Fab'n'Funky Challenges #152 - Ribbon or Lace

Hi Everyone,

Less than a week to go until the big day - I hope you are all ready with your presents under the tree and food in the fridge!  I'm so not ready!  I never learn and always leave everything to the last minute but I'll get there.

Everyone did an amazing job in our Vintage Christmas challenge last week.  The winner and Top 3 are on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog right now so be sure to take a peek.

Of course it's time for a new challenge and we have the uber talented Sue as our host this week.  She has given us a super easy challenge too...

Ribbon or Lace

All you have to do is to use ribbon or lace on your project and link it up.  Perfect for this time of year when we are all trying to do 50,00 things at once!  You have until 30 December to enter and the winner and Top 3 will be annouced on 31 December.  Joanna Sheen as our sponsor this week and the randomly selected winner will receive a £10 voucher to spend in her online store.  Head on over to see what you would spend your winnings on by clicking here.

And here is my creation...

I started with my JustRite Snowfall Background Stamp and gave it a good covering with Versamark.  I stamped onto a minty coloured paper and then heat embossed with Inkadinkadoo Light Sparkle embossing powder.  The beautiful design doesn't show up as well with this embossing powder but I liked the sparkle it gave.  I added my topper onto mirri-card with foam pads.  My wide ribbon was recycled from some wrapping last Christmas.  I used Spellbinders Holiday Tags for my sentiment which is also from JustRite but from their Deck the Halls set.  I used another piece of recycled ribbon for my bow and finally I added the gems.

As this is our last challenge for 2012, I would like to wish all of our followers a very happy Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year.  Thank you to everyone who has joined us during 2012 and those who have taken the time to leave comments - it is truly appreciated.  I hope you can all join us again in 2013 for plenty more fun challenges from 9 January. 

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #149 - Midway Reminder

Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the late post - my brain is obviously thinking so much about Christmas that I thought I had already posted this today!  I have managed to get my Christmas tree up though.  I didn't have any decorations up last year at all as I was in the middle of getting a new kitchen fitted so I'm getting the most of them this year.

We are still celebrating our 3rd Birthday at Fab'n'Funky Challenges and this is your midway reminder to get those entries in.  Have you seen our prizes?  Wowee!

Who are offering a £10 voucher to spend in store



Who are offering a $10 voucher to spend in  their fabulous selection in store

Who are offering   a $20 voucher to spend in their store - with free shipping

Who are offering a choice of 5 digis from the cute digis they have in their store

and not forgetting our great new sponsor
Cult Pens

who are offering a super prize of £50 to spend in their shop


 Cult Pens are also  offering a discount of 10% in their store
to all you Fab'n'Funky fans - just use the code

 FNF2012 

It's valid right up until the end of December

I'm sure you'll agree those are some fantastic prizes and our theme is...

3 of something or the number 3

And now onto my inspiration for this midway reminder

I started with a 6" scalloped card blank.  My papers are from the Life's A Beach digikit in Serif''s Craft Artist Professional 2.  My image is from Digi Darla Designs and is called Ashley with Rose.  Isn't she sweet?  I used ProMarkers to colour my image in True Blue, Sky Blue, Indigo Blue, Mustard, Canary, Lemon, Soft Lime, Walnut, Cinnamon, Caramel, Dusky Pink and Blush.  I cut the image with Spellbinders Labels Twenty.  My gems are from Create and Craft and came free with a storage carousel.

Really hope you can join us for the final few days of our birthday celebrations.

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #145 - Die Cuts/Punches

Hello Crafty Friends,

I hope you are all well and that my American friends are safe in the midst of Hurricane Sandy.  The weather can be so ferocious.

I think we have a few animal lovers in our following!  We loved your entries last week.  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see our lucky winners and Top 3.

Now on to our current challenge and we have the super talented Pat K as our host.  She has chosen a theme that I think has to be a favourite of many...

Die Cuts/Punches

Our sponsors this week are the ever versatile Joanna Sheen and the brilliant StampArt Design by Kathryne.  Check out their sites by clicking the links and you'll be in crafty heaven!

So I have a wedding card for you today.  The wedding was back in September so I've also included a photo of the happy couple on their big day.

I started off with an A4 piece of card and scored to make a gatefold card.  I inserted a heart die into the middle so that I could cut the heart from the front.  I added my image but I can't remember for the life of me where it came from.  I used some glitter on the bride's flowers to make them stand out.  The die cuts are Spellbinders Moroccan Accents.  I used the insert of the Spellbinders Fancy Tags Three for the sentiment which has been glittered with MCS ultra fine glitter.  I also added this glitter around the edge of the hear aperature. 

Here are the happy couple - Katie-Ann and Ewan.  They had gorgeous weather and we were all thrilled for them.  It was a truly lovely day.

Now it's over to you - show us your die cuts or punched shapes for our challenge to be in with a chance of winning one of our great prizes.

Image:  StampArt Design by Kathryne

Don't forget that we have our Birthday Extravaganza coming up in a few weeks time.  There will be loads of prizes up for grabs over the fortnight of celebrations.  Hope you can join us.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #136 - Birthday Sketch

Hi Crafters,

Here we are again - on Wednesday already!  We have another new challenge for you over on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  We had loads of lovely leafy wonders last week and Pat K has chosen her Top 3 so head over to the blog to see the lucky winners.

We have lovely Shirley as our host this week and she has chosen to do a fab sketch to celebrate her daughter's birthday and here it is...

A great sketch and so many different possibilities.  There are two sponsors for our challenge this week - StampArt Design by Kathryne and Joanna Sheen.  So two sponsors means two winners!  Double the fun!  Be sure to check out their websites for great crafty goodies.

When I saw Shirley's great sketch, this image just popped into my head and I knew I wanted to use it.  I hope Shirley doesn't mind that I twisted her sketch to fit my image *crosses fingers*!

And here is my card...

Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?! Just as well you can't hear me singing!  This Saturated Canary image is called Springtime and is a favourite of mine.  I've loved the cards that I've seen using this digi and hope my effort is up to standard.  I coloured her using ProMarkers and FlexMarkers in Blush, Dusky Pink, Cinnamon, Henna, Caramel, Watermelon, Cocktail Pink, Sunflower, Soft Green, Tea Green, Apple and Leaf Green.  I cut out my image and matting layer using Spellbinders Grand Ovals. 

My papers are from Heidi Swapp and are just scrumptious!  I was really loathe to cut them up but isn't that just a good excuse to buy more!  To make my card blank I cut a piece of 350gsm card to 8" square and then covered with the flowery paper.  I measured up the two triangles and then left a centimetre extra on the edge to attach to the back of the base card.  The coloured card is strong enough to stand up as it is such good quality.  The flowers were made using Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms from the flowery paper and here is a close-up.

I started by twirling the end around my pokey tool and just kept rolling using my fingers, making sure that the base was kept straight.  I glued with Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear Glue.  My little butterflies were from a Tonic punch.  I also glued these on with the CSDCG.

Do you fancy a peek at the inside now?  Well here you go!

I typed up my sentiment on the computer using My Craft Studio and then printed it onto Super Smooth decoupage paper.  I used the same Spellbinders Grand Oval to cut it out and then attached with double sided sticky tape so that the card can still close.

Hope you have fun with this great sketch and can't wait to see all the different variations.  If you are looking for inspiration, my teamies have done wonderful examples so check them out.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #131 - No Stamped Images

Hello Crafty Friends,

We loved your handmade flower projects last week - a great variety.  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if we picked you as our lucky winner.  The Top 3 have also been posted.  Don't forget to grab those badges too.

I had better get cracking with this week's challenge.  The talented Ginny is our host and she has chosen a clever challenge...

No Stamped Images

I kept going to reach for my stamps and then realised that I wasn't allowed!  In the end I created a Spellbinders card.  Not quite up to Sue Wilson standard yet but I do love checking out her inspirational blog. 

Our sponsor this week is Joanna Sheen.  The lucky challenge winner will receive a £10 gift token to the Joanna Sheen store. 

I began by printing out my patterned snowflake paper from the Debbi Moore Shabby Chic Christmas CD-ROM.  There are loads of great papers on this CD so it was hard to choose which one to print first!

My card blank was made with Spellbinders Grand Labels Eleven.  I also cut the base layer with this Label but used the next size down.  The next layer is silver mirri-board cut using Spellbinders Labels Twenty.  I topped this with the Cheery Lynn Frency Pastry die in the DM paper.  This is the first time I've used a Cheery Lynn die and was really impressed with them.  I have another die that I bought at the same time but I'll keep that one for another time!

My snowflakes were also Spellbinders and I used 2011 and 2012 Snowflake Pendants.  I attached these with either foam pads or Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue from Creative Expressions.  I added a silver pearl to the middle with the silver Cosmic Shimmer glue.  This is also how I made the pearls around the edge.

Don't forget to check out the other DT members' creations.  Can't wait to see what you come up with for our challenge.

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #127 - Cute and Girly

Hi Everyone,

It's official - we are all dotty!!  One winner has been picked at random and Anne-Marie has also chosen her top 3.  I'm not sure how she every managed to choose.  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if it was you!  Don't forget to grab your badges too.

Now onto the challenge for this week and we have the lovely Pat P as our host.  She has chosen a fantastic theme this week...

Cute and Girly

I have used a Saturated Canary image called Ivy.  We are sponsored by Joanna Sheen so be sure to check out her brilliant website for a great range of crafting products.

Isn't she cute?  I used Promarkers and Flexmarkers to colour my image in the following colours:

Blush
Dusky Pink
Cinnamon
Walnut
Cobalt Blue
Soft Green
Tea Green
Wild Orchid
Pink Pearl
Blue Grey 1

Once she was coloured I scanned her onto my computer and use My Craft Studio to make matching papers with the colour picker tool.  I really love doing this as the papers are guaranteed to be the right colour.  After scanning the image I used Ranger's Glossy Accents to glaze her glasses. 

I covered my A5 card blank with the pinky paper and then stamped the flourish in Perfect Medium clear ink.  Unfortunately I think my ink pad had dried out and the embossing powder wouldn't stick.  So to add the glitter I used a Quickie Glue Pen and Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles.  I also added a small border of glitter all around the card. 

My image was cut out with Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles.  This is the first time I've used this die and it is so lovely.  Although, it did take a couple of runs through my Grand Calibur to get a perfect cut.  The minty paper was put through my Happy Birthday embossing folder and mounted onto silver mirri-paper which hasn't shown up in the photo.  I added my toppers with mounting foam.

I'm entering this card into the Allsorts Challenge 160 - Any Die Will Do. 

Can't wait to see all of your cute and girly projects this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #118 - No DP!

We loved all your girly projects last week with our lace and pearls challenge.  Great entries again, ladies.  I'm sure Wendy had a really hard time choosing her top 3 but check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenge blog to see if you were lucky.  Be sure to grab your badge too.

We have another great challenge this week which launched today.  Lou is our fabby host and she has chosen something really great...

No Designer Papers

That's right - no patterned papers in sight!  We are sponsored by Joanna Sheen and one lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher.  I went with a clean and simple design (well, CAS for me!) this week and this is my card:

I used Kanban stamps to create the floral background picture.  I stamped in black and used both first and second generation ink.  I cut into three and mounted onto black card with foam tape.  The butterflies are also from Kanban.  I stamped with pink ink and then cut them out by hand.  To give dimension I used Pinflair glue gel so that the wings are raised off the page.  I bought the ribbon from the craft fair in Glasgow in March.  The sentiment is from my stash. 

Hope you're enjoying your week. 

Happy crafting,
Rachel x