Guest Designer - Zowie Dixon

Please welcome our Guest Designer for the current challenge, Love is All Around Us.  Zowie Dixon of Crafts from the Fairy Den was the Top Pick from the It's the Holidays challenge.

Hello! my name is Zowie, I found my love of creating art around Eleven years ago, first starting with creating simple scrapbook layouts and then for the last few years working with mixed media and collage. I also love vintage and shabby chic styles of crafting, featuring a lot of old photographs in my artwork. I am so thrilled and honoured to be Guest Designer for TFJB.

Following the 'love is all around' theme, I have created a shabby chic Valentines card. I had this darling vintage image in my craft stash, which I thought would compliment the theme perfectly!

I have used papers from Gecko Galz and keeping with the pink and red colour scheme, I added these beautiful mulberry paper flowers. I have also adhered small wooden numbers to coincide with the date of Valentines day!

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To see all the details of Zowie's very retro Valentine card, just pop on over to her blog post.  When you are finished checking out her creations, come on back and share your project for the challenge.  It runs through 11:55 pm EST on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 and can be found HERE.

Love Is All Around Us

Hi everyone and welcome. Jenny here to host the next of our challenges here at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. With Valentines Day approaching it's time to share a little love. Create something vintage or shabby chic featuring hearts. Here's a few ideas to get you started;

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.

Cec Wintonyk - CW Creations

Sara Emily - sarascloset

Suzanne Czosek - Suzz's Stamping Spot

Maggi Harding - Scrap, Travel & Bark!

Jenny Marples - Pushing The Right Buttons

Now it's your turn to get creating - we'd love to see how you feature those hearts in your designs. Use the link below to enter and be in with a chance of winning.

Saturday Showcase - Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Dies & Stencils

It is Cec here and I am presenting the Saturday Showcase this week and I have made a very shabby tag to share with you - something bright and cheerful since winter has set in.

Like many of you I am waiting for all the new products from Creativation to arrive in the shop so I decided to focus on items we all need or certainly should have in our craft supplies.  I would call inks, stencils and dies staples and most of them are usually available in the shop at all times - if not the ones I used from Tim Holtz but alternatives for sure.

I didn't take process photos at every step but here is how to create this tag:

• Cover the tag with White Gesso

• Using a dry brush add a coat of Blushing Acrylic Paint  Note:  I used the paint because it was on my desk but afterwards I remembered that I had some Abandoned Coral Distress Paint and could have used that as it fit in my colour palette - next time.

• Use a palette knife to add Texture Paste through the Crossed stencil in random areas
• Once the texture paste is dry, spray the tag with Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral and Scattered Straw Distress Spray Stain along with a little White Linen Spray Ink
• Replace the stencil and use a wet towel to remove some of the colour from the stenciled areas

• Cut the small butterfly from the Tattered Butterfly die and ink it with Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral and Scattered Straw Distress Ink
• Add the body to the butterfly and then add some adhesive pearls on top of the body
• Cut a couple flourishes and leaf branches from the Garden Greens die

Now it is time to assemble the tag.

• Start by gluing the flourishes in place
• Build the floral bouquet in the centre - I used flowers from my stash adding stamens to single layer petals in a couple cases
• Tuck some tulle and the leaf branches in and around the flowers
• Add the butterfly popping it up with some dimensional foam that was coloured around the edge using a marker to make it blend in
• Add some dyed seam binding and crochet ribbon to the top  Note:  The seam binding I used came tied to a package from The Funkie Junkie Boutique so I don't know what colour ink was used to dye it but seam binding is a definite must have in your supplies because you can use any of your inks to change the colour to coordinate with your project

So while you anxiously await the new products, I would encourage you to do an inventory of your must have supplies and add the missing ones to your shopping list.  It would not be fun to get a new stamp for example and start to make something special only to discover that you have run out of a product that would make the difference in your desired outcome.  While you are at it, don't forget to stock up on adhesives and tools.

Supplies list:

Note: Sometimes you will see that a product with a message that says  "Email me when Back-in-Stock". That means the item is only temporarily out of stock so be sure to click on the message and then you will find out when it is available.

Tim Holtz Distress Heavystock #8 Tags TDA53828
Dina Wakley Media Mediums - White Gesso MDM41689
Ranger Texture Paste Opaque Matte INK44444
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Blushing, 1oz Bottle
Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Abandoned Coral, Scattered Straw, Worn Lipstick)
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains (Abandoned Coral, Scattered Straw, Worn Lipstick)
Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Ink Spray - White Linen DYC37873
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Crossed THS090
Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Die - Tattered Butterfly by Tim Holtz
KAISERCRAFT Pearls - Self Adhesive - Latte
Artificial Flower Pearlized Stamen - One Bundle
Rayon Seam Binding
May Arts 5/8 Inch Crochet Ribbon - Light Pink
Scor Tape
Ranger Inkssentials Mini Ink Blending Tool - With 4 Blending Foams IBT40965
Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlets Die
Spellbinders Venetian Motifs Die
Tim Holtz Coredinations Paper
Wild Orchid Crafts, Recollections and Dollarama Paper Flowers
Dimensional Foam

Challenge Winners - Tic Tac Toe

It is time to announce our winners for the Tic Tac Toe challenge, our first of the year.  Thank you to all who entered and played our little game.  There were great entries from makers committed to helping the environment with lots of recycled items.

The team has chosen this card by # 11 Veana R. (Veana R.) as the overall winner.  She has layered so many fun elements to create a non-traditional Christmas card that she said made her Mother happy.

Congratulations to Veana 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 #7 Alison Bomber (a.k.a. Butterfly) (Words and Pictures) , #10 Clareene Forbes (In Reene's Room) and #26 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 #28 Lisa Hoel (Creative Juice) ! 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, Repeat Performance can be found HERE and runs through Tuesday, February 4th at 11:55 pm EST so we hope you will join us.

Saturday Showcase -- Tim Holtz Bouquet Thinlits by Sizzix

Hi everyone and welcome to another Saturday Showcase, the Design Team's opportunity to share tutorials and shine a spotlight on products available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique with you. Our current challenge is 'Repeat Performance', and my Design Team project is a candy box made with Tim Holtz Curio Box and featuring his new Chapter 1 Bouquet Thinlits dies and a couple of items I salvaged from the trash can! I fell in love with the Bouquet die from the the first cut I made with it!

Following is a tutorial showing the steps I took to make my candy box, but first I have  a few close up shots to share. I don't show the assembly of the box in this tutorial, but it's pretty straight forward once you cut the pieces or you can watch Tim's video for a demo.

 If you read on to the end of this post, you'll see a few more ideas on how you can use what I call The Little Black Dress of dies.

Let's get started...

Click on any photo to enlarge.

With the Bouquet Thinlits die, cut some pieces of plain card stock that will fit the top and sides of the completed Curio Box. The pattern is intricate,  so I find that it's best to use the Chrome Precision Plate and the wire brayer from Sizzix Mini Tool Kit to make fast work of getting all those little bits out. I purposefully left some of the smaller pieces in the flowers of the  die cuts that would go on the side just for fun.

Having cut the Curio Box top, I used the larger oval Thinlit that comes with the Curio Box set to cut an aperture from the lid and the Bouquet die cut piece that will fit on top.

The Bouquet pieces were glued to the top (and sides of the lid -- not pictured) using Distress Collage Medium Matte. I brushed the collage medium on the box lid, stuck the intricate die cut down, and gave it another good coat of collage medium. Once fully dry, I trimmed the pieces with my scissors. I repeated with the edges.

Our challenge calls for us to use something that we would normally throw in the trash on our projects, and I salvaged this wrapping from the extended plates my daughter just sent me for my birthday. Using another of the Thinlits dies from the Curio Box set, I cut a window for my box from the thin, but strong plastic film and stuck it on the inside of the lid with collage medium.

 To give this more of a finished look, I cut another oval from a panel to fit the inside over the film. This also ensures the film won't move and makes the lid more sturdy.

Once the lid was covered with the Bouquet die cuts, assembled and the window was in place, I painted the exterior of the lid with black gesso, taking care to get good coverage. In retrospect, this would have been easier to do before adding the window film.

Next, out of Rose Gold Metallic 2 Kraft Stock, I cut an oval using the two oval dies that come with the Curio Box and the bottom of the box using the Biz die from the set. I sanded the pieces and applied Black Soot Distress paint, then sprayed with water, moving the paint around on the surface. I dried with a heat tool until most of the paint was dry and used a clean paper towel to blot up the remaining wet paint. I repeated this until I was happy with it, trying for an aged copper look.

Here is the bottom of the box when it was completed and assembled.

I cut a second oval from black fun foam, used collage medium to adhere it to the first, and then glued the stacked pair in the aperture on the lid. Before adhering the frame to the aperture, I used my finger to swipe the lid with Vintage Silk wax. (I forgot to take a photo before I glued the oval in place.)

These plastic ties were rescued from the kitchen trash can. After washing them and straightening them as best as I could with my heat tool and a static stretch, I gave them a good coat of black gesso. When dry, I dripped them with Celestial Alcohol Pearls. These were glued around the raised frame. One section just would not adhere, so this is where I placed the embellishments.

My simple embellishments include an Idea-ology Typed Token topped with an Idea-ology Mirrored Heart. The token was in my stash, already colored with Mushroom Alcohol ink. I swiped it with Black Soot paint and wiped it off the surface, leaving the paint to darken the recessed type.

A drop of alcohol pearl is all it took to color the Mirrored Heart.

That being finished, I made  a couple of quick cards using the Bouquet Thinlits die.

I had a tall skinny card in my stash with a background I made quite awhile ago. It's a yellow Distress Oxide background, but I'm not exactly sure of the color(s) I used. While Bouquet is designed to fit a standard card, it has no cutting blades on the ends, so you can make a continuous cut the length of your paper/card to fit a larger card or background. I trimmed white card stock to fit my existing card and made a pass in my die cut machine making an initial cut. After making the first cut, I lined up the bottom of the die to the top of the cut and made a second cut.

You can see the pattern is not continuous; I've marked the abutment with my scissors in the photo below. It's not terribly noticeable, but with some strategic placement of elements you can minimize it further.

While I auditioned a pair of Wildflower Stems and a portion of  Christmas Circle Words Thinlits die, in the end, I decided to use one Tim's new Bunny Hop Thinlits die cuts along with a Metallic Quotations Sticker. I used another die from the Circle Words to complete my sentiment. See how nicely the sticker hides the change in pattern, even on close inspection?

For my second card featuring Bouquet, I used more of the Rose Gold kraft stock and alcohol inks.

The butterfly wings are from my stash, and I gave them a new body (Flutter Framelits) and antennae made from a tiny shred of the metallic card (rescued from the trash, of course!). I made the embellishment using the Circle Words set again -- I love that this seasonal product can be used year round!

 I had a great time playing with other Bouquet die cut samples, coloring them with Distress oxides, inks and crayons, but I think this post is long enough. The options are endless, and this is why I call this die The Little Black Dress of dies! If you can only afford one of Tim's wonderful new dies, I would suggest this one for it's versatility for card makers or mixed media makers.

So that wraps up another Saturday Showcase! I hope you've found some inspiration from my play with this wonderful die! There's still time to play along in our Repeat Performance challenge, and you can link up your project HERE. Thanks for stopping by! Sara Emily

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

Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Bouquet
Sizzix Chapter 1 Bigz XL Die w/Thinlits Die by Tim Holtz - Curio Box
Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Bunny Hop
Sizzix Chapter 3 Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Circle Words, Christmas 664205 by Tim Holtz
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 5PK - Wildflower Stems #1 by Tim Holtz
Sizzix Framelits Die Set 20 PK - Flutter by Tim Holtz
Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Metallic 2 Kraft Stock 
Dina Wakley Black Gesso
Prima Art Alchemy by Finnabair-Opal Magic Wax-Vintage Silk
Distress oxides
Distress inks -- Black Soot Cracked Pistachio
Distress paint Black Soot
Alcohol pearls -- Celestial Sublime Tranquil
Alcohol inks - Mushroom Teakwood
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Quotations Metallic Stickers
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Typed Tokens
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mirrored Hearts
Sizzix Accessory - Chrome Precision Base Plate for Thinlits
Sizzix Sidekick Accessory - Mini Tool Kit

Guest Designer - Ann Barnes

It is time to introduce our Guest Designer for the Repeat Performance challenge.  Please say hello again to Ann Barnes of aksbarchitect CREATES.

Hello again everyone, I am Ann Barnes (a.k.a. aksbarchitect) from aksbarchitect CREATES. I am honored to have earned this second opportunity to be guest designer for the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog's current challenge with my lovely leaves project.

I have always loved creating things. From the time I was young, I loved drawing and using my imagination to envision structures. I admire all the fine details and figuring out how things go together. This passion for creativity set my path to becoming an architect, as well as my love of art. I have a wonderful family who inspire me everyday to be the best that I can be. Most often I can be found in the studio getting inky, enjoying a walk in nature or spending time with my family. Today I am sharing "sweet repeat", a valentine treat box.

I was so excited to learn the theme for the current challenge, hosted by Sara Emily. I often find myself holding onto items to give them a second use. There are so many things these days that go to waste, so I try to do my part to utilize scraps and packaging as often as possible. Repeat Performance asks us to use at least one thing on our project that we would normally throw out. I had a number of shirt boxes that were ripped open during the holidays, I thought these would make the perfect base for valentine treat boxes, made with the new curio box die. I incorporated a window in the boxes and use the plastic packaging that the die came in for the clear surface.

I have all of the details for this "sweet repeat" over on my blog today, I hope you can check it out. ~Ann

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Once again Ann has created a wonderful project for the challenge so once you have checked all the details, come on back and share your creation that includes a recycled item normally headed for the garbage - don't forget to tell us what you used in your post.  To enter the challenge just click HERE - it is open until 11:55 pm on February 4th.