Friday Focus - Pion Design

Hello everyone. It's the end of another week and time for a Friday Focus here at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog. I've created a card with some of the beautiful papers from Pion Design - you will get a 15% discount on all papers for this coming week at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!!

This project used a vintage image from the full size version (12x12") collection called 'Alma's Sewing Room' and the rest of the papers are from the 6x6" 'Alma's Sewing Room'. I really adore working with these fabulously vintage and romantic papers. I had seen a very interestingly folded card style on Marianne Skjelstad's blog a while ago and had to do some extensive hunting to find the project that had stuck so firmly in my mind's eye! Here is my card.


I wanted to work with all the wonderful papers and scaled down tags and ribbon or thread cards and those wonderful antique button cards that are included in this collection! Marianne's adorable card was my inspiration. Here it is below...
 
I just stared and stared at the card construction. Unfortunately, there was no tutorial, so I folded and fidgeted until I came up with something that looked like the basic design above. Here are some details from my card and then I will share how I did it...
 
This vintage image just captured me. In sepia tones, with a touch of pale blue, it worked so well with the Pion papers. I mounted the image onto a sheet of card stock in smokey blue and then white card stock that was punched for some undulating edges. Rather than placing this tag into the bottom folds of the card, I inserted the entire tag into the four corners...
 
The lower left corner is embellished with some fabulous antique button and sewing cards. As the 6x6 collection is identical to the 12 x 12" collection in every way except it's size, these little cards are perfect card embellishments! I found some tiny doll buttons and gave them some color with alcohol markers...


The lower right corner is embellished with two 'Spool Cotton' cards, wrapped with embroidery floss and 2-ply silk thread...
 
The upper right corner has two small sewing tags and a paper flower (again, colored with an alcohol marker)...
 
The forth corner has a shaped thread card, wrapped with 1/4" silk ribbon (colored with an alcohol marker) and an adorable, tiny wooden spool, wrapped in the same white silk ribbon. I made a 'butterfly' of some embroidery floss to complete this corner...
 
When the central tag is removed, this is how the card appears.  The tag keeps the front flaps closed!...
 
The inside of the card is lined with a wonderful paper of blue roses, cut down to 5-3/4" square, to fit the 6x6" space of the back panel. There is a close-up of it below...
 
The back of the card was embellished with a 2" wide strip of card stock, adhered to the paper behind the punched edges to accentuate the design...
 
Now for the nuts and bolts! Begin with a 12 x 12" piece of card stock. Score it at 3" and 9" in both directions...
 
Next, select a 'Round the Page' set of punches, if desired. The photo below shows my second punched paper, which will go into another project. I used a simpler, more classic scalloped design for this card...


It's helpful to punch your corners first, before punching the straight edges...
 
The corners should be scored, lining up the horizontal and vertical score lines onto the same line on your score tool. A sharpie marker was used to create a contrasting line on my board. It makes it easier to follow the vertical line...
 
Fold the four corners to the same side and then flip the paper over and fold two edges to the wrong side of the card. The center section of the photo above, creates the back of the card. Flip your card over again and fold the two ends to the right side of the card...
 
The image above is the face of the card, waiting to be embellished and the 4 corners, ready to hold an image or tag. The possibilities are vast and I'm eager to make many versions of this card!

Don't forget, there's 15% discount on all Pion Design papers for this coming week at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Thanks for joining me today and I wish you all a wonderfully crafty weekend!

((hugs)) and Blessings,
Rebecca

Pion Design Paper 6x6" - Alma′s Sewing Room

Pion Design Paper - Alma′s Sewing Room 12x12" Scrapbooking Paper

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen

Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator, Stamp Handle and Felt

Mini Wooden Spools - 3/8" Tall

Stencils and Texture

Sue here again, your host for this fortnight. We're back for Week Two of the latest challenge, 'Stencils and texture', here at Frilly and Funkie. Stencils have become a firm favourite of mine and are really popular in the crafting world now.  So, for this challenge let's see you use your stencils on your projects but also lets see some texture too!  This can be embossing, texture paste or even fabric.  But most of all have fun!

If you'd like a chance of winning a Guest DT spot here at Frilly and Funkie or a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, you must create a new project, link it below and make sure you add a link in your post back to this challenge. You can combine our challenge with up to 10 challenges (including this one) to be in with a chance of winning.

It's the turn of the Funkie side of the DT to give you some more ideas so that you too can join in!

Jenny Marples (Buttons) - Pushing The Right Buttons

Trace Metcalfe - inkypinkycraft

Sue Carrington - Stamping Sue Style 

Linda Coughlin - The Funkie Junkie

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WEEK ONE

Hello! It's Sue here and it's my turn to host the next challenge. Stencils have become a firm favourite of mine and are really popular in the crafting world now.  So, for this challenge let's see you use your stencils on your projects but also lets see some texture too!  This can be embossing, texture paste or even fabric.  But most of all have fun!

If you'd like a chance of winning a Guest DT spot here at Frilly and Funkie or a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, you must create a new project, link it below and make sure you add a link in your post back to this challenge. You can combine our challenge with up to 10 challenges (including this one) to be in with a chance of winning.

So, let's see what the Frilly side of the DT have to get your creative juices flowing!

Cec Wintonyk - CW Card Creations

Nancy Dynes -Tattered Treasures

Rebecca Deeprose ~ Paper Primrose

Linda Coughlin - The Funkie Junkie

We look forward to seeing where your creativity leads you!  Whether you are a Frilly or a Funkie crafter we hope you will join us for this challenge because we would love to see what you create. You may upload your vintage style project at any time. If you are using a public forum, please use keyword F&F. Don't forget to provide a link back to our challenge in your post and please, please, please be sure to turn off your Word Verification so our design team can leave comments on your blogs.

Challenge Winners - Bloomin' Marvellous

Welcome to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog for the start of a new week, and it's time to announce the winners of the 'Bloomin' Marvellous' challenge. As ever, thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter. There were some absolutely gorgeous blooms on show for this challenge and although we often say it, this reall was a close run vote by the Design Team. In the end the highest number of votes went to this super entry by #22 Julie Lavalette.

Julie went to town on this, creating a vast range of incredibly lifelike flowers to replicate those porcelain ornaments you may have seen in many homes. A visit to her blog to see each of these flowers close up is highly recommended so you can appreciate the attention to detail Julie lavished on them. Congratulations Julie on being our favourite for the 'Bloomin' Marvellous' 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 #6 Patricia (aka 'Summerhouse Crafts').

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 (Julie) and for the gift certificate details (Patricia).

Our current challenge, 'Stencils and texture', runs through Tuesday, March 11th. 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 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!

Saturday Step by Step: A Shabby Mini Album

Hello and happy Saturday to everyone! It's my favorite day of the week, and this one is even more exciting because I have the pleasure of bringing you the step by step here at the Frilly and Funkie Blog. 

I should probably begin by telling you about my love of antiques. I volunteer as a docent at an 1808 Charleston mansion. One of my favorite displays is the hand written music book that belonged to one of the daughters. It holds a dear place in my heart, with its stains and mildew spots, a treasure that has withstood most of the ravages of the past 200 years. Today we will journey back in time, taking something new and creating a photo album that looks like it has been around for a couple of centuries.

 We begin with a book. I purchase my crafting books from a used book store at the bargain price of three for a dollar. Step 1: demolition. Rip off the covers. Yes, just rip them off! Keep the covers for later use. You can create some amazing things with the covers.

Once your covers are removed they will look something like the above photo. Now it is time to start disassembling your books. Remove the blank pages at the front and back, carefully separating them.

Next rip out a section of your book that will become your album. I made mine about 15 pages for the purpose of this tutorial, but you can make them any size you like. When you pull them off, be sure the glue from the back is intact to your section. You don't want your album pages falling apart on you.    

Let the aging begin! I do this by buying the cheapest store brand instant coffee available and mixing it with some hot tap water. Submerge your paper and book sections fully. I don't leave them in for long. Just enough time to be sure everything is saturated. Sometimes you need to separate a few of the pages to wet them down fully. I give the book sections a squeeze at the end to make them more wrinkled and remove the excess coffee.  

After they are stained I bake them in the oven at 225 degrees on a foil covered baking sheet until they are dry, turning once during the process. The blank pages dry quickly. The thick sections take a bit longer. I open those up in the center and spread them out to facilitate drying. Keep checking on them and don't walk away from your kitchen while baking paper. The photos below are the end product of the staining technique. They have blemishes and imperfections, which is exactly what you want. I add even more character to my blank pages by running the Tim Holtz distress tool along the edges. 

 Begin separating your book into sections of fairly equal size. My sections are 5 pages each, giving my album a front, back, and two center sections. I  glue each section of 5 pages together, then cover the front, back, and  middle sections with the blank stained pages. When applying your blank stained pages, leave about an inch of the long side of the page un-adhered. Use this space to glue in strips of lace as embellishment.

Gather up some pretty laces and distress stains. Linda has a marvelous selection at the Funkie Junkie Boutique. I find that lace accepts the distress stain better than the coffee I use on the paper. Wet your lace down with plain water and liberally apply distress stain. I use antique linen and old paper. Once your lace drys you will adhere it into the edges of your album. It will look something like the photo below. 

  

 Next I did a bit of stamping with Tim Holtz distress ink and some favorite stamps.

 Now it's time to gather some pretty papers. I chose Maja's Vintage Summer Basics. I did some artistic tearing for my front and back covers, and cut the middle sections to just below the size of my album pages. I did the same coffee staining process with my Maja papers, finishing the edges with the distress tool.

I found the perfect way to display my photos! Tim Holtz cabinet cards! I love them! Below are a few photos of my completed pages. I kept my album simple, but you can be as elaborate as you like. 

I distress stained and adhered some rosette lace to the spine of my album. I decided I wanted a few more embellishments on my cover. I made a small tag using a stamped image and Maja papers, added a vintage cluster earring, tied it all together with some additional stained lace, and tucked in these sweet vintage images to finish it all off.

Thank you so much for visiting the Frilly and Funkie Blog today. With my fingers now happily covered in ink and stain, I send my wishes to you for a wonderful and crafty weekend! 

Hugs,

Nancy 

Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet	Tim Holtz Ranger Idea-ology Sanding Grip	Ranger Inkssentials Wonder Tape - 1/4"	Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Summer Basics
Maja Design Paper - Vintage Summer Basics Sheets (16-30)	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Old Paper	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Venise Lace Trim - 1.875 Inches
Ivory/White Jute Twine	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Cabinet Cards