Rules Were Made To Be Broken!

It's that time of week again and what a great response to our last challenge over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  I loved using the stunning photo for inspiration and by the looks of things, everyone else was inspired too. 

This week's challenge is sponsored by the Stamp Fairy and the design team were lucky enough to have two lovely images to use.  Our theme for the challenge is:-

use a digi image

and this was the perfect match with our sponsor.  I chose the Nelly in Love digi and I think I'm in love! 

Rules were made to be broken as they say and I think this card fits the bill!  I coloured the image before choosing my papers and I've placed the topper in the centre of the card, ignoring the rule of thirds.  I hope it works though.

The base is green pearlescent card from Create and Craft which I used to cover the card blank.  The flowery paper came free with Issue 84 of Quick Cards Made Easy.  I did a faux stitching effect using the fine liner pen from the Promarkers.  This is the first time I used this technique and I'll definitely be trying it again.  The gingham paper was from my stash and I think it was originally bought from eBay.  I coloured the image with Promarkers in Forest Green, Rose Pink (dress), Walnut, Cinnamon, Henna (hair), Satin, Blush and Dusky Pink (skin).  The little images inside the heart were coloured with the Promarkers in Forest Green and Rose Pink and just stamped as normal using an acrylic block. 

I cut the pink heart using one of the X-Cut dies and was really impressed with the embossing result.  The flourishes were cut from Spellbinders Flourish Accents and Twisted Metal Tags and Accents.  I coloured the back of the large flourish with the Forest Green Promarker to get a perfect colour match.  The lovely image was cut using Spellbinders Labels H.  I also used this for the sentiment stamp.  I had a major tidy up of my stamp collection at the weekend.  Found a few that had been forgotten in the back of the drawer.  My project this year is to make my crafty space more user-friendly as I'm constantly looking for things that I know I've bought but have no idea where I've hidden! 

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Is That Really Me?!

It's hard to believe we were ever this small but here is the evidence to prove it!  I think I was about 18 months old in this photo and probably still mastering the whole walking thing.  Slow learner!

I designed this digital page using Serif Craft Artist Professional (CA).  It is an awesome piece of software and a must-have for every crafter.  I started off with a layout from the Botanique - Bumper Digikit and to be honest, I didn't even mean to craft this but once I had started I couldn't stop until it was finished!  The colours were very different but the basic layout is the same.  I recoloured the elements to match the photo.  Looking at it now I think it could have done with some more shadowing.  The journalling was a little tricky.  I really struggle with writing about myself.  Thankfully the photo did most of the talking!  Enjoy the rest of your weekends everyone.

Happy crafting.
Rachel x

Get Ready Glasgow...

I'm coming!  Just booked my flight, accommodation and tickets for the Hobbycraft show at the SECC in March.  Can't wait!  Must save some pennies for all the lovely goodies I'm sure to find.  Just a shame the baggage allowance is only 20kg!  The last time I went to the Hobbycrafts show (in 2004 or maybe it was 2005!), my crafting left a lot to be desired.  I remember buying some lovely beads though and then just last year I did a jewellery making evening class.  The picture below is a set that I made using a purple and sparkle bead.
 

My Granny actually wore the set at my cousin's wedding in August.  It matched her outfit perfectly.  I've not been able to make much jewellery recently but I'm hoping to get some time next week.  We have an annual public holiday next Wednesday, after Up Helly Aa - I'll fill you all in on that next week!  Watch this space!

Happy Crafting.
Rachel x

Photo Inspiration Challenge

Another week and another great challenge at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  We are having a Photo Inspiration Challenge and what a photo!

I absolutely love it!  So, on to my card, I took inspiration from the colours used in the photo and also the butterfly. 

I began by embossing the front of the card using my Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  I coloured the three rows to the left with Promarkers in Rose Pink, Canary and Grass.  The black die cut is from Spellbinders Butterfly Circles and was cut and embossed with my Grand Calibur.  I used the Stamping Up! Embosslits to cut the butterflies and then sanded them with my sanding block.  The coloured card was originally bought from Create and Craft TV and I have used it in many projects.

The sentiment was computer generated as I didn't have a stamp for this greeting.  I made this card for my friend Katie-Ann who is recovering from having her wisdom teeth removed.  Ouch!  She was really dreading it so I hope this cheers her up.  I cut the greeting with another of the Spellbinders Butterfly Circles dies.  This set is truly beautiful and if it is possible to have favourites this is definitely in my Top 3!

Happy Crafting,
Rachel x 

Two Little Birdies

It's that time of the week again - another great challenge from Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  For the challenge this week we are playing bingo! 

I went for the top line - Handmade embellishment, Digi Image and 2 different papers.  

I used a black, white and grey stripey paper from a selection designed by Anna Stemplewska.  The designer papers are very usable and I just couldn't resist so I bought one in every colour!  Of course I used my favourite silver mirri-paper to layer the computer generated sentiment and the base layer. 

The doily started off as plain white but I couloured it with my Promarkers in Cerise and Cyan to match the colourings on the digi image, which is from one of our Challenge Sponsors.  Check out their amazing designs here.  To make the concertina folds, I cut the doily in half and then folded from the centre out to each end.  I also coloured the tops of the hat pins with the same Promarker colours.  I used the Spellbinders Labels Four to cut out the digi image.

The flowers were made from die cuts.  I used my DoCrafts flower die which I won in July last year as part of the Creativity Club Prize Draw.  I made two large flowers and a small one but they were too big so I switched it to three small flowers.  To get the perfect colour match I actually coloured a piece of super smooth paper with the Promarkers and then cut four of each colour for the pink and blue flowers.   The middle flower is made from the stripey designer paper.

Hope you can join us this week for a game of bingo.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Anyone for a tissue?!

I can't believe it's time for the next Fab'n'Funky Challenge.  This year is going so fast already.  Huge thanks to everyone who visited my blog for the blog hop.  Totally blown away by all the lovely comments.  Think I'll need to use that embossing folder more often!  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges website to see if you were one of our lucky winners. 

For this week's challenge the theme is:-

Recycle It or Even Them

I've decided to recycle something and to be honest I only bought these tissues because I wanted to use the packaging!  The boxes have a lovely pearlescent sheen to them.  However, the tissues left much to be desired and my nose did resemble Rudolph last week but I hope it paid off in my card.  I have kept it quite clean and simple and went for a long card this time instead of my usual square. 

Since they were on offer I went for the two differnt colour schemes.  I still have the silver one left over so watch this space!

I cut the side panel off first and distressed the edges with my craft knife.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen to make highlights to the circles and added My Craft Sudio glitter for sparkle.  The fairies were cut from the top of the tissue box using Spellbinders Labels Four Small.  I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Walk in Wonderland set from www.crafting.co.uk and then cut it out using a larger version of the same Spellbinders.  The glitter on the edge was added using the same technique as before.  The fairy die cuts are secured with foam pads but I used Pinflair Foto Glue for the purple base layer.  The sentiment is also attached with foam pads for extra dimension.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Blog Hop

Welcome to the 1st Fab'n'Funky Challenge for 2012 and to celebrate the start of New Year we are having a blog hop . . . well why not especially as Christmas and the New Year are now over and we all need a pick-me-up before the January Blues set in!

Okay . . . you should have hopped over from Alexis and collected her number, however if you have popped over to visit me just to say hi but now want to join in the fun, please pop back to the Fab'n'Funky Challenge Blog where all will be explained. Now, my number is 3, make a note of it because you will need my number and every other number on each DT blog at the very end of the blog hop. To collect your next number pop over to Ginny.

Don't forget to also enter this weeks challenge and the theme is  . . .

"Something New"

 

My "Something New" is this adorable stamp from Lili of the Valley.  I took ultimate advantage of their 10% off event in December and picked up quite a few new stamps.  I coloured the image with Promarkers, using Cerise, Amethyst and Cool Grey 4.  I cut out the image using the Spellbinders Labels Four Small. 

The silver mirri-paper was embossed with a Craft Concepts cupcake embossing folder.  Wishing I had an actual cupcake just now!  The pink and purple papers are from Create and Craft.  I have used them in several cards and think they are so versatile.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink but as I've had the set for so long I can't remember the brand.  They are definitely my go-to sentiments though.

Happy crafting.

Rachel x

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Just a short post to wish you all a very merry Christmas and health, wealth and happiness for the New Year.  Here is a little festive video from The King!

Hope you all have a great time over the festive season and that all your wishes come true in 2012.

Take care
Rachel x

Have a Fab'n'Funky Christmas!

As you know I participated in my first Fab'n'Funky Challenge as a DT member last week.  Well, the winners are now up on the Fab'n'Funky Challenge Blog.  What a response - you are all so talented.  It was far too hard to choose just three winners so you can view a selection of our favourites.  We are also giving five lucky crafters the chance to win some fab candy. 

As we are starting our Christmas holidays early there will be no challenges until next year.  The first one for the New Year will start on 4 January 2012.

Hope to see you all there.

Happy crafting.

Rachel x

Gran's Christmas Cards

Hope you are all well.  There is certainly a chill in the air now and a layer of snow on the cars when I left work tonight.  Brrrr!

Tonight's post shows the collection of cards that I made for my Gran to send out this Christmas.  Mam had the great idea that I could use photos of Gran's garden from last November when we visited for her 90th birthday.  It was quite a mission with all that snow!

I used the My Craft Studio program to design the layouts.  Normally I would have printed out the layers separately and mounted them with foam pads etc for dimension but I thought it would be best to keep them flat so that Gran doesn't need to worry about postage. 

This photo was taken on the path that runs past the bottom of Gran's garden.  I love how it has a natural blue tinge to it with the snow and cold in the air.  It's my favourite snowflakes again - Spellbinders Create-A-Flake Three!  The background paper is actually from the Fab Glam Fifties CD-ROM.  The colour was such a good match that I didn't need to keep looking.  I input the sentiment using the Text feature and then turned the brightness slider up to 100 so that the lettering became white.

The tree in this photo is in my Gran's garden and I used a black and white version (using the saturation slider) against the green background to make it stand out.  The greeting is from the Winter Whimseys CD-ROM.  I added the three red gems once it was printed and they really stand out.

I think this is my favourite of the bunch.  I love that photo.  It was taken by my Dad on Boxing Day last year.  We were on our way to see my Granny for her 80th birthday and just couldn't resist stopping to capture this beautiful view.  I used a digital punch for the lace on the left  hand side.  I couldn't believe my luck when I came across the peachy-coloured paper on the Fab Glam Fifties CD-ROM as it compliments the image so beautifully.

This is a seeing double selection!  I actually changed the red version to green first as this is how the background paper is stored in the program but I liked it too much not to make the red one too!  This picture is looking back into the garden and towards Gran's house.  I hope she likes them.

Happy crafting. x