Something Beginning With An F

Hello everyone, I'm back from my holiday to Lake Garda with a slightly late post for our new challenge today over at Make My Monday mostly due to a dodgy internet connection over the last day or so.
I'd like to say welcome here to our new DT members Amy, Martina and Shawna and a big welcome back to Caz who has returned after a long break. Lovely to have you with us ladies and you certainly rocked Marina's chosen theme of Something With An F which if you hop on over to the blog will show you there are loads of options for this one.
My inspiration is the card for my mother in law's birthday tomorrow and is floral in her favourite shades of pink and green.

As you can see, a fairly simple creation for me as I wanted to showcase the gorgeous gerbera daisy flower die by Susan Tierney Cockburn for Sissix. I die cut the flower section from 2 shades of pink card and sponged and stippled the petals with Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry Distress inks. I then used several embossing ball tools to score, bend and shape the inked petals.
I die cut the stamens and flower centres from deep red and grey card and shaped these with the embossing tools before gluing all the flower sections together. I then used Cosmic Shimmer Twinkles by Phill Oliver in Decadent Oak to add dots to the flower centre.
I die cut 2 large and 2 small leaves fron 2 shades of green card, stippling these with Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress inks, scoring and shaping as before with the embossing tools.
I added a strip of pink and green K and Co paper to my white card blank then glued on the flower and leaves.
I finished off with a Flonzcraft sentiment stamped on pale pink card with Archival Olive ink, matted on deep red paper, corner trimmed and added to the patterned paper panel.

Ciao for now and will be round to visit as soon as I can.
Fliss xx

Finding Time Art Journal Page For That's Crafty

Hello there, this is a scheduled post as I'm currently on my hols in Italy so I'm hoping Mr Blogger doesn't let me down.

I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty and I hope you'll pop over to see the whole thing as this is just a sneak peek. Hope you like it!

I'll be back at the weekend and will hopefully have some pics to share as we're at Lake Garda and lakes and mountains are one of my favourite things (apart from cable cars that is!!!)

See you soon.

Fliss xx

Alphabet Soup At That's Crafty Challenge Blog

Hello again, I'm back with my second post today which is all about our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which for the next fortnight has the theme of Alphabet Soup.

My inspiration is rather different to my last post as it's a masculine card this time with a slightly steampunk flavour.

I made the background paper with vintage shades of Distress Ink and I then stamped on a Carabelle Studio alphabet collage stamp. I then used 2 That's Crafty Dinky Stencils with the same ink.
I stamped on some of the elements from an Oxford Impressions steampunk stamp set and stamped the Einstein (I think!) image on a tan tile and trimmed to a panel. I added this to a dark grey mat.
I attached the panel to a grey card blank and added the image panel to finish.

I used:
Carabelle Studio Cling Stamp - Une Plume Sur Mon Carnet
Oxford Impressions Unmounted Stamp Set - Steampunk
That's Crafty Dinky Stencils - Grid Background, Arrows
Distress Inks - Wild Honey, Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone
Archival Watering Can Ink

There's a fab prize of a £20 voucher for the online shop up for grabs if you enter and do hop over to see my DT mates creations which are totally fab too!

Have a great weekend and week and see you when I get back!
Fliss xx


 

Freedom For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I'm here today after a very difficult week with my post for That's Crafty as it's my turn today to share a tutorial which this time is a much needed bright and cheerful mixed media art panel.

I'm not feeling that cheerful myself as you may not know that I live just down the coast from where the tragic accident happened at the Shoreham air show last Saturday and in common with everyone round here I'm still rather stunned by it.
It's affected my whole week as with the A27 being closed on the Shoreham flyover, the alternative route is a huge loop which is unfortunately my current route to work in Steyning which is just above Shoreham. I'm not actually complaining as the reason for the diversion is so very sad, it's just very tiring queuing every day to get to work.

The good news is we're off on our hols tomorrow which are much needed in my case and we're headed for Lake Garda in Italy which is hopefully warmer than here as yesterday felt like Autumn had already arrived!

Here's a sneak peek of my art panel which I hope you like and all the details are over at the blog as usual.

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

Fliss x

Crazy Together For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week. Sorry for my lack of visiting lately too, things have been very busy here and I haven't had much time for creating, let alone blogging!
My post today is to let you know that I have my Friday project over at That's Crafty and this week I've been breaking out the Brushos again for a bit of serendipity involving rather too much water but the result was a riot of colour which I rather like!

Here's a sneak peek and you'll find the whole thing over at the blog is you'd like to see how it came about.

Aren't these birds just too cute!

Have a great day and a fab weekend and see you again soon.

Fliss x

Going Under The Sea At That's Crafty Challenge Blog

Hello again, today sees the start of a new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and for the next fortnight we'd like to see your creations featuring an Under The Sea theme.
The Design Team have really rocked this challenge as I said earlier and you really should hop on over to see for some fabulous creations.
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

This is actually a greyboard wall hanging even if it looks more like a tag!

I covered the panel with a scrap of leftover Gelli print paper which was made with blue and green Paper Artsy acrylics and my 8x10 Gelli plate. I had applied the paint a little too thickly so I misted on some water and this paper was the result - serendipity strikes again! I sandwiched the ribbon in between to form the hanger.

I then used the Bubbles Dinky Stencil by That's Crafty to apply bubbles with an olive and a white pencil to draw inside the stencil shapes.

I stamped the Deep Red Seahorse with VersaFine Olympia Green ink and heat embossed it with clear powder. I then painted the image with acrylic paints and cut it out. I also stamped an image from the Carabelle Studio Ombrelines Aux Pistils Par Azoline stamp set, stamping twice with VersaFine Spanish Moss and Satin Red inks then clear embossed as before and painted them with green and purple paints. I then cut out just the central area of the green image and glued this on top of the purple one. It was inspired by a picture of a sea anemone I saw in the TV Times.

I made the seaweed fronds from Gelli print scraps using a branch die and glued all the elements on as you see.

Hope you can join us for a chance at a fab prize of a £20 voucher for the online shop where you'' be spoilt for choice.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss x

Positivity For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, hoping you've all had a good week. Mine has been very busy as I've been doing studying at work in the form of rather tiring webinars and a lot of reading up online in order to get ready for my Xero accounting software accreditation test which I managed to flunk on Tuesday (I had to get 80% and only managed 76% - darn it!). Happily yesterday I took it again and this time got 92% - yippee! I now have Xero certification (yes, I know I should be certified!) for a year and then it all starts again.
This is my first post of the day which is to let you know that I have my Friday project over at That's Crafty Blog which this week is another page in my A5 size journal using my new Dina Wakley stamps which are fabulous for journals. Here's a sneak peek to tempt you.

You'll find all the details over at the blog and I'd really love it if you'd pop over.

I'll be back a bit later as we have a new challenge for you today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and I think the Design Team have really rocked this fortnight's theme!

See you in a while,

Fliss xx

Be Outstanding For That's Crafty

Hello everyone and welcome to my post today which is to let you know that I have my usual Friday tutorial over at That's Crafty Blog which is a card for someone who might be in need of a bit of encouragement.
Sadly at the moment that could be me as my eyesight problems continue as after 5 weeks I still can't see my computer screen at work which is an arm's length away from me! I have to admit to have had a very polite tantrum in the optician's yesterday resulting in a talk with the manager and I have to go back today!
Hope you like my project - sneak peek below and you'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to visit.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and see you soon.

Fliss xx

Purple Passion

Hello again, it's time for the new challenge at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and I'm here to share my Purple Passion inspiration which I hope you like.

You'll have to excuse the slightly dodgy pic as I had to scan the card having managed to mess up my camera settings when I dropped it when I went to take the photo - what am I like!

I made the background paper by using my Gelli Plate with Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Paints (Lilac and Moonlight) with white card.

I then stamped on the Carabelle Studio Femme et Oiseaux image with VersaFine Imperial Purple ink directly on the painted paper. It didn't quite stamp properly (I think due to the painted surface) but I managed to sort out her hair with a soft brush which gave it a slightly misty look that I rather like> I added a little colour to the lips, eyes and birds with coloured pencils.

I used the Distressed Harlequin Dinky Stencil with Paper Artsy Fesco Finish Paint in Pansy to add a pattern to the paper and finished off with the text from the Carabelle Studio Every Bird stamp set.

I distressed the edges and then added the paper to a card blank to finish.

Have a great weekend.

Fliss xx

All You Need Is Love (And Stencils)

Hello everyone and welcome to today's first post which is to let you know I have a project to share over at That's Crafty.
This week it's a fairly simple graphic type card in bright colours which is really quite easy to make. You'll find all the details over at the blog.

I'll be round to visit over the weekend if I haven't yet got to you - sorry, but things are still busy and tomorrow I have yet another trip to the opticians to look forward to - not!

See you in a bit with news of the new challenge at That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

Fliss xx

Flower Garden

Hello all, hoping you had a lovely weekend despite any adverse weather as yesterday here was a total deluge for most of the day! Also so cold I had to resort to a scarf to keep out the draughts!
It was good for crafting though and this week we're going floral at Make My Monday as the theme Suzi chose is Flowers and I'm sure you all know how much I love those.
My Flower Garden stamps came out again for this one and hope you like my inspiration.

I made the background paper with some DecoArt Spring Green paint which I applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water then smooshed on some cartridge paper.
I dried off with a heat gun (I'm impatient you see!) and then stamped on the flower text from the Carabelle Studio Pretty Like A Flower set with Archival Fern Green ink. I then stamped on part of the Kaisercraft Honeycombe image with the same ink in the gaps.
I stamped the flower head on some paper from my bits box which was coloured with Picked Raspberry Distress Stain. I used Archival Watering Can ink for this. I then cut the image out.
I stamped the leafy stalk on the background paper with the Fern Green ink and coloured it with Inktense pencils.
I distressed the edges of the paper with an emery board and glued it to a card blank. I added the flower head with foam pads and finished off with the Carabelle text stamped on cartridge paper.

This is our last challenge until September as we're all taking a well earned rest for August to recharge our creative juices. Hope you can join us.

Have a great day and a lovely week.
Fliss xx

Illusions For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. Mine has been so busy I can't wait for the weekend!
My post today is to let you know I have a project to share today over at That's Crafty Blog. This week it's an art panel with a nature theme which I hope you like.

I've used one of the fab new white/grey board panels for my project and I've been playing with the brand new and exclusive Dinky Stencils again and one of them has been used in a slightly unusual way. Please visit the blog to find out how!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Steampunk at Make My Monday

Hello all, hoping you had a lovely weekend with some sunshine as we did. Mine was also very busy with family stuff as we had my younger one home for the weekend after the lucky thing had been to the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A so I'm sure you can guess I'm a tad green with envy!

We also had my parents in law over for lunch yesterday as my father in law had a minor op on Friday so we thought it would cheer him up and also today is his 90th birthday although you'd never guess if you saw him.

I've been a bit of a cheat with my inspiration for the Steampunk challenge at Make My Monday this week yet again due to lack of time so hope you like it even if you have seen it before. It's the favourite of the steampunk cards I've made over the last few years which is partly why I am sharing it.

This was made with the Creative Expressions Sam Poole steampunk image which I coloured with Aquamarkers. I then inked the edges of the panel with blue Distress ink.
I inked up a panel dry embossed with the X Cut clock folder with Wild Honey, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks.
I then dry embossed a kraft panel with the Cuttlebug gears folder. I painted some chipboard cogs with blue paint and assembled the card adding a metal cog and stamped text to finish.

Hope you have a ood week.
Fliss xx

Stencils and Masks At That's Crafty Challenge Blog

Hello again and yes, you guessed right as our new challenge today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog, in honour of the launch week of the Dinky Stencils is Stencils and Masks.

Here's my inspiration and I'll be adding the details later today as my eyelids started drooping when I started writing this last night!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Beautiful Moments For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't been around to comment this week, time has been very short due to various commitments so i should hopefully catch up at the weekend.
It's my turn to post over at That's Crafty today and it's the launch week of our new and fabulous Dinky Stencils range so that's what I've used for my project this week.

As you can see, some dinky creations made with some of the brand new atc blanks, these being grey/white board.

All the details are over at the blog as usual if you want to see how they came about.

Back in a while with details of our new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog.

Fliss xx

Brand New and Exclusive Goodies At That's Crafty!!!

Hello again, I'm back and so excited to be able to finally tell you about the fabulous new That's Crafty goodies developed by Laura and Graham which I know will just fly out of the shop as they're so useful and such good value, not to mention a first of type as well!

The most exciting part of the new range is the collection of ATC size stencils which are available in tons of designs as you'll see below and although they've been designed with atcs in mind, they come in just as handy for larger projects and being small, are so easy to handle. They also have a little hole at the top corner so you can keep them all together on a book ring or similar - how clever is that!

As you can see, there are quite a lot in the collection and there are more in the pipeline too. There are also some fab atc blanks as well made from chipboard, kraft chipboard, white/grey board and acrylic plus some large A4 sized white/grey board perfect for making art panels using all sorts of mixed media techniques as they're so sturdy.

Here's a little sneak peek of one of my creations that you'll be able to see all of very soon.
Aren't I a tease!

Have a good week and see you later!
Fliss xx

A Tag For Make My Monday

Hello all you crafters, hope you had a lovely weekend and managed to get some crafting done. I did a little although the weekend was busy with a reading glasses hunt as my close vision isn't great due to the transition from gas permeable to soft lenses, the Optician saying it will take a while to get the prescription right as my eyes adjust.
We also went to see the latest Terminator film, Genesys, which I was a little apprehensive about as I loved the first 2, but not the third (cheesy ending!) and the Christian Bale one was quite good. I needn't have worried though as it was very well done making good use of Mr Schwarzenegger's age and had lots of wit along with the action. I can tell I enjoyed it as I can judge how good the film is from the point I notice discomfort in the dodgy cinema seats, which in this case was when I got up to leave - ouch!

Now to the reason for this post which is the new challenge today over at Make My Monday with a challenge theme chosen by yours truly, Anything But A Card, so my inspiration is a tag.

I made the tag with kraft card which I smeared with green and yellow acrylic paints using my fingers for a smudged effect. I then stamped on the daisies from the Tim Holtz Flower Garden set with Archival Watering Can ink and coloured them with paints and pencils. Slight artistic license with the colours as I wanted a good contrast.
I then stencilled on a chequerboard design with pink paint (see my next post for details on the stencil I used) and finished off with the sentiment from the Carabelle Studio Pretty Like A Flower set stamped with the darl grey ink. I tied some wired green ribbon at the top.

I'll be back (sounding like Arnie - tee hee!) a bit later with the promised news from last week which I can't wait to share!
Fliss xx

Wish Upon A Star Inspiration For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, hoping you've all had a good week. Mine has been quite creative due to a couple of days off work but I can't share anything yet as it's mostly for a rather exciting event happening next Monday onwards so you'll have to wait and see :D
My post today is to let you know about my project over at That's Crafty which is my rather belated inspiration (of the midway sort!) for our current challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which has the theme of Wish Upon A Star.

Here's a sneak peek and you'll need to pop over to the blog to see the whole thing. Hope you will!

 

Have a great weekend and see you next week.

Fliss xx

All At Sea at Make My Monday

Hello everyone and apologies for my absence lately which is because work and life have been very hectic over the last couple of weeks and I've had no time for crafting. On top of that I still have eyesight issues as my Optician recommended changing my gas permeable lenses that I've had for over 20 years to soft lenses. These arrived on Saturday and I can get them in very quickly but taking them out is a nightmare. I couldn't get the right one out last night until gone midnight and ended up with a rather red eye so today I'm having to resort to the glasses that didn't quite work in order to be able to see at all!
As you can imagine, I'm feeling somewhat miserable but I'm just about managing to craft and was able to finish what I started for our challenge this week at Make My Monday which has the theme of

The Sea

 
This is for my father in law's birthday in a couple of weeks but as he doesn't see my blog, he won't know it's here :D

All the men in my hubby's family love the sea and my Stampscapes stamps came out to play. I hope you like my background which is one of a Gelli print session on Sunday when I made a small batch with my new 6x6 plate which, if you like making square cards as I do, is fabulous!

Here's a pic of the print I took showing the 3 left. The darker versions were the originals from applying 2 shades of teal and 2 shades of blue with white Gesso using my figures. I then misted on water to make the paler prints, one of which I used for the card.

As you can see, you can get a good effect of sky, sea and waves if you apply roughly horizontal stripes across and I know I'm going to struggle with adding anything to the darker versions as I can't bear to cover any of them up!

To make the card, I stamped on the sea and wave stamp, followed by rocks and the lighthouse. I then added the ship which is from Crafty Individuals CI-294. I added coloured to the images with a chalk pastel for the grey and Inktense pencils in greens, blues, browns and white to make the images pop. The most useful was actually the white as I found applying it quite strongly covered up any unwanted lines which was the price I had to pay for not stamping first and masking.

I think it worked quite well though and hope you think so too.

I simply added the panel to a kraft card to finish - it's a bit wonky due to my eyesight issues but it will have to do!

Sorry if I haven't been to visit lately but hope to remedy that soon.

Fliss xx

1000 Posts Candy!!!

THIS IS A STICKY POST AND WILL STAY AT THE TOP UNTIL 30TH JUNE 2015

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWER POSTS

MORE CANDY NOW ADDED SO PLEASE SEE BELOW

Hello everyone and a special welcome to my new followers. As promised in my last post which was my 1000th post since I started blogging (sometimes it seems like yesterday!), I'm here with a little candy to celebrate.

I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been following my art journey - I couldn't do this without your constant encouragement which makes me feel very humble sometimes.

OK, on to the promised candy, the first of which is a voucher for the That's Crafty online shop. Some of you know that I'm part of the Design Team but you may not have seen the incredible choices in the shop so prepare to be amazed HERE.

Here's the second lot of candy as promised and the first random winner will have the choice of the voucher or goodies with whatever is left going to the second winner.

It's not a brilliant pic as I had light issues but the contents are as follows:

• Vase and Shrub Clear Stamp Set
• A variety of mini stamps including hearts, a flourish, cameo etc
• Bronze Gems
• A variety of vintage style lace and stitched ribbon
• 2 Embossing Folders - Roses, Butterflies
• A Spiral Flower Die

Please link up below if you'd like a chance to win.  You have until 30th June to enter. Good luck!

Fliss xx

Taking The Scenic Route At That's Crafty

Hi there, sorry that I haven't been able to visit lately, I've been extremely busy with work and family stuff so little time to myself the last week or so. Hopefully things will slow down next week.

I have my Friday tutorial over at That's Crafty today which this week is a mixed media wall hanging panel that I hope you like as much as I enjoyed making it.

 Here's a sneak peek and you'll find the whole thing over at the blog with all the details if you'd like to hop on over. I'd love it if you did.

As you can see, my Flower Garden stamps have come out to play again for a bright and colourful nature themed creation.

Have a great weekend.
Fliss xx

On The Beach or Wish You Were Here!

Hello everyone, I'm a tad late with some inspiration for today's new challenge at Make My Monday after an exceedingly busy weekend and have had to cheat a bit as I haven't got the energy to make anything at the moment so I hope you'll all forgive me if you remember this one!

The main image is Crafty Individuals and the background paper was made by applying ink to an acrylic block, misting with water and then stamping onto a square of white card.
I then over stamped it with a Kaisercraft stamp called vintage fence which repeat stamps really well.
I heat embossed part of a torn piece of corrugated card with Frantage Aged Bronze embossing enamel and knotted some twine round it. I then coloured the seagull panel with Promarkers and ink before trimming down. I attached the panel to the corrugated card.
I stamped the tickets (also Crafty Individuals) with Archival cobalt ink and coloured them with Distress ink before cutting them out. I stamped the words with Hero Arts alphabet stamps and the blue ink and cut these out separately.
I made the bunting by drawing it on card, colouring it with Promarkers and then cut it out and assembled the card as you see.

Sorry it's a repeat and hoping for time to play soon!

We also have a DT call for several new team members as we have plans for the future. Please enter a challenge and let us know if you're interested.

Fliss xx

We're Playing Housey, Housey At That's Crafty!

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for the new challenge starting today at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which has the theme of

HOUSEY, HOUSEY

I've been playing in my A5 size journal again for this and have inked up a new set of Carabelle Studio stamps which I couldn't resist - see if you can spot why!

I started off by stamping the buildings, sign post image and the quirky sun with Archival Jet Black ink directly on the journal page. They're from the Carabelle Studio Zintenkia by Azoline set.

As you can see I have a couple of smudges on there but I don't think they show on the completed page so if it happens to you, just go with it!

I added colour to the stamped images with Promarkers and coloured pencils. I then applied Cracked Pistachio, Crushed Olive, Fossilized Amber and Salty Ocean Distress inks to the page using the lightest shades around the stamped images.

I then stamped on some of the quirky floral images from the Carabelle Studio Ombrelines Aux Pistils by Azoline with the green and yellow Distress inks onto the page, stamping some twice before re-inking.

To finish I added a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker which I cut up and drew on the little hearts with a fine black pen. Can you see where I wrote on the sign?

Did you spot the reason why I had to have this stamp set - there's  tiny Eiffel Tower at the top and my dream is still to go to Paris.

Have a great weekend.

Fliss xx

Wishes For That's Crafty

Hello eveyone, I hope you've all had a good week with some sunny weather as we have on the UK South Coast. The only problem was that I had to work - sigh!
This is my first post of the day to let you know I have my usual Friday post at That's Crafty which this week is a rather graphic style card inspired by a conversation with my print designer daughter who has been doing prints with flowers and checks involved. If you'd like to see what she's been up to here's a link to the latest collection for the label she works for which contains some of her prints (I'm a very proud Mum as I'm sure you can imagine). 
Here's a sneak peek of my That's Crafty project and hope you can pop on over to see how it came about.

I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge starting today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and boy, the last 2 weeks seem to have flown by!

See you in a while.
Fliss xx

Embossing At Make My Monday Plus A DT Call

Hello everyone, hoping you all had a better weekend than me as I've had to wear my glasses all the time and I'm somewhat cross with the optician who didn't tell me that I'd have horrendous problems due to the fact that I wear gas permeable contact lenses. These don't seem to be compatible with glasses which considering I said I wanted to take out the lenses and put glasses on when I get home from work has turned out not to be an as well, but rather an either/or situation. I can't tell you what a miserable time I've had not being able to see properly (I feel sorry for my DH too as he's had to put up with my whingeing)
Anyhow, enough of that and on to the reason for my post which is to let you know that we have a new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has a theme chosen by yours truly:

EMBOSSING - HEAT OR DRY OR BOTH

Here's my inspiration and it's 2 for the price of 1 this week as I got carried away!

These came about because I was messing about with sprays on Saturday and made a few backgrounds in varying shades of blue, pink and purple and as I wanted to use white embossing the stronger colours were ideal.

I used Decoart Media Misters in Primary Magenta and Shimmer Turquoise, some of the backgrounds paler as I misted them with water to use up all the ink spray.

The first card uses a Stampinback Forget Me Not image which I stamped on with Archival Plum and Cobalt before stamping with Versamark ink and heat embossing with white detail powder.I stamped on the Penny Black text with the deep blue ink and attached the panel to a white card blank.

The second card uses a wild flower from the Tim Holtz Nature's Moments stamp set which I stamped with Memento Lilac Posies and Grape Jelly dye inks. I then stamped with Versamark as before and heat embossed with white. I stamped the text from the stamp set with the Archival Plum ink and attached to a white card to finish.

We also want to add some new talent to our Design Team and will have more exciting things coming up in the future so check out the challenge blog if you'd like to join.

Thanks for looking and have a great week.

Fliss xx

Butterflies Galore at That's Crafty

Hello all, hope you're all having a lovely sunny week. It's been so warm down here in the South that I've finally managed to leave my coat off at last!
I have my Friday post over at That's Crafty Blog today if you'd like to hop on over and see what I made this week.
Here's a sneak peek to tempt you :)

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Shabby Chic at Make My Monday

Hello everyone, it seems like Summer has arrived so I hope you all had a lovely sunny weekend. Mine has been a bit mixed as I got my new glasses on Saturday (I wear contact lenses all the time) which I have for back-up and as I'm exceedingly short sighted and they're also varifocals, to say I've been struggling is an understatement!!!
I just about managed to get my card for our new challenge at Make My Monday which has the theme of Shabby Chic chosen by Suzi B, although a fair amount of squinting came into it! Hope you like it.

I used a scrap of the Gelli print paper shown on my post last Friday and stamped on the Penny Black collage image with Archival Wareing Can ink. I then added colout with Inktense pencils.
I stamped the Hobbycraft corner flourishes on with the same ink together with the sentiment. I then distressed the edges with an emery board and added the panel to a kraft card blank.

If you haven't yet seen I have some candy on offer, do check out the post to see what you could win.

Have a good week.
Fliss xx

All That Glitters

Hello again and welcome to my second post today which is my inspirational piece for the new challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which has the theme of All That Glitters.
This is also a very special post as this is my 1000th post since I started blogging so keep an eye out for the next post because I think a little candy might be in order to celebrate!

The background for my art panel is actually one of the extra prints I pulled from my Gelli plate for last week's creation on the That's Crafty Blog - here's a pic to show you the 3 extra prints I gained.

I took the piece on top and trimmed it to size, attaching it to a thick grey board panel. I then stamped on the Carabelle Studio mini stamp Collage Horloge with Archival Fern Green ink. I then used first and second generation stamping with the same ink to stamp on the images from the Carabelle Studio Textures avec des chiffres stamp set. You can see the result below.

I made a sparkly butterfly using the Tim Holtz Sissix Alterations Layered Butterfly Die and a piece of the Gelli print paper which I then dry embossed and added further colour too with Picked Raspberry, Fossilised Amber and Salty Ocean Distress inks then heat embossed with crystal embossing powder.
I added this to the panel and finished off with some Tim Holtz Big Chat stickers which I swiped with Crushed Olive Distress ink to blend them in.
Hope you can join in.

Have a good weekend and see you soon!
Fliss xx

Coming Up Daisies For That's Crafty

Hello there and welcome to my first post of the day which is to let you know I have my usual Friday tutorial over at That's Crafty Blog and this week I'm sharing a simple card made for one of my nieces who has her birthday on Monday.
Hope you like it and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual. Here's a sneak peek to tease you!

I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge starting today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog at 8am.

See you later.
Fliss xx

The Only Way Is Up!

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. It's been freezing down here in the South and I can't believe today is June! Hope Summer makes an appearance very soon!
Today we have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday and this week Marina has given us a picture as inspiration and you can make whatever it inspires such as the colours, the sea, the balloons etc etc.

 

As you see I've made a very simple card for my inspiration using a very sweet image from Mo's Digital Pencil which I printed out on to smooth cartridge paper which has to be my go to paper for most things. I coloured the image with my few Copic pens and confess I managed to mess up the colouring of the balloon as I really struggle with larger areas. This is why the balloon is now paper pieced! I printed it on to a piece of Polka Doodles dotty paper from the Sugarplum Daisy CD.
I then simply added mats of purple and lilac before attaching to the card blank and finished off with a text sticker from the Tim Holtz Small Talk book.

Thanks for looking and see you later on this week.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Dreaming In layers For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I hope you've had a good week and also less busy than mine as work this week has been rather tricky with me trying to fit in too many things that all needed doing at once!
My post today is to let you know I have my usual Friday project over at That's Crafty which is all about stamping in layers to achieve a dimensional effect.
Here's a very little sneak peek and hope you can pop on over to visit and view the whole thing.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Kraft Card At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a lovely long weekend, at least those of you here in the UK that it!
My post today is to share my inspiration for our new challenge over at Make My Monday and this week the lovely Suzi B would like to see us using KRAFT CARD on our creation.
I really enjoyed this challenge as I love kraft card and my creation is a very simple card as you'll see as I didn't want to cover up the kraft card blank I used.

I began by stamping the Carabelle Studio Texture Chevrons image directly on the card blank with white Gesso. I did this by spreading some Gesso on my craft mat and pressing in the stamp, repeating this 3 times. I then immediately washed the stamp to remove any leftover paint.
When the paint was dry, I stamped on the butterfly image (Carabelle Studio Papillon Grunge) over the painted area with Archival Jet Black ink. Some of the image didn't stamp as well as I wanted so I stamped it again on smooth cartridge paper and coloured it with Inktense pencils and cut it out.
I glued the butterfly over the top of the image on the card and added the number text from the butterfly stamp set and some stickers from the Tim Holtz Big Chat sticker book.

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

Numbers Up!

Hello again and welcome to my second post today which is to tell you about the new challenge we have for you today over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which has the theme of Numbers Up which I'm sure you've guessed means we'd like to see your creations with numbers on them somewhere.
Here's my inspiration which is actually the birthday card for one of my nephews who has his birthday on Sunday.

As you can see, my bird crazy stamps have come out to play again. I stamped this one on smooth stamping paper and coloured him with pencils from the Spectrum Noir Nature set, blending the colours with blending fluid and paper stumps.
I made the background with turquoise and purple Brusho crystals, lightly spritzed with water. When it was dry, I stamped on the number image from the Carabelle Studio Textures Avec Des Chiffres set with Salty Ocean Distress ink.
I added the bird panel to an orange mat and the background paper to a deep blue card blank, finishing off with a Dymo text panel.

If you enter, there's a £20 voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner.

Have a great weekend.
Fliss xx

Things With Wings

Hello everyone, hoping you're all OK and I'm really late with this post due to several issues with family over the weekend, then my contact lenses which I had to take out early yesterday evening as my eyes were playing up and I'm blind as a bat without them! Still waiting on my glasses - sigh! Plus I couldn't get my photo to load up on this post!
Anyhow, enough whinging and on to the new challenge over at Make My Monday which this week has a theme I chose because I really love nature themed things or fantasy of course as you could have angels or fairies instead of birds, butterflies and so on.
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

The bird collage is by Penny Black and was stamped on smooth cartridge paper, coloured with Inktense pencils and then inked a little with Distress inks which I also edged with after cutting it to a panel. I added mats of green and pink as I'm thinking of Spring (despite the hail storms we had today!).
I made the background paper by stamping the Stampendous Frantage flowers round the edges of a panel of card with the Archival coffee ink I used for the bird panel. I then coloured them with Distress markers and inked with Distress inks, edging as before and then sticking to a white card blank, adding the matted main panel on top.

Hoping you have a great week.
Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:
2 Cute Ink Challenge - Bird Theme
Dream Valley Challenges - Things With Wings
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge - Things With Wings
Addicted To Stamps Challenge - Spring With Birds And/Or Eggs

Those Little Imperfections

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. Mine had been very busy with work, opticians visits etc and I have another visit there tomorrow as very annoyingly, the lovely frames I chose don't fit the lenses I have to have so it's back to the beginning - sigh!
Today's post is to let you know that I have a project to share over at That's Crafty blog as I've been playing in my little art journal again having finally got my inky mitts on a set of those fab bird crazy stamps I've been seeing everywhere!

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to see how it came about as this is actually a one layer page and I have a tip to share about masking without all that tedious cutting out.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx

Coffee and Tea

Hello folks, I'm a bit late with my inspiration for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday. This is because I had an extremely busy weekend and then had a very early start this morning to take my car in for a service so I'm writing this in need of matchsticks to keep my eyes open!
Our theme this week has been chosen by Joan and she would like us to take Coffee or Tea as our inspiration. I managed to mislay my coffee and teacup stamps (until I'd made my card of course!) so the cute digital image from Aurora Wings came to the rescue. Isn't the little kitten adorable?

I printed out the digital image on to smooth cartridge paper and coloured with a mix of Aquamarkers, watercolour pencils, Derwent Inktense pencils and Distress inks. I then trimmed it to a panel and applied Tumbled Glass Distress ink round the edges with an ink applicator.

Here's a little close-up so you can see the cute kitten a bit better.

I then printed out the roses corner image also by Aurora Wings on to the cartridge paper, coloured it as before and cut the image out.
I then dry embossed a panel of lilac pink card with a Cuttlebug Anna Griffin folder and glued this to an A5 cream textured card blank. I die cut 2 Marianne Design lace corners from light aqua paper and glued these on the right hand corners, adding the cut out rose image on the left.
I stamped the sentiment (from the Kanban coffee and tea set I couldn't find earlier!) on the teacup panel with Archival Watering Can ink and glued this on to finish.

Have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Aurora Wings Challenge - Flowers
Glitter n Sparkle - Embossing - Heat or Dry
Come and Get It - Got Flowers?
Pile It On - Cute Animal
Just Us Girls - Embossing
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - Anything Goes/Add Flowers
Southern Girls - Animal Crackers 

Steampunk Surprise!

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and I have to say I was thrilled to bits with the theme as my creation was inspired by my secret (or now not so secret!) obsession with Victorian Steampunk novels which has been fuelled by the Kindle my dear hubby gave me as a present last year.
As soon as I saw the Carabelle Studio Femme Neoromantique, the image was a must for my little art panel as with her goggles she looks just like one of the heroines of my favourite novels.

I decided on a mixed media panel which started off as a square Paper Artsy Greyboard Panel. I cut a square of smooth card to the same size, partially dry embossed it with a cogs and gears folder then inked it up with Rusty Hinge Distress ink and swiped over the top with Chipped Sapphire and Walnut Stain Distress inks. I then glued it to the greyboard panel.
I cut an arch shaped panel of strong card slightly larger the main image and another arch panel a little larger to make a mat.
I dry embossed the smaller panel with the cogs folder and then swiped on embossing ink and heat embossed it with Frantage Aged Bronze Embossing Enamel. I rubbed Chipped Sapphire DI in the areas with slight gaps.
I heat embossed just a wide band round the edges of the larger arch with a mix of Cosmic Shimmer Tarnished Gold, Black and Verdigris embossing powders.
I stamped the woman image on smooth card with Archival Jet Black ink and painted her with watercolour pencils before cutting her out. I then rubbed on a little Pumice Stone Distress ink to makes the edges pop.

I glued the arches together and then glued on the image, adding foam tape under her head for dimension.
I next stamped the Carabelle Studio Steampunk:Machine a remonter le temps image twice on smooth card and heat embossed it with the Frantage Aged Bronze. I then coloured them lightly with Seedless Preserves Distress ink and cut them out.
I added these to the panel and glued the arched panels over the top.
I embellished the panel with some chipboard cogs which I heat embossed with the Frantage Aged Bronze and Verdigris embossing powders. a metal key which I added a little Verdigris heat embossing to and Dymo tape text.

Hope you like my creation and that you can join in. You have a fortnight to enter and there's a £20 voucher to the online shop for the randomly drawn winner although please check the rules about this.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

I'd like to link this up to the following:
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes (mine started out as a plain greyboard panel)
Cuttlebug Mania - Stamping (I used my beloved Cuttlebug and the gears folder) My image is stamped as ere the clock and gear side panels)

French Fashion

Hello folks and welcome to my first post of today which is to let you know I have my Friday tutorial over at That's Crafty Blog and this week I have a card to share which was inspired by my daughter's job in fashion together with my love for Paris (an as yet unfulfilled dream - sigh!)
I've got my inky mitts on the Tim Holtz Runway stamp set which was a definite must have as it brings back happy memories of the graduate fashion show a couple of years ago when my daughter's degree collection strutted down the catwalk on some rather superior looking models.

As you see, a little bit of ooh la la! You'll find the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop over to see.
I'll be back in a while with my second post which will be my inspiration for the new challenge at That's Crafty Challenge Blog and I can't tell you how much I loved this one - it's one of my favourites!

See you later!
Fliss xx

Simply A Tree

Hello all, I hope you're having a lovely Bank Holiday weekend which I have to say has been fairly typical weather wise as it's wet and cold! Good weather to be crafting though and I managed to get some done along with some baking.
Our challenge this week at Make My Monday has a theme chosen by Marina and we would like to see your creations with Trees or Leaves.
I've been experimenting with my Brusho crystals again and I'm not sure it turned out exactly as planned but it will have to do!
Here it is and hope you like it.

I stamped the tree first (Hobby Art) on thick smooth watercolour paper using Archival Jet Black ink.
I then sprinkled on Brusho crystals little by little, misting gently with water by Ranger mini mister as I went. This is the tricky bit as it's not always easy to stop misting on too much water. I keep paper towels by me to blot any excess water.
As you'll see, the results are a bit hap hazzard although I did manage to get a suggestion of sky and grass. The tree was the most difficult so you'll have to use your imagination the think of a gentle breeze shaking off the blossom.
I added the panel to a kraft card blank and finished off with a Tim Holtz small talk sticker.

Have a great day and a good week.
Fliss xx

Some Challenges I'd like to enter:
Crafts 4 Eternity - Inspired By Nature (I WON A TOP 3 AWARD FOR MY TREE!!!)
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Spring Has Sprung
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

Hello all, welcome to my post today which is mostly to let you know it's my day over at the That's Crafty blog but before I get to that I want to let you know about an event happening at the shop on Saturday 16th May.
Laura has arranged a Make and Take Day with Creative Expressions John Lockwood. You'll find all the details HERE and it looks like a fun day for anyone near the Romford area (sadly I'm not - sigh). John will be demoing the new Sue Wilson dies so if you can make it you'll have a fab time.

Here's my project for this week and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual. Hope you like it!

As you can see, it's very bright and it cheered up a very wet and cold day when I created it.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx
PS: Are you singing? :D