Holiday Homecoming!

Welcome to the holidays!  The team at The Funkie Junkie Inspiration Ave is sharing their holiday homecoming a celebration of the holidays with family and friends.  

I was inspired by wreaths that my mother and I made years ago for holiday craft shows. It was fun picking out different flowers, garland, and embellishments to decorate the wreathes.  

My wreath of joy started from a collection of poinsettias cut from white cardstock.  I started by cutting many different shapes to play with in different mediums and ended up with poinsettias on white cardstock because of how I wanted the colors to saturate and stand out.

Next up was making the beautiful colors on the flowers and branches.  The flower pieces were all sponged with a red dye ink.  After that they smaller pieces received a distressing with a brown dye ink and the larger flowers were sponged around the edges with the brown dye ink.  

The branches were sponged with versamark and embossed with a shimmery silver.  (I am still glittering in random spots on my face and hair!)  

I next cut out a circle to hold onto my wreath from cardboard.

I sponged the front of the circle to match the flowers in case any of the cardboard peeked through the flowers. 

Then I heat set the flowers before attaching the layers as the distress ink can remain damp and cause the tape to not stick properly.  I attached the layers to the flowers petals.  Then the flowers were alternated on the frame of the wreath using tape for the bottom flower and pop dots to create depth on the alternating flowers.

After all the flowers were placed on the wreath the various branches were tucked into the wreath around the edges using tape and glue dots.  Then a lovely little sentiment was placed on the banner on the front with a few extra twigs. 

The centers of the flowers were a mixture of embellishments.  

Have a happy holiday! 

Suzz

Products: 

• Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Festive Bouquet
• Ranger Distress Ink Lumberjack Plaid 
• Ranger Distress Oxide Vintage Photo  
• Versamark Watermark Ink 
• Ranger Embossing Powder Silver  
  

Deck the Halls!

Hi! The design team at The Funkie Junkie Inspiraton Ave is highlighting Tim Holtz Idea-Ology!  It is time to get festive and we are in the midst of gathering gifts and wrapping them!  I was sorting through my Tim Holtz Idea-Ology and I found the mini clipboard.  What better way to get organized on my gift planning and tags for presents than having a clipboard to hold my tags and list of gifts! 

I knew I wanted to use some of the beautiful backdrop paper to cover the clipboard surfaces. 

 Steps for the clipboard:

1.  Pick out papers to cover the clipboard.
2. Remove the clip from the clipboard
3. Trace the clip board on the papers including the holes for the screws for the clip. 
4. Cut out the papers and punch holes for the screws. 
5. Stamp the images onto the paper.  (I traced where the clip was going to be to help determine placement of sentiment and peppermint stick) 
6. Heat set the images before going onto the next step. 
7. Ink up a background stamp with versamark. Stamp randomly over the open areas of the background. 
8. Sprinkle stamped areas with clear embossing powder. 
9. Brush off any embossing powder on your Santa, Sentiment, Peppermint Stick. 
10. Heat set the background image. 
11. Attach the papers to the front and back. 
12. Paint around the outside of the edges with white acrylic paint. 
13. Smear some of the paint on the embossed background to pick up the pattern of the stamped image. 
    
14. Highlight Santa with white gel pen. 
15. Put the clip back on the board and accessorize with charms and ribbon. 

To go with the cute clipboard I wanted to start creating a variety of gift tags for various presents.  I used the scraps of backdrop paper and some of my test run images of santa.

I stamped the Santa image to try out the colors on different backdrop papers and just cut them out into a tag shape.

I accented with mummy cloth ribbon dyed to coordinate using the Mica Stain Sprays.

I also found some of the ephemera and bells to add to the tags and pulled sentiments from various Stampers Anonymous holiday sets.

Now I have a lovely organized set of tags and a list of gifts!  There are some great deals happening in the store!  Go check them out!  Also you have to look at all the beautiful vignettes the team created highlighting the Tim Holtz Idea-Ology!

Suzz

Products: 

• Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz Jolly Holiday
• Stampers Anonymous - Darling Christmas 
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz - Mini Clipboard  
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz - Backdrops Volume #4
• Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Tiny Bells 
• Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence  
• Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo 
• Ranger Distress Mica Stain Sprays Holiday Set #3 
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• Ranger Clear Embossing Powder 
• Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black 
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Tapestry
  

A Snowy Day

Brrr... As the weather starts to shift I am already anticipating the snow!  I pulled out my warm winter holiday knits to keep me warm against the snow that is coming!  That had the Holiday Knit Embossing folder being the perfect inspiration for A Snowy Day at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Inspiration Ave! 

I embossed multiple sheets of white cardstock with the Holiday Knit texture fade.  I then cut out multiple stars in varying stars.  This card is a snowy starry night in winter.

After the stars were cut they were layered with foam to add multiple depths and texture on the background of the Holiday Knit. 

Then some glass stars were painted with white paint and glittered to add as accents. 

The branches and bow are from the adorable vintage sled die from Sizzix and Tim Ho;tz.  It added the perfect touch to the front of the card. 

Suzz

Products: 

• Sizzix Tim Holtz Holiday Knit Texture Fade
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Vintage Sled 
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Glass Stars 
• Ranger Distress Glitter Dust Vintage Platinum
• Dina Wakely White Acrylic Paint

A Season of Gratitude

 Hi!  The seasons are changing rapidly here as is the weather.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  It is this time of year we count our blessings and express our gratitude.  I decided to play around with the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Sketchy leaves to capture the fall feeling and then paired it with a simple sentiment around the sweet life. 

I started with a series of leaves stamped in various styles.  I used one of the leaves as my focal point on this card.  I love the idea of showing gratitude in recognizing how sweet life can be.  This card used a spritzed background layered with some mummy cloth (died to coordinate) with a leaf cut out along with a few simple embellishments. 

I created a few other card bases using the sketchy leaves.

They were stamped using versamark watermark ink on the white background.  Then they were clear embossed.  After that then a mix of red, orange, and yellow dye inks were sponged over the embossed surface.

Then to finish them off a dry piece of paper towel was used to buff off the excess ink from the images.  This made them shine brightly against the beautiful fall colors.

I actually stamped and embossed the leaves on a variety of surfaces including an alcohol ink background.

I hope you season of gratitude is full of love and joy. 

Suzz

Products: 

• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Sketchy Leaves
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
• Ranger Dye Oxide Ink - Lumberjack Plaid
• Ranger Distress Oxide - Gathered Twigs
• Ranger Oxide Dye Ink - Crackling Campfire
  
• Ranger TIm Holtz Yupo Paper
  
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Christmas Paper Dolls
  
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Stitched Scrap Basics
  

Mixed Media Madness

The inspiration theme for the Funkie Junkie Inspiration Ave this time is Mixed Media Madness.  I was curious what the internet said about mixed media and did a search and captured a few pieces of the results to share. The simple definition of mixed media  "the use of a variety of media in an entertainment or work of art."  Google Dictionary results from oxford languages  Right below that was a few other questions and answers about mixed media which I found interesting as well:  "Mixed media is a type of visual art that combines more than one medium or material. This can take many forms, but the three most common are collages, assemblages, and sculptures. Many mixed media artworks feature different materials such as paint, fabric, paper, and found objects."  - The institute for Arts Integration and Steam

I decided to try to mix up my textures and mediums on my art and go small with my designs. 

I started with leftover backgrounds from an inky mix of mica stain sprays on white cardstock.

On that base of inky backgrounds I layered in tissue tape across the bottom of the atc.  Then stamped over the surface and embossed with embossing powder to make the image pop. 

Then some small dragonflies punched out from an embossed background were added to add a layer of texture.  

Then using the same background the floral trims were stamped and embossed onto that background.  Then watercolor pencils were used to add a hint of color to the flowers and leaves. 

The bottom  have of the atc was painted in brown acrylics and embossed with brown embossing powder.  There were multiple layers embossed to make it thick enough to stamp into.  The script stamp was inked in versamark and stamped into the warm embossing powder to create a reverse image. 

I repeated the effect with different colors and a different embossed background on the bottom. 

After I did my first series I thought about using other bits and pieces to create more texture and different effects.

I again pulled a leftover inky background to start a few of my different pieces.  I had a shimmery metallic silver form the mica stain sprays and cut it up into pieces where I liked the effect of the spray.

Then I used those pieces by pulling out pieces of different embellishments to layer and create an effect.

I had fun trying different embossing and stamping techniques with different mediums.  The background for the in the summer was created with a smeared brown paint with script stamped using a white ink.  To preserve the effect it was clear embossed.   The reset was layered tissue tape with an punched butterfly removed and placed above. 

The background on this was stamped using mica stain spray as the ink and then layered over an embossed gold background.   

For my final piece of tiny art I added some mica stain spray smeared on with a paint brush on the top and bottom.  The feather was in my leftover bin and already had the gold tip.  The heart received a touch of gilded wax to turn it from clear resin to a golden heart. 

I hope this has you inspired to mix your mediums! 

Suzz

Products: 

• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Floral Trims
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Exquisite
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Tapestry
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Halloween The Obscure 
  
• Ranger Distress Mica Stain Sprays Halloween #3 
• Ranger Distress Stain Spray Tarnished Brass 
• Ranger Distress Mica Stain Sprays Halloween #5
• Ranger Distress Mica Stain Sprays  Holiday #3
  
• Ranger Embossing Powder Clear
• Ranger Embossing Powder Gold
• Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Bouquet
  
• Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
• Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Merchant Tissue Tape 
• Prima Marketing Spring Abstract Flowers
• Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Felt Trims Neutral

Make A Scene

We were challenged by the Funkie Junkie Inspiration Ave to make a scene this time around.  I was thinking what did I have that represented a vignette or a scene... 

Well.... the beautiful lion from Finnabair's Regal Lion mold was my inspiration.  I was thinking about creating a series of items that would fit in a treasure chest.  I heated up a big batch of gold and black embossing powder and poured that into the molds.  I let them cool off and popped out the pieces.  The embossing powder I had was mixed ended up with more black on the images than gold.  I wanted more gold to prevalent,  so I used the metallique wax to smear over the surface and add the gold highlights.

You can see the various pieces from the molds mixed in with the other treasures.

Then I decided to work on additional goodies to fill the treasure chest.  I pulled out pearls (Tim Holtz's bubbles or baubles work great) and had them ready to put in the treasure chest.   

I also envisioned gold doubloons and decided to create my own.  I started with cut circles die cut  from cardboard.  I covered both sides with versamark ink.  Then they were dipped into the mix of gold and black embossing powder.  Heated up to melt all off the embossing powder.  I repeated this multiple times to increase the depth of the embossing powder on the coins.   You can either re-ink with versamark and dip back into the embossing powder or heat up the coin holding it with rubber handled tweezer and dip it back in again and melt it right away.   Then to add an image to the gold coin you will ink up the stamp you want to use with versamark and then heat up your coin until the embossing powder is molten or soft and then place the stamp into the heated embossing powder.  Press down and leave to cool off.  Once it is cool you can pull the stamp out and have an impression on the embossed surface and your stamp will be clean.  (I only do this with the rubber stamps) 

There also had to be a treasure map!  I cut a piece of scrap paper and spritzed it with the same mica stain sprays used on the outside of my chest.  After it dried I added stamped script on the inside along with picking up some extra inky stains.  Then it was wrinkled and rolled up and tied with some twine. 

The remainder is a mix of shimmery buttons, old fake jewelry and a watch fob to add to my treasures!

To create the treasure chest: 

1. I drew a template for my box along with the circle for the arch on the sides of my top. 
2. I cut all the pieces based on my measurements and template. 
3. I ran all the cardstock through the texture fade cracked. 
4. I sprayed them all with two mica stain sprays (fallen acorn and unravelled)
5. I then assembled my box.  I reinforced the inside with sheets of cardboard that were sprayed to coordinate. 
6. The top was cut in strips to emulate wood strips.  They then were applied to a sheet of cardstock that was attached to the arched ends.   This was also reinforced with a rectangle of cardstock around the bottom.
   

The decorative trim is the lace dies cut from tissue paper and embossed with gold embossing powder.  They made a beautiful decorative edge around the corners.

Suzz

Products:

• Prima Finnabair Mould Regal Lions
• Prima Marketing Art Alchemy Metallique Wax - White Gold
  
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Holiday Baubles
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Vintage Labels Dies (Gold Pieces)
  
• Ranger Mica Stain Sprays Seasonal  #5
  
• Ranger Gold Embossing Powder(I used a mixed gold and black embossing powder)
  
• Sizzix Tim Holtz - Texture Fade - Cracked
• Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz - Exquisite
  
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Correspondence
  
• Versamark Watermark Ink
  

How Scary is that?

Back for some scary inspiration?  The Funkie Junkie Inspiration Ave is focused this time on scary inspiration from the new releases for Halloween!  

The inspiration for me was the spooky skeleton from the Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz The Obscure stamp set.  His creepy blank stare had me thinking of ways to showcase him on a few cards.

I decided to cut him out and open up the empty places on the skull by cutting them out with detail scissors.  I then folded the image slightly to give it space behind the skull.

Than it was all about the fun inky backgrounds made from the mica stain sprays.  I mixed a variety of colors together and used them on the background of the card and for the feathers.

The feathers were die cut from the backgrounds and then staggered on the headdress.  The headdress was also bowed outwards to give space to overlap on the skull.

The other background was made with the textured fade cracked embossing folder with a mix of mica stain sprays to give the beautiful golden brown background. 

I hope you enjoyed the scare! 

Suzz

Products: 

• Sizzix Tim Holtz Feathery
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Texture Fade - Cracked
  
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz The Obscure 
• Ranger Distress Mica Halloween Stain #5
• Ranger Distress Mica Halloween Stain #4
• Ranger Distress Mica Holiday Stain #3
  
• Stampers Anonymous - Halloween Tiny Text
• Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
• Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black
• Ranger Archival Ink - Olive
• Prima Marketing Spring Crystal
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Branches and Spiders
  

Fall Colors

Hi!  I love fall!  The colors are beautiful as if the trees were changing their outfits to highlight the weather change.  At The Funkie Junkie Inspiration Ave we are highlighting fall colors. 

When The Funkie Junkie Boutique sends you your goodies, they always include a little packet of something fun!  I love those little surprises and I always keep the glassine bags they come in.  I used those as my starting point for my fall colors inspiration.

I have to admit I am in love with the Mica Stain sprays.  I embossed the glassine bags using the new Tim Holtz Cracked texture fade folder to emboss the bags.   Then I spritzed the bags with a mix of the Mica Stain Sprays #5 (Unravelled, Fallen Acorn) to add my fall colors.  I also used the Mulled Cider in addition to the Fallen Acorn to color the ribbons and twine.

After the bags were embossed,  I took the various bird dies and slipped them inside of the glass bag and put the die cut facing up.  Then I ran the die through the cutting machine.  I ended up with a series of bags with different bird cut outs.  I wanted my bags to still function as a gift bag, so I cut out sheets of acetate to attach to the inside of my bag.   

After the bags were ready then it was a matter of finding other accents to embellish the goody bags.

A die cut wreath spritzed with the mica stains along with various flowers, mummy cloth and stamped sentiments added layers and interest.

I love the shimmer and how pretty the gift bags are and they are ready to be filled with halloween treats! 

Suzz

Products: 

• Sizzix Tim Holtz Cracked Texture Fade
  
• Ranger Distress Tim Holtz Mica Stain Sprays Holiday #5 
• Stampers Anonymous - Tiny Text
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Mummy Cloth
• Idea-Ology - Tim Holtz Wood Slices 
• Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink
  
• Glassine Bags
• Sizzix Dies - Mischievous (the birds dies are out but these cats would be so fun on these gift bags)
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Halloween Bubbles
  

Cut it Out!

 Hi!  The Funkie Junkie Boutique Inspiration Ave is focusing on the cool new Sizzix Tim Holtz Die Cuts!  I had a little fun creating some Halloween cards with the new die cuts! 

I love when the trick or treat starts and all the kids run around in their costumes!  These adorable kids out trick or treating was very fun to play with.

I wanted to highlight them with a little color behind them with a watercolor pencil.  I also added some white lines on the black backdrop to give them movement. 

I paired them with a stamped background to give them a backdrop to shine against.  After I tried that I needed a little moonshine to help them on their way!   A sponged moon with Mr. Owl watching over them set the perfect scene! 

In my second card I used the Boo die cut as a mask and sponged all over it to create a background.

After the background was sponged I stamped over in the same pretty die ink to give it texture.  I then used the cute witch in my die cut Halloween!

You can see I even used a little splattering of the new mica stain sprays over the background! 

For my final card I mixed and matched the two dies 

The background was stamped and sponged to coordinate with the Boo die cut.  I layered it onto the background die but cut out the letters to highlight the background. 

The new dies are fun and have me inspired for the cooler fall weather! 

Suzz

Products: 

• Sizzix Tim Holtz Big Frights
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Halloween Night
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies - Alphanumeric Theory
• Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Poisonous
  
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink - Wilted Violet
• Ranger Seasonal Mica Stain Sprays #6
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink - Squeezed Lemonade
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink - Carved Pumpkin

By the Numbers

 The Funkie Junkie Inspiration Avenue is focused on numbers and how they can be inspiring!  The numbers had me cutting out numbers, stacking numbers and looking for numbers in patterned papers.

I spent time using left over pieces of cardboard in various depths to cut out multiple sizes and quantities of different numbers.  I made sure I had enough of each number to stack at least 3 of each number.

I taped together the numbers to provide a series of stacked numbers.  Then the numbers were layered and placed randomly over the back of the card base.

The next background used a singles of each number and randomly placed across the backdrop.  Then the background was painted with white acrylic paint.

After a couple of white acrylic paint coats were applied and dried a mix of mica stain sprays were used to apply a shimmery background effect.

This background used a mica stain spray and the antique bronze distress stain spray.  The paint itself provided a layer of texture to the background.

This background used the merry mint along with a distress stain spray to give a mixed patina of green with brown hints.  

The card  used the Halloween backdrops from Tim Holtz to provide the numbers. 

The inspector was stamped using archival ink and then highlighted with color using watercolor pencils.  A remnant background piece spritzed with distress stains was added to layer in a different effect.  A piece of rusty metal (found in a parking lot) was added in the background.  A variety of metal numbers were embossed in gold and added to layer in.  The Inspector's hat got a final touch with a stamped metal piece. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Suzz

Products:

• Stampers Anonymous - The Inspector
• Stampers Anonymous - Correspondence
• Stampers Anonymous - Tiny Text
  
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Halloween Backdrops
• Ranger - Embossing Powder - Gold
• Ranger Distress Holiday Mica Stain Spray #1
• Ranger Distress Holiday Mica Stain Spray #4
  
• Versamark Watermark Ink 
• Archival Jet Black Ink 
• Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Ground Espresso
• Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Tarnished Brass 
• Sizzix Alphanumeric Theory
• Sizzix Tim Holtz Bulletin Alphanumeric Dies