Fussy and Fancy Challenge # 149 Autumn Colours

I can't believe it's already nearly October, the evenings are getting really chilly here in the UK so it really is Autumn .... I think this is my favourite season, I just love Autumn colours and as it happens that 'Autumn Colours' is the F&F Challenge this time, hosted by the lovely Eileen. Here is my card
 sample for this challenge



  

I was reorganising my craftroom recently and found a little pile of gelly prints that I had done a few months ago, this was one that I was most pleased with and I thought at the time it reminded me of Autumn because I had used a leaf stencil to make it:

That was it I was on a roll!! it really was an easy card once this decision was made ... I cut out several leaves with a punch using vellum in a selection of Autumn colours. I made a loose arrangement with them and then remembered my favourite Sissix Bigz die which makes pinecones (usually at Christmas time) but pinecones are everywhere on the country paths at this time of the year too. So I set about making some I love the way they come to life in your fingers as you roll and tease them, I added a few red berries to brighten it up...and I was nearly done. I love the dimension of the topper:

 

 

 I stamped and embossed a lovely Clarity stamp which says it all :

So there it is, I have a beautiful niece called Meg and she loves all things Earthy and Organic, it is her birthday in mid October so Meg this is for you, my lovely with all my love and Happy Birthday xxx

Hope you will enter this lovely challenge it's so easy to do you can find details here and the winners are selected randomly so everyone has the chance to win.

Just off to have a cup of coffee in the garden .... the trees are full of berries so the birds will have a feast: Must dash xxx Annie

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #147 School Days

So here we are it's already September , in the UK this means the children are all back to school after their long Summer break. So the theme for challenge #147 had to be School Days / Back to School hosted by Tammy and sponsored by Fresh Brewed Designs and Sweet Lilac flowers.
This year my eldest granddaughter will not be returning to school or college because way back in July she graduated from Hereford College of Art we are so proud of her. So this card was made with Rhiannon in mind  .... She's arty and a Day Dreamer with her own sense of style ... here is the card I made:

I used a new IndigoBlu stamp called 'Lost in Thought' which really reminds me of Rhiannon ... I stamped it and coloured it with Promarkers and then I cut her out.

Then I needed a background, I looked through the box of Gelliplate prints I had made earlier in the year and I found just what I was looking for ... a lovely textured  brick wall made with a Clarity stencil and lots of layers of acrylic paint!! My idea was to create a wall with Graffiti on it but not any old graffiti I used Clarity word chain stamps which use random fonts and lovely arty inspirational words. I stamped and embossed them onto my background ... they look lovely and grungy. I matted and layered my background onto the card and placed my arty girl as if she was leaning on the wall, daydreaming.

We would love you to join us in this challenge, it doesn't have to be a card it can be mixed media, 3d whatever you like to do, details of hoe you can enter can be found here it realy is very easy to do.


Here is Rhiannon at her graduation we are so proud of her

Well since making this card I have just heard that Rhiannon has got herself a contract illustrating a book (can't say anymore), she has found herself a little place and is moving back down to to Hereford to start her new working life.... 'Fly high little one ' xx

Right I really must fly now, hope you find sometime to do some crafting ... till next time xxx Annie

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #145 Lazy Summer Days

Another Friday and this time it's the lovely Beth hosting our Challenge and she has chosen 'Lazy Summer Days'. This challenge is being sponsored by Magnolia-licious.

Here is my offering for this month:

As soon as I read that the theme was Lazy Summer Days I knew at once which stamps I wanted to use, they are Clarity stamps of a daydreamer lying under a tree. I started by making the reflection in the water using my blending mat ... then I positioned the actual main stamp image, followed by a lovely big sun. The effect of water is made using a brayer and some crumpled copy paper.

This is the clarity quote stamp which really adds to the atmosphere I was trying to create:

The base card of my shutter card was made using a Tattered Lace die, it cuts the base shapes and also contains dies for all the matting elements. it was a bit of a luxury buy but it was a special offer price and I have always loved these type of cards because it offers so many surfaces to decorate. oh yes and the die set even includes the alphabet which I used to spell out Lazy Days. So this card really wasn't as complicated as it might look.

I really hope when you see all the design team's efforts you will feel inspired to join in the fun you can enter here The winners are randomly selected so no matter what your crafty ability is you all have an equal chance of winning.

That's all for today I look forward to visiting your blogs over the next fortnight. xxx Annie

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #143 Beach Fun

Well it's Friday again and time for Fussy and Fancy Challenge #143 Beach Fun hosted by lovely Gina..... As I am  sat making this card we are in the middle of a bit of a heatwave here in the Uk ...... it has been  hotter here than in the Mediterranean ....so the beach is really the best place to be.

As I was rooting for the stamps I was going to use I found a lovely piece of text and my whole piece is built around this ... I do like beautiful words on my cards. So here it is :

I have used some Creative Expressions stamps and some inking techniques to create my background. Next I stamped the text (an inkylicious stamp) I had found onto a separate piece of card which I had prepared with a watery background, I tore the edges and inked them.

Then I found my favourite Clarity shell stamps .... which I coloured and cut out a couple of times so that I could decoupage them up.

We really would like to see  your Beach Fun projects ...what ever you enjoy making,  it can be a card, a mixed media canvas or boxes or other 3D project ..... surprise us. You may like to use a digi stamp from this month's sponsor Sherri Baldy, you will find details of how to upload your work here. The winners are selected at random so that everyone has an equal chance of winning.

Right it's time to get the hosepipe out and give the garden a good soak, the plants are wilting a bit in this hot humid weather ..... so am I. Until next time xxx Annie

Card for a very dear friend

Yesterday and today have been the hottest days of the year so far... so I did a little bit of quiet crafting . July is a busy month for family cards so I thought I better start ... this one is for my very good friend Ellen, so something soft and feminine was called for:

I used my favourite Crealie Modern patchwork die for the base card and a lovely hydrangea die from Impression Obsession made the flower.
I love making paper flowers, moulding them and shaping them .... this die uses a very simple  flower shape .... but a lot of them &  putting them  through my ebosser was a bit of a chore but now I have found the answer for all my small dies : The spellbinders sapphire, it is so small it looks like a toy but its a real little workhorse and made short work of the 120 little flowers I used

So that's 1 card down 7 more to go.

While I have been blogging the weather has changed from hot & humid now I think there is a storm brewing so I best go down and close all the windows because we've been promised thunder , lightening and hail stones when it arrives .... that's a whole years worth of weather in one go ... a very good start to July . Happy crafting xxx Anne

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #141 Distressed

It's Friday again and time for challenge #141 ... this time the theme is Distressed and it is being sponsored by beautiful Aurora Wings. I find this type of project quite hard because I like everything tidy and distressing means roughing up and inking edges. Some people are so clever at it and their projects are amazing. Anyway this is what I finally made after several other attempts ended up in the bin!!!  I decided to go with a tag for a change:

 

 

After so many failed attempts I settled on one of my favourite colour schemes Teal and Brown, the papers I used are all by Bo Bunny so I knew they would co-ordinate and then everything else sort of fell into place. I also decided to use some new dies I had bought recently ... Sissix alteration dies 4 different thinlits to give a distressed detail, I used the distressed diamonds effect on the second layer. The sentiment was cut using an only words Diesire die and the flower was cut with my faithful old Tattered Florals Bigz die.

Rooting around in my stash I found just the right colour crinkled ribbon, some twine, string of pearls and a watch charm. A very simple project in the end and I was quite pleased with it.

Why don't you give it a go and enter our challenge it's easy to enter you can find out more here

Well it's a beautiful afternoon and I did promise to go and help in the garden about an hour ago but got a bit distracted. I am sure a cup of tea for Hubby and a dog biscuit for my faithful friend Jasper will make sure I am forgiven.

Bye for now Crafty hugs Annie xxx

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #139 Lavender and Yellow

Lavender and Yellow these are such lovely zingy colours to work with even for someone like me who is usually more comfortable working with girly pastel shades. So the lovely Diane is hosting this challenge and the  sponsors are Sweet Lilac Flowers and  Freshly Brewed Designs.
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I went back to an all time favourite stamp Indigoblu's Summer Lovin' stamp, it is so lovely to work with, it's a collage stamp so I stamped it several times using Stazon Royal Purple. Then I set about making my background paper ... a plain  piece of white card can easily be transformed into a background paper. I used Squeezed Lemon distress ink and a blending tool for my base colour, then using Milled Lavender distress ink (second generation ... stamped first onto a scrap of paper to give a fainter image) I used unmounted stamps, without a block ... (Indigoblu, script and mesh) randomly to form background ... then using the collage stamp again I stamped random section of the stamp using slightly darker Dusky Concorde distress ink.

 

I decoupaged some of the flowers on the main image and then used the rest of the flowers together with some diecut swirls to embellish my card. I was quite pleased with the result and I know a person who would appreciate these zingy colours on her birthday card.

 

Right it's lunchtime and Husband has kindly made us a snack so I better not keep the chef waiting. Please enter this challenge it's so  easy to do ... more details here  then the fussy and fancy girls can get to view your blog and email entries. As the winners are randomly chosen it is very fair whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter you have an equal chance of being a winner.

 

Bye for now and crafty hugs, Annie xxx