Note to self

Hello everyone, today I have an art journal page to share that is the first thing in an absolute age that I've been able to create just because I wanted to - yippee! Or not yippee as in fact the reason I did this particular page is that as some of you already know via Facebook is that last Saturday I was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes so I'm feeling rather miserable at the moment, even though everyone says it's easy to fix the problem (it doesn't stop me worrying about the actual "procedure" as it's called).

I decided to try and cheer myself up a little by creating some art and what better place to do that than my art journal!

This is a very inky layered page and I'll show a couple of the steps so that you can see how the page came together.

I began by sponging the page with Squeezed Lemonade and Fossilised Amber Distress inks and then used the Visible Image Universal clear stamp set with Fossilised Amber, Picked Raspberry and Iced Spruce Distress inks to add a circular pattern all over the inked surface.
When this was dry, i dry brushed some white gesso over the top to tone it down a little and blur the pattern a bit.

I then took a couple of Carabelle Studio mini stamps - Chevrons and Abc, stamping the chevron pattern with Ranger Wild Orchid Dye ink and the paperclip image with Watering Can Archival ink. These went all over, stamping some images twice before re-inking until I was happy with the effect.

I then stamped 3 butterflies (Carabelle Studio) on cartridge paper with Jet Black Archival ink and painted them with Picked Raspberry and Ripe Persimmon Distress inks. I cut these out and added them on the left side of the page.

To finish, I stamped the Kaisercraft text (Way of Life) on black card with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with white detail powder. I then cut the words up and glued them to the page.

Hope you like my page and I'll be back soon with some rather exciting That's Crafty! news.
Fliss xx

Sparkle in the Rain for That's Crafty!

Hello 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 and this week I have a journal page to share with an extremely quick background - necessary as I've had another really busy week.

You may not be able to see but the silhouette figure has loads of sparkle. You'll find all the details over at the blog if you'd like to hop on over.

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

Fliss xx

There Must Be An Angel 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 for the next fortnight we would like to see creations featuring an angel.

I know a lot of people would think of Christmas in connection with angels but I've done a journal page with my favourite Carabelle Studio angel.

I made the background by sponging the page with Tumbled Glass DI then used the same inkpad and an Antique Linen inkpad to lightly apply ink prints to the page in a random fashion. I then added some more with Weathered Wood, smudging the outlines for a softer effect.
I next stamped on the broken line image from the Visible Image Scratch the Surface stamp set using Old Paper DI.
I stamped the angel and the wings from the Carabelle set on stamping card with Archival Watering Can ink and coloured the images with pencils. I then cut them out and added them to the page with foam tape.
I then stamped the text from the Visible Image Learn to Fly Again stamp set at the top of the page with the grey ink and to finish my page stamped the feather from the set on with Weathered Wood DI to resemble feathers fluttering down from broken wings.

There's a great prize for the randomly drawn winner simply for entering the challenge so why not give it a go!

Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Fliss xx

My Favourite Monster for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am. My week has been rather busy as we had my eldest nephew's wedding last Saturday which all went off very well and everyone had a really lovely time. This was followed by Sunday lunch in Arundel at our favourite restaurant there as a belated birthday celebration for yours truly.
After that I did manage a little crafting and first up is to let you know I have my usual Friday project over at That's Crafty! Blog which this week is a rather bright and zingy door hanger.

I just couldn't resist this adorably cute and quirky set of monsters from Elenazinski Art for Paper Artsy so I think you'll be seeing some of the others very soon!

I'll be back in a bit as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog which has a great theme that would come in handy for Christmas makes although that's not actually what I've done as my inspiration - you'll have to waite and see!

Fliss xx

Don't Worry, Be Happy for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a good week. This is a very quick post to let you know that I have a post today over at That's Crafty! Blog where this week I'm sharing a bright and cheery journal page having finally got my inky mitts on the lovely Bentley designed by our very own Donna.

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

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

Fliss xx

Friday 13th Part 2 Challenge 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 has a spooky theme as we're heading for a certain day very soon.
I've made a card for my inspiration which is for my nephew's birthday which unfortunately for him, coincides with Halloween!
Here it is and hope you like it:

I made the background paper by swiping on Distess inks - Antique Linen and Tumbled Glass - then inked around the edges with Old Paper DI. I then stamped on the text in opposire corners with Pumice Stone DI, stamping twice before reinking.
I next stamped on more text from the Tim Holtz Undertaker set with Archival Jet Black ink together with the spider. I used the Flight of Bats Dinky Stencil with black ink and the Crow Dinky Stencil with Old Paper DI to add some more interest.
I stamped the larger skull and the poison text on white stamping card with black ink and coloured the images with Promarkers then cut them out.
I distressed the edges of the background paper with an emery board and glued it to a kraft card blank. I added the skull image and text to finish.

There's a great prize of a voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner and all you have to do to be in with chance is enter!

Have a great weekend.
Fliss xx

Trick or Treat for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely week and are looking forward to the weekend as I know I am! I've been on my own in the office all week which has been more tiring than I was expecting as well.
I have a post over at That's Crafty! Blog today and as a certain day is looming, I have an atc to share on a Halloween theme featuring one of the new Paper Artsy stamps from their fab new designer ElenaZinski Art. Isn't the image adorable and so quirky too!

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to see how it came about.

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

Follow Your Dreams for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. I'm currently madly packing as we're off to Bath for a long weekend and a much needed break especially in my case as I've been so busy lately.

I have had to sadly say farewell to Make My Monday as I couldn't keep up with my DT duties and was much in need of some me time which has been lacking over the last few months. Thanks so much to Caz and the team for being so understanding and will keep up with you when I can.

Anyhow, enough of my troubles and on to the reason for this post which is to let you know that I have a project today over at That's Crafty! It's the reverse of my dreamcatcher from last week as I made it double sided so that it could be hung up like a traditional dreamcatcher.

You'll find the whole thing over at the blog if you'd like to see it.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend and see you next week!

Fliss xx

Clean and Simple 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 Clean and Simple and as I said earlier, with my lack of time this week, that was a very good theme!

Having said that, I actually had 2 non starters before I came up with this card which I hope you like.

My new Tim Holtz Leaf Prints stamp set came out to play here and is perfect for a card in my favourite Autumn colours.

I used a brayer to apply Mustard Seed and Rusty Hinge Distress inks lightly across the card front. I then stamped on one of the leaf prints with Rusty Hinge and Fired Brick DIs. I finished off with a sentiment from Tim's Crazy Talk stamp set. So that's it - done!

If you enter there's a fab prize of a voucher for the online shop for the randomly drawn winner and there's a huge array of fabulous goodies to choose from at the moment.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Dream a Little Dream at That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week. Mine has sadly been very busy with work yet again with little time for crafting so at That's Crafty! Blog today I'm sharing the dreamcatcher I made for last week's Hochanda shows.

Here's a sneak peek and you'll find all the details over at the blog as usual along with quite a lot of pics on the process.

As you can see, I've gone for bright colours here but my dreamcatcher is actually double sided and the other side is quite different. You'll have to wait until next week for that though!

I'll be back in a while as we have a new challenge today over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog and I was really glad when I saw the theme I can tell you!

See you in a bit.
Fliss xx

Tag Art at That's Crafty! and Hochanda!

Hello everyone, sorry not to be around this week which is mostly because I've been working behind the scenes on some artwork with some of the fab new goodies that will be on Hochanda today with That's Crafty! and Neil Burley will be demoing this time. The shows are at 8am and 11am so do watch if you can as you'll get lots of inspiration.

I also have a project to share today over at That's Crafty! Blog and this week it's a tag inspired by some black tags I saw on Pinterest with lovely bright colours for contrast.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to hop over to see how I created it.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

All of a Sparkle at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again and welcome to my inspiration for the new challenge over at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog where for the next fortnight we're All of a Sparkle!

There's quite a bit of sparkle here although it isn't easy to see it in the photo as my camera struggled a bit with the colour and the glittery elements.

I made the background paper by pressing a square of mixed media paper on my large Gelli Plate on which I brayered Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylics (Blush, Sherbert and Wisteria). I then used the large circles Dinky Stencil with Wisteria paint and the circles background with Lavender paint and Wisteria to add a pattern to the paper.

I stamped Penny (one of Donna's lovely stamps) on mixed media paper and painted her with various Fresco acrylics then over painted her frock with Grape Stickles glitter glue. I cut her out and added a flower painted with glitter glue to her hair.

I glued the background paper to a card blank then added a couple of toning doilies and a scrap of green crochet ribbon. I added Penny with foam tape and finished off with a glittered up die cut and text.

There's a fab prize for the randomly drawn winner and all you have to do is enter!

Have a great day and a lovely weekend.
Fliss xx

Roses in Bloom for That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and sorry I haven't been around much lately, things have been rather busy again on the home front with little time for blogging.
This is to let you know I have a post today over at That's Crafty! Blog where I'm sharing a card featuring Donna's stamps again as I just love this rose stamp and as you'll see, I have roses galore on there!

Hope you like it and 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'll have my inspiration to share.

Fliss xx

Love Gives You Wings For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone from a rather tired Fliss. I've been really busy since we got back from our hols in Austria with all sorts of family stuff as well as work and some crafting behind the scenes too.

I'm over at That's Crafty! Blog today with a tag featuring what I think is my favourite of the new That's Crafty! clear stamp sets by our own Donna Gray. This is Serena and isn't she lovely and looking so angelic too.

You'll find all the details over at the blog as usual if you'd like to see how my many layered tag was created.

Have a great day and a lovely weekend too and I'll be round very soon to catch up if I haven't already.

Fliss xx

Christmas in September at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog

Hello again, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at That's Crafty! Challenge Blog for the next fortnight even though it's chucking down the rain at the moment!
Here's my inspiration which I hope you like as it's a 2 for the price of one type creation. My hubby liked them and asked how easy they were to make and could he order 50 for the office!

They weren't that difficult to make, the only tricky bit being sticking on the die cut trees.

I made a sheet of decorated paper with an A4 piece of white card. I added dots of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics - Green Gold, Yellow Green Light, Titan Buff, Metallic Gold - to my 8x10 Gelli Plate, spread the colour with a brayer and misted with water, pressing on the card to pick up the paint and smooshing on the white bits left with the brayer to cover the card roughly. I then misted on more water and picked up a second print which meant enough paper for quite a few cards - yippee!

I then stamped on the dry papers with text from the Tim Holtz Scribbly Christmas stamp set using Fern Green Archival ink and Galaxy Gold Brilliance ink. I was hoping to cut each A4 sheet in 4 but the dies are a bit big for that so I cut squares instead which left me with 4 narrow bits to use on more cards.

I die cut 2 trees from the square which left me with a negative to use on a second card - good huh!I dry embossed the centre of a white card blank front with a snowflake folder and then glued the negative panel on top.

For the second card, I dry embossed the card front with a snowflake border folder then glued on the 2 die cut trees. I stamped on the winter wonderland text with the gold Brilliance ink to finish.

It's great to have finally made a start on my Christmas cards and if you do the same you could win a fab prize of a voucher for the online shop.

That's Crafty! are also at Ally Pally at the weekend so do visit the stand if you're lucky enough to attend as there will be lots of demos and make and takes with Lauren Hatwell, Alison Hall, Helen Chilton, Carol Fox and Kerry Roberts - not to be missed! Have a great time if you do go!

Fliss xx

Cracklin' Rose Tag For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, you may already know about this but if not. we're celebrating the launch of That's Crafty's own range of stamps designed by our very own Donna Gray. The stamps are most definitely in Donna's style being rather quirky and unique and I can't wait to show you all the things I am in the middle of creating, but for now, there is just the one.

I think you can probably guess what inspired my tag - are you singing yet?!

You'll find all the details on how I made my tag over at That's Crafty! 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 it's one that might seem a bit strange in view of the heatwave we've been having!

Fliss xx

Autumn Colour Challenge at Make My Monday

Hello everyone, I hope this finds you all OK and I'm just back from my hols in lovely Austria which was mostly very hot even at 1300 metres up a mountain believe it or not!
I will share some of the pics I took in the next couple of days when I've gone through them all as I took quite a lot this time and it will take a while to find the best ones.
We have a new challenge today over at Make My Monday, chosen by Caz with the theme of Autumn or Fall Colours and as usual the first thing that popped into my head was Autumn leaves as being an Autumn girl by birth, I just love the turning leaves as the colours are so glorious.

Here's my inspiration and unusually for me, there's no stamping! I hope you like it as I'm a bit iffy about this one - it's very simple to make the leaves speak for themselves.

I made the leaves by colouring a sheet of copy paper, pressing on Distress inks - Fossilized Amber, Crushed Olive and Rusty Hinge - in a rather haphazard way. I then scrunched the paper up a little.

I then used an X Cut maple leaf die to die cut the leaves and I have a tip for you here as the paper being thin was not so easy to die cut. I solved the problem by placing some greaseproof paper underneath to stop the leaf sticking to the plate. I then peeled the coloured leaf off the greaseproof. This gave me a second leaf which I will colour and use on something else - the greaseproof looks a lot like vellum.

I dry embossed part of my square kraft card blank with a Darice embossing folder and added a strip of paper from my mixed media pad which had picked up Brusho colour, the golden shades happily toning well with my Autumn colour scheme.

I added the leaves with foam tape and a sticker from the Tim Holtz Small Talk Occasions book which I cut in half as I felt it fit better like that.

I'll be round to catch up as soon as I can after I've dealt with the million and one things I have to do!
Fliss x

Pearls In Her Hair For That's Crafty!

Hello everyone, I'm hoping this post pops up as scheduled as I'm currently on holiday in Austria with no internet access!

I have a post today over at That's Crafty! as usual being Friday and this week I have a tutorial on how I made my MDF tag which features one of the latest Carabelle Studio stamps.

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

I'm back at the weekend so will be round to visit as soon as I can.

Fliss xx

Craft Stamper!

Hello everyone, a quick post to let you know that the October issue of Craft Stamper hit the shops today and guess who has a project featured in there which has made me really proud!

I'm only allowed to share a sneak peek of my project which you can see above and I think you can probably guess the theme I chose from this :D

My team mates at That's Crafty! are also featured and there's a very varied selection of projects all made with the same substrate. Alison, Lynne, Amanda, Moira and Donna are all featured along with me thanks to Laura and Graham at That's Crafty! and of course Craft Stamper editor, Trish Latimer.

Hope you manage to see the mag and you won't be disappointed as there are lots of fabulous projects in there including the gorgeous cover artwork by Brenda Brown.

Have a great week and see you when I get back from my hols.
Fliss xx

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