Guest Designer - Lisa Hoel

Say hello and give a warm welcome to Lisa Hoel, our Guest Designer for the Most Memorable Gift challenge. Lisa was the Design Team's Top Pick for the Trick or Treat challenge. You can find Lisa's blog Creative Juice Fresh Squeezed HERE.

Hello, my name is Lisa Hoel and I’m a lifelong craft lover. I’ve been ‘arting’ ever since I first picked up a crayon! Paper crafts have been my main focus for the past fifteen years or so and I love to make detailed, layered, textured, mixed-media type projects. I am not usually a clean and simple type artist. ;-) My background is in graphic design and I'm blessed to be married to the greatest guy in the world and have two dynamic boys. You can find me here:

Blog: creativejuicefreshsqueezed.blogspotcom
Facebook: facebook.com/lisa.hoel.5
Instagram: instagram.com/creativejuicefreshsqueezed
Pinterest: pinterest.com/lh_monalisa

When I was in grade school, I received a dollhouse one Christmas. I was ecstatic! It was a four room, yellow Victorian with real shingles! The inside was completely empty, waiting for my decorating touches. That gift sparked a passion for miniatures that lasted all the way through high school. As I got older, I gave away my dollhouse (my boys weren't interested lol) but I retained that love of tiny houses and settings.

These days I indulge it by making little vignette boxes/ projects and of course diminutive settings for Tim Holtz Village houses. For this challenge, I decked out the village for Christmas! The neighbor down below is quite festive. ;-)

Hop on over to my blog for more photos and details on how this all came together.

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Once you have checked out all the details for Lisa's wonderful project we invite you to come back and share your 'Most Memorable Gift' project and story with us.  The challenge runs until 11:55 pm EST on December 19th and can be found HERE.

Letter It Sunday Step by Step

Hi everyone and welcome! Jenny here with an impromptu post to brighten your Sunday which is part inspiration, part tutorial. As many of you may have seen on social media the lovely folks at Ranger Ink have just released the 'Letter It' range, a carefully curated collection of stamps, pens, embossing powders, mediums, tags and surfaces designed to work together so you can create beautifully personalized cards, tags, gifts and more for all of life's occasion. You can see Linda un-boxing her collection HERE and me diving into mine HERE. And now you can pre-order your own 'Letter It' products from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

So many people loved what they saw and were keen to see the range in action, so I've put together three cards to share with you today with hints and tips along the way; as you would expect they are not CAS, partly because it's not my style and mainly as I wanted to see how the range worked with my favourite Tim Holtz 'Memoranda' Paper Stash.

For this card I layered up some Memoranda Paper Stash and used the 'Letter It' Metallic Markers to colour some flowers to add on top. I stamped the image with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink, coloured it with the gold, blue and green Markers, then re-stamped with the Jet Black Archival Ink. These Markers give an instant opaque cover with a beautiful sheen and they dry permanently on porous surfaces.

The Hello sentiment from the 'Greetings' set was also stamped with the Jet Black Archival Ink onto some of the Letter It Ivory Cardstock, ageing it a little with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. Make sure you 'season' the acrylic cling stamps with Jet Black Archival Ink before using them with other inks as this will ensure a clean sharp image.

This next card again uses the Memoranda Paper Stash as a base and also inspires the textured layer beneath the sentiment.

I embossed some of the Letter It Grey Cardstock with an embossing folder and coloured the centre of each circle with the silver Metallic Marker. I then gently tapped the Embossing Ink Pad over the raised areas on the card and covered them with Marigold Embossing Powder, using my Heat It tool to melt/set the powder with a golden shine.

The sentiment for this card came from the 'Thank You' set and you can see here where I'm applying the Jet Black Archival Ink onto the stamps before pressing them onto some white card.

As the papers are aged I repeated the process of ageing the white card with more Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. The edges of each element were also blended with Black Soot Distress Oxide Ink to make them stand out.

The final card is also based on Memoranda Paper Stash, though in this case it's a much more subtle background to allow the embossing to shine through.

After spreading Ranger Texture Paste through the Flourish Layering Stencil I poured Bridal Tinsel Embossing Powder over it and allowed it to air dry. It's at that point the powder could then be heat set to produce a beautiful smooth sparkle.

To produce the bridal bouquet die cut foliage was coloured with Gold Tinsel and Silver Tinsel Embossing Powders and Sunflower Sparkle, Perfect Pearl and Pewter Perfect Pearls. I strongly suggest mixing the Perfect Pearls powders with water and using a paintbrush to apply them to your diecuts for a consistent coverage. The resultant shimmer and sparkle throughout the bouquet is magical. The bow had two coats of Navy Embossing Powder and the words from the 'Wedding' set were stamped in Cobalt Archival Ink.

That is by no means all of the Letter It range used here so I'll be creating more cards over the coming weeks to share. Hopefully this first batch have whetted your appetite and shown you how the range can be combined with your existing stash as well as in their own right. Remember, Linda is now taking pre-orders at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Jenny

Friday Inspiration

It is Cec here and today I am presenting a Friday Inspiration segment for you featuring Graphic 45 papers that I had in my craft stash.

Due to the recent Black Friday sale at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, most Graphic 45 stock is temporarily sold out but there are lots of other products available throughout the shop at discounted prices.  For instance, check out the fabulous buys in the Clearance section - what a great opportunity to treat yourself to a Christmas present.

I decided I would make a couple of easily created projects to share with you and where possible, I would use up leftover bits and pieces to make some room in the ever-expanding stash.   I don't have any process photos for you because I didn't do any fancy techniques but rather made use of my cutter, scissors, some punches and die cutting machine, which are tools you all probably have.

The first thing I made was a Christmas ornament.  As I normally do for these big round ornaments, I used an old CD as my base.  I cut some deep red card stock (Recollections) and adhered it to both sides of the CD.

Tip:  After you adhere one side, remember to re-punch any holes (this time there was just a top hole for the hanger) and then after you adhere the card stock to the second side, you can easily find where to re-punch the same hole(s).

Next I die cut some snowflakes from some gold card stock (Recollections) using the Paper Snowflakes die.  I added a strip of lace from my stash across the middle and then added the snowflakes down the left side of the ornament.

Then I did a lot of fussy cutting of images from the paper pad called A Christmas Carol and mounted them with large image first and the smaller ones next using dimensional foam.

Finally I added some gold pearls to the snowflakes and a bit of gold ribbon for a hanger.  I only decorated one side this time but since I wire my ornaments to the tree, it won't swing and the back side will not be visible.  These CD ornaments are great space fillers.

When you get a Graphic 45 paper pad, there are some patterns on the inside of the back cover, including one for a tiny tag.  I thought it would be fun to make some gift tags for Christmas but while I like the shape of the tag, I really wanted it to be a bit larger so I enlisted the aid of my handy husband and he drew one the size I wanted in his graphics program and then cut some for my on the laser cutter.  They are cut from extra  heavy cream card stock (Recollections).

I inked the edges of the tags (and all the papers) with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and stamped "for" and "from" on the back with Jet Black Archival Ink.  All tags have a background panel cut from the Winter Wonderland paper pad with fancy corners made with a punch (EK Success).  All tags have a gold cord or satin ribbon  hanger and a satin ribbon bow.

Next it was time to embellish with a combination of pre-made items and things made by me.  A list of what I used is under each photo.

Left Tag
Holly Leaves die cut from Green Card Stock (Recollections) using Holiday Greens Die and inked with Forest Green Distress Ink
Poinsettia fussy cut twice from a Winter Wonderland paper and layered with dimensional foam
Ephemera cut from Winter Wonderland paper

Centre Tag
Band punched from cream card stock (Recollections) with snowflake punch (Martha Stewart)
Centre band cut from Winter Wonderland paper
Little snowflakes come from the punched band and are topped with little gold pearls
Metal snowflake charm is a leftover from last year's Christmas crackers

Right Tag
Centre band cut from Winter Wonderland paper
Greenery die cut from dark green card stock using Holiday Greens die
Tickets cut from Winter Wonderland paper
Paper flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts)

Left Tag
Greenery die cut from dark green card stock using Holiday Greens die
Poinsettia die cut from cream card stock using tiny poinsettia die (Marianne Creatables) and topped with a gold pearl
Stamens dipped in Champagne Gold Acrylic Paint (DecoArt)
Ticket cut from St. Nicholas paper pad

Centre Tag
Tiny red gems (Dollarama) added
Metal snowflake charm is a leftover from last year's Christmas crackers

Right Tag
Sentiment cut from paper pad and mounted on cream card stock
Greenery die cut from dark green card stock using Holiday Greens die
Poinsettias die cut from paper pad using tiny poinsettia die (Marianne Creatables) and centres were highlighted with a gold pen

Left Tag
Centre band punched from black card stock with Deco Punch (Martha Stewart)
Centre band topper cut from A Ladies Diary paper
Flourishes (The Paper Source)
Flowers (Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts)

Right Tag
Organza Ribbon (Offray)
Flourishes (Dollarama)
Ephemera cut from Mon Amour paper

Finally, I thought I would make a couple of tags in the same manner but ones that could be used for other occasions.  Since I used papers from A Ladies Diary and Mon Amour these ones are pretty girlie but tags for fellows could easily be made by choosing more appropriate papers and simple embellishments.

I hope I have provided you with some timely inspiration for your Graphic 45 papers, especially the little leftover bits. 

Give Thanks!

Hello! It's Sara Emily here to bring you our newest challenge, "Give Thanks!" We have so much to be grateful for! The Frilly and Funkie team is thankful for our loyal readers and our newest visitors! For this challenge, simply create a vintage or shabby chic project that expresses gratitude.

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us as a Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive Top 3 badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

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 Frilly and Funkie 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.

Let's see some grateful inspiration from our Funkie team:

Sara Emily - sarascloset

Jenny Marples - Pushing The Right Buttons

Suzanne Czosek - Suzz's Stamping Spot

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WEEK ONE

Let's get started with some grateful inspiration from our Frilly team:

Kathy Clement - Kathy by Design

Cec Wintonyk - CW Creations

Autumn - SewPaperPaint

How will you express your gratitude? I hope that you'll join us for this challenge and share your vintage or shabby chic project that shows how you express your thankfulness. You have until midnight on Tuesday, December 5th to link up your project below. We can't wait to see what you make!

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

Challenge Winners - Timeworn

Hi everyone! It's time to announce our latest Frilly and Funkie challenge winners but first, a big thank you to everyone who entered the 'Timeworn' challenge. The standard of the the entries was so high it made the Design Team's job in picking the winners really difficult!

This time we chose #8 Astrid Maclean with her gorgeous festive cards, one of which is shown here. Make sure you hop on over to Astrid's blog to see a full tutorial for making this one and check out the other two beautiful cards as well. Congratulations Astrid on being our favourite and winning the opportunity to be a Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie for a future challenge. You will be contacted shortly with all the details.

And now for our Top 3 Badge winners; in numerical order they are #3 Wendy B, #5 Mary Elizabeth and #11 Jess M. 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 #9 Gibonik! Please email Linda at thefunkiejunkie@gmail.com for the gift certificate details.

A big thank you again from the Frilly and Funkie team to everyone who took part in this challenge and congratulations to all our winners. The current challenge, 'Give Thanks!' runs through Tuesday, December 5th. We hope to see you entering this time around so that you too can be in with a chance to win. The Funkie side of the Design Team will be here on Wednesday, November 29th to share their inspiration projects.

Have a great week everyone!

Saturday Step X Step - Faux Leather

Hi!  Suzz here!  I am going to share a fun technique that I am calling Faux Leather! When I saw the current challenge 'Timeworn' hosted by Autumn, I started thinking about weathered, worn leather.

I decided I wanted to achieve the look and feel of an aged leather book binding or jacket. I also went down a path of experimenting with various textures on my poinsettia and I am going to share my inspiration with you!

To create the leather texture:
1. Gather up some sheets of kraft cardstock and a water spritzer.
2. Cut your kraft cardstock to the size of your card base or in smaller pieces to help with the texturing process.

3. Spritz the paper on both sides with the water until saturated. 

4. Now the fun begins. Take that wet cardstock and crumple it up in a ball. Open it up and crumple it up in a different shape. You can also use a rolling pin to add pressure to the crumpled up ball. The more wrinkles the better.

5. Open up your cardstock to see what texture you have achieved. If you are not happy with your weathered effect, keep going. You can also use sandpaper or a distressing tool to scrap the surface to add more effect.
6. Drag your dye ink pad (I used Ground Espresso) across the surface to capture ink in the creases. I am showing you how it looks on a flower cut from the paper created in the previous step.

7. Spritz with water to allow bleeding of the ink around the wrinkles.  Then spritz with distress ink sprays to add the color of leather you want to emulate.  I used ground espresso but depending on how much you apply will make your leather darker in color. 

8. I used a variety of distress sprays to add layers of color and mixed lighter sprays (antique linen, pumice stone, gold mists) to give a variety of colors. A couple of other tips: If it gets to dark keep adding water and dabbing off ink using paper towels. Or even just flip it over and use the other side!
9. Emboss the leather with an embossing folder for another layer of texture.

10. Add a touch of distressed gold to age the surface. I used a Versamark pen or glue pen to add a sticky surface around the embossed area.  I then sprinkled the gold embossing powder on the surface.

11. After knocking off the excess embossing powder use a brush to brush off even more of the embossing powder to get a more aged worn effect. Then heat the powder to set the color.

Now onto the poinsettia:
1. Cut flower layers from the same textured kraft cardstock.  I cut a series of 3 sets of petals.

2. Distress with ink pad and spray with mists to get colors desired.  (I added a hint of antique bronze to the mix).

3. Emboss with embossing folder to add a pretty floral pattern.

4. Add watermark ink or glue on embossed areas.

5. Sprinkle off excess powder and heat to set the gold color.

6. The center was the soft beads sprayed with a distress spray and dipped in the embossing powder.  Then heated to get the gold color to set.
7. Assemble the flower. I used multiple layers of the same size with glue dots between the layers.

I had so much fun with the leather poinsettia I wanted to try a few other types of paper to create more poinsettias: I used Wendy Vecchi's newsprint paper and created this beautiful flower:

1. Start with the layers cut from the newsprint paper.

2. Spray them until saturated with water.

3. Spritz a distress spray ink on acetate/slick surface and paint the edges of the flower with a waterbrush. Add more color or less to get the effect you want. It will seep as you have saturated the flower with water.

4. Let dry. Then stamp with snowflake image using archival ink. (the archival ink will keep the image from bleeding.

5. Use a watermark pen or any watercolor marker close in color to the edges of your petals and do small sections to allow you time to dip in embossing powder and have it stick. You could also use a glue pen.

6. Dip in embossing powder or sprinkle with embossing powder and shake off excess. 

7. Heat emboss the edges of the flower.  Repeat for all layers and assemble flower.

Finally one last poinsettia created with tissue paper. These are very fragile and the layers don't look like anything but once assembled you have a gorgeous soft flower. 

1. To cut the tissue paper flowers I take folded sheet of tissue paper and cut them with multiple layers.  I then picked up the layer by the center and pinched them.
2. I filled a little dish with water and added the distress ink spray.  Re-inkers would have worked just as well in the water. 

3. I dipped the ends of the petals into the died water which then seeped upwards into the centers of the flower petals.  I let this dry.  I used a heat gun to help dry the flowers.
4. I sprayed all the layers with antique linen to get an aged color.
5. Then I stamped a few of the layers with fine text in a brown ink.  I then just assembled the layers with a brad. The tissue paper is fragile so using glue dots or glue might have been too easy to tear the layers.

Well I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial and are inspired to try creating your own faux leather!

Suzz

Ranger Tim Holtz Ground Espresso Distress Spray Stain	Ranger Tim Holtz Ground Espresso Distress Ink Pad	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Pumice Stone	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Tarnished Brass	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Antiqued Bronze
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Barn Door	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain - Candied Apple	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Worn Lipstick	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Picked Raspberry
Ranger Inkssentials Kraft Cardstock 8.5 X 11	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tattered Poinsettia BIGz Die	(LATE SEPTEMBER PRE - ORDER) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Beaded Berries	Ranger Embossing Powder - Princess Gold	Sizzix Holiday Greens Die Leaves
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Prima Water Brush Pens - 3 Pack 585891 (March Pre-Order)	Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Swirly Snowflakes	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Potting Soil