Less Is More Take Four

And another one! There will be more tomorrow too as I'm on a roll at the moment and can't seem to stop!
I'll wish good luck here to the lovely ladies of Less Is More too and hope they reach the target.

A really simple one here with the lovely dahlia stamp by Circa Design which was stamped in black, coloured with Prisma pencils and then inked with VersaColor Bisque. The sentiment by Hobby Art was stamped with VersaFine Spanish Moss.

Fliss xx

Less Is More Take Three

Here's the next one folks for the Less Is More 1000 entry challenge and I'm really enjoying my colouring at the moment so this one has more of that:

The cute stamp here is called Big Hat and is again by La Blanche who have some really gorgeous vintage images at the moment. She was stamped with Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink and coloured with Prisma pencils. The sentiment is an old one by Anita's that I've had for ages and is also stamped with the sepia ink.

Fliss xx

Less Is More Take Two

I'm back again with the second one for Less Is More and things were getting easier so here it is:

The stamp here is Among The Daisies by La Blanche and was stamped in VersaFine Olympia Green and coloured with Prisma pencils and VersaColor Split Pea ink. The little butterflies are Hobby Art and the Hero Arts sentiment was stamped with the same dark green ink.

More to follow shortly as my hubby is calling me down to watch TV!
Fliss xx

Less Is More Take One

Hello everyone, after seeing all the blog entries of the last few days about the Less Is More 1000 entry challenge I decided to join in with the fun. This is a real challenge for me as I find doing less very difficult!
Here's the first of several I managed to come up with:

This uses the Technique Tuesday Pocket Full O' Posies clear stamp set. I stamped the big bloom and some leaves in black and then coloured the flower with Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold and Worn Lipstick Distress inks and the leaves with Crushed Olive.
I streaked the card with Scattered Straw, Crushed olive and Spun Sugar DIs and stamped on the sentiment by Hobby Art with VersaFine Spanish Moss.

More to follow!
Fliss xx

A Decorative Mood

Morning everyone, I won't say it's a good one today as it's dark, miserable and grey - not to mention rather cold! I have something quite bright to show you that might cheer up a dull day though.
It's my turn to do the Mid Week Motivation for the Steampunk with Metal Challenge over at Make My Monday this week and I've done a tutorial on how to get a fabulous metal look on your creations without breaking the bank! So of you pop on over, you'll see how I made the dress form on my tag below:

The details of the dress form are on the tutorial and the rest of the supplies used to make the tag and the wings are as follows:
Wings - The Artistic Stamper Steampunk Butterflies
Background Stamps - Grungy Numbers from Paper Artsy Gentlemen Plate 4
Text from Paper Artsy Wrought Iron 3 USW13
Embossing Folder - Mini Steampunk from Tim Holtz Texture Trades Artful Muse set
Additional Inks - Stormy Sky and Dusty Concord Distress Inks, Black VersaFine Ink
Clear Embossing Powder
Drill Ribbon (altered with the StazOn inks)

I'm entering my tag in the Simon Says Stamp challenge - Dies To Die For (Tim Holtz Sewing Room)

No crafting for me today as when this pops up I shall be in the middle of preparing a VAT return!
I would like to say hello and welcome to Jane before I go - thanks so much for joining my followers.
Fliss xx

Up Up And Away

Hello and welcome to this week's challenge at Make My Monday. We're continuing with the September theme of Steampunk chosen by Cath and this week the added extra is to use some Metal on your creation.
Although I do have a few metal embellishments, I don't have any metal sheet in my stash so I decided to improvise and here's the result:

My collage started off as a frame mount which I stamped all over in black with the Artistic Stamper cogs stamp. I then inked over the top with Wild Honey, Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks and I have to admit I added a little too much of the orange - my only excuse for this is that I was shouting at the TV in annoyance at the time as I was watching the X Factor auditions!!!
I then embossed a piece of aluminium foil backed with card with the Cuttlebug clockworks folder and coloured this with Olive Green, Midnight Blue, Timber Brown and Jet Black StazOn inks.
The glamorous lady is by The Graphics Fairy and her fabulous top hat is from the Steampunk 3 Collage Set by the lovely June of Dezinaworld. I cut these out, rounded them out with a large embossing ball tool and added them with foam tape.
The gorgeous hot air balloon that you see here started off as a fabulous pencil drawing by my daughter Sarah (studying a Fashion degree) which she drew to make a bookmark and matching card for her Dad for Fathers Day. I altered the size a little to fit my collage then added colour with Distress inks, cut it out and embossed it with clear powder to add some definition.
The finishing touch is a Dymo text label.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for this challenge as the entries for the monochrome challenge were just fabulous. For inspiration, look no further than the challenge blog as the other DT ladies have come up with some stunning creations!

I'm entering my collage in the following challenges:
Creatalicious - Anything Goes
Papercraft Star - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Song or Film Title Inspired (Up Up and Away)
Gingerloft - Vintage or Distressed
Quirky Crafts - Anything But A Card
Scrappy Frogs - Vintage
Linking to The Graphics Fairy Brag Monday too.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a tutorial for Make My Monday for the current theme of metal.
See you then!
Fliss xx

Fetch A Sketch Challenge 7 - Guest Designer

Good morning everyone on a very chilly Monday. Hope you all had a lovely weekend too and are rested and ready for the week ahead. I'm teaching a class this morning and hopefully by the time this pops up I should be a great deal more ready for it than I was when I drafted this post!
This is my second and last challenge as guest designer for Ruth and Jenny of Fetch A Sketch and the sponsor for this one is our lovely Nikky of Polka Doodles. There's a really great sketch this time perfect for celebration or Christmas so without further ado, here it is:

As you can see. I chose to make a Christmas card and used digital stamps, embellishments and papers from the Magical Winter CD set which has loads of elements for Winter themed cards and of course, Christmas!
I covered a kraft card blank with the blue dotty paper and then added a torn strip with a dotty ribbon and bow.
I printed out the jolly snowman and the Merry Christmas bunting and coloured these with Promarkers. I made the scarf look woolly by colouring all over with a pale blue marker then adding dotted stripes with 2 darker shades of blue and 2 greens. I hope you like the effect.
I cut these out and assembled the card as you see. Simples!

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see all the gorgeous samples and details of the challenge prize which is sure to be fabulous!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
The Squirrel And The Fox - Anything Goes
Jingle Belles - Christmas including a digi
Crafty Ribbons - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Paper Creations Ink - Buttons Or Bows

Thanks for looking and have a good week,
Fliss xx

Whiteout!

Morning everyone and no, it's not snowing! It's just the theme for this week's challenge at Polka Doodles chosen by Enfys. It actually looks more like rain here this morning as it's sunny at the moment but there was a very red sky earlier and the old saying about the shepherd's warning springs to mind.

Before I go on to the challenge, I'd like to welcome Joan, Debbie-Anne and Jane to my blog - lovely to see you here ladies.

This week's theme is Whiteout and Enfys would like to see your all white creations although black outlines for stamped images are allowed. I have to say I was a bit stumped by this one as I do love my colour and although Christmas did pop into my head for a moment, I decided against that and made a romantic vintage style card with loads of texture instead.

I actually photographed the card against a pink background as my usual white one made it disappear! You may also need to click on the pic to see the card properly as a white blog background dosen't help either!
As you can see, I've used embossing folders to add texture and made 2 panels, trimming the dotty one with scallop scissors to add detail. I die cut a white glitter scalloped circle with a Nestabilities die and some letters to spell love from the same card from an old Quickutz set.
My frilly flower is made from some of the black and white flowers from the All Around & Everywhere CD and I cut them out inside the black lines. I scrunched them up and then layered them up to make the flower, adding a vintage pearly button centre. The finishing touch is some lovely crunchy white crochet lace.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Deep Ocean Challenge - Lace
Everybody Art - Flowers
4 Crafty Chicks - Embossing

This is also now linked up to the lovely Cindy Adkins Shabby Chic Girls Club - click HERE for details.  Well worth a look if you love shabby chic and vintage.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend,
Fliss xx
PS: Do check out the Polka Doodles website as there's a brand new mini CD on the block and it's adorable! I got my hands on it yesterday and the papers on there are to die for, plus there are loads of really cute images too.

Fetch A Sketch Challenge 6 - Decoupage Fairy

I'm back with another post as today is the mid way in the Sketch 6 challenge over at Fetch A Sketch and you have nearly a week still to get your entries in.
Here's a reminder of the sketch:

Here's my card with uses Claire of Jellypark's cute decoupage fairy:

 

I printed out the fairy and cut out all the elements then layered them up with foam tape. I rubbed the back of the wings with a large embossing ball tool to give them a bit of shape then added the fairy to a circle of white card embossed with the Cuttlebug Paisley folder.

I chose a favourite paper, Basic Grey Lemonade and covered my card blank with a piece of floral paper having first rounded the corners. I added a layered central bar also with rounded corners. I finished off with a sentiment from Inkadinkado stamped on some of the patterned paper and cut out and some Prima flowers - I altered the colours to match with Promarkers - with button centres.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge - P Is For Pretty Pastels

Totally Papercrafts - Cute With Buttons

Flutterby Wednesday - Anything Goes

My Mum's Craft Shop - Layer It Up

Thanks for looking,

Fliss xx

Monochrome Steampunk Collage

Hello everyone on a very wild, windy and wet Monday, I think the hurricane leftovers have now reached Sussex so I don't think I'll be going far today!
Being Monday, we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday. Continuing with the September theme of Steampunk, this week we would like you to create a Monochrome project which I think suits steampunk very well.
I'm definitely addicted to this type of artwork now so expect lots more over the next few weeks! The piece I made for this challenge is a favourite with my hubby who loves the airship in particular. I shall be raiding his books soon as he has quite a lot with vintage engineering diagrams.
Here's my effort:

You may need to click on the pic to see the full detail as I couldn't fit a very large photo on without cropping part of the collage.
Ingredients Used:
Airship - Creative Expressions
Buildings - Crafty Individuals
Cogs and Gears - The Artistic Stamper
Elaborate Clock - B Line Designs
Victorian Gentleman - The Graphics Fairy
Pocket Watch - Vintage Feedsacks
Inks - VersaFine Vintage Sepia, Distress Inks in Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, VersaColor Umber, Sand Beige
Promarkers in brown shades

Using the Vintage Sepia ink, I stamped a row of the buildings on white card and then stamped the airship at the top left. I coloured the images with a mix of Distress inks and VersaColor inks then added detail with Promarkers. I stamped the cogs and gears at the top right corner, stamping with the Vintage Sepia ink, stamping a second time without re-inking the stamp.
I stamped the B Line Designs Time stamp with the sepia ink, coloured with inks, cut this out and fixed in the top right corner before trimming the excess.
I printed out the gentleman and pocket watch images having first altered the colours a little in Photoshop to give them a sepia tone. I coloured them with Distress inks and cut them out.
I added some detail to the sky by cutting a cloud style paper template with 2 sizes of scallop scissors  and sponged on some clouds with the Sand Beige ink.
I finished off as you see, adding a little propeller to the gentleman's hat made by stamping part of the airship and cutting it out.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed making this and I'll also enjoy looking at your creations. Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the other DT samples as they're fabulous.

I'm entering my collage in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp And Show Some Steampunk (How about that for timing!)
The Stamp Man - Monchrome
Just For Fun - Timeless Vintage
Paper Play - Use 2 Or More Stamped Images

I'd also like to say hello and welcome to Julia and all the new ladies from the Fashionable Stamping Challenges who have all joined my blog.
Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Make A Tag With Fashionable Stamping Challenges

Hello everyone, it's time for the 4th challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges but before I give you the details for this, I just want to say that everyone who was affected by the catastrophic act of terrorism on 9/11 is in my thoughts today. I know that I will remember the complete horror I felt on the day for the rest of my life and it's obviously unimaginable for those people who lost loved ones on the day.
Our new challenge runs for the next fortnight and this one has the theme of Make A Tag which gives plenty of scope for creativity, just please remember that your entry must include some stamping as that's what the challenge blog is all about - we're called Fashionable Stamping Challenges after all!
The Design Team have created some fabulous and incredibly varied inspiration for you and I hope you like mine:

The background for my tag was made using a technique I was taught several years ago by textile artist Kim Thittichai who makes the most amazing artwork. This involves painted bondaweb which is ironed on to a painted or inked background.
I inked my tag with Distress inks in Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade and Victorian Velvet Distress inks then ironed on a piece of bondaweb painted with Lumiere paints. I then ironed on some mica chips and Beadazzles and melted on some Cosmic Shimmer and Blonde Moments embossing powders.
I stamped the Magenta flower several times with Memento black ink and coloured with various purple Promarkers. I then decoupaged the flower, cutting out various sections for a 3D effect.
I stamped the B Line Designs butterfly with the black ink, coloured with turquoise Promarkers and cut it out.
I assembled the tag as you see adding altered leaves from an old floral arrangement and twisted ribbon through the top.

The winners from the last challenge will be announced in a few days and it's going to be difficult as we have loads of gorgeous entries - the theme was obviously popular! I'm hoping this one will be too.

I'm entering my tag in the following challenges:
Craft Your Days Away - Make Your Own Flowers
The Rubber Cafe - No Designer Paper
Crafty Creations - Anything But A Square
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
Incy Wincy - Make Your Own Flowers

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Setting The Scene With Polka Doodles

Good morning everyone, I'm writing this post at 7am in the hope that it pops up at 9.00 when I shall be at the hairdressers which this time I'm not looking forward too as my hairdresser left last week and I have someone new. My hair isn't the easiest to cut so I'm hoping the new one can cope with it!
We have a new challenge for you over at Polka Doodles which has been chosen this week by Lou and she would like to see your creations with the theme of Setting The Scene. This is something I've been doing more of so watch this space for something really different on Monday!
Her's my card for this challenge which is a tent shaped card:

All the elements on the card are from the Magical Winter CD set and I printed out the backing paper on sturdy card and used this to make the tent shape. I used the Santa's workshop cabin at the back of the aperture in the card to set my scene.
I then simply added Santa, Rudolph, some presents and a greeting on the sides of the card and my scene was set - how easy is that! The only tricky bit was making sure that the pleated base section didn't show to spoil the scene.

The DT have made some fabulous examples to inspire you and really varied too so do pop over to the challenge blog for a peek - you will love what they've made.

I'm entering my card in the following challenge:
Scrapbook Sisters - Ho Ho Ho

Have a great weekend.
Fliss xx

Fetch A Sketch Challenge 6 - Guest Designer

Surprise! I'm back again with another post as I'm really excited to be able to tell you that Ruth and Jenny over at the Fetch A Sketch challenge blog asked me to be Guest Designer for September. Thanks for the honour ladies and I can't tell you how much this means to me.
Here's the great sketch:

This fortnight's challenge is being sponsored by Jellypark so do hop over to the challenge blog for all the details. Here's my card using one of the gorgeous digital images available at Jellypark.

I printed out the cute girl and coloured her with Promarkers. I then cut the image out with a circle cutter and left one elbow and a foot peeping out over the edge. I inked the edges with VersaColor Split Pea ink. I then added a red paper mat die cut with a Nestie scalloped circle.
The background paper is Picnic in the Park by Serif and came free with a magazine a while back. I stamped the flower trio by Rhonna Farrer for Autumn Leaves several times across the base of the gingham paper and coloured them with Prisma pencils.
I added a pretty strawberry border and some tiny punched butterflies coloured with Promarkers to finish off.
The challenge lasts for the next 2 weeks so there's plenty of time to enter. Hope to see you there!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Our Creative Corner - Stamping Onto Patterned Paper (I couldn't believe it when I saw this one!)
Clearly Inspired - CIC35 Patterned Paper
Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking.
Fliss xx

Steampunk ATCs

Good morning everyone, another week is here already and I hope you all had a good weekend whatever the weather threw at you - very hit and miss in Sussex with both rain and sunshine.
We have a new theme for you over at Make My Monday and this month it's Cath's turn to choose and the theme is Steampunk. Each week there is a new theme under this heading and this week we would like to see some ATCs - being small this will hopefully start you off gently.
I was both excited and apprehensive when I saw this theme as it's a style I very much admire but I had yet to take the plunge and create something. My craft space is currently covered with cogs, gears and all things machine like, much to my hubby's delight - he's been very enthusiastic about my creations which is a first!
As I couldn't quite decide what to do, I ended up with 3 little pieces of art which I hope you like:

 

Ingredients Used:
Glamorous Lady - Time To Stamp, Buildings - Crafty Individuals, Globe - The Graphics Fairy, Gears - Cuttlebug Clockworks, Ink - Wild Honey, Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap Distress inks, Promarkers

Ingredients Used:
Weather Forecast stamp - Paper Artsy, Flying Boat - The Graphics Fairy, Ink - Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo Distress inks, Martha Stewart border punch

Ingredients Used:
Balloon - Dezinaworld, Airman and Globe - The Graphics Fairy, Cuttlebug Clockworks folder, Ink - Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress inks, Promarkers

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with and do pop over to the challenge blog as the Design Team have a lot of gorgeous inspiration for you.

I'm entering my creations in the Paper Creations Ink Challenge - Vintage or Distressed Look.

Have a good week,
Fliss xx

Autumn Colours

Good morning everyone, Friday is here again so there's a new challenge over at Polka Doodles and this week's theme chosen by Miria is Autumn Leaves and she would like to see your creations inspired by Autumn colours.
I just loved this one as I'm sure you know how much I love the colours of the trees in their Autumn coats so here's what I came up with.

I've used a cute image from the A Double Sprinkle Of Kraft CD, printed her out on off white card and coloured her with Promarkers. I then used Zig Art & Graphic Twin Markers to add some grass blades around the wall.
I cut the image out with an oval cutter and added an olive green mat. The background paper I used is from the Sundae Of Seasons CD as are the acorns which I coloured with Promarkers and cut out. I finished off with a sentiment from the Sensational Sentiments stamp set which was stamped in black. I coloured the stamped card with a Promarker to make it blend in with the rest of the card.

The Design Team have come up with some fabulous creations so don't forget to pop over for some inspiration. Hope to see you there!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
Passion For Promarkers - Anything Goes

Have a lovely weekend,
Fliss xx

Published!!!

Hello everyone and hope you're all having a good week so far. I'm somewhat excited here as I can finally share some very good news with you all.
A little while back I received a mega exciting email from the lovely Nikky Hall of Polka Doodles asking me to take part in making up projects with a gorgeous Christmas kit that she designed for Practical Publishing. The kit consists of papers, stickers, die cuts, a clear stamp set, a gorgeous gingerbread house template and some lovely embellishments. It comes with a magazine jam packed with projects to make with the kit with complete instructions and photos all designed by Nikky, myself and 7 fellow Design Team members.
You will not believe  the number of different things you can make and there are 83 projects in the magazine!!! You can buy it in W H Smith (I saw it in ours today - yippee!!!), Hobby Craft and various other craft outlets.
Here's what to look for:

I'm really pleased to say that my shaped easel card made the front cover and you can see it at the top on the left hand side (many thanks go to Diane Grimshaw for this lovely surprise).
Here are some sneak peeks - more to follow next week!

My article has a homespun theme and all the cards and the gift bag have hessian, raffia and twine etc incorporated on them.

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Ribbon And Lace

Hello everyone, I'm excited to say it's time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone who took part in the last one as there are some stunning creations there which will make the Design Team's task really difficult.
We also have some new Design Team members so pop on over to the challenge blog to be introduced to the lovely ladies who will be wowing you with their creations now.
The new challenge theme is Ribbon And/Or Lace so you can include just one or go for both. I've actually used ribbon and braid on my card as I love texture so much.

As you can see, I decided on glorious Autumn colours for my card as I'm an Autumn girl at heart and always love seeing the trees wearing their gorgeous Autumn coats.
I made 3 layers of background papers for the card but the only one that is fully stamped is the first because I just inked and stamped the edges of the 2 lower layers - there's no point spending time on something that will be covered up!
The first paper uses embossing resist technique. I stamped the flourish (B Line Designs) with crimson ink and embossed the images with pearl plum powder. I then sponged on Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Victorian Velvet and Barn Door Distress inks. I added this to a mat of deep red hammered card, trimmed along one edge with the Martha Stewart scallop dot edge punch.
The next paper was made by sponging Mustard Seed Distress ink round the edges of the card and stamping on a flower spray design (Great Impressions) with Dried Marigold DI.
The base paper uses a B Line Designs detailed flourish stamped with Aged Mahogany DI just around the edges and then Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet and Aged Mahogany was sponged on top. Both this and the golden paper were trimmed with deckle edged scissors.
I stamped the gorgeous Audrey image (B Line Designs and a real favourite of mine) with black ink on white card and a little subtle colour added with Promarkers. I cut this out with a circular Nestie die and added it to a deep red mat cut with a Nestie scalloped die.
I assembled the card as you see with velvet ribbon and braid, adding a layered flower coloured with Promarkers, some punched leaves and pins and a sentiment by Penny Black.

We're all looking forward to seeing this fortnight's entries and don't forget to hop over to the challenge blog for some fabulous inspiration and a peek at this challenge's lovely prizes.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Lily Pad Cards - Any Resist Technique (heat embossing in my case)
Sew Many Cards - Use An Edge Punch
Paper Pretties - Make Your Own Background (I have 3)

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Spots And Dots

Good morning everyone, it's Friday again and the week disappeared really quickly - I can't believe it's almost the weekend!
As it's Friday, we have a new challenge over at Polka Doodles which has been chosen by team mate Miria. She would like to see your creations with Spots & Dots. It's also our stashbox stamps week so my card has quite a few stamps from my stash as I decided on a collage style effect. As you'll see, if you stamp directly on the background paper, you'll get lots of interest without adding too much weight to the card.

I've chosen a very chic paper to go with the lovely image of 2 ladies relaxing with a drink and the scene always seems to have a French flavour so where better to put them than Paris.
The lovely dotty paper is from the Paper Boutique Vol 3 CD and I stamped this with the Eiffel Tower and Paris text by B Line Designs and a dotty stamp by Great Impressions. I used VersaFine Smokey Gray ink which is softer then black and inked the edges with a brown ink pad.
I stamped the ladies (Art Impressions) with the same grey ink and added them to a mat of kraft card. I finished off with pretty border with stripes and dots from the A Double Sprinkle Of Kraft CD.

Don't forget to pop over and look at the Design Team inspiration as our new team members have joined in this week and there are loads of lovely creations on show.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Delightful Challenges - Use Digital Paper
More Than Favors - Travel
My Time To Craft - Here Come The Girls
The Stamping Boutique - Stripes & Dots
The Paper Variety - Travel

Have a lovely weekend,
Fliss xx

Fairy Bunting

Hello again everyone, I'm back with another post today as I've finally finished what has definitely been a labour of love as my creation has been in the making for nearly 2 weeks and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed making it.
It's another piece of wall art and this time it's in the form of bunting. I had to take the photos on the table as I haven't yet decided where it will hang.

All of the stamps I've used are Crafty individuals as I have quite a collection of them and those used are as follows:
Fairies - CI-137 and CI-132
Birds - CI-248
Flowers - CI-206
Butterflies - CI-231
Backgrounds - CI-173, CI-253 and CI-258

The bunting is made with recycled grey board which I painted with bright shades of acrylic paint. I then stamped on the flourish background with toning shades of Palette ink.
I stamped all of the images, flowers and butterflies together with a lovely leaf which was free with an order (thanks to Jean and Malcolm for their generosity) in black on white card and coloured them with Prisma pencils with the exception of the leaves which were sponged with Peeled Paint Distress ink. I then cut everything out.
I stamped the floral and the text backgrounds on more white card and inked with various shades of Distress inks. I then cut them into heart shapes with a template I made.
I assembled everything as you see with foam tape for added dimension having first rounded out various pieces with a large embossing ball tool.
Some very pretty braid finished off the top edges.

I'm entering my creation in the following challenges:
Crafty Individuals August Challenge - Bright and Beautiful
Sir Stampalot August Challenge - Whatever You Fancy
Scrappin' Chics Challenge - Pennants/Banners
The Stamp Man Challenge - Anything Goes with Summer Colours

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Acetate And Things With Wings

It's Monday again folks so we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday. We're continuing with the August theme of Things With Wings and this week the challenge is to include Acetate on your creation.
This is something that doesn't get used nearly enough and for my inspiration, I decided to revisit a technique I learnt years ago involving tissue paper, clear glue and re-inkers with the acetate. I made an easel style card because it was the only way to fit all the elements on!

I cut a square of acetate and stamped the leaf spray and dragonfly from the Inkadinkado Garden Delight stamp set on with black Stazon ink. I turned the acetate over when the ink was dry and squeezed on some small pools of Diamond Glaze and then added drops of Crushed Olive, Broken China, Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade Distress re-inkers to the glue. I spread the coloured glue about roughly with a brush and found the Distress inks really great for this as they blend a lot better than any other re-inkers I've used for this technique.

I then crumpled up some white tissue paper with added blingy bits (Paperchase), settled this on top of the glue and gently brayered the tissue on to the acetate. I did this on a piece of kitchen foil as the glue tends to spread out a bit and if you use paper underneath it can be tricky to remove. I left it to dry completely and then trimmed off the excess tissue paper round the edges. I then glued the panel to a piece of silver mirri card - you can use white card but the mirri card gives the piece a lovely glow.

I attached the panel to the easel front and added a copper peel off line frame. I finished off the card with a scrap of leftover card made using my Distress Ink Grunge Background Technique (tutorial link on side bar) which happily used the same Distress inks and stamp set. I added a butterfly (B Line Designs) stamped on acetate then glittered on the reverse and layered up, some blingy ribbon, skeleton leaves and blingy flowers.

Do pop over to the challenge blog and look at the other DT creations are there are some absolute stunners this time - I think everyone has really excelled themselves for this one!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Crafty Calendar Challenge - August Hot Colours
Dream Valley Challenges - Colour (Lemon, Lime, Orange)
One Stop Craft - Bold & Bright
Scrappy Frogs - Bling

Have a good week,
Fliss xx

Single Layer Card

Morning everyone, hope you've all go the sunny Friday morning we have here. I can't believe it's Friday already - where did the week go!
We have a new challenge for you over at Polka Doodles and this week's theme of a Single Layer has been chosen by Ruth.
I have to own up to having struggled like mad with this as I really love layers on my creations as I'm sure you know so this was a real challenge for me. Here's what I finally came up with:

I decided to make a little scene with my favourite Fairy Flutterby, Gracie and the elements in the set which cleverly, I think, has the wings separate so that Gracie doesn't have to be a fairy,
I stamped Gracie on a scalloped card blank and then masked her and stamped the wings on so that they appear to be behind her. I then stamped on a few flowers at random and the greeting near the top.
I coloured Gracie and the flowers with a mix of Flexmarkers (I just love these) and Prisma pencils. I painted the wings with glitter glue and here serendipity struck as the wings were originally blue and the brush I used still had some Dried Marigold Distress ink on it (that'll teach me to wash my brushes more thoroughly!) and the wings ended up a rather interesting mottled colour which I actually like.
I finished off by adding some grass with Zig Art & Graphic twin markers in 2 shades of green.
I had to take the photo against a coloured background with all the white space on the card - a first for me I think!
Do pop over and look at all the other DT creations as there are some fabulous creations there and it might just inspire you to have a go.

My card is for the following challenges:
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
Lawnscaping Challenge - One Layer

Have a great weekend,
Fliss xx

Fairies and Angels

Good morning everyone from a currently sunny South Coast. It's the start of another week and time for a new challenge over at Make My Monday. We're continuing with Suzanne's August theme of Things With Wings and this week the challenge is to include Fairies or Angels on your creation - this will be popular I think.
Before I show you my creation, I'd like to say hello and thanks to Gayle and Babs for joining my blog. Big thanks also go to Top Tip Tuesday who picked my embossed butterfly card from the Friday before last for their Top 3 - ladies, I'm thrilled to bits! Also, huge thanks go to Jean Hardy of Crafty Individuals as she's included my little triple bird wall hanging on the Crafty Individuals blog as inspiration for the current challenge, Bright and Beautiful - yippee!
My inspiration for you for this week's challenge is a collage style card for which I made my own background paper with a difference which I'm hoping you'll like as much as I liked making it.

The image I've used is a really sweet little fairy stamp by Faerie Poppets which was generously given to me by a crafty friend after I admired it on a card she made - how lovely is that! I stamped her with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink which I like as it's softer than black. I then coloured her using my Aqua Markers (I wanted a soft effect so scribbled on a plate and picked up colour with a wet brush). I then inked around the edges a little.
The background paper started off with Sir Tim's wrinkle free distress technique (if you haven't yet got his Compendium of Curiosities it's a must have!) with Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass Distress inks. I then stamped on the flowers (Stampendous) and coloured these with Promarkers.
I finished the paper off by stamping on a very old Hero Arts manuscript stamp and a large corner flourish design by Viva Decor My Paper World. I added this to my card blank and glued on the image panel. The final finishing touch is a favourite Hero Arts sentiment stamped directly on the background paper.
As you can see, this technique gives the effect of lots of layers and plenty of texture all on one background paper.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Delightful Challenges - Things With Wings
Moving Along With The Times - Fantasy
Paper Play - Make Your Own Designer Paper
Clearly Inspired - Things With Wings
The Crafty Pad - Cute 'n' Girly

Thanks for looking and have a good week,
Fliss xx

Handmade Flowers

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a great weekend. It's time for the second fortnight's challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and this time we'd like to see your creations with Handmade Flowers and of course, some stamping with rubber or clear stamps but no digis please as the challenges are all about getting inky fingers.
We had some incredible entries for the first challenge and it's going to be really hard to choose the top entries with such a high standard. Thanks so much to everyone who entered and made that first challenge such a success.
Now for my inspiration which this time is not a card but a little box that I altered which will make a lovely gift for someone soon.

The little box I used is wooden and perfect for the shabby chic look I wanted. I brushed on a coat of antique white acrylic paint on both the outside and inside first.
Next I stamped on a spray of roses from the Clearly Inspired Stencil Flowers set with Palette Cognac ink. I stamped this everywhere it was possible to stamp and the only place left out was the inside edge of the lid as the block simply would not fit!
For my shabby, distressed look, I then dry brushed everywhere with lilac and blue acrylic paints and wiped some paint off with a baby wipe until I was happy with the result.
I made panels for the inside top and base with squares of parchment paper embossed with the Papermania Vine folder and then sponged on Milled Lavender, Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo Distress inks for a shabby effect.
I made the flowers for the top with a Woodware cut and emboss punch and punched them out from lilac, light blue and light brown scraps of decorated papers. I enhanced the embossing with a ball tool and then sponged the corresponding flowers with the same inks used for the inside panels. I then pierced holes in the centres and added the silk flower stamens. I rounded out the petals with a large ball tool and then brushed them with glitter glues. I glued these on with some Prima leaves.
I finished off with some ribbon and braid around the base.

After all the gorgeous entries last time, I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for this one. Don't forget to check out the creations made by the rest of the DT as there are some stunning creations on view.

I'm entering my box in the following challenges:
Fussy and Fancy - Use 3 or More of Your Favourite Embellishments (Handmade flowers, Prima leaves, ribbon, braid)
Phindy's Place - Vintage Look
Simply Create - Distress
Crafty Catz - Emboss It
CRAFT - Gifts
Do You Stack Up - Emboss It
Allsorts - Anything  But A Card

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

Good Luck Wishes

Good morning everyone and hope you're all keeping safe with the terrible stuff that has been going on in the UK.
Before I go on to this week's challenge over at Polka Doodles, I just want to mention one of our teamies who because of her job, has been right in the thick of all the troubles. She's been really brave trying to keep people safe in the area she works in and I want to say a huge thanks to her and her colleagues who have been working very long shifts with little sleep to help calm the situation. All of this too when her department doesn't usually work in this area of policing.
Our challenge this week has been chosen by Claire as the children in Scotland where she lives are about to return to school so she would like to see a Good Luck themed project.

I've made a very simple card this week that uses elements from the ever versatile Sundae Of Seasons CD. I chose a pale green polka dot paper which I added to a cream scalloped card blank.
I printed out some pretty flowers, cut them out and then added some chunky glitter around the edges. I assembled the card with the flowers, some Prima leaves and one of the clever sentiment panels where you can add your own sentiment. How easy is that!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Sweet Stamps - Bling It Up
Cheerful Stamp Pad - Petals
Gingerloft - Make It Sparkle
Sentimental Sundays - Flowers + A Sentiment

Thanks for looking and wishing you all a safe and quiet weekend.
Fliss xx

Birds Or Bugs With Make My Monday

Good morning everyone and hope you've all had a lovely weekend. As it's Monday again, we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday. We're continuing Suzanne's theme for the month of Things With Wings and this week this challenge is to include Birds Or Bugs on your creation.
I went for birds which I really love as I'm not a fan of bugs so don't have much in the way of those. I've used a little triple hanging frame that I bought at The Craft Barn to alter and here's the result:

I painted all the frames with some antique white acrylic paint and then stamped on a flourish design from Crafty Individuals which was one of the generous bag of freebies that you get when you order stamps online. The flourish was stamped on the front of the frames with Palette Cognac ink and round the sides with Palette Boudoir Blush (fab name!).
I then dry brushed the frame fronts with pale blue and lilac acrylic paints to soften the effect for a shabby chic look. I rubbed a little Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink round the edges.
Next, I stamped 3 of the birds from Crafty Individuals CI-190  with black ink and painted them with Aqua Markers by scribbling on a plate and picking up the colour with a wet brush. I cut the images out and added them to black velvet paper mats and set them in the frames.
I punched out some flowers from beige parchment card with a Woodware multi flower punch together with a few from plain green Bazzill card. I stamped the flourish design on the beige flowers with Milled Lavender, Crushed Olive and Victorian Velvet Distress inks. I rounded them out with a large embossing ball tool and glued some together in a variety of colour combinations.
I finished off with some leaf sprays punched with a Woodware punch, some metal text plates (Darico) and some butterfly buttons (Dress It Up).

I'm entering my altered frames in the following challenges:
Clearly Inspired - Things With Wings
Fabulous Friday - Colour In An Image (my bird panels)
Raise The Bar - Anything Goes
Crafty Purple Frog - Anything But A Card

Hoping you have a good week and thanks for looking,
Fliss xx

CASE It At Polka Doodles

Good morning everyone and happy Friday. Don't know about you but we have sunshine after all that rain yesterday so I'm hoping it will decide to stay nice for the weekend.
Before I go on to this weeks challenge over at Polka Doodles, there are a couple of things.
Firstly, I'd like to say hello and thank you to some new followers - Babs, Daniele, Diane, Nikky and Dot - lovely to see you all.
Secondly, we have 3 new DT members over at Polka Doodles and I'd like to say well done ladies and welcome to the team:

Daniele

Diane

Louise

Now for the challenge which has been set this week by Lou and she's asked us to CASE a member of the Design Team and of course tell us who it is. I decided to CASE a gorgeous card Lou did a few weeks ago as it's full of the lovely texture that I like so much and the soft colours are beautiful. It also features a butterfly which I as you know, I love too.

Here's my card first:

And here is Lou's:

As you can see, I've rearranged mine a little as the butterfly I wanted to use is quite a bit larger. I used 2 Cuttlebug embossing folders to create my background panels. The green leafy one was embossed on green parchment card then sponged with Shabby Shutters Distress ink and then swiped over the raised areas.

The second one is diamonds embossed on more green parchment card and then swiped with a blue ink pad on the raised areas. I stamped the butterfly from the Gracie Fairy Flutterby set with brown ink and then coloured the image with blue and green Promarkers, cut it out and added pearls.

I assembled the card with a brown kraft background panel, a strip of striped paper trimmed with a Martha Stewart border punch and a scalloped dotty border. Both of these are from the A Double Sprinkle Of Kraft CD.

I added a layered flower with punched rose leaves (Papermania) and a greeting from the Sensational Sentiments stamp set cut out with a Nestabilities die on a scalloped mat.

Tip - If like me you're slightly shocked by the price of kraft card, you might like to know that the brown kraft card on my creation is actually from a set of natural brown file dividers that I found in my local stationers for an incredible £1.49!  All you have to do is trim off the alphabet panel and the side with the holes in comes in really handy for a little ribbon or raffia threading  for decoration. Sneak peak of one of my Christmas cards here to illustrate this:

A little edit from me here as a couple of peops have mentioned recycling which I obviously do as much as I can, but the reason that I bought the file dividers was that all the thinner packaging such as cereal boxes that I get has a grey reverse which I do paint and ink to make backgrounds. All those that are brown are generally much thicker and not what I always want to put on a card.
I'll get off my soapbox now!

I'm entering my butterfly card in the following challenges:

Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes in August

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

I Love Promarkers - Things With Wings

Cards and More - Dots and Pearls

Top Tip Tuesday - Blue, Green and Brown

Thanks for looking and hoping you have a lovely weekend,

Fliss xx

Butterflies and Dragonflies

Good morning everyone, I can't believe it's August already - where did the year go! As it's the start of a new month, there's a new theme over at Make My Monday and it's been chosen by Suzanne. The August theme is Things With Wings and this week we would like to see your creations with Butterflies and Dragonflies.
I was so pleased to see this as I love butterflies and as I'm sure you know already, they quite often pop up in my creations. My project this time is a collage which started life as a piece of recycled packaging.

I painted the edges of the packaging with a couple of shades of blue acrylic paint and then added some vintage music score which I coloured by adding a Tim Holtz large flourish mask and then sponged with Dried Marmalade Distress ink.
I next added a couple of torn pieces of pages from my vintage butterfly illustrations book sponged with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink.
I then made the remaining elements using a gorgeous set of butterfly stamps by Non Sequitur which I won from The Stamp Man back in January. I used the clever text stamp on parchment card, stamped with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and added a few tiny butterflies and dragonflies. I sponged this with Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass DIs and then added a little colour to the butterflies with a blue marker. I tore the edges and then added somewhat wonky white stitching with my sewing machine - practice needed I think as I haven't sewed paper before!
I stamped the butterflies on parchment card and acetate and then coloured them all with Promarkers (on the back of the acetate images or the ink would come off!). I cut these out and layered them up with Diamond Glaze clear glue.
Finally, I stamped the postage stamps from the set, colured them with Promarkers and Distress inks and cut them out with postage edge scissors. I added these to the collage and then stamped on a faux post mark from the stamp set to finish.

I'm entering my collage in the following challenges:
The Stamp Man - Stitching
Crafts4Eternity - Anything But A Card
Fashionista Friday - Summer (the butterflies I see in my garden at the moment)

Thanks for looking,
Fliss xx