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

Fussy & Fancy Challenge #115 OUTDOORS

It has been lovely crafting this afternoon with the windows thrown open and the sun shining in ... I really should be out working in the garden but I have been creating an outdoor scene for the Fussy & Fancy Challenge being hosted by the lovely talented  Celine who has chosen Outdoors as her theme.

I have long been a fan of Clarity stamps and recently Barbara Gray has introduced a great selection of stencils which make wonderful backgrounds ... I love the idea of starting with a blank white piece of card and turning it into a card using just a few stamps and some inks. For this card I have used Clarity Woodland stencil and woodland animals stamp set and a selection of Adirondak inks.
Over here in the UK we are lucky to have Barbara Gray on our tvs for 2 hours each month demonstrating with her Company's new products. I cannot draw or paint but having watched her over many years now I feel more confident about my cardmaking and stamping. She also has an amazing design team which includes our very own Jo Rice & Sam Crowe who are always an inspiration too.
Right I think I ought to go and make a coffee for hubby who has been working hard titivating the garden, which I have  to say is looking good after suffering the last Winter's storms.
Hope you enter our new Challenge which is being sponsored this month by Crafty Sentiments.
That's all from me,
Bye for now Annie xxx

Fussy & Fancy Blog Hop 'THE RESULT'

 Well the Fussy & Fancy Blog Hop was great fun ... Thank you for all your lovely comments and to all my new followers.
As I have my 16yr old Granddaughter Kate staying over with me and she was taking a well earned break from GCSE exam revision, I asked her to make the draw for me.here's how she did it !!

So there it is : Congratulations BlackLissi is the winner of my Blog candy...... Please email me @ pannem1945@btinternet.com with your address and I will post it off to you

That's it for tonight xxx Annie

Fussy & Fancy Challenge #114 Inspirational Picture

Today sees the launch of Fussy & Fancy Challenge #114, it is being hosted by the talented Laila who has chosen the theme: Inspirational picture. Our sponsor this time is Freshly Brewed Designs.

Here is my sample for this week's challenge, while I was deciding what to make I received the wonderful news that a friend of mine had just become a Grandmother for the first time. As a Nana to four wonderful almost grown up grandchildren, I know the joy they can bring watching them grow is amazing .... parenthood all over again without the responsibility and the anguish :). So I made her something I thought might be decorative and useful....

I began by creating the background using various distress inks on  a blank doorhanger, remembering to put my moon mask in place first.
The  stamps I used were  free  with a crafting magazine they were designed by Tracey of  Lavina Stamps. The sentiment stamp and the letter stamps are from Clarity Stamps. Lots of silvery embossing powder and glitter were also used .... it didn't photograph very well .... maybe because most of it  landed on our black Labrador Jasper, who insists on lying by my feet when I am crafting. :)

As you can see he is a BIG boy ....but he's very gentle and very handsome.

Anyway back to crafting... I hope you will enter our Challenge it's very easy to upload your entry using the link on  http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk    I love visiting your blogs and reading all about your crafty projects, you can also link through email, details are on our website.

That's all for today, I have just looked at the clock and realised I have just whiled away a whole afternoon up in the Crafty attic ....time flies when you're having fun .....
Bye for now xxx Annie

Fussy & Fancy Challenge # 113 Spring Colours

Hello and welcome to my blog! As you may have read on
 Fussy & Fancy Challenge Blog

our Spring Colours Challenge is being hosted by our lovely

Katharina

and sponsored by the

FUSSY AND FANCY GIRLS!

that would include me!

If you have arrived here from the talented Judy's blog then you are hopping in the right order, if not, please go back to the FUSSY & FANCY BLOG CHALLENGE to hop in the right order. 

Here is the card that I created for this fun Spring Colours Challenge

For me, Spring Colours is all about the flowers especially the bulbs that have been under the soil through the Winter months and suddenly they pop through and burst into beautiful coloured flowers, the first through in our garden are the daffodils but I look forward to the brightly coloured Tulips..so when I spotted these tulips in my silhouette design section I had to download them. I experimented with the colours. This card has been inspired by a very clever card that my Facebook friend Linda Page had made if you would like to know how the box was made you can find out on Linda's blog   here  her instructions are very clear and she makes it surprisingly easy ....so thank you Linda.

So having made my box I had to decorate all the small sections I used various Clarity silhouette stamps of outdoor scenes and added clouds and hills as I was creating a big yellow sun I decided that the beat sentiment for my card was another Clarity stamp ...'Sending you sunshine' The other surprise about this 3D box-card is that it folds flat

 and as the box is a 4" cube when it is flattened it slips into a standard 8"x8" envelope

As a special bonus for my followers old and new I am offering some blog candy!
I have included some diecut decoupage, lovely glittered and blinged butterflies, some pretty paper flowers and even the ribbon and tag are reusable.

To qualify you must be a follower and leave a comment

Thank you for visiting

Now if you can please continue hopping over to our very talented Vannessa's blog you will continue to keep hopping in order. I have listed the correct blog hop order below for your convenience:

  Katharina

Judy

Annie (that's me)

Vannessa

Norma

Celine

Ivonne

Nathalie

Jo Rice

Yvonne

Mary Lou

Millazin

Diana

Beth
Sam
Laila
Sheryl

Well that's all from me for tonight. I do hope you go on to complete our Blog Hop and maybe even enter this very special Fussy & Fancy Challenge yourself.

Good Luck xxx Annie             

       

Clarity Challenge.. Monochrome

Ooops I nearly missed the closing date so this is a quick blog before I link up to the Clarity Challenge site. A week ago I saw Barbara's tutorial using the gelli plate to make what looked like a torn piece, I was inspired to have a go and this was one of three cards I made that afternoon , which is quite productive for me.

I used Barbara's three layer technique... the hardest part was waiting in between layers for it to dry .. I am such an impatient crafter.. I had used the seaweed frame so when I saw the result I remembered I had a similar Clarity stamp so I stamped it over the gelli pint using Cobalt blue Archival , I also stamped through the tear I had made. Then I made my two seahorses with fantasy film & fibres ... they are my new favourite stamps. I also love the new Word chain stamps for this card I chose the word magical because seahorses are the most magical and mysterious of animals.

Well that's it for today xxx Annie