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 Challenges # 126 - Polka Dots

Hi Everyone,

We sure do have a lot of wonderful Dads!  One winner has been picked at random and Emma has also chosen her top 3.  What a hard job she had with so many wonderful entries.  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if it was you!  Don't forget to grab your badges.

Now onto the challenge for this week and we have the lovely Anne-Marie as our host.  She has chosen one of my favourite challenges so far...

Polka Dots

I loved making this card.  It just came together when I saw the wonderful Bugaboo image.  We are so lucky to have them as our sponsor this week.  Check out the brilliant Bugaboo Stamps website for some great digi's and inspiration.

Apologies for the slightly blurred image.  I think my ribbon flower was so big that the camera kept trying to focus on that instead of the whole card!

I used Kanban Tutti Frutti pearlescent cardstock for the base card and scored it in half with my Ultimate Pro.  I added a section of polka dot paper and then punched a scalloped edge into brown pearlescent cardstock.  This was achieved with an EK Success punch.  The glittery ribbon came from DoCrafts online store.  I coloured the image with Promarkers in the following colours:

Cinnamon
Henna
Walnut
China Blue
Cobolt Blue
Blender

The shape for my image is one of the Spellbinders Grand Labels Twenty Three.  The ribbon rose actually started life as wired ribbon on a Christmas present!  I pulled out the wire from one edge of the ribbon and then scrunched up the other edge, still on the wire, to make a ruffle effect.  I  attached it to a length of super sticky tape on my craft sheet and simply rolled it up and then secured the end into the tape.  It is attached with another piece of super sticky.  My sentiment came free from Create and Craft as part of the Club Member's free gift about a year ago.

Looking forward to seeing your dotty projects. 

Happy Crafting,

Rachel x

Nadia's Amazing Birthday Giveaway

If you haven't seen Nadia's Amazing Giveaway in honour of her birthday, you better check it out quick!  5 lucky people will be picked out on 21 June to win one of the pizza boxes full of crafty goodies.  Schating!

I'm keeping everything crossed for this one!

Good luck,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #125 - Happy Father's Day

Well, you've all gone green!  Great entries for our last challenge and if you made one of the many wonderful creations, check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to view our winners.  Don't forget your winner's badge too.

Now we move onto another great challenge and this week we are celebrating...

Father's Day

We would love to see your cards for your darling Dad's!  We are sponsored by the wonderful Lili of the Valley (LOTV) this week and the lucky random winner of the challenge will receive a £10 voucher to spend online.

Now, onto my card for this challenge.  I used LOTV stamp called "Lazy Afternoon".  He does look very relaxed!

Before I started making this card I asked which were my Dad's least favourite colours.  Turns out, he really doesn't like pink and green.  Well, I'm afraid grass only comes in green, as far as I know!

I coloured my image with Promarkers in the following colours:-

Cinnamon
Henna
Walnut
Lemon
Yellow
Grass
Forest Green
Sandstone
Blush
Almond
Indigo Blue
True Blue
Arctic Blue

I inked the edge of the topper with Bundled Sage Distress Ink.  The wood effect base cardstock is from Hunkydory and I simply cut this with my craft knife and metal ruler.  I used the size of the toppper to judge the size of my frame and used a square metal die to produce it.  The wooden leaves were from crafting.co.uk and the letters were from Spellbinders Donna's Alphas, cut in yellow pearlescent cardstock.

I hope Dad likes his card.  Hope you all have a fab crafty week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Cricut Sneak Peek - Art Deco

Hi Crafty Friends,

Something a bit different from me this evening.  Do any of you own a Cricut cutting machine?  Have you cut out shapes from this cartridge and that but never made anything with all those cuts?  Well I'm here to give you some inspiration!  I hope! 

It's finally clicked for me.  The books that come with the cartridges are the key!  This is just a sneak peek of a card I have made with my new Art Deco cartridge. 

Why a sneak peek I hear you ask!  Well, I have another blog dedicated to all things Cricut and I would love you to take a look.  It's not brimming with card ideas just yet but with my new lease of Cricut life it soon will be!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends.

Happy Cricut Crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #124 - Go Green

Hi Everyone,

What a busy week!  I hope you've all enjoyed your celebrations, whether Jubilee related or not!  We had loads of great entries for our last challenge so check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if you were one of our lucky winners.  Don't forget to pick up your badges too.

Now onto the challenge in hand.  We have the lovely Judit hosting this week and she has chosen a great theme...

Go Green

You can either use something recycled on your project or incorporate the colour green.  Our sponsor this week is Digi Darla Designs and the DT were lucky enough to have a play with some of her wonderful images.  Check out the link to see which digi's you'll be colouring next.

I have chosen to use the colour green and have made a shaped card this week.

I started with some heavy weight cardstock and cut two of the medium sized Grand Dahlias from Spellbinders.  I scored along the top of the backing shape and then glued together with sticky tape.  The papers came free with a scrapbooking magazine about a year ago.  I was having a tidy up and found them in the bottom of a drawer so thought it was about time to put them to good use.  The image was coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers in the following colours:

Marsh

Forest Green

Leaf Green

Apple

Cool Grey 4

Blue Grey 1

Dusky Rose

Rose Pink

Cadet Blue

Glacier Blue

I used Spellbinders Labels Eight to cut out the image and sentiment which came from a selection of Forever Friends stamps.  The flowery ribbon was from Crafts U Love and I found it in the sale for only 99p!  Bargain!

DT Call

We are having a DT Call over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  We are also looking for Guest DT members too.  All the information will be contained in the post for this week.  If you would like to be considered, just leave us a comment over on the F'n'F blog.  The calls will run until Sunday 17 June.  We look forward to welcoming some new members to our team.  Good luck!

Happy crafting,

Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #123 - Celebrations

Hi Everyone,

Great entries last week for our new beginning and I even managed to leave a comment for every one of you!  Phew!  We had such a good variety but I have a feeling there may be a baby boom going on!  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if I picked you for my Top 3 and also to find out who won the crafty prize from Di's Digi Downloads, picked at random.  Don't forget to collect your badges too.

The fabulous Wendy is your host for this week and she has chosen a great challenge...

Celebrations

What will you be celebrating next?  Our fab sponsor this week is Joanna Sheen and the random winner of the challenge will win a £10 gift voucher to spend in her online store. 

I was having a nose around Mo Manning's Digital Pencil site and came across this cupcake wonder and couldn't resist adding her to my stash, along with a few other delights!

The purple base is Cor'dinations cardstock and I've distressed the edges with the Tim Holtz paper distresser tool.  The yellow paper originally came from eBay ages ago.  I also embossed a piece of the Cor'dinations with my Crafts Too embossing folder which I picked up at the SECC earlier this year.  I sanded the top layer back to reveal the core.  The baker's twine was wrapped around and secured with super sticky tape and mounted with foam pads. 

I coloured my image with Promarkers and Flexmarkers in the following colours:

Light Fawn

Blush

Sunkissed Pink

Cinammon

Henna

Walnut

Primrose

Lemon

Yellow

Canary

Pink Lavender

Pink Pearl

Wild Orchid

Cerise

Blender

I added some glitter to the ruffles in her dress with my Quickie Glue Pen and MCS glitter.  I simply used the yellow and Wild Orchid pens to add the dots around the image.  I think the sentiment is from Wild Rose Studio but it is another that has been in my stash for a while and I'm not quite sure where I got it.  I used Spellbinders Labels Twenty Five to cut the topper and sentiment out with my Grand Calibur.

Looking forward to your celebratory projects this week.  Have a good one.

Happy crafting.

Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #122 - A New Beginning

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you have some sunshine where you are this week.  We have been having a very warm week.  Lets hope it continues. 

If any of you have been across to the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog you will see that we are now under new management.  Unfortunately Lou has many commitments and took the decision to hand over the blog to Judith.  I'm sad to see Lou leave us but hope she will pop in from time to time.  I would like to wish Judith all the best with the blog and let her know that we are all behind her.

Right, onto the results of last week - you can find them on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  Ginny chose her Top 3 too so make sure you check to see if it's you.  Don't forget your winner's badge too.  There is also our random winner of the prize from Digi Doodle Shop.  Was it you?  Only one way to find out!

This week, since we are embarking on a new beginning, we thought this would be the perfect theme for our challenge...

A New Beginning

We would like to see your new beginnings (new baby, new job, etc) or new crafty goodies.  Don't forget to tell us what you have used though.  Our sponsor this week is Di's Digi Downloads.  Check out her fab website for loads of great digis.

I have used one of Di's Digis for my card this week.  It's called Who Do I Pick.

Isn't she sweet?  I love finding new digis to colour as there are so many possibilites.  I coloured her with Promarkers and used the following colours:

Satin
Blush
Dusky Pink
Sandstone
Cinnamon
Henna
Walnut
Lime Green
Forest Green
Pale Pink
Dusky Rose
Ruby

The base cardstock is pearlised and I think I bought it from Crafter's Companion a while back.  I added the fabric after my mix-up last week and the flowers were from eBay.  I brushed the Tim Holtz Spun Sugar Distress Ink over the pink flower to make it a little darker.  I also added this to the edge of my topper.  The ribbon was from DoCrafts.

I can't wait to see all of your projects.  Have a great week.

Happy Crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #121 - Use Fabric

Hi Everyone,

What a fast week that was!  Your buttons and bows were in full swing last week and there were loads of great creations.  Check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog to see if you were one of our lucky winners.  Don't forget to grab your winner's badge too.

So, this week we are having a challenge for all the avid seamstresses among us...

Use Fabric

You can incorporate fabric into your project in any way you wish.  I'm sure there will be so many great entries that I'm not sure how Ginny will be able to chose her Top 3.  We are sponsored by Digi Doodle Shop and you can check out their brill website here.

I have a little confession!  Okay, a big confession!  I haven't used fabric on this card - I got muddled up with the the theme so I'll make another card this week and hopefully get it posted before the weekend. 

I went for another Saturated Canary image for my card this week.  I'm getting addicted to these lovely drawings.  Krista is sooooo talented. 

This card had many layouts and cardstock choices before it finally came together!  I used the Spellbinder Moroccan Accents for the corners and the cardstock is pearlised.  The main butterfly was from Spellbinders Wonderful Wings and I used a punch for the small blue butterflies. 

My image was coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers in the following colours:

Cinnamon
Walnut
Henna
Honeydew
China Blue
Watermelon
Shocking Pink
Bright Orange
Indigo Blue
Sunkissed Pink
Pastel Pink
Blue Grey 1

I also used the Indigo Blue to colour the base layer for my topper.  I added a layer of pink holographic cardstock and a strip of the orange pearlescent cardstock underneath to give dimension.  The edges of the pink cardstock were punched with an EK Success border punch.  I filled in the white space by using the Bright Orange Promarker in a triangle of dots.    Finally, I stamped the sentiment in pink. 

Hope you are all inspired by our designs this week.  Do check out the other team members' creations.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

In the Round!

Hi All,

Hope you are having a lovely weekend.  Our weather was great yesterday but it's really wintery today, lashing wind and rain.  Thankfully the washing machine was in full swing yesterday and I got it all dried outside.  There's nothing better than the smell of fresh washing.

Anyway, on to my card for today.  I've been busy tidying my crafty stash this weekend but to be honest it has just been a great way to discover things that had been put away and forgotten about for a while. 

I made the papers in My Craft Studio Elite using the Quintessential Country Garden artwork.  I recoloured the background paper and then coloured the canvas to pinky-purple.  Then I coloured the canvas again to match the blue in the background paper and printed all three on Super Smooth.  I love MCS!

I stamped the Saturated Canary image in black pigment ink and then coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers in the following colours:

Almond
Blush
Dusky Pink
Cinnamon
Walnut
Sorbet
Watermelon
Surf Blue
Black
Cool Grey 4
Blue Grey 1

Really loving my Flexmarkers but finding it more difficult to get a proper shading effect with them.  I'll just need to practice!

I cut the circles with my X-Cut dies, run through my Grand Calibur.  I used my Quickie Glue Pen around the edge and added MCS glitter.  The foam flowers were pre-glittered and I actually bought them from a pound shop in Glasgow.  I love finding a bargain!  I added teal gems to the centre and also in the top right-hand corner with my Pinflair Glue Gel.

I stamped the sentiment in black pigment ink.  All topper layers were attached with foam tape and the flowers were attached with foam pads.

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

A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge 46 (sketch)
Saturated Canary Challenge - Challenge 17 (May flowers)

I hope you have lots of nice things planned for the coming week. 

Happy crafting,
Rachel x