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

Shabby Chic Blossoms for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, the weekend is nearly here thank goodness as I've had a very busy week with work and stuff and I'm looking forward to some creative time although I might just take a peek at certain celebrations going on over the weekend and I, for one, will be rather glad to get all the media hype about the Royal Wedding out of the way!
I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with my usual Friday tutorial and this week I have another mixed media project to share created on one of the newest MDF surfaces to share - this is one of the set of rounds and you get an amazing 15 in the set in 3 different diameters and I've used the 6 inch one here.

As you can see, I've gone pastel this week as I'm trying out the new shades of multi surface paints and I really love this pretty light blue.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Floral Hello Card

Hello all, I've a card to share today as it was rather wet yesterday after a good start and today has been dull and cold so what better tonic than a bit of crafting (and sketching though can't yet show you).
This one is a little different and the colours are slightly off too as my camera seems to struggle with plummy tones and the doily is actually a shade of rose and not quite as strong as it appears here.

As you can see, I've included the background before embellishing and it was actually the leftover result from making my floral wishes card as the stencil was covered in the Distress oxides that I used and it was a shame to waste it so I misted on some water and pressed on a sheet of card. The above background was the end result and it's so pretty I just had to use it.

I stamped my fanciful flower twice on mixed media paper with VersaFine Spanish Moss ink. I then coloured it with Distress markers, using Spun Sugar, Crushed Olive and Wild Honey. I then cut out the whole flower once and just the petal part on the second. I shaped them with a large embossing ball tool and layered them up with 3D glue.

I assembled my card using a couple of pretty doilies, adding a gold pearl to the flower and stamping on the hello text (a free stamp from Making Cards magazine) with Archival Plum ink.

I'd like to enter the following challenges with my card:

Everybody Art Challenge - Flower
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Flowers

Hope the weather is better where you are and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Fliss xx

Floral Wishes Card

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely weekend with sunshine as we did and it actually felt like summer down here on the South Coast as it was so warm. Not quite so warm today but we still had a sunny start so hopefully the week will be good.
I have another card to share today made from my stack of flowers from my recent marathon stamping and cutting out session. This one is for a friend who's going through a bit of a tough time at the moment with health issues and I wanted to send her something to let her know I'm thinking of her.
Happily the colours fit the April colour challenge at Rubber Dance so although I haven't used their stamps this time, I hope that's OK (between you and me, I have to work out where I put them as I had a tidy up and now can't find things!)

I made my background paper by swiping card through some Distress Oxides (Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron and Worn Lipstick) spritzed with water on my craft mat. I then used the That's Crafty! TC8024 Flourish stencil with the same inks used neat to add a shabby chic pattern as I wasn't too bothered about getting the pattern perfect.
I cut a piece to fit my square kraft card blank and glued it on. I stamped the sentiment (a stamp free with Making Cards magazine) with black ink and then added some layered up flowers assembled with dimensional glue.
I finished off with an offcut of my stencilled paper which I die cut with an old scallop lace border die and inked with Worn Lipstick, tucking a couple of pieces under the flowers for added interest.

I'd like to enter this in the current Rubber Dance Challenge having used the colours although not the altered bit this time:

Have a great week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Vintage Floral Card for That's Crafty! and Hochanda News

Hello everyone on what for me is a very exciting day as today is the day my stamps will be on Hochanda - yippee!
I also have a post over at That's Crafty! Blog where I'm sharing a vintage style card make with some mixed media background paper that I created.
Here's a sneak peek which I hope you like.

The shows are on at 12pm and 4pm SKY 663, FREEVIEW 85, FREESAT 817 and hope you'll be watching!

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

Birthday Card

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a good week. This is just a quick post to share the card I made for my elder daughter whose birthday was on Monday.
It's a very quick and simple card featuring my new bird stamp again this time on a bright and bold style creation.

All I did was to stamp the scribbled lines using bright shades of Distress Oxide inks across a piece of white card.
I then stamped my bird with black ink (VersaFine) on smooth white card and heat embossed the image with clear powder. I then coloured the image with Zig clean colour markers and there's a note to self here to wipe the excess ink off the embossing which is of course a resist and would stop me getting a red blob near the bottom of my white card when I stuck the bird on! I had to chop it off which is why the blue border is wider than intended.
I stamped my current favourite birthday text (Dovecraft) on as you see and added the blue mat before gluing to a white card blank.

Supplies:
My Fanciful Flowers Clear Stamp Set 2 for That's Crafty!
That's Crafty! Textures Collection Set 1 Clear Stamp Set
Tim Holtz Oxide Inks - Broken China, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron
Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Zig Clean Colour Markers

Have a great rest of week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Midway Inspiration for I Heart You Challenge

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a good week and managing to get some crafting done as I am. I'm also doing meals on wheels as my father in law finally had his first cataract op on Monday so I'm cooking their lunch for a few days until his eyesight has settled down.
I have my midway inspiration to share today as we're now half way through our I Heart You Challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog.
I've made a tag with a bit of a story as believe it or not, it started out purple and pink! This step went totally wrong so I added layers and it ended up red and golden yellow.

As you can see, it seems to have a rather flaming heart look which was totally accidental. After my attempt with the purple and pink overlayer (this didn't work as the magenta was rather too translucent and went a really odd colour), I glued pieces of crinkled tissue paper stamped with script in red over the top on the top right and bottom left sides.
I used the Dinky hearts stencil with texture paste to add a pattern in opposite corners and when the paste was dry, glued crinkled tissue paper over the top.
I painted over the top of the entire tag with mustard yellow multi surface paint which is translucent enough to allow the under layer of red stamped script to show through. I then replaced the hearts stencil over the raised areas again and sponged Fired Brick oxide ink on the hearts. I let this dry a little and added another coat, giving a lovely soft look to the pattern.
I covered an mdf heart with crinkled tissue paper and when it was dry, painted over the top with bright red and magenta multi surface paints. I then stamped on the lovely rose with Versafine Crimson Red ink.
I stamped the stitching with the same red ink, sort of following the edges of the glued on tissue paper and then glued some felting wool in shades of red, pink and pale grey, adding the heart over the top with silicone glue. This was where the serendipity struck as I moved back after gluing the heart in place and realised the fibres at the top look a bit like flames!
I rubbed a little red oxide ink around the edges to soften the look and finished off with the Tim Holtz Clippings sticker.

Materials:
That's Crafty! Surfaces White/Greyboard Panel, 4.5 x 9
That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Heart Size 5
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Sets - Textures Collection Set 3, Donna's Girls Collection Claire
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paint - Bright Red, Magenta, Mustard Yellow
That's Crafty! Texture Paste
That's Crafty! Dinky Stencil TC038 Hearts
Ranger Tim Holtz Oxide Ink - Fired Brick
Versafine Crimson Red Ink
Tim Holtz Clippings Stickers
White Tissue Paper

Have a great rest of week and see you soon - very exciting happenings next week that I can't wait to share with you!
Fliss xx

I Heart You at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone on a very chilly but bright day and last night we actually had a sprinkle of the white stuff although it will soon be gone with the sun shining as it is now!
We have a seasonal new challenge for you today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and this month being February we've come over all romantic with the theme of I Heart You.
I was really short on time this week so I have as my inspiration the quickest card I think I've ever made and hope you like it (hope the other half does too as - whisper - he might just get this as a you know what!)

This came about as I was searching for some text for something else I'm creating and came across Lynne's Affirmations Set 4 which has the cute heart on to go with some of Lynne's lovely quotes and ping! inspiration struck.

I stamped a row of the hearts using Worn Lipstick and Fired Brick Distress Oxide Inks on white card and then glued the strip to a kraft card blank. This is where things went a bit wrong as I stamped my chosen quote underneath but the design didn't look right so I trimmed it off the card leaving a kraft border and glued it to a white card blank.

I then had the text dilemma but my trusty Tim Holtz Occasions stickers came to the rescue and I finished off the card with a row of romantic stickers which fitted the space under the hearts perfectly. Serendipity strikes again!

I hope you can join us this time as you have a whole month to enter now and it doesn't matter where in the world you live as the challenge is open to everyone. There's a £30 shop voucher for the randomly drawn winner and the Top 3 chosen by the Design Team will receive the stencil of their choice from the That's Crafty! own range which psst is about to get much bigger!

Have a great day and see you as soon as I can - time still short at the moment.
Fliss xx

Rather Retro Tag for That's Crafty!

Hello again, slightly late to let you know I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and I'd love it if you hopped over to see my very bright and funky retro style tag as I've been channeling my inner teenager :D

I've also got a few photos of my London trip to share, mostly for anyone who hasn't seen them on Facebook. Hope you enjoy the short tour.

As you can see, a rather eclectic mix of brand new, quirky modern and rather more iconic older buildings.

Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Serendipity Strikes - I Think!

Hello all, I have another art journal page to share today which has the background that was actually intended for my Autumn journal page yesterday but things did not go quite as planned due to the unpredictability of oxide inks.
I decided to have a go today to make the background work for another page and again things didn't quite go to plan as the grey in the mix took on a slightly greenish cast but with the addition of more dark blue and some Rusty Hinge Distress ink I think it just about fits the colour challenge at Rubber Dance. I really love these colours which is why I wanted to make the page fit!

The oxide inks I used were Faded Jeans and Fired Brick with Hickory Smoke Distress ink. I added them to my craft mat, misted them with water and dipped the page in. This is when the grey Distress ink went a little green in places but I knocked it back with Faded Jeans and Rusty Hinge Distress inks.
I then stamped on some of the circular images from the Rubber Dance Round in Circles stamp set using the same inks. This was a bit bolder than I wanted so I misted the page with water and blotted it with a paper towel.
I next stamped on the Phone Home girl with Archival Watering Can ink and added some of the text phrases from the Something Wonderful set which I love for the positive thoughts on it. The final touch was a little stencilling with the Brick Background Dinky Stencil using the Rusty Hinge ink.

I hope you like my happy accident (I think serendipity might be my middle name lol)

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Dreaming of a White Christmas for That's Crafty!

Hello again, this is a very quick post in the middle of some rather frantic crafting to let you know that I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and I'm sorry to say (or not lol) that it's another Christmas card!
Here's a sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to see what I made with one of Donna's gorgeous new Christmas designs for That's Crafty! I love this set and I know it's going to get tons of use this year.

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

A Colourful Life for That's Crafty!

Hello all, hoping you've had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am. Autumn seems to be here already but at least it's bright and sunny at the moment after a cold and dewy start.
I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today and this week it's a colourful journal page to reflect my hopes for the future when I'm intending to have a lot more colour in my life. Stay tuned for the why as all will be revealed soon.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to see the whole page and of course, I hope you will.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend
Fliss xx

The C Word for That's Crafty! Blog

Hello everyone, I'm writing this post before setting off to Scotland for a week on our hols so I hope this one pops up as scheduled!
I hope you've all had a good week and wanted to let you know that I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and this week I'm sharing another of my Hochanda samples which is a card made with Donna's gorgeous new festive designs.
Here's a sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to hop over which, of course, I hope you will.

Hope to see you there!

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

All Things Grunge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. I've been spending some of my spare time getting to grips with Instagram with a bit of help from my Sarah who was home last weekend and explained how to do it all as I'm rather a technical dunce! It did mean my blog has been a bit neglected so hope to be visiting again over the weekend.
We have a great new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and we're getting all grunged up as for the next fortnight, the theme is All Things Grunge.

My inspiration is an art panel made with one of the fab That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF panels as you can throw anything mixed media at it which isjust what I wanted to do.

 

Here's the finished panel and I don't actually have the steps photographed as it was rather a go with the flow creation but you'll see below all the materials and I'll explain all the layers beneath it.

So the first thing I did was to spread a thin layer of texture paste roughly on the panel. When it was dry, I added torn pieces of vintage book page and rose patterned tissue paper in several places gluing on with matt medium.
I then added a wash of pink and orange acrylic paint over the top, mixing in plenty of water so that you could still see the papers underneath. When happy with that, I used a harlequin and flower stencil with pink and green paint to add a bit of detail.
I sprinkled on Paper Artsy Infusions in purple and green, misting these with water and allowing them to run down the panel. The effect is quite subtle but you can see it if you look closely.
I took a piece of mixed media paper and die cut the chevron element which I coloured with Distress Oxides in pink, orange and green. I glued this on the panel on the top left side.
I stamped on some script rather randomly with fern green ink.
I next coloured the wild flower greyboard embellishments with shimmer paint, starting with green and adding antique gold over the top to create a lovely shimmery olive green.
The greyboard butterfly is, I think, my piece de resistance as I really enjoyed grunging this up! I started off by coating it with texture sand paste then gluing on a scrap of the flower pattern tissue paper. I then dabbed on yellow oxide ink and misted it with water to make the colour run. This gives a lovely aged effect. I used the flower stencil to add a pink floral pattern and glued on some tiny paper flowers for added interest.
I glued the embellishments to my panel, finishing off with some tiny butterfly buttons and the stamped text which I cut up and dipped in diluted oxide ink to tone the text to fit the panel. The final touch was to rub some antique gold paint around the edges.

Materials:
That's Crafty! Surfaces - MDF Panel 4.5x9
That's Crafty! Bits and Pieces Greyboard Embellishments - Small Wildflowers, Large Butterflies & Dragonflies
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Sets - Textures Collection Set 1, Lynne's Affirmations Set 2
That's Crafty! Dinky Stencils - Distressed Harlequin, Floral Background
That's Crafty! Shimmer Paint - Green
That's Crafty! Metallic Paint - Antique Gold
Tim Holtz Frameworks Border Die - Chevron
Mixed Media Paper
Extras - Vintage Book Paper, Rose Patterned Tissue Paper, Butterfly Shaped Buttons, Tiny Paper Flowers

I hope you can enter as the prize is a voucher for the online shop where you'll be totally spoilt for choice!
Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Oxide Ink Play at That's Crafty! Blog

Hello again, back to let you know I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today and this week it's all about my experimenting with those addictive Oxide inks. If you haven't tried them do check it out to see just one of the effects you can achieve with the inks and water - they're totally amazing and I'm completely hooked!

As you can see, I made a whole batch of cards in one go - just think of the possibilities for Christmas!

Have a great weekend.
Fliss xx