Fab'n'Funky Challenges #183 - Opposites Attract

Hi Everyone,

We are back at Fab'n'Funky Challenges today with a brand new challenge but before you get crafting to join in, why not check out the winners from last week.  They are up on the blog right now.

Our challenge this week is hosted by the wonderful Alli and you can visit her blog here.  Alli has chosen a great colour challenge:-

Opposites Attract

We would like you to use two opposite colours from the following colour wheel:-

We also have two fabulous sponsors this week:- 

Stamp Art by Kathryne 

and 

Flonzcraft 

I chose to use an image from StampArt Design by Kathryne called Butterfly Border 1.  Along with the border image, you also receive an individual butterfly image which is what I used here.  

You can probably guess by the photo which colours I chose!  Yellow and purple just seemed to scream out at me "Pick me, pick me!"  How could I refuse?!

My card blank was made using two cuts of the Spellbinders Fanciful Lattice in Centura pearl glued together on the left to create the spine.  I printed the purple paper from a Creative Crafting World CD-ROM.  To make the butterfly the vibrant shade of yellow I used My Craft Studio software.  Once printed, I embossed the wings using a Cuttlebug swirl folder.  I added glitter to the centre with a Quickie Glue Pen and attached with foam pads.  My ribbon is really old so I have no idea where it came from but my pearls are from Creative Expressions.

I really hope you can make your opposites attract this week and join us at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

31 Years Young!

Hi Everyone,

I have a new card for you today using Studio Calico products.  I made this for my friend, Lynsey, for her birthday earlier in the month.  She is the number one female triathlete in Scotland!  We are all so proud of her and hope she leaves them standing at the World Championships next month.  When I saw these cute little wooden bikes I knew I needed to use it on her card.  And here is the finished result:

I started with an A4 piece of cardstock which I scored in half on the Ultimate Pro.  I spritzed with the silver Mister Huey's to add a shimmer.  Using the Simon Says Stamp star die I cut the star border straight across the front.  The doily is from My Paper Stash and I left it plain.  I used Tattered Lace sentiment dies for the Happy Birthday and then attached with Cosmic Shimmer glue.  

My focal point was made using Spellbinder Hexagon dies and X-Cut Star dies.  I also used the Spellbinder Classic Circle dies for the bicycle base.  My papers and wooden embellishments are from Studio Calico.  Finally I used a Tim Holtz alphabet die to cut the numbers.  Here is a picture in the sun.

When I was over at Lynsey's for her birthday party, I noticed that she had framed my card from last year - I was so chuffed!  It also had a bicycle on it so I had better not do a third in a row for next year!

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges ~166 - Spring Colours

Hi Crafting Lovelies,

We are back at Fab'n'Funky Challenges with a brand new theme for you today.  However, we just wanted to thank you for showering us with your entries last week!  See what I did there?!  The winner and Top 3 are up now over on the Fab'n'Funky blog. 

Now onto our current challenge - the awesome Jackie is our host and we are sponsored by the one and only Kenny K who has loads of really fab and quirky images.   

Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer, our theme is...

Spring Colours

Simples!  Just use a colour palette inspired by spring for your project and link up to be in with a chance to win a fab prize from Kenny K. 

The team were so lucky to be able to work with some really awesome images from Kenny K and I chose to use Rock Dude which I actually already had in my digi stash.  This is the perfect image for my brother who is a huge rock music fan.  This is my card...

He's funky alright!  I started by making my matting and layering with My Craft Studio sofware and did this with background papers in yellow, turquoise and blue which I also printed as full sheets to make embellishments.  I coloured my image with ProMarkers in Cyan, Sky Blue, Arctic Blue, Cornflower, Yellow, Lemon, Soft Lime, Blush, Dusky Pink, Pale Pink, Walnut, Cocoa and Caramel.

I found some really great cutting files in the Silhouette software and used this to cut out the Rock & Roll lettering.  The yellow card blank was already in my stash and it just happened to be the perfect size!  I mounted my main image with Hunkydory foam pads to give dimension.

Really hope you can play along with us for our Spring Colours challenge this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Create a Banner

Hi Everyone, 

What a great seasonal challenge last week at The Cuttlebug Spot and I think I know which season you all love!  We had fantastic entries.  I hope you can join us again this week.

We would like you to...

Create a Banner

This can either be on a card or project or as an actual banner - whatever takes your fancy.  We have some great inspiration over on The Cuttlebug Spot blog so be sure to check it out.  Please remember it is one entry per person.

We have a great sponsor this week with a $20 voucher for the lucky winner and here is a little about them...

Boys Rule Scrapbooks kits is a monthly scrapbook kit club for those of us who love to paper craft boy subjects. Care and consideration is key as each kit is assembled for the boys. Cool embellies are paired with handsome papers you will love to play with each month.

Boys Rule Scrapbook kits also has exclusive embellies with each kit....they are all different and very unique, and are included each month just for you.

It's fun to create when you have a compelte kit that is designed for the memories of dirt, grunge and smelly things!

********** 

And now for my card...

Yip, there's a penguin in my cocoa!  Isn't this image adorable?  It's a new one from The Paper Shelter.  I started by taking my image into My Craft Studio and printing matching papers using the colour picker tool.  I used an 8" square card blank from eBay.  I attached the coral paper with double-sided sticky tape.  My three strips were just plain when they started but I used a Lili of the Valley stamp set and some yellowy gold ink to stamp all over.  I mounted onto gold mirri-card and attacehd with foam pads.

The embossed panel is also layered with gold mirri-card.  I used a snowflake embossing folder for texture.  My super cute image was cut with Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Six.  I mounted onto gold glitter card and then added two Memory Box snowflake flourish dies. 

My finishing touch was to add my banner.  I used gold elastic cord and then cut the individual flags using my Cricut Expression 2 and the Baby Shower cartridge.  I stamped using the ClarityStamp Letterbox set in the same yellowy gold ink.  I added a foam pad to the back of each flag to give dimension.

I hope you can join us this week at The Cuttlebug Spot with your banner projects and don't forget about our great sponsor prize.

Happy Crafting,

Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #142 - Vintage

Hello Everyone,

I hope you've all had a good week.  I've been busy crafting when I should be packing as I'm away on Sunday for a few days to Glasgow.  Yay!

We had a great response to our "No Patterned Papers" challenge last week over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  I'm always inspired by all the ideas you use to showcase your lovely images. 

Well, I had better tell you all about our next exciting challenge.  The wonderful Shirley is our host this week and she has a fab challenge for us all...

Vintage

I know there are many vintage fans out there so now is your time to show off!  We have the fantastic Flonzcraft as our sponsors.  They are a rubber stamp company based in New Zealand.  Their catalogue of images is varied and ever expanding so check out their site here.  The challenge winner will receive a $20 voucher to the Flonzcraft store with free shipping too.  There is also 12% discount for anyone entering the challenge.  Sounds good to me!

Now, onto my card and the DT had wonderful Flonzcraft stamps to use for this challenge.  I chose to use the Perfect Peacock and was really impressed with the great quality image. 

I made a 7" card blank using white cardstock as I didn't have any to hand.  The papers are all printed from the Summer Peacock digikit in Serif's Craft Artist Professional 2.  I used the Tim Holtz paper distresser to rough up the edges of my pieces.  I also went over the gold mirri layer with an emery board.  I tried using a fine sandpaper but it just took the gold off completely. 

To show off the wonderful peacock I used gold detail embossing powder.  I used baby powder to dust over my card and stop the static first and then stamped in Versamark ink.  I love this ink!  Once I had covered in the embossing powder and poured the excess back into the pot, I heated from underneath with a directional heat tool.

I was really happy with how this turned out.  I may have even done a little happy dance a la Sue Wilson!

My sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and I also used the gold embossing powder to tie in with the image.  I cut the sentiment out with a 1.5" circle punch.  The feather was part of a large embellishment collection from My Craft Studio when they were still at Create and Craft.  I finished off with some aqua gems also from Create and Craft.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:-

Sketch Saturday #228 - Donna's DT Week with Little Claire's

Hope you're already planning your vintage creation for our challenge.  Have fun creating.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #140 - Starts with F

Hi Crafty People,

Hope this post finds you well and crafted!  We had a phenomenal response to our Things with Wings challenge last week at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  Check out the blog to see if you were one of our lucky winners.  Amazing entries.

Now, onto the challenge in hand and it's Emma's turn to host this week.  She has chosen one of my favourite challenges ever...

Starts with F

There are so many possibilities - friends, fashion, fairies, flowers, flutes or even finger food!  We also have two fantastic sponsors - Di's Digi Downloads and StampArt Design by Kathryne.  Click on their names to check out their wonderful designs.

So, my F was French-inspired and flowers and I used my new Eiffel Tower die from Marianne Craftables.

As you can see I also used my favourite crafty item - Spellbinders!  However, to start I opened up Fab Glam Fifites on My Craft Studio and found this rose embellishment.  I resized the image and then tiled it to make a backing paper, placing a gold/cream background behind to match.  I used the colour picker to make the matching blue base background.  I cut these layers with Spellbinders Grand Rectangles. 

The corners came from Spellbinders Venetian Motifs and I used Create and Craft glitter card which I wasn't sure would work through the dies but the results were really good.  The centre layer is from Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Eight and I also ran this through the Venetian M-Bossabilities folder for extra texture.  I used Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tags One for the sentiment and that was stamped with JustRite stamps - Bon Voyage. 

I hope I've inspired you to get creative and show us your makes that start with F.  Have fun!

Happy crafting,

Rachel

Snowy Street

Hi All,

Another Christmassy card for you today.  I've been making a good start on them this year.  Although I'll need to pick up the pace if this year carries on going so fast.

I printed the papers and topper from the Debbi Moore Victorian Christmas CD-ROM.  The topper was originally a full A4 sheet so I used my printer properties to reduce the size by 75%.  This is the first time I've done it this way and it worked a treat.  The red cardstock is Cor'dinations.  I also used Cor'dinations for the holly border and corners.  These were cut using Spellbinders Holly Accents .  I raised the border with foam pads to hold up my easel card.

Finally I used my Quickie Glue Pen to add dots of glitter all over the topper.  The glitter was from My Craft Studio.  I hope you can see it from the photo.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1.  The Crazy Challenge - #124 Christmas in July
2.  Crafty Sentiments Designs - Christmas in July
3.  The Pink Elephant - TPE156 Christmas in July
4.  Divas by Design - #43 Christmas in July
5.  Hooked On Craft - #22 Christmas in July

Has anyone else started their Christmas crafting?  How are you getting on?  I've resisted putting on my favourite Jim Reeves CD so far but it might be time to get him singing "White Christmas" soon!

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #114 - Easter

A lovely range of entries for our Honour Your Mum challenge last week.  Very girly and cute.  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if you are our lucky winner. 

Now that the chocoholics' favourite holiday is almost here, we have chosen to celebrate with a seasonal challenge...

EASTER

Our brilliant sponsor for this challenge is Joanna Sheen and the winner will recieve a £10 voucher for her website.  Woo! 

This is my Easter inspired card...

When I saw this image for the first time, I instantly fell in love with it.  Tweety Pie is just so cute and I love the look on Sylvester's face.  I printed the image from the Crafting with Looney Tunes CD-ROM, which I bought from Create and Craft last year. 

I took a 5" square card blank and cut two squares, one purple and one yellow and offset them on the card with double sided sticky tape and large foam pads.  The American seambinding was coloured using my Cyan Promarker.  I added a strip of super sticky tape to the edge of the yellow card and folded the ribbon into it to attach. 

The image was attached using foam pads to give dimension.  I cut the sentiment shape using Spellbinders Ribbon Banners.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen to glitter the edges with My Craft Studio Ultra Fine Glitter.  The sentiment is from the Daisy and Dandelion "Some Bunny Loves You" stamp set. 

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Happy Mothers Day

This is the mothers day card that I gave to my Mam last Sunday.  Dad even thought I had bought it!  Surely he knows I don't buy cards anymore!

The design came from the My Craft Studio Encyclopedia of Card and Papercraft Templates and Folds (Picture Window card).  Once I had printed out the elements it was just a case of cutting and sticking whilst following the instructions.  Very easy to follow and I used a wooden stamp for the greeting to finish it off.

This was a very quick card to make.  I used silver mirri-paper for the first layer and then covered this with a printed background paper that I designed using My Craft Studio.  I cut out two butterflies for the topper and shaped the top one to add dimension.  This was attached using Pinflair Foto-Glue.  The sentiment was taken from a peel-off set.  All corners were rounded using the X-Cut corner rounder punch which I can thoroughly recommend.

In the beginning...

As this is my first blog post it would only be polite to introduce my crafting to you.  This is one of the first computer crafted cards that I have made.  I used the My Craft Studio Fab Glam Fifties CD-ROM for the images and mounted the main image and sentiment onto mirri-paper.  The main image has been highlighted using Cosmic Shimmer Embossing Powder and a heat gun.