Frilly and Funkie - A Touch of Gold

Hello Everyone!

Well, my blog will officially be on auto-pilot after today so I can concentrate on the oh-so-fun things like packing and sorting and heaving and ho-ing (is that a word?) Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and I will talk to everyone soon as I get sorted out in my new digs! 

It's time for another wonderful challenge over at Frilly and Funkie! This time the very amazing and talented Georgie is our hostess and she has chosen the theme A TOUCH OF GOLD. She would like to see metal elements, glitter, embossing powder, paint, ribbon, whatever it is, as long as there's a splash of gold in your vintage or shabby chic projects!! ! One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Linda's shop The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

I had originally intended on using some Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass paint to decorate my card, but after a bit of a craft room explosion, I ended up using gold embossing powder to alter some bronze corner embellishments and a beautiful bronze rose from Linda's shop. I also added a gold trim onto all of the panels using the embossing powder and some Perfect Medium. In the background is the larger stamp from the Tim Holtz Flourish stamp set.

MY CRAFT ROOM EXPLOSION

Yep, that's the first draft of my card over there on the left side of the image. I had to redo all three panels!! I was shaking the Tarnished Brass when suddenly it just exploded! I think it must have gotten hot and the pressure was built up inside because the lid shot all the way across the room and the paint went onto the far wall! I was covered, my outfit was ruined and it took me hours to clean it up! Stupid Canadian heat waves!!

I stamped several flowers using the masking technique and my favourite flower from the new Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamp set. I stamped with Ranger Archival Coffee ink and then coloured with Gathered Twigs, Tattered Rose and Abandoned Coral distress markers. In the centers I added some of the Heirloom roses, and then I added a little gold embossing powder to the ends of the petals.

The flowers were cut with Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and coloured with Abandoned Coral. The seam binding was coloured with Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey. The decorative die cut pieces are from Spellbinders. I cut them out of foam and painted them with Picket Fence distress paint. The background greens are Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint. The damask stamp is from Tim Holtz Distress Damask stamp set. The sentiment is from the Small Talk sticker book.

UPDATE:
My card won awards in the following wonderful challenge:

- Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - #94 - Anything Goes with a Twist / Add a Border

***

All of the following products that I used can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique


That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Try it on Tuesday - Sending You Flowers

Hello Everyone!

It's time to start another challenge over at Try it on Tuesday. This time around our theme is FLOWERS. I thought I would just put together something uber feminine that I could use to give one of my girl friends or female family members for any occasion. Lots of pastels, lots of pearls and lots of flowers!!

For the background panels I used DecoArt Antique White paint and Hero Arts Shadow ink Soft Sand. I stamped some flourishes from Inkadinkado and some flowers from Prima. The flowers were cut with Joy Crafts Flower die sets and coloured with distress ink Tattered Rose. The white roses are store bought.

The wreath die is from Memory Box and I coloured it with distress ink Shabby Shutters. The foliage sprigs are from Marianne Designs. The butterfly is from Inkadinkado and I stamped it with Soft Sand, coloured it with Tattered Rose and fussy cut it out. I splashed the finished card with some distress ink spray Tattered Rose and some DecoArt Titanium White Paint to add a little extra shabbiness.

UPDATE:
My card won awards in the following wonderful challenges:

- Creative Artiste - August Challenge #5 - Butterflies and Flowers

- Kort O Mania - Challenge #135 - Pastel Colours

  

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Giveaway Winners and Getting Back to Nature

Hello Everyone!

First I would like to say thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful comments you left me regarding my new position as a Designer for Scrap n Art Magazine! This is such an exciting time for me and I just love having such an amazing group of  people to share my news with!

And now for the two winners of a year's subscription to the magazine, as chosen by my two little girls Pebbles and Scully...drum roll please...

Anne - Redanne

and

Karen - Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

YAY!! Please give me a shout when you have time and I will send you your gift voucher codes.

***

And now for some really exciting personal news!! My hubby and I got the word this week that the little garden home outside the city that we have had our eye on, is all ours!!!!

I was raised in a small town and city life just isn't for me. All these years in the city have really taken a toll on me, so I can't even tell you how excited I am at the prospect of getting out of this concrete nightmare and moving to a place with a little bit of nature. It's so peaceful and serene there, I thought I would show you a few pics of my little oasis.

This is the walkway behind our unit...

This is the view from the side of our unit...

It's literally close enough to spit into the lake...

***

I do have some posts for my Design Team projects that need to go up, but I may not be around for all them. I will do my best to check in on everyone when I can. We expect to be without internet entirely for 3 weeks from mid September, so I won't be answering any emails either, I apologize in advance if I miss any questions that you may send me.  Moving day is on October 1st, so I hope to be back in full force by mid October. Until then, I wish everyone the most amazing summer!!

Big hugs,

Frilly and Funkie - A Stitch in Time

Hello Everyone!

It's time for another wonderful challenge over at Frilly and Funkie! This time the very fabulous and talented Sue is our hostess and she has chosen the theme A STITCH IN TIME. Here is what Sue had to say "What I love to do is incorporate sewing into projects, this could be real of faux, it adds an extra dimension to your artwork. So, for this challenge we want to see stitching somewhere on your projects, real or faux will do! BUT I would also like to see a timepiece too!" One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Linda's shop The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

For the stitching part of the challenge, I decided to use some black stitching as an accent around the edge of my background panel and my tag. The tag was cut using the Sizzix Tag Collection die set. I coloured it with Tumbled Glass and Iced Spruce distress inks and stamped it with the Wendy Vecchi Vintage Lace stamp using Wendy Vecchi Watering Can Archival ink. That gorgeous piece of black lace is from May Arts, a new brand that Linda now carries in the shop.

For the background panel, I used a piece of Linda's corrugated cardboard and glued some white paper on the top, ripping it off in some areas, exposing the corrugated parts underneath. I painted it with Picket Fence distress paint and then coloured it with Tumbled Glass and Iced Spruce. I stamped some damask designs using the Tim Holtz Distress Damask stamp set and Watering Can Archival ink and then I use the Dot Fade stencil from Tim Holtz and some texture paste to lay down some extra design.

The corners are adorned with foam pieces that I cut using the new Spellbinders Garden Weave corner die. On top of that are some bronze filigree corner pieces from Linda's shop that I painted with Black Soot, dabbed with Picket Fence and then highlighted with a touch of Silver embossing powder from Ranger. The border on the very back panel is from the Time to Flourish stamp set from Graphic 45.

The sentiment is from the Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker book. The butterfly is from Tim Holtz, stamped with Watering Can Archival ink. The body of the butterfly is an embellishment that Linda included in my last package, so pretty!! For my 'time' portion of the challenge, I added this little bronze clock charm which I treated the same way as the bronze corner pieces. I also added some gorgeous little mirror stars from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology collection.

UPDATE:
My card was the winner of the following wonderful challenge:

- Stamps and Stencils - August challenge - Time Flies

***

All of the following products that I used can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique


That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Crafty Cardmakers #145 - Warm Summer Colours

Hello Everyone!

It's time for another challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers and More! This time around our lovely hostess Bec has chosen the theme WARM SUMMER COLOURS. Sadly, this will be my last challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and More. It has been such a wonderful year and such a great experience, but it's time for me to move on and get started on the next leg of my crafty adventure. I send out a special thank you to Lin who has been such a wonderful team leader, and to my teamies who have been a great source of inspiration!

For my last challenge I decided to put together a Congratulations card for my Mom. She got a wonderful promotion at her work and I want to send a little card to her to tell her how happy and proud I am!

The panel behind the sentiment was cut from Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles. I painted it with DecoArt Americana Burnt Umber paint, then applied a coat of DecoArt Weathered Wood, then topped it off with some Crafter's Acrylic Tan paint. The Weathered Wood causes the paint to separate creating this wonderful texture. 

The sentiment is from Heartfelt Creations, the birdhouse was made with crafter's clay and a silicone mold which I painted with Americana Burnt Umber and Americana Titanium White. The seam binding was coloured with distress inks Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold and Worn Lipstick.

At the top of the card, I tucked in a little tag. It was cut with a Sizzix Tag Collection die and then I painted it with DecoArt Tan paint and the using a little water to dilute some colours, I splashed on some Americana Coral Shell, Americana Bright Yellow and Americana Titanium White.

The flowers were cut with Spellbinders Create a Carnation die set and coloured with distress inks Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold and Abandoned Coral. The vine leaves are from Marianne Designs and the larger leaves are from Spellbinders Foliage. The stamp in the back is from Kaisercraft.

The tulip buds were cut using a Poppystamps Poinsettia die and the leaves are from the Create a Carnation die set. The background was painted with Crafter's Acrylic Tan paint. The brickwork was applied with a home made stencil and home made texture paste.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Exciting News and a Giveaway!!

Hello Everybody,

I have been just bursting to share some exciting news with you and now it's finally time! I am now officially an Author / Designer for the wonderful Scrap n' Art Magazine! Can you believe it!!

Scrap n' Art Magazine is a monthly magazine featuring many types of crafting - scrapbooking, card making, mixed media art, digital scrapbooking, home decor and even jewelry making! I will be working with some of the leading brands in stamps, ribbons, inks, designer papers, embellishments, tools and all sorts of other crafting supplies! With tons of step by step tutorials and even video tutorials, you will not want to miss a single issue! 

We also take Reader Submissions for layouts, cards, altered art and out of the box creations in digital, traditional or hybrid formats, so you get the chance to have your work published in one of our issues!

You can also join in on our Get Sketchy monthly challenge. Each month we provide you with a layout sketch and a card sketch, use one for inspiration and join in with all the designers! We may just pick your project to be published in our magazine!

***

***  AND NOW FOR MY GIVEAWAY ***

I recently celebrated my first Blogiversary, and as I start year number TWO, I thought I would say thank you to all of my loyal followers by giving away TWO yearly subscriptions to the Scrap n Art Magazine! No need to do anything special, this is just for my existing followers. If you are interested in having your name put in the pot, please just let me know when you leave your comment.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported me through my first year here in blog land. It's been a wonderful experience so far, and I look forward to year number TWO!!