Autumn Floral

Good morning folks, hope you all had a lovely weekend with some sunshine as we did here on the South coast.
Monday is here again and it's time for a new challenge at Make My Monday where we're continuing with our Autumn November theme and this week the supplies extra to include is Vellum.
This is something I don't think gets used enough and that's true of me too so I had a rummage through my stash and found some vellum in a soft shade of green. I then had to decide what to do with it and being me, you've guessed it I'm sure - I stamped on it!
Here's my card:

I stamped on the vellum with the Kaisercraft berries and twigs flourish stamp which seems to be a favourite at the moment (I haven't yet put it away!) using Palette raw sienna ink which is permanent like StazOn as you need it to be permanent so it will dry. In this case it took a while to dry completely but ended up with a lovely soft look. I wrapped this round some card cut a little smaller than my card blank and secured it at the back. I added a panel of kraft card embossed with the Darice long flowers border and made 2 corners from the leftover piece.
I stamped the gorgeous chrysanthemums (my fave Autumn flower) by Circa Design with VersaFine Olympia green ink and coloured the image with Prisma pencils. I die cut it into an oval and gently inked the edges with soft green.
I wrapped a lace border round the vellum and embossed kraft panel and added this to the card and then added the image panel with foam tape. I added some pearls to the lace.
I finished off with a lovely sentiment from Mynnette of On A Stampage which I re-sized slightly and die cut into a circle, adding it to a scalloped kraft card mat.

Hope you like this and we'd love to see some more entries as we have a fab prize this month of a £10 Joanna Sheen voucher from our kind sponsor, Vee Cassidy.

Have a good week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
The Squirrel and The Fox - Anything Goes
ATCs and Cards With Attitude - Anything Autumn/Winter Goes

Driving Home For Christmas

Hello folks, are you all singing now as that song by Chris Rea is a favourite of mine at Christmas and is the inspiration behind my creation for the new challenge for the fortnight over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges with the theme of Home Sweet Home.
I have to admit to having been in a bit of a quandary about this challenge as I couldn't make my mind up what to do and the card came about after a visit to Morrisons earlier in the week where to my complete horror, Christmas songs were playing!Can you guess I'm not feeling Christmassy yet?!
Here's what I came up with:

I've used one of my favourite stamps from a set I bought last year by Papermania as I loved this snowy village scene. I stamped it with Archival coffee ink on thick cartridge paper and then coloured the scene with Luminance pencils.
I made a frame for the scene by stamping the bird and misteltoe (Onyx Expressions) in the bottom right corner of a larger piece of cartridge paper using Archival olive and coffee inks and coloured with a mix of Luminance and watercolour pencils. I then used my trusty Creative Memories oval cutting set to cut an aperture so the I could partially cut round the bird image to add depth to the scene.
I then stamped on the Christmas text from a much older Papermania clear stamp set using an inked baby wipe on an acrylic block left over from a crafting session a couple of months ago - I covered it with cling film at the time and it's still got tons of life in it! If you'd like to know how to do this technique, it was kindly shared by Mynnette, one of my fellow MMM DT sisters, on her Technique Tuesday Challenge which you can find here. I was also thrilled to bits to have my bargello card for the last challenge there as a featured card - thanks Mynnette!
I added the panels to a kraft card blank (8x8) and finished off with an old gold ribbon and bow.

So there you have it and I hope you like it. my fellow Fashionettes have made some gorgeous inspiration for the catwalk and as always our sponsor is the lovely Marina of Cottage Crafts so do pop over for all the details.

Have a lovely day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Use Something More Than 6 Months Old (All My Stamps)
4 Crafty Chicks - Winter Wonderland
Craft Punked - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes

Coming Up Roses

Good morning folks, hope you all saw my candy post of yesterday but if not, then you'll find it right at the top of my blog.
As it's Friday, there's a new challenge today over at Polka Doodles and this week the theme is to make A Square Card With A Round Element.
I've gone very girly for my card this time using elements all from the Pretty Sweet CD with one of my favourite things, roses.

I covered my card blank which I used tent style with layers of the pretty rosebud paper, trimming the pink one with a Papermania scallop border die and mixing in a little bright pink stripy paper. I also added half a large white doily in with the layers.
I coloured the sweet Amelia image with Aquamarkers and added more detail with pencils then cut her out. I added her to a circular mat of the grungy rosebud paper set on a larger mat of the brighter stripy paper.
I added one of the lovely sentiments on a stripy mat, together with a wooden butterfly altered with the antique pink Promarker and some inked, embossed and glittered Sissix die cut flourishes.

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

Some challenges for my card:
Craft Room Challenge - Punches and Die Cuts
Crafty Cardmakers - More Than One Punch And/Or Diecut
Ooh La La Creations - Someone Special
The Pink Elephant Monday Card Challenge - Punches/Dies

All Spruced Up!

Hello everyone and welcome to my new followers - so lovely to see you here and so glad to have you.
I'm  here today with another Christmas decoration using some recycled materials along with some of the gorgeous images you'll find on the Studio 12 Picknix Collection 2 CD - Gingerbread Twist which is my inspiration for Studio 12 Creative Team.
I adore robins as we have a pair that nest every year in the ivy twining round one of our pergola posts and they're so cute when feeding their babies so the gorgeous images on the CD are a real favourite of mine and I couldn't resist using one of them on my decoration.
Here's what I made:

It's actually simpler than you might think as the base is made of 2 circles of greyboard, one left whole and the other with a central hole cut out. I used a circle cutter as I didn't have the right size dies but if you do it's a lot quicker! I painted the ring circle with deep green acrylic paint.
I then made the inside section firstly cutting a circle of plastic packaging slightly larger than the central hole of the ring and embossed this with Cuttlebug musical folder. I then inked it with Adirondack Watermelon and Butterscotch alcohol inks.
I cut an even larger circle of vintage music score and stuck this to the whole circle (this is the back of the wreath), then added the embossed panel using small pieces of tape round the edges so that it didn't show in the ring aperture.
I printed out the robin and some spruce which I re-sized slightly to fit my design - I dropped them all into a Word document as I find this the easiest way to print out multiple images. I then cut them out and inked the white portions of the spruce with green ink.
I assembled the wreath as you see, sandwiching some rustic twine between the 2 layers as a hanging loop then adding some bows and tiny roses to embellish it and cover up some of the gaps. As a finishing touch I then gave the spruce a coating of glitter glue and added a sprinkle of Distress Stickles Rock Candy dry glitter for some frosty sparkle.


Have a great day and hope you have a little sunshine as we do here at the moment.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my wreath:
Corrosive Challenges - Flutter By
Dream Valley Challenges - Anything Goes
Glitter n Sparkle - Things With Wings
Divas By Design - Anything Goes

Autumn All Stitched Up

Good morning everyone, hoping that you all had a good weekend and a big hello to my new followers - lovely to have you here and hope to get to know you soon.
Being Monday, it's that time again - we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday. Carrying on with the monthly theme of Autumn, this week's theme is Stitching - Real or Faux.

I decided to go with the faux (no pun intended - honest!) as my machine stitching on paper is still a bit iffy.

The background paper here was the result of an experiment (which didn't quite work I might add lol) using Sir Tim's Marbled Stains technique from Compendium of Curiosities 2 but the card I used was a bit too matte in texture so the stains didn't marble as expected, but sort of splodge!!! I did quite like the result though as it ended up very grungy and you know how much I like that! I used Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive and the Antiqued Bronze Metallic Stain which is really yummy.
I stamped on a berry twig design from the Kaisercraft Twig and Berry Flourish clear stamp set (ordered one day delivered the next By Bunny Zoe!) using VersaMagic Pumpkin Spice chalk ink - how appropriate is that?!
I printed out the gorgeous pumpkin digital stamp from the Autumn collection on the Polka Doodles Sundae of Seasons CD and coloured this with a mix of Aquamarkers and Luminance pencils. I then inked the panel with Scattered Straw, Crushed Olive and Wild Honey Distress inks.
I made a panel of kraft card as a mat and embossed this with a Darice flourish frame folder before adding the pumpkin panel.
I originally planned on making a square card but couldn't bear to cover up too much of the background paper so I made use of an A5 kraft card blank I had with a damaged front step - I chopped this off to use elsewhere and was left with a tent shape card.
I cut the backing paper in half and added faux stitching with the aid of the fab Tim Holtz idea-ology ruler and a brown fineliner. I then added the pumpkin panel over the central gap.
The finishing touch is a Hobby Art sentiment stamped with coffee Archival ink and inked with Topaz and Bisque VersaColor inks.

Hoping you have a good week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Dream Valley Challenges - Anything Goes
Pile It On Challenge - Let's Be Thankful
Sentimental Sundays - Thanks or Thanksgiving
My Sheri Crafts Challenge - Give Thanks
Aud Sentiments - Thanks!
Dutch Dare Card Challenges - My Favourite Things (Making my own background, texture, faux stitching)
Pixie Dust Studio - Fabulous Fall Colours

Autumn's Fruitfulness

Hello folks, hope you're having a good week in the exceedingly chilly weather we have at the moment and are managing to say warm.
I'm here today with an Autumn themed tag in a slightly unusual shape which is my midweek post for the current challenge at Make My Monday which has the theme of Autumn with the twist of Kraft Card and Twine/String.

A very simple creation using kraft card die cut with the Tim Holtz cabinet card die then embossed with my current favourite embossing folder - the Darice fall leaves.
I added a scrap of corrugated card from my bits box, already painted with a rich dark red acrylic paint and stamped the Gordiano bird and berries image (Joanna Sheen) with Memories creamy coffee chalk ink and coloured it with watercolour pencils. I then cut it out to leave a border of cream card and added it to the tag with foam tape.
I finished off with some garden twine (Wilkinsons). Very quick and easy!

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my tag:
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Get Krafty
Love To Create - Shades of Autumn
Paper Playtime - Autumn Colours
Penny Black & More At Allsorts - Any Die Will Do
Crazy 4 Challenges - Anything But A Card

Seeds of Happiness

Good morning all, it's the start of another week and hoping you all had a lovely weekend.
It's also the start of a new theme for the month over at Make My Monday and November sees the choice of former DT member Suzanne who's happily joining us as a guest designer this month along with the lovely Avril B. Our theme this month is Autumn with the twist of Use Your Supplies and this week the theme is

Kraft and Twine/String

I've gone for warm Autumn shades for my card (necessary as it's fr-eeeeezing at the moment - brrrrr!). I inked the textured card using my Vintage Inked Background Technique with Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress inks and then stamped on various leaves (all Rubber Stampede) with Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive and Vintage photo inks.

I embossed a panel of kraft card with the Darice fall leaves folder and trimmed round the edges of the leaves on 2 sides. I swiped brown ink on the raised areas.

I stamped further leaves using various Distress inks, heat embossing some with clear powder and cutting them all out. I also stamped the uplifting sentiment from Paper Artsy Hot Pick HPXT04 with Memories creamy coffee chalk ink and trimmed this to a panel.

I assembled the card tent style with some twine tied into a bow on one side and a scrap of corrugated card painted rusty brown from my bits box.

The Design Team have made some gorgeous and very varied creations to inspire you and this month we have a fab prize donated by Vee Cassidy of a £10 Joanna Sheen voucher so if you haven't yet entered any of our challenges, now would be a great time to start!

Have a great week.

Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:

 Craft Punked - Fall/Thanksgiving
Wags 'n' Whiskers - Fall Colours
Pixie Dust Studio - Leaves
Crafting For All Seasons - Falling Leaves
Stampavie and More - Autumn

A Joyful Christmas

Hello folks,  many thanks to all of you that left me birthday wishes yesterday which were much appreciated.
I got some lovely pressies too, the main one being a stamp maker which I can't wait to have a go with as I'm looking forward to being able to turn some of my scribbles and doodles into stamps. The James Bond Skyfall was very good too with amazing stunts and a somewhat creepy villain (or at least I thought he was), so if you haven't yet seen it, I can thoroughly recommend it.
Now enough waffling and on to the reason for the post which is to tell you about our new challenge for the next fortnight at Fashionable Stamping Challenges which has been chosen by our newest fashionette Esther and is the theme of Musical. Lots of ways to interpret this one and to me, music immediately shouted birds so I've made another Christmas card for my collection with my favourite Christmas bird.

I stamped the cute Stampendous robin on thick cartridge paper and coloured him with Aquamarkers. I die cut the image with a Papermania die and then added snow with the Decoart snow writer and sprinkled it with Glamour Dust.
I made the background paper using my watercolour crayon technique and Neocolor 11 water soluble crayons (if you click on the tutorial page at the top, you'll find a link to the relevant technique if you'd like to know how to do it. I used several colours of green and the paper started out like this:

You can see the end result on my card and after using the technique, I stamped on the music score (Forest Moss Distress ink) and poinsettia (VersaFine Vintage Sepia) from the Tim Holtz mini holidays 4 set.
I embossed a panel of kraft card with the Cuttlebug musical folder, sanded the raised areas and then added green and brown inks to distress it a little.
I assembled the card as you see, adding hessian weave and ribbon, a poinsettia (Nestabilities) and fir (Marianne Design) and punched holly together with my favourite sentiment from the set and some tiny pearls.

We'd love to see you enter but please remember that as we are a stamping challenge, no digis are allowed and we must see stamping on your entry.

Have a lovely Sunday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Raise The Bar - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Ribbon and/or Twine
Fab 'n ' Funky - Die Cuts/Punches
Nutcrafters - Ribbon/Twine

The Lonesome Pine

Hello everyone, today is a special day for me as it's my birthday! Won't be sharing my age though as I've got to the stage of wanting to forget about it lol.
We're off to see Skyfall tonight and I can't wait as I love James Bond films and it's been too long since the last one. No meal out today as the film is an awkward time so I hope we'll do that sometime soon. I'm planning on some crafting today and also will be sorting out some goodies as candy is rather overdue.
I have a project to share with you that is my inspiration for today over at Studio 12 Creative Team.
My decoration started life as a rather cheap wooden whitewashed rustic style heart (from The Range) and after the makeover, here's the finished result - ta da!

It was quite difficult to photograph the heart hanger to show the full sparkle so there's a second pic with the tree detail so you can get the full Frantage effect of the stunning embossing powders I used here. A bit of the sparkle does show but I was a bit light challenged!

I gave the heart a wash of very watered down periwinkle blue and sage acrylic paint and when dry, dry brushed on a little antique white. Because I used a wash, the original wood still shows through to add loads of texture.
I then got to work with a Versamark ink pad to add streaks on the raised areas, sprinkled on the amazing new Ranger sticky embossing powder, heated it to melt and then added Ranger clear Rock Candy dry glitter which sticks to the embossing powder like magic. The photo doesn't really do justice to the amazing sparkle you get so you'll have to trust me there!
I then printed out one of the pine trees from the Gingerbread Twist Cd twice on to strong card and cut out one whole tree and alternate sections of the second, starting at the top.
I embossed the complete tree with Frantage Aged Green embossing enamel and the sections with Aged Silver. Just one coat is all you need for this effect. I then glued on the silver sections over the top of the corresponding green sections as shown in the photo.
I altered some snowflakes which came from a pound shop snowflake garland using Pear Green and Amethyst Promarkers to add a little colour and glued everything in place on the altered heart.

Hoping you have a lovely weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

PS: I listened to the Skyfall theme by Adele on You Tube last night and it's amazing so do listen if you get a chance - probably the only song from the lovely Adele that's been Bonded up!

Some challenges for my altered heart:
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Add Texture
Delicious Doodles - Embossing - Heat or Dry
The Stamp Man - Emboss It

Sing A Song Of Christmas

Hello peeps, it's Friday again and almost the weekend so it's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles. This week the theme is Bright Colours With Sparkle so what else could I do but another Christmas card to add to my growing collection - a bit better than my usual panic the first week of December lol.

All of the elements on my card are from the Here Comes Christmas CD which has tons of papers, images and toppers.
I printed out the cute carol singers and die cut the image into a circle. I covered the card blank with a panel of my favourite plaid paper and added a side border of bright green card embossed with the Cuttlebug holly folder.
My sparkle element is the bright pink glittery card border and I added some decoupaged holly sprigs and the sentiment which I die cut and decorated with some tiny heart shaped buttons.

Before I forget, we have a DT call out at the moment which is for new creative talent outside the UK this time so if you're interested (who wouldn't be?!), all the details are over at Polka Doodles.

Have a great weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
ABC Christmas Challenge - V for Vibrant Colours
Divas By Design - Feeling Festive
My Mum's Craft Shop - Bold and Bright

A Heartwarming Christmas

Hello folks, hope you're managing to stay warm in this rather wild and windy weather we have, not to mention wet!
I'm back again (4th post this week!) today to share my card which is the inspiration over at the Studio 12 Creative Team and I made a vintage style creation with elements which all came from the Gingerbread Twist CD - another Christmas card for the pile - yay!

I covered the card blank with the pretty snowflake paper having first added a border trimmed from the kraft zigzag snowflake paper and a piece of black and white gingham ribbon for added pop.
I then added some circles of the same kraft paper and red poinsettia paper for contrast with a pretty white doily.
I finished off with the cute reindeer - don't you just love the little heart dangling from his antler - and one of the gorgeous word art elements.
The final touch is a handmade heart shaped button created from gold Fimo and stamped for texture before baking. I tied some thread into a bow through the holes.

Don't forget that we have a mega giveaway for November as Nikky has generously decided to give stash from Studio 12/Polka Doodles to the value of £50 to the winner - how about that for a fab Christmas present! All details are over at Studio 12.

Have a good day and stay warm.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Digi Makeover Challenge - Lots of Layers
Ooh La La Creations - Christmas
Stamp and Create Challenge - Winter Wonderland

A Bit Of Ooh La La!

Good morning folks, I'm here today to show you the card I made as the midweek motivation for this week's challenge over at Make My Monday with the theme of French Feminine/Romance.

I wanted to use this very elegant showgirl by Kanban as she looks rather French to me with a definite hint of ooh la la! I stamped her with Memories artprint brown then coloured the image with Promarkers and watercolour pencils and die cut the panel.
The background paper which came from my experiment box uses Vintage photo Distress ink with the vaseline resist technique and gives a lovely shabby chic effect.
I made a border using corrugated card recycled from a takeaway coffee cup holder which I painted with acrylics and then sprinkled with tarnished gold embossing powder and heated to melt.
The fleur de lys embellishment was made by stamping the image and embossing with Frantage aged green embossing enamel then cut it out.
I finished off with some text from the Kanban set stamped with the brown ink.

Have a good day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Fashionista Challenge - Anything Goes
Totally Stampalicious - Anything Goes
Twisted Tuesday - Anything Goes

Dreamer

Hello all, hope you're having a reasonable week and I'm thinking of everyone currently suffering in the USA due to hurricane Sandy. I'm hoping that you all stay safe and don't have too much damage to deal with when the hurricane has passed.
I have a card to share with you today that made use of the leftover section you get when you're die cutting a shape and this one is such a pretty shape that I decided to use it as a frame on my card.

My card uses stamps from Crafty Individuals and I first stamped all round the edges of the frame with CI - 253 with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink. The stamp is actually square and made up of lots of tiny flowers - it's really easy to stamp small sections of it all round as any overlapping areas just seem to disappear. I inked it with Distress inks in Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and Stormy Sky then added Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo on the outer edges.
I stamped the vintage fairy (CI - 137) with the grey ink, coloured her with Promarkers and watercolour pencils and cut the panel out, following the scroll line on the left side.
I made a background by embossing white card with the Cuttlebug daisies folder and added a trellis cut with the Cheery Lynn lattice die from white card and inked with pale green.
I assembled the card in layers as you see, adding a green flourish die cut with a Marianne die and some tiny green pearls.

Bye for now,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Cheery Lynn Challenge - Vintage
Love To Create - Lots of Layers
The Pink Elephant - Vintage/Shabby Chic
Addicted To Stamps - Things With Wings
Die Cuttin' Divas - Anything Goes

La Belle Femme

Hello folks, and especially my new followers, hoping you all had a good weekend despite the very chilly weather. In my case it was a good excuse to stay warm and do some crafting so I now have exceedingly inky fingers!
This brings me neatly to my inky creation for the last of the October French theme challenges over at Make My Monday and this week the challenge is to make something Feminine or Romantic, or both if you like. It must still have a French flavour to it though so please don't forget that bit of ooh la la!
My card as you will see is mostly pink again as I always think it's such a feminine colour.

The background paper is stamped with the gorgeous Prickley Pear Eiffel flourish image together with Hero Arts old French writing using Memories Artprint Brown ink. I then got very inky fingers sponging on Victorian Velvet Distress ink (not as bad as the usual blue, green or purple fingers I've had recently lol). I then added a smidgeon of colour with various Promarkers.
I stamped my favourite B Line Designs stamp, Le Brun, with the same brown ink then added a little colour with Promarkers (Saffron, Vanilla, Antique Pink and Tea Green) and cut out to leave a fairly wide contrasting border round the image.
I stamped the lace (also B Line Designs) with the brown ink and added colour again with Promarkers. I cut this out too and used deckle scissors on the shaped edge as these give a very good effect on a fluffy type edge.
I assembled the card as you see, adding text from a Kanban clear stamp set stamped in brown and coloured with the Dusky Pink Promarker.

Hope you have a good week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my inky creation:
Vintage Stamping Challenges - Anything Goes
It's All About Vintage - Make Your Own Background

Wings Of A Dove

Hello folks, it's a very chilly and frosty 1 degree here on the South coast this morning but the sun is shining so it's lovely and bright at least. The extra hour in bed was lovely too although it was still difficult to get out of the snuggly, warm covers.
I'm here today with my card which is part of the inspiration for the new giveaway at Studio 12 Creative Team which will be drawn at the end of November. This month the giveaway is really extra special too as it's some fabulous stash to the value of an amazing £50!

I made a shaped card blank with a Go Kreate XXL scalloped circle die and inked the edges with VersaMagic Magnolia Bud chalk ink. I added a panel of the gorgeous holly paper from the CD cut out with the same die set.
I printed out the beautiful dove on to very smooth white card and then sprinkled on detail gold embossing powder before the ink dried (you need to stand by the printer and add the powder immediately it comes out) and heated it to melt the powder.
I coloured the panel using various shades of VersaMagic inks after die cutting it to a circle. I made a mat for the panel by doodling text all around the edge with a brown fine pen then inking just the edge with Topaz and Split Pea VersaColor inks then sprinkled with crystal embossing powder to heat emboss for some sparkle.

All the details of how you can be in with a chance to win the fantastic November candy are over at the Creative Team blog so don't forget to pop over - there's some fabulous inspiration to feast your eyes on too.

Also, for those of you that hail from Europe and the rest of the world, Nikky has a Design Team call out over at Polka Doodles, so if you'd like to be part of our friendly team, pop over to the Challenge Blog for all the details. You have until 5 November to apply so don't be shy!

Have a great Sunday.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some Challenges for my card:
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Circle
Crafty Ann's Challenge - Christmas in October
Stampin' For The Weekend - Anything Goes

Joie De Vivre

Hello folks, hoping you all had a good weekend and a reasonable start to the week. I'm a bit late with my post for the new challenge over at Make My Monday today due to a very busy weekend with family stuff and workshop preparations for today as my mojo decided to go walkabout.
This week the challenge continues with the French theme for October with a colour twist this time of Tricoleur, the colours of the flag, otherwise known as blue, white and red so your entry should have these colours with a French flavour.

A fairly simple card from me this time using brayered stripes of Stormy Sky and Barn Door Distress inks as the background for my stamping.
I then stamped on some of the images from the Artistic Outpost Paris Exposition set with black ink and stamped the patriotic looking lady separately on white card. I added some fleur de lis across the base with Fired Brick Distress ink and the All Night Media fleur de lys stamp.
I cut out the lady and added her with double sided tape on the outer edge and foam tape on the other. This trick helps to make the image stand out but hide the tape at the side.

Hopefully we'll get a few more entries this time as the challenge last week seems to have scared most of you off!

Have a good afternoon and evening.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday -  No Rules!

Hocus Pocus

Good morning folks, hope you're all having a lovely weekend. It rained here most of the day yesterday so I got on with some necessary crafting for a workshop I'm teaching on Monday so will be able to share some cards from that with you soon.
Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and our last one was certainly popular with a very large number of entries. We hope you like this theme as much as it's Halloween or Halloween Colours for those of you who don't do Halloween.
My card features a stamp set I've had my eye on for ages and finally succumbed to as it's not hugely Halloween themed and can be used for other occasions too.

I absolutely love this owl image which is from the Hocus Pocus stamp set by Indigo Blu as is the spider web complete with spider. I think the owl is so cute and cuddly looking although the castle in the background is quite Gothic.
I stamped the owl with Memories black ink and coloured both him and the castle with Promarkers. I then sponged on Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door Distress inks for a brooding sunset.
I then made a frame using the Tim Holtz cabinet card die and stamped on the spider and web on one side and just the web by masking off the spider on the other side. I added some doodling to the webs to make them fit the space. I sponged on a mix of Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserves and Dusty Concord Distress inks. I stamped the text on one side with Hero Arts alphabet stamps and doodled some brickwork round the edges of the arch shape.
I then cut a panel of white card slightly larger than the purple panel and sponged Mowed Lawn Distress ink down the sides, stamping the spider web on with the black ink.
I added the panels to a black card blank and finished off with a black card border punched with the Martha Stewart wrought iron punch.

The Fashionettes have made some fabulous inspiration for you to see HERE and please don't forget if you enter that we must see some stamping on your project to qualify for the prize from Marina of Cottage Crafts or the Top 3.

Have a great Sunday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
2 Sisters - Cute and Creepy
Craftymess Challenge - Halloween
Di's Digi Designs Challenge - Too Cute To Spook
My Sheri Crafts - Halloween

Autumn Leaves

Hello folks, it's Friday yet again and I don't know where the weeks are flying off to at the moment. We have a new challenge for you today over at Polka Doodles and this week the theme chosen by Nikky is Autumn with some of those lovely warm colours and lots of leaves.
I'm a little printer challenged at the moment as it struggles with colour and only seems to like doing black and white so it gave me the chance to get some stamps out to make my background paper and you know how much I like doing that!
The result was a rather quirky card which I hope you'll like.

I made the background paper using stamps from the Daisy Doodles stamp set which has loads of really useful stamps. I arranged some flowers, leaves and swirls on an acrylic block in a cluster as it saves a lot of time to stamp them like this rather than individually. I used Archival coffee ink on a piece of A5 white card and then added colour to some of the leaves with Promarkers. I then inked the panel with Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks.
I stamped Flutterby Fairy Gracie and her wings, together with the frame and sentiment from the daisy doodles set and coloured everything with Promarkers. I printed out some leaves and toadstools from the Sundae of Seasons CD and coloured  them with a mix of Distress Inks and Promarkers. I then cut all the images out.
I embossed an oval panel and a wide border strip of white card with the Darice fall leaves folder, inked them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and trimmed one end of the border strip round the shape of the leaves.
I assembled the card as you see adding a wooden flower embellishment to finish.

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

Some challenges for my card:
I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Things With Wings
Try It On Tuesday - Autumn Colours

Toujours La France

Good morning folks, we have very strange weather here today as it's sunny but also raining and can't seem to make its' mind up! There was a rainbow too of the blink and you miss it type and I just managed to snap it before it disappeared completely.

Now for the actual reason for this post which is to share with you the card I made as my mid week motivation over at the Make My Monday challenge blog where this week the theme is French Fleur De Lys. Not many entries yet so I'm hoping I haven't scared everyone off - it is quite an easy theme as you don't need stamps or die cuts if you don't have them as there are loads of graphics about you could use.
My card here uses an embossing folder although I've given it quite a makeover as you'll see so please do take a look.

My background paper is a torn piece of vintage music score (my bargain buy from Camilla's Bookshop in Eastbourne - just £2.50 for the entire Mikado score!!!) which I've inked up with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.
I then stamped the gorgeous Stampendous image with Archival coffee ink and coloured the panel with pencils and inks in Spring like colours (rather refreshing in Autumn!).
I next embossed a panel of white card with the Cuttlebug fleur de lys folder and inked it with Spun Sugar and Crushed Olive Distress Inks. I then trimmed the panel to the shape you see and swiped on a little green and blue ink to add to the Spring like feel.

Hope you have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
A and T Emerald Faeries - Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge - Anything Goes
House of Gilli Challenge - Anything Goes

Vintage Style Inking Tutorial

Hello folks, I'm back today with my promised tutorial for the inking technique I used on my easel card for the Make My Monday challenge last week. It gives a really lovely mottled effect with a definite vintage flavour and is really easy and quick to do.
You might want to get a cuppa before you start reading as it's quite photo heavy to show all the different stages and there's a card at the end which I made with the paper.
Here we go!

You'll need some baby wipes and some toning shades of Distress inks - here I've used Wild Honey, Dried Marigold and Crushed Olive. You'll also need some fairly textured card as it works best on rough textures so you could also use cold pressed watercolour paper.

Step 1 - Using a baby wipe, apply a layer of the lightest ink to your piece of card and allow to dry for a couple of minutes.

Step 2 - Shape the baby wipe into a ball and pick up some of the next ink shade and tap this onto the inked card. If your ink pad is very wet, you'll need to tap gently as you're aiming for a "fluffy" look to the applied ink. Repeat until the card is covered as shown.

Step 3 -  Repeat the second step with the first ink shade. You'll see the mottling start to build up now.

Step 4 - Repeat the second step again with the third ink shade until the card is well covered with the mottled effect.

 Step 5 - Your final result should look something like this.

Step 6 - Your decorated paper is now ready to use as it is, or stamped on like mine. I've used the jumbo cling rosehip design by Stampendous with VersaFine Toffee ink.

Here's the card I made with the paper, adding the woman image (Rubber Stampede) a little inking on the roses with Topaz and Paprika VersaColor inks, some computer generated text (I saw this lovely quote in a craft magazine) and some stamped, cut out leaves adding a slightly more textured look to the design.

Hoping you like this as it really is easy and you can achieve loads of different effects depending on the colours and inks you use. You could also try the technique with paint.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Postcard From Paris

Good morning everyone, hoping you all had a lovely weekend. Welcome to my new followers too and thanks for all your recent comments everyone. I'm still trying to catch up with all my comments after a very busy couple of weeks so will hopefully get there soon.
Today sees a new challenge for this month's French theme over at Make My Monday chosen by yours truly and this week it's to add a Fleur De Lys to your creation by stamping, die cuts, embossing etc, the choice is yours.
My creation has stamping and some die cuts from a now rather old Cuttlebug die set that I got just after I got the little green bug for my birthday a few years ago. I have no idea how I'd manage without it now either!

I made a background paper to start with by rubbing Tattered Rose Distress ink on card and then stamped on the fleur de lys design from an All Night Media clear stamp set with Bundled Sage DI.
I then made a border using my favourite scratch stamp by Hampton Arts with shades of pink and green DIs.
I stamped the rather sultry lady (Tip Your Hat by Rubber Stampede) with Smokey Gray VersaFine ink and coloured her with Spun Sugar, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage DIs then inked around the edges with pink and cut the panel out.
I stamped the carte postale (Paper Artsy) and the Eiffel Tower (B Line Designs) with the grey ink then coloured them softly with a pale pink Promarker and cut them out.
I assembled the card as you see, adding fleur de lys die cuts of deep green card.

Hoping you have a lovely day and I'll be back tomorrow with the promised inking tutorial from my easel card for last Monday's challenge.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
2 Sisters - Anything Goes
In The Pink - Lots of Pink Plus One (green in my case)
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes
Fab 'n' Funky - Vintage
Simon Says Stamp - Dies/Punches

Halloween Time

Good morning folks, thank you all for your kind wishes regarding my software test on Wednesday. It went OK although I was a little slow doing it as I didn't want to mess it up so we'll have to wait and see what they thought.
Also, hello to some new followers, firstly the lovely Tracy from Cardmakers Delights which came about as I won the Vintage challenge over at Crimbo Crackers last week (run by fellow DT mate for Polka Doodles, Ruth) and I'm totally thrilled to bits as the prize is some of the absolutely gorgeous card toppers which to my delight include some stunning vintage designs. Thanks Tracy!
Then there's a lady with the same name as me! Please get in touch if you see this as it's not often I "meet" someone with my name!!!
Anyway, enough waffle and on to the reason for my post which is to tell you about this week's challenge at Polka Doodles and with a certain date now looming you can probably guess it's Halloween.

Thoughts of the witching hour were the inspiration for my scenic card. I used elements mostly from the Halloween Download Bundle, the haunted house and pumpkins being from the Sundae of Seasons CD.
I printed out the haunted house and made a frame using the gorgeous grungy green (try saying that quickly!) text paper with a Go Kreate die and inked the edges with black.
I then printed out little Polly with her wand and the cute spider together with the pumpkins and cut them all out.
I added all the images to the frame with foam tape. Simples!

Hoping that you all have a lovely weekend and I'll be back soon with the promised inking tutorial.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Paper Pretties - Halloween
Stampavie & More - Halloween
Hooked on Craft - Halloween

Feeling A Little Bit Retro

Hello everyone, I'm hoping this post pops up as scheduled as I'm on my way to do a Sage book-keeping test for some more work which I have to confess I'm dreading as it's like being back at school lol
Anyhow, enough of my troubles and on to the mixed media project I'm sharing today at the Studio 12 Creative Team blog which is a rather retro style canvas board.
This came about as I was thinking back to my childhood recently and one memory jumped out at me. It concerned my Mum who was quite a dressmaker and she used to make clothes for me and my sister. I have a very clear memory of being really annoyed once because she made us each a frock in the same fabric but different colours. Mine had orange, pink and brown flowers and with my blonde hair, I knew even at the age of 10 that it didn't suit me!!! I have a feeling I made quite a fuss too!

I painted the canvas board with a mix of turquoise and light blue acrylic paint and then used a rather funky retro flower stencil (Crafters Workshop) and some light orange paint to add the flowers at the top of the canvas.
I printed out the mannequin from the All Sewn Up collection on the Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD onto kraft card and cut it out. I then turned it over to the reverse as I didn't want the black lines and inked it with brown. I dry embossed some lines and rounded it out to make it look more 3D using a large ball tool.
I then printed a further mannequin on white card and using the outline as a pattern, drew a sixties style shift dress. I turned it over to the reverse and stamped on flowers from the Polka Doodles Daisy Doodles stamp set with pink, yellow, orange and brown.
I added a light orange die cut and embossed mat to the canvas and stuck on the mannequin and frock. I then added the die cut sentiment from the same CD and finished off with a variety of toning flowers, layered up and decorated with metal, pearl and jewel brads and some pearls.

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my canvas
The Craft Room Challenge - Alter It

Vacances En France

Good morning folks, I've gone all French today as it's the second of my challenge themes over at Make My Monday and this week, the theme is French Vintage. As you see, I've managed to combine 2 of my favourite things this week!
My inspiration for you is a rather different shaped easel card which I made with a Papermania large die set with gorgeous elegant, frilly edges. It also uses a different inking technique which I'll be adding a tutorial for later on this week - it's really easy to do and gives a very effective vintage style grungy look.

I've added 3 photos as it was quite difficult to show it all properly with just one and the other pics show more of the detail.
I first made the card blank up using some cream textured card, quite a thick one as it's more sturdy. I added ink round the edges using my vintage inking technique (tutorial to follow) using Victorian Velvet, Tattered Rose, Crushed Olive and Frayed Burlap Distress inks.
I stamped the Hampton Arts Fusion passport image on cream card with Archival coffee ink and die cut the shape with the next size down in the die set. I coloured the panel with a mix of Promarkers and VersaColor inks in Split Pea, Khaki, Cinnamon and Old Rose. I stamped just the larger butterfly section twice more on cream card, coloured the butterflies with Promarkers and cut them out.
I die cut a panel of cream card for the base with the smaller die and inked this with Sand Beige, Cinnamon, Old Rose and Umber VersaColor inks then stamped on Hero Arts old French writing several times with Dovecraft Natural ink.
I made a floral embellishment with a Magenta flower stamp (I 0354) which I've had for many years but you can still buy it from The Stamp Man. I stamped the flower with yellow, pink and rust inks then embossed with iridescent Blonde Moments embossing powders. I cut them out and layered them up with a dew drop in the centre.
I assembled the card as you see, adding the 2 cut out butterflies with foam tape.

Hoping that you all had a good weekend and better than mine as it ended up being really expensive because my Dyson washing machine decided to give up the ghost on Saturday and was too expensive to repair so we've had to buy a new machine which is arriving tomorrow.

Have a good week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Mess Challenge - Anything Goes
Fussy and Fancy - Easel Card
Totally Papercrafts - Let's See Those Shapes

Autumn's Mellow Fruitfulness

Hello folks, hope you're all having a good weekend with some time for crafting. I'm wading through a pile of DT creations to get ahead and I'm here today with news of the latest challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges which is something dear to my heart - Shades of Autumn.
I absolutely love these colours which you can probably tell as I've made several things in those lovely warm shades lately. It's a bit strange actually as I love looking at them but can't wear them with my blonde hair as they make me look ill lol.
Here's my creation for your inspiration which is all about the fruits of Autumn.

I stamped the beautiful bird and berries image (Joanna Sheen Giordano) with Archival coffee ink on cream card and coloured it with watercolour pencils. I die cut it into an oval panel and then inked round the edges with beige, pale pink and cinnamon. I made an offset mat for the panel by stamping a larger oval on one side with a Rubber Stampede maple leaf and Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahogany Distress inks.
I then made a background paper by sponging a square of parchment card with Mustard Seed DI and stamping on the maple leaf with Dried Marigold. I added faux stitching around the edges with a fine brown pen.
I made 2 embossed panels for contrast. The first is embossed with the Papermania Triboss gingko leaf folder and inked with Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge DIs. The second was embossed with the Craft Concepts stitches folder and inked with Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahogany DIs.
I then made the leaf embellishment by stamping the maple leaf several times, inked up with Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahogany DIs. When dry, I cut them out and sponged on various Distress inks to give variation in hue, dipped each one in clear embossing powder and heat embossed.
I assembled the card as you see, adding pearls to the leaf spray to look like berries and the text was stamped with Hero Arts Pixie Letters upper and lower case with the coffee ink, inked with Mustard Seed DI and cut out.

We all look forward to seeing your beautiful creations and if you need some inspiration, the DT has some gorgeous artwork which you'll find HERE. Please also don't forget that we're a stamping challenge and no digis are allowed. To be eligible for the prize from Marina of Cottage Crafts or the top 3, we must see stamping on your project.

Have a lovely Sunday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Card Crafters Circle - Autumn Colours
Card Makin' Mamas - Fall
Crafts 4 Eternity - Lots of Leaves
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - Autumn
Stempelsonne Challenge - Autumn

Wings and Things

Morning all, it's Friday again and another case of where did the week go! It's time for a new challenge over at Polka Doodles today and the theme chosen by Jan is Wings and Things. You only have to look at the DT samples to see just how many variations this theme can have plus each of the top 3 for the challenge will be receiving a copy of the Here Comes Christmas CD which gives you tons of images, papers and toppers with a vintage flavour.
I'm still making Christmas cards as you'll see and have made a card in sepia tones with a splash of copper and loads of texture.

The elements on my card are all from the Studio 12 Picknix Collection 2 CD - Gingerbread Twist and I first covered my card blank with the gorgeous grungy holly paper in soft blue and beige.
I then changed the colour of the dove image to brown with a lot of help from my daughter as I'm a bit new to fiddling about on PSE and she's really good at it! I die cut the shape and coloured the image with Promarkers in soft shades. I added it to a mat of glittery copper card.
I made an embossed panel from textured kraft card with the Cuttlebug music score folder, sanded the raised areas and rubbed them with brown ink and then heat embossed it with clear powder before the ink dried.
I made a ruffle from the ginger polka dot paper, piercing holes along the centre and adding a running stitch to gather it up. After adding this to the card, I added Stickles tarnished bronze glitter glue over the stitching.
I made a branch border (doesn't it go well with the sprig the dove is carrying) using the Martha Stewart double edge punch, inked it with Vintage Photo Distress ink then embossed with clear powder.
The finishing touch is the sentiment which I die cut and inked.

Hope to see you enter.
Have a lovely day and a great weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Divas by Design - Use Some Texture
The Paper Shelter Challenge - Distressing
Penny's Paper Crafty - Die Cuts/Punches

Life, Love, Music

Hello folks, I'm back today with my second post which is the finally finished card for the current challenge over at Magenta Style which is my favourite theme - you've guessed it - vintage! How could I resist when I have a treasured collection of the wonderful stamps as when I started stamping some 15 years ago, I was caught by the stamping bug and well and truly bitten by the Magenta ladies direct to paper inking technique and the rest is now history, as they say.
I didn't realise there was a challenge over at Magenta until fellow team mate at FSC, Ellie got chosen for the DT, lucky thing!
I've made a card using one of the cling sets and challenged myself to try and make it work in a different way. Happily, my new Marianne Design die set arrived the other day and inspiration struck!

I was desperate to use the large oval die in the set (isn't it just stunning!) and the main image stamp of CSET 15 Musical is square. Here's what I did to solve the problem.

I die cut the shape first from some cream parchment card and then masked off the areas of the stamp which wouldn't fit in the central oval, inked up with Archival coffee then removed the masking tape and stamped the image at an angle on the die cut shape.
I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, pencils and inks and then inked the embossed edges of the frame with pink, lilac and brown ink.
I then made a background paper by rubbing Antique Linen, Old Paper, Tattered Rose and a touch of Shabby Shutters Distress ink on card cut to the size of my card blank, then stamped the square floral design from the set round the edges with Memories creamy coffee chalk ink. When dry, I rubbed more Tattered Rose DI over the floral section.
I then stamped more floral squares and the main image panel with the Archival coffee ink and coloured the flowers and some of the leaf sprigs on the main image with watercolour pencils. I cut these out.
I assembled my card as you see, adding some vintage torn music score inked with Antique linen and vintage Photo DIs, the cut out flowers with pearl centres and the cut out leaf sprigs on the oval panel to make some areas pop.
I finished off with some of the text from the sentiment in the set cut out and inking before adding.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed thinking outside the box a little here and hope you like the result.
Fliss xx

Parisian Tag

Good morning folks and a big welcome to my new follower Trish as it's so lovely to see you there. I hope everyone is having a good week and managing to stay warm in our very iffy weather.
I'm here today with a tag to show you that's my mid week motivation over at Make My Monday as it's my turn to inspire you this week.
Here's the finished tag which uses my never put away Distress inks in some warm Autumnal shades.

I've inked the tag using cosmetic sponges with Distress inks in the following shades - Crushed Olive, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahogany. I then stamped on an Artistic Outpost flowery flourish from the Serenity set with the Crushed Olive.

I've then added an inked panel embossed with the Cuttlebug fleur de lys folder together with the flourished Eiffel Tower (Prickley Pear), an inked Marianne Design flourish and some text stamped with a Hero Arts alphabet I've had for many years. Everything was stamped with Archival Coffee (but you probably already guessed that lol)

Hope you have a great day.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my tag:
Creative Stamp Friends - Autumn Colours
House Of Gilli - Use 2 Favourite Things (Distress Inking and Inked Dry Embossing)
 Kaboodle Doodles Challenge - Colours Of Autumn
Totally Stampalicious - Anything Goes
There's Magic In The Air - Anything Fall (My Colours)

A Little Serendipity

Hello folks, I'm back posting earlier than expected as I jumped online earlier today for a quick trawl and then got a HUGE surprise when I saw my MMM team mate Mynnette's Technique Tuesday October challenge pop up which is the reason for this post and the title.
You may remember I made an altered shadow box recently for Fashionable Stamping with a sewing theme where I revisited a technique I learnt many years ago from the lovely ladies at Magenta. I called my variation Florentine as the background I made resembles the type of Bargello they do in Florence which simply involves slightly thinner strips and starting the pattern in the middle then moving out to each side, dropping down once each time.
I made a tutorial for blogging friend Buttons and this card was made with some of the resulting pieces so all I had to do to finish off was add a sentiment and the little butterfly.

For my card I used inked and stamped strips made with a variety of leaf and floral stamps in pinks, greens and browns. I trimmed the edges of the finished bargello piece with pinking shears.
I stamped the lovely bird cage collage by Crafty Individuals with Archival coffee ink and coloured it with a mix of Promarkers, pencils and inks. I stamped the B Line Designs butterfly with the same ink and coloured this with a watercolour pencil. The sentiment by Papermania was stamped in brown, die cut and inked.
I assembled the card as you see with a panel of textured kraft card and a scrap of cream crochet lace.

I thought you might also like to see a photo of a piece of framed artwork from my lounge which I made quite some time ago before I had a blog. I call it Joseph's Coat and you'll see why I think!

You might need to click on the photo see see it properly as it's quite large and it wasn't possible to get a larger pic on here.

Hope you like these Mynnette and I'm linking them to Technique Tuesday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Cafe de Paris

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend and managed to stay warm. We actually had to put the heating on for a while which has to be the first time we've done that in September in quite a long while.
I'm excited to tell you today that we have the start of a new monthly theme over at Make My Monday and this time it's my turn to choose. I've picked France so the challenges for the month concern everything FRENCH with the theme for this week being PARIS. This is mostly because this wonderful city is on my wish list as we still haven't managed to get there - a big hint to my OH I think!

I decided to create a Parisian cafe scene for my card and started by making a background paper. I inked the square of paper with Crushed Olive, Victorian Velvet, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold and Mustard Seed Distress inks and then stamped on the fleur de lys and squares design from an All Night Media French clear stamp set (ref 91416) with Archival coffee ink and my trusty Hero Arts manuscript stamp with the Spiced Marmalade.
I then stamped the Eiffel Tower (B Line Designs), the cafe ladies (Art Impressions) and the cafe sign and text (All Night Media) with the coffee ink, coloured the ladies with Promarkers and cut them all out.
I then assembled the card as you see, adding a border punched with the Martha Stewart wrought iron punch which I inked with Vintage Photo DI and embossed with clear powder.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for this challenge and if you'd like some more inspiration, do pop over to the challenge blog as my teamies have risen to this chosen beautifully.
Have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
That Craft Place Challenge - Make Your Own Backgrounds
Card Crafters Circle - Vintage
Frilly and Funkie - Fall Into Fall (Autumn Colours)
Vintage Stamping Challenge - Anything Goes