Earth Day

Hello all, I hope you had a lovely weekend and managed to fit in some crafting as I did - the first time in a while I got some bonus time too due to unforeseen circumstances which meant I couldn't do the other stuff planned in - not that I'm complaining!
Today's post is to tell you about the new challenge over at Make My Monday and teamie Joan has picked Earth Day as the theme so we'd like to see your creations with this in mind or on the theme of nature.
I decided to take the Earth theme literally and do some recycling as I can't think of anything more appropriate for Earth Day than that.
Here's what I created and underneath you'll see what I recycled to make it.

I covered a piece of greyboard with some of my vintage music score and then brushed on some white gesso and then applied a little pink and green acrylic paint.
I then cut a panel of the corrugated packaging and brushed on some gesso and green paint for a grungy effect.
I die cut some floral shapes from the tea box with a Marianne die set and glued some of these to the painted corrugated panel and glued this to the music score panel.
I next chose one of the birds from my bargain illustration bird book which I acquired in a charity shop in Margate. This one is a Rock Thrush and I picked him because the colours go well with my project. I cut him out and glued him to the panel.
As a final touch I added a little more pink paint to the free area and stamped on the text from the Dina Wakley Scribbly Birds set with Archival Watering Can ink I added some paper string to the top to make the hanger.

Have a great day and a lovely week.
Fliss xx

Thanks go to Marina for pointing me in the direction of Inkspirational Challenge as it seems my creation might just fit the photo inspiration due to the colours, bird (from the birds eggs) and the kraft packaging.

A Season Of Mists

Hello everyone and welcome to my slightly late post for the new challenge over at Make My Monday today which has the theme of Autumn or Fall Colours. Very appropriate now because I woke up this morning to a chilly 8 degrees!
I hope you're all well and feeling better than me as I'm currently a bit under the weather with the first cold type thing I've had since January last year when my dear hubby gave me an unwanted New Year present!
My inspiration is very Autumnal as it's a favourite season of mine being an Autumn girl by birth. The photo doesn't quite do it justice as there are more colours in there than really show as I chose a palette of warm Autumn shades.

I made the background paper first with a piece of textured cartridge paper, applying Sticky Fingers Autumn spray inks in Blackberry, Olive, Autumn Gold and Maple to a craft sheet and pressing the paper in to pick up the colour. I find it a bit less messy than spraying directly on the paper and of course, this way you get more from the colours as you can colour more paper with the leftover inks.

I embossed one side of the dry paper with a Darice Autumn leaf flourish folder and swiped over the top with Brilliance Pearlescent Purple, Rust and Olive. I stamped the remaining paper with a Prima Engravers clear stamp and coffee brown ink. I then distressed the edges with an emery board and added splatters of Rusty Hinge Distress ink.

I painted a kraft clothing tag (it already had distressed edges!) with some brown and bronze acrylics to cover up the logo and text then stamped over the top with the same Prima stamp and the coffee brown ink. I also swiped the edges with Rusty Hinge ink for definition.

I made the leaves with an extra scrap of card coloured with the leftover spray inks and die cut them with a Marianne die before adding extra colour with Distress inks (Rusty Hinge, Frayed Burlap, Forest Moss and Mowed Lawn).

I added scraps of corrugated kraft card to the tag and then glued on the leaves and some kraft paper flowers with music score print. I tied a piece of twine through the top, then added the background paper to a kraft card blank with the tag and some cut up computer generated text.

See you soon and take care,

Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Lexi's Creations Challenge - Autumn Colours
Lunagirl Moonbeams Challenge - Autumn
Dies R Us Challenge - Fall Festival
The East Wind Challenge - Feel The Fall
Rubber Dance Challenge - Colour

It's A Hoot At Make My Monday

Hello all and sorry about my post title which I couldn't resist because our theme this week at Make My Monday chosen by Laura is OWLS :)
We also have 3 very creative new Design Team members showing off their first makes today so it's a big welcome from me to Joan, Marina and Sue. Great to have you with us ladies and looking forward to getting to know you.
Here's my challenge inspiration which is a little wall hanging featuring my favourite owl stamp which I've had for many years and could never part with as he's so cute.

I made the wall hanging from some recycled grey board which I covered with some tan coloured paper after punching holes at the top and adding natural twine to form the hanger.
I then made a background paper using an elderly and much treasured PSX ivy stamp which I repeat stamped in various shades of green VersaMagic chalk inks. I distressed the edges with a craft knife and emery board before attaching to the wall panel.
I then made a textured panel with recycled corrugated packaging painted with shades of blue and green acrylic paints and then sprinkled on some Ranger Tarnished Gold embossing powder whilst the paint was still damp and heated it to melt the powder. I sanded the edges lightly with the emery board.
I stamped the owl (Tattered Angels) with Memories Creamy Coffee chalk ink on smooth cartridge paper and when dry, coloured him with Aquamarkers. I trimmed the image to a panel, distressed the edges and inked them lightly then added tan and brown mats, also with distressed edges. I attached the panel to the corrugated background with square antique copper brads to make sure it stayed put as it had buckled slightly after the paint was applied.
I then die cut some ivy leaves from an X Cut leaf set (really fabulous as it produces beautiful embossed leaves of many types) and coloured these with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress inks.

Have a great week.
Hugs,
Fliss xx
PS: It's turned really cold again so the heating has gone back on as we had hail this morning!

Sweet Pea For That's Crafty

Hello folks, I have a little warmth to share today in this absolutely freezing weather - doesn't seem like it's nearly April! I hope my creation for That's Crafty will bring a little colour to cheer everyone up.

Over at That's Crafty you'll find a picture of the background paper I made for my rather rustic wall hanging together with a materials list and instructions on how I made it. The technique for the background paper involves 2 materials that I wouldn't normally use together and came about a bit by accident (in common with quite a few of my background techniques!)
My creation also features recycled packaging, one of my real loves, using a plain  notepad back which had 2 handy holes already punched at the top for the back and a strip of corrugated packaging which I tore for a distressed look. 
If you're not yet following, do hop over for a peek as the blog is full of tutorials and unlike a magazine - is completely free!

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

Thanks too Alison (aka Butterfly) who alerted me to the current challenge over at Eclectic Paperie where the eTeam pick is corrugated cardboard. I'd definitely like to link to that.

Autumn Gold

Good morning folks, it's Monday again and it's chucking down the rain outside yet again so I hope none of you have been flooded out. Not something we get here very often fortunately as the nearest rivers are 5 miles either side of us.
Today sees the last of the Autumn supplies challenges over at Make My Monday and this week the supplies in question are Buttons and Ribbon.
I decided on very warm and glowing colours for my card as I think we all need a bit of cheering up in the wet and dreary weather so I hope this does the trick!

I made the background paper using Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress inks with my Vintage Inking Technique (you can find the link to this by clicking on my new Tutorial page at the top of my blog). I then added faux stitching using a brown fine pen and the Tim Holtz Idea-ology ruler.
I added the panel to a tent fold card blank I made (necessary as the card is embellishment heavy) and added a central border of scrap decorated paper from my bits box, trimmed with a Martha Stewart punch. I also added a small strip of painted corrugated card and some lovely Autumn coloured ribbon lurking in my ribbon jar.
I then added a further scrap of stamped paper from my bits box to a recycled clothing tag (thick kraft chipboard so I just had to save this!), trimming the paper edges with pinking scissors. I made a rather bold floral embellishment using a piece of velvet ribbon in a gorgeous russet shade, running a line of stitches down one long edge and gathering it up to form a circle. I topped this with a flower from my bits box and and a lovely flower button with the shank chopped off.
I assembled the card with a panel of painted corrugated card, trimmed at the top with the pinking scissors and finished off with a couple of the leaves left over from an earlier project and a die cut sentiment stamped with a Hobby Craft clear stamp on kraft card.

Have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Creative Inspirations Paint - Anything Goes
Gingerloft Challenge - Leaves
Stampin' For The Weekend - Use Some Texture

Recycling Extravaganza 4

Here's my most unusual item. It's intended as a present combined with a card for any girl, young or a little more mature, that loves a bit of bling.
The circular centre piece on the card is detachable and can be hung up in the recipient's bedroom.
It is made from the top of a yogurt pot and a silk flower from an old arrangement was glued in the centre. When this is dry, all you do is add a puddle of Diamond Glaze (Judikins) all round and then stick in an assortment of buttons, beads, sequins etc. You then sprinkle tiny holeless beads (Accent beads) and glitter all over, pressing slightly into the glue. Leave overnight to dry and then tap off the excess glitter.
I then coloured it all over with purple alcohol ink and pierced a hole at the base to thread an old dangly earring through.
I pierced a hole at the top and tied the finished piece to a looped brad pushed through a large card embossed using a Cuttlebug. You need to use strong card or make a double card for this to support the weight.
You can also do this technique with a Pringle lid but it will need to be scaled down a bit.

Recycling Extravaganza 3

Here's a card I made using a tag made from a piece of plastic packaging which origanally contained jewellery from M & S. It's a lovely colour and a great shape when cut down a little so it's much too good to waste.
I cut it into a tag shape and stamped a flourish design all over in purple StazOn ink. I added a stamped image on glossy card, coloured with Distress inks and tied some ribbons cut from t shirts (used to keep them on the hangers in the shop) through the holes at the top.
The background card was cardboard from a cereal box which I painted with acrylic paints and then stamped and embossed. The card base is stamped around the edges with my favourite little Anna Griffin stamp. I added jewels to finish.

Recycling Extravaganza 2

Here's my next offering which involves the use of a really pretty paper bag which I was given when I bought something from a craft shop a while back. I quite often find that craft shops use lovely bags and it seems only right to use them for something crafty.
I used my favourite flourish stamp by Tim Holtz to add a little extra pizazz and made a card and an atc with the front of the bag.
The card also uses a piece of painted corrugated card packaging and a label from a sweater I bought at my favourite designer discount store.
The atc has an old earring swinging at the base of the stamped image.

Recycling Extravaganza 1

Managed to get some new techniques finished at last. They all involve recycling which is really important to me. I think in these difficult times it's great to save some money and with a bit of ingenuity you can make some really lovely things using recycled stuff.
Here's my first contribution which uses the insides of envelopes which I always have a large variety of as the patterns inside are so pretty.
I have stamped on some of the envelopes to add interest and embossed others with Cuttlebug folders. I have also stamped images on some and cut them out. The cut out flowers have also been stamped with a script stamp before cutting them out.
The envelopes also work well with decoupage as shown by the lovely Hobby Art Butterfly Jewel stamp which looks great in shades of blue.

Recycled ATCs

Not a lot of stamping here but I decided to post the ATCs that I made for Larrie's altered/found art recycling technique swap as recycling is close to my heart and there will be more coming soon as a lot of my stash to re-use is much too big for ATCs.