Welsh Holiday Pics

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a good week and this is a very quick post from me to share some of my pics from last week when we had our trip to Wales. Absolutely no fiddling with the pics either as the weather was fabulous and the light produced very good photos.

First up is a pic of our hotel taken from the side of Lake Vyrnwy which is actually a reservoir and is surrounded by hills and lots of fir trees as you'll see below.

Next I have a pic of the tower in the lake which is Victorian and is actually what my hubby calls the plughole!

Now here's a pic of another lake we visited, Tal y Lynn (lynn is the Welsh for lake) and in common with our lake was like a mirror.

Next is a photo of my favourite Welsh town, Llangollen, pronounced Clan-gothlan, which has the River Dee running through the centre as well as a canal. It also has fabulous art and craft shops and a vintage clothing shop where I was lucky enough to pick up a beautiful green and plum check wool and cashmere jacket (the shoulder pads have to come out though as I don't want to resemble Hilary Devey!!!)

Finally, I have a couple of photos of Port Meirion (does anyone else remember The Prisoner?) and they don't really do it justice. It's a rather strange place but fascinating even so.

See you again soon and hope you enjoy the rest of the week.

Fliss xx

A Thoroughly British Tradition

Hello everyone and welcome (or should I say "croeso") to my post today. If you've been wondering why I've been mia lately, it's because I've been on holiday to Wales which is where the greeting comes from - it being the word most seen on my hols apart from "araf" which I saw a great deal on the roads as it means "slow" and anyone who has visited Wales will know why! I had no idea that Wales consisted mostly of hills and mountains with valleys in between until last week and I've never seen so many sheep in my life!!!
There will be some pics when I've had the chance to sort through them as I have quite a few very picturesque views to share. Now, however, I need to let you know about our new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has the theme chosen by Marina of Tea And/Or Cake which is the reason for my title.
My card is a little on the quirky side as I went with the British theme, the first thing springing to my mind when I saw the theme this week, being my set of Artemio stamps. Hope you like my inspiration.

I stamped all the elements for the card on smooth, thick cartridge paper with Memories Creamy Coffee ink and then painted them with Aquamarkers. The only exception being the union jack which is 2 very clever stamps, one stamped with VersaFine Satin Red and the other over the top with VersaFine Majestic Blue and resulting in our union flag though what will happen after Thursday is anybody's guess!
I covered my card blank with 2 scraps of Polka Doodles patterned paper in brown and blue and added all my elements to the card with a blue doily to finish.

Now here's a taster of my holiday snaps with the view from our hotel room and yes - it is Wales although you could be forgiven for thinking it's Switzerland as it really did feel like it at times.

 

The water in the lakes we saw had an amazing quality which made it just like a mirror as you'll see from this and some of my other pics which I'll be sharing soon.

Have a great week.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Girl Power!

Hello again and welcome to today's second post which is to tell you about our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge blog which has the theme of GIRL POWER!
For my inspiration I decided on an British heroine who, to me, is the epitome of girl power - Boadicea and I couldn't resist the stamp set by IndigoBlu when it came out. I hope you like what I've created.

For my background paper, I've used my mini 3x5 gelli plate as although it's fab for smaller projects, as you see from my card above, you can make larger pieces of decorated paper too!
I used paint in 3 shades of pink from light to dark and after applying the paint, laid on the sequin waste style stencil that came with an NK Studio stamp set by Stampendous. I repeated this until my card was covered, pressing areas into the paint left on the plate for a very grungy look. I then used the stencil to add some darker detail with VersaMagic pink grapefruit ink. I distressed the edges with an emery board before adding it to my card blank.
I stamped the Boadicea image with Archival Watering Can ink on smooth cartridge paper and painted her with Aquamarkers. I then trimmed the image to a panel, cutting round the celtic element at the top. I stamped some of the flowers from the border design in the stamp set with the same ink and painted those with Aquamarkers before cutting them out.
I stamped the circular text and my favourite Kaisercraft butterfly with the grey ink and painted those as well before cutting out the butterfly and die cutting the text. I then assembled the rest of the card as you see.

I used:
Gelli Art Printing Plate - 3x5
IndigoBlu Unmounted Stamp Set - Boadicea
Stampendous NK Studio Cling Mount Set -Wired
Kaisercraft Single Clear Stamp - Butterflies
Archival Wendy Vecchi Ink - Watering Can
Aquamarkers
Paint Brushes - such as this Ranger Set

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

Simply Pretty

Hello there, I hope you've all had a good week and I'm here with my first post of the day which is to tell you about my project for this week over at That's Crafty which this time is a really simple creation as I needed a card in a big hurry!

As you can see, unusually for me, it really is clean and simple and probably the most uncluttered card you'll ever see here! All the details are over at the blog as usual.

I'll be back later with my second post as we have a new challenge starting today over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

See you in a bit!
Fliss xx

Indian Summer

Hello folks, I hope you all had a good weekend as I did. We went to visit Charleston House at Firle which was where some of the famous Bloomsbury set lived. The house is just a farmhouse but it was covered in artwork done by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant who both painted on the doors, walls and so on and also designed fabrics and ceramics. It was very inspirational and I can recommend it if you haven't been there.
Now to the reason for today's post which is to tell you about our new challenge over at Make My Monday and this week it's my chosen theme which because I'm rather longing for some warmer weather, the last couple of weeks having felt like Autumn has already arrived. This is why I picked

Indian Summer

You might need your sunglasses now because my inspiration is rather eye poppingly bright!

I made the background paper by sponging a square of card with Ripe Persimmon and Picked Raspberry Distress inks and then stamped on a Paper Artsy flourish image with the same deep pink ink.

I stamped the Stampendous sweet pea image on smooth cartridge paper with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and coloured it with the same Distress inks together with Mowed Lawn. I trimmed the image to a panel and added an orange then a kraft mat (this is to make the orange pop against the background).

I found the embossed paper in my bits box and as it's orange, it was a perfect textured addition for my card. The embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one and I'm fairly sure I used Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon Distress inks to colour it.

I stamped my favourite Kaisercraft butterfly with the grey ink and coloured it with yellow and orange Distress inks. The sentiment is by Flonzcraft and was stamped with the Picked Raspberry ink and cut out by hand. I then assembled the card as you see.

Have a great day and a good week.

Hugs, Fliss xx

I'd like to link my card to this weeks' Sunday Stamper which happily is Mr Brightside (love that song!) and apologies to Hels for not entering for ages - no time to make anything but DT creations!!!

Trust Your Strength For That's Crafty

Hello there, hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am (I've had a really busy week!)
I have a project to share today over at That's Crafty which I hope you'll like as I've broken out my newest IndigoBlu stamps.

You'll find all the details over the blog as usual so I hope you'll find the time to pop over.

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

Live In The Moment

Hello everyone from a very wet, windy and dull Sussex with typical Bank Holiday weather! Perfect you might say for crafting and I'm here at last with my inspiration for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday with hostess Jacqueline's theme choice of TAGS AND TOPPERS.

I had a bit of mojo lacking the last few days and must have started this one about 5 times before finally managing to come up with something which I hope you like. It's a nature inspired creation made with some bargain Tim Holtz stamps I picked up when we went on our family holiday to Kent just before Easter (the weather was warmer and better then than it is now too!!!)

I made the background paper by inking up a piece of card with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress inks using an ink applicator. I then stamped on the wild flowers from CMS001 Nature's Moments with VersaFine Spanish Moss and Majestic Blue. I then stamped on the quote with the blue ink on the side.
I coloured my manila tag using Tim's Distress easy inking technique with Dried Marigold, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey Distress inks. I stamped on the wild flowers using the green ink and some second generation stamping for an ethereal look in the background. I tied a scrap of chiffon ribbon through the hole at the top.
I stamped my favourite Kaisercraft butterfly with black ink and the painted it with Ripe Persimmon and Barn Door Distress inks using a damp brush. I cut the image out and added it to the card with my tag.

Have a great day whatever the weather wherever you are and see you again soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:

Come and Get It Challenges - Anything Goes With A Sentiment
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

The Scientist

Hello again, here's my second post today with my inspiration for our new challenge over at That's Crafty today which has the theme of It's A Man's World.
My project was inspired by my favourite Coldplay song which is called The Scientist and my Oxford Impressions steampunk stamps are perfect for this as you'll see.

I brushed gesso roughly over a piece of card and then when it dried, sponged on Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress inks. I then stamped on the chemist's rack, cogs and gears and light bulbs with coffee ink.
I stamped the man, steam engine, text and plaque with black ink on smooth cartridge paper and cut them out. The man was in a frame but I cut him out as I planned to place him in the lower right corner and I think he looks better without it.

I used:
Oxford Impressions - Steampunk Works and Steampunk Elements
Archival Ink - Jet Black and Coffee
Distress Inks - Antique Linen and Vintage Photo
Stamping Card
Claudine Hellmuth Gesso

Hope to see you there!
Fliss xx

Butterfly, Butterfly

Hello there folks, my post title came about as I was thinking of the ladybird, lady bird rhyme when I made this weeks' project for That's Crafty which involves rather a lot of fluttery winged beauties.

I've also picked a lovely warm colour scheme because I woke up yesterday morning feeling really cold to find it was 6 degrees outside - in August!!! Don't know what the weather is doing this days as it felt more like October!

You'll find all the details of how I made my creation over at the blog as usual so I hope you'll pop on over to see how it came about.

I'll be back later on with details of our new challenge over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog which goes live at 8am today.

See you in a bit.
Fliss xx

The Cyclist

Hello everyone, a rather sheepish Fliss here with a somewhat late contribution for the challenge this week over at Make My Monday (in my case known as late Tuesday hee hee) which has the theme of Sports chosen by Sue.
I had a bit of a struggle with this as I couldn't think what to do due to not having much in my stash that would fit the theme. I chose the vintage lady cyclist from Lost Coast Designs as I think she fits in rather well with all the cycling events which have been going on lately. Hope you like her too.

I stamped her on Inkylicious silk art card with Archival Coffee ink and coloured her with Promarkers before trimming her to a rectangular panel. I added a red mat made from a file divider (Tesco have a big pack in lovely muted colours at a bargain price and perfect for cardmaking).
I made the background paper with a piece of watercolour paper torn from a pad which I trimmed to fit my 5x7 kraft card blank. I coloured it with Pan Pastels - red, yellow and blue tints, magenta and orange shade. I then stamped on Kaisercraft Arty and Wood Panel with Adirondack Aqua ink.
I assembled the card as you see, adding computer generated text which I coloured lightly with the Pan Pastel colours remaining on the applicators.

Hope you're all having a good week and will see you again soon.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Ring Out The Bells

Hello there crafty peops, a slightly late post today with news of my project over at That's Crafty today which is another creation of the C sort as I'm trying to add to my collection to avoid the December panic of last year!

Hope you like it and it's made with the amazingly versatile Inkadinkado stamping gear which has to be one of the best stamping tools ever. All details can be found over at the blog as usual and i hope you'd like to visit as the DT has fabulous creations to show you on a daily basis.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Bye for now,

Fliss xx

Send In The Clowns

Hello there, a very quick and somewhat late post from me after a very busy weekend with the details of our new challenge this week at Make My Monday with the theme chosn by Joan which is Circus.

I had a bit of a struggle with this as I have no stamps to fit the theme and then fortunately remembered I had a lovely vintage pierrot girl from the Graphics Fairy so she came to the rescue with a rather electic card which I hope you like.

I printed her out and added her to a cream mat then covered my card blank with some paper from the Polka Doodles Bonbon Belles CD which I scored with a bone folder to add texture before attaching to the card.
I then added a red card border trimmed with pinking sheers to add interest before sticking the image on. I finished off with some bunting from the Polka Doodles Cherryblossom Lane CD and added a stamped sentiment by Flonzcraft.
As you see, simples!

Hope you have a great week and see you again soon, hopefully with news of my promised CANDY which has been delayed as I've been so busy.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Stamping Ground

Hello again and here's my promised post for our new challenge today over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog that for the next fortnight has the theme of Stamping Ground which means that there must be stamping on your project this time.

I have a tag as my inspiration which was the result of a bit of serendipity (did you know that's my middle name!) as I was playing around with my Stampendous Creative Palette and came up completely by accident with a piece of paper that had a really watery feel to it. As my Graphic 45 By The Sea stamp set was still out, it seemed like a match made in heaven and below is the result.

 

I made the paper using shades of blue and green acrylic paints which I added patches of to the creative palette then spread with my fingers rather than a brayer. Very messy but it gives a less mixed effect with obvious colour difference. I managed to pull 3 patterned pieces, the first being quite heavily patterned. I then misted on a little water and pulled the second print which I used for the tag background - do you see the waves and water spray effects? 

The final pattern was pulled from a piece of copy paper after again misting with water and as there wasn't much paint left, the resulting paper was perfect for stamping the main image on. She does have a bit of a blue tinge in places but I call that artistic license!

 

I covered a size 10 Inkssentials Manila tag with the watery effect paper, punching a hole through after sticking it on.

I stamped the woman image on the lightest paper with Archival coffee ink, trimmed it to a panel and added to a kraft mat.

I then tore some strips of corrugated card and then swiped with embossing ink and heat embossed with Frantage Aged Bronze embossing enamel.

I stamped some of the shells from the set with the coffee ink and cut these out. I stamped the sentiment and trimmed it to a panel.

I assembled the tag as you see and finished off with some Tim Holtz Idea-ology linen ribbon at the top.

You have a fortnight to enter the challenge with a fabulous prize of a £20 voucher to the online shop for the randomly drawn winner although please check out the rules first to make sure you're eligible.

Hope to see you there.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Snowflakes and Reindeer

Hello folks, I hope you've all had a good week and I'm here with a rather quick post to let you know about my tutorial over at That's Crafty today which I'm afraid involves that C word again as having done it for the challenge about to finish, it gave me the inspiration to do more.

Here's one of the end results and more will follow next week but you'll find a complete tutorial on how I made the snowflake paper which has given me enough to make several cards, over at the blog.

The paper is really easy when you know how so do hop over where all will be revealed!

I'll be here again a bit later with news of the new challenge at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog so watch this space!

Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to enter:

Southern Girls - Christmas is a-coming
Stampin Royalty - Stamped Background
Crafting For All Seasons - Feature A Creature

Bluebird

Hello there folks and hope you all had a good weekend and of course, managed to fit in a bit of crafting as I did. I was actually meant to be doing the h word but decided to play hooky for some creating.
Today's post is about the new challenge over at Make My Monday but is also rather a special one as this is post number 899 so keep your eyes open for my next post as there will be CANDY to celebrate 900!
The challenge theme at Make My Monday is my choice this time and I picked a favourite of mine, BIRDS.
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

My card just has the one layer attached as I stamped everything on there.
I used the Kaisercraft Porcelain Rose stamp set, first stamping the music score fragment several times around the edges. I then stamped on the bird and flower collage and added the Flonzcraft sentiment in the remaining space. All stamping was done with VersaFine Smokey Gray.
I then inked the stamped paper using a Ranger sponge applicator and Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass.
I coloured the bird and flower image with Distress inks by applying them to a ceramic plate and then painting them on with a damp brush. I used Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Stormy Sky, Mowed Lawn and Frayed Burlap.
I inked around the edges with Weathered Wood Distress ink and them distressed them with an emery board before attaching the panel to a card blank.

Have a great day and see you again soon.
Fliss xx

Angel Heart

Hello folks, hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am. Really sorry for my lack of visiting lately as I've got virtually no time to myself at the moment and am somewhat exhausted because of this. Hopefully things will settle down soon!
Today's post is with my creation of That's Crafty which this week is an alternative Christmas card (now don't all groan!) made with one of my new Carabelle Studio stamps which I really love for their eclectic style and although this isn't actually meant as a festive image I think it works rather well and I hope you do too.

This is actually quite sparkly although it doesn't show up that well in the photo so you'll have to take my word for it as there's quite a bit of glitter glue in evidence on the real thing!
You'll find all the details on how I made it over at the blog as usual.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to enter:

4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
4 Krafty Girlz - Anything Goes
Addicted To Stamps And More - Anything Goes
Crafting For All Seasons - Christmas in July
Divas By Design - Anything Goes

Flutterby Butterfly

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend even if you were rather hot like me. I have a card today which is my inspiration for our new challenge over at Make My Monday with the theme of Butterflies chosen by Laura.
I was really pleased with this theme as I really love butterflies but I was rather short on time as I've had a very busy weekend. A good rummage through my bits box solved the problem as I found a butterfly and a bit of background paper perfect for the challenge.

The background paper is made with the Stampendous Jumbo Cling Rosebud Set which I stamped with deep blue ink. I scribbled pastel pencils over the paper and rubbed them with a finger to blend the colours. I then added colour to the flowers and leaves with the pastels and Prismacolor pencils.
The butterfly (Hampton Art) had been stamped with black ink and clear embossed then sponged with Shaded Lilac Distress ink before cutting out.
I stamped the sentiment (Flonzcraft) with black ink on white card, trimmed it to a panel and added a purple card mat.

Have a great day and a lovely week and see you again soon.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Some Challenges I'd like to enter:
Glitter n Sparkle Challenge - Add Some Purple
Crafting When We Can Challenge - Make Your Own Background

The C Word At That's Crafty Challenge

Hello folks and sorry for my lack of blogging and commenting lately which is because of a lot of family stuff going on at the moment but normal service will resume as soon as possible.

In the meantime today sees the start of a new challenge at That's Crafty and as it's the 25th today, our new theme is The C Word aka Christmas in July. Eek I hear you say! It is a good opportunity to get ahead to avoid panicking in December so below you'll find my first card of the year which is actually quick and easy to make if you have an Inkadinkado Stamping Gear as I do.

For my card I used the round cog which is the perfect size for anyone that is a fan of 6x6 square cards. I used the cog with the Pinecones Evergreen stamp set. I first stamped the sprigs with Adirondack Lettuce ink, following up with the pinecones using Brilliance Cosmic Copper ink and finally the pine needles with Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy.
I then stamped my favourite Tim Holtz sentiment with the ivy ink on a scrap of the paper and die cut it to a circle to fit in my pine wreath.
I trimmed the wreath panel to fit my 6x6 kraft card blank and added it together with the sentiment panel to which I added a scalloped mat of kraft card.
As I said, really quick and easy!

Do hop on over to see my team mates inspiration as they've made the most gorgeous creations which you're sure to love. If you're a UK resident and enter you're in with the chance of winning a £20 voucher to the online shop so what are you waiting for!

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

En Vacances For Make My Monday

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend and didn't feel like you were about to melt like me! It was really hot and humid with thunderstorms mostly at night and is apparently going to be like that all week so I'm not that happy as I always find it hard to cope with very hot weather - sigh!
Anyway, enough whinging and on to our new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has Sue's chosen theme of Vacations (or holidays) and my inspiration came about because of a photo I came across of my favourite holiday destination - Italy. I've put the photo underneath so you can see what I mean.

I actually bought this Michael Powell stamp because it reminded me of our last trip to Italy when we stayed at Sorrento which if you haven't been there I can recommend as it's so lovely and a great base to visit quite a few amazing places including the Isle of Capri which is where I took my photo.
My card is very simple as I just stamped the image with black ink on watercolour paper and then painted it with Aquamarkers.
I then added several paper mats before sticking the panel to a 5x7 white card.

Here's my photo which was taken on our walk from the harbour up to where the shops and cafes are. It was a winding path leading up with lots of beautiful iron grille gates which gave glimpses of the most gorgeous gardens and villas. The shops were a sight to see when we got there as window shopping was all we could do - there was Dolce and Gabbana, Valentino, Prada, Versace - you get the picture!
We also had the most fabulous lemon iced tea I've ever had, also the most pricey as they were 8 euros each which bearing in mind this was 6 years ago was quite a lot!

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

Hello Dolly For That's Crafty

Hello folks and first up is a huge thank you to everyone who left such kind messages after my sad post on Monday. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate you taking the time to do that. It still hasn't quite sunk in as it was so sudden I'm sort of floating around in a bit of a daze. I don't think it will seem real until the funeral next week.
I have a project today over at That's Crafty which is another rather girly creation although in complete contrast to last week I've gone all bright and zingy as I needed cheering up.
Hope you like it!

You'll find all the details over at the blog including how I made the background paper and also how I made the paper her dress in stamped on - you'll get a surprise if you pop over to see what I stamped with!

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

New Challenge At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, this is rather a sad post from me today as I've just had the most traumatic weekend in a very long time which started on Friday when I got home from work to find that my stepfather was in hospital extremely poorly having suffered a very bad brain haemorrage and we spent some time at his bedside that evening.
Sadly he passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning having never regained consciousness. I did think that might happen as the very kind nurses did say that all they could do was try and keep him comfortable but it was still a shock as I'm sure you can imagine.

I'm keeping going by keeping busy and managed a small bit of crafting yesterday for our new challenge today at Make My Monday with the theme of End Of Term chosen by Marina.
I've been a bit creative with the theme as I chose to see it as the start of something new which does hopefully happen after graduation.

 
I made the background paper by inking a scarp of card by swiping it through Distress Ink Re-inkers sprayed with water. I used Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet.
I then stamped with some Crafty Fairy images starting with circles stamped with Spiced Marmalade, then flowers stamped with Picked Raspberry and dotted circles stamped with Salty Ocean.
I trimmed this to size and added it to a pink mat. I then stamped the B Line Designs butterfly on the piece I trimmed off with black ink and cut it out. I brightened the colour a little with Mustard Seed ink.
I die cut the Tim Holtz weathered clock and inked it with Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean then glued it to the card. I stamped the text with Hero Arts alphabet stamps and VersaFine Deep Lagoon ink. I added this to the card with the butterfly.

Have a good week.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Stencils, Masks or Templates

Hello again and welcome to my second post for the day with my inspiration for our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and this time I've been getting creative in my journal.
As you can see from the title, we're playing with Stencils, Masks and Templates this time and we're challenging you to do the same.
Here's my page and hope you like it:

I coloured my page with Distress inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade. I then added a pattern with a Prima stencil using Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Crushed Olive Distress inks.
I then stamped on the stalks from the Carabelle Studio Ombreline Aux Pistils stamp set which I planned to add flower heads to. I stamped some flower heads from the set on to white stamping card as I wanted them to really pop. I then cut them out and added them to the page.
I then used the stalk stamp to add a funky border round the edges and stamped the text from the Andy Skinner Batik Garden set on stamping card and cut them out by hand.
I finished off with some doodling down the sides and the sprigs at the bottom - really handy for covering up stray ink marks caused by stamping when extremely tired!

I hope you can join us as the random winner will bag a £20 voucher to the online shop.

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

Beautiful For That's Crafty

Good morning all and hope you've all had a good week so far. This is my first post today to let you know that I have a new project today over at That's Crafty which if you hop on over, you'll see I've gone all girly this week with a pastel flowery creation.
Here's a sneak peek and I hope you'll want to go and see the whole creation.

I'll be back a bit later on with the details and of course, my inspiration piece for our new challenge over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

Hugs,
Fliss xx

Postcard From Paris

Good morning folks and welcome to my post today especially my new follower Annie - so lovely to have you on board.
We have a new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has the theme of Mail Art chosen by Suzi B who would like to see creations involving postcards, envelopes and so on.
I decided on a postcard featuring a real wish of mine which is to travel to Paris as I've never been there - my younger daughter is going there for the weekend in a couple of weeks as a friend of hers has been an au pair for the last year and as you can imagine I'm rather green!
My postcard has a rather vintage feel to it as you'll see.

I cut my piece of thick cartridge paper slightly smaller than 4x6 as I wanted to add it to a card backing for strength.
I then used sponge applicators to apply Distress inks - I used Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters, Victorian Velvet and Crushed Olive. I then stamped on a rose from a Glitz Design set with the darker Distress inks and added Hero Arts Old French Writing with Crushed Olive.
I then stamped on the Stampendous Paris image with Memories Creamy Coffee and added the post marks from an Inkylicious stamp with the same ink. When the ink was dry, I added colour to the flowers with Polychromos.
I stamped the Lost Coast Designs Rose Boy with the brown ink and added a little colour with the pencils. I cut the image out and swiped it with embossing ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I did this because the image needed a little something to pop agains the background.
To finish off I stuck the panel to a 4x6 piece of kraft card.

Bye for now and have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Some challenges for my postcard:
Anything But A Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Challenges - Anything Goes
Paper Creator's Crafts Challenge - Anything Goes

Going Steampunk For That's Crafty

Good morning all, hoping you've all had a lovely sunny week which has been so warm here and it's fabulous to be able to walk about in short sleeves at last.
As it's a certain date I'd also like to wish a very Happy Fourth of July to all of you in the United States - have a great day!
It's my That's Crafty day today and this week I'm sharing an altered arch frame by those lovely peops over at Tando Creative who make such wonderful and amazing value items crying out for ink or paint so this time I got very messy indeed and had purple fingers for a while!
I hope you like my tranformation and you'll find all the details of how I created it over at the blog.

If you haven't yet entered our latest challenge over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog, you still have a week to enter your creations with a seaside flavour as the theme is All At Sea - why not give it a try as the winner is randomly chosen to be fair to all entrants.

Have a lovely weekend,
Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to enter:
Crafty Creations Challenges - Things With Wings
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes - mine is an altered chipboard arch frame
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes Altered Art

Fairies Or Mystical

Hello there, I hope you all had a good weekend and are refreshed and ready for the week. I have to confess I'm not quite ready for mine as we have a rather sick bunny at the moment and yesterday was spent giving medicine followed by water by the teaspoon and finally managing to get her to eat a small bit of kale yesterday evening so hopefully she's on the mend.
Now to this week's challenge over at Make My Monday which has a theme of Fairies or Mystical chosen by Jacqueline.
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

I've used the gorgeous Hydrangea Fairy from Aurora Wings for my card as I love hydrangeas, my only regret being I just can't seem to grow blue ones in my garden only pink - sigh!
I printed her out on to thick, smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with Aquamarkers and then added a little detail with Prismacolor pencils. I painted the wings with glitter glue for some sparkle. I then trimmed the image to a rectagular panel and added mats of lilac and mauve.
I covered my card blank with some hydrangea paper by Polka Doodles and made a trellis embellishment with a Martha Stewart punch and a scrap of green patterned paper. I added mauve underneath to bring out the colours.
I stamped the sentiment (my favourite by Flonzcraft) with Memento Grape Jelly ink on a scrap of green paper then die cut it to a circle and added a mauve scalloped mat.
I die cut a butterfly (X Cut) from purple card and then glittered it up. I also die cur 2 tiny butterflies with the same set and layered these uo with some glittery fabric butterflies from my embellishments box. I then finished assembling the card which turned out as you see above.

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

Some challenges for my card:
Corrosive Challenges - Colour Me Happy (Use your favourite colouring medium - no brainer here as for me it's Aquamarkers with Prismacolor pencil detail)
Crafting At The Weekend - Anything Goes

All At Sea

Hello again! It's challenge time for another fortnight over at the That's Crafty Challenge and this time we're All At Sea so anything beach or sea related is what we'd like to see.
This gave me the chance to ink up my Graphic 45 By The Sea so far unused stamps or at least it did when I remembered where I'd put them!

I got my mono printing plate out to make the background paper as I had nautical stripes in mind for what I wanted to create. I applied Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paints in London Bus, Baltic Blue and Snowflake in stripes with my fingers on the plate (very messy but giving a lovely grungy feel) and pressed on thin white card to pick up the colour. I was able to make several prints by spraying with a little water.
I stamped the lighthouse, text, shells and capstan on to white card with Archival black ink. I cut the lighthouse to a panel and added this to a blue mat. I then coloured the shells with Promarkers and inked the text and cut all the items out.
I cut a piece of my striped paper to fit the card blank then inked the edges with blue before sticking it on.
I cut a strip of printed paper and stamped on the smaller seahorse with Archival Fern Green ink and added the panel to a blue mat before sticking on the card in the lower half.
I added all the remaining elements as you see.

The prize is a £20 voucher for the online shop but you must be a UK resident to win so hope you can enter if you qualify - well worth it as the winner is picked at random.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

I Spy For That's Crafty

Hello folks, a very sneezy Fliss here today as I've had the worst hay fever I can remember for the last few days with extremely itchy eyes which have been driving me crazy! My sympathies to any fellow sufferers too as I don't normally get this when it's almost July.
I have a project today over at That's Crafty which will hopefully be up soon if it's not there yet as I was rather late pinging it through the ether to Laura this time.
It's the first of a series I wanted to do using my supplies for some steampunk themed creations having been inspired by some of the beautiful artwork Finnabair creates. Not that this is anything like that of course!

As you can see, quite a simple creation this time and you'll find all the details over at the blog - not many as I promise it is very simple and easy to make.

I'll be back later as we have a new challenge for you today too.
See you in a bit.
Fliss xx

Stencils And/Or Masks At Quirky Crafts Challenges

Hello there folks and first up is an apology for not visiting today as in common with many others I have that pesky reading list problem with just the latest post showing and clicking on view more to no avail! Let's hope normal service is resumed soon as it's so annoying when you want to visit!!!

Now on to the main reason for my post which is because I'm a guest designer at Quirky Crafts Challenges for the latest challenge having won second place in the quirky time challenge so thanks to Cazzy and the team for this.

I have 2 creations to share using images from 2 of the challenge sponsors and first up is a rather girly card using the cute Hannah from Nikki of Limited Runs:

I printed Hannah out on to smooth stamping card and coloured her with a mix of Aquamarkers and pencils.
I made the background using an ink applicator with Spun Sugar and Tattered Rose Distress inks. I then used Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 Stencils For Art Never Enough Hearts stencil with Victorian Velvet and Worn Lipstick inks to add the hearts round the top and side.
I used a Cuttlebug hearts embossing folder to emboss cream card and then tapped Spun Sugar on the raised areas to make the heart panel and die cut a pink doily heart with an X Cut die.
The sentiment is Flonzcraft and was stamped with VersaFine Spanish Moss ink. I did some mat layering and decorated with some of the hearts left from cutting out the doily.

Next up is something completely different using a rather quirky image from Paper Pretties called Graffiti who comes with several different sentiments. I was inspired by the sentiment Follow Your Rainbow to make this very bright card.

I printed Graffiti out on to smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with Aquamarkers to produce a rainbow of colour on the paint flow and her skirt. I added the panel to a mauve mat.
I then made a rainbow stencil using a circle cutter to cut it out of thick card and used this to make a rainbow with Distress inks - I used Barn Door, Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire and Seedless Preserves. I had to trim off the edges as my homemade rainbow wasn't quite perfect!
I added the sentiment to an arrow shaped mat of mauve card and added all the elements to a card blank I made from yellow marbled card.

Have a great rest of week and will be visiting once Mr Blogger has sorted himself out!

Hugs,
Fliss xx

Moon Gazing

Good morning folks and hope you all has a lovely weekend. It was very sunny here which was great as one of my nieces got married on Saturday and the day was beautiful so a lovely time was had by both families and all the friends.
There's a new challenge today over at Make My Monday which I chose the theme for (it's Anniversaries) as my hubby and I will be celebrating our 32nd Wedding Anniversary this week and I've made a rather different card for him inspired by our 2 little fur babies - Rosie and Dill, the grey Netherland Dwarf bunnies who are really my hubby's babies :)

I stamped the Alice Palace bunnies by Crafty Individuals with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and coloured them with Aquamarkers then cut them out.
I made the background paper by using second generation stamping with VersaFine Spanish Moss and Crafty Individuals CI - 367 across the base. I made a moon stencil with a circle die and sponged Squeezed Lemonade and Faded Jeans Distress inks. I then coloured the remaining areas with Pan Pastel tints in blue, pink and lavender.
I die cut a heart from cream card with an X Cut nesting die anf stamped the meadow silhouette image with the green ink across it.
I stamped the Kaisercraft sentiment in the corner using second generations stamping and VersaFine Deep Lagoon ink for a softer effect then added the heart and bunnies to the card.

I hope my hubby likes it but I think he will!

Have a great day.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Parisian Melange For That's Crafty

Hello there everyone and hope you've all had a good week. Mine has been very busy but sadly most of it work so I'm looking forward to the weekend.
I have a project today over at That's Crafty which might need sunglasses as it's rather bright but if it's a dull day where you are it will at least add some warmth to the day.
Here it is and hope you like it.

All the details are over at the blog if you want to take a look to see how it came about.

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

A big thanks to Alison aka butterfly for heading me in the direction of Our Creative Corner's current challenge which is Flaming June so hope it's OK if I enter ladies!

Pretty In Pink

Morning folks, a bit of a pink alert here as I think my creation for today has the most of that colour that I've ever put on one of my creations - I think I went a bit overboard!
The reason for the pink is today's new challenge over at Make My Monday which was chosen by our former team member, Jan, and is Pretty In Pink.
I've used my favourite fairy stamp for my card which is a Faerie Poppet image by Christine Haworth and I think she's rather adorable.

I'm sure you can see what I mean by all the pink now!

I stamped the little fairy on to smooth cartridge paper with Archival coffee ink and then coloured her with Aquamarkers adding detail with Prismacolor pencils. I then trimmed the image to a square panel and added mats of pink and pale green.
I made the background paper by painting a square of watercolour paper pink then embossing it with a Crafters Companion trellis folder. I then swiped it with Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid and Galaxy Gold inks for some shimmer. I stamped some tiny peg flowers and hearts in some of the trellis debossed areas.
I then die cut a doily (X Cut) and a butterfly (Cheery Lynn) from fuchsia pink card and made a double layer for the butterfly by tracing round the die on lighter pink card and cutting it out.
I stamped the birthday sentiment (Flonzcraft) with Memento Lilac Posies ink and hand cut it out, adding a pale green mat also hand cut.
I assembled the card and finished off with some pink gems.

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

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:
Come and Get It Challenges - Fairy Fantasy
Dragonfly Dreams - Things With Wings
Feeling Crafty Challenge - One For The Girls/Ladies
Quirky Crafts Challenges - Fairy Ring (Sparkle and Sentiment in my case - thanks Cazzy!!!)

The Birds

Evening all, guess who was so tired yesterday she totally forgot to schedule her post for the new challenge over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog - oops!
The theme for this fortnight is The Birds so you can make anything you like as long as there's some stamping and a bird somewhere.
Here's my inspiration using a favourite IndigoBlu bird stamp along with the details on how I made the background.

I wanted a fairly vintage style creation so I made a fairly shabby style background using an ink applicator to apply a patchwork effect of subtle shades of Distress inks in a repeating fashion. I used Wild Honey, Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive and Tattered Rose starting with the lightest shade and building up.
I then used second generation stamping with the IndigoBlu Dinkie Vintage Flourish and Forest Moss Distress ink to make a frame around the edge of the inked paper. It's very forgiving as you can just carry on overstamping until you create an effect you like. If you do as I did, you'll end up with 2 decorated papers for the price of one as if you look below you'll see my stamp off paper and I know I'll be using it soon as I think it turned out looking rather good.

I stamped the IndigoBlu bird image on smooth stamping card with Archival Coffee ink and added colour with pencils (Spectrum Noir pencils are rather good). I then stamped around the edges of the panel with the flourish stamp and Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink for a subtle textured effect.
I distressed the edges of the panel with scissors and glued it to a piece of corrugated packaging (liberated from the office recycling) left au naturel as it goes so well with my kraft card blank.
I then distressed the edges of the background paper and added it to the card, gluing the bird panel on the left side.
I stamped the text from the Artistic Outpost Typography set with Archival Olive ink on a scrap of card, stamped on the flourish with the lemon ink, distressed the edges and added to a distressed mat of recycled brown paper before gluing to the card.

I hope you can join in with the challenge if you live in the UK as the prize is a £20 voucher for the online shop which has tons of fabulous crafty goodies to see.

Have a great weekend.
Fliss xx

The Writing's On The Wall

Good morning everyone and welcome to my first post today which is to tell you about the project I have over at That's Crafty which is a rather bold and graphic creation in bright colours.
Here's a sneak peek and you'll find the whole project over at the blog as usual if you'd like to pop over to see it.

Have a great day and see you later on.

Hugs,
Fliss xx

Red Sail At Sunset

Morning all and hope you all had a lovely warm weekend as we did here on the sunny South Coast. It was so lovely to have sunshine and get out in the fresh air for a while.
Today we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday with a theme chosen by teamie Suzi B which as a certain day is fast looming is sure to be popular - For The Males In Your Life.
For my inspiration I've made my first proper attempt at a scenic card with a Stampscapes set with a nautical theme which I chose because the men in my family have a love of the sea.

I stamped the lighthouse first and masked it to stamp the cove image and then the yacht, stamping all the images with Archival Watering Can ink.
I added some colour with Aquamarkers and then used the sky textural stamp all over with Adirondack inks in Denim, Butterscotch and Cranberry. It really is a fabulous stamp for adding textured detail.
I simply added a navy and an orange mat before sticking all the layers to my card blank.

Have a great day and hope you can join us.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

I'd like to enter my card in the current challenge at Craft A Scene too as happily it's By The Sea - serendipity strikes!

Shades of Grey For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, hoping you've all had a good week so far and are looking forward to the weekend as I am as my back is still playing up and I have to be very careful what I do at the moment to stop it hurting when I move in the wrong direction - sigh!
I have a project today over at That's Crafty which is the first page in my new journal - the one I altered the cover of a couple of weeks ago and it's my experiment with neutral monochromatic shades of grey and I promise, nothing to do with those infamous books - tee hee!
Here's a sneak peek and you'll find the whole creation over at the blog with all the details.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Hugs, Fliss xx

Time For A Wedding

Good morning everyone and welcome to my first post of the week which is to let you know about the new challenge today over at Make My Monday and the theme chosen by Laura is Weddings.
This gave me the perfect opportunity to get a little ahead with a card for one of my nieces who is getting married in a couple of weeks. Unusually for me I've gone clean and simple for my card as I wanted something quite modern for the happy couple.

I die cut 2 hearts from gold and kraft card using an X Cut folk heart nesting die. I then used the Memory Box cherish border to die cut borders from kraft and cream cut and added portions of these to the die cut hearts.
I stamped the Hero Arts sentiment with Archival coffee ink directly on the card blank. I added the hearts to the card and finished off with a cherub button embellishment, cutting the shank off with my trusty Tim Holtz scissors.

Have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

A Little Sophistication

Hello folks from a rather sorry for herself Fliss. I've finally managed to start wearing my left contact lens again although not all day yet as after 2 weeks without, I have to build up again over a few days as my lenses are gas permeable due to my being blind as a bat without :)
I've now put my back out somehow so am currently hobbling about and have to be careful not to make any sudden moves in the wrong direction - sigh!
Anyhow, enough of my whingeing and on to a card I made the elements for a while back and only just got to assemble. This is for the birthday of one of my nieces and as the title says is quite richly coloured and I think fairly sophisticated.

The rather sassy lady is another of Mitzi at Aurora Wings's beautiful digital images and apologies to Mitzi here if my interpretation is not quite as she intended as I couldn't quite decide if she was wearing a head-dress but decided that she was - artistic license! I printed her on to smooth cartridge paper and coloured her with Aquamarkers, adding detail with Prismacolor pencils. I trimmed the image to a panel and heat embossed the edges with Cosmic Shimmer tarmished gold embossing powder. I added some gems to the dangling part of the head-dress.
I then made some embossed panels - a gold one embossed with an Anna Griffin folder and some red textured paper embossed with a floral Darice strip folder. I then rounded opposite corners with a corner rounder punch.
I made some embellishments - a corner using a Tonic corner die and bronze card, a a butterfly from the same card used a Cheery Lynn die, a trellis cut from mauve card using a Cheery Lynn die and a round bronze card doily shape.
I assembled the card as you see, adding a metal medallion, some gems and a stamped, matted sentiment (Hero Arts) to finish.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Fliss xx

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:
Aurora Wings Challenge 3 - Butterflies
My Time To Craft Challenge - No Designer Paper
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - Layer It Up
Chocolate, Coffee and Cards Challenge - Embossing