Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Nicola !

Today we are welcoming Nicola, otherwise known as Paper Profusion, as our Guest Designer. Nicola was chosen as the DT winner of the Christmas Preparations challenge back at the beginning of December. So, let's move on to hear from Nicola and see the fabulous project she's made for the current challenge, New Year Resolutions.

I’m Nicola a.k.a. ‘Paper Profusion’ living in Dublin, Ireland.  I’ve loved handicrafts for as long as I can remember, probably inspired by my Mum who excelled at every single crafting technique out there. From very young I was an avid knitter and always enjoyed learning crafts especially ones involving paper. I’m now medically retired however during my ‘career / good health years’ my main creative hobby was photography especially travel/wildlife related. During a time of serious illness, I became hooked on paper crafting as it gave me an outlet to a home based hobby that I could dabble in, at my own pace. I’m particularly drawn to the vintage / shabby chic genres usually adding lots of embellishments and ribbon. My favourite occasion to craft for is Christmas. Thank-you so much to the Frilly and Funkie Team for allowing me to feature as Guest Designer today.

I'm absolutely delighted to guest design for Frilly and Funkie for this challenge. My primary New Year resolution is to spend less time at the pc and smartphone and more time outdoors. Whilst the weather is not totally attractive to venture out into right now I wanted to create something that would entice me outdoors - I didn't need to look any further than Graphic 45's 'Secret Garden' papers.  I've decorated a Tim Holtz Idea-ology configurations box with aforementioned papers and included lots of diecuts and embellishments. Added a light dusting of Frantage to the papers for interest. I cut the front lock from 2 pieces of chipboard using Bigz 'Hardware Findings' die.

The box, Idea-ology box feet and lock have all been painted with gesso, then 2 coats of PaperArtsy 'Vintage Lace' paint and finally a top coat of PaperArtsy 'Metallic Glaze' to give a lovely pearlescent shimmer.


Also stencilled some Butterflies and Dragonflies around the box sides with white texture paste and sprinkled on Distress Glitter in 'Clear Rock Candy' - after all those Christmas makes I think I might have withdrawal symptoms if I didn't include some sparkle.

I'm sure you will agree that Nicola's project is absolutely gorgeous and what a fantastic New Year's Resolution ! The new challenge started yesterday so you have plenty of time to join in and with Nicola's further inspiration, I'm sure you'll be itching to get started !

Remember if you would like to join us for a Guest Designer spot all you have to do is join in !

Challenge Winners - Gift Tags and Note Cards

STOP PRESS: We are pleased to announce The Funkie Junkie Boutique now stocks a range of items from Prima, perfect for adding that touch of magic to your projects whether they be Frilly or Funkie. All competitively priced, you can find them HERE.

Welcome to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog for the last time this year. The day has arrived to announce the winners of the 'Gift Tags and Note Cards' challenge. We would like to thank those who took the time to enter. Though there were only a few entries this time they were all beautiful and the Design Team voted for this wonderful entry by #1 Heather A Hudson.

We loved the vintage feel and glittery touches to this festive tag. Congratulations Heather on being our favourite for the 'Gift Tags and Note Cards' challenge and winning the opportunity to be a Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie for a future challenge.

And Random.org has chosen a winner for our $25 gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Our congratulations go to #3 Marilyn S.

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 (Heather) and for the gift certificate details (Marilyn).

We will be back on January 1st 2014 with a brand new challenge and look forward to seeing you all then. In the meantime we wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a creative New Year xxx

Seasons Greetings

Welcome back to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog. For those expecting to see the beginning of a new challenge the Design Team are now taking a short break over the festive period. We'll be back on Wednesday, January 1st 2014 for the start of a new challenge. The winners from the last challenge, 'Gift tags and note cards' will be announced as usual next Monday, December 16th so please check back then to see who the team have picked to join them for a Guest Designer spot next year. The Funkie Junkie Boutique will remain open for business as usual (check Linda's blog for details of any temporary closures).

For those in need of their challenge 'fix' fear not. Linda, The Funkie Junkie, is continuing the '12 Tags of Christmas challenge' over at her blog and has extended the challenge through January 8th (see details HERE). As well as three randomly drawn gift certificates being up for grabs, for those completing the tags there are discount coupons to The Funkie Junkie Boutique too as long as you meet all the requirements for each and every post.

The whole team would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your company during 2013. Your positive reactions and amazing challenge entries mean the world to us. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that for all of you the New Year is a prosperous and creative one.

Friday Focus - Dylusions ink sprays

Hello and welcome to today's Friday Focus ! It's Sue here and today I'm focusing on Dylusions ink sprays and getting thoroughly messy ! What's not to like ?

Dylusions ink spray dyes come in the most vibrant colours and with the latest addition of the White Linen spray, they really are so very versatile.

I decided to do a journal page and show you the different ways you can use these beautiful sprays. I have found that a thicker quality card works well but not too porous as this sucks in the ink, and the colour, which means the vibrancy of the colour is lost. I started by spritzing different colours on to the card to give me a base to work on.

I then used the Wendy Vecchi Polka Dotty stencil and sprayed through it. While the stencil was still wet with the ink, I flipped it over and pressed it on to another area of the card. This way you get both the positive and the negative print, which you can see on the below photo.

I did the same technique again this time using the Yikes Stripes stencil.

As these inks react with water a great technique is to take a paint brush and a stencil and bleach out some of the ink using just water. You can also spray water through a stencil and blot it off with kitchen paper for the same effect.

The inks will also work if you want to stencil using Cut 'n' Dry foam and by pouncing the foam onto the stencil you get a really clear image.

I've also used the Wendy Vecchi 3 Flourishes stencil and drawn around the image with a white pen to make it pop. You may also be able to make out a faint image using the Tim Holtz Shatter layering stencil. To finish the background I used the Tim Holtz Splatters layering stencil with black acrylic paint.

This is my finished page ready to go into my journal. The lettering, apart from the word 'door', has been painted with black acrylic paint and then highlighted with a white pen. The word 'door' is made from letters cut using the WordPlay die, painted black and highlighted with white. The door image has been mounted on Sized Arch die cut and again I've highlighted the edges with a white pen.

The inks also make beautiful backgrounds for cards, and below are a couple that I made after doing this journal page.

 The bleaching effect gives a really subtle, ghost type image and is great to stencil or stamp over.

Combining strong colours really makes them pop and you can bring the colour scheme through to the rest of your project.

I hope you've enjoyed today's Friday Focus as much as I've enjoyed doing it ! As you can tell by the colour of my hands in the photo's it's a really fun product to use !

Remember as a Friday Focus product all the sprays will have 15% discount for this next week so a great time to stock up !

As this is the last Friday Focus for 2013, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year !

Sue
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Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Cindy !

Today we're welcoming Cindy Pointe, of The Creative Pointe, as our Guest Designer. Cindy was the winner chosen by the DT of the Thanksgiving challenge and therefore was asked if she would like to join us as Guest Designer for this challenge.

So, let's move on to what Cindy has to say and also share her fabulous project !

I've been a painter for over 25 years and had hesitated getting into papercrafting as I "already had enough hobbies",  but my sister became a Stampin' Up demonstrator and I received lots of product by helping her out hosting a party and then letting her pay off a washer with stamps! I basically just fiddled around making a few cards now and then.  Since I don't have kids I didn't think I "needed" to scrapbook. That all changed when my sisters, Mom and I created a scrapbook for my Dad's 70th birthday and I really enjoyed it. So...I made scrapbooks for my dogs!  And then for trips. Now I scrap everything that is meaningful to me. A few years ago I got a Cricut to make scrapping easier and then discovered Sure Cuts A Lot. What a revelation! I could make anything I wanted from paper! Now I design SVG files that I offer for free and sell online and host a challenge blog for SVG file users.  I paint, make cards, tags, multi-media pieces and even some jewelry....I love it all!
I have a marketing degree and have worked in the newspaper business for almost 30 years.  I live "up in Northern Michigan" in the woods on a little lake...heaven on earth...with my hubby and bulldog Gus.

 I love the faux chalkboard look that is so popular right now so I decided to create a Christmas gift tag that incorporated that element.  Of course I love to WEAR black and red so it was a "no brainer" to choose those colors for my tag.

I designed the tag so that the "To" and "From" section was on the back, allowing the tag to serve double duty as an ornament after the gift exchange.  For supplies used and step-by-step instructions on this Christmas gift tag, please click over to my blog:  The Creative Pointe.

I'm sure you will agree Cindy's tag is beautiful and will look fabulous on one lucky person's Christmas present ! There's still a few days left to join in with the current challenge which is Gift Tags and Note Cards.

All you need to do is join in to be in with a chance of being the next Guest Designer !

Gift Tags and Note Cards

Welcome back to week two of our latest challenge and thank you to those who have already shared their entries with us.  A quick reminder, we want to see vintage or shabby chic Gift Tags and Note Cards.  You can make one or the other or better still make both since they should be in high demand over the next few weeks with Christmas and all the related gift-giving and festive functions fast approaching.

So now it's time to share some amazing inspiration from the Funkie side of the DT.

Terry - Cards & Creativity

Jenny - Pushing The Right Buttons

Sue Carrington - Stamping Sue Style

Linda Coughlin - The Funkie Junkie

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WEEK ONE

Cec here and I am your hostess for the new two-week challenge starting today here at Frilly and Funkie.  This time we want to see vintage or shabby chic Gift Tags and Note Cards.  You can make one or the other or better still make both since they should be in high demand over the next few weeks with Christmas and all the related gift-giving and festive functions fast approaching.

To enter, create a new project, link it below and you could be chosen as our winner and the next Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie. There is also the chance to win a $25 shopping spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique for one winner chosen at random!

Remember our new rule, you can now combine our challenge with up to 10 challenges in total (including this one) to qualify.

The Frilly side of the DT has created some wonderful inspiration to get you started!

Rebecca Deeprose - PaperPrimrose

Cec Wintonyk - CW Card Creations

We're a little shorthanded on the Frilly side this week and are so fortunate that Kathy Montgomery stepped in to guest design for our team.

Kathy Montgomery - In My Little Corner

Linda Coughlin - The Funkie Junkie

 Multi-purpose - can be used as gift tags or note cards.  

Challenge Winners - Christmas preparations

STOP PRESS; There is a one day  'Cyber Monday' sale on now at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Running from 12.01am EST through 11.59pm EST, December 2nd, use the coupon code cybersale to get a 10% discount on your total order. Grab some bargains and do your festive shopping!!


Welcome to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog for the start of a new week, and the day has arrived to announce the winners of the 'Christmas preparations' challenge. We would like to thank you all of those who took the time to enter. There were some extraordinarily creative and imaginative entries for the team to choose from this time. In the end the Design Team voted for this wonderful entry by #17 Paper Profusion (Nicola).

We loved the amazing attention to detail throughout this wonderful creation. Congratulations Nicola on being our favourite for the 'Christmas preparations' challenge and winning the opportunity to be a Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie for a future challenge.

And Random.org has chosen a winner for our $25 gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Our congratulations go to #14 Sonia Kertznus.

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 (Nicola) and for the gift certificate details (Sonia).

Our current challenge, 'Gift tags and note cards', runs through Tuesday, December 9th. We hope to see you entering this time around so that you too can be in with a chance to win. And remember, you can now 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!