Quoth The Raven

Hello! Welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge this month over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where, being October, we have the theme of Spookalicious and would like to see your creepy or Halloween artwork.
My mixed media panel was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and came about because when rummaging through my stencils, I came across my as yet unused raven stencil.

I chose a square MDF panel and covered this roughly with texture sand paste, leaving a few bits of the panel uncovered - mainly around the edges.
I sprayed the panel with Walnut, Blueberry and Blackberry flat matte sprays, giving it several coats and drying between each one.
Once the background was completely dry, I used the raven stencil with texture paste to create my main image. I let this dry well and then painted it with Black multi surface paint by placing the stencil back on top and applying the paint with a sponge.
I then removed the stencil and painted in between the sections as well to form a complete image. I then added some highlights to the bird with Metallic Blue and Silver multi surface paints. I went around the edges with Red shimmer paint and also painted his eye.
I trimmed a greyboard tree so that it would fit on the side and covered it with texture paste, scraping in a knarled bark pattern with a cocktail stick. When it was dry, I painted it with black multi surface paint and charcoal shimmer paint, treating several greyboard leaves in the same way. I glued these on the left hand side of my collage.
I stamped the skulls (actually the skull and crossbones image from Donna's Claire stamp set) on mixed media paper with black pigment ink and clear embossed them. I coloured them a little with my Zig pens and then heat embossed them further with Vintage Beeswax Baked Texture embossing powder. I also used this on a Tim Holtz quote chip.
I created a spooky moon in the top right hand corner with texture paste using a circle stencil and coloured this with a mix of multi surface and shimmer paints.

I hope you can join us for some great prizes.

Thank you to everyone who left kind comments on my last post. My father in law is now recovering well and is awaiting transfer to an NHS centre for physiotherapy care.

See you soon.
Fliss xx

Animal Magic Part 2

Hello! I'm taking a sneaky break in the middle of some accountancy work to share my midway inspiration for the August challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which this month has the theme of Animal Magic.
I've created an underwater themed upright with some of Magda's cute water world critters and gone rather mixed media for this one as I wanted a very textured seaweed look. Hope you like it!

My first step was to apply texture paste all over the top panel and once it was try, I used matte gel to glue on some ripped and snipped crochet lace lurking in my stash - I knew it would come in handy some day! I then glued on some tiny 3D balls - mine are Powertex from my great class with Leonie Pujol back in April, but Prima do these too.
I next sprayed the surface with Aqua and Basil Flat Matte Sprays, allowing the colours to drip and run. As you can see, the crochet lace picked up more colour and popped out a lot more. I then used a stiff paintbrush to dab on green and turquoise shimmer paints for a bit of bling - sadly it doesn't show very well in the photo.
I die cut some "seaweed" from gelli papers in my bits box using Tim Holtz Garden Greens die set which is handy for more than gardens!
I stamped on the little fish from the stamp set several times using Ripe Persimmon Distress Oxide as it's a lovely strong colour. I gave the fish eyes with a black Posca pen.
I then stamped all the other critters on smooth cartridge paper and coloured them with my Zig Clean Color markers, adding doodling with white and balack Posca pens, then cut the images out and glued them on with dimensional glue.
I finished off by spraying the base with the same blue and green matte sprays, adding some glass pebbles to it, then glued some glittery gems to the top section for a bit of bubbly bling.

Supplies:
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Water World by Magda Polakow
That's Crafty! Surfaces - MDF Jagged Edge Upright
That's Crafty! White Texture Paste
That's Crafty! Flat Matte Sprays - Aqua and Basil
That's Crafty! Shimmer Paints - Green and Turquoise
Posca Pens - Fine Black and White
Distress Oxide Ink - Ripe Persimmon
Extras - 3D Balls, Ripped Crochet Lace, Tim Holtz Garden Greens Die Set, Glittery Gems, Glass Pebbles

There are some fab prizes if you enter so don't forget you have to be in it to win it!

Have a great day and hope the rest of the week is all you could wish for.
Fliss xx

Mixed Media Floral Tag for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone and sorry for the lack of visiting this week, I've been up to my eyes in my accounting type work and haven't had as much free time as usual so hopefully will be round over the long weekend although if sunny, gardening will be done!
I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog with my usual Friday post and this week have a many layered mixed media tag to share with a floral theme (no surprise there!) and pretty pastel shades including my favourite purple hues.

This is just a sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual with a photo of the whole tag.

Have a really lovely weekend and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Joyful Flowers Mixed Media Art for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I don't know about you but I've had a really awful week starting off on Wednesday morning when we woke up to find the boiler had stopped working in the middle of the night and the usual pressure adjustment didn't work so we had to call a man out. Apparently the boiler condenser outlet was frozen solid (no surprise there due to the arctic temperatures at the moment!) so he's done a temporary repair, rerouting the pipe to a bucket! It won't get fixed until the big freeze has ended.

On the same day, cold fingers became butter fingers and I dropped my laptop on the kitchen floor whilst trying to move to the dining room. So yesterday morning I made an emergency trip to the Brighton Apple store and luckily due to the weather people who had actually managed to book an appointment (not me as all they seemed to have was the middle of next week!!!), I only waited a few minutes before someone came to look at my computer. All he did was take it out the back and hoover it then ran the diagnostics in front of me and everything worked - no charge!

Yesterday afternoon was really awful as we lost our little Rosie, our Netherland Dwarf bunny, after several weeks of ill health, the result of a misdiagnosis of a problem with one of her back legs which unfortunately got beyond fixing.

On a happier note, I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today sharing a mixed media make using some of my new stamp designs. Here's a sneak peek and hope you like it.

Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Flutter Your Feathers for That's Crafty! and other news

Hello everyone, I hope you're all well as it's been ages since I've been able to come and visit, the reason for which will be revealed very soon although there is a sneak peek on here for anyone who hasn't seen my sneak peeks on Facebook and Instagram.

I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with my usual Friday post that this week is one of the mixed media creations made for the Hochanda One Day Special back in December which was a total sellout.

All details of my little fluttering hummingbird can be found over at the blog as usual.

Now for the promised sneak peeks of some new mixed media stamps coming very soon to That's Crafty! and hope you like them.

I shall have some free time very soon and will be popping by as soon as I can.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Tangled for That's Crafty!

Hello all on a lovely sunny but chilly day. Just a very quick post to let you know that I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today sharing a panel that was inspired to take a sort of fairytale turn as I created a wood nymph out of the gorgeous Lana stencil that premiered on the One Day Special That's Crafty! did (a sell out!) last December.

You can see the shimmer on this sneak peek that doesn't really show that much on my That's Crafty! post although I used quite a bit of gold and bronze metallic paints on there along with gorgeous gold shimmer paint.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Tis The Season Christmas Challenge at That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you're keeping warm in the current freeze. I've been staying warm as I've been running about with all I've had to do over the last couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to Christmas and especially just after when I might finally have some time to slow down!
My new cooker is being delivered tomorrow so it's only a couple of days with fish and chips etc. It's been so long since I last had those and although they were yummy, I ate far too many chips!

We have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and this one is the Christmas one where we'd like to see everything seasonal.
My inspiration is a rather traditional style mixed media Christmas wreath but there are some elements that have a vintage vibe so the post is a bit picture heavy and you may need a cuppa before you read it!

I'll show you first how the tree was made as I had such fun creating with this and it's proof the That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints really do what they say!

I covered the greyboard tree with strips of broderie anglaise trim, gluing it on with DecoArt Matte Medium. The base was covered in texture paste which I drew a pattern in with a cocktail stick to resemble bark.

I then trimmed off the overhanging bits to reveal a rather pretty tree.

Now came the fun part which was to paint my tree. I first gave it a couple of coats of multi surface green and then added highlights with Antique Gold. I painted the tree trunk with chestnut brown and charcoal shimmer paint. I was rather pleased with the pretty effect the gold gave.

I painted the MDF wreath (the medium sized one from the set) with Christmas Red and then used the Poinsettia Tree stencil to add a pattern with the antique gold paint.

I painted some of the greyboard elements that you see below with various multi surface plain and metallic paints and some shimmer paints, adding in some textured buttons which I painted and threaded with baker's twine tied in a bow.

My final embellishments were some little MDF hearts which had the same treatment as the tree and were painted green, gold and purple to tone in with my other items.

I tied some gold ribbon through the top to finish.

I hope you can join us as there are lots more new goodies of That's Crafty! brand going in the shop as we're doing the One Day Special on Hochanda TV today with a bundle of amazing goodies including the most gorgeous stamps and stencils and I can't tell you enough how much I enjoyed working with them. The challenge prize is, as always, a voucher for the online shop and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter!

I'll be back in a while as I'm sharing the first of my Hochanda samples over at That's Crafty! Blog today and I can't wait to show you!
See you soon,
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

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

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

Winter Moon for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. Mine has been rather busy with work at my hubby's office (and a 2 hour train journey home due to Southern Rail issues!) and something hush hush that I can't share for a while yet.
I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and this week I have a frosty offering in the form of a card which was one of my Hochanda samples.

You'll need to hop over to the blog to see the whole thing as always and hope to see you there.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and I'll see you maybe next week as we're off to stay with my Sarah on Sunday for a few days.

Fliss xx

Tropical Rainforest Shrine at That's Crafty! Blog

I'm back again just to let you know that I have my usual Friday project over at That's Crafty! Blog today and this week it's the rather bright and jazzy ATC shrine that I made for last week's Hochanda shows.

This is just a sneak peek so you'll need to head on over to the blog to see the whole thing and how it came about.

Hope to see you there!
Have a great weekend and see you soon.
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

I Must Always Have Flowers

Hello everyone, Happy Sunday to you all!

I want to share the first bit of hand painting that I've done in an absolute age which is a page in my A5 art journal as I need to practice before putting paint to canvas. I decided on flowers inspired by one of the beautiful quotes on Alison's (of Words and Pictures) first issue of stamps for Paper Artsy which I've only just had the time to ink up.

The colour is a bit off as you can't see the shimmer on my page which I painted by swiping with buttermilk and gold paint applied with an old store card.
I then painted on rough flower shapes (circles surrounded by circles with white gesso. When this was dry, I went a bit mad, free painting with several shades of pink and purple, adding in some orange for the centres and a touch of lime green.
Once everything was dry, I used charcoal shimmer paint to add some detail and make the flowers pop. They're a bit wonky and I think I need more practice!
I finished off by stencilling on a pattern with bronze paint and stamping on my chosen quote with Archival watering can ink.

I used:
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Metallic Bronze Paint (my absolute favourite!)
That's Crafty! Metallic Gold Paint
That's Crafty! Charcoal Shimmer Paint
That's Crafty Dinky Stencil - TC068 Decorative Background
Paper Artsy Eclectica EAB01 by Alison Bomber

Have a lovely Sunday and see you again soon.
Fliss xx

Autumn at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello on a rather murky day, it's rather dull and drizzly today down here in the South but for once, I really don't mind!
Today is the first day of a new chapter in my life as after several months of soul searching, yesterday was my final day at the job I found increasingly stressful so I made the decision to quit.
I now have an increased role at my hubby's business where I've been doing the bookkeeping for over 20 years and I'm taking on more of the financial side to help out as they can't find a replacement for their former office manager who retired that can do the job as well as she did.
I'm also (much more exciting!), going to be setting my creative spirit free to see where it wants to go. There are lots of possibilities to explore and it's a case of watch this space as I'm not sure at this stage where it will lead!

Now for the other stuff! We have a great new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where the theme for the next fortnight is Forever Autumn and I LOVE this one as it's my favourite time of year.
My inspiration in a simple tag as I was short on time this week - as to why, all will be revealed soon.

My base was a Ranger kraft tag which I stencilled with leaves (That's Crafty! 6.5x7.5 Skeleton Leaves Stencil) using That's Crafty! paints (Chestnut Brown and Metallic Bronze Multi Surface and Copper Shimmer) and I so love the Metallic Bronze which is my new favourite.
I then wrapped around a piece of homespun ribbon to which I tied one of my dipped leaves (see my post of 15 September to see how I did this) and finished off with a Tim Holtz clippings sticker. Done!

Have a great day and I'll be back in a bit as it's my day to post at That's Crafty! Blog.
Fliss xx

ITAC17 Challenge 2 - Asia (Oriental Girl)

Hello, I'm finally here to share my creation for ITAC17 and Challenge 2 which is Asia. I have to admit to a bit of a struggle with this one as I don't have very much that fit the brief which is why it took me so long to get this one done!
I did have some origami papers and some Japanese handmade paper along with an oriental newspaper picked up years ago (no idea which country it is either so I had to pick text ftom the ads as I thought that would be safer lol)
I've made a collage with the things I did have which I'm a bit iffy about but I hope you like it.

The starting point for my collage was the mandala shape which I created by using the That's Crafty! Big Floral stencil (one of my favourites) with Christmas Red Multi Surface paint on a piece of gold and yellow origami paper. When it was dry, I trimmed out the mandala shape.
I next took a scrap of the Japanese handmade paper and added some gold embossing to this. I painted my MDF panel with black and charcoal shimmer paints and when it was dry, glued on the gold embossed paper, a couple more origami paper, some scraps of newsprint oriental text and finally the mandala.
I found the oriental girl after an internet search, printed out the photo and trimmed her from it, adding her to my collage. The final touch was to add some gold heat embossed stamping using images from the AALL and Create stamp set 10 by Autour de Mwa.

If you click on the link above, you'll find all the challenge details as at the moment there's still time to enter and I need to get a move on with the next one!
Fliss xx

Field Notes Journal Cover for That's Crafty!

Hello again and a very quick post to let you know have have my usual Friday offering over at That's Crafty! Blog today.
This week, I'm sharing how I made the mixed media cover for my new small art journal, it has to be sturdy for travel in my rucksack and is intended for nature walks I'm hoping to take more often very soon.

 

This is a bit of the detail and you can see the cover over at the blog with instructions on how it was created as it's easier than you think (I took a walk in my garden to give you a clue :D)

Have a great weekend and see you soon.

Fliss xx

Fly Away at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone on a rather Autumnal day as it's quite chilly down here but is bright so hopefully will warm up soon.
It's time for a new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and this time it's projects with wings/birds we'd like to see as the theme is Fly Away.
I've created an Autumn wreath as I love this time of year being an Autumn girl by birth and never cope well with heat so give me a cold and frosty morning with bright sunshine and I'm so happy!

The wreath is one of the inclusions in the That's Crafty! MDF wreaths and baubles set and I've used the smallest one.
The wreath surface is coloured with Distress oxide inks, spritzed then dried and stamped, then some heat embossing with gold powder for a bit of glimmer.
Here are some process pics:

 

I then used my leaf dipping technique to colour some of the new That's Crafty! Surfaces Greyboard Bits and Pieces leaves perfect for Autumn projects.

 

The paint is actually on a clear plastic plate not the cross stitch fabric underneath! Messy to do but great fun and the leaves look fab when dried off.
I scored them to make veins and added colour with a Promarker. I then painted up one of the greyboard birds to resemble a robin. I die cut some Autumn greenery from bits of paper in my scraps box using the Tim Holtz Sissix Garden Greens set and coloured some berries on some of the sprigs. I assembled it all as you see.

Hope you can join in as the prize is a voucher for the online shop and there are tons of new Autumn and Winter goodies flowing in right now so it's not to be missed!

Have a great day.
Fliss xx