Friday Focus on Spellbinders!

Hello crafty friends! Nancy here, and I'm thrilled to be hosting this week's Friday Focus on Spellbinders!

I'm a long time fan of Spellbinders Dies. They're gorgeous, reasonably priced, and easy to use with almost any die cutting system. Spellbinders allow you to cut, emboss, and stencil with a single die template. The variety of shapes and designs are seemingly endless. You can't ask for more than that!

And now for the frosting on the cake... for the next two weeks Linda is offering and additional 15% off all Spellbinders products at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

I've created a few 'thank you' tags and cards to showcase the versatility of these dies. Since not everyone owns numerous dies I thought I would demonstrate a variety of combinations that are possible from just a few sets. My die collection is minimal. I used only four sets to create the pieces for this project.

I started with a base tag created with a Tim Holtz die. The beautiful Maja Design papers are distressed, layered, and stitched. The tag below is embellished using Spellbinders Romantic Rose and Spiral Blossom One dies. The Spiral Blossom die is one of my all time favorites. I love flowers and put them on everything. If you're a flower lover just starting your collection this die should be among the first you purchase. I would also recommend adding at least one each of some type of circular, oval, rectangular, and square shape for the greatest diversity. 

All of my die cuts are popped up with foam tape to add dimension.  

The second tag is also embellished using Spellbinders Romantic Rose and Spiral Blossom One dies. The difference with this tag is the layering of two different designs from the Romantic Rose set. You'll notice the size of my die cuts look different from the photos on the die packages. That's because I like to cut them down and adapt them to smaller projects. I'm always finding ways to use them in bits and pieces. 

A sentiment, liquid pearls, and ivory twine give everything a sweet and shabby finish. 

The circle cards are cut and layered with two dies from Spellbinders Triple Tear set, then finished off in a similar method as the tags. 

I geared this for beginners who are new to Spellbinders. These are just a few simple examples of the countless ways to use these elegant dies. When I was first introduced to Spellbinders I found the selection to be almost overwhelming. You don't need to own every single die to begin designing with them (though it would be great fun to own them all)!   

Thanks so much for joining me today. Don't forget to visit The Funkie Junkie Boutique to take advantage of the additional 15% discount on Spellbinders products. Also, remember to take a peek at our latest challenge here at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog. If you haven't had a chance to join in yet it's time to head to your craft space and start creating!

Hugs,

Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet	Tim Holtz Tonic Studios 9.5" Titanium Scissors	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Ranger Inkssentials Wonder Tape - 1/8"	RANGER MIXED MEDIA CARDSTOCK 8 1/2" X 11" 10PK
Ranger ADHESIVE - WHITE FOAM ROLL 1/2" X 1/16"x 2.1 YDS.	Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Kushgrip Snip w/Non-Stick Blade & Cap	Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits Die Set 8PK - Tag Collection	Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Summer Basics	Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Spring Basics
Spellbinders® Triple Tear	Spellbinders® Labels 46 Decorative Element	Spellbinders Spiral Blossom One	Ivory/White Jute Twine	RANGER LIQUID PEARLS BUNDLE

Chalk it Up!

It's Shelly back with you today, which means a second week of fun with my first Frilly and Funkie challenge! I thought it would be fun to experiment with chalk techniques - whether it's stamping with chalk inks, using a faux chalkboard technique, coloring with chalks, or even dabbling in your art journal with sticks of chalk - we want to see what you can create using chalk as a theme!

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot here at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

The guidelines for entering are simple; create a new vintage or shabby chic project following the challenge theme, link it below to your post (not just your blog) and also include a link back to this challenge in your post. You can combine our challenge with up to 10 challenges (including this one) to be in with a chance of winning. Make sure you follow these rules as unfortunately we have had to eliminate entrants from the prize draws in the past when they have entered too many other challenges. If you are entering through a public forum please use keyword F&F. Also, please be sure to turn off your Word Verification so our Design Team can leave comments on your blogs.

This week we have some amazing inspiration from our Funkie team (click on each image for a closer look!)

Jenny Marples - Pushing The Right Buttons

Sue Carrington - Stamping Sue Style 

Shelly Hickox - Stamptramp

Zoe Hillman - iGirlZoe

And now, we have some wonderful inspiration from our Frilly team (click on each image for a closer look)!

Pamellia - My Little Craft Things

Cec Wintonyk - CW Card Creations

Georgie - Little Blue Craft Box

Nancy Dynes - Tattered Treasures

I love all the different ways our talented designers used chalk! Are you inspired? We can't wait to see what you create!

Have a great week!

Shelly

Challenge Winners - Stamps Be Gone!

As we start a brand new week it's time to announce the winners of the 'Stamps Be Gone!' challenge. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter. The Design Team were spoiled for choice with your fabulous entries. This time our winner is #5 Karen H.

We loved the way the papers, trims and embellishments were combined to create a beautiful gift. Congratulations Karen on being our favourite for the 'Stamps Be Gone!' challenge and winning the opportunity to be a Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie for a future challenge.

And now for the next three winners of our Frilly and Funkie Top 3 Badges. In numerical order they are... #1 Martinel, #23 Alison (Butterfly) and #31 Kathy!!! Please email Linda at thefunkiejunkie@gmail.com for the codes for the Top 3 badges so that you can display them proudly on your blog.

And finally Random.org has chosen a winner for our $25 gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Our congratulations this time go to #26 Jess M (Two Mad Dahlias)!

A huge thanks from the Frilly and Funkie team to everyone who took part in this challenge and congratulations again to our winners. Please email Linda at thefunkiejunkie@gmail.com for the codes for the winner's badge and to give us your email address for the Guest Designer details (Karen) for the Top 3 badges (Martinel, Alison and Kathy) and for the gift certificate details (Jess).

Our current challenge, 'Chalk It Up!' runs through Tuesday, October 6th. We hope to see you entering this time around so that you too can be in with a chance to win. And please make sure you follow our rules as sadly we've had to discount entries from previous challenges; you can enter up to 10 challenges including ours, and a maximum of 3 entries per person to our challenge. Please remember to link back to our challenge in your entry and mention in your post that you are entering this Frilly and Funkie challenge.

Have a great week everyone!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique is Partnering With the New Wanderlust 2016 On-line Art Classes

The Funkie Junkie Boutique is excited to announce our new promotional partnership with Wanderlust 2016, a series of on-line art classes that will stretch over an entire year.  We have been selected as one of the preferred vendors from which the students may purchase art supplies.  You can read a bit about it in the following press release.

Wanderlust press release:

Wanderlust is a whole year long journey - an online event offering you videos from 24 guest teachers (including Finnabair, Andy Skinner, Flora Bowley, Nathalie Kalbach, Kate Crane and many others) and 2 resident teachers (Kasia Krzyminska and Jamie Avery) one every week (each one downloadable and with PDF instructions provided), 50 amazing videos, which will run for over 50 hours in total, access to a community forum, inspirations, challenges, discussions, galleries, workshops, giveaways and generous discounts from Wanderlust partners. The perfect alternative to in-person classes!

Saturday Step X Step - Chalk Card

Hi there, it is Cec here and it is my turn to present the Saturday Step X Step so I decided to share how I made my card for the current challenge with you.

The challenge is Called Chalk It Up and asks that you use chalks in the creation of your project.  In the past I have used chalk in place of distress ink to highlight the edges of a panel or the raised areas of embossing but I decided to try something a little different this time.

I started by stamping my flower image on vellum using Snowcap Pigment Ink.  Note: This has been replaced by Glacier White so my thumbnail link to The Funkie Junkie Boutique will reflect that.

Next I embossed the flower with some Snow White embossing powder from Michaels.

Then I turned the vellum over and started to colour the flower using chalk pastels from Mungyo.  I found that it is best to use the corner of the stick to lay your chalk down and to use a light hand.

I blended the colour with some baby oil and a tissue or my finger.  After the first blend I turned the vellum over and checked against some white paper to see if there was enough colour and there wasn't so I repeated the process.

Then to add more shading I used some chalk pencils that have been in my stash for a million years - or at least ten.  They are a bit harder than the pastel stick and don't crumble as easily.

In order to make the flower colouring more visible I glued the vellum to a scrap of white card stock.  Because I did not want any adhesive showing through the vellum I found the best way was to use a pen glue and follow the stamping lines.  Once the flower was dry I fussy cut it. 

In this photo you can see that I got a bit of creasing on the flower but I didn't bother redoing it because I knew I was making two more flowers and could tuck the creased part under the petal of the flower on top. When I did the other flowers I laid the vellum down starting at the bottom and used my fingers to smooth it out as I continued to lay it down a bit at a time - no creases.

The next step was to make the background and I started by covering a sheet of card stock with Blush Fresco Finish paint, which is a chalk acrylic.

Next I added some embossing with texture paste through a Wendy Vecchi Polka Dotty Stencil.

Then I used some Cut and Dry Foam to add some Candy Floss Fresco Finish paint.

The next step was to give it a little spray with some Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst called Ramblin Rose Pink but this could be replaced with any of the other Lindy's Starburst Pink sprays (I would not suggest using the Moonshine Mist sprays because they all have a brown base to them) or even Worn Lipstick Tim Holtz Distress Spray.

Next I dyed some seam binding with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and then swiped it with some Dusty Concord DI. I also ran a scrap piece of white card through the Tim Holtz Bubbles Texture Fade to mount the flowers on.  I actually chalked the highlights with a cotton ball but it clashed with the flowers so I scrapped it and embossed another panel and just left it au natural.

Here is the finished card with some pearls and pearl flourishes added.  You have lots of time to create a project using chalks so I hope you will head to your craft space and make something to share with us.

The following products used in the creation of this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Exciting News!!! A New Funkie DT Member!!!

Hi everyone. We have some amazingly exciting news for you (that was supposed to have been shared with you on Wednesday, so huge apologies for the delay).

Here at Frilly and Funkie we are proud to announce the arrival of the incredibly talented Zoe (IGirlZoe) to the Funkie side of the DT!!!

So many of you will have seen Zoe's beautiful work both on her blog, in samples for Tim Holtz himself and as a guest artist on the RangerInk blog! Now there's an impressive CV for you, and you can understand why we are thrilled that she has become part of the Frilly and Funkie family. Please join us in giving her a huge welcome.

You'll get to see Zoe's first DT project next week as part of the 'Chalk It Up!' challenge. Meantime make sure you join us again on Saturday for a fabulous Step by Step tutorial from our very own Cec - you won't want to miss this one!

Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Mary Elizabeth!

Today we are welcoming Mary Elizabeth of 'M.E. and My Walk on the Creative Side' as our Guest Desginer. Jane was chosen by the DT as the winner of the 'Stitch in Time' challenge. So, without further ado let's move on to hear from Mary Elizabeth.

I have always enjoyed being creative. In fact, I thought I might go to art school after I finished high school. Instead I ended up getting a mathematics degree and being a university professor. Life is funny … isn’t it. Although I absolutely love teaching, I find that my crafting keeps me sane. I can let go of life’s stresses and just lose myself amidst paints, inks, and paper.

The project that I made for Frilly and Funkie’s “Chalk It Up!” challenge combines my love of crafting with my love of teaching. September is when many students go back to school after the summer holiday comes to an end. What a great time for a chalk-themed challenge! As a mathematics teacher, I use a a lot of chalk; so, of course I made a tag dedicated to going back to school. I took some of Tim Holtz’s Idea-ology paper that had the alphabet on it and adapted Tim’s “chalkboard” stamping technique for use with a stencil. (You can find a complete tutorial of Tim’s technique on his November Tag for 2013 blogpost.) For my stencil adaptation, I began by applying Distress Embossing Ink through Tim’s Numbered stencil with an ink blending tool. I sprinkled on Ranger Ink’s frosted crystal embossing powder over the stenciled numbers. I heated the embossing powder per Tim’s directions on his blog. Then I put the stencil back over the embossed numbers and applied white chalk over through the stencil on top of the frosted crystal embossed numbers. A cotton swab made the perfect tool for rubbing in the excess chalk through the stencil. I then removed the stencil. I was so excited because only the stenciled image had chalk on it! (Usually I get chalk everywhere on a project like this!) A thin black marker was used to provide some shadows around my chalked numbers. What a really cool background for my school-themed tag.

I stamped three apples from Tim Holtz's Mini Schoolhouse blueprint stamps on watercolor paper. I colored them with Distress Markers and a water brush detailer. After that dried completed, I fussy cut the apples and gave them three coats of Ranger’s Melt Art Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). I also fussy cut some of Tim’s Found Relatives (that looked like they were dressed up to go back to school). I added the relatives and apples to my tag with foam adhesive squares. Some tissue tape, a remnant rub sentiment, and a pencil stub tag tie completed the project.

I'm sure you'll all agree that Mary Elizabeth's mathematical tag is sensational and has really measured up to our challenge! Thank you so much for joining us as a Guest Designer Mary Elizabeth.

If you would like to be in with the chance to join us as Guest Designer all you need to do is join in with the current challenge 'Chalk It Up!'.