Fussy & Fancy Challenge #117 Summer

The weather here in Wales has been glorious which has meant I have spent a lot of time in the garden, but this afternoon I have taken time out to make my next F&F Challenge creation for the #117 Summer Challenge. I saw these Creative Expressions stamps and they reminded me of Nostalgic Summers long ago spent on the beach making sandcastles and paddling in the sea..... that sums up Summer for me.
I wanted to use so many of the stamps I decided to make a diorama... a shadowbox of my beach scene... here it is:

I cut my shadow box on my silhouette machine and then used the Creative expressions stamps to make the characters. I made the backdrop of the horizon,sky & sea with adirondak inks. I added the children on strips of card which were then inserted into the concertina folds, I used distress markers and promarkers to colour them. The little girl sitting in the front is wearing a tiny straw bonnet which came free with the stamps. To finish off  I added some shells which I made from Martha Stewart paper clay in a silicone mould, this clay is unbelievably light in weight which is ideal if you're posting cards.

Here is a closeup of the characters:

Hope you will enter our new Summer Challenge which is being sponsored by Crafty Sentiments and hosted by our very talented designer, Vanessa, it's so easy to do, just upload your entry using the link on here or there are details of how to send via email on there too.

Well the sun is still shining so I am off to dead head the roses, till next time xxx Annie

Fussy & Fancy #116 Things with Wings

I don't now where 2014 is going time is flying by and here we are with another Fussy & Fancy Challenge #116... I love this theme chosen by our talented Norma ... Things With Wings.... decisions, decisions.... birds or butterflies. Well butterflies it was ....and I thought it was time to make my favourite shaped card ... a stepper card. I wanted to use some Marianne Design dies as they are sponsoring this challenge. So here is the end result...

I used docrafts lovely new collection of papers called Eau de Nil it's such a soft bluey - green, I used navy as a contrast. Marianne dies are so lovely to use, I love the delicate lacey effect. I made my flowers from mulberry paper and added butterflies... my things with wings.  I do love butterflies on my cards, sometimes I find them very useful to cover up a mistake or thumbprint which magically appears just as I am finishing a card so if you see a random butterfly on one of my cards you know why.

So there it is I decided to make this for my Sister in Law's birthday as I know she loves these colours, I need to find my Mojo and get on with some cards as July is a very busy month for birthdays in our family. Why don't you enter our 'Things with Wings' challenge,  we always look forward to seeing what you've come up with just go here and entering is very easy.

That's all from me today xx Annie