pale blue card blank.
I trimmed a strip of blue card with a Martha Stewart deep edge punch to make a border and also added a strip of brown textured hand made paper. A piece of vintage French bias binding which was a flea market bargain a while back was added across the join.
I finished off with a beautiful angel image from Art Freebies blog, on a mat of cream card and some flowers layered up with a pearl centre.
As those meerkats would say - simples!
Fliss x

Blue Fairy

Morning everyone, this is my first of 2 posts today and it's my entry for June's Dezinaworld challenge with a theme this week of Fairies.
I decided to go for a fantasy style fairy and have used one of the lovely images from June's Blue Beauty Collage Sheet.

I just love this pretty lady and resized her slightly to fit my card. I made a background panel for her by stamping one of the roses from the Clearly Inspired Stencil Flowers clear stamp set with Whispers Mossy Stone dye ink and cutting out round the roses to create a shaped panel.
I made the background paper by stamping the large rose spray all over beige parchment card (Southfield Stationers) with Encore Metallic ink in blue and embossed with Blue Pearl powder. I then sponged on Bundled Sage and Crushed Olive Distress inks. I trimmed the edges with deckle scissors and stuck to a square card then added some French vintage bias binding which I found a while ago in a flea market.
I stuck the fairy panel on with foam tape and finished off with an epoxy sticker and some flowers with a sticker centre. 

White Rabbit

Morning all and I hope you've got better weather than here where it's been tipping down with rain.
I have a card to share with you that I made with the lovely white rabbit image shared by June for this week's Dezinaworld Challenge . It's slightly late like the rabbit as I've been really busy with family stuff.

I've used one of June's fabulous backgrounds here from the Mega Background Pack, called Old Cards, and well worth a look for the gorgeous artwork in the set. I printed mine out and inked a little with Raspberry and Topaz VersaColor cubes to add a bit more colour.
I then stamped the Hero Arts Large Harlequin Background S3413 in VersaFine Smoky Gray ink and cut out a diamond shape from the original rectangle. I inked it with Barn Door Distress ink. I coloured the rabbit in parts with Promarkers, cut him out and went round the edges with a grey colour to make him stand out more.
I assembled the card as shown using a mixture of double sided and foam tape for a 3D effect.

Mermaid Mixed Media Art

We've had a lovely sunny day down here in the South so I hope you've all had one too and are having a lovely weekend.
I have a piece of artwork to share that came about by one of my frequent serendipity moments. The piece has been made with the lovely mermaid digital image from Dezinaworld's weekly challenge run by the lovely June.
I'd been thinking about a suitable background for the mermaid for several days and yesterday managed to find a little spare time to experiment with some acrylic inks. I dripped the inks on to wet watercolour paper and then sprayed with some more water to make the colours move more. I put too much water on one piece and dropped on a paper towel to absorb the excess but when I pulled it off I found serendipity had struck as the paper towel looked lovely, the colour really brought out the texture. I sprayed it with Cosmic Shimmer colours of Ancient Copper and Golden Mint with a touch of Twilight Glimmer Mist.

I attached the paper towel to a piece of mount board with glue and tore off the excess round the edges. Using Diamond Glaze, I glued on some Mica Gold Flakes, Antique Bronze chips and an assortment of flower shaped sequins and some seed beads.
I printed out the mermaid and coloured her in part with Promarkers. I then painted her tail and hair with Twinkling H20 paints, just dotting the paint on her tail to get a scaly effect. I cut her out and ran the edge of a grey marker all around to make the image stand out. I glued her to the panel with foam tape and glue as I find this makes sure that anything attached stays put!
Finally, I had some really good news this week as I found out that the card I entered in Gingersnap Creations Copper, Ginger or Rust challenge has been picked as one of the Ginger Gems.  If you'd like to see the card, click here.

An Award, Dezinaworld and Easel Cards

Hello everyone, this is going to be a marathon post as I have several things to share with you.
Firstly, my lovely friend Fiona of Made in a Muddle very kindly gave me this great award a couple of weeks ago and as I've been very busy, I've only just got round to sorting it out.

I'd like to pass this on to the following 5 friends who as well as being very supportive of me, also create the most lovely, inspirational work. If you haven't seen their work yet, do pop over and have a look.

 Sally 

Cheryl

Liz

Chris

Brenda

Thanks so much ladies for all your wonderful comments and help which mean such a lot to me.

Next I have a project to share with you that I made using June at Dezinaworld's fabulous free digital stamp from last Wednesday which is a beautiful Oriental jar. In keeping with the oriental theme, I made a screen using a pre-made screen card from my craft stash.

I covered the screen with K & Co pale green crackle pattern paper and inked the feet with Brilliance gold ink. I than added panels and images from June's Art Freebies blog, having altered the Chinese script paper to fit. I coloured the jar with Promarkers and then sponged on some blue pigment ink to draw everything together. I finished off with punched flowers and butterflies.

Finally as promised last week, I have some easel cards to show you, these 2 being the first I ever made just over a week ago when I taught a class in making them.

The paper used on the butterfly card is by Trimcraft (Wild Blossom). The butterfly is the new Papermania Build A Butterfly and was coloured by sponging with Ranger Distress inks in Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Broken China and Dusty Concord.

The paper used on the rose card is by Papermania (Exquisite). The gorgeous rose stamp is by B Line Designs (from LB Crafts) and was stamped on pale pink paper with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink. It was then coloured by sponging with Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks with Peeled Paint on the leaves. I stamped it 3 times and layered it up. I added pearls, crochet lace and a sentiment by Penny Black (Blossom by Blossom 2832F). I also added a black border trimmed with the Martha Stewart Arch Lattice edge punch.

Thanks for looking.

Fliss x

Joy Is Where You Find It

A very appropriate title for my latest creation as this saying is so true today. The builders have gone and I have heating and hot water-absolute heaven as you don't know how much you miss it until you haven't got it!!!
The icing on the cake today is not this however, but the news that my Enchanted Dreams card took second place in Polka Doodles Challenge 27. To say I'm thrilled to bits is an understatement!
The card I have made is for a one day only challenge on Dezinaworld and you have to make something using lilac and silver. As this is a favourite combination, I just had to enter and the prize is fantastic too as it's one of June's gorgeous collage sheets due for release next week. So hurry if you want to enter as time is ticking away.

Ingredients Used:
Stamps:
Impression Obsession Ornate Borders WP130
Hero Arts Old French Writing H2365 and Find Joy C3065
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Paisley K5-1153
A homemade stamp (foam heated and brooch pressed in)
Palette Lavender Sachet Ink
Silver pigment Ink
Silver Embossing Powder
Image from Art Freebies blog
Flowers and Pearl Brad
The background papers were made by stamping the writing and the paisley on lilac card with the lavender ink. The scallop edged strip was made with the homemade stamp using the silver ink and embossing powder.
The papers were layered up with the paisley strip stuck to lilac card with a border stamped and embossed in silver.
The card was assembled on a silver embossed pattern square card and flowers were layered with a pearl brad. Finally the greeting was stamped and added.

Queen (Dezinaworld Lace Challenge)

Well, finally got round to doing my bit for this month's challenge at Dezinaworld after a timely reminder from June (thanks!). The theme is lace and my entry is a tag as I really like doing these at the moment. They don't take too long and can always be used on a card as a topper.
Here's my tag

I've made the tag in a favourite arch shape which is a template from Hero Arts from a while back. I stamped a large background on most of it in Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink and stamped a border from Technique Tuesday Bijou Borders in the remaining space.

The gorgeous image I've used is from Dezinaworld's Shy Girls collage sheet and I chose her because of the lace collar. I rounded the corners, inked the edges with brown ink and added to the tag with foam tape.

To finish the tag, I added an antique gold brass stamping from Empire Beads at the top, stamped the sentiment by Anna Griffin in sepia ink and stuck this on my crochet lace trim. I added a Prima flower with a pearl centre and finally a crown. This is a favourite trick of mine as I don't have a crown stamp-I used 2 of the borders from the Technique Tuesday set, stamped one above the other, embossed with gold detail powder and trimmed to make the crown shape.

Urban Angels Dezinaworld Wings Challenge

I have at last finished my entry for June's current challenge at Dezinaworld which is to make a project with wings. I decided to use one of June's lovely angel collage images and printed it out on to a transparency sheet.
I used a frame mount with an arch in the centre which was perfect with the angels and stamped an arch on it with Smokey Gray VersaFine ink. The arch is part of an image Flower Girl by Lost Coast Designs from Scrapz and fit the frame perfectly. I filled the remaining areas in using a clear stamp from Prima and the same ink. I stuck the angels image in the aperture.
I made a large card blank in white and cut the top into an arch shape with my Creative Memories circle cutting set. I stamped the same Prima stamp across the bottom in Onyx Black VersaFine ink. I stamped rose leaves from the Stencilled Flowers Clearly Inspired set from L B Crafts in VersaFine Olympia Green and Spanish Moss. When it was dry, I sponged on a little beige and topaz ink to blend the colours in with my frame mount base which is warm beige under the stamping.
I stamped a number of single roses from the Clearly Inspired set in Boudoir Blush and Belle Rose Palette ink and cut them out. I assembled the collage as shown, sticking some of the roses with foam tape to add depth.

Roses Trinket Box Dezinaworld Challenge

I've made this trinket box and as I really love roses decided to use the latest challenge image from June's Dezinaworld as the lady has a rose in her hair and is just perfect for it.
I painted a box blank with burgundy acrylic paint all over and glued some roses from a lovely book of rose photos that I bought last year in a bargain book shop (100s of images for £2.99!). I then distressed the edges lightly with my Basic Gray Precision File Set for a slightly worn look.
I stamped a small flourish image by Anna Griffin in black Stazon ink all round the lid. I cut the lady image out with an oval cutter and then cut out a further larger oval from strong white card. I glued the lady in the centre and then gradually added Diamond Glaze on all round and put gems, tiny flower buttons and butterflies at random and filled the gaps with Suze Weinberg's Beadazzles in Purple Rain. When it dried, I tapped off all the excess and then glued the panel to the box lid.
I stamped a small rose image by Anna Griffin all round the box sides and then glued a cut out rose on each side to finish.

Dezinaworld Prize Challenge Entry

I saw this cute baby image on June's great Dezinaworld blog and couldn't resist having a go at the challenge. I decided to use pretty pink and yellow colours for a summery feel. I combined this with a patchwork background for a soft look.
I cut squares of pink and lemon card and stamped on a sunflower by Artemio in slightly darker colours. I masked off the baby image and then stamped on a small flower from a Rubber Stamp Tapestry set using my Millefiori technique. I stamped a saying that I felt exactly fit the baby image in pink on white card and cut it out. The stamp is by Debbi Moore.
I assembled the card on a white corded card blank and added paper flowers with a button centre.