Flight Of Fancy

Hello there, I'm back with my second post today because as you may remember, I won the Stamping Sensations March challenge (and a lot of gorgeous Crafty Individuals stamps too - happy dance followed!) and Brenda invited me to be the Guest Designer for May. To my complete delight, the theme is Embossing and Texture and I'm sure you know how much I love that!
I decided to make a little wall hanging piece for my project as whilst rummaging for something else just over a week ago, I found some decorated paper I made a few years ago on the one day workshop with Kim Thittichai (of Hot Textiles fame) where we made papers using painted bondaweb and other things. This particular paper was begging to be featured on something a little more permanent than a card so this is how my wall hanging came about.

 
There are several pics so that you can see the detail. As you see, the background paper is quite strongly coloured. It has a painted background with added mulberry papers, scraps of iridescent fabric, stamping and gold leafing pen. The overall effect is more textured than you can see in the photos but you can probably get a good idea. I glued the panel to a square of recycled packaging grey board.
I decided on pastel colours for contrast and pale pink seemed to work best. I die cut the Tim Holtz Sissix Alterations bird cage from strong card and embossed with a mix of Ranger Weathered White and Fran-tage Shabby Pink Embossing Enamel and then rubbed the edges with Bronze Gilding Wax.
I stamped the bird (Kanban) with black ink and painted him with Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers Distress Stains, then cut him out.
I die cut some flowers (Memory Box Petal Party) and some leafy sprigs (a very old Sizzix die) and coloured these with Distress inks and Versacolor inks. I layered the flowers up and added embroidered flowers to the centres.
I added these to my background as you see, finishing off with a stamped and inked sentiment (Inkylicious) and some more embroidered flowers (I cut these from some trim I bought from Paper Artsy a while back).

Thanks again to Brenda and the girls for picking my Tales of the Riverbank card as the winner - I was so thrilled to receive all those lovely stamps and will be making something with them very soon.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my wall hanging:
Stampin' for the Weekend - Die Cuts And/Or Punches
Die Cuttin' Divas - Anything Goes
Inky Chicks - Shabby Chic

In An English Country Garden

Hello folks, hope you're all having a lovely weekend. Sorry about the title here but I couldn't resist and you'll see why when you see my card which is my inspiration for the new Fashionable Stamping Challenges theme which is everyone's favourite - Anything Goes!
I decided on a card this time because I wanted to ink up some of the gorgeous vintage stamps made by our sponsor, Flonzcraft, and I've actually used 4 different sets to make it so you'll be able to see how well they go together. Without further ado - here it is!

You can probably see why I chose the title now as I made a little scene with a framing technique to give added dimension to my creation.
I cut a piece of thick cartridge paper slightly smaller than my card blank and stamped the sweet lady with bird from the Flower Kingdom set on the left bottom corner with Memories Artprint Brown ink. I stamped the floral corner from the Have Some Fun set in the remaining corners with the same ink and the sentiment from the Countrylife Pastoral set in the centre of the right hand side.
I painted all the images with a mixture of Distress Stains and watercolour pencils. I then stamped the garden image from the Flower Kingdom set just above the centre on a second square of card and coloured this in the same way.
I then used a circle cutting set (Creative Memories) to cut an aperture in my main stamped paper, pausing in the cutting so that when I trimmed around the image and sentiment, they would be part of the frame. I then inked this with Shabby Shutters Distress ink and stamped a flourish from the Damask Floral Curves set all over with Memento Pear Tart ink to add texture.
I stuck the aperture panel over the garden image panel, using foam tape behind the main image and sentiment for dimension and added the panels to the card blank to finish.

The Fashionistas have a fabulous array of creations for you on the catwalk this fortnight so do hop over for a look.

I'll be back (now I sound like Arnie!!!) shortly with my second post today as I'm lucky enough to be Guest Designer at Stamping Sensations this month so see you very soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Little Bird For That's Crafty

Good morning one and all to my followers old and new, hoping that you're all having a good week and I don't know about the rest of you but I'm really glad we have a long weekend here in the UK as I sure need it.
This week has been so busy with work and stuff I've had very little crafting time so my creation for That's Crafty today had to be a quick one. I'm hoping that you won't be able to tell though!

Isn't this little chap so sweet - I just love his fluffy feathers. This has to be the easiest card I've made in a long time and if you'd like to see just how easy, pop on over for a look as I promise you it really is easier than it looks!

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

A Secret Garden Canvas

Hello folks, hoping that you all had a lovely weekend with some sunshine as we did - it really was sunny Sussex for once!
The only slight down point was that I had to take advantage of the weather to get my washing out of the way after months of having to stick it in the dryer.
Today we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and the theme this week is Anything But A Card so there are loads of things you could create - just take a look at the Design Team line up for some inspiration.
I decided to finish off a box canvas which I started a few weeks back but couldn't finish at the time as I couldn't make anything work. I hope you like the finally finished version and here it is.

I painted the canvas with aqua acrylic paint and then used a Prima stencil with red and gold paints to add a pattern round the outside. I then swiped gold paint around the edges.
I stamped the bird (Paper Artsy Hot Pick HP1005) with Black Soot Distress ink and embossed with clear powder and cut him out.
I added him to the canvas with a variety of paper flowers with pearls added to the centres. I then stamped the flourish from the set with Fired Brick Distress ink, stamping several times without re-inking and stamped the text on with Memories black ink. I trimmed this to a panel and added it to the canvas to finish off.

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my canvas:
Creative Inspirations Paint - Anything Goes
Dream Valley Challenges - Things With Wings
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes

Birthday Bling

Hello again, I'm back as promised with the details of the new challenge over at Polka Doodles today which was chosen by doodler, Alethea, as today is her birthday.

Happy Birthday Alethea - hope it's a good one!

Alethea would like to see birthday projects with some added bling which in my case is quite subtle as it comes from some glitter card.

 

My image is the lovely Libby the gypsy girl from the new mini CD, Fredericka, recently launched by Nikky and she's my favourite on the CD. I think she looks so sweet with her basket of mushrooms although I hope she's not going to eat them as some of them appear to be toadstools!

I printed her out on to thick smooth cartridge paper and then coloured her with my new obsession, Distress Stains as they're so wonderfully easy to paint with and you can mix the colours to make even more shades. I usually dab them on to a ceramic plate and pick the colour up with a paintbrush. I die cut the image with a Papermania frilly die and added it to a mat of pink glitter card die cut with the next size up die in the set.

I covered the 8x8 card blank with some pretty ditsy patterned blue paper from the same CD and added a central border of mushroom paper, trimmed along the scalloped edge in the pattern and added to a glitter card mat. Before sticking the border in place, I tied some pink chiffon ribbon round and finished with a bow.

I added a cream doily, matted the sentiment from the CD on more glitter card and finished off my design with a lacy design metal butterfly (these were a bargain from The Range - only £1 for 4!).

I hope you have a lovely day and a great weekend.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafty Ribbons - Anything Goes With Ribbon
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Sisterhood Of Crafters - Free For All

Soar Canvas For That's Crafty

Hello folks and a special welcome to my new followers, so lovely to see you here and that you've chosen to follow my art journey.
This is my first post today to tell you about the project I have over at That's Crafty which this week is a butterfly canvas and you'll find all the details over at the blog with a complete materials list and instructions on how I made my creation which I hope you like.

As you'll see, a lot of fluttering going on here and I hope you'll pop over to see how I made it.

Back later with my second post about today's Polka Doodles challenge.
See you soon.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my canvas:
Happy Campers - Use A Mask or Stencil (I used a Dylusions leaf stencil with Paper Artsy Grunge Paste)
Through The Craftroom Door - Anything Goes
Country View Crafts Challenge - Butterflies

Fancy Folding

Hello folks, another gorgeous sunny day but guess who'll be stuck indoors working - sigh! As it's Monday, we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and this week the theme is Fancy Folds, so you can make whatever you like as long as it has more than one fold on it.
I actually started something else for this one but due to a busy weekend, couldn't quite get it finished in time. After a lot of head scratching, I decided to share one of my samples made for Nikky from the Cherryblossom Lane CD as it's an easel card and fits the theme. It's also very springlike, perfect for the current weather which has finally decided to be Spring!

I printed out the cute bunny cyclist and die cut the image with a Nestabilities scalloped circle die then added this to a circular mat of spring green paper from the CD.
I made an easel shape card blank from a square scalloped 8x8 size white card and covered the base and front with papers from the CD having trimmed both bottom edges with a Papermania emboss and cut scallop border die.
I added a central border to the base of toning floral paper and finished off with a die cut and matted sentiment cut out with a Nestabilities scalloped oval die. I used some flower shaped buttons to make the stand. 

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Scrappy Frogs - Think Spring
One Stop Craft - Not Square

Sentimental

Hello everyone, hope you're all having the fabulous sunshine that we have on the South Coast this weekend, it really does feel like Spring has arrived and I actually only have 2 layers of clothes on instead of 4!
Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges chosen by fellow fashionette, Esther, and it's Sentimental so there must be a sentiment on your creation. We are sponsored as always by the lovely Leo of Flonzcraft who will be giving a $20 voucher to his online shop for the randomly drawn winner - so what are you waiting for - you have to be in it to win it!
I've made a fairly clean and simple card (well, for me anyway lol) as I wanted to show the gorgeous sentiment by Lindsay Mason to its best advantage.

I made the background paper with some tiny flowers from the Prima mini Meadowlark stamp set, layer stamping 2 of the flowers with Tattered Rose, Wild Honey, Stormy Sky and Shaded Lilac Distress inks on cream card and covered my card blank with this.
I stamped the bird (Kaisercraft Bonjour stamp set) with Archival Coffee ink on the right side of a strip of thick cartridge paper and stamped the sentiment (Lindsay Mason Messages 1 by Personal Impressions) with the same ink. I then painted the bird with Distress Stains (Spun Sugar, Dried Marigold, Picked Raspberry, Tea Dye, Rusty Hinge, Pumice Stone and Crushed Olive) - I can't get enough of these at the moment as they're so easy to paint with.
I added the painted panel to the card and then added scalloped borders on either side, die cut from hyacinth blue card with a Sizzix die (658954 Borders). Done!

My fellow fashionettes have an amazing array of creations lined up for you on the catwalk so dop pop on over for a look and hope you can enter as we'd love to see you there.
We also have a fabulous guest designer with us this time and it's none other than my former fellow Make My Monday design team mate, Suzanne of Suzanne's Papercrafting. She's made a really gorgeous project for us too.

Have a great Sunday.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Elizabeth's Hope For That's Crafty

Good morning everyone and thank you all so much for your kind comments about my rather difficult couple of weeks which I really appreciate. I'm slowly catching up and will hopefully will catch up with you soon if I haven't got to you yet.
Today is my turn for the tutorial over at That's Crafty and I've been playing with those Distress Stains, rather a lot this time, to do some very relaxing colouring. I've also inked up the new stamp Laura sent me which was a must have as soon as I saw it as I love Jane Austen and was thrilled to see the new collection by Indigo Blu which features my absolute favourite, Pride and Prejudice.

Isn't she pretty? I just love all the flowers which I think go so well with the anemone corner stamp. You can find all the details of what I used over at the blog and hope to see you there.

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

A Gift Set For Studio 12

Hello folks, I hope you're all having a good week so far and when this post pops up, I'll be rushing around doing the final preparations for a workshop I'm teaching this morning (I'm hoping to show you my samples soon too).
I'm here today to tell you about the project I have over at Polka Doodles and Studio 12 which is an idea for gift giving with a matching card perfect for a dear friend.

You'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to see how I made it, together with the rest of the pics. It's one of those creations that's really easy when you know how!

Just the thing to make for a special friend whether for a birthday or just to say thanks for being a friend.

Hugs, Fliss xx

A challenge for my gift set - Crafty Cardmakers - Tag/Card + Gift Wrap/Bag/Box

Nature Walk

Hello everyone, welcome especially to my lovely new followers, so glad to see you and will be over to visit as soon as I can.
My bad news saga is continuing unfortunately as my hubby has been borrowing my car because his is in the garage for a second day (dreading the bill!) and went outside this morning to find that some very nasty vandals had decided to pull out my poor car's wing mirrors in the night and they were dangling on each side by the wire connections. As you can imagine, there was quite a bit of blue air here for a while lol.
He did manage to fix them back in eventually after searching the internet for instructions and also had to postpone his scheduled appointment with a local vicar where he's church architect. He finally got there around an hour late! I'm just thankful he's handy with fixing things as I'm totally useless with stuff like that.
Anyway, enough drama and on to the cards I have to show you today which are from the last workshop I taught and I decided to post them as I saw the latest challenge at Top Tip Tuesday concerns stitching, Say It Isn't Sew! - Not Machine Stitching. My 2 cards both feature faux stitching which I have a tendency to make a bit wonky as my machine sewing would most definitely not be straight!

When we made these cards, the weather was rather dull so I decided on bright and cheery which I thought would work well with the silhouette images stamped in black.
Most of the papers I used are from a Basic Grey Ambrosia pack that's been in my stash for ages so I thought I should use it up. The first card has strips of coordinating papers attached to a piece of thin card and trimmed. I then stamped the trees (Kanban) with black ink giving them depth by stamping the centre image slightly lower. I then made holes round the panel edge with a pokey tool (Tim Holtz) and drew on the faux stitches with a fine black pen. I find if you let the pen run from one hole to the next, it looks much more realistic (one of my class ladies actually thought we were going to use a sewing machine much to her horror!).
I covered the card blank with some toning paper (Polka Doodles) having added faux stitching as before. I added a panel of grey card and a die cut sentiment decorated with pearls to finish.
The second card involved cutting the paper strips attached to the thin card in the opposite direction and then sticking them to further card using a variation of a bargello technique (my pattern only uses one side of the traditional design). I then stamped on the silhouette wildflower (The Stamp Fairy) and a butterfly free with a magazine with black ink. I added the panel to a blue mat.
I covered the card blank with paper I added rows of faux stitching too and added a further border with more faux stitching matted on blue (both papers are Polka Doodles). I finished off with a sentiment from the Kanban set.

Hope to see you all soon.
Fliss xx

Blue and Brown at Make My Monday

Good morning folks, hope you've all been good whilst I've been away lol. Thank you for all the lovely comments you left for me too.
My break turned out to be a bit of a disaster as my poor hubby was taken out of action for 2 days in the middle with a sick bug which fortunately he kept to himself and then my father in law went down with a nasty cold which as he's diabetic was a bit of a nightmare! I've now come back for a rest lol.

We have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday today, chosen by Caz, with the theme of Blue and Brown as she loves colour challenges. I have to say that I love this one as it's one of my favourite combinations and I hope you like what I made.

As you can see, quite a lot of shades of brown here with just a bit of blue as I was aiming for a vintage effect.
To make the background, I wrapped a strip of Tim Holtz Sketchbook tissue tape coloured with Stormy Sky Distress ink round a piece of Paper Cellar paper and stuck this to the card blank. I added a piece of brown crochet lace at the top of the tape.
I die cut a doily with a Papermania die and inked this with Vintage Photo Distress ink. I then added strips of blue and brown Paper Cellar paper to a piece of thin white card, die cut a circle from it and added faux stitching with a pokey tool (Tim Holtz) and a fine brown pen.
I stamped the butterfly (B Line Designs) with Memories Art Print Brown ink and coloured this with various brown Distress inks and cut the image out.
I assembled the card as you see, adding some gem circles and a layered flower with a brown glittery die cut centre to finish.

I'll be round to visit as soon as I can, once I've caught up with all the chores I have to do and will hopefully see you soon.
Thanks to everyone who entered my challenge theme of last week - a stunning array of entries and fab to see so many!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
Crafts 4 Eternity - Wonderful Wings
Sugar Creek Hollow - Stamp It
My Time To Craft - Up In The Sky
Glitter 'n' Sparkle - Stitching - Real or Not
Country View Crafts Challenges - Butterflies

April Showers

Here I am again with details of the new challenge over at Polka Doodles which is to create something inspired by April Showers.
I immediately thought of the sweet image by Emma Canning called Rainy Days which you can buy on her own or as part of the new Digi Stamp Heaven CD which has loads of Emma's images and sentiments.
Here's my card:

I printed the image out on to thick, smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with a mix of Aquamarkers and pencils. I die cut the image to an oval, added faux stitching round the outside with a pokey tool and brown fine liner then inked round with a brown ink pad.
I covered the card with brown pinstripe paper and then added panels of blue paper with faux stitching added. I finished off with a die cut sentiment treated in the same way as the image panel and a paper flower with a faux button centre (Studio 12 Picknix Collection 1 CD).

This is the last of my posts scheduled to pop up whilst I'm away and I'll see you all tomorrow.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Tres Chic For That's Crafty

Hello again everyone, today's my turn to post over at That's Crafty and I've been playing with my Prima doll stamp again, this time to make a tag. I've used Promarkers, as frankly I need the practice and colours that are quite muted and eerily similar to those in my wardrobe at the moment!
Here's what I created:

If you'd like to see what I used and how I made it, then please hop on over to the blog and you'll find everything you need there.

Have a great day and back shortly with another post - I know, busy, busy!
Hugs, Fliss xx

Mid Week Motivation For Make My Monday

Hello folks, another scheduled post here which I hope has popped up as it should. It's to tell you about my Mid Week Motivation post over at Make My Monday for the current challenge with my theme of Create Your Own Background.
Here's the card I made and if you'd like to see how I made the background for it, please hop over to the challenge blog and you'll find a tutorial with all the details. It's really easy to make when you know how, I promise!

Hope to see you there!

Hugs, Fliss xx

Springtime In Paris

Good morning folks, hope you all had a lovely weekend and with the sunshine we had here. Still very chilly but lovely and bright so I can't complain.
This post is popping up as we're on our way to Bournemouth for a few days with our in laws, something that has been a family tradition around Easter time for a while now, although this is the first without our girls so it will be a bit strange!
Today sees the start of a new challenge at Make My Monday and as I chose the theme it's to do my favourite thing (well, you know me!) Create Your Own Background so no patterned papers, just something you did yourself.
Here's my rather floral creation (still dreaming of Spring):

The floral background paper here was made by simply spraying cream card with gold Glimmer Mist and then stamping on the flower (Time To Stamp) with Victorian Velvet and Crushed Olive Distess inks.
I made a panel with green pastel paper embossing with a Darice long folder with butterflies and swirls.
I stamped the Stampendous image on cream card and inked with Crushed Olive, Victorian Velvet and Vintage Photo Distress inks and then added colour to the flowers with Promarkers and pencils. I trimmed the image panel and added to a deep pink mat.
I assembled the card as you see, adding some Spring flowers to embellish.

I hope you enter the challenge and if you're stuck for background ideas, if you click on the Tutorial page at the top of my blog, you might find a technique to inspire you.

Hugs, Fliss xx 

Art Journaling At FSC

Hello folks, hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far. We actually have some sunshine for the second day in a row and it's not quite so chilly today. I'm hoping this keeps up as today is the last day before a short family break. We're all off to Bournemouth for a few days with the in laws so the next few days will be scheduled posts which I hope will pop up as planned.
Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and it's been quite a challenge for me as Ellie picked something I've never done before, Art Journaling, and it took me a while to pluck up the courage to start something.
In the end, I decided to start a journal to show what inspires me as the ladies on my classes and my crafty friends often ask me where my inspiration comes from and it's very difficult to explain the way my brain works lol. My first page includes some of the elements that set my creative juices flowing and you'll have to let me know what you think.

I've created my page on an A4 sheet of watercolour paper because I couldn't find a journal with strong enough pages so will be binding my pages together when I have enough.
I made the background with Distress Stains - Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters, Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade, Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet. I then stamped on the wild flowers (Artifacts by The Stamp Bug) with Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint and Wild Honey Distress inks.
I added a border round the edge with Vintage Photo (Andy Skinner Batik Garden). I then stamped the butterfly from the set with Archival Coffee ink together with some of the butterflies from the Crafty Individuals Elements set CI - 231. I coloured the large butterfly with Spiced Marmalade DI and then cut them all out.
I stamped the background stamp from the Batik set with Worn Lipstick and Vintage Photo DIs then coloured it with Victorian Velvet. I trimmed the image, distressed the edges and inked them with the Vintage Photo.
I stamped the text from the set with the coffee ink, tore this out and distressed the edges further. I die cut a doily (Papermania) from some Craftwork Cards kraft printed paper and assembled everything as you see, distressing the edges of the page.
As you can see, I couldn't resist some layering on the page, although it isn't heavy so should hopefully be Ok when I finally assemble the pages (when I've done them, that is!)

We have a fantastic guest designer with us for this challenge, the amazing Kate Crane, whose journaling I'm sure you're familiar with. The Fashionettes have also risen to the challenge with some gorgeous creations so do hop over for a look.
As always, our sponsor, the lovely Leo of Flonzcraft, is offering a fabulous $20 voucher to his online shop so do enter if you can.

A hello from me here to my lovely new followers and thanks for deciding to be here.
I'll be back next Saturday hopefully renewed from the break and I know I'll be raring to create again!

Before I go, I would like to say a huge thanks to the team at Stamping Sensations as I found out on Friday that I won the March challenge with a prize of rather a lot of fantastic Crafty Individuals stamps and did a happy dance when I saw this. Thanks ladies!
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Infinite Possibility For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week and are not suffering too much from the current chill and snow which we've even had here on the South Coast.
I'm here today to tell you about my project today over at That's Crafty which is a steampunk style card which came about because about a week ago I joined Pinterest  and a bit of surfing turned up some very inspiring steampunk creations.
Here's what I made:

If you'd like to see the materials list and all the instructions, you'll find them over at the blog and it would be great to see you there.

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

Stormy Skies

At least on my card that is! Hello everyone, hope you're having a lovely Easter long weekend so far and managing to fit some crafting in.
I have a card to share that is my inspiration for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday which is to make a Clean and Simple One Layer Card and mine is for my brother in law's birthday tomorrow. Perfect as he doesn't like fussy and in common with the men in my hubby's family likes the sea so here's what I came up with.

I had to scan my card as I was a bit late finishing it yesterday and had to put a sheet of blue paper round it as my scanner made it look like the fishing village and greeting were floating in the middle of nowhere!
I used a 7x5 card blank and stamped the Michael Powell image on with Memories black ink. I watercoloured the image with a mix of Distress Stains and Aquamarkers and then stamped on the Dovecraft sentiment. This was originally meant to be stamped in black but I picked up the Archival olive green by mistake and serendipity struck again as I think it looks better then black probably would have!

I hope you all got lots of nice chocs and that you didn't finish them all off at once lol

Have a great day.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Daffodil Fairy

Hello folks, hope you're all having a lovely Easter weekend and those of you with the white stuff are keeping warm. We haven't had more than a sprinkle here thank goodness although it's still so chilly the poor daffodils don't want to show their faces lol
To make up for that, I decided to make something for the current Alphabet Challenge which has reached D and the theme of Daffodils was picked by fellow MMM DT mate Caz. I had a bit of a dilemma as I don't have any daffodil stamps or images so a search on the internet was necessary and I found a gorgeous vintage postcard to use as the basis for my card. Hope you like my bright and cheery creation.

I made the background paper by sponging Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink on a square of card and then stamped the Hobby Craft damask design on with Mustard Seed Distress ink. I distressed the edges of the paper and curled them up slightly.
I distressed the edges of the postcard with an emery board and inked with VersaColor Marigold ink before adding to a green mat with edges distressed in the same way.
I fussy cut a spray of vintage daffodils to make a floral embellishment and added to the card wrapping layered green and yellow ribbons around the background paper with the flower stalks tucked under. I wound the floral embellishment round the postcard before sticking it on to give a dimensional effect.

Have a lovely day tomorrow.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
The Alphabet Challenge - D for Daffodils
Crafty Ribbons - Anything Goes With Ribbon
Paper Crafting Journey - Ribbon or Lace
Sisterhood Of Crafters - Easter or Spring

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