The Funkie Junkie Bonus Tag #2

Before I show my tag(s) I want to say a huge thank you to Linda from the Funkie Junkie for organising this great seasonal challenge and for providing us with such fabulous inspirational tags to work with. I seem to have lost the ‘need’ to join in general challenges but I really enjoy looking at a project  (like Linda and Tim Holtz provide), reading how it is made taking it apart in my head and then using it as a creative starting point to make my own piece of art. Sometimes I ‘case’ the ideas and design, other times I go completely off at a tangent but whatever the outcome I have enjoyed the process and learnt something about the art or myself.

I love the snow flurries on the edge die, I only bought mine this year, so when Linda used it on her last tag I knew I wanted to use it too. I started with that as my main inspiration but also her larger tag, making mine into a match book thank you card. Like Linda I used some embossing paste through a stencil and the marbling technique using distress stains.

This project also gave me another opportunity to use the clearly for art and frosted film combination and I heated the snow flurries border after I had blended distress paint over it to create some fabulous wintry dimension.

Like Linda I also used some small snowflake stamps and embossed them in silver both on the outside …..

……. and on the inside.

I also used Tim’s simple sayings, stamping two of them in pine needles DI and covering them with silver EP which created this fabulous look.

I cut up a size 8 tag to create the mini one to sit in the pocket.......

...... and am keeping the card closed with a couple of TH mini paper clips.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extended this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

That's it I have now completed all 14 and have loved the whole experience. Thanks again Linda you have  given me lots of inspiration and it's been such a pleasure joining you on this journey.

I shall be away from my work desk now for nearly two weeks, but I hope to be creating and making as I am staying with my sister. AS long as the lap top allows me to do what I need I shall be around.

Dream your artistic dream.

hugs {brenda} xox

Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas #12

Yay I’ve made all 12 of the Funkie Junkie tags this year and made myself a card for each one. All the other 11 have been given out so this constitutes my first Christmas card for 2014 (never been known before lol).
Please pop over to Linda's post to see her fabulous inspirational tag.

I have used all of Linda’s techniques and her design but my stamps and some embellishments are different. I just loved the gold and white look and this became the main inspiration for making this card. I got stuck trying to put it together and had to walk away from it but I am quite pleased with the final outcome now it is finished.

My starting point was with this fabulous Tim Holtz blueprint snowflake, embossed with gold EP.

I then stamped the sentiment and added the gold stars and had the same problem Linda had with heating the gold EP on the wet modelling paste, only mine bubbled far too much and looked really ugly. So in the bin it went and started again only this time I sprinkled the gold EP on the paste and then let it dry for a couple of hours, this time I was happy with it. This was the point when I got stuck and couldn’t see where I was going, so I left it overnight.

The next morning I started by making the shabby bow and finding something textural to go underneath it. I don’t have the snowflake strip die so I punched some small snowflakes out of gold paper and stated to place them on.

What next I thought? So I turned my attention to the edges and blended antique linen DI and then added some Stampendous aged gold embossing enamel around the edges, starting by heating it from underneath and then just finishing it off from the top once it had started to melt.

So far, so good, but what to put in the top right hand corner? I remembered some wooden hearts I’ve got in my Christmas box, so I continued to develop the heart and snowflake theme and added  Stampendous shabby white embossing enamel to it. The photos really don’t pick up the gorgeous sparkle it has. I found a gold bell to add to the bow and eh voila it’s done.

Well I’ve only got one more to make now. Don’t forget Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda has extended this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend.

hugs {brenda} x0x

The Funkie Junkie Bonus Tag #1

I loved Linda’s Thank You tag when I saw it and had it open on the computer when I started making this tag card. I shall be very specific in how Linda’s fabulous creation inspired me because this went off at a completely different tangent, I was just so keen to experiment again with Wendy Vecchi’s ‘clearly for art’ and Tim’s frosted film combination (as shown on Tim’s tag for December 2013), that this ended up nothing like Linda's BUT it is not only the frosted film that I like, it is also the distress stains, one of Tim’s stencils for the background; making this a thank you card, using the industrious sticker borders and the ‘hello friend’ stamp - quite a few of the things that came from Linda's original.

The background was made with tarnished brass and bundled sage by dipping the tag into them on the craft mat, then I used scattered straw DI with the cargo stencil and bundled sage DI with the harlequin stencil and finished off with some flicks and bottle top stamping with walnut stain DI. Later I added the stamped pen nibs in iced spruce but mow when I look at the card I think I over did it a bit.

The border sticker has treasure gold blended over it.

I love this feather, I used the writing desk die and cut it using the frosted film/clearly for art mix.

You can see the dimension of it here and the way it curls after it had been heated and shaped.

I again used my little trick of scratching into the film to achieve the texture I was looking for and I blended over watering can and coffee archival inks. I also added some antique linen distress paint to create some additional feathered looks and a sharpie pen drawn on and wiped off quickly down the spine to create the more used and aged look.

The ink bottle was cut from back corrugated card and when I went to split it the top piece came off in one piece so I decided to use it on its own. I painted on some antique linen distress paint to try and show some light shining on the glass, I added one of Tim’s vial labels and wrote ‘Thank You’ with a calligraphy pen. I then covered the bottle with glossy accents - in hindsight I should have covered the whole thing before I added the label, but you know what they say – hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The nibs were cut from some off cuts of the film left from the feather, covered with treasure gold and edged with coffee archival, the sharpie pen again achieves a little of that aged look.

Here is the Friend label made exactly as Linda did but I used gold embossing powder.

I used the tag to make a tall card, I added some tattered seam binding dyed with iced spruce DI and I think one of my aims for 2014 has to be to use up more of the large number of 12 x 12 paper pads I have.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extended this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

I’ve still got tag #12 and one more bonus tag to do and I will have completed the course, nearly there.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #11

Linda has produced a fabulous tag for #11, I loved the fresh colours on this one and have more or less cased her design for my card with just a few differences in the trees and materials used.

Starting with the background I used the zesty broken china and shabby shutters together but before I blended the inks I stamped the splatter stamp from Tim’s urban tapestry set with picket fence distress paint and dried it. I think this gives a great snowstorm effect. I over-stamped with frayed burlap using the small music score from mini holidays 4.

The tress were die-cut from the small movers and shapers pine tree using dark green card and then I dipped them in some peeled paint distress paint misted with water and heat dried them. I die-cut the trees again with some white glitter card and cut off portions to look like snow on the boughs, sticking them over the top of the green painted trees. I finished them off with a white pen to make them look as though they were part of the snowstorm and then glazed them with tattered angels pixie dust glitter paint and edged them with walnut stain. Cool huh?

I die-cut three snowflake flurries (Tim’s on the edge die) and cut two them down and stuck them together to create the edge piece for my card, I also cut a single snowflake similar to how Linda did hers. I covered them with distress ink and antiquities verdigris EP and heated them. When cool I then covered them with glossy accents and rock candy distress glitter and finished with some walnut stain distress ink around the edges.

The mini deer is a TH movers and shapers die, cut in cream card, covered with walnut stain DI, heat dried and then covered with glossy accents and the rock candy distress glitter. He looks much more mottled in real life, this is one of those occasions when I couldn’t get the light right to show you the real effects.

Lastly I used the sentiment from Tim’s simple sayings stamped in Wendy Vecchi’s potting soil archival ink and edged with walnut stain again.

So this is the constructed card, you can see what I mean about casing Linda’s tag, there are so many similarities aren’t there?

I loved the snowy effect when it had all been put together…..

….. and I love the non-traditional Christmas colours.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extending this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

Another day nearer to the festivities, I always love this build up time, getting everything ready. I started my baking as I said I would (see last post) but sadly my boil and bake cake went rather dry. Still I shall be making another next weekend so hopefully I can remedy the situation.

I haven’t heard from Becca today but yesterday she was dressed and up and about on the ward and had eaten some toast for breakfast. The surgeon came round to see her and said he was very pleased with the op and her progress and is hopefully going to let her come home next week. That will be wonderful.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

Have fun and enjoy your preparations for the big day.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #10

This is my latest card based on Linda’s 12 tags of Christmas challenge and this is being entered for #10. However the deadlines for completion have been extended to January 8th (details here).

I took several parts of Linda’s tag for inspiration.

Firstly the gorgeous holly cut in cream card from Tim’s Holly Branch die then dabbed and dipped in forest moss and evergreen bough distress paint and when dry I ran them through a text embossing folder, sanded them down, inked the edges with walnut stain and added whitefire treasure gold.

The background came about by using Tim’s holly stencil that Linda also used, but I used distress inks and the wrinkle free technique before sponging evergreen bough DI through the mask, covering the whole piece.

I used an image rather than a sentiment to go behind the frame and this gorgeous one from Crafty Individuals caught my eye today. I stamped it in coffee archival and watercoloured it with distress inks.

The frame was cut from matte silver card and given a coat of tarnished brass distress ink and then covered with matte medium glue and tarnished brass distress glitter. Love how this turned out.

So here is my card after it had been put together.

I added a small red bow although I had actually cut the berries from the holly die and given them a coat of crackle paint, but they didn’t look right, so I left it simple.

The sentiment is one of my computer generated ones.

One thing I did change from the photos above was the background. It seemed a bit bright so I sprayed it with dylusions white linen to knock it back a bit and to give it more of a ‘snowy’ effect.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extending this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

I am just like a child running up to Christmas. I woke up at 5.30 this morning and decided to get up and make this card. What am I like???

Wishing you all a very happy weekend, it’s going to be very busy I think with preparations. I still have wrapping to do and I want to start some baking too.

Enjoy.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #9

A totally different design from Linda’s #9 tag but here are the things I took inspiration from – a large glittered snowflake, the beautiful colours, the flowers made from the tattered pinecone die and the silver embossed sentiment.

I love the cool, frosty look to this card and started with a distress stain background using faded jeans and brushed pewter creating a wonderful marbleised and metallic effect.

I used a fabulous large snowflake stamp from Penny Black and randomly stamped over with embossing ink and covered with silver embossing powder,

I stamped the sentiment onto white card using the silver embossing powder, die-cut and inked with walnut stain and vintage photo.

The large snowflake is from a woodware die-cut set that I have had for years.

I covered it with brushed pewter distress stain and when dry with glossy accents and the fabulous pumice stone distress glitter, it really comes out like a wonderful vintage glitter effect. I love it. I think I am going to go back and add a pearl to the middle though to finish it off.

I used white card again covered with the brushed pewter stain to die-cut the tattered pinecone and make the flowers edging them with walnut stain DI. I also added some sakura pen sparkle to the petals and some frosted lace stickles.

The leaves were covered with the pumice stone glitter and I mounted it onto a kraft card again edging the background with frosted lace. I don’t think the photos do justice to all the lovely subtle sparkle on this card, but it’s really pretty irl.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get 10% discount over January 2014.

After I took the photos I adhered a large gem to the snowflake which added to the wintry feel of the card and then gave it to my sister who came to visit and swap Christmas presents on Sunday.

I got more cards written last night and want to get the trees in today while there is no rain or wind. Everything is winding up and getting so exciting. I just love this time of year.



Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

hugs {brenda} x0x

The Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas #8

Still catching up but staying in sight so to speak, thank goodness. Tag #8 of Linda’s gorgeous set can be found on her blog The Funkie Junkie.

The inspiration for my card comes from several ideas of Linda’s. Firstly using the Damask Background technique shown by Tammy Tutterow on one of her Tuesday Tutorial posts (Tammy has lots of wonderful inspiration to share every week – so worth a look if you haven’t seen her work). The other inspiration came from using a Santa image for the card, snowflakes and rusty bells, I rusted these weeks ago and this is the first time I’ve used some of them.

The top border is a Marianne icicles die and I have edged them with walnut stain and covered them (and nearly everything else lol) with Antiquities Frosted Crystal, it is an almost clear embossing powder but has that faint vintage sparkle to it …..

… which hopefully you can see better in this next photograph.

Santa was inked up with Vermillion and Black Archival inks, starting with the red so that there is no contamination of colours on the pads.

A few snowflakes and some washi tape to finish it off.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get 10% discount over January 2014.

I have just found some of the cards I made last year that didn’t get sent out so I now have a box full this year to use. The most ahead I have ever been.

Hope you are able to crack on with preparations, I am going to get some presents wrapped soon so that when the tree and decorations go up I will be almost ready.

Have fun.

hugs {brenda} x0x