Rainbow Doodling

Here are a bunch of cards I made with my Oodles of Doodles stamps but on a slightly different theme as I've used rainbow ink pads in various ways to make them.

This one has a background embossed with the Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls folder which I then inked using colours from the Memories Festive Moments Chalk Rainbow ink pad. The flower was stamped on pink card in Belle Rose Palette ink and the leaf/stalk in Landscape Palette ink. The stalk is made from the centre section of the corner stamp from Oodles of Doodles 3and has been trimmed to make the shape (a bit of thinking outside the box!).  I added a shell button to the flower centre.

This card has a background of glossy card brayered with the same rainbow pad and then stamped with the single flower from Set 1 in the same ink. The tag was stamped with the same flower in VersaMark ink and coloured with pastel chalks. The large flower was stamped twice in the rainbow ink and just the centre cut out of the second one. These were layered together on the tag with a jewel centre.  I trimmed the edge of the card with scallop scissors and added a contrast strip of card on the inside.

This one uses the same ink pad to stamp the butterfly on pink card, cut it out and emboss on the reverse with a ball tool to round it. The background card is stamped with the circle from Set 1 in Memories Quiet Yellow Chalk ink on aqua card. The other background panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Floral Screen folder on yellow card. Ribbon was added across the join before sticking the butterfly on with foam tape.

This last for the moment has a background paper made by sponging the rainbow ink through sequin waste on to white card. The other 2 sections are embossed with the Cuttlebug Swirls folder. The heart was stamped in violet ink on card previously brayered with rainbow ink and cut out. A piece of toning braid was added before sticking the heart on and a setiment was added (part of Hobby Art's With Love stamp).

News and a 21st Card

I had some really great news this morning from Alison at Play Date Cafe to say that my Italia altered art piece has gained a Fab 4 honour in the first challenge. I'm thrilled to bits with this and it really has made my day.
This is to add to the great news from yesterday that I could take an honour from Sophisticat Challenge Blog as making the Top 3. Thanks Lisa!
2 in one week-how great is that!
It's also my niece Hannah's 21st Birthday today-she's my sister's youngest. This is the card I've made for her and I hope she likes it.

My stamped background papers were made using my favourite Hobby Art flourish stamp and I've stamped the same flourish in pink on my white paper flower.

The other flower was painted pink (it started off white) and glittered when dry. I added ribbon and a stamped sentiment and numbers on contrasting card (both Hero Arts). I brushed acrylic paint on a textured button for the flower centre.

I've also decided to enter this one in the latest Incy Wincy Designs challenge as it's to use your favourite embellishments. Mine have to be paper flowers and buttons, especially if they can be altered to match your project with ink, paint or stamping.

Sylvia's Cards With My Oodles of Doodles Stamps

Today I found a lovely message on my blog from Sylvia-Anne who won my stamps in my first Blog Candy offer, saying that she has made some cards with them which she is donating to charity.
Sylvia's blog is called Poppy's Papercraft Patch and if you click here you can see her lovely creations. As you will see, her interpretation of the stamp designs is quite different to mine.
Thank you Sylvia for posting these for everyone to see.

Queen (Dezinaworld Lace Challenge)

Well, finally got round to doing my bit for this month's challenge at Dezinaworld after a timely reminder from June (thanks!). The theme is lace and my entry is a tag as I really like doing these at the moment. They don't take too long and can always be used on a card as a topper.
Here's my tag

I've made the tag in a favourite arch shape which is a template from Hero Arts from a while back. I stamped a large background on most of it in Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink and stamped a border from Technique Tuesday Bijou Borders in the remaining space.

The gorgeous image I've used is from Dezinaworld's Shy Girls collage sheet and I chose her because of the lace collar. I rounded the corners, inked the edges with brown ink and added to the tag with foam tape.

To finish the tag, I added an antique gold brass stamping from Empire Beads at the top, stamped the sentiment by Anna Griffin in sepia ink and stuck this on my crochet lace trim. I added a Prima flower with a pearl centre and finally a crown. This is a favourite trick of mine as I don't have a crown stamp-I used 2 of the borders from the Technique Tuesday set, stamped one above the other, embossed with gold detail powder and trimmed to make the crown shape.

Priceless

This is my entry for this week's sketch challenge at Papertake Weekly

My 2 background panels of lilac and pink card were embossed with the Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy folder and trimmed with small scallop scissors. I stuck them to a square white textured card blank.

I added a semi circular panel of decorated paper made using my watercolour crayon technique (see side labels for link to see how to make this) and topped it with my most used image stamp in black-Audrey by B Line Designs.

I added a strip of mauve velvet ribbon, some paper flowers layered with an ornate brad by Making Memories and a stamped greeting by Hero Arts.

Memories of Italy

It's big thanks to the lovely Sarah at Play Date Cafe that I finished this piece of altered art this morning. She kindly left a lovely comment on my Snow Bird card and told me about the new challenge blog Play Date Cafe. When I saw the colours to use I just had to finish off this piece which I started a couple of weeks ago as I think it fits the bill perfectly.
This is the inspiration you need to use:

 

My piece of altered art started off as the divider in a box of mini bars of Green & Blacks chocs received  last Christmas and I saved it as I was intrigued by the shape so it ended up in my recycling box.

I decided to use it to make a small memento of my favourite place for holidays-Italy. I just love going there and 2 years ago when my hubby and I celebrated our Silver Anniversary, we went on a really gorgeous trip to Sorrento with our 2 girls and it was the best holiday ever. There are quite a few flourishes on my artwork because we went to Capri on our holiday and took the long route to the top of the island via a back route past the most beautiful gardens with gorgeous wrought iron gates and these flourishes are just like some of the designs.

You'll need to click on the photo to see it properly as I couldn't make it large enough here.

I painted the card with yellow ochre, raw sienna and terracotta acrylic paints and then stamped on some of the tiles from Magenta CSET28 in Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink.

I then made tiny collages for the 4 central panels using leftovers of my watercolour crayon technique papers and some images from a serviette which I scanned and shrunk on my computer. I then added charcoal grey diecuts from the Cuttlebug Floral Borders set. I added small pieces of text which I inked with Topaz Versacolor ink.

The end panels have more border die cuts in black with Prima flowers, brads and brass stampings from Empire Beads, together with tiny mosaic tiles. To finish, I stamped letters to spell Italia with a Hero Arts set in sepia ink and inked them to match.

Snow Bird RSS Challenge 8

The ingredients for the latest challenge at Ready Steady Stamp are as follows:

1. C for Christmas
2. Lilac, Black & Silver
3. Snowflakes
4. A Skinny (2x4)
5. Crackle

This is my take on the ingredients.

1. My background paper is stamped with snowflakes which were embossed with silver. I then sponged on Pretty Petunia VersaMagic ink and stamped on further snowflakes with Lavender Sachet Palette ink.
2. I stamped the bird image (Crafty Individuals CI-224) in black ink and added colour with pencils and sponged inks in lilac and lime. I then inked the panel with embossing ink and embossed with clear powder, repeating the step 3 times. I inked up with embossing ink again, added clear powder and heated it to melt it, then stamped a crackle pattern stamp into it whilst still hot. I trimmed the top and bottom edges with deckle scissors.
3. I cut a strip of silver card and embossed it with the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder. I stuck the snowflake paper to a square card blank and stuck the silver panel on the left side. I matted the bird panel on black card and stuck this near the top of the siver panel.
4. To finish the card, I stamped the Christmas greeting by Stamp n' Stor on white card and trimmed it to a skinny strip. I trimmed the side edges with deckle scissors and stuck it to the right side of the card. I added a poinsettia embellishment with a brad centre.
   

Partridge In A Pear Tree 12 Days of Christmas

The latest Sunday Challenge at UK Stampers is to make a little 10cm square booklet with a page per week covering the 12 Days of Christmas. It doesn't actually have to be Christmas as long as it takes inspiration from the song lyrics. Mine is on a Christmas theme as that is more of a challenge to me although I have a rather fat bird instead of an actual partridge lol.
I think this also covers the first challenge at Creative Craft Challenges with the theme of "the first" as it's the first day of Christmas so this will be my entry for that too.

To make the page I cut the 10cm square of strong white card and inked it with Scattered Straw Distress ink. I then stamped on Paper Artsy MN39 in Vintage Sepia ink on the left side and the tree from Papermania 001223 in the same ink at the bottom right.
I then sponged on more colour using Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint and Broken China Distress inks. I stamped the bird (Inkadinkado Birds Galore 97625) in the Sepia ink and cut it out. I stamped the number from a Hero Arts set in the same ink and cut it out, inking with a little Scattered Straw.
The pears came from my bits box and I just sponged on a little more colour. I printed the text on the computer, cut the words out and inked them. I then assembled the page as shown, adding jewels to the tree.

Remembrance-Sophisticat Challenge 7

This is the first time I've entered the Sophisticat Challenge and decided to do it after seeing it on the lovely Cheryl's blog. The challenge is a lovely sketch by Lisa:

For my card I've used stamping, heat embossing, paint and some Cuttlebug embossing so it is quite a mixed media project.

1. Cut a 5inch circle of pink card and stamp on Magenta H.0269 first in Spring Pansy and then in Pretty Petunia VersaMagic inks, layering the darker images on top of the lighter. Ink the edges with the darker ink.
2. Cut a piece of corrugated cardboard to fit across the bottom of your chosen card blank. Paint with acrylic paint in shades of pink and lilac. When dry make 3 holes with a piercer and secure 3 decorative brads on the card. Mine are by Making Memories.
3. Choose a vintage image in an oval shape (if you like mine check out my side labels and click on the one that says vintage image downloads as you can download it straight from my blog). Cut an oval shape of lilac card a little larger than the image and stamp all around the edges with a small decorative stamp and Encore Pink ink. Emboss with clear powder. My small stamp is by Anna Griffin.
4. Emboss the top half of your card blank using the Cuttlebug Victoria folder. Stick the corrugated panel on the lower half. Stick the framed image to the stamped circle and secure to the card with thick foam tape.
5. To finish add paper flowers with pearl and jewel centres, a small Laura Ashley bar sticker and a sentiment. I've used the one from my vintage download.
   

Bonjour! Delightful Sketches Challenge 9

Well it's now time for Sketch 9 challenge over at Delightful Sketches and this is my take on the sketch. It's a little different as you know I like doing arty style projects rather than cute. I've chosen another favourite Paper Artsy stamp Winter Wonderland Plate 6 and have combined it with a Parisien theme.

I inked some white card with Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo Distress inks, cut it in half and stamped each one with Hero Arts Old French Writing in the Vintage Photo ink. I then stamped B Line Designs Eiffel Tower on one with some Fleur de Lys from a clear set by All Night Media and the other with stamps from the same clear set.
I stamped the woman image on white card in Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink and coloured her by sponging with Distress inks in Peeled Paint, Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo. I used watercolour pencils to tint her face. I cut her into an oval shape and inked the edges with brown ink.
I stuck the French themed panels to a square caramel mottled card blank and added the oval image panel with foam tape. I finished the card with a Prima flower with a jewelled brad centre and a greeting stamped in brown ink and inked a little with toning colours. Finally, I added a Laura Ashley Traditional clear bar sticker, cut in half and stuck on each side panel.

Spook Sisters Papertake Weekly Challenge

This week's challenge over at Papertake Weekly is "The Dark Side" so I decided to go really Gothic with mine and use a favourite Paper Artsy stamp which I own because my elder daughter is in a black phase at the moment.

I inked a piece of card with VersaMagic inks in Persimmon, Mango Madness and Red Magic and stamped the girl collage with black ink. I stamped the text from another Paper Artsy set round the edges, gradually fading the ink out. I added black letter stickers to spell spooky and inked the edges in black.
I stuck the image to a black panel, wider on the right hand side and embossed with the dots border from the Cuttlebug With Love borders set. I added tiny gunmetal pearls and a further inked and stamped text panel. I stuck this on to a grey newsprint card blank.

Rozzy's Trimcraft Quilling Sketch Challenge 2

Just made the deadline for this challenge due to laptop throwing a wobbly. As last time I really loved doing this and the sketch to follow is a daisy shape.
I made the daisy from full strips of 5mm quilling paper in yellow and orange in marquise shapes. Fot the leaves, I joined together half a pale green and a full mid green strip and wound them up with the pale colour in the centre. I made the finished wind slightly looser and pinched them into long marquise shapes.

The stem is made from a full green 3mm strip folded over several times and then glued together a bit. I find this makes it easier to glue the stem in place.
I cut a rectangle of white card, embossed it with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and trimmed the edges with scallop scissors. I then glued all the daisy pieces in place.
I used a piece of backing paper made with my Millefiori technique (see side labels) in toning colours and stuck this to a white square textured card blank with a narrow yellow strip embossed with the daisy spray from the Cuttlebug With Love border set.

Chris (Craftling) Is Raising Money For Charity

I'm posting this to try and help my friend Chris in her quest to raise money for the Papworth Trust which is a charity helping people with disabilities. Chris is hoping to sell 10 copies of her wedding stationery CD and all the details can be found at the following link to her blog
http://craftlingscosycorner.blogspot.com/2009/09/different-kind-of-challenge.html
If you've got a spare minute do pop over and have a look as you might be able to help or know someone that can.
Thanks! Fliss xx

Sneak Peek of SSP Guild Project

I thought I'd show you a sneak peek of one of the projects I have in the latest issue of the Stamping, Scrapbooking and Papercraft Guild's online magazine. The guild, known as the SSP Guild is a private online forum which has lots of benefits if you join, including an exclusive stamp plate every 2 months plus lots of goodies when you join.

Why not pop over and see what it's all about and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Great News (for me!) And A Few Hellos

This morning I managed to oversleep as I forget to push the right button on my alarm so had a terrible rush but then discovered some really fab news which has made the day so much better.
I found a message on my blog from the lovely Wendy at Delightful Sketches to say that I'm the winner of this week's prize. I'm totally stunned as this is the first time I've entered this challenge-how amazing is that!!!
If you haven't entered yet, you really should give it a go as you never know, maybe it will be your lucky day next time.

I also want to say a very warm (and slightly belated in some cases) to some lovely crafters who have joined my blog. It's a big hello to Natalia, Lou, Nena, Melanie, Rosalee, Lucy, Heike and Chris (Chris has a special welcome as we lost each other for a while).

I also want to say a big hello to Jennie whom I know from the SSP Guild-if you haven't checked this out yet, click the link on my side bar and have a look and you won't be disappointed.

Last but not least, I want to say hello and welcome to Kerry who has a fab free image blog called the Graphic Addict (there's a link on the side bar) and also to Carol Anne who has a fab free vintage image blog called Carol Anne's Boutique (again there is a link on the side). It's well worth checking out these 2 blogs as both of these generous ladies have some incredible images on there perfect for all kinds of art work.

Fliss xx

Delightful Sketches Challenge 8

Decided to enter this at the last minute having seen it on someone's blog. It's Sketch Challenge 8 at Delightful Sketches.

Here's what I did to make the card which was actually easier than it might look considering I made my own background paper:

1. I stamped Holly's Christmas by Stamp-It on white card, coloured it with pencils and cut into an oval shape. I then sponged with green and yellow inks for a soft look and matted it on a peach card oval.
2. The background strip is parchment paper by Southfield Stationers, stamped with the Art Impressions Holly from Sir Stampalot in black and then sponged with Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint and Worn Lipstick Distress inks.
3. I then cut 2 strips of Bazill Bling card and stuck these on a large pale green card blank with the background paper in the centre. I added strips of sparkly stick on ribbon.
4. To finish the card, I added the image with foam tape together with a computer generated sentiment and 2 Prima flowers with jewelled centres.
   

Clowning Around Papertake Weekly Challenge

This week's challenge at Papertake Weekly is Sketch 25.

I decided to go for something slightly quirky as I bought a gorgeous set of stamps called Party Cats by Lost Coast Designs from Scrapz and wanted to use them.

Unusually for me, I used some Basic Grey Fusion papers (as you know I usually make my own background papers but these are SO gorgeous) for the card.
I followed the sketch and used 2 of the Fusion papers. I stamped the cat with the jester's hat on white card in VersaFine black ink 3 times, coloured the cat on one and the hat on another and cut them out for a decoupage effect. I added jewels to the hat.
I matted the cat image to  mauve card and assembled the card with deep green grosgrain and American Crafts striped ribbon. I added text generated on the computer. Sorry about the pun, but couldn't resist lol.
Fliss x

Autumn Gold Ready Steady Stamp Challenge 7

Here's my entry for challenge 7 over at Ready Steady Stamp and the 5 ingredients to use are:

1. Autumn
2. Brown, Cream and Ochre
3. Staples
4. Distress inks in the background
5. Hessian

  This is what I used to make the card:

1. The background is Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Vintage Photo Distress ink on acrylic paper stamped with maple leaves in Vintage Photo.  The maple leaf stamp is by Personal Impressions.
   
2. The tag is Acrylic Resist Technique (see side labels) using Yellow Ochre and Raw Sienna acrylic paints with the maple leaf stamp. A leaf stamped in Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink then clear embossed, coloured with Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo and Fired Brick Distress inks and cut out was added on one side.
3. The leaf panel is made using the Encapsulated UTEE Technique (see side labels) with Scattered Straw on the background stamped with Hero Arts Long Writing in Vintage Photo. The leaf is stamped in Vintage Sepia VersaFine  ink and clear embossed. It was then coloured with Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo and Fired Brick Distress inks then cut out.
4. The letters are Hero Arts LL829 Artistic Uppercase Alphabet stamped on twill tape with Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink and cut up.
5. The acrylic resist tag is attached to a hessian frayed edge tag with a hessian loop and stapled together. A button was sewn on the top.

                                                                                                       

Our Two New Babies

I'm so excited as this morning we went to collect our new baby bunnies.
Some of you already know that we sadly lost our beautiful chocolate Dutch rabbit Poppy at the beginning of August due to a gastric problem and we were so upset that it was a while before we could think about getting any more.
The new bunnies are blue Netherland Dwarf rabbits and they're so cute and cuddly. They don't have names yet as we have to find 2 that we all agree on which is difficult!
I thought you might like to see them so here they are looking a bit startled and nervous but so cute.

Fliss xx

Free Vintage Images for My Lovely Followers

As promised yesterday, I have a couple of free vintage images for you to download as a little consolation for taking part in my blog candy draw to celebrate the launch of my Oodles of Doodles stamps. Unfortunately, there could only be one winner which was Sylvia-Anne so I thought everyone else who entered and all my other lovely followers ought to have a little something too.
I found these 2 lovely vintage images in a flea market last month and thought you might like to share them as the colours are so soft and pretty. To download them all you have to do is right click on the picture and save it to your computer.
Enjoy!

Fliss xx

Blog Candy Winner !!!

Hello everyone, hope you have better weather than it is here-the sunny south it is not! I do have some cheery news for one lucky person though as with my hubby's help (he's working at home today as we have a poorly boiler that needs fixing PDQ) I have done the promised draw. I wrote all names on squares of paper, folded them in 4 and put them in my hat, gave them a really good shaking up and hubby picked one out with his eyes shut.
And the winner is ............... SYLVIA-ANNE.
Many congratulations to you and if you email your address to me they'll be winging their way to you tomorrow.
Commiserations to everyone else although you can still get them from Hobby Art (or a Hobby Art stockist) or at the NEC in November.
I will be posting a little consolation prize on here tomorrow that you might like so keep an eye out for it.
Thank you all so much for joining in with me to celebrate the launch of my stamp designs. Your interest means a lot to me.
Fliss xxx

My First Blog Candy Now On Offer!!!

This post will now stay at the top until the draw takes place so that everyone can find it easily (and I can do more posts without worrying of course!)
To celebrate the launch of my new stamp designs for Hobby Art last Saturday, I'm offering blog candy for my lovely followers. The candy consists of a complete set of the 3 unmounted plates that I've designed.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to leave me a comment on this post and put the logo here on your blog to spread the word. Remember that you must be a follower to win the prize. The offer is open until Monday 5 October and I will be picking the winner at random the next day. Good luck everyone!
Fliss xx

My Blog Candy Offer Finishes At Midnight!

Hello everyone,
Just a quick reminder that my blog candy finishes at midnight tonight so if anyone hasn't yet added a comment you need to do it soon for a chance in winning my 3 sets of unmounted stamps. I'll also add an A4 piece of Kling-On mounting foam as a lot of you involved are international and might have trouble getting hold of it.
Many thanks to everyone who has joined in so far and all my new followers too. Good luck everyone.
I'll be making the draw some time tomorrow afternoon as I have to work in the morning so keep an eye out for the post with the lucky winner.
Fliss xx
PS: Please also remember that you must be a follower for your entry to count so if anyone hasn't yet done that now's the time.

Best Friends Ready Steady Stamp Challenge

I found out about the Ready Steady Stamp Challenge via Sue Roddis's blog and felt I just had to enter as I bought some more of Tim Holtz's gorgeous masks at Ally Pally last weekend.
For the challenge, you have to use 5 ingredients:
The letter B
Colours pink, white and grey
Brackets
Masks in the background
Corrugated card
This helped take my mind off the unwanted thing brought back last weekend, a nasty cold, and stopped me feeling sorry for myself lol!

 

The background paper on the card is white card on which I arranged the masks from the Floret mini set. I then sponged pink acrylic ink over the masks which covered one side of the card, removed them and repeated this on the other half. When it was dry, I sponged on a little charcoal grey and metallic rose acrylic paint for an antiqued look. I trimmed the right hand edge with scallop scissors.

I painted a rectangle of corrugated card with deep pink acrylic paint and then dry brushed on white, charcoal grey and metallic pink paints.

I stamped the little girls image (CI-084 by Crafty Individuals) on pink marbled card with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and trimmed close to the image. I cut a piece of white corded card larger than the image and embossed the left hand side with the largest border from the Cuttlebug Frills set. I then trimmed the left edge with scallop scissors. I stuck the image on as shown.

I improvised my bracket using part of the Ornamental Dies 37-1509 for the Cuttlebug and grey card. The saying is part of a stamp by Paperbag Studios PBS-009-E and is stamped in the grey VersaFine ink and just the phrases cut out.

I assembled the card as shown on a grey recycled newsprint square card I made and added a Dymo printed word under the image, one of my treasured Hero Arts fabric printed flowers (don't really want to use these-just want to keep them and look at them lol) and some flat backed grey pearls from Kanban.

Rozzy's Trimcraft Quilling Sketch Challenge

Decided to enter this one having made quilled atcs a little while ago for Larrie's monthly Technique swap.

I made the quilled pieces using 5mm strips and the flower is actually bright pink but my scanner decided to make it light pink!
The background is a piece of cream card embossed using the Cuttlebug Stylised Flowers folder. I then inked the raised areas in orange and green pigment inks and the background in yellow.
I cut a narrow strip of deep green card and embossed it with the largest of the Cuttlebug Frills borders. I trimmed the bottom edge with scallop scissors.
I assembled all the pieces on a watermelon square card base.

Welcome to My New Followers This Week

A very warm welcome to all my newly joined followers at the end of the second week towards my blog candy draw which will end at midnight next Monday.
Hello to Jody and Lily from Canada, Nikki, Jenni, JulyeB, Sarah, Karenb and Sylvia from the UK,  Andreja from Slovenia, Doina from Romania, Anuta from Russia and Loz from Australia.
Wow ladies! My blog is now very international. If anyone would like me to put the Google translate on here to make it easier please do leave me a comment to let me know and I'll try and sort it out.
Thank you all very much for joining in and good luck!
Fliss xxx

Feature the Background ATCs

These are the atcs I made for the September Technique Swap Feature the Background hosted by Larrie on Trimcraft. They all have simple images on them from Crafty Individuals and some magazine photos as I wanted the background to really stand out and not hide it with embellishments.

Rhapsody in Blue
This one has a background which has first been inked in shades of blue pigment ink. I then stamped on 2 tile type images from Stamp It in darker shades of blue. I then covered the stamped piece with embossing ink and embossed it with clear powder. I repeated this step twice more. The resulting background looks very like a glazed tile.

Music in Flight
The background of this atc is made using stripes of Marvy Metallic Marker pens in blue and green. When it was dry, I stamped on some dragonflies and embossed some in silver and some in metallic teal. I painted in details on the wings with glitter glue.

What A Girl Needs
This background is made using nail varnish and is good for using up any odd bits you have. It's very smelly though. Basically, what you do is put some water in a foil tray and drizzle nail varnish in contrasting colours over the top. You put a piece of card down on top of the water and it will pick up the nail varnish. It gives a marbled effect and should be left to dry thoroughly in an airy place.

Blushing
I learnt this technique several years ago on a class with textile artist Kim Thittichai. The base is brown paper painted with metallic paints. You then iron on Bondaweb previously painted with metallic paint (you need to put a piece of baking paper on top or it will stick to the iron). Once you have done that, you can iron on snippets of threads, ribbon, handmade paper, mica chips, sequins, beads etc.  You can also stitch it if you wish.

Papertake Weekly Challenge Black & White +1

I decided to enter this card in the Papertake Weekly Challenge having seen on my reading list the challenge for this week and having just done this card with my new stamps, thought it fit the bill perfectly.
I used some dusty pink Bazill card and stamped my circle design on in black ink. I stamped Hobby Art's Have A Great Birthday on a further scrap and punched it out to a circular shape. I arranged pink stick on jewels in a circle round the edge.
I embossed a piece of white card with the Cuttlebug Bloom Dots folder. I stuck this to the top half of a pink square card and stuck the pink circle stamped card at the bottom. I stuck a piece of black and white striped ribbon across the join.
I stamped my doodle butterfly in black ink on white card and cut it out. I used an embossing ball tool on the back of the image to gently round the wings. I assembled the remaining elements of the card as shown.

Urban Angels Dezinaworld Wings Challenge

I have at last finished my entry for June's current challenge at Dezinaworld which is to make a project with wings. I decided to use one of June's lovely angel collage images and printed it out on to a transparency sheet.
I used a frame mount with an arch in the centre which was perfect with the angels and stamped an arch on it with Smokey Gray VersaFine ink. The arch is part of an image Flower Girl by Lost Coast Designs from Scrapz and fit the frame perfectly. I filled the remaining areas in using a clear stamp from Prima and the same ink. I stuck the angels image in the aperture.
I made a large card blank in white and cut the top into an arch shape with my Creative Memories circle cutting set. I stamped the same Prima stamp across the bottom in Onyx Black VersaFine ink. I stamped rose leaves from the Stencilled Flowers Clearly Inspired set from L B Crafts in VersaFine Olympia Green and Spanish Moss. When it was dry, I sponged on a little beige and topaz ink to blend the colours in with my frame mount base which is warm beige under the stamping.
I stamped a number of single roses from the Clearly Inspired set in Boudoir Blush and Belle Rose Palette ink and cut them out. I assembled the collage as shown, sticking some of the roses with foam tape to add depth.

My New Followers

I want to say a very big thanks to the lovely crafters who have joined my blog in the first week of my blog candy.
A very warm welcome to Val, slowef (Sandra), trimgym (Jo), Chris Arlington, Spyder (Lynn), Jan J, Sarah A, Kary Sol (Tany) and Jeanette.
I'm also really pleased as 3 of these lovely new followers are international which is a first for me and even more exciting!
Good luck everyone!
Fliss xxx

UK Stampers Challenge E for Embroidery

Ooops! Slightly late with this one as I haven't done cross stitch since my girls were little and the eyesight is not so good these days! Intended to finish by yesterday teatime but the light got the better of me and had to do the embroidery in bright sunlight at lunchtime lol.
The tag itself is coloured with Distress inks (you know how I love these) in Scatttered Straw, Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick. I stamped images from Paper Artsy Buttons Plate 3 at the top and bottom in Versafine Sepia ink.
I cut out a piece of blue chintzy fabric with pinking shears and stuck on the tag. I took a piece of Aida and made a cross stitch border with blue stranded cotton. I frayed the edges and stuck this on the fabric.
I used an image from Dezinaworld, the Sew 1 Collage sheet which fit the theme perfectly and stuck her on the tag with a piece of braid across the bottom.
I stamped the sewn art piece from the Paper Artsy set in sepia ink and coloured it with Worn Lipstick and Broken China Distress inks. I cut it out with deckle edged scissors and stuck under the image. Finally, I used Hero Arts LL032 Pixie Letters and sepia ink to stamp embroidery and cut the word out. I then inked it as before and stuck to the tag.

In The Pink Card Display Board

This is one of the boards that I have made for Jenny Mayes of Hobby Art when she starts her tour of shops and craft shows at the weekend. As she's taking my new stamps with her as well as the latest Hobby Art designs by Chris, she gave me a couple of boards to make up.

Jenny will be at the Art of Craft shop on this Saturday and the following week will be with them at the big Exeter 4 day show. As soon as I have the complete list, I will post the details for anyone interested.

Quirky Flower Oodles of Doodles

Another piece of lateral thinking resulted in a slightly quirky flower made from the smaller heart design used as a flower petal.
I stamped it on lilac card 6 times in Memento Grape Jelly ink, cut out the images and rounded them as before with a large ball embossing tool.

I embossed a square pale green textured square card blank using the Cuttlebug stylised flower folder and a border folder from the frills set. I stuck on the flower petals and used a silk flower and glittered circle for the centre piece. Please excuse the picture on this one as my scanner didn't like the colour for some reason and the actual thing looks a lot better!

Antique Gold Heart Oodles of Doodles

A slightly different card for romantic occasions using the 2 different sizes of heart stamp here.
The background paper is again the old fashioned parchment paper and has the small heart stamped at random in Peony Versa Color ink then embossed with clear detail powder. It is then sponged with Belle Rose and L'Amour Red Palette inks. I then stamped on just the Love portion of Hobby Art's With Love stamp in the red ink.
I stamped the large heart and cut it out to make a pattern which I used to cut a heart shape from strong card. I then triple embossed the heart with 3 layers of clear powder followed by 3 layers of Antique Gold. I stamped with the large heart to impress the image before the powder cooled.

I assembled the card as shown on a red marbled A6 card blank adding a greeting stamped in red on cream card and embossed with the Cuttlebug textile folder.

Twist on Resist Oodles of Doodles

Here's a card with my new stamp designs using my Twist on Resist Technique from an earlier post (see list of labels on the side bar).
I cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a tall card and used the resist technique with the larger of the single flowers. I sponged on Scattered Straw, Worn Lipstick and Vintage Photo Distress inks and used Belle Rose, Cognac and Raw Sienna Palette inks for the twist.
I stamped Hobby Art's Shakespeare Sonnet on white card in Cognac ink and then sponged the card with Scattered Straw ink and inked the edges with Cognac ink.
I stamped the Oodles of Doodles butterfly in pigment ink and embossed it with Antique Gold powder. I then sponged it with a little Palette L'Amour Red ink and cut it out. I rubbed the reverse of the wings gently with a large embossing ball tool to round them.

I assembled the card as shown in the photo.

Pretty in Pastel Oodles of Doodles

This pretty card uses a couple of different techniques to make backgrounds with some of the smaller Oodles of Doodles designs.
The stripy paper is made by brayering a piece of glossy card with Kaleidacolor Birthstone dye inks and was then stamped with the larger of the 2 single flowers in Palette Lavender Sachet ink.
The white tag was stamped with the smaller single flower in Versamark ink and chalked in pink and lilac shades. A little lilac pigment ink was sponged on to finish and the tag was matted on turquoise card and trimmed with deckle edged scissors. A hole was punched in the top and toning stripy ribbon tied through.
The large double flower was stamped on lilac card in Lavender Sachet ink twice and cut out, just the centre of the second flower. The flowers were rounded by rubbing the reverse on a foam mat with a large ball embossing tool.

The card was made up as shown using a white linen textured square card embossed on the right side with a Cuttlebug border folder.

It's Christmas! Oodles of Doodles

OK, a bit of lateral thinking here. Whilst I was experimenting with my stamps, I suddenly noticed that my pointy petalled flower had a slight resemblance to a poinsettia flower so decided to make a couple of Christmas cards to see if it would work.
The robin one (the robin is by Hobby Art of sourse) has a poinsettia made by stamping the design twice in Palette L'Amour Red and once in Landscape green on old fashioned parchment paper by Southfield Stationers. I then coloured them by sponging the same inks on very lightly and adding a little Palette Raw Sienna to one of the red ones. I then cut them out, using just the centre of the slightly orangy one and layered them up. The robin is stamped with Memories Art Print Brown and coloured with watercolour crayons. The greeting is stamped directly on the card with Kaleidacolor Flannel dye ink.

The stripy one has a piece of glossy card brayered with the Flannel ink on one side and the other side is stamped with the Christmas Greeting in Palette Landscape. The pointy flower is stamped on the same parchment paper in dark green pigment ink and embossed with Antique Gold embossing powder. It was then sponged as before and cut out in the same way. I added ribbon and a jewel to finish the card design.

Black and Blue Oodles of Doodles

Here's a couple of cards using my new Oodles of Doodles designs with a recycling theme. I've used the patterns on the inside of envelopes to make some pretty cards. The stamping is all in black using the Palette ink pad. Some Cuttlebug embossing again adds some textured detail for these simple to make cards.

Simply Stylish Oodles of Doodles

These are the first cards I've made using the Oodles of Doodles rubber stamps I've designed. They're all really easy to make and all I've added to them are ribbons and greetings plus some Cuttlebug embossing. All in all very quick cards for those last minute makes everyone has to do sometimes.

I've stamped the designs in Palette Noir Black ink which can be used on all surfaces like StazOn ink. It works particularly well with the doodles as the ink pad is quite solid and doesn't swamp the detailed designs with ink.

My Oodles of Doodles Stamp Designs

I'm really excited at the moment as I have now become a stamp designer!!! The lovely Chris Jones of Hobby Art stamp company saw one of my doodles and as a result of this, I have designed a range of doodle stamps.
There are 3 A6 size plates of unmounted rubber stamps called Oodles of Doodles which will be available from Hobby Art very soon. The stamps will make their first appearance at the South Stamp Show at the Charmandean Centre in Worthing this Saturday. I will be running a Make and Take table at the show so that anyone who comes to the show can try out the stamps.
I'm really pleased with the stamping quality of the designs (not really a surprise as Hobby Art stamps always stamp beautifully!) given the amount of detail involved.
Later on today, I will be posting lots of samples using the stamps because as usual, once I start something I really enjoy, it's really hard to stop!
Wooo Hooo!!!! Fliss xx

Shadows of Angels Wings

I made this atc using the final image from the Dezinaworld Painted Ladies collage sheet, having set myself a challenge to make things with the whole sheet.
The background paper is a paper towel on which I stamped a music background from an Oxford Impressions sheet of angel stamps in Palette black ink. I then overstamped a floral design in Distress Broken China ink, sprayed the paper towel with water to make the blue ink run and then dried it with a heat gun.
I glued the paper to the atc base and added the collage image. I used a butterfly to make the angel's wings.

In A Decorative Mood

Well it seems like Autumn's really here today-gone is the warm, sunny weather and now we have lots of wind and showers. I decided to make a card in warm, mellow colours to cheer things up.
The background paper is a square of textured card sponged with Scattered Straw Distress ink and stamped with a flourish design from Impression Obsession Solid Florals CL124 clear set in Palette Raw Sienna ink. I inked the edges with Palette Cognac ink.
I did a bit of recycling by stamping the remaining pieces on a beige paper bag. I used the images from Paper Artsy's Urban Snapshots Wrought Iron 3 set and stamped the Eiffel Tower in Cognac ink. I cut it out with postage stamp edge scissors and inked the edges. I stamped the wrought iron twice on the paper in Palette Black ink and then overstamped a flourish design in Raw Sienna ink. I trimmed the top edge with scalloped scissors and inked the edges with the Cognac ink.
I stamped the script in black on the paper bag and cut it out with small scallop scissors. I overstamped the panel with a flourish image in Cognac ink and inked the edges in black.
I assembled the card on an ivory textured card blank using an image from Dezinaworld's Painted Ladies collage sheet and some Laura Ashley Connemara sticky ribbon.

Purrfect Day for Maria

This card is for one of the girls I work with and she loves cats and butterflies. I couldn't resist using this gorgeous stamp by Funstamps which I bought last year to do my sister's birthday card as the cat resembles a black fluffy cat we had when we were young called Heidi.
I stamped the cat in VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and coloured just the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. I matted the image on lilac glittery card. I stamped the butterfly (Hobby Art's Orange Tip BU12D) in the same ink and coloured it with pencils. I cut it out and embossed the back with a ball tool for a 3D look.
I printed my greeting from the computer and matted it on the glittery card. I stuck all the components on a square marbled blue card blank.

Feather Hat Twist on Resist Card

Another card using my new technique with some gorgeous stamps by B Line Designs (from L B Crafts). The paper is stamped with the Floral Motif FF322D and embossed with white. It is sponged with Distress inks in Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo. The embossed areas were dabbed with Palette inks in Chartreuse and Landscape.
The woman image Sherrie PR117E was stamped on cream card in Olympia Green Versafine ink and coloured with Prismacolor pencils. I then matted the image on gold card and trimmed the edges with deckle scissors.
I stuck the decorated paper to an ivory square card blank and added green grosgrain ribbon and some Laura Ashley Connemara ribbons. I stuck on the image panel and added a Laura Ashley Connemara chipboard bouquet to finish.

Pin Up Girl Twist on Resist Card

This is yet another card using my new technique but this one has the twist done with Stazon ink so that you can see what it looks like in stronger colours.
I have used the same Hero Arts floral lace stamp and after embossing it sponged Distress inks in Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concorde on to the paper. When it was dry, I dabbed Stazon ink in Cherry Pink and Royal Purple on to the embossed areas.
I made a lilac square card blank and embossed the right hand side of the card with a Cuttlebug Frills border. I stuck on the lace paper and another of the Dezinaworld Painted Ladies collage images.
I finished the card off with a piece of burgundy velvet ribbon, a gorgeous burgundy feather and a layered flower with a jewelled centre.