Studio 12

Hello all, hoping you're having a good start to the weekend. Mine has unfortunately been spent catching up on my washing and although it's still very windy we at least had sunshine which meant good drying weather and I managed to get 4 loads washed and dried.
I also caught Nikky and Rosemary on Create & Craft and 80% of the stock sold out in the first 15 minutes and the whole lot went by the end of the show so I think Nikky must have had to go for Plan B for the 4pm show!
I just popped on here to show you my samples which I've been itching to show you as I think you'll realise why the collection sold out (not from my actual makes but what's on them lol)
So here we go and it's rather photo heavy so you might want a cuppa!

All of the above photos are my creation from the fabulous All Sewn Up collection and I'm sure you can see why I love this one as all the vintage elements are just stunning.

The two above were created with the Welcome Home collection which has loads of elements concerning baking and as you can see, some of the papers have the most amazing texture that make you want to reach out and touch (bet you didn't know I'm a secret paper stroker lol)

This last one is made with elements from the Heavenly Garden collection and I went for a really shabby chic effect with this one and will share the cheats torn paper effect very soon as it's much easier than you might think.

So there you have it and there will be a lot more creations using this CD as I've got loads of ideas and just need the time to make them. The shabby chic effect of all the elements of the full collection is just gorgeous with a lovely mix of hand drawn, vintage and photo. The papers are 8x8 so can be used for scrapbooking, either digital, hand or hybrid. All the embellishments are in png form and there are brushes and cutting files.
If you're tempted, you can find the CD here along with all the information and details.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll be round really soon now that panicking is over!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Flowers Galore

Good morning folks, the weekend is nearly here and hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. I'm hoping this scheduled post pops up as I'm at the hairdressers having my hilights done (it has to be early or I can't park!).
Firstly I must tell you that Nikky will be on Create & Craft tomorrow at 12 noon and 4pm with the lovely Rosemary Merry and the brand new collection that we've all been working on and I know you're going to love it as much as we do.

Now for details of this week's challenge over at Polka Doodles with the theme chosen by me - Lots Of Flowers. This could be backing papers, stamped floral images, handmade or paper flowers and so on - I'm sure you get the gist!

As I was short on time this week (I'm sure you can guess why!), I used a coloured image from the Sugarplum Daisy CD which I matted on pink.
I then made a tall card blank and turned it round to horizontal rather than vertical and covered this with pretty paper from the CD. I added a floral border across the centre and then glued on the image panel as shown in the photo.
I made a layered flower using a Marianne Design die set from scraps of pink paper fixed together with a pearl brad. I added a green leafy flourish die cut using another Marianne die and finished off with a circular sentiment and a butterfly.

Challenges for my card:
Little Miss Muffet Challenges - Rainbows, Clouds or Wings
Fashionista Challenge - Simply Summer

Thanks for looking and hope you all have a great weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Pearls

Good morning folks on a rather chilly Monday. Hoping you managed to see part of the Royal pageant yesterday and I was certainly glad to see it on the TV as the weather in London looked atrocious. My younger daughter and her friends went to watch and managed to stand under a bridge so at least kept dry for a while.
Also, apologies here for being a bad commenter lately which is because I'm doing a top secret project which you can find out about later on in the week and it's taking up quite a lot of time so I'll be round as soon as I can - I just love what I'm working with and can't wait to show you!
We have a new month of challenges for you over at Make My Monday and the theme's have been chosen by Jacqueline and are all the things associated with the month of June.
This week, she would like to see a Birthday Card With Pearls and this is what I made - simpler than I would normally do but I wanted the gorgeous stamp to really stand out.

The stamp is by The Artful Stamper and I bought this on Saturday at a coffee morning my friend Gina held on behalf of The Alzheimer's Society (as you may know my dear Mum had this as did Gina's husband) and this stamp definitely had my name on it!
I stamped the image twice with VersaFine Imperial Purple ink and then inked one with Shabby Shutters Distress ink. I coloured just the butterfly on the second image with Promarkers and cut it out.
I die cut the image with a Papermania die and stamped the Hobby Art sentiment on with the purple ink. I then added the butterfly with foam tape.
I added a simple background of green parchment card embossed with a Papermania embossing folder and finished off with green pearls in the flower centres and dotted about the edges of the design to echo the dots in it.

Challenges for my card:
Hotshot Craft - Die Cuts
Crop Stop Challenge - Pretty Pearls
Dutch Dare Card Challenges - Pearls & Swirls

Hoping that you have a lovely day whatever the weather (very chilly here - 9 degrees in June!)
Fliss xx

Mystical and Very Magical

Good morning folks, don't know about you but we had tons of rain last night being torrential at times and my hubby said we had 10mm which is more than we usually get in over a week! Just as well I'm crafting today as I think staying in is the only option.
We have a new challenge for you today over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and the theme for this fortnight is Mystical and Very Magical.
This gave me the chance to use the sweet little fairy stamp given to me a while back by a friend after I admired it and she insisted I have it as she didn't use it enough - thanks Gina as I love it!
As you'll see my card is very girly this time:

I stamped the little fairy on thick cartridge paper with Archival Coffee ink and then coloured her with various Aquamarkers - I can't get enough of these at the moment as you've probably noticed! I then added glamour dust to her wings for some sparkle and you may need to click on the main pic to see this as it doesn't show up very well. I then die cut the image into a circle and inked the edges with olive ink.
I made a mat for the circle by cutting out a larger circle of white card, inking the edge with Crushed Olive Distress ink and then gluing on some pressed daisies which have been in my stash for rather a long time!
I made a background paper by inking a small rose stamp from a Clearly Inspired set called Stencil Flowers that I've had for around 4 years with pink and green inks and stamping all over cream card. I then added a little Tattered Rose Distress ink and sprayed with Emperor Gold and Vintage Pink Glimmer Mists. I tore the edges into a square to fit my card.
I rounded the corners of the card blank then inked all around the edges with Victorian Velvet Distress ink in a wide border.
I then glued lace all around the edges of my background paper and added the elements to the card as you see, finishing off with a Hobby Art butterfly stamped with the coffee ink, coloured with Aquamarkers and cut out.

The Fashionettes have made a widely varying array of inspiration for you to feast your eyes on and as always our lovely sponsor Marina of Cottage Crafts has a great prize for the winner so hope to see you there!

Challenges for my card:
Crazy 4 Challenges - Add Some Butterflies To Your Creation
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter - Vintage/Shabby Chic
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash - May Flowers
Top Tip Tuesday - Dig Out The Old And Name It (the daisies, the fairy stamp, the rose stamp)
Crafty Cardmakers - Distress It
Ooh La La Creations - Make It Girly

Have a great Sunday.
Fliss xx

Pretty In Pink (And Green)

Good morning everyone and hope you've all had a lovely weekend to set you up for the week. Thanks for all the commiserations with my hay fever which has sadly come back today so I'm sneezing again!
Being Monday we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and today sees the last of Suzi's Floral Theme for the month and this week we would like to see your floral creations with Pink, Green and White.

My card is another of my gate fold surprises which I really like doing for that added extra special touch.
The base card is a Papermania 5x7 gate fold card blank and I cut 2 panels of white card to fit the front sections, embossed them with a Papermania floral folder then inked with Shabby Shutters Distress ink and swiped with Tattered Rose.
I stamped the chrysanthemums  by Circa Design with Archival Olive ink on white card, coloured by sponging with the same Distress inks and then die cut with an oval die. I inked the edges with the pink ink and attached the panel to the left side of the card.
I then cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the inside of the card, stamped the flowers again on the right side and sponged with slightly lighter colour. I then stamped on the Hobby Art sentiment at the top left side to finish.

The Design Team have come up with an amazingly different array of cards in the colours for your inspiration so do hop over for a look.

Challenges for my card:
Sentimental Sundays - Pocket Full Of Posies (slightly appropriate here with the atishoo bit lol)
Cute Card Thursday - Pink & Green

Have a great day.
Fliss xx

Little Bird

Hello folks, hope you've all had a lovely weekend in the sunshine. My only problem was really bad hay fever yesterday as we had wind blowing off the South Downs and the pollen count must have been exceedingly high as I was sneezing all day.
I have a card to share with you today that I actually made a couple of months ago but accidentally left it with a crafting friend and have only just retrieved it! It's another recess window card using the tutorial kindly shared by Jacqueline, our head deeziner over at Make My Monday and you can find it HERE if you'd like to know how to make it.

I made the card shape following the tutorial and then inked all over the front with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I stamped my favourite Viva Decor flourish on with Crushed Olive Distress ink. I then inked around the recess edges with the olive ink.
I stamped the cute Stampendous little bird with Archival Coffee ink and added colour with Distress inks and Promarkers.
I then made my floral decoration by die cutting varying flower shapes with a Marianne flower die set and inked these with various pink inks. I scrunched them and layered them up then added Polka Doodles pink Dewdrops to the centre. I punched some leaves with a Papermania punch and emboss rose leaf punch then inked these with Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint.

Challenges for my card:
Oldie But A Goodie - Things With Wings (the oldie but goodie being my Viva Decor flourish set which I've had for almost 2 years)
 Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT - Something With Wings
Deep Ocean Challenge - Swirls
Crazy Amigo Challenge - Birds
Divas By Design - Flourishes
Do You Stack Up - Birds
Alphabet Challenge - H for Handmade Flowers
Card Makin' Mamas - Feeling Punchy!
Crafty Calendar - Things With Wings

I'd also like to say hello and welcome to Lindsay who has kindly become a new follower - it's lovely to see you here and look forward to getting to know you.
Have a good week everyone and bye for now.
Fliss xx

Just Doodling!

Morning folks, Friday is here again and so it's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles (please don't forget our extra special birthday challenge of earlier in the week either as the first prize is an amazing 10 CDs!!!).
This week's challenge has been chosen by Claire who loves doodling and in fact doodles her own digital stamps so she would like to see a Birthday creation with a Doodled Edge or Border. I'm sure you realise that I was thrilled to bits when I saw this having doodled my own blog background and also some stamp designs so here's the card I made.

I used images from the Sugarplum Daisy CD picking the pre-coloured ones as I've been a bit short on time this week. I cut out the cute fairy and ladybird and a panel with the toadstools which I really love.
I used papers from the Sugarplum Daisy CD and also from Pretty Sweet as I wanted a mix of spots and stripes in strong as well as pastel shades. I covered my 8x8 kraft card blank with the deep pink dotty paper then added a border of the yellow trimmed with a Papermania border die. I then punched the leafy border with a Martha Stewart double edge punch from a scrap of the remaining pink paper and added this.
I then cut 3 panels of stripe and dot papers and doodled a twining leafy border round the edges with a fine black pen, taking inspiration from the punched border.
I finished off with the image panel and cut out images together with a sentiment added to a paper flower.

Challenges for my card:
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Any Sentiment
Southern Girls - Dying To Die Cut Or Punch
Ruby's Rainbow - Things With Wings

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

London Town

Hello everyone, hoping you all have the amazing sunshine and warmth we've had since yesterday and I'm hoping it stays too as Winter seems to have gone on forever this time and it's great not to be wrapped up in layers of woollies.
Just a quick post here to share a card from the workshop I taught on Monday which fits a couple of challenges as it uses my new Penny Black London stamp.

I stamped the scene on off white paper in black and added colour with red and blue pencils. I cut the panel out and added blue pencil to all the edges. I stamped on the tiny swallow from a free Papermania set with blue ink and added a touch of blue pencil.
I then stamped on the card blank with my favourite Hampton Art distressed stripes stamp with red and black ink on 2 corners and added some further stripes with the blue pencil.
I finished off with a sentiment from the free set, stamped with blue and colour added with a pencil then added a crown from a Viva Decor set stamped in red, cut out and a touch of blue added. Simples!

Challenges for my card:
Papertake Weekly - True Colours
Desmet Designs Challenge Blog - Let's Celebrate In Red, White & Blue 

Hope the rest of the week is great for you and thanks for looking. Also a quick hello to Donna M my new follower and it's lovely to have you on board so to speak!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Coming Up Roses

Good morning folks, I'm back again with some extra special news of a special challenge over at Polka Doodles which starts today because it's the challenge blog's 3rd birthday - Happy Birthday Polka Doodles!
I also want to say thank you to Nikky here as I've now been part of the Design Team for over 2 years and it's been a real pleasure working with Nikky's fab designs and seeing how much the business has grown in that time too. Thanks also to my lovely doodle team-mates as it's an inspiration working with you all.
Gushing over now and on to details of the special challenge which has the most fabulous prizes that you just won't believe! As Polka Doodles is now 3, we'd like to see your birthday cards with 3 of something on them. You'll see that my card has 3 roses, 3 punched corners and 3 stamped flourishes.

The gorgeous roses are from the Sugarplum Daisy CD and I printed them out on watercolour paper then coloured them with Aquamarkers and cut them out.
The papers are also from Sugarplum Daisy and I covered my card blank with green dotty paper having first stamped and embossed with white powder my favourite flourish which is from the Daisy Doodles stamp set on 3 of the corners.
I made a pretty mat for the roses by embossing off white card with the Cuttlebug roses folder and then punched 3 of the corners with a Woodware rose corner punch. I added the roses with foam tape arranged in a bunch and glued on a bow.
I assembled the card with torn panels of various papers and doilies die cut with a Marianne circle die set. I finished off with a sentiment circle from the CD, adding a touch of colour with a pink Aquamarker.

All the details of the challenge and those amazing prizes are over on the Polka Doodles blog and you don't want to miss this one believe me! The first prize for one lucky person is just jaw dropping!!!
Hoping to see you there.


A challenge for my card - Hooked On Crafts Challenge - Flowers
Thanks for looking.
 Hugs, Fliss xx

A Walk On The Wild Side

Morning folks and hope you all had a lovely weekend. It's Monday again and we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday. Carrying on with the monthly theme of Floral, this week the challenge is to make a creation featuring Wild Flowers Or Grasses which is the reason for my title (I can also blame Countryfile as their photographic competition this year has this title lol)
Most of the Design Team decided to go the scenic route, but you'll see that I didn't! Mine is a little more vintage style which I know you know that I love (eek! what a mouthful!)

My trusty Paper Artsy Hotpick HP1005 came out for this as I really love those wild flowers which I stamped with Versamark and embossed with Wow Vanilla White powder on kraft card. I then stamped the scallop stitching from a Habico set around the edges with Archival coffee ink and trimmed the panel a little.
I made the background paper by sponging a square of beige parchment card (Southfield Stationers) with Tattered Rose Distress ink and then rubbing the ink pad over the top for a mottled look. I stamped on the flourish from the Paper Artsy set with Pumice Stone Distress ink, trimmed the edges with pinking shears and added brown faux stitching round the edges.
I stamped the letter (Crafty Individuals CI-214) with the coffee ink, trimmed the edges and inked with Old Paper and Tattered Rose.
I die cut some flourishes with a Sissix die from the parchment card then inked them with Brushed Corduroy and Pumice Stone.
I assembled the card as you see, adding a mat for the floral panel die cut with a Papermania die, some ribbon trimmed with the pinking shears and a sentiment by Polka Doodles.

We had some absolutely gorgeous entries for last week's flowers and music challenge so the top 3 will be a very difficult decision and hope to see you entering this one too.

Challenges for my card:
Delightful Challenges - Add Ribbon
Sassy Studio Designs - Use 3 Of Something (ribbons, stamped flowers)
The Paper Shelter - Birthday Card With A Sentiment

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Windmills Of Your Mind

Hello all, if you're wondering about my title, it came about because I saw a quilt at last week's Stitches craft show at The Brighton Centre which had a circular type of design and quoted words from the song which immediately started playing in my head. This in turn inspired my creation for the new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges with the theme of Steampunk which I chose because I really love that sort of thing at the moment (I'm sure you can guess this too!).
Here's what I created:

My circles are all made of grey board packing and were cut by hand in the case of the largest one and with a circle cutter for the smaller circles. I embossed the smaller ones with the Cuttlebug clockworks folder and then inked with Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany and Rusty Hinge Distress inks. I added clear embossing to the larger of the 2.
I covered the large circle with paper inked with Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge and stamped with a variety of cogs and wheels from the Oxford Impressions 2 steampunk elements sets using sepia ink.
I then stamped the balloons, building, hat and text from the stamp sets with sepia ink, together with the Gibson lady and coloured, cut them out and clear embossed various elements.
I finished off with some Maya Road chipboard cogs embossed with Ranger Antiquities Tarnished Gold.

Apologies here to any of the Design Team who struggled with the theme but I have to say you would never guess from the amazing creations they've all come up with. Do hop over to the challenge blog and look as they're sure to inspire you. Hoping to see you enter too.

Challenges for my creation:
So Artful Challenge - Steampunk
Pixie Dust Studio - Steampunk
Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Let's Get Inky (you should see my fingers!!!)
Crafting When We Can - Steampunk

Hope you're enjoying the weekend and have a lovely Sunday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

A Song In My Heart

Good morning folks, we've had a glorious sunny weekend at last and yesterday was actually warm enough to have coffee in the garden whilst our 2 little grey bunnies were running about - more of this weather please!
It's Monday again so we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday, this weeks theme being Flowers and Music. Lots of scope here as you could have music score or notes, musical instruments and so on. I couldn't resist my title although it actually refers to another project I'm working on which will be on here next weekend! It sort of applies here though.
Here's today's card:

The background here is a piece of vintage music score with torn edges. I inked it with Shabby Shutters Distress ink for a soft look and added a little Vintage Photo round the edges.
I then stamped the poppies on thick cartridge paper with Archival Coffee ink - the stamps are Fleur de Pavot by Inkylicious and come with flower heads, leaves and stalks to build up your own scene. I coloured the poppies to resemble the Californian variety with Aquamarkers then cut the panel out with a Nestabilities die and inked the edges.
I then embossed a piece of white card with my new Crafts Too Vintage Flowers folder and inked this with a mix of Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold and Crushed Olive Distress inks. I stamped the text from the stamp set and the tag from a Viva Decor set with the coffee ink on the cartridge paper and inked with Distress inks. I cut the text out with a Papermania label die.
To finish, I added a metal charm to the tag and then die cut and inked a butterfly from my new set of 3 by Cheery Lynn dies - they're amazing value and have a huge amount of detail though you may need to click on the pic to see this.

The Design Team have some wonderful creations to inspire so hope to see you there!

Challenges for my card:
ATCs & Cards With Attitude - Anything Goes/Butterflies & Blooms
Do You Stack Up - Use A Flower
 Fat Pages & Cards With Attitude - Anything Goes/Butterflies & Blooms

Have a great week,
Hugs, Fliss xx

Little Girl Blue

Good morning everyone! I'm writing this post bright and early as I'm off to a craft show today taking a well earned day off and really looking forward to it as it's ages since I last went to a show.
Also as it's Friday, we have a new challenge for you over at Polka Doodles with the theme of Monochromatic Shades and my inspiration is a creation in shades of blue as I wanted to use a colour which doesn't get an airing very often.

I chose this sweet image from the Pretty Sweet CD and printed her out on thick cartridge paper. I coloured her with Aquamarkers and then printed out just the head portion again, colouring the hair and adding a little detail with a Prisma pencil before cutting out just the hair and adding with foam tape for a 3D effect. I cut the image out with a Nestabilities die and inked the edges.
I covered my scallop edged card blank with stripy paper from the Pretty Tuff CD and added a mat of dotty paper from the same CD for the image panel. I edged this with some navy card trimmed with a Martha Stewart border punch.
I then did a little editing with the flowers from the Sugar Birdies Collectors Edition CD, making the plain blue one smaller to add at the top of the swing and then made a chain of the dotty blue flowers for the central border.
I finished off with a butterfly and a sentiment die cut with the same die set and inked a little.

The Design Team have a wonderful array of projects for you to feast your eyes on so don't forget to hop over for a look.

Challenges for my card:
Crafts & Me - Die Cuts & Punches
The Paper Shelter - Anything Goes
Stampavie & More - Monochrome

Have a great day,
Fliss xx

Daisy Daisy

Good morning folks, hope you're enjoying the long weekend and welcome to our new month of challenges at Make My Monday which have been chosen by Suzi B with the theme of Floral and this week we would like to see your creations with White Flowers as a feature.
I chose daisies as we have these in the garden at the moment peeping up in the lawn and I love seeing them there as they brighten it up so much.

I decided to make a bright background as we definitely need something cheery with the horrible cold weather we have at the moment - my winter woollies are back on!
I made my background paper by applying yellow shades of VersaColor cube inks direct to paper on white linen card and then stamped on the lovely daisy by B Line Designs with VersaFine Spanish Moss ink, stamping once on scrap paper first for a muted effect. I then added more yellow ink around the edges and added the paper to a kraft card blank.
I stamped the daisies on white card and embossed them with gold powder then cut them out. I made a border of kraft card trimmed with a Martha Stewart deep edge punch and added this with some crochet lace.
I die cut a circle of kraft card and embossed this with the Cuttlebug polka dots folder and added to the card with a doily and woodcut butterfly. I finished off with an Anitas sentiment die cut to a circle.

The Design Team have made some fabulous inspiration for you so do hop on over for a peep.

Challenges for my card:
Amusing Challenges - Fussy Cut
Hybrid Chick Card Caravan - Nature
Joanna Sheen Challenge - Flower Power
Do You Stack Up - Circles
Little Miss Muffet Challenge - May Flowers
Pixie Dust Studio - Flowers

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

London Calling

Good morning folks, hoping you're all having a good weekend despite the weather which does at least leave some time for crafting.
It's now time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and this fortnight the theme is Cities of the World. In my case with this being the Queen's Jubilee year and the UK hosting the Olympics I felt I had to be patriotic so London was definitely calling (and The Clash are singing in my head so guess who's showing her age lol).

I'm hoping that you think my card has a 3D look which is my intention although if you could touch it you would find that it's completely flat (very handy with the new extortionate postal rates I think!)

As you know, I love to make my own backgrounds and yesterday morning woke up with inspiration on how to make mine. All I did was to print out 2 union jacks I got from the internet, having first adjusted the size to fit my card. I then cut the red sections out of one and the blue from the other with a craft knife. I stuck these, one at a time over a piece of white card attaching the corners with masking tape and sponged Distress inks in the cut out sections - Victorian Velvet and Barn Door in the red and Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky in the blue. I stamped a tiny flourish using the Victorian Velvet and Stormy Sky.
I then stamped the images on tissue paper with Memento black ink, the details are below:
Big Ben - Papermania
Buildings - Crafty Individuals
Tower Bridge and Crown - Artemio
Lion - Viva Decor (Flourish from the same set)
Man - Oxford Impressions
Letters - Technique Tuesday
I added colour to the images with various Distress inks and then cut them out and adhered them with a glue stick. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo to finish.

The Design Team have some stunning inspirational creations on the catwalk this time and as always our lovely sponsor Marina of Cottage Crafts has a fabulous prize for our winner. So what are you waiting for, hop on over for all the details and don't forget we are a stamping challenge so no digis please!

Challenges for my card:
Crafty Cardmakers - For The Boys
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Best of British
Ooh La La - Make It Manly
Totally Stampalicious - Masculine
Penny Black and More - London Celebrates

Have a great Sunday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Tiptoe Among The Flowers

Hello folks on another rather cold and wet day and it feels like March rather than May here so hope the sun reappears soon.
Just a quick post here to share one of my card samples from the last workshop I taught where we made gatefold cards with a surprise inside. This one has my newest La Blanche stamp which is a cute little mouse looking like he's tiptoeing through the clover.

This is a very simple design using my favourite green and pink colour combination which I love as it always makes me think of Spring even on a miserable day like today lol.

The panels on the front are simply embossing with a Papermania Triboss folder, inked with Shabby Shutters Distress ink and then swiped with Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint on the raised areas. It ended up quite grungy in places where the raised areas were not as pronounced.
I then stamped the mouse design on white card with Archival coffee ink (my fave brown), coloured it with pencils and Promarkers then die cut it into an oval and sponged Shabby Shutters round the edges. The panel was then attached to the left front side.
For the surprise inside, I cut a square of white card slightly smaller than the back panel and then masked off the mouse part of the image with masking tape, inked up the stamp and removed the tape to stamp just the clover on the right side of the card near the base. I then inked again and stamped the whole image next to the flowers. I inked up the stamped portion by sponging with Shabby Shutters and Crushed Olive then added colour to the images with pencils and Promarkers as before.
To finish off, I stamped the Penny Black sentiment above the image.

Challenges for my card:
Crafts & Me - Favourite Colour Combo
My Mum's Craft Shop - Embossing
The Craft Room Challenge - Emboss It
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Hoping you enjoy the rest of your day whatever the weather.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Time Flies

Good morning folks, we have a sunny morning at last although still very windy and boy did we have some nasty weather over the weekend - really wild and wet!
Over at Make My Monday today, we have the last of April's theme of Men and Boys chosen by Caz and this week we would like to see your creations with a Time theme.

I got really inky fingers making this and had to visit my parents in law yesterday afternoon with them still rather blue as the ink takes a while to come off!
I made the background by inking a square of card with Tumbled Glass Distress ink then applied the Tim Holtz clock mask and sponged on a mix of Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo. I stamped some text (Viva Decor) with the Vintage Photo around the edges and then added this to my card blank.
I inked a further scrap of card with the same Distress inks then stamped on the bird design (Papermania Urban collection) with black ink. I used the Tim Holtz clock die to cut a clock from white card, inked this up with Vintage Photo and Chipped Sapphire DIs and then embossed with clear powder whilst the ink was still wet. I used it as a template to add some ink around the bird design which I cut out roughly to the shape of the die. I then glued on the clock and realised that I got the positioning wrong but I actually like the rather grungy effect it gives!
I finished off with a stamped, inked and cut out bird from the same stamp set and text printed with a Dymo.

Don't forget we have a lovely prize from Marianne Design for the lucky April winner and that you have to be in it to win it! All details are on the challenge blog.

Challenges for my card:
Corrosive Challenges - The Man, The Myth, The Legend - Tim Holtz!
That Craft Place - One For The Boys
Challenge Up Your Life - Resist Techniques (Masking in my case on the background)
Alphabet Challenge - F For Feathered Friends
Simply Create Too - Time

Hoping you have a great week and see you again soon!
Fliss xx

Time For Tea Collage

Hello folks, hoping you've all had a good week and I'm sure like me that you're all looking forward to the weekend. I need mine as I've had a very busy week and can't wait for a rest.
Being Friday, we have a new challenge for you over at Polka Doodles and this week Daniele has chosen a theme very dear to my heart - Shabby Chic/Vintage and I've taken the opportunity to make something really different from my collection of Polka Doodles CDs and created a mixed media canvas.

For my canvas I tried out something I haven't done before which was to print out all the papers and elements for the collage on to canvas (I used a canvas block from The Works - very cheap but believe me when I say it works really well!).
The items used are as follows:
The gorgeous teacup and the 2 cup text - Sugarplum Daisy CD
Time for tea text - A Double Sprinkle of Kraft CD
Blue stripe design - Pretty Sweet CD
Yellow Dot Design - Magical Winter CD
Pink Large Dot Design - Magical Winter CD
Pink Polka Dot Design - Pretty Sweet CD
Deeper Pink Polka Dot Design - Pretty Sweet CD

I worked out the shapes for my crazy quilt style pieces on paper first and then ripped the shapes from the printed canvas. I added wonky stitching (I'm really out of practice!) in dark brown to some of the pieces.
I painted my 30cm square canvas with cream acrylic paint and inked some of the edges with umber ink. I then added some pieces of rectangular tray doily which I distressed with the brown ink pad to the canvas base.
I cut out the teacup and inked it with the brown again and then cut some flower from muslin using a Marianne flower die and layered these up with circles roughly trimmed with pinking shears and tiny buttons in the centre.
I assembled the canvas as you see, adding more pieces of doily and buttons together with the fabulous 2 cup text (I have to say here that in my case EVERY day is a 2 cup day!!!) and the time for tea panels.
It really isn't that hard to make and the only tip I can give here is that the paper designs print out paler on the canvas so if you give it a try do bear that in mind as if you want a fairly strong colour, you'll need to choose a darker shade of paper.

Challenges for my canvas:
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Tandastamps Challenge - Beverage
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything But A Card
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - Time For The Queen's Tea - Any 2
Paper Crafting Journey - Vintage
4 Crafty Chicks - No Stamping

Hoping that you all have a lovely weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

A Clockwork Bird!

Morning folks and hope you all had a lovely weekend. It's Monday yet again so we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday, continuing with our theme for the month of Man and Boy, this week we would like to see your masculine creations with an Animal or Bird featured. You really should look at the DT inspiration too as we have some very varied creations to share this week.
My own card is a bit quirky as I decided to give my Oxford Impressions steampunk stamps another inking - I'm sure you can tell how much I love these - and made this.

Can you see what I mean about quirky?!
It's quite a simple card with the background embossed with the Cuttlebug gears and cogs folder the inked with Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Black Soot Distress inks. I added this to a mat of black card to leave a narrow border.
I stamped the bird with black ink and embossed with clear powder then stamped the winding key with bronze ink and embossed with Antiquities Tarnished Gold. I cut them both out and addded to the card with foam tape.
I then embossed 2 Maya Road chipboard cogs in the same way as the bird and key and added these with silicone glue. I finished off with a Dymo tape greeting and stamped steampunk text cut out and swiped with ink to blend in.

Challenges for my card:
The Paper Shelter Challenge - Wings and Things
Anything Goes Challenge - Time or Steampunk
Cards For Men - Texture

Have a great week,
Fliss xx

A Little Shabby Chic

Hell folks, hope you're all having a lovely weekend despite the rather iffy weather - April showers in the UK that is!
The last fortnight has just flown by and it's time for a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges which you're going to love as much as I did I'm sure. The theme this time is Heat Or Dry Embossing and I've actually used both on my wall hanging made from a piece of recycled greyboard.

I've used the acrylic paint resist technique (tutorial link on my side bar) on the piece of greyboard to make a background. The under layer is dusky rose acrylic with a little periwinkle blue sponged randomly on.
I then stamped the flourish design (B Line Designs curley floral) with Versamark ink and embossed with clear powder. I painted over the whole thing with cream acrylic paint and when dry wiped the paint off the embossed areas with a baby wipe. I obtained the shabby chic look by wiping off more cream paint until the underneath layer showed through and am very pleased with the result.
I next made the fan embellishment by creating a paper using my Millefiori Stamping Technique (link on side bar) using pink and blue inks and Rubber Stamp Tapestry flowers. I stamped the fan (Stampington) on the paper with Archival Coffee ink and cut it out.
The tag is from the Artistic Outpost Whimsical Melange set and I stamped this with the coffee ink and stamped the girl image (Prima) on the tag as it's happily just the right size. I coloured this with a mix of Distress inks, pencils and Promarkers and cut it out.
I next made the bunting (image from the AO set) repeat stamping the larger bunting element with the coffee ink and adding the text from a Hero Arts alphabet. I cut them out, punched holes with a paper piercer and threaded them onto brown linen thread with a button at each end.
I used the Cuttlebug Victoria folder to make a central border and swiped the raised areas with Spun Sugar Distress ink. I made a lacy central strip with the Martha Stewart double edge punch using parchment card (Southfield Stationers) coloured with Stormy Sky Distress ink.
I finished off with a doily aged with Antique Linen Distress Stain, a feather recycled from packaging on a present my daughter brought back from South Africa, a metal butterfly charm and a flower made with a flower loom using recycled yarn and a button. I pierced holes at the top and added bakers twine as a hanger.
Sorry about the long explanation but I did quite a lot here!

The Fashionettes have some stunning inspiration lined up on the catwalk for your delight and our sponsor is once again the lovely Marina of Cottage Crafts.

Challenges for my wall hanging:
The Stamp Man - Shabby Chic/Distressed
Charisma Cardz - Shabby Chic
Crafts & Me - Vintage
Divas By Design - Anything But A Card
Sisterhood Of Crafters - Recycle, Re-use, Renew (Greyboard, feather from packaging)

Have a great Sunday.
Fliss xx

Paris Exposition

Hello everyone on another rather windy day. Hoping those of you in the USA affected by the tornadoes are all OK and managing to cope.
I have a card to share today that I made for the last workshop I taught and haven't yet had a chance to show you. I succumbed a little while ago to some more Artistic Outpost stamps as I find them so versatile and here's what I made with the Paris Exposition set.

I made a background panel by inking with Scattered Straw, Wild honey and Vintage photo Distress inks then stamped on some of the images from the set together with a splatter stamp using Archival coffee ink.
I stamped the men collage and the lady separately on white card, added colour with Distress inks and Promarkers plus a small amount of splatter on the collage image then cut these out and added them with foam tape.

Challenges for my card:
Art With No Boundaries - Anything Goes
The Craft Room Challenge - Ink It (having almost permanently inky fingers how could I resist!)

Bye for now,
Fliss xx

Gone Fishing!

Good morning folks from a sunny but very chilly Sussex. Hoping you all had a lovely weekend. We came back from our break and were very lucky with the weather away as although there was rain, it mostly did it whilst we were under cover. There will be a few pics to share soon when I've sorted them out.
Being Monday, we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and continuing with the April theme of Men and Boys, this week the theme is to make a project featuring Sports or Hobbies.
My card enabled me to use up a piece of serendipity background paper which didn't turn out at all as I expected so read on if you'd like to find out how it came about.

The background paper has a rather interesting water textured appearance and if you look closely, it looks like reflections on the bottom section. It was made by wrapping cling film round a thick piece of packaging, inking it up with Distress inks and various re-inkers including Brilliance and spritzing with a little water. I then placed a piece of card on top and ran it through the Cuttlebug.
To my surprise and delight serendipity struck as when it emerged at the other end, some of the corrugated paper on the inside of the packaging had added a very interesting random stripy pattern to the decorated paper. The Brilliance ink really does give a look very like reflections I think.
I made a border by layer stamping Hampton Arts distressed stripes stamp with Stormy Sky, Aged Mahogany and Frayed Burlap ink for an aged wood appearance.
I printed out the fishing image from the Polka Doodles Not For Girls CD on to watercolour paper and added colour with Promarkers. I finished off with computer generated text, cut out with a Papermania die and added dark red brads in the holes.

The Design Team have some fabulous inspiration for you as always with a great variety of male hobbies so do pop over for a peek. There's also a fabulous prize for the month from our lovely sponsor Marianne Design so don't forget that you have to be in it to win it!

Challenges for my card:
Crafty Ann's - It's A Man Thing
Pan Pastel UK Challenge - One For The Boys
Paper Sundaes - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday - Anything Goes

Have a great day and before I go, hello to Victoria and Kaylou , lovely to see you here ladies and thanks for joining.
Fliss xx

Pretty In Pink

Good morning folks, I'm hoping that this scheduled post has popped up as we're off on a few days break at the moment.
It's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles and this weeks theme is Pretty In Pink chosen by teamie Daniele so prepare for a lot of sweet creations from the Design Team and of course, me!

I chose to use elements all from the new Sugarplum Daisy CD as I love the pretty rosebud paper that I used for my backing paper here. I tore the edges for a shabby chic look and inked them with pink ink before attaching to the card blank.
I printed the sweet image and a single rose on to watercolour paper then coloured them with a mix of watercolour pencils and Prisma pencils. I added some glitter to the wings. I cut both out then added the image to a die cut oval of white card embossed with the Cuttlebug roses folder. I set this on a mat of pink polka dot paper.
I added a polka dot lace border cut out with a Marianne Design lace die and added this with some white cotton crochet lace.
I finished off with a sentiment from the CD cut out with a Marianne Design tag die, inking the edges and decorating with pearls. The final touch was a pink dotty bow.

You have until 12 noon on Sunday 22 April to enter and good luck!

Challenges for my card:
Card Makin' Mamas - Getting Girly
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Pearls and Lace
Totally Papercrafts - Things With Wings
Paper Play -  Things With Wings


See you when I get back.
Fliss xx

Take To The Skies

Good morning folks on a wet and windy Monday which I have to say is typical British bank holiday weather. I'm hoping it will improve a bit as we're off on a few days break tomorrow so this will be my last post for the moment.
We have a new challenge for you today over at Make My Monday. We're continuing with our April theme of Men and Boys and this week we would like to see your Vintage creations. I'm sure you can guess how much I loved this one and I've made a canvas instead of a card as my inspiration.

My hubby really loves airships so this was inspired by him and you can probably see that my trusty Oxford Impressions steampunk stamps got inky again.
I first covered the canvas with some 7 Gypsies blueprint tissue paper that has been in my stash for ages and is rather appropriate as my hubby is an architect. I adhered it to the canvas with clear floor polish - a bit smelly but very effective!
I then stamped lots of images from both the steampunk sets together with the Paper Artsy man on white tissue paper with black Archival ink. I added colour by sponging with various shades of Distress ink then cut them out.
I added a little further stamping to the canvas with the black ink and coloured the whole thing with Antique Linen Distress Stain. When it was dry, I added the images with a glue stick and then used Vintage Photo Distress ink to blend all the pieces into the canvas. I have to say I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out as the tissue is slightly transparent still so that all the layers show through.

The Design Team have a real treat in store for you with some fabulous creations to inspire you and don't forget we also have a fantastic prize from Marianne Designs this month too and you have to be in it to win it!

Challenges for my Vintage Canvas:
Gingerloft - Anything But A Card
Craft Us Crazy - Anything But A Card/ Altered Item
Just Keep On Creating - Anything Goes (Brand new challenge blog!)
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - From The Past

Before I go, I'd like to say a huge welcome and thank you to my new followers and it's lovely to see you here.
Bye for now,
Fliss xx

All At Sea

Happy Easter Sunday folks and hoping that you're all having a lovely Easter break.
We have a new challenge for you today over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and this time we're all at sea as the theme for the fortnight is Nautical. A great theme with lots of scope as you'll see if you hop over to the challenge blog where the fashionable teamies have some very varied and amazing creations for your inspiration.
My card is quite a simple one which I made for my brother in law's recent birthday and in common with most of the men in my hubby's family, David loves all things nautical. He loved his card so without further ado, here it is:

I've used a lovely nautical set by Kanban for my card as I was drawn to the lovely lighthouse scene which I can see coming in useful for lots of different cards.
I stamped the scene with Archival Coffee ink (my new favourite brown) and added colour with various Distress inks, pencils and Promarkers. I cut the scene out with a circle die and inked the edges.
I made the background paper by sponging with Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress inks then swiped the lighter ink pad on for a watery effect. I added a touch of green using the sponge from my earlier inking.
I then stamped the compass and anchor in the corners and added a little colour with Promarkers. To finish I stamped the seagull with the coffee ink, cut him out and added a touch of colour with Promarkers.

Challenges for my card:
Little Darlings Challenges - Outside
Pixie Dust Studio - Up In The Sky (Clouds, Sky, Rainbows, Sunshine)
Scrap It With A Song - Here Comes The Sun (I'm thinking seaside and summer here)
Joanna Sheen - It's A Man's World

Please don't forget that your creations must include stamping and that no digis are allowed.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Fliss xx

Easter Blog Hop With Polka Doodles

Hello everyone and welcome to the Polka Doodles Easter Blog Hop which will go on until 12 noon on Easter Sunday so this post will stay at the top until then.

We still have our regular challenge but we also have the blog hop as part of the challenge!! And you know what that means - LOADS of candy!!

CHALLENGE STAGE 1: Now, we know not everyone like to do a hop for whatever reason, so we still have our normal challenge for the week which is EASTER themed - you must make a card or project which is Easter themed.

Here's my inspiration for the challenge with the details of how I made it (don't worry as I've kept it short this time)

 I made the basket following a tutorial which I found on the internet using some of the gorgeous bright and Springlike checked papers from the brand new Sugarplum Daisy CD which is also where the adorable little bunnies can be found. I added an Easter greeting from the Paper Boutique Vol 3 CD and finished off with flowers made from Marianne Designs circle doily die set and flourish sprigs from the garden branch die also by Marianne Designs.

But that's not all...

CHALLENGE STAGE 2: Our second challenge is the blog hop - if you hop along with us this week you will find that the Easter Bunny has arrived early and left some hidden goodies on some of the Design Teams blogs - but you have to hop though the whole list to find who the Easter Bunny has visited! You will also need to leave a comment so that we know you've stopped by.

You need to complete both the Easter themed challenge and the blog hop to be in with a chance of winning one of the fantastic prizes on offer! Believe me you really need to go to the challenge blog to see what is on offer but it is fabulous! There will be one grand prize winner and two second place winners!

If you've never taken part in a blog hop before it's easy peasy...all you need to do is visit each blog in turn and for this hop each Polkadoodler will give you a LETTER (be careful - some of the Polkadoodlers may have more than one!) Now add all the letters together, unscramble them and leave a comment on the Polkadoodle Challenge Blog (comments will be moderated!) with what the word is.

Your entry will automatically be judged for the Easter themed challenge BUT we will know if you have completed the Blog Hop so if you haven't you will still only be eligible for the random blog candy hidden amongst some of the Polkadoodlers. FOR THE EASTER THEMED CHALLENGE JUST LEAVE YOUR ENTRY AS NORMAL USING THE INLINKZ BUTTON, WE WILL SORT THROUGH THE ENTRIES AS WE WILL KNOW IF YOU FOLLOWED THE HOP OR NOT! ; )

If you have arrived at my blog from NIKKY then you are on the right track! If not then please go back to the challenge blog to find the hop order. The letter you require from me is S - keep it safe and now jump to

ANNE

 Good luck! If you get stuck, please go back to the Polkadoodle Challenge blog where you will find the full list of Polkadoodlers.
Hope to see you here.
Fliss xx

Among The Flowers

Good morning folks and wishing you all a very Happy Easter. Hard to believe that Good Friday is here. We have a lovely sunny day too although very chilly.
I have a rather bright Spring like card to share with you today in a favourite colour combination of mine.

I really love this sweet image by La Blanche and stamped her on watercolour paper with Archival Coffee ink. I then coloured her with watercolour pencils and used a damp brush to blend the colours. I added a little stamping with Versamark ink and a flourish design to add texture.
I made a mat for the image by stamping a border design round the edges of a piece of watercolour paper with Memento ink and then blended the colour with a damp brush.
The green damask paper was made as part of the online class I recently won and uses a Chocolate Baroque background stamp.
The pink paper was embossed with the Cuttlebug Polka Dots folder and inked with Memento Lilac Posies. I then swiped the ink pad over the top to deepen the colour on the dots.
I added a floral border made with a Martha Stewart double edge punch and a scrap of inked and stamped paper from my bits box. The butterfly (B Line Designs) was stamped with the coffee ink and inked with the lilac ink and Crushed Olive Distress ink.  The sentiment is by Polka Doodles from the new Sugarplum Daisy CD.

Challenges for my card:
Crazy Amigo Challenge - April Does What It Wants
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Lawnscaping Challenge - Colouring (watercolour pencils in my case)
Papercraft Star - Anything Goes

Have a lovely day,
Fliss xx

Dancing On A Rainy Day

I'm back with another post on the third day in a row as I have quite a few things to show you over the next few days having had a productive crafting session and managed to finish off a few things that have been hanging around.
This one is my attempt at a recessed window card which Jacqueline kindly shared a tutorial on making on Make My Monday a few weeks back. If you like the look which I have to say is easier to do than you might think, you'll find the tutorial HERE.

The card is made from a piece of decorated paper from a Chocolate Baroque CD - I think it's called Filigree Fusion - and was printed on to 230gsm card. You need it to be fairly sturdy but not too thick.
I've used my absolute favourite Tim Holtz text stamp as I think the sentiment behind it is so inspiring. I stamped this with VersaFine Crimson Red.
I then stamped the gorgeous Umbrella Lady by Lost Coast Designs with VersaFine Imperial Purple, cut her out and adhered her with foam tape.
Simples!

Challenges for my card:
Lollipop Crafts - A Card /Project With No Embellishments
Victorine Originals - April Showers
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - Anything Goes
Crafting For All Seasons - April Showers

Hoping that those of you suffering somewhat adverse weather conditions for the time of year are managing to cope and are keeping warm.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Vintage Beauty

Hello folks, hope you're having a good week so far and commiserations to those of you deluged with snow yet again. Nothing down south at the moment thank goodness.
I have a card to share today which is part of my homework from an online class I'm currently doing which I won as a prize from My Creative Classroom for the C.R.A.F.T. challenge a few weeks back. The class I chose is by the lovely Catherine Scanlon and is called Artful Cards so I'm sure you can see why this appealed to me.

The base background paper uses a Paper Artsy flourish stamped with brown ink around the edges. I then sponged Brushed Corduroy and Aged Mahogany over the top. I tore the edges for a distressed effect.
The lighter background paper uses a Viva Decor script stamp, stamped with Coffee Archival ink and the same flourish. Glimmer Mists in Olive Vine and Vintage Pink were also used. I added faux stitching round the edges.
The corrugated panel was painted with rose pink acrylic then torn across the base and copper embossed. I then added bronze metallic paint for added contrast.
The image (Le Brun by B Line Designs) is stamped with the coffee ink, partially cut out and coloured with Promarkers.
I finished off with lace in 2 shades, a Hero Arts sentiment, metal charm and an altered, layered flower with a jewelled brad centre.

Challenges for my card:
Sugar Creek Hollow - Birthday Cards
Bunny Zoe's Crafts Challenge - Shabby Chic/Vintage
Anything Goes Challenge - Anything Goes

I'd also like to welcome my new followers - lovely to see you ladies and will pop by very soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Wheels With Make My Monday

Good morning folks, we have a very chilly start to the day today but the sun is shining hooray! It's Monday again and the start of a new theme at Make My Monday. The April theme has been chosen by Caz and she would like to help with those difficult to create cards as the theme is Men and Boys Only. This week the challenge is to make something including Wheels.
I was very pleased to see this as it gave me the chance to get inky with my Oxford Impressions steampunk stamps which are a must with me as my hubby's family love anything nautical or vintage engineering style.
Here's what I made:

I used elements here from both of the steampunk sets (you can find them at The Craft Barn) and first made a background paper by using Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo Distress inks just added direct from the ink pad and then sponged whilst still wet for a grungy effect. I sponged more of the darker ink round the edges.
I then stamped on various images from the sets with Archival Coffee ink. It came out a little brighter than I needed for my added images to really pop so I brushed on some watered down gesso.
I then stamped the steam engine, gent and company sign with Ancient Page Coal Black ink and added some ink left on the sponge from earlier to blend them in a little. I cut them out and added to the card with foam tape.
I finished off with text which is part of a larger stamp.

The Design Team have made some fabulous examples to inspire you so I hope you'll head on over to see them plus details of the fabulous prize by our sponsor Marianne Design. Believe me, you won't want to miss this!

Challenges for my card:
Marks Finest Papers - Make A Square Card
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Things With Wheels
Divas By Design - Stamp Something (everything on my card is stamped)
My Mum's Craft Shop - Stamp It

Thanks for looking and have a good week.
Fliss xx