Merry Christmas To You!

Hello everyone, I've just popped on here to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year too as I have to work the next 2 days so probably won't have another chance to say this.

I also need to say sorry for being such a bad visitor the last few months too which is because I now get very little time to myself and seem to be totally unable to get organised enough to fit in everything in the small amount I do get. It makes me wonder how I coped 25 years ago which is the last time I had a full time job although then it was just me and my hubby and not the family we now have!

I'm here to share the last 3 cards I made this year before I go and do quite a lot of wrapping up so at least I can say that apart from a couple of bits, all the Christmas shopping is done.

As you can see, the basic principle for the trio is the same although the papers have been chosen to fit the particular image on each one. All of the images and papers (except the hessian one which you''l find on my FREE page) are from the Polka Doodles 2012 Here Comes Christmas CD which is my favourite of the Christmas CDs as I love those plaid papers to bits. The fab sentiments which I coloured with markers are from the 2013 A Home For Christmas CD.

Hoping that you all have a really lovely time with lots of crafty pressies and will see you after the big day.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Voyage Of Discovery For That's Crafty

Hello there everyone, a really quick post from me today to let you know that I have a project to share over at That's Crafty which is a card for one of those more difficult occasions - or at least I find cards for men rather difficult!

It's really very simple to make and you'll find all the details over at the blog.

Have a great day and hope to see you there.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

CAS Christmas

Hello folks, hoping you all had a lovely weekend and I'm here today with my inspiration (or at least I hope so lol) for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday which has a theme chosen by Suzi and is the one I find the most challenging as white space is not normally on my creations:

CAS CHRISTMAS

As you can imagine, eek! came to mind when I saw this so I hope you like what I finally came up with after several non starters.

Quite a bit of layering I admit, but still white space!

The starry tree is Crafty Individuals and stamped with VersaFine Spanish Moss as I wanted it to go with a scrap of stamped paper from my bits box leftover from a William Morris style background attempt made with a Kaisercraft stamp set and shades of Distress ink.

I added various matting layers with further bits from the leftover box and stamped the Dovecraft sentiment at the top with VersaFine Crimson Red.

I think this will be the last Christmas card I'll be sharing as with my job now taking up most of my time, I actually had to go and buy some cards this year to make up the shortfall as quick and easy is not really me!

Have a great week.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Say It With Flowers For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a good week and are managing to get there with the Christmas preparations which I have to say are going rather slowly here but I think I'll manage to get sorted in the end!
Today's post is to tell you about the project I have today over at That's Crafty which is the result of an experiment with the Inkadinkado stamping gear kit only I wanted to try out some stamps not made by Inkadinkado to see how well it would cope.
Here's the creation and you'll have to let me know what you think. All the details and some tips are over at the blog.

The card was for my sister in law's birthday and I'm happy to say that she was thrilled with it!

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

A Cold And Frosty Morning

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine had some great things (seeing Catching Fire at the cinema with totally amazing costumes and talking to my daughter on Skype) and the not so great (8 yes I did say 8 wash loads!).
I did manage a small bit of crafting though which is my DT inspiration for today's new challenge at Make My Monday chosen by Rosie which is FROSTY so you could do anything that brings frosty to mind and in my case this was snow and ice.

I've again used the gorgeous Midwinter plate by Artistic Outpost which I'll be using to make quite a few cards as it's so versatile.

I decided to make a frame for the woodland scene so I picked out a die by Papermania which is slightly frilly so would suit the embossing folder I planned on using. I die cut the shape from a piece of smooth, thick cartridge paper and added colour by applying Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Stains to a large square acrylic block then sprayed on some Dylusions White Linen and spritzed with a little water.  I pressed the paper into it to pick up the colour and you'll see the result below.

I then dry embossed the frame with the Darice snowflake flourish corner, twisting it around to emboss right around the frame. I then swiped Versamark ink over the raised areas and heat embossed it with my favourite Winter embossing powder which is Wow! Puff White. If you look at the pics below you'll see the fabulous snowy effect it gives.

I stamped the woodland scene on a further panel of cartridge paper with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink and added colour with Aquamarkers. I chose colours to make me think of a soft Winter sunset which I always think gives a lovely rosy blush to a snowy landscape. I added touches of Frosted Lace Stickles although you may not be able to see it very well in the pic.
I stamped the cute bunny with the grey ink and coloured him with Aquamarkers and cut him out. I assembled the card as you see adding the bunny and a sentiment from the stamp set stamped with the grey and a little colour added with Aquamarker.

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

I'd like to link this to the Artistic Outpost December Referral Programme which has an open theme though as you can see, I'm still on with the Christmas preparations!

Midwinter For That's Crafty

Hello everyone, I hope you're all managing to survive the current rather nasty and cold weather and my sympathies to anyone affected. Just very cold and wet down here although we have flood warnings along my route to work so fingers are crossed it's OK.
I have another Christmas card to share today over at That's Crafty which was made with the lovely Artistic Outpost Midwinter stamp plate and has quite subtle frosty sparkle. All the details are over on the blog so do please hop on over if you're interested.

Hoping to see you there and that you have a great weekend and stay safe.


Hugs, Fliss xx

I'm also linking this one to the Artistic Outpost December Referral Programme which has an Anything Goes with Artistic Outpost theme.

Christmas Flowers and Foliage

Good evening folks, I'm feeling a bit like a certain white rabbit here! A late post again for the new challenge today over at Make My Monday with your hostess with the mostest being Jacqueline with the theme of

CHRISTMAS FLOWERS AND FOLIAGE

I hope you all had a better weekend than I did as we had a rather traumatic Saturday after a frantic phone call in the early evening from my mother in law as my father in law had collapsed and couldn't get up. My hubby rushed there and to cut a long story involving paramedics and A & E short, my hubby picked him up again after tests just gone midnight and he seems OK although was told to visit his GP today as they couldn't find anything wrong.

Anyway, enough of my troubles and here's my DT inspiration:

Some stamps I've had for ages came out to play here as the background paper was made with a Papermania holly stampinked up on the leaves with Brilliance Pearlescent Olive ink and the berries coloured with a Cranberry Adirondack marker. I stamped this all over and then inked over the top with Crushed Olive Distress ink.

The main poinsettia image is a Hero Arts stamp and was inked with Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy and Olive and stamped on cream paper. I added this to a deep red mat and wrapped some checked ribbon from The Craft Fairy round.

I stamped the Hero Arts sentiment on the same cream paper with Archival Coffee ink (which for some reason looks red here?!) and added it to a deep red mat. I assembled all the elements on a kraft card blank adding a scrap of red poinsettia paper from the Polka Doodles Studio 12 Gingerbread Twist CD as a contrast.

Hoping you all have a good week.

Fliss xx

Santa Robin For That's Crafty

Hello there, I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend like me.
Today's post is to tell you about the project I have for you today over at That's Crafty which features an absolutely adorable little owl by Stampendous.
Here's what I made and you'll find all the details over at the blog.

Isn't he just so cute!

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

Contemporary Christmas

Hello there, I'm a bit late with my post for the new challenge over at Make My Monday chosen by team mate Jan who would like to see a creation with a Contemporary Christmas theme which means no traditional red, green and gold.
I decided on lilac and blue for my card as I came across some pearly diamond patterned card in my card box that must have been there for nearly 10 years! I'm trying to use up some of my bits so this was ideal for the snowflake design I had in mind.
Here's what I made and I hope you like it as it's very simple compared to my usual creations.

 

I used 2 Sissix snowflake dies to cut out the large and small snowflakes from the pearly card which has a lovely shimmer to it.

I covered my card blank with some lilac patterned paper from the Polka Doodles Angelberry Christmas CD.

I then used a Hero Arts border stamp to make a border strip with Memento Sweet Plum ink, stamping on white card.

I assembled the card as you see, adding the die cut snowflakes with foam pads for a little dimension.

Sorry for my lack of visiting lately, we've had a very busy time getting my younger daughter ready to move into her London accommodation which finally happened at the weekend and hopefully I will have a bit more time for blogging than I have over the last few weeks.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Some challenges for my card:

Songbird - Die Another Day (Use One or More Dies on your creation)

Clear It Out - Anything Goes Stash Item: Add A Snowflake

Creative Craft Challenge - Non Traditional Christmas Colours

Use It Tuesdays - Anything Goes With Hoarded Stash (Pearl Card used for snowflakes around 10 years old)

Christmas Pine Wreath Card For That's Crafty

Guess who completely forgot to schedule her post for her project over at That's Crafty today - oops! Must do better next week!
I've been playing with my absolutely amazing new toy which is the Inkadinkado stamping gear kit that I got for my birthday and it really is a truly awesome tool and one to add to your Christmas list as you can create some fabulous shapes with it. My card below uses just one of the four tools in the kit and I can't wait for more time to experiment.

If you'd like to see how I made it pop over to the blog as I have some tips for you too and there's also a link to the video which might just persuade you it's a must have.

Have a great weekend everyone.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

More Santa!

Good morning everyone and welcome to my Mid Week Inspiration for our current challenge theme at Make My Monday which this time is a rather inky and glimmery creation which I hope you'll like.

The background paper was made with a panel of watercolour paper which I coloured with Distress Stains in Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass and Crushed Olive. I found that if you coat the watercolour paper with water before pressing into the ink stains on a craft sheet the colours spread much more freely. Repeat this step until the paper is covered.
I then embossed the panel with a Darice snowflake swirl corner design, turning the card upside down to emboss the other side. I then brushed the raised areas with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink wihich gave lots of lovely shimmer.
I stamped the Crafty Individuals Santa collage with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink on to thick, smooth cartridge paper and coloured it with Distress Stains. I cut it out with deckle scissors to leave a border and added it to a red card mat.
I added the background paper to a red card mat and then attached the panel to a white square card blank and finished off with a computer generated greeting on a red mat.

You still have a few days left to enter the challenge and hope to see you there.

Enjoy the rest of your week.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Santa Galore!

Morning all and hope you all had a good weekend in the rather chilly weather - Winter seems to be firmly setting in now so what better excuse to stay in the warm and do some crafting!
We have a new challenge over at Make My Monday today which has a theme chosen by our former team member Caz and having realised we'd all be madly trying to get those Christmas cards done now she picked:

Santa - The Big Guy

I had to go digital for my inspiration as I've got blocked sinuses at the moment and due to running eyes over part of the weekend couldn't wear my contact lenses so any colouring would look decidedly squiffy!

I've used some of the gorgeous Santa toppers from the Magical Winter CD by Polka Doodles which I combined with plaid paper and sentiments from the newest A Home For Christmas CD.

The hessian look paper I created myself using Photoshop Elements after scanning some fabric. It was very easy to do as I was able to adjust the colour slightly and create an A4 sheet to print out. I've added a Freebie page to the blog in case anyone would like it.

I also created the silvery matting layer on the second card with a cheat method which saves using up loads of precious glitter card. All you do is cut a piece of card wider than the card you need a mat for then rub silver pigment ink along the long edges (I used silver Encore Ultimate Metallic) and then heat emboss it with crystal embossing powder. This gives a subtle sparkle which is very elegant.

Lots of inking of edges before assembling and colouring of the sentiment panels with Promarkers - about the most I could manage!

Have a great day and a good week.

Hugs,

Fliss xx

Floribunda For That's Crafty

Good morning everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely week and are looking forward to the weekend as I am as I've been really busy yet again with work and family stuff.
Today's post is to tell you about the project I have today over at That's Crafty which is a rather shabby, vintage style card on a floral theme.

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

Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Christmas Gift Bag

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend despite the somewhat chilly weather which I have to say was perfect for staying in the warm and doing a bit of crafting.
Here's one of my makes which is for the new challenge we have for you today over at Make My Monday and your hostess this week is Laura who would like to see:

Anything But A Card - Christmas Style

I decided to make a start on my gift bags as it's lovely to be able to personalise your packaging especially when you can pick up packs of kraft bags in different sizes incredibly cheaply - I got a pack of 5 for just £1 - amazing!

I added a panel to the front of the bag of text paper from the Polka Doodles Here Comes Christmas CD to which I added faux stitching made with the Tim Holtz ruler and a brown fine pen.

I made the snowflakes with a Sizzix die, cutting them from a piece of pink and blue flourish paper from my bits box. I covered them with Versamark ink and heat embossed them with Crystal powder for some sparkle.

I made a matching tag by covering a circle with the pink text paper and adding the remaining snowflake. I punched a hole at the top and tied some lace through to add a feminine touch.

Have a great day and a lovely week.

Hugs, Fliss xx

I'd like to enter my gift set in the following challenges:

2 Sisters Challenge - Christmas Sparkle

Crafty Calendar November Challenge - All Things Christmas

Crafts 4 Eternity - Anything But A Card

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge- Christmas

Steampunk Christmas Baubles At That's Crafty

Hello there everyone, hope you've all had a good week. Today I'll be winging my way up to Kingston for my daughter's graduation - she gained a first in her fashion degree and now has a job working as a print designer for a small but fast growing London Fashion company. She's having to commute at the moment as it seems that finding a flat share is as hard as getting a job these days!
I have a post today over at That's Crafty and there's a sneak peek below of my rather quirky steampunk creation which I hope you'll hop on over to see properly.

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

More Autumn Flowers!

Hello there, I have some more inspiration for the current Autumn Flowers challenge at Make My Monday to share with you with a card that is a little simpler than my last one shown on Monday.

The background here is made very simply by inking up a small square acrylic block with Dried Marigold and Crushed Olive Distress inks to make a check style paper and I ten punched 3 of the corners with a daisy corner rounder punch.
The daisies by Hobby Art were stamped with sepia ink and coloured with Promarkers and pencils. I then cut them out and added them to a small round doily.
I stamped the sentiment (also Hobby Art) directly on the background paper with the sepia ink and added all the elements to the card blank.

There you have it - simples!
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Autumn Flowers

Good morning everyone and I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was quite busy as it was my birthday yesterday so we went out for lunch and had family round for tea and cake later on. Lots of lovely pressies too!
Today's post is to tell you about the new challenge today over at Make My Monday with a theme chosen by your truly of Autumn Flowers as I really love chrysanthemums and other Autumn florals. Here's my inspiration:

I've used a favourite flower stamp by Circa Design which I stamped with VersaFine Olympia Green and heat embossed with clear powder. I then coloured the image with Promarkers. I die cut it into an oval panel with a Papermania die.
The flourish background paper was made by stamping the flourishes with Versamark ink and heat embossing with pearl green powder. I then sponged on Wild Honey and Dried Marigold Distress inks.
The green panel is Canson Mi-Teintes paper dry embossed with a floral trellis folder.
I assembled the card as you see, adding vintage linen lace and a sentiment panel with and embossed mat using scraps of leftover paper.

I hope you can enter as I'd love to see you there.
Have a great week.
Hugs, Fliss xx

Little Red Robin

A very quick and somewhat late post from me about my project today over at That's Crafty which is a Christmas card as being November now I needed to add more to the very slowly growing card heap.

If you hop on over to the blog you'll see how I made it and you might want to click on the pic to get the full effect of the grungy and crunchy background I made.

Have a fab weekend all.
Hugs,
Fliss xx

Infinite Possibilty

Hello there folks and first up is a very big apology for being such a bad blogger lately and for my lack of visiting. This is because life has been really hectic the last few weeks with work full time and family stuff taking up the spare time leaving me very little time for anything but much needed sleep!
We have a new challenge for you over at Make My Monday today chosen by Suzi B and it's a theme dear to my heart:

Steampunk

I really enjoyed making my card and I hope you like it.

I decided on rich browns and teal for the card inspired by the rather sassy lady from Creative Expressions Steampunk Sirens stamp set. I stamped her with VersaFine Smokey Gray ink on thick, smooth cartridge paper which is my paper of choice for painting with Aquamarkers or Distress Stains. In this case I used Aquamarkers and then trimmed the image to a panel and inked the edges with blue and green.

I then embossed a card panel with the Papermania Tri-boss Chronology folder and inked it with Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain Distress inks. I embossed a kraft card panel with the Cuttlebug cogs folder and cut this down to fit my card blank.

I inked some Maya Road chipboard cogs with VersaColor inks and added a metal Papermania cog to the centre of the larger one.

I added all the elements to the card and finished off with some text from the stamp set which I cut up because I couldn't bear to cover up the background!

I hope you all have a great week and aren't suffering to much in the extreme winds we're having at the moment.

Hugs, Fliss xx

Vintage Beauty

Hello folks, I hope you've had a good week despite the rather iffy weather. I've been really busy with work again so roll on the weekend!
I'm here today to tell you about the project I have over at That's Crafty which was actually meant to be last week's but things went rather pear shaped and I didn't get it finished in time - oops!

I can't tell you how much I loved making this card - don't you just love that absolutely gorgeous pansy border! I couldn't resist the set when I saw it as I adore pansies.

If you'd like to see how I made and a list of the materials and stamps, do hop on over to the blog.

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