Fab'n'Funky Challenges #176 - Animals

Hi All,

Apologies for the late post - brain wasn't engaged!  It's my brother's wedding on Saturday and I'm not sure where the time has gone.  It actually doesn't seem real yet and we've already had the rehearsal!  Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.

Enough of my jibbering though!  We have a brand new challenge over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges and this week we are hosted by the wonderful Zoe.  The theme is a fab one too...

Animals

So as long as there is an animal on your project, feel free to link it up.  We also have two great sponsors - Flonzcraft and StampArt Design by Kathryne.  As always, that means two great prizes!

I chose to use a StampArt image this week called Ari and Toby which features the most adorable little dog.  I went with bright colours to fend off those raindrops.

Isn't she cute?!  I made this card using Serif's Craft Artist Professional 2.  As soon as I saw those wellies I knew they would make the perfect background and all the elements came from the Backyard Bumper digikit.  I left my image blank so that the recipient - my friend's 7 year old daughter - can colour it herself.  

I really hope you can join us this week with your animals!

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #168 - Love is a Many Splendored Thing

Hi Everyone,

Firstly, apologies for my absence last week - a mega migraine put a stop to everything for a few days so there was no crafting or blogging for me.  I hope you've all had a great week.  We have announced the winners and Top 4 from the last challenge over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges - thank you to everyone who entered. 

We also have some fantastic news - how does some blog candy sound? 

The time has come to celebrate as we have reached 1001 followers!  Wow!  Thank you so much everyone.  We only have one rule - be a follower of the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  Simples!  The prize is amazing so check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.

Now on to this week's challenge and we have the talented Ginny as our host with a brand new sponsor for Fab'n'Funky - Floppy Latte Designs.  Ginny has decided that we all need a bit of love and and has chosen a theme to reflect this...

Love is a Many Splendored Thing

You can interpret the theme in any way you like but make sure to show us the love!

Here is my card for this week...

The DT were given so many lovely images and you can see what my teamies have created over on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  I'm always so amazed by their great ideas.  I chose to use one of the four images from the Valentine's Roundies set (this image is number 2 in the set).  I've given this card a Shetland slant by digitally stamping the word "smoorikins" on the background paper.  A smoorikin is the Shetland dialect word for kiss. 

This is Serif Craft Artist 2 Professional card - I used the scissors tool to cut my material in three and then added to my purple background.  My lace was added next and then I used a copy of the material to make a matt for my main topper by punching from a plain part of the design.  Once all my items were in place I used the shadow tool to make them jump off the page.  My pearls were recoloured with the colour picker and then I used the text tool to add my "smoorikins" with the stamp tool, also changing the colour. 

I really hope you can join us for our love themed challenge.  Don't forget to check out our 1001 followers candy.  All you have to do to enter is to be a follower.  :)

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #165 - April Showers

Hi All,

We were delighted to see so many wonderful boxes last week.  The challenge winner and Top 3 have been posted so head over to Fab'n'Funky Challenges to see if it might be you.

We have another great challenge for you at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  The brilliant Anne-Marie is our host and she has picked a great seasonal challenge...

April Showers

You can interpret this as you wish but please make sure that your project fits the theme.

We are spoiling you again this week with two sponsors - Flonzcraft and StampArt Design by Kathryne.  Just click on their name to be taken to their stores.

I have another Serif card for you this week.  I'm in the middle of making my brother's wedding invites so haven't been able to dedicate as much time to other crafting as I would have liked.  I hope you like what I have created though...

I thought the bright colours would cheer up the umbrella image.  I started by layering a white background behind the red patterned paper.  I added the strip of blue paper to match the umbrella which I had already colour picked to change it from pink.  Next I added the dotty paper and layered the same white material that I stated with for the background.  This has to be the most useful paper in the Serif range - plain white!  I used a punch to make a layer for my embellishment and then added the bunting, again changing the colour to match.  Once I added my shadows, I was done!

The inside looks like this...

I hope you can join us in the April Showers at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fairy Gemstone - Amethyst

Hi Everyone,

Happy Easter to you all.  I hope you've been able to enjoy some chocolate and sunshine.  We have had such great weather lately.  I'm going to cook come summer!

I was having a little experiment with the new Linda Ravenscroft Fairy Gemstones CD-ROM from Card Creations Plus and thought that if took an image into Serif I could use it make matching papers and embellies.  And it worked! 

I used the latest sketch from Sketch Saturday which is another great one...

I changed it up and made a 5" square card instead.  My printer seems to be a bit slow on picking up the images in Serif so my shadowing hasn't shown up so well.  It has also lightened the main backgournd colour so much that it is almost white instead of pink!

I also added an insert with the same bubble pattern.

To finish off I added Tim Holtz Glossy Accents to three of the bubbles on the front.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday #252
Everybody-Art-Challenge #229 - Fairy
Charisma Cardz Challenges #12 - Happy Birthday

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #163 - Colour Challenge

Hi Everyone,

Well, isn't the time just whizzing by.  I can't believe we are back on Wednesday again!  As you know Wednesday means a great new challenge at Fab'n'Funky Challenges and this week is no different.  But first we have to say a big thank you to each and every one of you who entered our last challenge - we saw so many wonderful sentiments.  The winners and Top 3 have been announced over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges so head on over for a look.

Have you seen our exciting DT Call?  If not, all the details can be found at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  You don't need to have previous DT experience - just a love of craft! 

Now, we had better announce the next challenge and it's a corker!  Pat is our host and you should definitely pop by her blog for some inspiration.  She also has a lovely brood of gorgeous grand-daughters! 

Pink, Green and Brown

Our sponsor this week is MayzyArt. 

She is becoming a firm fave of mine and the DT were so lucky to be able to work with her images this week.  I chose Frog Princess and here is my card...

I started by colouring my image with ProMarkers in Peony, Fuchsia Pink, Cerise, Marsh Green, Pear Green, Lime Green, Walnut, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Blush, Satin, Gold and Blender.  When I finished, I scanned it using my Brother printer and then took it into Serif's Craft Artist 2 Professional.  I had only intended to make some matching papers but this card just came together almost by itself!  I used the current sketch on Sketch Saturday blog which looks like this...

Great sketch and I love all the ideas they have over at Sketch Saturday.  My papers are from different kits so I haven't got a note of them.  The ribbon came from the Afternoon Tea kit.  I tried the 3D decoupage tool for the first time on this card.  It was really easy and I love the result.  Here is a shot of the inside of my card...

This was a super quick card to put together but I like that I've been able to use my coloured image in a different way.  I really hope you can join us for our Pink, Green and Brown challenge this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Challenges entered:
Sketch Saturday - #250
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Girly
Fashionista's Challenge #13 - Make it Pink

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Cute as a Button

Hello Everyone,

Phew, what a blog hop at The Cuttlebug Spot last week!  I hope you enjoyed hopping to all of your blogs.  Thanks so much to everyone for the lovely comments and follows. 

We've got a fantastic new challenge for you this week.  Our theme is...

Cute as a Button

We would love you feature a button on your project and tell us how you used your Cuttlebug.  Here is my inspiration...

I started with 6" scalloped card blank from Anita's.  I made my papers by using the colour picker tool in Craft Artist 2 Professional.  My image is produced by Hunkydory for Crafter's Companion and is from the Angelic and Friends range.  As soon as I saw this collection, I knew I had to add it to my basket!  Just as well Create and Craft had it on such a good deal! 

My harlequin cardstock is also from the paper kit.  I cut this with Spellbinders Grand Decorative Circles in the smallest size as it fits perfectly through the Cuttlebug.  Using Spellbinders Standard Circles, I cut a layer for my topper.  The vertical strip of paper was passed through a paper crimper to create texture.  I bought the ribbon a few years ago from Hobbycraft and it's from DoCrafts' Papermania range.  My finishing touch was to add my buttons and I used Spellbinders Sewing Elements to cut them.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Milk Coffee - Make It Cute
Crafty Ribbons Challenge #39 - Button Up
A Gem of a Challenge - Dies and Punches

Be sure to check out my teamies creations.  Hope you can join in our challenge this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

CHA Spellbinders - With Love

Hello Everyone,

I hope you've had a great weekend so far.  I've been enjoying plenty of crafty time.  I'm just about to start tidying my crafty stash in preparation of a set of new storage drawers arriving next week.  I think I'll still need a bigger house though!

I finally received my bundle of CHA Spellbinders on Wednesday and have been playing every day ever since!  Here is one of the first cards I made and I really liked the way it turned out.  

I started with two cuts using Spellbinders Detailed Scallops - love these dies.  I had printed the yellow gingham (yeehaa!) paper for another project but ended up not using it but it was the perfect colour base for my card.  I embossed the paper with a swirly Crafts-Too embossing folder and attached some My Paper Stash ribbon in black satin.  My topper is made up from two cuts of the Stately Circles in black cardstock and yellow gingham, then two layers of the Decagons, all off-set.  I stamped my sentiment in black although this is showing up slightly yellowy on the Centrua Pearl cardstock.  Finally I added three black gems in each corner.  

Has anyone else invested in these dies?  I'd love to see what you've been making.

Happy crafting, 
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #154 - Get Moving

Hi friends, 

It's that time again - Fab'n'Funky time!  We have a brand new challenge at Fab'n'Funky Challenges hosted by the lovely Shirley and would like to see you...

Get Moving

That's right, as it's January we would like to see any images that feature someone or something doing something active, an activity or moving.  There are so many fun possiblities for this challenge so I do hope you can join us.  Our sponsor is the fantastic MayzyArt.  You should definitely check out her site as there are so many wonderful digis.  The DT were so lucky to be able to use some of her amazing artwork for this challenge.

I've gone girly for my card!  When I saw this image on the MayzyArt site, I just knew it would be perfect for this challenge.  I chose to colour her up in mainly green and orange as these are the favourite colours of my friends' daughter.  I was pleased with how it turned out as I have been neglecting my ProMarkers lately.  I used Almond, Dusky Pink, Cinnamon, Caramel, Watermelon (FlexMarker), Caramel, Burnt Umber, Artic Blue, Sorft Aqua (FlexMarker), Pear Green and Gold.  I used Spellbinders Majestic Squares as it seemed to be the perfect fit for my image.  My papers are from various kits in Serif.  I cut four of the branches from Spellbinders Cherry Blossom to create a frame.  I computer generated my sentiment used Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Six to cut out the shapes.  My final finishing touch was to add five gems to the top right-hand corner.  These are a lovely orangey gold colour which hasn't shown up in the photo.

I hope you can join us for this great challenge.

Happy crafting, 
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Triangles

Hi Everyone,

I hope you've all had a good start to the new year.  I've had a humongous abscess!  I couldn't even bear my hair touching my cheek!  Major bummer!  Plus I have a real fear of the dentist after a bad experience a few years ago so it hasn't been the best start to my new year.  Sorry, I went on a bit there!

So anyway, onto the latest challenge at The Cuttlebug Spot.  We would like to see...

Triangles

Easy peasy lemon treasy!  Just use a triangle somewhere on your card or project and don't forget to use those Cuttlebugs.  I love mine.  We have a wonderful sponsor this week - Trina Clark from Digiscrap Kits.  The winner can pick 2 items from her amazing blog!

 

Unfortunately Blogger is being a pain and I still can't upload any photos.  So head over to The Cuttlebug Spot blog to see my creation this week.  Once blogger starts to play ball again I'll add some photos to this post.  Update:  My lovely teamie, Brianna, suggested using a different browser and it has worked a treat!  So here is my card for our triangles challenge...

I created my card using the DayDream digikit in Serif's Craft Artist 2.  I love the colours of this kit - so pretty and girly.  Once I had my design sorted I split the layers and printed using my brand new A3 Brother printer!  Woo!  My brother bought me a Brother!  Lol!  Fab pressie and fab brother!  Although I think my future sister-in-law was the genius behind this wonderful gift. :)

I used a craft knife and steel ruler to cut out the layers and then distressed using Tim Holtz paper distresser tool, adding with foam pads from Hunkydory.  Love these foam pads.  I cut a butterfly using Spellbinders Wonderul Wings which is a brilliant set of beautiful butterfly dies.  I inked thorugh the die with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick.  Finally I used a computer generated sentiment and cut it out using Spellbinders Floral Tags, adding a crystal gem to each corner.

I hope you can join us at The Cuttlebug Spot for our Triangles challenge.  We'll have a brand new challenge on Tuesday so make sure to check back for that.

Happy Crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #151 - A Vintage Christmas

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all well and the Christmas preparations are coming along.  I'm so behind with my Christmas cards, it's really not funny now! 

Thanks to everyone who joined us last week for our Non-Traditional Christmas.   We loved all the different colour combos and images you chose.  The winners and Top 3 are up on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog now so head over to take a peek.

We have a brand new challenge for you too.  We are staying with a Christamassy theme but with a different take...

A Vintage Christmas

A perfect opportunity to pair those vinatage papers with a festive image, just so long as your project follows the vintage Christmas theme.

We have two sponsors again this week - Crimson Cloud and Floppy Latte Digital Designs both with a fab prize for our random winners.  As always we will be choosing a Top 3.

Here is my card for inspiration...

I think my image is rather bright but I love these vintage papers.  I printed them from Serif using the Merry Christmas digikit.  My image is coloured using ProMarkers in Marsh Green, Pear Green, Forest Green, Ruby, Burnt Umber, Canary and Mustard.

I used foam pads for my image and sentiment which came from Lili of the Valley.  Spellbinders Tear Drop Circles was used to cut out my sentiment.  I also coloured my pearls using my Burnt Umber ProMarker.  Very messy but they match perfectly!

Hope you can join us for our Vintage Christmas challenge.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

The Cuttlebug Spot DT Card - Season Greetings

Hi Everyone,

I hope you've had a great week and avoided the dreaded ice.  It's been terrible here.  I don't know which is worse - the roads or the pavements! 

Thanks to those who joined us last week at The Cuttlebug Spot for our Scrap Sandwich challenge.  I loved that challenge and try to use scraps as much as possible - I certainly have enough! 

Now on to our new challenge for this week...

Season Greetings

We would like you to design a project featuring one of the four seasons - SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN/FALL or WINTER.  Simples!  We also have two great prizes this week...

First Prize:  $20.00 gift card to Joann's 

Second Prize:  $20.00 Stamps Alive online store

I did think about doing a winter themed card since I still have a ton of Christmas cards to make but then I found this super image on one of my new Cricut cartridges.  Yip, I went a bit mental and ordered 4 new cartridges - Baby Shower, December 25th, Nate's ABC and Ornamental Iron 2.  Very naughty so close to Christmas!

Anyway, enough rambling, here is my card

I started my making a stepper card on my Ultimate Pro and then attached a piece of cloudy paper to the back panel.  This was customised in Serif's Craft Artist Professional 2.  I used two different colours of Coredinations cardstock for the hills and just tore those by hand.  My sentiment stamp is from my stash.

My hot air balloons are from the Baby Shower Cricut cartridge.  I love the versatility of this cartridge as you can make so many projects that are not baby themed.  Although I love the 3-D pram on it too!  I cut one at 4", one at 3" and one at 2" from yellow cardstock and then added the banners in blue.  The two on the right were attacehd with a piece of acetate.  I attached the biggest one with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue.  Although, I think I would have liked it on foam pads.  Hey ho!

And now for the inside...

I added another layer of the cloudy paper and Coredinations cardstock.  My sentiment layer is from Spellbinders Labels Twenty and I cut this out on my Cuttlebug.  I've left this blank for now as I don't have a recipient in mind yet.

Don't forget there are two great prizes on offer this week so why not give it a try and link up your creation.  Can't wait to see what you make.

Happy Crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #143 - Orange, Black and Choice

Hi All,

Hope you've all had a productive week.  I'll still be in Glasgow when you are reading this!  The wonders of technology!  Fingers crossed it goes to plan.

If you entered our Vintage challenge last week over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges then head over to the blog to see our lucky winners. 

This week our challenge is hosted by the lovely Jackie and she has picked a great colour based challenge...

Orange, Black and a colour of your choice

Our sponsor this week is Pink Cat Studio and the DT were lucky enough to be able to use their images for the challenge.  Check out their great designs here.

My colour of choice is green and I think this suits my little halloween guy really well.

I designed this entire card in Craft Artist Professional 2.  I started with the Spooktacular digikit and used an old Sketch Saturday layout. 

I found the cobweb embellishment and then made it into a punch.  I punched out one cobweb from the bright green material and then with the Stamp Mode on, I positioned the next two in a row.  I added the ribbon next but recoloured the orange one as it wasn't bright enough. 

The backing for my image is simply made from materials.  I also used a piece of material to highlight the text.  I used the Troutkings BTN font.  The pumpkins were individual embellishments which I resized and flipped to make a group of three. 

I used the Cutout Studio for the first time on my image and it was a piece of cake!  I applied the shadow feature on all the elements but this hasn't shown up too well.

Once I had the card printed out I used my ProMarkers to cololur the image.  I used the following colours - Forest Green, Grass, Bright Orange, Black, Cool Grey 4, Almond, Cinnamon, Lemon and the blender pen.

It's really easy to make an insert in CAP and I made a quick one for this card.

I just copied elements from the main image and added them to the insert.  Simples!

Can't wait to see all the wonderful combinations that you enter. 

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