Brusho Play

Hello and welcome to today's post which has happened because I wanted to share a card I made with one of the bits from a demonstration I did last week for my sister in law who is a teaching assistant and runs an art club for the children.

We got talking on Boxing Day and I mentioned Brusho Crystals in connection with something I'm working on at the moment (can't tell you what as it's a secret at the moment :D) and she said they had those at school but what could she do with them!

I'm sure you know how much I love them so I did a demo with various ways using things I thought the children would like to use such as bubble wrap, jar lids, straws etc and I'll show you all the things I did another time.

I saw a couple of challenges that would fit the little meadow scene I made with my new Hunkydory Poppy Meadow clear stamp set which I couldn't resist as I love poppies. Hope you like it!

I started off with a piece of mixed media paper torn from an A5 size pad and decided to incorporate the torn section as it gives a rather rustic look which I thought fit what I wanted to do very well.

I sprinkled on some Lemon Brusho Crystals at the base of the paper then misted with water. I then used a straw to blow the paint about the paper and gained some streaks on the top half.

I then turned the paper up the other way and stamped the poppies on with Archival Watering Can ink. I stamped a butterfly from the set with the same ink. I painted the images with Brusho Crystals, sprinkling a little in a paint palette and adding water. I used Brilliant Red, Lime Green and Turquoise.

I made the grass by sprinkling lime green crystals on a ceramic plate and misting with water. I then used an old store card to pick up paint which I applied in streaks to resemble grass, pulling some paint sideways whilst the paint was wet.

I then sprinkled on a little Gamboge Brusho Crystals, concentrating on the torn edge and the bottom of the panel. I misted this with water and let the colour run a little. You can see where the water made the colours on the poppies and butterflies run a little and I think this gives a lovely free flowing effect.

I glued the panel to a white card blank and stamped on the Hobby Art text with the grey ink to finish.

Have a great day and see you again soon although not sure quite when as I have to go back to work tomorrow - eek!

Fliss xx

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge - What's New (my stamp set and blowing the Brusho Crystals around with a straw!)
Inkspirational Challenges - Thank You With Something New (shown above)
Just Us Girls Challenge - Thank You

Create A Scene

Hello crafters, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and those of you who are Mums had a great day yesterday. I was lucky enough to have my younger daughter home and she cooked a lovely lunch for us in the form of chicken thighs stuffed with goat's cheese and cranberry sauce wrapped in pancetta then baked in the oven. It was very yummy!
Today see the start of a new challenge at Make My Monday and I picked the theme for the week which is to create A Scenic Card. I've inked up for the first time a Stampscapes set I've had a little while and it's perfect for the challenge although I'm not sure you could say that about my inking!!!

I stamped my scene with the Lakeside Cabin set using Archival Jet Black ink on glossy card. I then added inking with various orange shades of Distress ink but actually found it was harder than it looked to make the ink spread properly - I think I need more practice!
I added a blue mat and then stuck the panel to a white square card blank.

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

Red Sail At Sunset

Morning all and hope you all had a lovely warm weekend as we did here on the sunny South Coast. It was so lovely to have sunshine and get out in the fresh air for a while.
Today we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday with a theme chosen by teamie Suzi B which as a certain day is fast looming is sure to be popular - For The Males In Your Life.
For my inspiration I've made my first proper attempt at a scenic card with a Stampscapes set with a nautical theme which I chose because the men in my family have a love of the sea.

I stamped the lighthouse first and masked it to stamp the cove image and then the yacht, stamping all the images with Archival Watering Can ink.
I added some colour with Aquamarkers and then used the sky textural stamp all over with Adirondack inks in Denim, Butterscotch and Cranberry. It really is a fabulous stamp for adding textured detail.
I simply added a navy and an orange mat before sticking all the layers to my card blank.

Have a great day and hope you can join us.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

I'd like to enter my card in the current challenge at Craft A Scene too as happily it's By The Sea - serendipity strikes!

A Cold And Frosty Morning

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine had some great things (seeing Catching Fire at the cinema with totally amazing costumes and talking to my daughter on Skype) and the not so great (8 yes I did say 8 wash loads!).
I did manage a small bit of crafting though which is my DT inspiration for today's new challenge at Make My Monday chosen by Rosie which is FROSTY so you could do anything that brings frosty to mind and in my case this was snow and ice.

I've again used the gorgeous Midwinter plate by Artistic Outpost which I'll be using to make quite a few cards as it's so versatile.

I decided to make a frame for the woodland scene so I picked out a die by Papermania which is slightly frilly so would suit the embossing folder I planned on using. I die cut the shape from a piece of smooth, thick cartridge paper and added colour by applying Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Stains to a large square acrylic block then sprayed on some Dylusions White Linen and spritzed with a little water.  I pressed the paper into it to pick up the colour and you'll see the result below.

I then dry embossed the frame with the Darice snowflake flourish corner, twisting it around to emboss right around the frame. I then swiped Versamark ink over the raised areas and heat embossed it with my favourite Winter embossing powder which is Wow! Puff White. If you look at the pics below you'll see the fabulous snowy effect it gives.

I stamped the woodland scene on a further panel of cartridge paper with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and added colour with Aquamarkers. I chose colours to make me think of a soft Winter sunset which I always think gives a lovely rosy blush to a snowy landscape. I added touches of Frosted Lace Stickles although you may not be able to see it very well in the pic.
I stamped the cute bunny with the grey ink and coloured him with Aquamarkers and cut him out. I assembled the card as you see adding the bunny and a sentiment from the stamp set stamped with the grey and a little colour added with Aquamarker.

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

I'd like to link this to the Artistic Outpost December Referral Programme which has an open theme though as you can see, I'm still on with the Christmas preparations!