Blossoming Card for That's Crafty! and more

Hello, I'm here slightly late with the details of my post over at That's Crafty! Blog last Friday which is because on Friday and Saturday I had an issue on my blog which was caused by the photo host of my blog background layout and I ended up with a huge grey watermark straight across the page.
This was eventually sorted out yesterday evening by my tech help (my brilliant elder daughter) so if you did notice it, you'll know why I hated it!

Here's the card from my post which I hope you like.

I hope you've had a good weekend and that you have a good week ahead.

Fliss xx

Merry & Bright at That's Crafty! Blog

Hello! A slightly late post to let you know that I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today where I'm sharing a bright and cheery card created with papers that were made with non festive stamps.
I've still not yet caught up with my blogging and stuff and hope to be round very soon (family stuff still getting in the way with a very demanding father in law!).

Have a great weekend and hope you're all well.

Fliss xx

Flowers Are A Must For Me at That's Crafty! Blog

Hello! I hope you're all well and surviving the current chilly weather. This is a scheduled post as today we have my mother in law Jean's funeral at last and we finally have the chance to get together and say goodbye to her properly. We miss her such a lot as before she became ill with dementia she was always so lively and great fun. I know she wouldn't like being as she was over the last year or so when things became really difficult so I hope she's now at peace.

I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today where I'm sharing an art journal page that was quick to make as I've been short on time.

My page is all about my love for flowers and if you'd like to see the whole page you'll need to hop over to the blog.

I hope to be back to more blogging soon as it's taken very much a back seat lately and especially over the last few weeks as I got landed unexpectedly with hosting the after service lunch. The result has been a huge declutter and clean at home as my craft stuff is all over the downstairs of our house! It's all done and the only up side is that there'll be less to do for Christmas!

Fliss xx

Textured Blooms

Hello everyone from a rather wet and rainy South Coast. We've finally had rain here which went on most of yesterday and has certainly cooled the weather down as I've had to put a cardi on for the first time in about 6 weeks. I also slept very well last night thank goodness so hopefully that will continue as I've not had a good night for ages as I struggle to cope with the heat. I hope you're all OK and hopefully have cooler weather too.
I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! blog today and this week I've got an MDF upright mixed media style to share which uses something slightly unusual for the textured blooms on it. I hope you'll be intrigued to see how it came about.

You'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to hop over.

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

Midway Inspiration for Close to Nature Challenge

Hello! I hope everyone is well and coping with the current long heatwave we seem to be having. A month now and no sign of rain down here on the south coast of the UK which is really unusual.

We're now midway through the July challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog with the theme of Close To Nature and I have some more inspiration to share in the form of a tag (yes, another one as I can't seem to get enough of these at the moment!) and Lynne's gorgeous new wildflower stamps have come out to play again as I love these.

I made the background for the tag by swiping teal, light blue and white multi surface paints on the surface then misting with water and allowing the colour to spread.

I then took an evergreen sprig from my garden and pressed broken china and twisted citron oxide inks on the leaves and pressed it onto the tag. I repeated this step until I was happy with the effect. I next used one of the texture stamps with faded jeans oxide ink to add some texture round the edges (I did this without an acrylic block for a grungy effect).

I prepared my focal point panel using a scrap of mixed media paper torn from the pad as I like using the ripped edge to add texture. I coloured the paper with twisted citron oxide ink misted with water and repeated applied for texture. Whilst still damp, I stamped on my chosen wild flower with VersaFine Majestic Blue ink, following up with shadow stamping using the twisted citron ink which as you see ran a little due to the wet paper.

I added more stamping from the textures sets using a postmark and script for further detail. I masked off part of one of Lynne's Affirmations to give the nature text.

I  knotted some yarn around the panel then glued it to my tag and tied some toning yarns through the top to finish.

Supplies:

That's Crafty! Surfaces Size 10 White/Greyboard Tag
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Sets - Lynne's Wildflowers Set 2, Textures Collection Sets 3 and 4
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints - Light Blue, Teal, White
Distress Oxide Inks - Broken China, Faded Jeans, Twisted Citron
VersaFine Majestic Blue Ink
 Extras - Evergreen leaf sprig or similar, toning yarns

My DT sisters have some gorgeous inspiration to hopefully encourage you to enter if you haven't yet done so over at the challenge blog where you can read about the prizes on offer which are fabulous!

Have a great day,
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

Craft Stamper March Issue

Hello all on a rather windy and dreary day down here in the South of England. I'm taking a short break in the midst of a crafting session as I'm really excited to say that I have a project in the March issue of Craft Stamper magazine which will hit the shops on Friday this week although if you subscribe, you'll already have your inky mitts on it!

Here's a sneak peek of what I made which is in my bright and zingy style.

Have a great week and see you soon!
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

The Only Way Is Art For That's Crafty!

Hello again, a very quick post to let you know that I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today for my usual weekly post with a tutorial on how I made a mixed media layered art panel starting off with a black paint background that didn't quite fit an earlier project.

You'll find all the details and the whole pic over at the blog if you'd like to hop over and see it. It's very bright and grungy in my most usual style.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
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

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

Funky Flower Jug for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry to have been a bad visitor the last couple of weeks, I've been so busy with work that I've not had a free day since the Monday before last! Hopefully things have now slowed down a bit and I'll have some "me" time.

I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and this week it's another very bright creation (that I only just got finished in time too!) featuring one of the new and fabulous giganTAGs and some of the greyboard embellishments.

Hope you like the peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to hop over. Hope you do!

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

Fliss xx

Nature Tiles for That's Crafty!

Hello again, a slightly late post to let you know it's my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog today and this week it's the art panel I created with the gorgeous sell out wildflower greyboard embellishments that debuted on Hochanda last week.
Here's a sneak peek and just click on the link HERE to be transported over to see the whole art panel. Hope to see you there.

Have a great weekend everyone.
Fliss xx

Keeping It Simple at That's Crafty Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, I hope you've been surviving the heat wave we've had here this last week. I have to admit I've really struggled to cope as I don't do well in such heat and have ended up with puffy feet and ankles, something I've never had in this country! The office I work in was so unbearably hot that I had to wear my linen holiday frocks to work in an effort to keep cool - not that it worked but they were much more comfy :)
We have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog where for the next fortnight the theme is Keep It Simple so we want to see clean and simple creations.
This is a theme that really is a challenge for me as I don't do simple that often so the creative thinking cap went on! I was inspired in the end by one of my favourite quotes from Lynne's Affirmations stamp sets and this journal page was the result. Hope you like it.

I used a bubble texture stamp with some bright Distress inks to stamp a design repeatedly, starting in the bottom left corner, going up diagonally towards the top right in a flowing shape which spoke to me of soaring upwards.
I stamped the butterfly wings on scrap paper with black ink and drew bodies in between with a black marker then painted them with Distress ink. I cut them out and added them to fly up my soaring bubby design then stamped on the quote with black ink to finish. Tada, done!

I used:
That's Crafty! Texture Stamp Set 2
That's Crafty! Lynne's Affirmations Stamp Set 1 - for the butterfly wings
That's Crafty! Lynne's Affirmations Stamp Set 2 - for the quote
Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
Distress Inks - Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Fossilised Amber, Salty Ocean

Have a great day,
Fliss xx

Catch a Dream for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I'm so excited to be able to finally share one of my samples for today's Hochanda shows and if you didn't see the first one at 8am, never fear as there's another at 2pm so you can watch our lovely Neil then. I've had to tape them as I had to work today due to having last weekend away in Devon which is why it's hot and sunny now when it wasn't when I would have liked it to be!

I can't tell you how much fun I had making this but you'll have to hop over to That's Crafty! Blog to see the whole thing which is one of the amazing new GiganTAGS which are a huge 19x38 cm!

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

Fliss xx

Back to Black at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, thanks so much to everyone who took the time to leave me comments. I really appreciate your kindness. I'm pleased to say that I can see better than before the op although not quite as well as I hoped because I still seem to need glasses for some things and more than I really wanted as I didn't have to wear them until all the cataract stuff kicked off. I won't know what the prescription is until my check up in 2 weeks.
Anyhow, enough of my troubles and on to the actual reason for this post which is to let you know there's a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has the theme of Back to Black like the Amy Winehouse song. We want to see lots of black on your creation and my inspiration is a tag with more black than I've ever used I think! Hope you like it.

I used the largest size white/greyboard tag by That's Crafty! and painted it with DecoArt Fluid Acrylic in Carbon Black. I then added circles on top for a pop of colour using a homemade circle stencil and DecoArt Americana Acrylics in Daffodil Yellow, Wild Violet and Lush Foliage.
I next stamped on the circles with Archival Jet Black ink using images from That's Crafty! Textures Collection Sets 1 and 2 clear stamp sets. I found that by layering up some of the images you get a rather interesting effect - see the yellow circles.

I then splattered on some very pale pink paint (Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylic in Vintage Lace) to add more interest.
I stamped the cute crazy bird on mixed media paper with the black ink and die cut him with the matching die set (handy if you're struggling to cut things out!).
I assembled the tag with some rather nifty black and white spotty feathers from my stash - do you like the bird's cute fan tail? and finished off with text from my bits box which is a Visible Image stamp on black card embossed with white and I thought this fit rather well. A bit of stripey ribbon at the top and I was done!

There's a prize of a voucher for the online shop for the winner so do enter if you can - there are tons of fab new goodies in the shop now!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Discovering Wonder at That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, still suffering somewhat from the nasty thingy I managed to catch that turned into Pharyngitis which makes me cough a lot when I first get up and stops me sleeping sometimes - sigh! I'm somewhat fed up as this is the third time in less than 3 months I've had something when before now I haven't been ill for years!
Anyhow, enough whingeing and on to the reason for this post which is to let you know I have a very bright tag to share over at That's Crafty! Blog today which is a little extra inspiration for our Bright Challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog.

Lots of stencilling and stamping and all details over at the blog as usual.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx