Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge April 2018

It's been an absolute age since I've created anything for a challenge due to various issues which have taken up a lot of my time. A New Year resolution was to try and remedy that so as I had a large number of flowers in my stash to be used box (pic below if you didn't see them when I first did them), I made another card following on from yesterday's offering for That's Crafty! Blog as I'm still on rather a high after the Hochanda shows and if you caught them, you might just have seen my floral wreath which was made from some of the big heap of flowers below.
Spring is finally in the air so I made this card to celebrate in pretty blossom shades as the trees are at last starting to bloom.

My flowers were stamped on gelli prints after I had a long session making quite a few with muted prints which I love for stamping flowers and leaves on as it saves on having to colour them! Here's my finished haul below!

I shaped a couple of whole flowers made from my stamps for That's Crafty! (link in my side bar if you're interested) plus a couple of centre parts and the rounded centre in green. I layered these up with dimensional glue and shaped some leaves to go with them in a fresh green shade.
My background paper was a ghost gelli print, made from cleaning the plate after making a green and a pink print where I used a jar lid to make a circular pattern. It turned out a pretty soft green, perfect for my card. I cut a piece to fit my 5 x 7 kraft card blank and distressed the edges with an emery board. I then stamped on the stitching from Donna's Claire stamp set from her Donna's Girls Collection for That's Crafty! (she gave it to me as a gift too, thanks Donna!) using Fern Green Archival ink, adding the quote from my Fanciful Flowers Set 2 stamps with the same ink.
I glued on the background paper and added the layered flower and leaves with more dimensional glue to finish.

I'd like to enter the Craft Stamper Challenge for April with my card and hopefully will enter more from now on.

Hope you're all having a great weekend and enjoying the sunshine if you have it.
Fliss xx

Tag Art at That's Crafty! and Hochanda!

Hello everyone, sorry not to be around this week which is mostly because I've been working behind the scenes on some artwork with some of the fab new goodies that will be on Hochanda today with That's Crafty! and Neil Burley will be demoing this time. The shows are at 8am and 11am so do watch if you can as you'll get lots of inspiration.

I also have a project to share today over at That's Crafty! Blog and this week it's a tag inspired by some black tags I saw on Pinterest with lovely bright colours for contrast.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop over to see how I created it.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

The Sea At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog.
For the next fortnight our theme is The Sea so you could create something above or under water - the choice is yours!

For my inspiration I've broken out my Artistic Oupost Beyond The Sea stamps to decorate one of That's Crafty! surfaces, a square white/greyboard coaster.
I found a scrap of Gelli print paper which bore a striking resemblance to sea with a Summer sky above. I cut a piece to fit the coaster and glued it on.
I stamped the boating couple with Archival Jet Black ink in the right hand lower corner then masked off everything but the sea and stamped this to continue the water across the base.
I then stamped the text and the birds on at the top. I coloured the main image with pencils - I used a mix of Inktense and Prismacolor as they're highly pigmented which was necessary to cover the painted surface.

There's a fab prize for the randomly drawn winner of a voucher for the online shop so do enter if you can.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Go Figure At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has the theme of Go Figure so we'd like to see entries with numbers on - how easy is that!

I came across the tag that I used as the base for this creation in my unfinished bits box. It was a mop up tag from a play session with my Gelli plate and some DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in shades of green and yellow.
I stamped the umbrella man image from the Tim Holtz Sideshow cling stamp set on to the tag with Archival Jet Black ink . I then stamped on the numbers from the set using Archival Fern Green ink using first and second generation stamping.
I finished off by hand writing on the text with a fine black Sharpie pen and tied some cord through the top.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and hopefully see you soon.
Fliss xx

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend. It's gone very cold down here in the South with a rather strong northerly breeze so I'm wondering where the Spring has gone!
Today's post is to let you know that we have a new challenge over at Make My Monday and this week I chose the theme which is April Showers Bring May Flowers and in the case of my garden that's actually tulips which are really late flowering this year!
My inspiration, however, has a hydrangea which I suspect will be a long time coming!

I stamped the gorgeous hydrangea, leaves and butterfly from the Stampendous Hydrangea Garden stamp set on some Gelli printed paper from my stash and added some detail with Prisma pencils. I then cut them out with the matching die set.
I assembled the elements on a white card blank, using foam tape for added dimension.

Very quick and easy, huh!

Have a great day and a good week.
Fliss xx

Enchantment For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, apologies if I haven't been round this week but I'm in the wars yet again with a scratched left eye this time so the glasses have had to come out again until it recovers so I'm squinting at the screen! Any spelling errors are cause I can't see properly, she says, tongue in cheek :D

I'm over at That's Crafty! blog today with a mixed media art panel which I hope you'll like. Here's a sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to hop over and see how it came about.

I'll be back in a while as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog.

See ya later!

Fliss xx

First Love At That's Crafty Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for the new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which for the next fortnight has the theme of First Love.
I have to admit to have been a bit stumped by this theme until I woke up the other morning thinking about the pop posters I had on my bedroom wall when I was a teenager - I bet you all had those too though maybe not of David Cassidy as I did!
This is what inspired my card although it has turned out a bit more pink than I anticipated - can you see her looking at her pop idol?

I made the background paper first using my 6x6 Gelli Plate. I added dots of pink and green acrylic paints (Paper Artsy Fresco Finish) to the plate and spread the colour with a brayer. I then tried my hand at mark making which I did with a wooden skewer which I pressed gently in the paint to make a rough pattern.
I then used the That's Crafty Long Hearts Background Dinky Stencil with the deep pink paint to add a pattern in the bottom right hand corner.

I stamped some tiny flowers from the Tim Holtz Crazy Things stamp set on the top portion with Ranger Wild Orchid Dye Ink.
I stamped my 2 birds, the hearts, flowery hat and bouquet from the Crazy Things set onto stamping card and painted them with Martha Stewart and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics. I then die cut everything with the matching dies.
I die cut the heart frame from green textured card using the X Cut Nesting Dies Homespun Heart set.

I assembled the card as you see, adding the quirky bird to the frame and trimming off the excess. I finished off with a Small Talk sticker which I cut into pieces.

I hope you can enter for the chance at a fab prize of a voucher for the online shop.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

A Colour Challenge At Make My Monday

A slightly late post from me for my inspiration for the new challenge today at Make My Monday as I was a bit naughty having been desparate to get my tag done for Tim's 2016 Remix Tags and I couldn't manage to fit both in due to family stuff over the weekend.
The challenge is a colour one Pink, Red and White which although perfect for Valentine cards is not what I actually did!

This was very simple to make and I began by applying dots of Sherbert and Vintage Lace Paper Artsy Fresco Finish acrylics to my 6x6 Gelli Plate and scraped the paint over with an old store card. I then pressed on a panel of smooth cartridge paper and picked up the colour.
I next stamped the taxt from Tim Holtz Handwritten Thoughts stamp set with VersaFine Crimson Red ink and heat embossed it with Chinese Red which has a sparkle you can't see that well here.
I then used a That's Crafty hearts Dinky Stencil with a slightly deeper pink paint to make a pattern on the painted panel.
I stamped the Tim Holtz Runway lady with Archival Watering Can ink on cartridge paper and painted her with a mix of Paper Artsy and Martha Stewart paints.
I distressed the edges of the painted panel and added it to a white card blank then finished off with the lady, cut out and added with foam pads for dimension.

Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Dreaming Big At That's Crafty

Hello everyone from a rather tired Fliss! I'm back at work after the Christmas break and it's now official - I really don't like January!!! Being in accountancy it's our busiest time of year so all I can say is roll on February :D
I have a post today over at That's Crafty where I'm sharing a journal style art panel on one of the fab substrata surfaces, this time a white/greyboard panel.

Here's a sneak peek and hope you like it.

My round Gelli plate has come out to play along with one of my fave Dina Wakley positive ladies and you'll find the details and the whole project over at the blog. I'd be so pleased if you popped over for a visit.

I'll be back in a while with the details of our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

Fliss xx

Only Dreaming Journal Page For That's Crafty

Hello everyone and welcome to my post today which is to let you know it's Friday so I have my usual tutorial over at That's Crafty which this week is a mixed media journal page as I really needed a break from my Christmas card assembly which is still in progress as usual!

Here's a sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog.

I'd love it if you did pop over and if you haven't yet done that you'll find some fabulous inspiration from my DT mates which will make your visit worthwhile.

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

Fliss xx

Born To Stand Out For That's Crafty

Hello everyone and apologies for my lack of visiting this week as I haven't yet caught up from my hols and have been working full time since Wednesday with very little time for blogging (also have a dodgy internet connection!).
Today is my day to post at That's Crafty and this week I've made a bright tag featuring another of Sir Tim's quirky and crazy birds and I think he goes really well with the quote too.

Hope you like this and you'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to hop over.

I'll be back in a bit with the details of our new challenge today at That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

See you later!
Fliss xx

Going Under The Sea At That's Crafty Challenge Blog

Hello again, today sees the start of a new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and for the next fortnight we'd like to see your creations featuring an Under The Sea theme.
The Design Team have really rocked this challenge as I said earlier and you really should hop on over to see for some fabulous creations.
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

This is actually a greyboard wall hanging even if it looks more like a tag!

I covered the panel with a scrap of leftover Gelli print paper which was made with blue and green Paper Artsy acrylics and my 8x10 Gelli plate. I had applied the paint a little too thickly so I misted on some water and this paper was the result - serendipity strikes again! I sandwiched the ribbon in between to form the hanger.

I then used the Bubbles Dinky Stencil by That's Crafty to apply bubbles with an olive and a white pencil to draw inside the stencil shapes.

I stamped the Deep Red Seahorse with VersaFine Olympia Green ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. I then painted the image with acrylic paints and cut it out. I also stamped an image from the Carabelle Studio Ombrelines Aux Pistils Par Azoline stamp set, stamping twice with VersaFine Spanish Moss and Satin Red inks then clear embossed as before and painted them with green and purple paints. I then cut out just the central area of the green image and glued this on top of the purple one. It was inspired by a picture of a sea anemone I saw in the TV Times.

I made the seaweed fronds from Gelli print scraps using a branch die and glued all the elements on as you see.

Hope you can join us for a chance at a fab prize of a £20 voucher for the online shop where you'' be spoilt for choice.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss x

All At Sea at Make My Monday

Hello everyone and apologies for my absence lately which is because work and life have been very hectic over the last couple of weeks and I've had no time for crafting. On top of that I still have eyesight issues as my Optician recommended changing my gas permeable lenses that I've had for over 20 years to soft lenses. These arrived on Saturday and I can get them in very quickly but taking them out is a nightmare. I couldn't get the right one out last night until gone midnight and ended up with a rather red eye so today I'm having to resort to the glasses that didn't quite work in order to be able to see at all!
As you can imagine, I'm feeling somewhat miserable but I'm just about managing to craft and was able to finish what I started for our challenge this week at Make My Monday which has the theme of

The Sea

 
This is for my father in law's birthday in a couple of weeks but as he doesn't see my blog, he won't know it's here :D

All the men in my hubby's family love the sea and my Stampscapes stamps came out to play. I hope you like my background which is one of a Gelli print session on Sunday when I made a small batch with my new 6x6 plate which, if you like making square cards as I do, is fabulous!

Here's a pic of the print I took showing the 3 left. The darker versions were the originals from applying 2 shades of teal and 2 shades of blue with white Gesso using my figures. I then misted on water to make the paler prints, one of which I used for the card.

As you can see, you can get a good effect of sky, sea and waves if you apply roughly horizontal stripes across and I know I'm going to struggle with adding anything to the darker versions as I can't bear to cover any of them up!

To make the card, I stamped on the sea and wave stamp, followed by rocks and the lighthouse. I then added the ship which is from Crafty Individuals CI-294. I added coloured to the images with a chalk pastel for the grey and Inktense pencils in greens, blues, browns and white to make the images pop. The most useful was actually the white as I found applying it quite strongly covered up any unwanted lines which was the price I had to pay for not stamping first and masking.

I think it worked quite well though and hope you think so too.

I simply added the panel to a kraft card to finish - it's a bit wonky due to my eyesight issues but it will have to do!

Sorry if I haven't been to visit lately but hope to remedy that soon.

Fliss xx

Butterflies Galore at That's Crafty

Hello all, hope you're all having a lovely sunny week. It's been so warm down here in the South that I've finally managed to leave my coat off at last!
I have my Friday post over at That's Crafty Blog today if you'd like to hop on over and see what I made this week.
Here's a sneak peek to tempt you :)

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

In The Tropics ( Otherwise Known as Wishful Thinking!)

Hi there, welcome to my first post of the day which is to let you know that as it's Friday (yippee!) I have a project to share over at That's Crafty blog which is of a tropical nature and quite bright and flowery as it's still very chilly and I needed some warm colour.

You'll find all the details as always over at the blog and I hope you'll come visit for a fabulous array of inspirational projects with full tutorials.

I'll see you a bit later on today as we have a new challenge for you over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

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

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

Girl Power!

Hello again and welcome to today's second post which is to tell you about our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge blog which has the theme of GIRL POWER!
For my inspiration I decided on an British heroine who, to me, is the epitome of girl power - Boadicea and I couldn't resist the stamp set by IndigoBlu when it came out. I hope you like what I've created.

For my background paper, I've used my mini 3x5 gelli plate as although it's fab for smaller projects, as you see from my card above, you can make larger pieces of decorated paper too!
I used paint in 3 shades of pink from light to dark and after applying the paint, laid on the sequin waste style stencil that came with an NK Studio stamp set by Stampendous. I repeated this until my card was covered, pressing areas into the paint left on the plate for a very grungy look. I then used the stencil to add some darker detail with VersaMagic pink grapefruit ink. I distressed the edges with an emery board before adding it to my card blank.
I stamped the Boadicea image with Archival Watering Can ink on smooth cartridge paper and painted her with Aquamarkers. I then trimmed the image to a panel, cutting round the celtic element at the top. I stamped some of the flowers from the border design in the stamp set with the same ink and painted those with Aquamarkers before cutting them out.
I stamped the circular text and my favourite Kaisercraft butterfly with the grey ink and painted those as well before cutting out the butterfly and die cutting the text. I then assembled the rest of the card as you see.

I used:
Gelli Art Printing Plate - 3x5
IndigoBlu Unmounted Stamp Set - Boadicea
Stampendous NK Studio Cling Mount Set -Wired
Kaisercraft Single Clear Stamp - Butterflies
Archival Wendy Vecchi Ink - Watering Can
Aquamarkers
Paint Brushes - such as this Ranger Set

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