Challenge Winners - Sew Sweet

It is time to announce our winners for the 'Sew Sweet' challenge. Thank you to all who entered and played along with your beautiful projects. The Design Team really enjoyed seeing them all.

It was an incredibly close run thing and after much deliberation the team has chosen this beautiful card by #2 Samra (Paper Talk With Samra) as the overall winner. Don't you just love that wonderful bow with the tape measure, bobbin and lace and the little dots of liquid pearls around the frame - you can see more on her blog here.

Congratulations to Samra on winning an opportunity to be a Guest Designer at a future date here at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. You will be contacted shortly with all the details.

And now our picks for the three winners of the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog Top 3 Badges for this challenge. In numerical order they are #8 Jean Dunning #10 Susan Botham and #11 Elle (Empire of the Cat).

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 we have a randomly chosen lucky winner for the $25 gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Our congratulations this time go to #7 Debi B! Please email Linda at thefunkiejunkie@gmail.com for the gift certificate details.

Thank you again to everyone who took part in this challenge from all of us here at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog  and congratulations to all our winners.

The current challenge 'Oh Man!' can be found HERE and runs through Tuesday, May 26th at 11:55 pm EST so we hope you will join us.

Saturday Showcase - Art Alchemy Matte Wax by Prima Marketing

Hello! It's Sara Emily here to bring you today's Saturday Showcase. Today I'm sharing some samples I made with just one of the colors of Art Alchemy Matte Wax by Prima -- Patina Green. There are several different colors available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Having played with just this one color, I can't wait to get my hands on the rest!

Just a bit of change in light can dramatically change the look of these cards. I took the photo below when the sun came out from behind the clouds, and the above photo was taken in my studio lights.

First here are some closeups of each of the two completed cards and then below each one, I share my how-to. I also am sharing a couple other backgrounds and a molded clay embellishment lightly touched with the Matte Wax. It could easily stand in for real rusted metal. Let's get started...

 Isn't it cool that Patina Green looks bluish over the black background?

Here's how the first background was made:

1. Die cut Bouquet and adhere to a card stock panel with Distress Collage Medium Matte. When dry apply a coat of black gesso.

2. When the gesso is thoroughly dry, apply Vintage Silk Opal Magic wax with your finger or blending tool.

3.  Lastly, apply Patina Green Matte Wax in the same way. Buff the excess off with a dry cloth. Oh, I love the matte finish from the Patina Green, but just a hint of  shimmer from the Opal Magic peeks through depending on how you turn the card. It's like a magic trick --now you see it, now you don't.

In the sample below, you can see how different it looks if you wipe it before the Matte Wax dries too much. I was distracted by a lengthy phone call when I made the panel, and didn't wipe it right away.

I also used the wax to color the base panel, the butterflies and the word band.

Now the second card...

How to:

1. Emboss silver Metallic Kraft stock with Elegant 3D embossing folder: spray back of panel with water, run through die cut machine 3 times. I don't think I used enough water and mine cracked a bit. Lesson learned.

2. With a stiff stencil brush apply wax, making sure to get it into the crevices.

3. Wipe with a clean dry cloth to remove wax from the raised areas. Be sure to move to a clean part of your cloth as you work.

4. Spray with Wild Honey Distress Spray Stain then water. See that the wax resists this, and beads up on the surface.

5. Blot off excess spray onto a sheet of paper and dry the panel with heat tool. (I used mixed media paper, so I can use this for a future background.) I was able to preserve some of those droplets on my background.

6. Scribble raised areas with Vintage Photo crayon and blend with finger. This made most of those little droplets go away, but the panel is still mildly tinted with Wild Honey. This shows when the card is tilted just right as is seen in my opening photo.

7. Here's the completed background ready to be made into a card.

I ended up splattering the background with Black Soot paint before adding my elements.

 I also used the Matte Wax to color the die cuts: Wildflower Stem and Crochet 2 and the Small Talk sticker.  I layered the flower over a piece of muslin dyed with Antique Linen spray and hand stitched the stem to the fabric.

I made a similar background using the Rose Gold Metallic Kraft Stock. This time I de-bossed by turning the card over in the folder so the pattern indented. I used the stiff brush to apply the wax and wiped it from the raised areas. I scribbled with Black Soot crayon and blended it over the panel with my finger.

Realizing the wax is oil based, I knew I could use it as a resist. I wanted to see how it would react with Distress paint, and the first one I pulled out was Antiqued Bronze. This turned out to be serendipitous, because I was able to make this great eroded metal panel using just the wax and paint, the Foundry 3D embossing folder and Walnut Stain crayon. You've already seen this completed card as my DT project for our current challenge, Oh Man! If you would like to see all the details, you can visit my blog HERE. I outline the steps I took to make the embossed background below.

Here are my steps to make the background:

1. Smear some of the wax randomly onto a water color panel. I just used my fingers; I have quite the green thumb! Be sure to leave the wax thicker in some areas; avoid rubbing it into the paper.

2. Apply Antiqued Bronze paint to the panel over the wax. Again, I just used my fingers to apply. Spray with water. Dry partially with heat tool.

3. Lay a piece of wax paper over the partially dry/wet panel, and burnish. It already looks good!

4. Now pull off the wax paper quickly, and you will get what you see below. Dry thoroughly. Reserve the wax paper.

5. Smear on some more of the wax randomly over the painted surface.

6. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4. Here is what the panel looks like before embossing.

7. Emboss with Foundry folder per the usual steps.

8. I've already given away this final step: scribble with Walnut Stain Crayon and blend with my fingers.

Finally, I thought it would be fun to see how Matte Wax would look on a molded piece. I have a drawer full of these paper clay pieces made with older Prima molds, and this one was painted black. I simply smeared on Distress Grit Paste (not shown), Rusty Paper, wiped it back a bit, dried it, squirted it with Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide spray and then water. I dried it with my heat tool and smeared on the tiniest bit of Patina Green wax. I compare it to some real rusted wire from the garage.

That's all for today. I hope you've found some inspiration in this long post. Remember there's still plenty of time to play along in the Oh Man! challenge. I can't wait to see what you will make! Happy crafting!

These products were used and can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Prima  Art Alchemy Matte Wax - Patina Green
Distress Crayons - Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, Antiqued Bronze
Distress Paint - Black Soot, Antiqued Bronze
Distress Spray Stain - Antique Linen, Black Soot, Wild Honey
Distress Oxide Spray -  Rusty Hinge
Distress Collage Medium Matte
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Grit Paste
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Dabber
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Pen 2pk
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Glaze - Rusty Hinge, Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad  - Black Soot
Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink - Rust
Wendy Vecchi Gesso - black
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Glitch 1
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Snarky Cat
Sizzix Chapter 2 Tim Holtz Steampunk Parts Bigz Die
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Urban Layers
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Type Chips
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Collage Paper, Typeset
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Metallic Kraft Stock
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Metallic 2 Kraft Stock - Rose Gold & Copper
Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Crochet #2
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 5PK - Wildflower Stems #2
Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Bouquet
Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK - Detailed Butterflies, Mini
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Word Bands
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Hardware Heads

Guest Designer - Lisa Hoel

It is time to welcome our Guest Designer for the Oh Man challenge.  Say hello to Lisa Hoel of Creative Juice Freshly Squeezed who was the Top Pick from the April Showers challenge.

My name is Lisa Hoel and I'm blessed to be married to the greatest guy in the world and have two dynamic boys. I'm a graphic designer and I've never met a craft I didn't like and paper crafting is no exception. I'm inspired by my family, life and God's creation all around us. I hope I can have a small part in inspiring you!

Fishing is a favored pastime for both man and bear and serves as the theme of my Oh Man! guest project.

I finally got to use my Tim Holtz Theodore bear die and the gorgeous Stamperia 'Forest' paper pack. A medium Etc. Tag is the perfect base for my getting close to nature composition.

I also included a photo of my late father in law as a boy which adds a special touch. Looks like he had some very good luck fishing that day! I am honored to be a guest designer for the current challenge and I encourage you all to join in! You can see more details about this project on my blog.

* * *

After you have checked out the details of Lisa's fun project, come on back and share a project that you have created with a masculine theme. The challenge can be found HERE and runs through 11:55 pm EDT on Tuesday, May 26th.

Oh Man!

Hi everyone and welcome. Jenny with you to host the next of our challenges here at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. I'm calling this one 'Oh Man!' "Fathers Day may be a way off yet but there are always other occasions and reasons for making something for the men in our lives. For this challenge create something which you feel has a more masculine look."

The winner will earn a chance to be a Guest Designer at a future date here at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. There are also Top 3 Badges for three additional outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team.

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. If you are entering through a public forum (such as Instagram) you'll need to include the words 'Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge'. Also, please be sure to turn off your Word Verification so our Design Team can leave comments on your blogs. Make sure you follow these rules as unfortunately, we have had to eliminate entrants from the prize draws in the past.

Take a look at all the fabulous inspiration our designers have created for you. To get all the details of their projects, just click on their blog name and you will be taken directly to their blog.

Suzanne Czosek - Suzz's Stamping Spot

Cec Wintonyk - CW Creations

Maggi Harding - Scrap, Travel & Bark!

Sara Emily Barker - sarascloset

Jenny Marples - Pushing The Right Buttons

Now it's your turn to get creating - we'd love to see your masculine themed projects for this one. Use the link below to enter them and be in with a chance of winning.

Saturday Showcase - Prima Marketing Pretty Mosaic

Hi everyone and welcome to another Saturday Showcase, the Design Team's chance to share tutorials and products available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique with you. This time I've been combining the Prima Marketing 'Pretty Mosaic' Collection with a number of other ranges to create some ideas for pretty mixed media cards.

The base for each of the cards started with a piece of 12 x 12 inch card from the largest of the paper pads. This was altered by pressing it into a Gel Press plate to pick up the remains of some Dina Wakley Media Paint - you can see below how the addition of some shades of gold, red and orange gave the original sheet (shown underneath) a warmer glow. The card was then trimmed into four equal pieces each measuring 5 3/4 inches.

Here's the first of the cards;

The first base was embossed using the Tim Holtz 3D Embossing Folder 'Roses' and I painted over the raised areas with Buff and Gilt Paint from the Dina Wakley Media range.

There's a beautiful little silicone mould set in the Pretty Mosaic range that I used to create two paper clay butterflies. These were painted, first with diluted Fuchsia Paint then dry brushed with White Gesso to highlight the pattern. To give it a more vintage look I dripped a little Lemonade Alcohol Ink over the surface and dabbed it dry to remove any excess.

To make a base and plaque for the sentiment I cut a 6 inch piece from another sheet in the 'Pretty Mosaic' paper pad and edged it with Gilt Paint. The plaque was cut from a smaller piece of the same design using Eileen Hull's 'Gift Box' Die and was also edged with the Gilt Paint.

To enhance the embossed roses I added a stem of 'Susie' Pretty Mosaic flowers, twisting them into shape and gluing them in place. To secure them further I added some hand stitching with little beads.

To finish the card I stuck the smaller embossed layer to the larger Gilt edged piece, glued the butterflies in place and added the plaque, stamped with a sentiment from Wendy Vecchi's 'Funky Flower Art' stamp set. This was then mounted onto a 6 inch square white card blank.

Now for the second card;

I stencilled over the base using Tim Holtz 'Roses' Layering Stencil with Opaque Matte Texture Paste, painting over the top with Heather Paint.

More of the Heather Paint was used to colour seam binding that was then threaded through some Venise Lace from Linda's store. I stuck this to one side of the base using double sided adhesive tape on the reverse side.

To create the floral bouquet I stamped the roses from Wendy Vecchi's 'Rosy Art' stamp set with Plum Archival Ink twice, painting both sets with Heather and a mix of Evergreen and Eggplant Paint. This was also repeated on a coordinating Mat Mini. After cutting and shaping the leaves and flowers I layered them together, adding a little hot glue in between the leaves to give them more dimension and stability.

To contrast with the darker, smaller leaves in the bouquet I stamped spiky leaves from Wendy Vecchi's 'Funky Flower Art' repeatedly with Plum Archival Ink, painting them with a mix of Lime and Gilt Paint. Once cut out these were also shaped before being glued beneath the roses and smaller leaves.

To finish the card I stuck the stencilled smaller piece to a 6 inch piece of card taken from another of the designs in the 'Pretty Mosaic' paper pad. With the bouquet glued in place I added a bow of seam binding made with the offcut from the lace border and stamped a sentiment from Wendy Vecchi's 'Funky Flower Art' stamp set onto a small tag cut from another of the sheets in the paper pad. As for the first card I mounted the finished layers onto a 6 inch square white card blank.

And here's the third and final card;

As for the previous two I started by altering the base layer, this time by stamping and embossing into the centre Wendy Vecchi's 'Vintage Mesh' background stamp using gold embossing powder. Once heat set I cut a 3 1/4 inch square out of the centre.

Taking a 6 inch square piece from a coordinating sheet from the 'Pretty Mosaic' paper pad I cut a 4 inch square out of the centre. To disguise any unpatterned areas around the edges of each piece I stamped them with the lacy flower from Wendy Vecchi's 'Friends & Art' stamp set using Plum Archival Ink.

After sticking the two outer squares together I layered the smaller squares with pieces of scrap paper, a die cut piece of 'Crochet' lace and an offcut of paper from the 'Pretty Mosaic' paper pad.

To decorate the paper collage I stamped the lacy flower from Wendy Vecchi's 'Friends & Art' stamp set on to card twice. These were painted with a combination of Olive and Eggplant Paint and White Gesso before being cut out and layered together with hot glue. I also painted a flower head using a Mat Mini from the coordinating set, adding dots of Wendy Vecchi's 'Sunflower' Liquid Pearls onto the centre of each tiny flower.

To finish I added the flower to the centre of the paper collage, stamped a sentiment from Wendy Vecchi's 'Funky Floral Art' stamp set onto scraps of 'Pretty Mosaic' card and mounted it on top of the flower. As with the previous cards I adhered this to a 6 inch square white card blank.

Thanks for visiting to catch today's Saturday Showcase tutorial - I hope you've enjoyed seeing some ideas for using the 'Pretty Mosaic' Collection in combination with your other favourite art supplies.

There's still time to enter the current Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge 'Sew Sweet' to be in with the chance of being a Guest Designer here. We look forward to seeing your amazing creations.

Jenny

Products used to create these cards are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Prima Marketing 'Pretty Mosaic' 12x12 Paper Pad

Prima Marketing 'Pretty Mosaic' Flowers - Susie

Prima Marketing 'Pretty Mosaic Silicone Mould

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi 'Funky Flower Art' Stamp Set

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi 'Rosy Art' Stamp Set

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi 'Friends & Art' Stamp Set

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi 'Vintage Mesh' Background Stamp

Wendy Vecchi Liquid Pearls - Sunflower

Tim Holtz 3D Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Roses

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Roses

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gessos

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards XL Die - Gift Box

Venise Lace Trim - 2 inches

Ranger 'Gold' Embossing Powder

Ranger 'Lemonade' Alcohol Ink