My New Obsession at That's Crafty! Blog

Hello! I hope you're all well and sorry yet again for not being around much lately. I'm still dealing with my in laws' stuff and there's still a little way to go. My father in law is definitely on the mend and will be coming out of the rehabilitation centre soon so there's a mad scramble to get the house ready for his return. He's got to live downstairs so there's loads to do to make everything as easy as possible for him.
We've finally been able to arrange my mother in law's funeral too which is at the end of this month. Life will never be the same afterwards as we will have to help my father in law quite a lot which is such a shame when he's a very independent person. I'm sure we'll all cope and at the moment it's really a case of going with the flow.

I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with the very textured trio of artist trading coins, one of which was on my last post. If you'd like to see them all and how I created them, I'd be so pleased if you hopped over.

Have a great weekend.

Fliss xx

Bentley's Midnight Garden

Hello! I hope you've all had a good week and better than mine which has been rather busy with accounts stuff but thankfully that's nearly all finished for the moment.
I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today and I've been using up some of my spray overflow scraps from last week's make to create another upright. This week the lovely Bentley has come out to play as it's a while since he made an appearance and I thought I should ink him up again.

Hope you like this sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual.

I've got a busy weekend as tomorrow we're off up to London to help my daughter Sarah move from her lodgings with a family to a flat she'll be sharing with 2 other girls and I know she can't wait as it's what she's wanted for ages but found that finding a flat share was worse than a job interview!!!

See you soon and have a great weekend.

Fliss xx

Flutter Your Feathers for That's Crafty!

Hello! I hope you've all had a lovely week with some sunny weather and time for crafting too. I'm really looking forward to the weekend as I've had some accounts work to do this week and need a rest from figures!
I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and I have another tag to share - I seem to be addicted to making these at the moment. My tag this time is in coll chilled shades of blue with a touch of yellow and purple hues for contrast.

You'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to see how this came about and hope you'll hop over.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

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

Feeling Blue Challenge Midway Inspiration

Hello everyone, a very quick post in the middle of a crafting run to share my midway inspiration for our Feeling Blue Challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has another 2 weeks to run as we've now gone monthly.
The challenge is now open to crafters all over the world and the randomly drawn winner will receive a £30 voucher for the online shop. In addition to this, our chosen top 3 will receive a That's Crafty! stencil (own choice) and there are tons to choose from with more on the way soon.

I have a fairly bright and breezy tag as my inspiration with lots of stencilling and a bit of stamping.

I coloured my tag with multi surface paints which were applied with a brayer. I then used the spiral flower stencil to add the flowers using Distress Oxides and used the butterfly background stencil at the top with the same inks.
I stamped the butterfly wings and text from some of the Lynne's Affirmations stamp set 1 with cobalt ink. I painted the butterfly with Distress markers, having drawn a body between the wings with a fine dark blue pen.

Supplies:
That's Crafty! Surfaces - Size 5 White/Greyboard Tag
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Lynne's Affirmations Set 1
That's Crafty! Dinky Stencils - Flight of Butterflies, Spiral Flower
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints - Bright Blue, Ocean, Teal, White
Tim Holtz Oxide Inks - Broken China, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron, Wilted Violet

Have a great day and rest of week and hope you can enter the challenge.
Fliss xx

Nature Blooms for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone and apologies once again for being awol. I've had a bit of a week as my new cooker went wrong 10 minutes after the fitters left, blowing the electrics after which the main gas oven wouldn't work! We're still waiting on it being fixed but they're messing us about and keep changing the date so I could be in trouble if they don't come next week as I have 6 for Christmas dinner and 12 on Christmas evening!
On top of that, I got a flat tyre on my car caused by a screw (we have 3 lots of builders working down our road at the moment so I wonder where it came from) That was repaired yesterday thank goodness as it's really difficult without wheels at this time of year.
I'm over at That's Crafty! blog today with one of my samples from last week's Hochanda One Day Special which has a nature theme.

I hope you'll be intrigued enough to hop over and see the whole thing with the how to and some more detail pics.

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

Fliss xx

Crazy Quilt Art Panel for That's Crafty! and Hochanda

Hello again, just had to let you know that I have one of the samples I created for today's upcoming  That's Crafty! One Day Special on Hochanda, starting today at 6pm and 8pm and then continuing tomorrow at 9am, 1pm and the final call at 5pm, over at That's Crafty! Blog.
The shows are not to be missed for some fantastic demos by our Neil Burley and lots of amazing samples from the Design Team. As well as the mega bundle of new stamps, stencils and substrates that is the One Day Special, there are even more brand new stencils and paints and the new That's Crafty! mediums too.

You'll find all the details over at the blog and I do hope you'll catch some of the shows if you can as you're in for a real treat.

In the meantime, have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Fly Free Hummingbird ATC for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone on a rather brrrrh freezing cold day. Can't believe the chill as in the last few years we haven't got this until February! Hope you're all managing to keep warm.
I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog where this week I'm sharing another of the ATCs made for the last Hochanda shows back in October - doesn't seem that long and time has really flown! Plus of course, it's now December - yikes!

 

This is a peek only so I hope it will tempt you to hop over and see the whole creation and of course, the details on how I made it.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Green With Envy Challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, really sorry for my lack of visiting over the last week or so. I've been really busy creating for something I can't yet share and as well as that, I managed to do something to my back last week and for the first few days couldn't sit or stand too long. The only thing that seemed to help and still does is my daily early morning walk which I've been doing since I left my accounting job. I've got quite fast and can walk further in my allotted time than when I started so it must be doing some good!
Now to the reason for this post which is to share my inspiration for our new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has a Green theme. I decided on nature as it was either that or Christmas!

I covered a 4.5 x 9 white/greyboard panel with torn pieces of vintage book page which I glued on with matt medium. I glued on some scraps of green lace and then brushed green and yellow multi surface paints over the top.
I painted one of the larger wildflower greyboard embellishments with the green and yellow paints then added some pencil detail. I'm currently having a bit of a sort out of my stash and came across some pressed flowers, the orange ones being perfect for for my creation. I added one in the centre of my wildflower and then glued some on the panel with the large flower.
I stamped a couple of butterflies from Lynne's Affirmations Set 1 on stamping card with Fern Green Archival ink and added a little colour with the leftover yellow paint watered down. I cut them out and glued them to the panel.
I finished off with a Tim Holtz sticker which I brushed with a little of the watered down paint.

I hope you can enter as there's a great prize of a voucher for the online shop up for grabs.

I'll be back in a while as I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today.
Fliss xx

Fairy Dancer for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a lovely and hopefully crafty week. I'm creating like mad at the moment and making things I can't yet share and can't wait to show you as I so love what I'm working with!
A very quick post as I have some bookkeeping stuff to do today to let you know that I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog with my usual Friday post where I'm sharing a mixed media art panel featuring one of the gorgeous Tim Holtz paper dolls turned into a little fairy.

You'll find all the details over at the blog and would love it if you paid a visit as there's tons of amazing inspiration including links to Youtube videos made by design team member Melina which are not to be missed.

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

Catch A Falling Star for That's Crafty!

Hello again, just a quick post to let you know that I have my usual Friday tutorial post over at That's Crafty! Blog today and this week I have a shimmery and sparkly wintery ATC to share.
You'll find all the details over at the blog and here's a sneak peek to hopefully persuade you to hop over to see it.

Have a great weekend and see you soon.

Fliss xx

Stencil It! at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, I hope you've had a good week and had some time for crafting as I have. It's been really great to have a bit more time to create as I do these days although some of it is still under wraps and can't be shared just yet!

We have a new challenge for you today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where for the next fortnight, our theme is Stencil It! We would like to see you using at least one stencil on whatever you decide to make.

My inspiration is a mixed media art panel that I really enjoyed creating as my love of vintage has resurfaced due to wanting to use one of the fabulous Tim Holtz paper dolls, in my case a rather lovely couple.

 

I started off with an 8x8 MDF panel which I covered with a coat of white gesso. I then used the big floral stencil with texture paste to add a pattern on the left side. Once the paste was dry, I mixed white multi surface with a little red to make pink and also some white with a little teal and purple to make a soft blue. I then brushed the paints roughly over the panel to colour it.

I stamped some script across the top and partly down the right side. I used a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die to cut a pattern out of a piece of recycled corrugated card and then used it as a stencil to add a pattern on the right side with some chestnut brown multi surface paint mixed with white.

I dragged the corrugated panel together with some butterflies, leaves and leftover swirls from mixed media cut outs through the leftover soft blue and pink paints to add some shabby chic colour.

I next painted a size 2 MDF art panel with a coat of gesso. Once dry, I painted it soft blue and pink, adding reverse stencilling by brayering a little cream paint (white multi surface paint with a dash of yellow) on to the big floral stencil and pressing it on the panel to transfer the paint. I rubbed some of the diluted chestnut brown around the edges.

I asembled the panel as you see in the main photo, adding the affirmation from Lynne's Affirmations Set 6, stamped with Archival Potting Soil ink on a scrap of mixed media paper.

I hope you can enter as there's a prize of a voucher for the randomly drawn winner and there's tons of lovely goodies in the online shop.

Have a great day.
Fliss xx

Sprinkling Starlight at That's Crafty! Blog

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am. We're off out for a meal tomorrow evening to a favourite Mexican restaurant and I can't wait as my 2 daughters are home for the weekend as today is my birthday!
I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with a mixed media tag featuring some of the beautiful Lynne's Affirmations stamps.

You'll find the whole tag over at the blog of course and I'd love it if you did hop over to see how it came about.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss x

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

Forever Floral at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, I'm now back from my trip to stay with my daughter in London. We had a lovely if rather tiring time as we did a whistlestop tour of quite a few of the attractions that despite living in the UK our whole lives, we'd never managed to see.
There are some pics on my next post for those of you who didn't see them on Facebook but first the actual reason for this post which is to show you my inspiration for our new challenge today at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has the theme of Forever Floral so flowers are the order of the day.

I've created a mixed media postcard for the challenge, starting off with a rounded corner white/greyboard postcard which I spread with a thin layer of texture paste then drew on a rough stripe pattern with an old store card.
When the paste was dry, I roughly brushed on several shades of That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paint - Teal, White, Green and Yellow. I used more teal at the top and more green at the bottom. When the paint was dry, I swiped on some Fern Green Archival ink on the raised areas to resemble grass.
I next used the script stamp (from Textures Collection Set 1 by That's Crafty!) without a mount to add a pattern across the bottom half. I brushed some diluted green roughly on the grass area and some diluted Metallic Antique Gold in various places.
I painted the poppy and butterfly Bits and Pieces Greyboard Embellishments with Multi Surface Paints after scoring with a fine embossing tool to add detail. Once the paint was dry, I added more detail with pigment pencils.
I brushed a little diluted gold over the painted greyboard elements to add a glazed finish then glued them on the postcard with silicone glue.
I finished off with part of the text from one of the gorgeous quotes on Lynne's Affirmations Set 6 which I stamped with Archival Fern Green on a scrap of mixed media paper washed with leftover green paint.

There's a great prize for the randomly drawn winner of a voucher for the online shop and all you have to do to be in with a chance is enter.
Hope to see you there!
Fliss xx

My Wings

Hello all, hope you've had a lovely weekend. Mine has been quite busy mostly on the craft type front and yesterday evening we went to see the new Blade Runner film as the original one is my favourite film of all time (which might surprise you but I admit to a lifelong love of sci fi and fantasy both in films and in books too)
I was rather apprehensive about the new one as quite often I wonder why they bother with a sequel. This was, although not quite up to the standard of the original classic, very well done. It was extremely atmospheric and there were things that mirrored the past film that were good. It left quite a few loose ends though so I don't know if they're planning on a further sequel - though if they want to include Harrison Ford they need to be quick as he's not getting any younger!

I gave myself a bit of a challenge today to create something in just half an hour which is always difficult as I am NOT a fast crafter. There is something rather satifying though in just slapping the paint on and not thinking too hard about what you're doing which is why my tag ended up quite grungy!

So, my base was a Ranger Size 8 black tag and the first step was to brayer on a layer of purple paint. I then added dots of lilac and lavender paints and roughly spread it with the brayer.
I then slapped some turquoise paint on a piece of bubble wrap and pressed this here and there on the tag. As you'll see, some ended up on the black areas too.
I then applied a bit of pattern, using Herringbone Background Dinky stencil with yellow and turquoise paints and the Distressed Harlequin Dinky stencil with orange paint.
I added a That's Crafty! Bits and Pieces Greyboard butterfly painted orange, stamped with a butterfly from Lynne's Affirmations Set 1 stamp set, stamped with black Archival ink and painted yellow.
I finished off with one of the new Lynne's Affirmations quotes from Set 3 which I stamped with black and painted with a wash of turquoise before cutting into tiles. I ran the black ink round the edges and glued them on to finish.

Hope you like it
Fliss xx

Autumn Fairy for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, Neil's second show is just starting on Hochanda (Freeview Channel 85) but if you missed it there's always rewind.
I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog sharing one of my samples which is a card featuring one of the gorgeous new fairy greyboard sheets. She's Autumnal as I thought her wings looked like leaves. All details over at the blog.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and if you watched the shows, hope you enjoyed them as I did.

Fliss xx

That's Crafty! Next Hochanda Shows

Hello there, just a quick post for anyone out there who doesn't do Facebook or Instagram to let you know that there will be some fabulous new goodies from That's Crafty! on Hochanda on Friday with the lovely Neil doing some great demos.
The shows are at 8am and 11am and not to be missed as the new stamps, stencils and greyboard on the show are just amazing!
Some fantastic samples from my DT sisters too and here's some sneak peeks of some of mine (in fact, my Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog will feature one of my samples but you'll have to wait until then to find out which lol)

These are just 3 of my samples and I'll be sharing some more tomorrow so watch this space!

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 Lily Pond for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, just to let you know that I have my usual post over at That's Crafty! Blog today which is another mixed media piece as I'm rather hooked on those at the moment.

Here's a sneak peek and you'll have to hop on over to the blog to see the whole thing and hope you will of course!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx