Pink and Chocolate Brown

A nice sweet card for the Forever Friends sketch challenge. I've used a Forever Friends image printed from the freebie cd I got a few months ago in Papercraft Inspirations magazine, cut it out with a nestie and then layered it onto papers from Huge Funky Love download from Funky Hand.

I've used some thin chocolate brown organza ribbon to empasis the stripes on the paper and tied them in bows at the bottom as I didn't have a suitable sentiment to hand when I made the card!

The flowers are from a pack from a bargain shop and they do stand up a little although it doesn't show on the photo. A bit of inking and the card is complete!

• Image: Forever Friends from a freebie craft cd


• Papers: Huge Funky Love download from Funky Hand


• Everything else: My stash

Two for One

Now this is an easy sketch for this weeks Papertake Weekly - just how I like them, but it took me all week to get my act together and make a card for it. So when I did, I made two!

I bought the two Jolly Nation decoupage ladies both on one sheet) a while ago and had already layered up the shopping one but didn't do anything with it. So inspiration struck yesterday afternoon (the boys were playing in the back garden having a water fight -I know and its February - bad mother eh?! But it kept them amused for 45 mins!!) and I knocked out these two cards using the above sketch.

The first card uses scraps from my scrap box - Patti Picklicious and a printed vellum which I am suspecting is Huge Funky Love from Funky Hand. The backing papers are actually a lovely pearlescent thick paper from the Scrap Store and I've run them through different Cuttlebug embossing folders.

The next one has a random green backing - one I made earlier for something else and so I can't remember who or what it is! Spotty printed papers are again Patti Picklicious from Kirsty Wiseman. And the green ribbon is not really ribbon but a twill kind of thing and frays just by looking at it!

So two cards to list on my website over the next day and they will also be in the basket of Mothers Day cards at nursery.

• Backing papers: Various
• Images: Jolly Nation decoupage
• Everything else: My stash
  
  

PS This will be the first of 3 posts tonight as I forgot to blog some cards yesterday. Doh! And the boys have not come down with hypothermia - nice hot bubble bath after their playing out and then watched Karate Kid on telly. Well, we may not get a summer, so they might as well have a water fight earlier in the year just in case!!

Pink, Brown, Cream & Toffee

For the Charisma Cardz challenge this week which is a colour combination of:

Pink, Brown, Cream and Coffee

I've used a tag that I made ages ago and turned it into a card. All the papers - the backing one has been printed onto vellum are from Huge Funky Love download from Funky Hand. The little image stamp I think is Hero Art and I've chalked the edges.

Everything else is from my stash.

Not sure if the card needs a sentiment or not, so have left it without for the time being! I did actually read the challenge as coffee instead of toffee, so if it had been coffee, then this card is perfect!

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love download from Funky Hand
• Stamp: Hero Arts (I think)
• Everything else: My stash
  

Baby Giraffe

The Cute Card Thursday was an easy one for me this week!

This week we want to see you use a tag, make a tag card, basically we want to see a tag somewhere on your creation!

Only easy because I have a number of ready made tags all waiting to be added to cards! I found this one in the box and because I am a bit short of baby cards I used this one. The tag is a super sized Sizzix scallop die cut using papers from the Huge Funky Love download. The cute giraffe has been coloured with watercolour paints and I think it was sent to me by Jozza. Ribbon, buttons and flowers are all from my stash.

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love
• Dies: Sizzix Super Sized Scallop Tag
• Image: Sent to me by Jozza and coloured with watercolour paints
• Everything else: From my stash
  
  

Have Your Cake And Eat It!

The Secret Crafter Challenge for this week is:

Have your cake and eat it!

For the first time ever, I've actually printed directly onto the card stock - I've used Pink Petticoat Big Mini Dots download (had to trim the card a little for the margins). And I did say that I'd be doing the cupcakes again! Made them the same way as before, but this time cut, what I hope will look like, bites out of the cake (although husband said it look like a rat had gnawed them....)




And I've added a co-ordinating strip of card to back the cupcakes onto and the obligatory brown satin ribbon.

I was thinking of adding a sentiment underneath but couldn't decide on what. So will leave it blank until I reach that decision!

• Card stock: Big Mini Dots download from Pink Petticoat
• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love
• Template: From Simply Cards and Papercrafts magazine (thanks to the person who pointed it out to me in the previous post!)
• Ribbon: From my stash

Cakes at Tea Time

The Tag! You're It challenge this week is:

Time for tea!

So here is what I made! The cupcakes have been cut using free templates from a recent craft magazine (I can't remember which one - sorry!) but I cut them slightly larger than the pencil line. The papers are still off cuts from Huge Funky Love (I can't bear to throw any papers away!) and I've inked the edges in Chestnut Whispers ink and also a little pink ink pad.

I bought some clear / iridescent glitter glue over the weekend which adds a really nice touch to the top of the cupcakes!

The tag is a super sized Sizzix Scallop tag which has been cut from lightly hammered ivory card, edges inked again and I've chalked it too as it was a bit stark. Sentiment is stamped with Whispers Chestnut ink and I've used my little wooden Studio G alphabet stamp set. Ribbon from my stash.

The little cupcakes were really easy to make so I think I'll be attempting these again!

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love
• Template: Freebie from a craft magazine
• Dies: Sizzix Super Sized Scallop tag
• Sentiment: Studio G mini wooden alphabet stamp set
• Ribbon: From my stash
  
  

Welly and Flowers

The Pink Elephant challenge this week is to use the following colours:

Pink, Green and Brown

And all I can say is that this was a pure Eureka moment! I was really struggling of how to add green into a card when I remembered I had this welly template from Craftwork Cards. And wellies are green! Add some flowers (pink and brown of course) and ta-dah! Challenge met!

The green card is from my stash and I've chalked it vigorously to give it some definition and highlights. I really enjoy using chalks - it takes me back to when I was at college and used a lot of charcoal and chalks when I did life drawing classes.

The flowers have been cut using my lovely Cuttlebug flowers die and the papers are yet more off cuts from Huge Funky Love - the card candy is from Craftwork Cards.

And this card will be for my Mum for Mothers Day - so organised eh?!

• Template: Craftwork Cards
• Backing papers: Green for the welly - my stash, flowers - Huge Funky Love
• Dies: Cuttlebug flowers
• Card Candy: Craftwork Cards
  

Glitter, Smirk Girls & Ribbon

The Sketch and Stash current challenge is:

And I have used one (I bought 4!) of my new fabulous Smirk stamps - I bought them a few weeks ago and they have been sat on the table just waiting to be used! I've used Whispers Chestnut ink on the stamp and have added a bit of glitter glue to the dresses and shoes. The sentiment is actually on the bottom of the stamp but I did a bit of masking (sellotape) so I could separate it from the image.

I've also inked the edges of the papers and card - the papers are again left overs from a previous project and are from Huge Funky Love (have you realised just how much I like these papers!)

Ribbons are from my stash - the pink is from a pack of pre cut and scored card blanks and the eyelets are from a new pack of Papermania metallic eyelets.

I am really pleased how this card has turned out - I think its the papers that makes it!

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Stamp & Sentiment: Smirk
• Brads: Papermania
  
  
  

Sketches by Tamara - Butterflies

The Sketches by Tamara challenge this week is:

And this came together so easily! Again, scraps and left over bits of card in my stash were used - the yellow / green strips are from It's Funky Too and the pink strips are from Huge Funky Love. They have sort of been randomly cut but not too much to look out of place. Edges have been inked with pink or green ink and then worn black as the colours were a bit too bright for my liking.

The butterflies were a freebie pack from the Do Crafts magazine an issue or two ago and I thought they were too pretty just to sit in the packet!

Get me with the fancy arty shot eh?! The lighting was a bit pants yesterday so I struggled a little - believe it or not, but these photos were taken in front of a huge french window at 1:30pm with white card reflectors and still the lighting is flat. Just can't win!

The sentiment stamp was a 4 block one from Mad About Cards - the sentiment is in 4 different fonts.

There was one butterfly left over from the pack and I used that on another challenge - will show that in a day or two!

• Backing paper: It's Funky Too and Huge Funky Love from Funky Hand
• Sentiment: 4 sided stamp from Mad About Cards
• Butterflies: Freebie Dovecraft embellishments from a recent Do Crafts magazine

Cuppa Tea?!

I made these tags quite easily! I'd borrowed the cup stamps from Lynsey (Hero Arts) which I really liked and wanted to use them on something but thought that they may be a bit lost on a card as they are quite small.

I've used Chestnut Whispers ink to stamp them, inked the edges of the card and also chalked them too.
The ribbon is the lovely chocolate brown satin stuff that I bought a huge amount of but I just could not get it to look right or flat enough tied through the top of the tag, so this is what I ended up with - a sort of loose tie-ish look! The buttons were from a lovely bargain pack from B & M Bargains a while ago and the craft wire is from my stash and I've haphazardly curled it. Only haphazardly as I used scissors and couldn't get it the same twice!

And you'll never guess where the backing paper came from! Huge Funky Love download - these are off-cuts from a previous project!

• Backing paper: Huge Funky Love download
• Dies: Sizzix Scalloped Tags - middle sized used
• Stamped images: Hero Arts (stamps kindly loaned by Lynsey - thanks!)
• Ribbon: Ribbon Oasis
• Buttons: From my stash but originally B & M Bargains
• Craft wire: From my stash
  
  

Penny Black Sketch Challenge # 36

The Penny Black challenge this week is a sketch:

Which I have flipped to create this:

Apologies again for the weird shadows - halogen lights in the kitchen... The image was sent to me by Kath in a recent Funky Hand team image swop which I have coloured with watercolour pencils (and I don't think a particularly good attempt either - there is something that I'm not happy about, but don't know what..) All the papers are off-cuts from word books made with Huge Funky Love download - the taupe coloured backing paper is actually vellum whilst the rest are printed onto thick white card.

All edges have been inked with Chestnut Whispers. The card candy is from Craftwork Cards and the ribbon is from the never ending spool that I bought from Ribbon Oasis. I deliberately left a longer tie on the ribbon towards the bottom of the card, so it gives a sense of gravity. Hehehhe! You know what I mean though, don't you?!

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love download
• Image: In a swop from Kath
• Card Candy: Craftwork Cards
• Ribbon: Ribbon Oasis
  
  

How Long Can A Wordbook Be?!

Here is a wordbook made with the new Funky Hand download - Huge Funky Love. I made this for a work colleague who was moving departments, so I didn't want to make a leaving card as such, more of a good luck in your new job card!

I had to overlap the letters more than a traditional word book with fewer letters so I could fit them all on, and I've re sized the elements as the download is in jpeg format so you are able to make them as big or small as you wish.


I've not embellished the insides of the pages as it would have been too bulky but the letters have been. I've used ribbon from my stash in pink and chocolate brown and card candy from Craftwork Cards. I've used an eyelet setting tool to make the holes at the spine and then tied chocolate brown organza ribbon through.

It actually was a fairly quick card to make, which is a good job because I've since made a further two!

• Backing paper and word book elements: Huge Funky Love download from Funky Hand
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Card Candy: Craftwork Cards
  
  

A Bit of Romance

I've not managed a Penny Black Challenge for a while but just had to join in with this one!



This week it is:

Romance

This week the challenge is sponsored by Funky Hand - you too could get your mitts on the fantastic Huge Funky Love download (but only if you enter!) And these are the very same papers! What a coincidence eh?!




So, all the papers are from Huge Funky Love - the edging around the image are actually hearts from the same papers and the flower at the top is also made from the hearts and is there to hide a splodge of ink as I was not paying sufficient attention when inking the edges!

I've watercoloured the image and then gone over it a bit with watercolour pencils and used a compass to get the right sized circle. The image was sent to me by my fellow Funky Hand DT mate Kath in a recent image swop that we took part in. And the ribbon is from the seemingly never ending 90 odd metres spool I bought!

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love download
• Image: Penny Black coloured with watercolour paints and pencils
• Ribbon: From my stash
  
  
  

Errrm, It's A Big One!

The Tag - You're It Challenge this week is a sketch:

And I ended up making a rather large tag! I'd already cut the tiny scallop tags for another project but didn't end up using them, so not wanting to waste them, I decided that the tag would just have to work around them! All the papers and vellum have been printed with the 6 papers from Huge Funky Love, which I really do like the colour combo (plus gives me the excuse to use some more of the luscious brown satin ribbon!)

All edges have been inked with bright pink ink and then again with Chestnut Whispers. The brads are from my stash and the sentiment is one of the block type with 4 different fonts of the same sentiment on, and I've used Chestnut Whispers again.

The flowers on the little tags have been cut with the Cuttlebug Flowers die and layered. The centres are card candy from Craftwork Cards (you get an awful lot for a quid!)

• Backing paper: Huge Funky Love
• Dies: Sizzix Scallop tag combo (smallest used) and Cuttlebug Flowers
• Brads: From my stash
• Ribbon: Ribbon Oasis
  

Huge Funky Love - Trio Card Set

Here are three cards I have made using the new Funky Hand download - Huge Funky Love. Primarily the download is comprised of a full alphabet and numbers for to make word and number books, but there are also 6 pages to print at A4 which are the different backing papers.


So, I've just printed them out (actually re sized them to B5 as I wanted a smaller pattern) directly onto cardstock (lightly hammered ivory card) and inked the edges with bright pink ink and Chestnut Whispers. The ribbon is from my stash, along with the heart brads. The slightly odd shaped square is a Cuttlebug 2inch die - concentric square and I've used the largest square from the cut each time.


The heart is the Sizzix Primitive Hearts die - the larger one I've cut from card with two smaller ones cut from vellum and fringed.

Quite simple cards and I like the simplicity of it all and the colours just work so well!

Styling courtesy of my parents back window sill. My windows are never that clean nor the sills that crumb free with two monkeys!

• Backing paper: Huge Funky Love
• Dies: Sizzix Primitive Hearts and Cuttlebug concentric square
• Ribbon & Brad: From my stash
  

Huge Funky Love

Just look what Anice has released:
The new download collection is called Huge Funky Love and you get loads! It's primarily a word book collection - all 26 letters plus numbers 0 to 9, AND 6 A4 sized backing papers so you can print on the reverse of the pages. And with it all being in jpeg format, you can resize all the elements to suit your project. The colours are really beautiful and remind me of chocolate and candy floss!


So here is my first example - I made this for Lynsey's birthday last week and its a 31 Birthday card. I'd resized the letters and cut them out for the front of the card.


Sorry about the brightness of the photos but weather has been rubbish for photo taking!

I've got a few more projects on the go using this download so will share them later in the week once I've taken some daylight photos of them.

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love download
• Ribbons: All from my stash
• Brads, gems & eyelets: All from my stash