Back in Business!

Let me tell you, things are rockin' around this household!  We're moved, my store is organized (I hope:) and I'm back to work on all my design teams!  The Funkie Junkie Boutique just reopened it's doors and I've already had a few orders from people who have been waiting in the wings.  It feels great to be on the road to normal again!

Sharon Wheet is kicking off the year for Our Creative Corner.  Her challenge is to make something pretty in aqua and pink and be sure to include a flower (stamped, on the DP or a 3-D paper or other craft flower).  I'm not sure if mine would be considered pretty - it's a little on the grungy side.  I started with a girly intent but the thing just digressed on its own.

I started with a sheet of plain white card stock, stamped the flowers from SU's Field Flowers in Vintage Photo and sponged it with Broken China DI.  I added some sponging around the edges with Vintage Photo and then grunged it up a bit more with Vintage Photo Distress EP around the edges (which was inspired by Alison Bomber's piece here).   More white CS was embossed with the Flourishes Texture Fade, edge punched with a Martha Stewart punch and sponged with Aged Mahogany DI.  A ripped, crinkled piece of kraft glassine was stitched across the middle and the entire panel was stitched to another piece of white CS that had been embossed and sponged similar to the strip.  I used the Heart Wings die to cut two pieces of felt.  The top heart was cut with the same die and then I trimmed it around the edge to make it smaller so some of the burgundy felt would show around the edges.  Then I painted it with Picket Fence crackle paint and when dry, sponged with lightly with Vintage Photo.

The With Love plaque was cut with a spellbinders die, stamped with the sentiment from Field Flowers, sponged with Jet Black around the edge and given two coats of UTEE.  The flowers were white CS cut with the Tattered Flower Garland Decorative Strip die and sponged with Broken China and Vintage Photo.  A Melissa Frances corner finished it off.

That's it for my OCC piece for this week.  Thanks so much for coming back after my holiday break.  I hope to see you over at Our Creative Corner playing in our challenge this week.  Have a great weekend.

Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers Die	Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fades - Damask and Regal Flourishes Set	Melissa Frances Garnish Applique Resin Embellishments	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft Glassine Paper Stash
Ranger Distress Crackle Paint - Picket Fence White	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Vintage Photo	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Broken China
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Aged Mahogany	Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE)	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black

All the B's!

Good morning and welcome back to my Saturday post for Our Creative Corner.  Hope you are all managing to find a spot to keep cool, especially those of you in areas where we are having record high temperatures.  I'm vacationing again in Key West, where it is hot and sometimes rainy, but usually have a nice breeze.  We plan to go bike riding today, but are waiting out a hopefully brief thunder shower.  

Our hostess this week is Sarah Gough who has set a clever challenge - All the B's - Buttons, Black, Bling and a Bow.  So dig into your stash for some fun bits and bobs.  Here's my take on the challenge.  I can't tell you the names of the sets because I forgot to take note of their names before I left on vacation.  I think the toile background stamp is Elements of Style from SU!  The Thanks is from Crafty Secrets and the frame under the flower is from WaltzingMouse.  For the white panel, I used an SU! border punch and embossing folder.  Spellbinders dies were used for the tag and the main panel.  The black flower was made from crinoine.  I die cut the flower pieces with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and then dyed them black (very icky process, I must say).  The tulle was purchased black, not hand dyed by me.  I really like the way the black crinoline flowers came out and have made up a few more sets to sell in my shop.  I also put together the stick pin for a pop of color on this card.  The thread is burlap thread that I ussed to sew along the back of the panel to sew on the buttons and create the required bow for this piece.  

Hope you will hop over to Our Creative Corner to check out the rest of the samples by our lovely design team and then play along with us this week.  

That's about it.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks so much for your encouraging comments.  

If you are interested, the following products are available in my Etsy shop:

Black crinoline flowers (oops, currently sold out - check back later!)

Crinoline to make your own shabby flowers

Stick pins

Burlap thread

A Thank You Challenge and a DT Call

Good morning and best wishes for a blessed New Year.  I hope you all had a happy and safe New Year's celebration.  We're kicking off the new year at Our Creative Corner with a Thank You recipe challenge:  make a thank you card with a blue and cream color palette, use some vellum and add some metal.  Easy peasy, right?  And so much fun!  And our designers did a fabulous job with this challenge.  Be sure to stop by and get inspired.

We are also having a design team call over at Our Creative Corner.  It starts today and runs through January 14th.  We want to round our our team by adding 5 new designers.  There is a tab at the top of the OCC blog that has all the information you need to apply for a spot with us,  

About my card - I was inspired by Mojo Monday's current sketch.   I just got the Tim Holtz Fabulous Flourishes set and decided to use it for this challenge,  I stamped white CS with the flourish in Old Paper Distress Ink and clear embossed it.  Next I sponged over the entire piece with Stormy Sky and Antique Linen Distress Inks, then used my square Nesties to cut the four squares and sponged their edges with Vintage Photo DI.  A piece of vellum was embossed with the Textile EF and sponged over the high points with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Then I embossed a thin line of gold around the outside and layered the sheet over a piece of Baja Breeze CS.  I created the sentiment on my computer and cut it with a circle scallop Nestie, then overlaid it with a frame I made with a label die and a circle die.  The vellum there was also dry embossed, sponged with Vintage Photo DI and edged with gold EP.  The flower was handmade using an assortment of Spellbinders and Tim Holtz dies.  The ribbon is rayon seam binding that I hand dyed with Antique Linen DI and a tiny spritz of Vintage Photo and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls.  The brad started life as silver but I changed it to gold with Gold Alcohol Ink Mixative.  I dabbed some on the gold pearl too to take off some of the brightness and make it look more vintage.  Okay, that's the dets on this piece.  If I missed any descriptions or you want more info, you can email me privately or just leave a question in the comments section and then check back as I will update this post with your requested information,

Again, wishing you a blessed New Year!

Hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Mojo Monday - Sketch 

City Crafter Challenge Blog- Stamp it Out (my background is stamped)

Crafts and Me Challenge - Anything Goes

Cooking it Up With Katie - Show Me Your Favorite Ribbons and Brads

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Thank You

Drunken Stampers - Something New (my new Fabulous Flourishes set)

Fun With Folds

Good morning and a warm welcome to you! Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I have made for this week's Our Creative Corner challenge. This week, our lovely hostess, Lori Rider, has challenged us to have Fun With Folds - make a card that has some sort of non-traditional fold associated with it. It can be in the card itself, such as the gatefold card that I have made, or your embellishment can be made with special folds. I took a quick peek at the DT samples and it looks like we all used a different sort of fold so there will be lots of inspiration over there this week. I used the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers to make this card. It's the first one I have ever made and I wasn't quite sure of the dimensions. But it was very easy to make.


Products Used:
Paper: SU Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz CS, K&Co. DP
Stamps: SU Elements of Style, Sentiment from Raindrop Echo Designs
Ink: Dried Marigold, Peeled Paint, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Acessories: Spellbinders Frameabilities Classic Frame die, Tim Holtz Scrollwork Die, Cuttlebg Moraccan Screen embossing Folder, Misted with solution of Vintage Photo Reinker, water and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by and for your lovey comments. Have a great weekend!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Project Tuesday - Gate Fold Cards

Frosted Designs - Quote Challenge

Raise the Bar - Color Challenge: Green, Orange, Brown

Allsorts Challenge - The Colors of Autumn

Flourishes Bring Back Beauty - Rustic Beauty

Speedy the Cat Challenge - Use Fall Colors