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

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #137 Springtime flowers

Springtime Flowers .... What a lovely challenge this is, just when we can see our gardens are starting to come to life again. This time our host is the lovely Vanessa and sponsored by Marianne Designs and Sweet Lilac Flowers.

So here is my offering for this time:

I have had this lovely collage stamp (Marianne Designs 'With Love' stamp CS0866) for a while now, I bought it originally because the little girl reminds me of a photo of my niece, Meg as a bridesmaid. I decided that this might be time to use it, I also used Marianne Dies: Foliage ... LR0151 & LR 0271 &
Mats........LR0236. Having stamped the image with Sepia Archival inkpad, the rest of the colour scheme just fell into place. My choice of flowers was based on the earliest flowers in my garden which are daffodils & the blossom on my trees.

So there it is a very simple card using very different colours for me, sometimes it's good to get out of your 'comfort zone'. I would love you to give this challenge a go it is so easy to enter, more details here . The F&F girls really love looking at your blogs or you can enter via email, and because the winner is randomly selected everyone has an equal chance.

Must dash now as Jasper our Black Lab has decided it's time for a walk
Bye for now xxx & crafty hugs
Annie

Fussy & Fancy Challenge #135 Girly

So it's Friday again and time for a new Challenge #135 on Fussy & Fancy. This challenge is being hosted by the lovely Celine and sponsored by Freshly Brewed Designs. Celine has decided that this challenge should be 'Girly', a lovely theme for all those pretty stamps, colours and embellishments.

Here is my version of a 'Girly' card:

 

 

 

I have used a beautiful new Heartfelt creations stamp, it is so detailed and so I stamped it onto vellum three times , using Versamark inkpad and white embossing powder. I then decoupaged the butterflies which I had coloured from behind with pink & purple oil pastels. I tore the edges of the background to give it a different look, the white lattice diecuts are cut using Heartfelt Creations dies. 

 



 

All these elements were mounted onto a pretty pink and lilac patterned paper finished off with some ribbon, gems and flowers which had been stamped and diecut in white vellum.

 

It was a very quick and easy card to make .... I hope you will enter this challenge and show us your take on Girly cards entering is so easy you can find out more here the winners are chosen randomly so everyone has a chance of winning whether your a beginner or a more experienced crafter ...why not give it a go our design team love visiting your blogs and leaving a comment for you.

 

Well that's it for today, the sun is shining outside so I am off to sit in the garden with a cup of coffee

 

Bye for now xxx Annie

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #133 Tic Tac Toe

I just love the idea of this challenge which is being hosted by the lovely, talented Beth. She has chosen Tic Tac Toe as her challenge it's easier to explain by using the little sketch she has given us:

You can choose to include any line across/ down/ diagonal or go all out for a Full House.

I was inspired by a sheet of Graphic45 paper from the Secret Garden Collection which I used as my backing paper .... it has flowers, birds and birdcages on it, I knew I had a lovely Birdcage charm I had bought from Live and Love online shop ... who just happen to be our sponsors this time. I made my easel card with a scalloped die.

Here are the nine items I have included:

There is my treasured birdcage charm, I diecut the butterflies and the poem, I used lace and ribbon, framed my poem with some pearls. The poem was wet embossed with gold embossing powder, and although it doesn't show up very well the butterflies are sparkley . I dry embossed the base of my easel and just to be sure I added a 'With Love' sentiment in case my poem didn't count

 

 

here is a photo to prove my butterflies were sparkled

dry embossed base and gold embossed sentiment

So there you go... as simple as that ... I had so much fun ... I hope you will have a go too, entering is easy more details here we would love to see what you make for this lovely challenge.

That's all for this time crafty hugs xxx Annie

My New Guilty Pleasure

This past week I have kept myself  'playing' and I do mean playing with some ne,w silicone moulds brought out by Katy Sue Designs they have been cast from polymer clay characters made by the very talented Kathryn Sturrock. I have long admired Kathryn's whimsical characters, but knew that there was no way I could make models like hers freehand. But with these moulds ...well I am in my second childhood, I had planned on using air dried clay which is a very quick process but once I tried Fimo polymer clay I was hooked. The set of moulds came with a lovely project book ... now I don't DO instructions but this book is so well illustrated and written well it's literally child's play.

These are my first attempts:

Then I realised I couldn't just keep turning out these little people I needed to use them in some projects

This was using a 99p frame which I painted and distressed using the Vaseline technique

This project recycled a pickle jar and is one of the projects in the book, using Kathryn's step by step worksheet I was able to do some freehand modelling of the little animals and mushrooms

This is it as seen from above

Then I got a bit more adventurous and made some 3D letters using my silhouette machine they are ideal because they are not as big as the bought letters , I painted it white and painted some clouds on it, created some grass and stuck my little woodland fairy on ... then the real fun thing making all her little animal friends ....

Here is a sideways view

So there it is my one regret is that I didn't have these products when I was helping look  after my grandchildren because they would have had so much fun we spent so much time together making things .
Ah well back to reality then, I better  get off downstairs and make a brew ... it has been a while since my last one .... time whizzes by when you're having fun Bye xxx Annie

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #131 'Wings and Things'

So here we are the second F&F Challenge of 2015 .... I am so excited to be hosting this Challenge which is being sponsored by Sweet Lilac Flowers & Fresh Brewed designs. I chose 'Wings and Things' as the theme because here in the UK at this time of year we are looking forward to Spring returning, seeing the garden coming back to life after the Winter always amazes me and the thing that gives me greatest pleasure is seeing all my feathered friends nesting and feeding their chicks.

So here is my card, it is a 7x7 card with the front folded back.

The stamps I used are all Clarity stamps, this set called Garden Birds is amongst my favourite ever stamps ... I love Bluetits they are so acrobatic. I set the scene by masking off the stamped birds and creating a cloudy sky using torn paper as a mask whilst adding stonewashed adirondak ink with a make up sponge ... I'm afraid you can hardly see it in the photo. I then dabbed a bit of pink ink onto some pretty plain white Sweet Lilac Flowers to give a little dimension.

 

 

Here is the card folded flat ready to slip into the envelope ready to send to my dearest Mum in Law Marie who is 94 this February ... she isn't so mobile these days and loves to watch the birds on the feeders through the window of her little flat, in the sheltered housing complex where she lives.

 

Well February is a very busy month for family and friends birthday ... there are five cards to be made for the period of 14th, 15th & 16th so I better  get  my thinking cap on ....

 

The Fussy & Fancy Girls would love you to enter this challenge, I know I love looking at all your work and leaving comments on your blogs you can get details of how to upload your work here it's really easy so why not give it a go.

must dash now

Crafty hugs

Annie xx