Fab'n'Funky Challenges - #179 Christmas in July

Ho Ho Ho! 

No, I've not lost the plot, it is still July!  We have a great new challenge over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges with the talented Anne-Marie as our host.  She has chosen a fab theme...

Christmas in July

Dig out your glitter, red and green paper and get festive!  I love making Christmas cards so this was the perfect excuse to dig out my festive stash!  We have two fab sponsors this week too.  The first is My Creative Classroom who are offering one lucky winner the opportunity to participate in an online class of their choice.  Our second sponsor is Dilly Beans - one of my favourites.  The winner of this prize will receive 3 digital images of their choice.  

The DT were so lucky to be able to work with great images from Dilly Beans and I chose to use Holly Penguin Framed (image #493) for my card.

What a cutie!  I coloured my image with ProMarkers in Lilac, Winter Berry, Forest Green, Leaf Green, Ruby, Gold, Summer Sun, Pineapple Crush and all the Cool Greys.  

I went a little bit wild last week and ordered loads of the new Christmas Memory Box dies.  They are just scrummy!  I have used the Gabriella Border die here with lilac glitter cardstock from Create and Craft.  My card blank was embossed with the Spellbinders M-Bossabilities folder Holiday Magic.  

I really hope you'll join us for some festive fun this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #161 - Cute and Cuddly

Hi All,

We're back with another great challenge at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  But first, if you were one of the lovely people who entered our Pastel Colours challenge last week head over to the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see our random winner and Top 3.

I'm sure you're all wondering what we have in store for you this week.  Well, the glamourous Judith has picked a fab theme for you all...

Cute and Cuddly

We will be looking for cute makes featuring cuddlies!  It's really up to you how you interpret this one.

Our sponsor this week is the wonderful Bugaboo Stamps.  The winner will receive 7 digi stamps of their choice.  Click here if you fancy checking out the great designs in advance.

The DT were lucky to be able to use Bugaboo stamps for this challenge and as soon as I saw this image I knew it would be perfect.  This is Sock Monkey Boy...

I used the current layout from Sketch Saturday for this card and here is the example

I coloured my little cutie with ProMarkers in Walnut, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Starfish, Cornflower, Cobalt Blue and Capri Blue.  Using the blender pen, I dotted around the image to add texture. 

My brown and orange cardstock are Coredinations and I scrunched up the orange and then sanded back to reveal the core.  I created the background with an embossing folder from Spellbinders - Twigs and Tweets.  I hoped you can see the dimension.  The dotty paper is from Create and Craft and I bought it ages ago in two sizes!  My buttons started as plain white but I used the Walnut ProMarker to make them match my image.  They dried really quickly too after I had blotted with some of the Hunkydory foam pad backings!  Crafters really do use everything in sight for creating!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday #248
Dutch Dare Card Challenges #206 - One for the Boys
Eclectic Ellapu - Something for a child
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #196 - Use embossing
A Gem of a Challenge #69 - Button It
Send A Smile 4 Kids - For the Boys

I really hope you can make it cute and cuddly this week.  Be sure to click onto my fellow Fab'n'Funky's blogs for inspiration.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #160 - Pastel Colours

Hi Crafting Lovelies,

Well, that's been a quick week!  We are back at Fab'n'Funky Challenges with a brand new theme for you today.  However, we just want to thank everyone for entering our last challenge - Flower Power.  What an overwhelming response.  Flower power was certainly flowing in craft land last week!

Now onto our current challenge - the wondeful Sue (you might know her better as Sue - Bearhouse!) is our host and we are sponsored by the one, the only Saturated Canary.  *insert squeal here*  My absolutely favourite digi company - if we are allowed to have favourites!  Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer, our theme is...

Pastel Colours

Simples!  Just use a pastel colour palette for your project and link up to be in with a chance to win a fab prize from Saturated Canary. 

The team were so lucky to be able to choose a digi from Krista's amazing collection and I chose Vintage Violet.  She is just too cute!  And here is my card...

My cardstock is all Hunkdory Adoreable Scorable and I embossed the blue with Spellbinders M-Bossabilites Dainty Dots.  I added three stripes of the green and then layered the pink at an angle with foam pads.  My image was cut with Spellbinders Grand Rectangles. 

I used Flexmarkers and ProMarkers to colour Violet up and used these colours - Ivory, Vanilla, Satin, Blush, Dusky Pink, Pale Blossom, Pink Lavendar, Lemon, Soft Lime, Soft Aqua, Glacier Blue.  I've actually lost my list but i think this is the full set of colours used.  This is the first time I've tried using Ivory and Vanilla for blonde hair but I really liked the result.

Unfortunately, my camera skills haven't shown up the shading too well.  It is very subtle.  I added Glossy Accents to make her glasses shine.  My sentiment was stamped from that great set that I can't remember where I bought!  I used Spellbinder Framed Tags One to cut it out.  My gems are from Create and Craft.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Digital Tuesday Challenge #199 - Birthdays
The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog #38 - Pretty Pastels
Sweet Stamping Challenge Blog - Mother's Day or for a Special Lady

I hope you can join us in our Pastel colouring challenge.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #156 - Shoes

Hello there,

Well, what a fantastic response to our last challenge.  We certainly have lots of favourite colours.  If you would like to see who was picked as our lucky winners, head over to the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.

I am your host this week and I have been a bit indulgent in my theme!  We would like to see...

Shoes

One of my favourite things in the world!  You can chose any type of shoes, boots, sandals or even slippers!  We also have a great sponsor in the form of Digital Delights by Louby Loo.

The team have really come up with some fab ideas for this challenge so be sure to check out their blogs for more inspiration.  I have stayed away from the pretty and gone with a steampunky look.



As you'll see I'm still lusting over my new Spellbinders!  I used a shiny black card base and then added the Spellbinders M-bossabilities Creative Cogs which was passed through the Grand Calibur with a sheet of textured silver card.  This isn't a super shiny silver so it works well with the cogs.  I cut three of the cogs using Spellbinders Cogs in the same black shiny cardstock that I used for the base.  My green paper was printed from Serif.  No pink!

For my main image, I used a Sam Poole stamp from her Steampunk Shoes set.  I tried it with black ink but this just rubbed off so I actually stamped in Versamark and then used black detail embossing powder and heated with my heat tool.  I cut an extra cog by repeating the process and fussy cut around the shape, adding with foam pads.  I love high heels but always suffer whenever I wear them so these are perfect!  No sore feet!  I used a double layer of foam pads in the centre and a single layer at the edges to give dimension. 

My sentiment also came from the same Sam Poole stamp set and I cut it using Spellbinders Framed Tags One.  This makes me think there may be more in the pipeline!  I used a recycled cog from an old card and coloured it with my black ProMarker as it was an antique gold.  I've also taken a sideways view for you.

I really hope you can join us in our Shoes challenge.  Why not walk this way with us!

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

Les Papillion Birthday

Hi All,

Hope you have been enjoying your Saturday.  We've had a very sunny day but I've been enjoying it in my craft corner!  I have a card made with the new Spellbinders for you today.  I just couldn't resist the wonderful dies and had them ordered within about 3 minutes!  Create and Craft will be the financial ruin of me!  Did anyone else take the plunge and order them too?

I love the new butterfly dies called Les Papillion and knew these would have to feature on my first card.  I started by matting and layering the pink pearlescent and gold cardstock.  My embossed cardstock was made using the Elegance M-Bossability folder from Spellbinders.  My border strips are from the Asian Accents set.  I used Scalloped Labels One for underneath my butterfly.  I cut the top layer of the butterfly from the Spellbinders packaging and actually passed it through the Grand Calibur about 30 times.  Unfortunately, due to the intricacy of the die it just wouldn't quite cut through.  So out came the old fashioned technique of cutting with scissors!  I attached with Pinflair Glue Gel.

The sentiment stamp is from Create and Craft and layered onto Fancy Framed Tags One.  These really need to be cut with greaseproof paper.  I ended up ripping three just by not using this technique. 

Have any of you got crafty plans for tomorrow?  I'm hoping to work on a Fab'n'Funky challenge idea but I'll keep that one under wraps until Wednesday!

Happy crafting,
Rachel x