All Square At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello and welcome to my inspiration gor the new challenge today at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog. This will be my last post for a bit apart from scheduled posts which I hope will pop up as planned as I'm off on my hols to Austria tomorrow and will be incommunicado as my phone doesn't have FB and the screen is not big enough for me to be able to see anything blog wise clearly enough!

When I found out what the challenge was the first thing that sprang to mind with the theme of All Square was patchwork quilt squares. Here's what I made and I hope you like it!

Do you like my patchwork squares? My hubby thought they were fabric when he saw the background paper I made. My treasured Tim Holtz Lady Rose has come out to play again, this time in rather vintage style.

The roses in the stamp set are gorgeous and lend themselves very well to repeat stamping which is what I did here using Archival inks in Fern Green and Plum, roughly inking up the flowers with the plum and the leaves with the green. I stamped on as many of the large images as I could fit then took the stamp off the acrylic block. I inked up just portions of the images with same same inks and filled in the gaps, holding the stamp in my hands and pressing down gently to transfer the ink.

Once I finished stamping, I coloured the images with a Spun Sugar and Crushed Olive Distress Markers. I then sponged Antique Linen Distress ink over the top and serendipity struck again! The sponge seemed to pick up some of the Distress marker colour and the result looked just like vintage stained fabric - how's that for luck!

I cut 4 squares from the paper and pierced holes around the edges with the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ruler, creating the effect of stitching with the Aged Mahogany Distress Marker. I then stuck them on a square of double sided adhesive sheet (floating around in my stash for an age!). I left gaps between the squares and pressed Finnabair Art Ingredients Bronze Micro Beads on to the adhesive.

I added the panel to a square kraft card blank. I stamped Lady Rose on mixed media paper with the plum ink, colouring her with Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylics. I trimmed the image to a square panel and inked around the image with Spun Sugar Distress ink. I then stamped around the edges with an image from the Tim Holtz Damask stamp set using the Spun Sugar Distress Marker to ink the stamp.

I distressed the edges of the panel with an emery board and inked them up with plum before attaching to the background panel. I finished off with some inked Big Chat stickers.

Have a great weekend and a lovely week and see you in a while.
Fliss xx

The Poppy Field For That's Crafty!

Hi there, I hope you've all had a good week and welcome to my first post of the day which is to let you know that I have my usual Friday project over at That's Crafty! and this week it's the second part of my triptych as I'm sharing the other side which continues the nature theme.

This is the middle panel and you'll find the whole triptych with full instructions on how I made it over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop over.

I'll be back in a while as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which goes live at 8am and I can't wait to share my inspiration!

Back soon,
Fliss xx

Back to School at Make My Monday

Hello there, I hope you've all had a lovely weekend and that those here in the UK are enjoying the Bank Holiday so far. I've been very busy with crafting stuff over the weekend as I'm off on my hols next weekend so have to get ahead and will be sharing my makes over the next couple of weeks.

There's a new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has the theme of Back to School, something I struggled with as my 2 are way beyond the school stage now and I couldn't think what to do! Luckily my Tim Holtz Sideshow stamp set came to the rescue and I hope you like my simple inspiration which is a Tim style good luck card.

I stamped the main image and numbers border on mixed media paper with Ranger Cobalt Archival ink and then sprinkled on Brusho Crystals in shades of orange, red and yellow then misted gently with water and allowed the colours to run.
Once I was happy with the colour, I then used the number block image with the cobalt ink, stamping partially several times before re-inking to add texture to the panel.
I added a deep turquoise mat and glued to my white card blank, finishing off with a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker.

Have a great day and a lovely week.
Fliss xx

Summer Meadow Triptych For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone from a rather sweltering South Coast of England, I feel as if I've been melting over the last few days as it's been so hot and I don't cope that well with heat, especially if I have to go to work in it as has happened of course! Hope you're all coping with it if you're affected.

I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! today and I'm sharing the first part of my triptych which is double sided with this week's offering being the chilled out side as I've created a meadow scene, imagining it to be a balmy summer evening and I hope it chills you out too.

This is one of the side panels and you'll find the complete triptych over at the blog if you'd like to see it and how it came about.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and hopefully see you soon (very busy couple of weeks!)
Fliss xx

Get Cracking! with That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello all, a very quick post from me to show you my inspiration piece from our new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where for the next fortnight our theme is Get Cracking! so be it paint or paste, a cracked look is what we would like to see!

My crackle is rather delicate like cracked eggshells. I coloured a large That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF panel with Gesso then used stencil paste to add some pattern wth the Quatrefoil 1 Background Dinky Stencil. This was left to dry thoroughly.
I painted over the top with green and blue acrylic paints then brushed on a thick coat of Cosmic Shimmer Crackle Paint in blue and green in the areas that didn't have the textured stencilling. I then left this overnight and waited for the crackle to appear. Sorry about the colour difference here, I took the pic below mid creating and the light was terrible at the time which is why it looks rather different!

I stamped the flower from Paper Artsy Eclectica Lin Brown ELB15 twice on a scrap of orange Gelli Plate coloured paper and then stamped on the tiny flowers from the set with Ranger Wild Orchid dye ink. I stamped the leafy stalk on green Gelli Plate paper and cut this out together with the flowers.
 I added the flower to the panel with foam tape then embellished with a yellow gem and some Chit Chat stickers which I swiped with leftover paint to blend them in. I stamped some of the tiny flowers on the panel with Archival Fern Green ink to draw everything together.


Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Remember to Smile For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, hope you're all OK and have had a good week. Mine has been a difficult one as we've been coping with the problems caused by some horrible person stealing my daughter's identity to take out loads of store cards and stuff, largely because quite a few stores seem to give you instant spending power without checking the details they're given! Totally unbelievable I know but Debenhams allowed this imposter to spend almost £500 without any proper ID!!!

Anyway, enough whinging and on to the actual reason for the post which is to let you know I have my usual Friday post over at That's Crafty! Blog and I hope you'll hop over to see how I made it.

I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog today and you're going to love it I think!

Fliss xx

Photo Inspiration at Make My Monday

Hello everyone, a fairly quick post from me today as I'm feeling rather sorry for myself having woken up yesterday morning deaf in my right ear and on my hubby's recommendation put some stuff in it which was really horrible - fizzing in the ear very uncomfortable! It's a bit better today but I slept rather badly so don't feel great!
Our new challenge today at Make My Monday has a photo for inspiration:

My Oxford Impressions Mystical Mermaids stamp set came out to play although it's not I think my best creation as I felt so yuk.

The base is a That's Crafty! Surfaces large White/Greyboard Tag which was coloured using my Gelli Plate and some blue and green acrylic paints with a dash of white. I then used the That's Crafty! Bubbles Background Dinky Stencil with white transparent acrylic to add some texture.

I next stamped on the seaweed with Archival Olive ink followed by the mermaid and fish. I then painted both the mermaid and fish with white gesso which is my favourite trick to avoid adding cut out images. Once the paint is dry, stamp over the top again with the image and the olive ink.

Then I coloured the images with Twinkling H20 paints in various colours including smudging some deep blue over the seaweed to make it pop. The finishing touch was to stamp on bubbles from the set using first and second generation stamping with Archival Watering Can ink.

I then tied some wired chiffon ribbon through the top.

We have our new DT members joining us for this challenge and they've made a fabulously inspiring start so I hope you can pop over to see.

Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Amor Amor Triptych for Thst's Crafty!

Hi everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and have been enjoying some sunshine - not that I saw a lot as I've been at work!
I have a post over at That's Crafty! Blog today where I'm sharing the last of my Hochanda samples and it's my favourite of the things I created too. Hope you like it as well.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual and hope you can hop over to see how it came about.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss x

Zesty, Zingy Colours at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which for the next fortnight has the theme of Zesty Zingy Colours and I can't tell you how much I loved this!

My inspiration is a tag and I hope you like it.

I recently got my painty mitts on some more new Dinky Stencils which included the gorgeous floral one I used here called simply Fleur. Isn't it just gorgeous!
I made the background on my That's Crafty! Surfaces Size 10 White/Greyboard Tag with Paper Artsy Fluid Acrylics in Banana and Guacamole with a bit of Pebeo Studio Dyna paint in Iridescent Green/Yellow.
I then used the Distressed Harlequin Dinky Stencil with grunge paste to add some raised pattern areas. When it was dry, I dry brushed on some of the Pebeo paint in Orange/Yellow.
I used the Fleur stencil with the orange Pebeo paint to add some flowers to the tag. I then stamped on some text using the Tim Holtz Ledger Script set with Ranger Lime Green Dye Ink. I used the stamp without an acrylic block in order to bend it to fit the available spaces.
I stamped the text from Paper Artsy Lin Brown ELB15 set with Archival Fern Green ink and finished off with a butterfly from the Tim Holtz Watercolor set stamped with the same ink, painted with the Pebeo Iridescent Green/Yellow and cut out. I tied some wired ribbon through the top.

I hope you can enter as there's a fab prize of a voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Paradise Found For That's Crafty!

Hi there everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and have survived the downturn in the weather, rain and strong winds down here!
I have a post over at That's Crafty! Blog today where I'm sharing another of my makes from last weeks' Hochanda shows. This time it's the gorgeous house acrylic stacker.

Sorry about the photo quality, my poor camera just couldn't cope with the acrylic so it's quite hard to see the roof section.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual so I hope you can pop over to see how this came about.

I'll be back soon as we have a new challenge today at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and I really loved the theme as it involves something I rather like!

Fliss xx

Fun In The Sun At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I'm here today with my inspiration for our new challenge at Make My Monday which for the next fortnight has the theme of Fun in the Sun.

I have to admit to a bit of a struggle with this one as I don't really have anything that fits and in the end had to do a bit of recycling which I hope you like. The theme brought holidays to mind which is the reason for this card.

The background was made with Distress inks and then stamped on the weathered wood background by Kaisercraft which I stamped repeatedly.
I stamped the Crafty Individuals collage image on smooth card and coloured with Distress inks and Promarkers.
I tore out a piece of corrugated card and distressed it with Frantage Aged Bronze Embossing Enamel.
I then stamped the tickets from a Crafty Individuals set on card and coloured them with pink Distress ink then cut them out.
I made the bunting by colouring some card with bright shades of Distress inks and cut out triangles. I stamped the text with alphabet stamps and then assembled all the elements on a kraft card blank.

Have a good week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Steampunk Album For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week and mnaged to catch the Hochanda shows on Monday. If you did, you might just have seen my mixed media steampunk album which I think Charlie, the presenter on the first 2 shows seemed to like!

I'm sharing how I created it over at That's Crafty! today and there are loads of pics of the inside if you'd like to see how it all looked.

Here's just one pic to give you a flavour of the album:

This is the back which I tried hard to make as good as the front and the rest is over at the blog!

Hope you can hop on over.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

That's Crafty! on Hochanda Today!

Hello everyone, just a quick post to let you know that That's Crafty! is on Hochanda today at 10am, 1pm and 6pm with our lovely Lauren Hatwell demoing again.

Do catch a show if you can as the new goodies are totally amazing and you'll love all the gorgeous samples made by my very talented team mates.

Here are some sneak peeks of my samples but you'll have to watch the shows or this space later in the month to see the whole things!

Hope you get to see the shows, you won't be disappointed at the array of mixed media projects.

Fliss xx

Mr Big Ears

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a lovely sunny weekend and I'm here today with a short post to share the card I gave my father in law for his birthday this week.
I'm taking a break in the middle of a baking session to do this (cheese scones and a fruit cake for my father in law).
The card features my newly acquired Hobby Art hare stamp which I was unable to resist as soon as I set eyes on him!

Isn't he just adorable! I stamped him with Archival Watering Can ink on thick, smooth cartridge paper and then stamped some of grasses and flowers from the set on with AArchival Watering Can ink on thick, smooth cartridge paper and then stamped some of grasses and flowers from the set on with Archival Olive and Fern Green inks.
I then added colour with pencils until I was happy with the effect. I trimmed the image to a panel and added a simple blue mat as I know my father in law prefers unfussy cards.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge - Animals
The Corrosive Challenge - Nature - Animals

Birds of a Feather

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where for the next fortnight, our theme is Birds of a Feather and I'm sure you can guess how much I love this one!

I chose to fill another page in my A5 size journal as I've been itching to ink up my new Carabelle Studio image - it's called Un Oiseau sur mon Journal so how could I resist!

My bacground is made with Distress inks - Squeezed Lemonade and Salty Ocean - which I swiped on the page having first brushed on water so that I could achieve slightly softer colours. I then used several Dinky Stencils - Distressed Harlequin, Chevron Background and Punchinella with Squeezed Lemonade, Spun Sugar and Cracked Pistachio DIs to add a random pattern.

I stamped the bird image on my page with Archival Watering Can ink and added some colour with watercolour pencils. I then added further stamping with the same ink with some more Carabelle Studio stamps - my absolute favourite Journal du Jour, the star border from Taches et Background and the lovely text from Every Bird. I carried on until I was happy with the layered effect.

I hope you can enter as there's a prize of a voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner and the array of goodies in the shop is just amazing!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Forever Roses at That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you're surviving the rather sweltering weather we've had this week - very unlike our usual British Summer! I have to say I don't cope that well when it's really hot, probably because I'm an Autumn girl having been born in November!

This is my first post today to let you know I have a project to share over at That's Crafty! Blog. I hope you'll like it as I've been playing with my Sheena Douglass Day of the Dead stamps and as you'll see they come in handy for other times of the year too, especially now with the roses in bloom.

As you can see I've gone very very rich colour shades which I felt really suit this glamour puss image. You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop over to see how it was made.

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

See you soon,
Fliss xx

Sentimental at Make My Monday

Hello everyone, hope you all had a great weekend with some glorious sunny weather as we did down here in the South of England - actually wore a short sleeved top all day for the first time this year!

Sorry for my lack of visiting lately too which is because I'm working on something behind the scenes which is taking up most of my spare time at the moment and I also started a new job 2 weeks ago with a change in my working week which will take a while to get used to.

There's a new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has a theme chosen by your truly for the next fortnight and it's Sentimental, by which I would like the sentiment or text to be the focal point of your creation whatever it might be - a tag, card, art journal page?

Here's my inspiration which is a simple card and unusually for me, took only 15 minutes to make!

My Brushos came out to play along with my treasured Tim Holtz Good Thoughts stamp set which I haven't inked up in an age!

The background was made by sprinkling lemon, purple and turquoise Brusho crystals on mixed media card and misting gently with water, blotting with a paper towel as the original colours were a bit in your face.
One the background was dry, I stamped on the text with Archival Cactus Flower ink which I think tones very well with the Brusho colours. I added a deep lilac mat and attached the panel to a white card blank.
As a finishing touch, I added a scattering of purple and fuchsia gems for some added sparkle.

Hope you can join in and would love to see you there. We have a DT call out at the moment too as we've lost a couple of DT members lately, the latest being Martina for the best possible reason as she's just had a beautiful baby girl - good luck Martina!

Have a great day and a lovelt week and see you soon I hope.
Fliss x

Angelic Dreams at That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a great week and I'm here with a very quick post to let you know that I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with an ATC to share which I hope you like.

It shows another way to use an image too large for an ATC to make one that fits. All details over at the blog as usual.

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

Fliss xx

Feminine Challenge At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and having had a masculine theme last time, this time it's one for the girls!

I have a rather girly tag to share created with the gorgeous Lady Rose stamps by Tim Holtz. Hope you like it!

I sponged a large white/greyboard tag from That's Crafty! surfaces range with pink and green acrylic paints - Paper Artsy Fresco Finish acrylics in Blush and Guacamole.
I then stamped on the small ticket image from the set with Fern Green Archival ink, stamping off on scrap paper first to make the colour more subtle.
I stamped the larger rose spray on twice, inking with Fern Green and Potting Soil Archival inks. I then coloured the flowers and leaves with pink and green Distress Markers.
I next stamped the main image on stamping card, coloured with a mix of pencils and Distress Markers and cut it out. I added the image near the bottom of the tag, with her hair over the edge slightly.
I finished off with some crochet lace trim and tied some ribbons through the top.

I hope you can join us as there's a great prize for the randomly drawn winner.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

You're My Number One For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. I started my new job on Tuesday and it's really great to get to work in 15 minutes as my journey before was sometimes 45 minutes or more! I'm also finishing work earlier which is lovely too.

I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with the card I made for my hubby as we celebrated our wedding anniversary last week and it's clean and simple in style as he's not keen on fussy cards.

Here's a sneak peek and you'll find all of the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop over.

I'll be back in a while with the details of the new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog so see you in a bit!

Fliss xx

Happy 4th July My USA Friends!

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and I'd like to wish any of my USA friends that see this a very Happy Independence Day!
My weekend included an emergency trip to London to pick up my elder one and computer for a dash to the Apple store in Kingston to drop off the iMac for fixing. Rather unexpected as we had planned a trip to Guildford instead as it was our Wedding Anniversary last weekend. I think we'll be doing that trip in a couple of weeks time now!
We have a new challenge today over at Make My Monday with the theme of Explode! chosen by Shawna as today is the 4th July. There are several ways you could interpret this theme but you'll need to hop on over to the Challenge Blog for all the details.
I have to admit to having struggled a bit with this one so I hope you like what I eventually came up with.

A lot of head scratching went on as I wanted to go the firework route but don't have any stamps to fit. I found the firework background via Google (what would we do without it!) and printed it out on white card.
I then stamped the skyline image (Art Impressions) over the top with Archival Jet Black ink and added the Tim Holtz Crazy Talk text underneath. I added a mat of red metallic card for contrast and assembled the panels on a white square card blank - ta dah!

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

Be Awesome at That's Crafty!

Oops! Guess who forgot to schedule her post for That's Crafty! The EU referendum debacle is to blame as there's so much going on in my head at the moment with that plus I've finished at my job and will be starting the new one next week and I'm rather nervous as it's a very long time since I changed a job!
I have an ATC to share today with a message that is a note to self :D

This is one of the creations for the last Hochanda shows That's Crafty! did and I felt it was the perfect time to share this one in the hope it will make me feel a bit better.

Hope you like it and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Masculine At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where we would like to see your Masculine creations so it's one for the men and boys in your life.

I made my card by folding the largest size of Ranger kraft tag in half. I then cut a piece of mixed media paper and coloured the smooth side by applying blobs of acrylic paint to my craft mat, using mostly orange, red and yellow on one side with blue and green on the other, I spritzed it with water, dipped the card in and allowed the colours to run.
When the paper was dry I stamped on the main image. I then added a strip of bright blue hessian ribbon through which I pushed some antique bronze brads before sticking on my image panel. I added some Chit Chat stickers to finish.

I used:
Tim Holtz Sideshow Cling Stamp Set; Ranger Size 12 Kraft Tag; Mixed Media Paper; Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints - China, Tango, Yellow Submarine, London Bus, Granny Smith: Tim Holtz Chit Chat Sticker Book

Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Nature Acrylic Tag At That's Crafty!

Hello everyone and hope you've all had a good week despite the extremely changeable weather which seems to have caused a lot of problems - definitely on my journey to work!
I have a tag to share over at That's Crafty! Blog today which is my first attempt at paint on acrylic and it was quite tricky so I think I need more practice!

I hope you like it and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual.

I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and I'll have all the details.

Fliss x

Fairies at Make My Monday

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was very busy with family stuff as it was Fathers Day and there was quite a bit of visiting to do!
We have a new challenge today over at Make My Monday with the theme chosen by Joan which for the next fortnight is Fairies.

My inspiration features a beautiful image by Aurora Wings which was printed out on to thick smooth cartridge paper and coloured with Prisma pencils. I trimmed the image to a panel and added contrasting mats.
The paper is Polkadoodles  and I added a contrasting strip of card with a punched strip over the top. I embellished with some butterflies die cut ffrom glittery card and added a sentiment stamped on patterned paper, die cut and matted on contrasting card.

Have a great week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Hope Journal Page For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you're all surviving the rather odd weather at the moment. I just wish it would make it's mind up whether to be Summer or not!
I have a project to share over at That's Crafty! Blog which is a page in my A5 journal and features my newest Carabelle Studio stamp.

Isn't she lovely? You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop on over to see how it came about.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

In The Pink At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for the new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which for the next fortnight has the theme of In The Pink so you can probably guess what we would like to see!

Here's my inspiration which I hope you like.

I just adore these cute Alice Palace bunnies from Crafty Individuals!

The background on my ATC was made in layers as I started something which went a bit wrong so I partially covered it up with Paper Artsy Fresco Finiah acrylic paint in Sherbert and then used the hearts Dinky Stencil with Orchid paint to add the pattern.
I stamped the bunny on stamping card and scribbled on colour with a grey and pink pencil, colouring the crown blue for contrast. I cut the image out a stuck this on.
The finishing touch was to use the Enchanted Dinky Stencil with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Medium Grey Value 6 to apply the text at the top.

There's a great prize if you enter of a voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Tell The Story For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week and have been enjoying some sunshine as we've had although some of it was very hot and humid. Shouldn't really complain though as it at least looks as if Summer might have decided to make an appearance at last!
I have a post over at That's Crafty today sharing one of my ATCs that I made for the last Hochanda shows and you'll find all the details of how I created it over at the blog.

Hope you like it and I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog.

See you later!
Fliss xx

Photo Inspiration At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, hope you're all OK and I'm a bit late with the challenge details for the new one today at Make My Monday which has a rather fab photo inspiration.

Here's my inspiration which is a bit of a rewind as I had no time to make anything due to being somewhat busy lately.

I remembered this one which had the look of the photo in some ways so I decided to share it again.

The background is made with Distress inks and a Carabelle Studio stencil and the cute Dina Wakley bird was stamped on some paper patterned by the same stencil. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set and some pretty ribbon to finish.

We've now gone fortnightly and have had to say goodbye to the lovely Marina too so I'd like to wish her well for the future here and thank her for all she's done for us.

Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Zingy ATC Storage At That's Crafty! Today

Hello everyone, I hope you're all keeping warm in this unseasonably chilly weather. I had to wear socks to bed last night as I was so cold I couldn't get to sleep! I'm also typing this with 3 layers on as without the heating it's somewhat chilly in the house. Really hope Summer makes an appearance soon.

I'm over at That's Crafty! blog today with a tutorial on how I created my ATC storage box for the recent Hochanda shows so if you're interested do hop over. It was really quick to decorate due to the dinky size but it will still hold quite a lot of treasured ATCs in great style.

As you can see I've gone for my current preferred bright and zingy colour scheme as I love orange combined with blue.

You'll find all the details at the blog as usual.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Graduation At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, hope those of you in the UK are having a lovely long weekend and hopefully better weather than down here as it's extremely windy and the blue skies have disappeared too!
We have a new challenge today at Make My Monday chosen by Amy from the USA where I think lots of the students are graduating soon not like here where it happens later on it the year and she wants to see creations concerning GRADUATION.
I was a bit stumped by this one until I saw my Crazy Things stamp set had a mortar board and scroll so one of my fave Crazy Birds has come out to graduate for my card which I hope you like.

Doesn't he look cute in his graduation hat!

I made the background paper with the Finnabair Don't Foget to Fly stamp set using various different sized circles which I stamped all over a piece of cartridge paper cut to fir my blue card blank. I used Archival Watering Can ink for the stamping. I then scribbled on some colour with Prisma pencils and attached the paper to my card.

I stamped the bird twice on smooth white stamping card with Archival Jet Black ink and also stamped the mortar board and scroll with the same ink. I coloured one bird image with the Prisma pencils, using Zest-it to blend the colours. I coloured part of the second bird plus the hat and scroll in the same way. I then die cut all the images with the matching dies.

I die cut a circle of white card and added this to the covered card blank then used various foam pads and tape to attach the bird and give dimension. I finished off with text made with a Dymo and black tape.

Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday and see you soon.
Fliss xx

The Sea At That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog.
For the next fortnight our theme is The Sea so you could create something above or under water - the choice is yours!

For my inspiration I've broken out my Artistic Oupost Beyond The Sea stamps to decorate one of That's Crafty! surfaces, a square white/greyboard coaster.
I found a scrap of Gelli print paper which bore a striking resemblance to sea with a Summer sky above. I cut a piece to fit the coaster and glued it on.
I stamped the boating couple with Archival Jet Black ink in the right hand lower corner then masked off everything but the sea and stamped this to continue the water across the base.
I then stamped the text and the birds on at the top. I coloured the main image with pencils - I used a mix of Inktense and Prismacolor as they're highly pigmented which was necessary to cover the painted surface.

There's a fab prize for the randomly drawn winner of a voucher for the online shop so do enter if you can.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Universal Grunge For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone and welcome to my first post of the day which is to let you know that I have a tutorial today over at That's Crafty! blog sharing how I created a card for one of my nephews with my new Visible Image stamps.

As you can see it's rather bright and zingy so I hope you like it! You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual.

I'll be back in a while as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and I have some inspiration to share with you.

See you in a bit.
Fliss xx

In The Garden At Make My Monday

Hello and welcome to my first post of the week. I hope you're all well and had a good weekend. Mine was busy as usual with family stuff as one of my nephews has his 21st this week. I'll be sharing his card later in the week too but for now I have my inspiration for the new challenge today at Make My Monday which has the theme of In The Garden.

My card is actually one I made for a friend a little while ago who was going through a very difficult time and I hope you like it.

I used a Tim Holtz stamp set that I love and have had for quite a while. I inked up the flowers with Fern Green Archival ink and Pink Grapefruit Versa Magic ink and stamped them several times on thick smooth cartridge paper. I stamped the bird with Memories chalk coffee ink and added the Tim Holtz sentiment with the same ink.
I coloured the bird with a pink Distress Marker and then inked the panel with Spun Sugar Distress ink used a sponge applicator. I added my panel to a white card blank to finish.

I hope you can join us and let us know what inspired you to make your creation.

Have a great week and see you soon.
Fliss xx

Be Fearless For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week with at least some sunshine along with the rain!

This is just a very quick post to let you know I have a post over at That's Crafty! Blog today where I'm sharing how I made one of my atc samples for last week's Hochanda shows and if you caught the second one you might just have seen this one!

You'll find the whole thing over at the blog along with all the details on how I made it.

Hope to see you there!

Fliss xx

Sail Away At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend and certainly better than mine as I had to do some work to finish my hubby's accounts! I did get a bit of time to myself and did some crafting although not the inspiration for our challenge at Make My Monday which this week has the theme of Sail Away.

This is actually my brother in law's birthday card from a couple of years ago which I found in my folder of things I hadn't yet shared and it's perfect for this challenge.
The images came from Delicious Doodles a while back and was printed on smooth card then coloured with Promarkers and pencils. It was trimmed to a panel and added to a dark red mat before gluing to a tall blue card blank.
The sentiment I think came from a Polka Doodles CD and was also added to a dark red mat.

Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Friday 13th Part 1!

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for our new challenge today at That's Crafty Challenge Blog which today being the day it is has the theme Friday 13th Part 1 so spooky and scary is the order of the day - for the next fortnight that is!
My inspiration is one of the atcs I made for yesterday's Hochanda shows which I hope you managed to catch.

I used one of the fab MDF atcs and coloured mine with DecoArt Media Fluid acrylics. I then used the Bats Background Dinky Stencil with DecoArt Media Carbon Black to add a batyy pattern on the top half.
I then used the cobweb Dinky Stencil to add the cobweb in the bottom left corner, embossing this with detail silver. I then used metallic silver and grey pencils to bring out the cobweb strands.
I stamped the skull and some labels from the Tim Holtz Undertaker Stamp Set on stamping paper with Archival Jet Black ink and added colour with Promarkers and pencils before cutting them out.
I used the Numbers Dinky Stencil with a red Sharpie to draw the numbers and cut these out. I then assembled the atc as you see using a mix of glue and foam tape to add dimension.

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

Timeless Love Keepsake For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I hope you managed to catch That's Crafty's debut on Hochanda yesterday. Our lovely Lauren did some amazing demos and if you haven't yet seen the amazing stacking panels, do check out the website as they're fabulous!
I have a project to share over at That's Crafty! Blog today and here's a sneaky peek to tempt you to hop over :D

As you can see, my Runway stamps have come out to play for my creation and I hope you'll pop to see the whole thing as this is really a little peek!

I'll be back in a bit with my inspiration for our new challenge at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has a rather topical theme as you'll see!

Fliss xx

Exciting News -That's Crafty! On Hochanda!

Hello everyone, a quick post from me to let you know the really exciting news that That's Crafty! has 2 spots on the Hochanda channel today at 11am and 6pm so do tune in if you can to see our lovely Lauren Hatwell doing some demos.

Here's a little taster of some crafting that I did for the show which I hope you can watch or tape (which I've had to do as I'll be at work!).

See you again soon!

Fliss xx

A Colour Challenge At Make My Monday

Hello everyone, hoping you all had a lovely weekend and that it was sunny and warm as we had although it seems that Winter might be on the way back! I do hope not as yesterday was over 20 degrees down here and I actually felt hot!
Today we have a new challenge at Make My Monday which this week is a colour challenge and the colours are the epitome (did I really say that?!) of Spring and gorgeous.

I think I just about managed the colours although the background turned out a little more busy than my original intention as I think I forgot to stop in the right place!
I started off with a Ranger manila tag which I coloured first with pale pink paint. I then brayered pale green paint on my 3x5 Gelli plate, placed the That's Crafty! Harlequin Dinky Stencil on and removed the paint in the diamond pattern. I then pressed the tag on to transfer the paint.
I next added streaks of deeper pink and green paints with an old store card. I then used the harlequin stencil to add a pattern with deep pink and grey paints.
I stamped the roses and stalks on smooth cartridge paper with Archival Watering Can ink and added colour with Inktense pencils. I only added a touch of colour to the flowers as I needed a strong contrast! I cut them out and added some colour round the edges with Distress markers.
I added the flowers and stalks with glue and foam tape then finished off with a Chit Chat sticker and some shabby green ribbon.

Have a great week.
Fliss xx

Some challenges I'd like to enter:
Crafting When We Can - Add Flowers
Through The Purple Haze - Anything Goes
Stampin Royalty SR328 - Anything But A Card

The White Space Challenge For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone and hope you're enjoying the sunshine wherever you are. I'm really sorry for the lack of visiting which is because I've been extremely busy working on things which I can't tell you about until next week and I can hardly wait!
In the meantime, I have a project to share today over at That's Crafty! Blog where this week I've challenged myself to leave some white space on my creation, something which is a real challenge to me as I normally have a tendency to cover everything in sight with ink or paint!

As you can see, I have white space on my sneaky peek and you'll have to pop over to the blog to see the whole thing. Unusually for me, no stamping is involved or at least, not with actual stamps!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.

Fliss xx