Fab'n'Funky Challenges #171 - Favourite Embellishment

Good Morning,

I hope this Wednesday morning finds you all well with lovely creations just waiting to be made.  Thank you to everyone who joined in for our beady challenge last week.  You really showed how beads can be a great addition to any crafty stash.  The winner and Top 3 have been posted on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog, so why not head on over for a peek! 

So I'm sure you are all waiting to find out our current challenge and boy do we have a great one for you this week.  The amazing Pat K is our host and the theme is...

Favourite Embellishment

So simple - just add your favourite embellishment to your project and tell us about it!  I'm sure this is going to be a popular challenge!

We have a fantastic new sponsor - Dilly Beans.  Their images are really quirky but so useable.  The DT were so lucky to be able to work with some brilliant images and you can see all our work on the Fab'nFunky Challenges blog.

Now without further ado, here is my card...

I started with a 6" square scalloped card blank and made a background using a piece of silver mirriboard.  I embossed using one of the new Cuttlebug embossing folders and then used my Adirondack and Pinflair alcohol inks to add the colours of the rainbow.  As soon as I saw this image on the Dilly Beans site, I immediately thought rainbow colours! 

My image is called Daisy Framed Girl and is available here.  I coloured her with ProMarkers in Ruby, Lipstick Red, Bright Orange, Gold, Canary, Yellow, Forest Green, Grass, True Blue, Cobolt Blue, Plum Preserve and Amethyst.  Once I had finished colouring the flowers, I didn't want to spoil the rest so I've left her black and white.  I really need to get more confidence with my colouring techniques.  I do have another idea in mind for this image so watch this space!

I used a corner rounder to chomp the corners of my background and black layer.  I added my favourite embellishment - gems - to the centre of each of the flowers.  But of course my card wouldn't be complete without a butterfly so added one to the inside...

I used the same technique as the background to make my butterfly but used bigger drops of the alcohol inks.  I cut out using Spellbinders Wonderful Wings and layered with black card again.  My frame was doodled with a Micron pen.  Totally out of my comfort zone but I think that's a good thing, now and again!

I hope you can join us with your favourite embellishments.  Don't forget to tell us why you love them so much.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #170 - Use beads

Hello All,

I hope you are all well and carrying on crafting!  We had a morning of glorious sunshine yesterday and then as soon as I put my washing out, the mist came down!  Typical! 

Fab'n'Funky Challenges are back with another challenge for you but first why not head over to the blog to see our random winners and Top 4 from last week.  We were all pinked out!

I'm your host this week and I've gone slightly out of the box with my theme...

Use Beads

You can use beads in any way you like and there is wonderful inspiration from my teamies on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  They have really done me proud this week. 

We have the brilliant Digi Darla Designs as our sponsor.  Click here to view their amazing artwork.  The DT were so lucky to be able to work with Digi Darla Designs images this week and I chose to use Dandelion Spray.

I'm really pleased with how my card turned out and it is winging it's way to Comrie in Perthshire for my aunty's birthday.  I really hope she doesn't pop in for a look before it arrives! 

I started by making a Spellbinders Grand Labels Twenty Three shaped card blank and then cut a piece of the Teresa Collins Fabrications teal paper using the same die, making an aperture using one of the smaller dies of the same shape.  I took a piece of co-ordinating paper from the same kit and covered with a double sided sticky sheet.  I then attached microbeads all over.  This is the first time I've used microbeads and I think they are really cool.

I printed my digi using Super Smooth Decoupage paper and cut again with Spellbinders Grand Labels Twenty Three.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen and MCS glitter for the flower heads.  My beads in the centre were recycled from old jewellery and I attached with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue. 

Finally I added my bow using silky crush ribbon and a piece of recycled satin ribbon, topping with a Creative Expressions dazzler. 

Once I had made my card, I started on the box for that added wow factor!  I used Centura Pearl cardstock and made a box using the Boxer board with the Crafter's Companion Ultimate Pro.  Using the leftover piece from the frame of the card, I made a topper for my box.  The sentiment was computer generated and finshed off with some more ribbon.

This is a photo that I took on my phone without my Ottlite on and was just astounded by the microbeads!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I really hope you can join us for our beading challenge.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Creative Card Crew #35 - Bling
Let's Craft and Create #69 - One for the Girls
Whimsical Designs  - Bling it Out
Designs by Lisa Somerville - A Female Touch
Allsorts #205 - Add Some Sparkle
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog #51 - Sparkle
The ABC Challenge Blog - M for Make it Sparkle

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #169 - LOTS of Pink

Hi Everyone,

I can't believe we are back to Wednesday again!  Where are these weeks going? - maybe it's just a sign I'm getting older!  I hope you've all had plenty of crafty time over the last few days.  I seriously need to get my crafty stash in order as it is slowly taking over my house!

Thank you to everybody who entered our challenge last week.  We really felt the love!  If you would like to check out the winner and Top 3, head over to the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog now.

Our challenge this week is one that filled me with glee when I saw it!  The brilliant Wendy is our host and I'm sure many of you know I'm partial to some pink on my cards and the theme this week is...

LOTS of Pink

That's right - just use plenty of pink on your project and link it up.  I had so much fun deciding how to incorprate the pinks into my card. 

We also have two great sponsors this week - Lili of the Valley and StampArt Design by Kathryne.  I used a LOTV image called Garden of Wishes and it's the first time I've inked her up...

I started with a 6" square scalloped card blank and then added a piece of star embossed card that I had inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry (my favourite DI colour).  My plain card is piece of Coredinations cardstock and I added three gems to the top right corner.  I bought the ribbon from The Ribbon Kings at the SECC craft fair last year and I love the shimmer it gives. 

I coloured my image with ProMarkers in Satin, Blush, Sunkissed Pink, Vanilla, Pineapple Crush, Soft Green, Cerise, Pink Lobster and Pink Mittens.  To cut my image I used Spellbinders Labels H and then stenciled through the die with the same DI.  I added glitter with a Quickie Glue Pen.  The pink glitter was from Lakeland who used to have a craft range.  The clear glitter was from My Craft Studio.  I attached my topper with foam pads to give dimension.

I really hope you can join us for our Pink extravaganza this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #168 - Love is a Many Splendored Thing

Hi Everyone,

Firstly, apologies for my absence last week - a mega migraine put a stop to everything for a few days so there was no crafting or blogging for me.  I hope you've all had a great week.  We have announced the winners and Top 4 from the last challenge over at Fab'n'Funky Challenges - thank you to everyone who entered. 

We also have some fantastic news - how does some blog candy sound? 

The time has come to celebrate as we have reached 1001 followers!  Wow!  Thank you so much everyone.  We only have one rule - be a follower of the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  Simples!  The prize is amazing so check out the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.

Now on to this week's challenge and we have the talented Ginny as our host with a brand new sponsor for Fab'n'Funky - Floppy Latte Designs.  Ginny has decided that we all need a bit of love and and has chosen a theme to reflect this...

Love is a Many Splendored Thing

You can interpret the theme in any way you like but make sure to show us the love!

Here is my card for this week...

The DT were given so many lovely images and you can see what my teamies have created over on the Fab'n'Funky Challenges blog.  I'm always so amazed by their great ideas.  I chose to use one of the four images from the Valentine's Roundies set (this image is number 2 in the set).  I've given this card a Shetland slant by digitally stamping the word "smoorikins" on the background paper.  A smoorikin is the Shetland dialect word for kiss. 

This is Serif Craft Artist 2 Professional card - I used the scissors tool to cut my material in three and then added to my purple background.  My lace was added next and then I used a copy of the material to make a matt for my main topper by punching from a plain part of the design.  Once all my items were in place I used the shadow tool to make them jump off the page.  My pearls were recoloured with the colour picker and then I used the text tool to add my "smoorikins" with the stamp tool, also changing the colour. 

I really hope you can join us for our love themed challenge.  Don't forget to check out our 1001 followers candy.  All you have to do to enter is to be a follower.  :)

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges ~166 - Spring Colours

Hi Crafting Lovelies,

We are back at Fab'n'Funky Challenges with a brand new theme for you today.  However, we just wanted to thank you for showering us with your entries last week!  See what I did there?!  The winner and Top 3 are up now over on the Fab'n'Funky blog. 

Now onto our current challenge - the awesome Jackie is our host and we are sponsored by the one and only Kenny K who has loads of really fab and quirky images.   

Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer, our theme is...

Spring Colours

Simples!  Just use a colour palette inspired by spring for your project and link up to be in with a chance to win a fab prize from Kenny K. 

The team were so lucky to be able to work with some really awesome images from Kenny K and I chose to use Rock Dude which I actually already had in my digi stash.  This is the perfect image for my brother who is a huge rock music fan.  This is my card...

He's funky alright!  I started by making my matting and layering with My Craft Studio sofware and did this with background papers in yellow, turquoise and blue which I also printed as full sheets to make embellishments.  I coloured my image with ProMarkers in Cyan, Sky Blue, Arctic Blue, Cornflower, Yellow, Lemon, Soft Lime, Blush, Dusky Pink, Pale Pink, Walnut, Cocoa and Caramel.

I found some really great cutting files in the Silhouette software and used this to cut out the Rock & Roll lettering.  The yellow card blank was already in my stash and it just happened to be the perfect size!  I mounted my main image with Hunkydory foam pads to give dimension.

Really hope you can play along with us for our Spring Colours challenge this week.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #165 - April Showers

Hi All,

We were delighted to see so many wonderful boxes last week.  The challenge winner and Top 3 have been posted so head over to Fab'n'Funky Challenges to see if it might be you.

We have another great challenge for you at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.  The brilliant Anne-Marie is our host and she has picked a great seasonal challenge...

April Showers

You can interpret this as you wish but please make sure that your project fits the theme.

We are spoiling you again this week with two sponsors - Flonzcraft and StampArt Design by Kathryne.  Just click on their name to be taken to their stores.

I have another Serif card for you this week.  I'm in the middle of making my brother's wedding invites so haven't been able to dedicate as much time to other crafting as I would have liked.  I hope you like what I have created though...

I thought the bright colours would cheer up the umbrella image.  I started by layering a white background behind the red patterned paper.  I added the strip of blue paper to match the umbrella which I had already colour picked to change it from pink.  Next I added the dotty paper and layered the same white material that I stated with for the background.  This has to be the most useful paper in the Serif range - plain white!  I used a punch to make a layer for my embellishment and then added the bunting, again changing the colour to match.  Once I added my shadows, I was done!

The inside looks like this...

I hope you can join us in the April Showers at Fab'n'Funky Challenges.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fairy Gemstone - Amethyst

Hi Everyone,

Happy Easter to you all.  I hope you've been able to enjoy some chocolate and sunshine.  We have had such great weather lately.  I'm going to cook come summer!

I was having a little experiment with the new Linda Ravenscroft Fairy Gemstones CD-ROM from Card Creations Plus and thought that if took an image into Serif I could use it make matching papers and embellies.  And it worked! 

I used the latest sketch from Sketch Saturday which is another great one...

I changed it up and made a 5" square card instead.  My printer seems to be a bit slow on picking up the images in Serif so my shadowing hasn't shown up so well.  It has also lightened the main backgournd colour so much that it is almost white instead of pink!

I also added an insert with the same bubble pattern.

To finish off I added Tim Holtz Glossy Accents to three of the bubbles on the front.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday #252
Everybody-Art-Challenge #229 - Fairy
Charisma Cardz Challenges #12 - Happy Birthday

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Fab'n'Funky Challenges #164 - Boxed In

Hi Crafties,

We are on Wednesday again!  It'll be summer soon!  Okay, I've really jinxed it now!  I really feel for all the people who have been battling the snow.  We've been so lucky so far and are enjoying some sunshine this week.  It is ever so cold though. 

Fab'n'Funky Challenges are back with a brilliant new challenge.  We have announced last week's winner and Top 3 over on the blog if you fancy checking it out.

For this week, our host is the talented Ciska who always makes the inside count!  Click here to see her wonderful cards.  Ciska has chosen a great challenge and this week we are...

Boxed In

So, we would like you make a box for your project this week.  I'm sure you'll all have lots of fun with this one.  Our sponsors is the fabulous Stamp Fairy.  They have lots of cute digis over on the Stamp Fairy website - click here to head on over.

This is my boxed in project...

I've gone Christmassy!  I started by using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2 Cricut cartridge and cut the box on page 47 in Coredinations cardstock at 11.5".  This one has an interlocking snowflake on top.  My image is from Stamp Fairy and is called Santa World 1.  I used ProMarkers to colour him up in Amethyst, Fuchsia Pink, Blossom, Blush, Satin, Gold and Cocoa.  For the sparkle I added Flower Soft Glitter Frosting and finally attached my image with foam pads.

I really hope you can join us at Fab'n'Funky Challenges to get Boxed In!  Be sure to take a look at my teamies creations.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Pearly Thank You

Hi All,

Another day, another card!  I really should be making wedding invites but this just came to me last night and I had to make it there and then.  It's another Spellbinders card and I have used kraft cardstock again. 

After pink, turquoise is definitely my next favourite colour.  The turquoise colour on this card is from Coredinations cardstock.  I stared with an 8x8 piece and attached to my card blank with double sided sticky tape.  My main layer is kraft cardstock which I embossed with an Embossalicious embossing folder that I had inked with Versamark on the debossed side.  I ran it through the Grand Calibur and then covered in white embossing powder before heating with my heat tool.  I inked around the edge with Broken China Distress Ink from Tim Holtz.  My ribbon is Creative Expressions Silky Crush in gold and Ribbon Kings sheer ribbon in turquoise. 

I used the Spellbinders Grand Decorative Ovals for my base topper and inked again with the DI.  The pearls, from Creative Expressions, were all in one but I cut in half and then added on top.  I used the Spellbinders Standard Ovals Large in Coredinations and kraft for the next layers and stamped the same Thank You sentiment stamp in Broken China again.

I hope you have lovely plans for the weekend.  I'm sure it'll be Monday before we know it!

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Butterfly Delight

Hi Friends,

I'm back with another card and if anyone was watching Ideal World last night you might have seen a sneaky peek!  When I saw all the wonderful embossed cards on the Crafter's Companion Embossalicious Pick of the Day show at 9pm I set about making one of my own!  I emailed in on the 11pm show and they showed it on air!  Mega cheesy grin!  So without further ado, here is the card in question...

Funnily enough I've used the same colours as our current challenge on Fab'n'Funky Challenges - pink, green and brown.  Head on over to the blog to see my teamies inspiration.  We have a great prize from MayzyArt too.

My base is a piece of pink Centrua Pearl cardstock.  I used an 8x8 Embossalicious folder on kraft card for the next layer and it is such a pretty flourish design.  Must use this more often!  My green doilies were cut using a Cheery Lynn die called French Pastry.  The green paper is from the Garden Fairies CD-ROM set by Debbi Moore.  I cut two of the Spellbinders Decagons for my main topper and then added a butterfly from the Spellbinders Les Papillion Two set.  My clear gems are from Create and Craft.  Finally my sentiment is stamped in black and I actually bought this stamp from ebay.  I was really impressed with the quality.  Another great bargain! 

Hope you are all having a great week.  I've totally blown my crafty budget this month with all the great deals on Create and Craft.  Oops!  I can't wait for the post man to bring them to my door.  Has anyone else bought any new goodies lately?  I'd love to see what you've made.

Happy crafting,
Rachel x

Challenges entered:
Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge Blog #72 - Think Spring
My Creative Time - Tic Tac Toe (top line - use a die, embossing and bling)
The Perfect Sentiment PSC71 - Fairies or Butterflies