Vintage Paper Piecing

Hello again, I'm here with my second post today which is to tell you about the new challenge today over at Polka Doodles which is to make a project featuring Paper Piecing - my second go at creating like this in the last week too!
I've made a rather girly card with a lovely vintage lady from the Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD and have combined her with one of my favourite things - roses. Hope you like what I've made.

I printed the image out on to thick cartridge paper and also on to a scrap of deep rose coloured paper with roses printed on it. I then cut just the frock out of the printed paper and added this over the plain image. I coloured the remaining parts of the image with watercolour pencils the trimmed the panel and added it to a mat made from the rest of the rose printed paper.
I cut a square of pink rose printed paper from the Pretty Sweet CD (this is where the other rose paper came from too) then distressed the edges and inked them with deep pink ink.
I die cut a doily with a Marianne Design die using paper from the Cherryblossom Lane CD and cut out some rose sprigs from the Sugarplum Daisy CD. The sentiment was printed and coloured with a pale pink Promarker then added to a die cut mat of the rose paper. I assembled the card as you see, tucking the roses around the image panel.

You might be interested to know that Nikky now has a brand new mini CD available called Fredericka with some rather sassy and chic images for all occasions together with a huge selection of papers, embellies and sentiments. At the moment you also receive a free paper pack when you purchase the CD but don't delay as this is a limited offer and when they're gone, they're gone!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.
Hugs, Fliss xx

All Of A Flutter

Hello everyone, the first of 2 posts today with my creation this week for That's Crafty. I've been playing with the Distress Stains again and have very blue fingers to prove it! I'm hoping it will wear off soon or I'll get some very strange looks in the supermarket!

As you can see, a very bright and cheery creation and I just wish I could say the same for the weather which is still really chilly and more like Winter than Spring.
If you'd like to see how I made the card please do hop on over to That's Crafty where you'll find a materials list and instructions.

See you later.
Fliss xx

Paper Piecing At FSC

Hello folks on a very gloomy Tuesday afternoon. I'm back today with my rather late inspirational creations for the current Fashionable Stamping Challenges theme which is Paper Piecing.
I had a bit of a struggle with this one as I found it impossible to combine the paper piecing with one of my usual hand made backgrounds and finally gave up today after trying several things with my second card (yes, 2 for the price of 1 this time!) and being very unhappy with all of them.

I then made the first card using one of the pieces from left over my workshop demo yesterday which was about using patterned paper in various ways to stamp on. This one is vintage style and having finished it, I then found the inspiration to finish the original card I tried to make so here they both are!

This one uses mostly Paper Cellar papers and I made the central panel with a bargello technique, trimming to size then stamping the Artistic Outpost serenity sentiment on with Memories Artprint Brown.
I stamped the butterfly (B Line Designs) with the same ink on to some polka dot paper and cut it out. I then distressed the edges of a piece of contrasting background paper and stuck this to a kraft card blank. I cut the floral border from a piece of patterned paper and trimmed round the floral section before adding to the card over the stamped panel.
I added the paper pieced butterfly to finish.

Now for something completely different!

A rather funky modern design using some Basic Grey papers that have been floating around in my paper box for quite a while!
I stamped the bird (a Papermania Urban stamp) on to white card with black ink then stamped various portions on to contrasting papers (Basic Grey Ambrosia). I cut out the sections and added them to the image on white card then trimmed to a rectangular panel. I added this to a red mat.
I covered a white card blank with one of the papers from the pad and added a sentiment (Inkadinkado) which I die cut with an X Cut label die and added this to the card with 2 tiny red heart shaped buttons.

The Fashionettes have done rather better than me with their backgrounds so do hop on over for a peek. We're also now sponsored by the lovely Leo of Flonzcraft who is offering a $20 voucher to his online shop for the randomly drawn winner. If you haven't yet visited his shop, please do as you're totally spoilt for choice with a huge array of images.

Back soon,
Hugs, Fliss xx

Garden Spells

Hello folks and a special welcome to my new followers, I'm very pleased and honoured that you decided to join me here.
I'm a little late today with my creation for this week's challenge over at Make My Monday mostly due to the prepping for a workshop I taught this morning which caused a bit of a creative overload lol. I couldn't think what to do until this morning when I woke up with the idea (must have been dreaming about it or something!) and here's the finished card which is quite a clean and simple one for me as you'll see.
The challenge is to make something based on the cover or the story behind Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells book. I based mine loosely on the cover but reversed the colours as I didn't want too much black.

As you can see, I've used the colours of the flowers and leaves on the cover to make my inked background which was created using Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac and Mowed Lawn, all sponged on for a rainbow variegated look.
I then stamped on the wild flower silhouette (The Craft Fairy) and the butterfly which was part of a set free with a magazine a while ago with VersaFine black ink. I added a narrow mat of black card and then stamped the butterfly again twice on a larger white panel with a sentiment from a Kanban set using the black ink and coloured the butterflies with Aquamarkers.
I finished the card by adding the panels to a larger panel of smoky blue card attached to a white square card blank.

I hope you like what I've made and you should hop over to the challenge blog as the Design Team have some gorgeous and varied creations to inspire you.

Have a great week and hope the white stuff is not causing you too many problems.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Sweet Pea For That's Crafty

Hello folks, I have a little warmth to share today in this absolutely freezing weather - doesn't seem like it's nearly April! I hope my creation for That's Crafty will bring a little colour to cheer everyone up.

Over at That's Crafty you'll find a picture of the background paper I made for my rather rustic wall hanging together with a materials list and instructions on how I made it. The technique for the background paper involves 2 materials that I wouldn't normally use together and came about a bit by accident (in common with quite a few of my background techniques!)
My creation also features recycled packaging, one of my real loves, using a plain  notepad back which had 2 handy holes already punched at the top for the back and a strip of corrugated packaging which I tore for a distressed look. 
If you're not yet following, do hop over for a peek as the blog is full of tutorials and unlike a magazine - is completely free!

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

Thanks too Alison (aka Butterfly) who alerted me to the current challenge over at Eclectic Paperie where the eTeam pick is corrugated cardboard. I'd definitely like to link to that.

William Morris Style

Hello again folks, I'm back as I managed to finish off my creation that I just had to do when I saw the theme at Frilly and Funkie for the fortnight chosen by Jenny (aka Buttons) was William Morris Style and I only just about got it made in time as a spare hour or so appeared yesterday and I decided to get exceedingly inky.
I absolutely love William Morris' designs and spent some of the time browsing the gorgeous images on Google trying to decide what to do. Having noticed that a lot of the designs feature acanthus leaves, I hit upon the idea of using my Kaisercraft Twig and Berry Flourish clear stamp set as the flourish is a little like the leaves.
The paper was supposed to be in shades of green but the first step I used with Versamark as resist didn't quite work so I had to overstamp it and this is the result - a bit Christmassy I admit but I like it!

The resist that didn't quite work used Versamark ink with the flourish and I then sponged on Shabby Shutters Distress ink followed by Bundled Sage and Crushed Olive while attempting to make the flourish design stand out but it refused to play! Might be that the card was too absorbent or something.
It did give a good background colour for the layered stamping though and I stamped the flourish first with Forest Moss then Wild Honey. I then added the leafy berry sprig with Aged Mahogany (this came out quite red for some reason!) and the berries with Pine Needles. What do you think - is it William Morris style enough?

My next dilemma was what to do with the paper as I didn't want to cover it up! An A5 size card turned out to be the answer and I made my own from a piece of olive green mottled card (my last of this colour - sigh). Here's the card and you'll have to let me know what you think.

I stamped down the right side with the flourish stamp and VersaFine Spanish Moss ink and the attached a square of pearly red swirl patterned card distressed round the edges.
I cut a panel from my background paper (as it's 21cm square I have enough to make a couple more things with it or I might just keep it to look at lol) and distressed the edges before attaching to the card.
I stamped the Hero Arts bird collage on white card with VersaFine Deep Lagoon ink and embossed this with clear powder. I then coloured the panel with Distress inks and trimmed down. I added this to a deep teal panel leaving a wide border under the image panel and knotting some deep pink wired ribbon round it.
I haven't yet added a sentiment as I prefer to wait until the right occasion appears.

After a rainy start we now have sunshine so I hope you do too!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Monochrome Tones

Good morning folks and welcome to today's post, especially my new followers and so lovely to have you here. We have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and it's one that's always a big challenge for me as it's CAS In Monotone and I'm sure you know how far away from my usual style that is!
I've done my best though and decided on shades of green as I really wish that Spring would come - I did see an uplifting sight in the snow last week though as I spotted 2 trees absolutely covered in pink blossom! Here's my card and hope you like it.

I stamped the wild flower image (The Craft Fairy) on the left side of a square of off white card with VersaFine Spanish Moss ink and smudged a little colour over it with a green pastel pencil. I stamped the sentiment (Inkylicious) with the same ink at the top left side.
I stamped the bird (Stampendous) with the green ink on off white card and coloured the bird with the green pastel pencil. I trimmed the image to a rectangle and added it to an olive green textured card mat with a longer border left at the bottom. I knotted a piece of green twine round the border and attached the panel to the card with foam tape.

The Design Team have created some fabulous inspiration for you this week and we'd all love you to join in.

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Addicted To CAS - Wings
Just Add Ink - Just Add Green
4 Crafty Chicks - Clean and Simple
MilkCoffee Challenge - Go Green
Sisterhood Of Crafters - Green
The Stamping Chef - Good Luck/Green

Feelin' Groovy For That's Crafty

Hello again folks, I'm back with my project for today over at That's Crafty and I can't tell you enough how much I enjoyed creating this.
I saw an article a while back in my favourite US crafting mag, Somerset Studio, about collage artist Julie Nutting who makes the most fabulous collages featuring rather quirky, fun girls with clothes made from patterned papers, magazine and book text and so on. I also have her beautiful book, Collage Couture, which you can see HERE if you're interested.
Julie has now designed a range of cling stamps for Prima and you can imagine my delight to find that Laura of That's Crafty is stocking them. I've now got my mitts on a few and this is the first of my creations. Hope you like it!

The actual colours on my canvas are a little brighter than the photo as my camera struggled a bit in the slightly weird light yesterday.
If you'd like to see how I made it, then please hop on over to the That's Crafty Blog and you'll find a list of materials and all the instructions.

This won't be the only time you see these stamps!
Have a great weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

I'm also going to link this up to Hels' Sunday Stamper latest challenge _ You Make Me Feel Brand New as I so enjoyed playing with my new stamps and also Sir Tim's Inside Out alphabet strip die which is really clever (you get 2 letters of each for the price of 1!)

Easter Chicks

Good morning folks, it's time for a little Easter inspiration from me as I'm here today with details for the new challenge today over at Polka Doodles which with Easter fast looming is to make an Easter creation.
I've gone cute for my card with one of the new Easter digis from Emma Canning which you can find in the Polka Doodles online shop, all ready to download.

I couldn't resist these adorably cute chicks which I printed out on to thick cartridge paper and coloured with watercolour pencils. I die cut the image into a circle and added a green mat made from the scrap.
I had a bit of a challenge here as I'm waiting for some more coloured printer ink and had to rummage in my scraps box for papers in yellow and green. I hit upon the idea of cutting the papers into strips which I added to a square of thin card before attaching to the card blank.
I added a strip across horizontally and finished off with an Easter sentiment cut from a larger one on the Paper Boutique Volume 3 CD.

Have a great day and back in a bit with my That's Crafty project for this week.
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Cards By Lady Anne/Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes
Paper Shelter - Easter
Deep Ocean Challenge - Cute and Cuddly

Pretty In Pink, Blue and Green

Hello folks, hope you're all keeping warm and surviving the current snowy weather. We still have it here as it snowed all day yesterday and most of today, finally stopping in the afternoon when the sun came out!
My poor hubby took over 3 hours to get home yesterday evening having finally had to abandon the car in Brighton and trudge to the station to wait for a train. He went back when the snow stopped earlier and luckily the car was undamaged and started without any trouble. He's been quite lucky compared to some people who ended up spending the night in their cars!
I do have some pics to share of the front and back views from our upstairs windows first thing this morning which are under the details of the card I want to share with you today which will hopefully make you think of Spring despite the weather!

This is another of the cards from the workshop I taught last month where we used the gorgeous Stampendous Garden Gal stamp. The image here was stamped with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and then coloured with Promarkers and a little detail added with pencils. I trimmed the image to a rectangle and added a blue mat.
I made the background with various strips, the blue being dry embossed with a Crafts Too folder, the green is marbled card stamped with a floral flourish with Adirondack Aqua and the pink is flourish stamped with Aqua and Pink Sherbert Adirondack inks. I layered up the strips on a thin piece of card before attaching it to the card blank as if you do this, you can trim off any edges which are not quite straight.
I finished off with a Memory Box bouquet die cut from pink card and a corner in the same card die cut with the Marianne Design Anja corner.

Here are my snowy pics which I snapped because we don't usually get much of the white stuff here as I live about 200 metres from the sea as the crow flies.

Definitely brrrrrrrr here!
Back soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Bunny Zoes's Crafts - Girly
Vintage Stamping Challenges - Spring Is In The Air

Heat It Up!

Morning folks, we certainly need a bit of heating up this morning as Spring has decided to hide away and I woke up this morning to thick frost, -5 and it's now snowing! Eek! I shall be staying in the warm today I think.
I hope you all had a great weekend. I'm a big fan of Dancing On Ice and was thrilled to bits when Beth won as I've been so fed up with Jason's negative comments about her and I thought her version of Bolero with the lovely Dan so full of emotion (I have to confess it brought tears to my eyes).
Anyway, enough waffle and on to the reason for my post which is to tell you about the new challenge today at Make My Monday which has the theme of Heat Embossing. I have to say I struggled a bit with this one as I couldn't make up my mind what to do and have half done bits all over the place. In the end, I created something quite simple which I hope you like.
We also some some lovely new Design Team members and would like to welcome Jan, Laura and Rosie. You'll need to hop over to the challenge blog to see their gorgeous first creations.

I made the butterfly first by stamping the Hero Arts image on deep red crinkle card with black ink and heat embossing it with clear powder. I then cut it out leaving a narrow border of deep red.
I made the background by stamping the Artistic Outpost text on the top right corner of a square of beige card with VersaFine Crimson Red ink and then stamped the Hero Arts script all around with Brilliance Pearlescent Beige ink. I inked the edges with brown ink.
I die cut a circle and embossed it with a butterfly folder free with Papercraft Essentials magazine and inked this with Antique Linen Distress ink and sand pigment ink. I added this to a scalloped mat of deep red paper and assembled my card as you see.

I hope you have a great day.
Stay warm!
Fliss xx

All Of A Swirl!

Hello folks, sorry about the title but I was a bit stumped for something to call it! I hope you're all having a great weekend and also Happy Mothers Day to everyone in the UK.
Today's post is all about Fashionable Stamping Challenges as we've had a bit of a change around and we have a fab new sponsor, the lovely Leo of Flonzcraft.  He is awarding a $20 voucher to his online shop for the lucky winner and you should take a look as he has a fabulous array of stamps in there, some of which I have and will be showing you very soon once I've had a chance to make something up with them.
The theme for this fortnight is Swirls and I'm continuing with my nature inspiration and have created a canvas.

I painted my canvas with spring green acrylic paint and then applied olive green paint through a stencil to make the swirly pattern.
I stamped the butterflies and daisies (both B Line Designs) with Memories Artprint Brown and coloured then with watercolour pencils. I then added touches of Distress inks (Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade) to make the images pop.
I finished off with a sentiment stamp (Artistic Outpost) stamped with the brown ink, die cut with a Papermania die and inked with the lemon Distress ink.

Hope you have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my canvas:
Hotshot Craft Challenge - Anything But A Card
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything But A Card

Secret Garden For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, Friday at last and I'm looking forward to a family weekend as my younger one is coming home from uni for the weekend as it's Mothers Day here in the UK on Sunday.
Just a quickie post to tell you about my creation today for That's Crafty which features one of my most loved stamp sets, a Paper Artsy Hot Pick and rather unusually for me a one layer card - you know how I love my layers lol

The materials and instructions can be found over at the Blog if you're curious as to how it came about and how I created it.

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

Sisters Forever

Hello everyone and a special welcome to my new followers, so lovely to have you here and great to have you on board.
I'm here today with a very vintage piece of Studio 12 inspiration for you which came about because whilst looking for something else, I came across this absolutely gorgeous vintage photo of my husband's grandmother and her sister snapped around 1910. Their father owned a photographic studio which is still around today and my mother in law's cousin, the current owner, recently donated the vintage family photos to the local museum. This photo was one of them and I'm so lucky to have a copy.
The 2 girls look so sweet in their frilly frocks and flowery hats that I couldn't resist making something to show them off looking very pretty. The beautiful papers I used are all from the first Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD - All Sewn Up Collection which is my favourite on the CD.

I started off with an 8x10 inch canvas board which I covered with strips of paper which I tore with the aid of a ruler. It's a really great way to use up some of those leftover scraps as you don't have to use just strips, any pieces can be given the same treatment.
I glued the strips to the canvas board with PVA glue, wrapping ends round the back of the canvas and brushing more glue on top to anchor down any stray sticking up bits. When it was dry it was a little dark for my purpose so I dry brushed the whole board with antique linen acrylic paint. You can see in the second pic that this softens the look beautifully.
I die cut the Tim Holtz weathered clock and inked this up with Gathered Twigs Distress ink then glued it to a mat of the same rose paper used on the canvas board - can you see the contrast?
I cut out the 2 girls from the photo background leaving a small border of the dark grey to make the images pop.
I assembled the canvas board as you see, adding a paper rose and leaves (Prima) together with a vintage butterfly (from my vintage butterfly illustration book) and some inked die cut lace (Tim Holtz Sissix strip die).

I hope you like my little vintage creation and that it might inspire you to create something similar yourselves - I always think the vintage photos are the best and this is a great way to make sure they get put on display rather then hidden away in an album.

Have a great day.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Challenges to play in:
Try It On Tuesday - Time Flies
Created With Love - Anything Goes

More Tales Of The Riverbank

Good morning folks on a very sunny but chilly morning in Sussex. Hoping you have some too and that you had a good weekend, managing to fit in some creative time.
It's time for a new challenge over at Make My Monday and this week the theme is a favourite of mine too - Inspired By Nature so it's time for all those birds, bees and plants and flowers to make a showing.
I decided on another riverbank creation as I wanted to use another of the fabulous bird stamps in my much loved Artemio set (you may remember the gorgeous kingfisher which is from the same set) and this time it was the duck's turn to be inked up. A favourite walking destination is Arundel and there are always ducks on the River Arun tributaries near the castle which is the main inspiration for my card.

The background paper came from my bits box and was created by running a piece of card through the Cuttlebug with a piece of acetate covered with various green Distress inks and Brilliance Pearlescent Lime and Olive misted with a little water. Messy, but great fun and lovely grungy results! I then stamped on some leaves and flowers with Crushed Olive and Bundled Sage Distress inks. I then misted on some Olive Vine Glimmer Mist.
The image panel is thick smooth cartridge paper which was stamped with a plant spray from the Hobby Art CS017D Floral Sketches clear stamp set with Spanish Moss and Olympia Green VersaFine inks, stamping several times before re-inking for a faded effect.
I stamped the duck on the cartridge paper with black ink and coloured him with watercolour pencils. I cut him out and added him to my little scene.
I stamped the greeting from the Hobby Art set directly on the panel and added a dark green mat. I then assembled all the sections on a 5x7 card blank.

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to play in:
Stamping Sensations - The Great Outdoors
Cards For Men - Monochrome
Simply Create Too - St Patrick's Day or Mostly Green

Vintage Couture

Well what do you know! My third post today which must be a record for me and it's because I managed to get a photo of a card finished at last after being in the making since the weekend. Not a DT creation but one just because I wanted too - hooray!
A card with a theme you know I love and a shaped one at that which fits a couple of challenges that I'll tell you about later. Here it is and hope you like it.

I turned to the Robert Adams Fabulous Folds CD for the template for my card shape as I wanted to use my Tim Holtz dress form die and it's a bit too tall for a smaller card. I fell in love with this elegant shape step card as soon as I saw it and thought it perfect for the die cut shape.
I printed it out on to beige marbled card, cut and scored the lines to make the shape and then used the arch part of the card to draw the pattern on to pale aqua card to make my decorated paper - happily the 2 side pieces I had to remove are a perfect fit for the side panels (I do love serendipity lol).
I stamped the panels with An Impression Obsession flourish using Brilliance Ice Blue ink. I added these to the made up card blank.
I then embossed a panel of card from my bits box that had been inked up with Brilliance Pearlescent Beige and Ice Blue with a Crafts Too floral flourish folder. I added this to the card.
I die cut the dress form and accessories from kraft card. I tied blue embroidery floss through the buttons and wound it round the cotton reel, then embossed the dress form with the Crafts Too folder. I dressed the mannequin up with scalloped beige lace and a bow with a pearl decoration.
I added them all to the card together with a gorgeous tag recycled from a sweater I bought from a certain discount store - isn't it fabulous with the beautiful swallow and the make is vintage couture, just made for my card!

Have a great weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Here are the challenges that inspired my creation:
Vintage Stamping Challenges - Blues, Browns and Beige
Top Tip Tuesday - Tag You're It
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Spring Fling

Hello again! My second post of the day which is another of my spring creations (the reason for the title) and this one is to share my little piece of altered art which I my project for today over at That's Crafty.
You'll see that the gorgeous Stampendous Garden Gal has been inked up again, this time with maroon ink to go with the Crafty Individuals pansies which cried out for maroon for a realistic appearance.

If you'd like to know what I used to make it and how I did it, the materials list and all the instructions can be found over at the That's Crafty Blog.

Have a lovely weekend - it's nearly here!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Spring Flowers

Good morning folks, this is my first post for the day (another will be popping up soon!) and you'll notice that I'm fully into Spring mode at the moment as I have another flowery spring creation to share with you here.
The reason for this one is the new Polka Doodles challenge today which has the theme of Spring Flowers so you could either use just flowers or add some to your creation as I have done. Mine is a little wall hanging decoration which I made for Nikky as a sample for the latest Cherryblossom Lane CD and if you caught the recent shows, you might have spotted this on the counter.

To make the wreath, I cut a scalloped circle of grey board and covered this with peach polka dot paper. I then printed out a variety of flowers and leaves from the CD together with the cute hugging bunnies and a butterfly.
I cut them all out (whilst listening to my ipod!) and assembled the flowers and leaves on a second scalloped circle with the centre circle cut out and the resulting frame covered with green patterned paper. I added the butterfly and then sandwiched some yellow wired ribbon between the layers to make a hanging loop.
I added the sweet bunny friends and the text which I printed out, die cut and added brads to.

Hope to see you there and will be back a bit later on!
Have a great day.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to play in:
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons Challenge - Anything Goes With Ribbon
Divas By Design - Anything Goes

Spring Beauty

Hello folks, hoping that you're all having a good week. So sorry I haven't managed to get round to visit for a while, I've been really busy with work and other stuff and it's only just begun to slow down so I should be round to you all very soon.
I just popped online to share one of the cards from the stamping workshop I taught last week because I happened to spot that the new Addicted To Stamps And More challenge is Addicted To Stamps! As this description fits me rather well (as I'm sure you know lol), how could I resist, especially with my passion for making my own stamped backgrounds!

We went very flowery for the workshop using pretty Spring shades as you can see and tried out a new background technique as I decided to experiment with my pastel pencils after spotting an article in a magazine by Kim Dellow and the background paper was one of the results.
I stamped the roses and rosehips from the Stampendous jumbo cling rosehips set with Weathered Wood Distress ink on off white card. I then used my rather dry Tumbled Glass Distress ink pad to add some texture all over. I then scribbled on pink and yellow pastels and rubbed them gently with my fingers to blend them (unlike ink, the pastel washes off straight away too which in my case was very necessary as I had an interview in the afternoon!!!).
I stamped the gorgeous Stampendous Garden Gal with VersaFine Majestic Blue ink on off white card and stamped an extra rose spray with the same ink. I coloured the images with Prismacolor pencils and blended the colours with Zest It.
I added some colour to the roses on the background paper with pastel pencils and again blended lightly with my fingers.
I trimmed the main image to a rectangle and added it to a pink mat then cut out the coloured rose. I assembled the card as you see, adding a Marianne Design Anja lace corner in lilac and twisted the rose around the image panel. I finished off with the sentiment (Hobby Art) stamped with Memento grape jelly on a scrap of rose paper leftover from the crafting session and added to a pink mat.

You may have thought blue a strange choice for stamping the image if you read all my instructions but can you see how well it goes with the Weathered Wood stamped background. I also think it makes the pencil colours really sing out.

See you soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Linking up to Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge - Addicted To Stamps!

A Rose For My Rose

Good morning folks, hoping you enjoyed the weekend which sure disappeared fast as Monday is here again!
We have a new challenge for you today over at Make My Monday and this week the hostess with the mostest is Caz who has chosen a colour theme of Pink and Black.
I have to admit that a tiny bit of green sneaked in on my creation as I couldn't leave the rose leaves completely pink lol. A bit too against nature for me although they do have a pink blush on them.

I wanted to make a fairly vintage style creation so my much loved woman with rose stamp (an elderly Rubber Stampede image) was inked up with black. I coloured the rose and the woman (who I have to admit reminds me of Billie Piper - strange the thoughts you get sometimes!) with pencils and watercolour pencils. I trimmed the image panel and added it to a pink mat then a larger black one and added the stamped sentiment under the image.
I made the background paper by sponging Tattered Rose Distress ink on a square of card then stamped on the Kanban rose with black ink and coloured this with pencils. I then stamped on some script (Hero Arts Old French Writing) with Victorian Velvet Distress ink.
I assembled the card as you see, finishing off with a Marianne Design die cut scalloped border, adding pearls to the flower centres.

Hoping that you have a great day. Mine involves VAT returns - ugh!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Creative Inspirations Paint - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Dies/Punches
Happy Campers - Use a Favourite Stamp

Not Just For Christmas!

Good morning everyone, hope you're all having a lovely weekend. If you're wondering about my post title it's because it's time for a new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and the theme for the fortnight is a colour one - Red, Black and Brown.
My first thought when I saw this was robins and this is how my card came about as I decided that robins and holly aren't just for Christmas lol. You'll have to let me know what you think!

My card is quite a simple one as my first effort went rather wrong and ended up in the bin so I then decided that a simpler style would suit the image and paper scrap I wanted to use much better.
The stripy paper which came from my bits box was made using Barn Door and Frayed Burlap Distress inks repeatedly for a grungy look.
I stamped the robin (Artistic Outpost - Birds Of A Feather) with Memories Artprint Brown on thick cartridge paper and coloured the image with watercolour pencils. I trimmed it down and added a red and a black mat.
I added the stripy paper to the kraft card blank after matting it on black card. I then embossed kraft card with the Cuttlebug holly spray folder and cut it out. I swiped the raised areas with Vintage Photo Distress ink.
I assembled the card as you see, twisting the holly round the image panel.

The Design Team have made a very inspiring array of creations to show just how many things you can create with the colours.
Have fun!

Hugs, Fliss xx

Thanks to Terry, I'm also linking this up to the Artistic Outpost February Referral Challenge

Fashion For That's Crafty

Hello folks, hope you're all ready for the weekend and I don't know about where you are but down here it's fr-eeeeezing!
I'm here today with my project for That's Crafty which is a rather grungy offering because I've been playing with my Distress Stains. I've also used my new Kaisercraft stamps to make a fashion inspired card which I've sent to my younger daughter at Kingston uni as she's in the middle of her final collection designing and is rather stressed out at the moment and I'm hoping this will cheer her up a little.

The materials list and the instructions - not too long I promise, are over at the That's Crafty blog so if you'd like to see how I made it you'll need to hop over there.

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

A Thank You From The Heart

Good morning folks and especially my lovely new followers. A big welcome from me and so lovely to have you here.
My post today is my mid week motivation for this weeks Ribbon and Buttons theme at Make My Monday chosen by yours truly. I decided to make a flowery creation with my recently rediscovered Twinkling H20 paints which I used to paint the flowers although you might not be able to see the lovely pearly shimmer in the photo.

I made the background paper by layer stamping a flourish from an elderly Impression Obsession clear set also recently discovered - can you tell I've been having a bit of a clear out lol. I stamped my chosen flourish with Adirondack Aqua and Pink Sherbet having first inked the card with Milled Lavender Distress ink.
I stamped the flowers (Crafty Individuals) with Memories Artprint Brown and painted them with the H20 paints - English Lavender, Northern Lights and Gold Dust. I cut them out and embossed the reverse with a large embossing ball tool. I stamped the leaves (also Crafty Individuals) with VersaFine Spanish Moss and cut these out.
I embossed a die cut heart (Papermania) with the Cuttlebug Victoria folder and then made a little faux button with a Nestabilities blossom die, embossed with the same folder and pierced holes with a pokey tool.
I assembled the card with some pretty polka dot ribbon and added a sentiment (Hobby Art) stamped on a scrap of card left over from my Monday class demo (a flourish from the same set over card coloured with pastel pencils - more on this technique soon)

So there you have it and hopefully it will encourage you to enter if you haven't yet done so!
Fliss xx

All Buttoned Up

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was rather busy as I'm teaching a workshop this morning and I also had to prep for an interview in the afternoon so please keep your fingers crossed for me - I could do with some good luck and thoughts coming my way!
Today sees the start of our new challenge over at Make My Monday and this week it's my turn to choose the theme. I picked Ribbon and Buttons as there are so many creative ways of using these on your projects - you need only look at the Design team inspiration to see how true this is! Also, can I remind you that we have a DT call out at the moment so if you'd like to join our friendly team, all the info is on the BLOG.

I've made a vintage style card with a fabulous stamp from Just Rite called Grandma's Attic. I stamped the image which is A6 in size on a square of white card with Archival coffee ink leaving the space on the left side.
I inked the image using an acrylic block with Antique Linen Distress ink applied round the edges and Tattered Rose in the centre. I distressed the edges with an emery board and then inked them with Vintage Photo DI.
I stamped just the mannequin portion of the image again with Memories artprint brown and coloured various elements with Promarkers. I then cut them out and added them to the panel with foam tape.
I trimmed a panel of red card with pinking shears and added this to the left side of the card. I embossed a panel of kraft card with a Papermania folder, scored and folded this in half and punched 2 holes then threaded ribbon through and knotted it.
I finished off with some metal buttons and a stamped and die cut sentiment with tiny heart shaped buttons added.

Hope you have a good week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Addicted To Stamps Challenge - Use Kraft
Sugar Creek Hollow - Metal Mania (my buttons are metal)
Stampin For The Weekend - Distressing
Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes

A Little Shabby Chic

Hello again, I'm back with details of this weeks challenge over at Polka Doodles where we'd like to see a bit of Shabby Chic in your creations.
For my inspiration I decided to do some stamping (no surprise there!) and out came my much loved Wonderland Stamp Set. Here's what I made and hope you like it:

I covered my card blank with a variety of paper layers from the Wonderland CD which really is full of shabby chic fabulousness. I distressed all the edges with an emery board.
I stamped Alice with black ink and coloured her with Promarkers. I then made a frame by cutting a circular aperture in a square of paper and stuck this over the image before adding some faux stitching.
I then stamped a row of toadstools to look like a little grassy bank and coloured these with Zig Art and Graphic twin markers. I cut them out round the toadstools and added this to the corner of my card.
To finish off my creation, I added the stamped and die cut sentiment on a mat with faux stitcjing, some black pearls and a butterfly from the Candy Doodles CD.

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

Some challenges for my card:
Happy Campers - Shabby Chic
Anything Goes - Vintage/Shabby Chic

All At Sea For Thats Crafty

Hello folks, hoping you're all having a good week and had a lovely Valentines Day yesterday with hopefully a card from a loved one.
This is my first post of the day to tell you about the project I have over at the That's Crafty Blog today which is a very nautical card just right for any man in your life that likes the sea. You'll need to head on over to the blog for the complete view and a set of instructions on how I made it as it has a slightly unusual element.
Here's a sneak peek for you:

I'll be back a bit later on with my next post as it's Polka Doodles week this week and Team B has a new challenge for you.

See you later!
Fliss xx

Valentine

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good week so far. I'm here today with the valentine card which I've made for my hubby, a fairly simple one for me as he doesn't really like anything fussy.

I stamped the heart (Hobbycraft) on kraft card with crimson red and vintage sepia VersaFine inks and then cut them both out.
I die cut the cherish border (Memory Box) from kraft card and added this to my white card blank. I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts) underneath with the crimson ink.
I added my stamped hearts together with some of the little hearts leftover from cutting out the border to the top of the card with foam squares.

Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow and that you get some valentines sent to you - I'm hoping that my hubby remembers!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
 Craft Your Passion - My Valentine
Creative Creations Challenge - It Must Be Love
Fashionista Challenge - Valentines
Love To Create Challenge - Feelin The Love

Coming Up Daisies!

Hello folks, I'm here today to show you the project that I have on the Polka Doodles and Studio 12 Blog which went up later than planned as I had to make an unexpected trip to Brighton this morning to meet up with a lady at a recruiting agency about a job (some of you may know that I've been searching for more work for a while now) so fingers firmly crossed here for some good news!
Now for my project which is another wall hanging (I seem to be addicted to these at the moment lol) and this one is not only heart shaped but also very floral which is the reason for my title.

It's very easy to make, just requiring a fair amount of cutting out but this doesn't need to be perfect as I inked all the edges.
I re-sized and printed out the pretty bright daisies from the Heavenly Garden Collection on the first Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD. I then cut these out (something to do while you're watching TV or listening to the radio!) then inked the edges with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink.
I die cut a large heart shape from an A4 sheet of acetate and then cut out the centre with one of the smaller dies in the set. I added the daisies with foam tape and a piece of wired ribbon at the top to hang it up.
Simples!


Hope you're having a good day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Make My Monday DT Call

Hello again folks, this post is just to let you know that we're having a DT call over at Make My Monday as we need some more creative juice to join our team and here's what our lovely Jacqueline has to say about it:

"Hello crafters, we are having a DT Call as we are looking to increase our team numbers. We are a very friendly team of ladies with a wide variety of crafting tastes, we each take turns in choosing the weekly challenges and posting the occasional Mid-week Motivation spot. We have a commenting rota so you won't have loads of work to do but you must be prepared to write up the challenge posts and the Mid-week Motivation posts for your hosted challenges."

If you would like to join us here at Make My Monday, here is what we want you to do:

1) Create a card or project - ANYTHING GOES - wow us create something spectacular.
2) Link up your creation using the linky tool below.
3) Please link your post only not your whole blog.
4) Do not back link your creations - they must be made especially for this DT Call.
5) Please do not enter any other challenge with your creation.
And finally
6) HAVE FUN!

So if you'd like to join us, all you have to do is create a gorgeous project (doesn't have to be a card, anything you like) and head over to the Make My Monday blog to link it up.

Good luck!
Fliss xx

Dreamboat

Good morning folks, hope you all had a good weekend despite any horrible weather as we had here which was wild, wet and very windy yesterday, definitely time to stay indoors and craft!
Today sees the start of a new challenge at Make My Monday and this week, your hostess with the mostest is Suzi B who would like you to Add A Charm to your creation.
When you see my card below, the reason for my title will become clear as it was inspired by the beautiful vintage image dreaming of her man who can just be seen at the top of the gorgeous postcard from The Graphics Fairy.

My background for the card came about due to my resolution to use up the bits in my scraps box this year. The pale pink flourish paper was made by applying Victorian Velvet Distress ink to the card with an acrylic block and stamping on a Viva Decor flourish with the same ink. I embossed some dusky pink card with a Crafts Too folder and cut this into 2 strips.
I then made up the background by applying the strips to a square of thin card with double sided tape, adding in some ribbon. I find it easier to do it this way as you can trim any bits off if the strips are not all exactly the same length! I then added this to a pearly pink card blank I made.
I printed out the image - isn't she just lovely with those blushing cheeks - and trimmed the edges with deckle scissors then added to a brown textured card mat. I then attached the silver heart charm with some blue ribbon (recycled from a top with ribbon hangers).
I die cut the gorgeous flower bouquet (Memory Box) from kraft card and darkened the colour by sponging on Gathered Twigs Distress ink.
I assembled the card as you see, adding a metal corner charm and some pearls to the flower centres.

The Design Team have made some fabulous inspiration so don't forget to pop over for a peek.
Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Stampin' For The Weekend - Something Metal
Addicted To Stamps - Pearls and Swirls (my swirls are on the background paper)
Pan Pastel UK Challenge - Love and Romance

Tales Of The Riverbank

Hello folks, hoping you're all having a lovely weekend and managing to fit in some crafting like me.

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and I had a bit of a dilemma with this one as I couldn't decide which of my many stamps on this theme to use! The challenge is Birds which is why I had the struggle but I finally decided on a riverside theme as I wanted to ink up my gorgeous Artemio kingfisher stamp. I made a little piece of artwork that will probably end up on the wall although I haven't yet added the hanging element. Hope you like it.

I made my background paper first with a square of thick watercolour paper which I sprayed with water and then swiped on Distress Stains in Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold. I dried this off and then stamped on the large fern leaf sprig from the Hero Arts Fern stamp and die set with VersaFine Spanish Moss. I stamped some on scrap paper first for a faded effect.
I cut a slightly larger square of recycled greyboard and inked round the edges with Distress Embossing Ink then heat embossed with Fran-tage Aged Green Embossing Enamel. I distressed the edges of my background paper with an emery board and added this to the greyboard panel.
I stamped the kingfisher on thick smooth cartridge paper with Memories black ink and then coloured him with Tombow markers and pastel pencils. I cut him out to leave a narrow off white border.
I made the distressed panel by applying Tumbled Glass Distress ink to a rectangle of the cartridge paper direct from the pad and then stamped on the Kaisercraft Wood Panel stamp with Weathered Wood DI and embossed with the Cuttlebug distressed stripes folder and swiped the ink on the raised areas.
The embellishments were made by  stamping the fern with the moss ink and the dragonflies with VersaFine Deep Lagoon. I then coloured the 2 dragonflies with Tombow markers then cut them out with the die and sponged with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with sparkly powder. The fern was die cut and because of the large white areas left, I sponged on some Crushed Olive DI to make them blend in.
I assembled the panel as you see with a mix of double sided and foam tape.

The Design Team have a gorgeous array of very different creations on the catwalk so don't forget to pop over for a look. We also have our usual lovely sponsor, Marina of Cottage Crafts with a voucher to spend in the online shop for our randomly drawn winner.

Have a lovely Sunday.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my recycled art panel:
Craft Us Crazy - Get To Cutting (die cutting in my case)
Sarah Hurley Challenges - Anything But A Card
Divas By Design - Winged Things
Stamping Sensations - Fur and Feather (think you can see I have feather tee hee!)

Roses For My Love for That's Crafty

Hello again folks, I'm back again as promised with this time only a sneak peek I'm afraid of the project I have over at That's Crafty today which is my Design Team creation complete with a list of the materials and how to make it.
As mentioned yesterday, it's hearts all the way at the moment and this one is no exception as I've made a little heart shaped wall hanging piece which started off as a sheet of grey board packaging.

If you'd like to see the whole thing, as I'm hoping you will, then you'll need to hop over to the BLOG and I'd be so pleased if you would. It's worth it to see some of the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team's creations.

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

The Dance Of Life

Hello folks, hope you're having a good week so far. I'm here today with the first of quite a few projects you'll be seeing over the coming week which all feature hearts - no guesses why that is lol
Today's project is a shabby chic, vintage style card which uses some of my favourite colours for vintage creations - burgundy and beige with of course, loads of texture.

The main vintage image on my card is from a collage sheet called Dance by June of Dezinaworld - some of you may remember June's hacking problems of a while back which forced the closure of her online store but I'm very happy to say that she's now in the process of rebuilding the store which you can find HERE. Well worth a look as there are already some gorgeous collage sheets there.
I made a background paper using Glimmer Mists in Vintage Pink, Emperor Gold and Olive Vine on beige card and then stamped on the flower (from a set by Time To Stamp called Glamour Girls from the Craft Fairy) with Crimson Red and Spanish Moss VersaFine inks. I then die cut the heart shape with a large Go Kreate die set. I inked the edges with a burgundy VersaColor ink pad.
I embossed a square of beige parchment card with a Papermania embossing folder then distressed the edges with an emery board and my fingers. I did the same with a slightly larger square of burgundy textured card and layered these to my card blank with some beige rose patterned lace.
I printed out the roses (from a rose postcard - The Graphics Fairy) in 2 sizes and cut them out. I stamped the sentiment (Penny Black 3641F full of life) with the crimson ink on beige card and cut this out.
I assembled the card as you see using both double sided and foam tape for depth.

I'll be back tomorrow with my project for That's Crafty - cue more hearts!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Sugar Creek Hollow -  Romantic Love
Deep Ocean Challenge - Love and Lace
Top Tip Tuesday - Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Crafty Cardmakers - Vintage Love

A Little Persuasion

Good morning folks, hoping you had a better weekend than me as I got woken up at 7am yesterday by my hubby saying the boiler wasn't working so we had no heating or hot water and I had to get up! Don't know about you but I would rather have stayed snuggled up under the covers! Instead, I had to get up and put layers of clothes on to go and clean out and feed the bunnies whilst hubby looked for a solution on the internet. Happily a few hours later all was sorted but it took ages for the house to warm up as yesterday was really cold.
Anyway, enough waffle and on to my reason for this post which is to tell you about the new challenge over at Make My Monday which has been chosen by Mynnette who is challenging us to create a project based on the cover of Jane Austen's Persuasion, which you'll find under my card. When I saw the cover, my thoughts immediately flew to my Stampendous Parasol Portrait stamp and here's the resulting card:

I've made a step card using a template from the Robert Addams Fabulous Folds CD and made my background papers by applying Victorian Velvet Distress ink to the card using a large acrylic block. I did this several times in order to achieve a shabby chic effect and then used both stamps from the Stampendous jumbo cling rosehips set and VersaFine Smokey Gray ink to add the flowers. I coloured these with pastel pencils and added them to the card sections.
I then stamped the parasol portrait with the grey ink and coloured her with the pastel pencils. I trimmed the panel and added this to a green die cut panel (Papermania set) which I embossed at the base with the sentiment folder from a very elderly Cuttlebug border folder set called With Love.

The Design Team have made some very varied creations based on the cover so do pop over for a peek as I promise you, it's not as hard as you think!

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Catz - Anything But Square
Moving Along With The Times - Punch It Out

Wishing Upon A Star

Morning folks, I think I'm going to be last past the post with this card which I was inspired to create by the Pan Pastel UK Challenge who are Seeing Stars and also Simon Says Stamp And Show who are also seeing stars. Finally too, an entry for my fellow DT member at MMM, Mynnette's Inkspirational Challenge.
I almost didn't finish my card as we had a meeting in our house yesterday which is a bit like running a hotel and we went out for a meal in the evening - however, guess who ate so much she didn't feel like any breakfast this morning!
Enough said I think and here's my finished creation:

The card came about as I rediscovered a piece of swirly background paper in my scraps box which I made a while ago using the Complex Creation unmounted stamp set by Artifacts (from The Stamp Bug) and stamped with pink and purple shades of VersaMagic inks. I tore the edges and layered it up with some torn edged striped mauve vellum and some lavender embossed paper which I've had for a very long time (I'm in a use it or lose it phase!)
I stamped the glamorous star (Paper Artsy) with VersaFine Imperial Purple, coloured her with Promarkers and cut her out. I layered her on to a die cut star, inked with Pink Grapefruit VersaMagic and stamped with one of the swirly stamps using Concord Grape VersaMagic ink.
I finished off with the text created with my Dymo machine.

Hoping you have a lovely weekend.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Pan Pastel UK Challenge - Seeing Stars
Simon Says Stamp And Show - Seeing Stars
Sunday Stamper - Wishing Well - Wish
Inkspirational Challenge - Anything Goes (finally Mynnette!)

Hearts And Flowers

Well, here I am again with my second post for the day which is all about the new challenge over at Polka Doodles today which has what is, for me at least, a rather romantic sounding set of requirements as this week we would like to see

Lots of Layers Plus Pink and Red

As it brought out a bit of romance for me, I immediately thought of roses which I really love and here's the resulting card.

Everything I've used on my card comes from the latest CD, Cherryblossom Lane. I cut panels of various pink papers and tore the edges then inked them with fuchsia pink before adding them to my card blank.

I then hand cut 2 heart shapes from red pearlised card and embossed one with a Cuttlebug hearts folder. I added a decoupaged rose image from the CD which I layered up with foam tape and I printed out the lovely sentiment on to pink stripy paper from the CD and hand cut this into a heart shape.

Hoping that you have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Travels With My Aunt For That's Crafty

Hello folks and a big welcome to any new readers here, lovely to have you and to be able to share my creations with you all.
I have a sneaky peek here of my project for today for That's Crafty and you'll need to head over to the Blog if you'd like to see the whole card and details of how I made it.

This one has a bit of a country feel to it (sort of Country Diary etc) but you'll need to hop on over if you're interested in seeing how the card came about - a bit of meandering was involved lol

Back later with my next post for the day - I'm a busy bee at the moment!

Fliss xx