Candy Cane Stripes

Surprised to see me?  Me too!  I have been trying to catch up on Linda's 12 tags of Christmas and have been playing in the studio.  This card is inspired by Linda's Week #3 which was a beautiful mix of red and white with a candy cane stripe.  The challenge is sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique with lovely prizes to be won if you play along for all 12 weeks!

I bet you can see the inspiration... All those lovely red and white stripes.  I decided to use the Wendy Vecchi Strips stencil and tilt it on an angle to create a background. I used the Distress Oxide Ink (candied apples) to sponge through the stencil.  It looks very orangey in the picture. 

I then wanted to use these vintage poinsettia die cuts and I glossed them up with a coat of white frosted embossing powder.

Linda had a wonderful frilly edge along the top of her tag and I decided to find a little fringe to add some texture as well. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Deck the Halls

Today I am back with a tag and a card inspired by Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas Week #4.  This is a weekly challenge hosted by Linda and sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique with wonderful prizes.  You just need to play along for all 12 weeks and have an opportunity to win.

Linda's lovely tag had black die cut images with music behind them and that had me thinking about this vintage gent and how I haven't used him very much. 

 I die cut a few different ones and then decided to play around with him on a tag and a card.   I didn't quite get there with either.  A lot of times I let things sit for multiple days until I get an inspiration on what to do to finish it off.

I tried something different on each of these so I was happy with my playing sessions.  On the tag I ended up smearing a layer of black embossing paste along the bottom and the top to give it a gradient effect. (A mistake I was trying to fix)  I like how it gave a nice dark shadow. 

On my card I had shadowed my image and sentiment with watercolor and black pencil but decided to add texture and outline it with a mix of black and gold glitter. 

Something fun and different.  Please go check out Linda's blog and her challenge!  Every week she delights us with a new tag and inspiration!

Suzz

Trick or Treat

Boo!  I am hosting the current challenge at Frilly and Funkie and I have named it Trick or Treat!  The challenge is not what you think... (Trick)  I challenge you to create a vintage or shabby chic project with a trick or treat. If you are feeling funkie you might want to incorporate a trick in your design or if you are feeling frilly you can incorporate a treat. The trick or treat can be anything from a hidden pocket, unexpected design element, a treat hidden in a card or an unusual technique used on your project.

I decided to combine both in my project this week: 

At first glance it looks like a simple tag.  But when you see it up close and in real life you realize that it opens up and inside it has a pocket for a treat!  

 

I had so much fun the last challenge with my manila folders I thought it would be fun to cut a piece of the manila folder using the fold part and create a card in the shape of a tag!

I decided to make a pocket with a bit of leftover folder piece which is perfect for some mini tags and a gift card.

I made to mini tags layered with stenciled images sponged out with distress inks.

And the empty pocket with no tags awaiting a spooky little gift. 

 

There is still time to play along in the challenge and you can create anything you like as long as you show us a trick or create a card or gift box/bag for a treat!

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot here at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive 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.

There is still time to play along in the challenge and you can create anything you like as long as you show us a trick or create a card or gift box/bag for a treat!

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Halloween	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Mini Halloween #5 CMS275	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Halloween	Ranger Tim Holtz Mini Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - Black
Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black Pad #3	Rayon Seam Binding	(JULY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Seedless Preserves	(JULY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Wild Honey	(AUGUST PRE-ORDER) Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Cobweb by Tim Holtz 662375
(SEPTEMBER PRE-ORDER) Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stencil - Wall Paper	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Antique Linen	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Splatters	Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stamps - Vintage Text Background Stamp	Charm Pendant - Set of 6 Silvertone Spider & Web
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Design Tape, Halloween	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Ringer THS056 (March Pre-Order)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  I have been busy creating but haven't been good about sharing... I wanted to share a few Halloween projects and wish you all a very Happy Halloween!

First up are those cute pumpkins from Stampers Anonymous: 

I think they are adorable!  I mixed them with a few stamps form other collections: Artistic Outpost and I think the web is from Hampton Arts.  I used the Distress Oxides (wild honey and purple)> Loved how the colors came out so soft. 

The next one was a request for a spooky cute card and not sure if I hit the mark but it did make me laugh when I was done with it.

 I wanted to a mummy and tried many different eyes peeking out, but these had the creepiest effect and I built up some depth for the nose and mouth with extra pieces of crepe paper. 

And then a few different takes on the same thing with the stenciled background overlaid with the black spotty stencil.

 I loved the owl and probably should have made him the focal point of his own card. :)

That wraps up (ha ha) my mini Halloween collection.  A very spooky and fun Halloween is what I wish for you!

Suzz

Halloween

The current Frilly and Funkie Challenge is "'Tis Near Halloween " hosted by the extremely talented Sara Emily.  She describes the challenge as:

"The theme for the challenge is " 'Tis Near Halloween". It's no secret. I.Love.Halloween. With Halloween just a few weeks away, I challenge you to create a vintage or shabby chic project with a Halloween theme. If Halloween isn't your thing, that's OK--just be sure to include orange, black and purple in your vintage or shabby chic project (These colors are not required if your theme is Halloween.) It would be a grave mistake to miss this challenge!"

Well with that inspiring challenge theme I was off and playing with my new and old Halloween stamps! 

I started with a manilla folder scrap... These were leftover from some banners I made for a family member for an event.  She gave me leftover manilla folders and I cut out banners.  I then had pieces left from those folders and I started to use them for tags.

For this challenge I cut the tag out.  Next up was the background.  Inspired by Sara Emily's colors I sponged on purple and wild honey ink over a new Wendy Vecchi stencil. It required a bit of masking but I got the effect I wanted.

Next was the funky bird.  I used the die cut to cut him out of manilla folder and added some text to him.   I then stamped the square over the background.  I placed the bird and the branch over the stamped area.  I shadowed with watercolor pencil and water brush.

Next I stenciled with black embossing paste the word Halloween along the right side.  I also stamped the sentiment along the top line of the box. After it dried I stamped the haunted house on tissue paper and carefully placed it in position and cut out the section where the sentiment was and then decoupaged it into place.  I highlighted the letters with white gel pen after it was dry to make sure they popped.

The final detail was a little spider crawling down his black twine thread. He is highlighted with Wendy Vecchi's enamels. (We did this in a class I recently took with Wendy which was fantastic!)


I hope you will come join in  the challenge and share your stamping with us!

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot here at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive 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.

Get inky!

Suzz

(AUGUST PRE-ORDER) Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Feather & Ravens 4PK by Tim Holtz 662376	(JULY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Wild Honey	(JULY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Seedless Preserves	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black Pad #3	(SEPTEMBER PRE-ORDER) Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stencil - Wall Paper
(February Pre-order) Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Background Stamp - Rectangle Collage	Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stamps - Vintage Text Background Stamp	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - Black	Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Halloween	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Mini Halloween #5 CMS275
Charm Pendant - Set of 5 Silverstone Spiders	(February Pre-order) Wendy Vecchi Enamel Accents - Sunflower	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Jute Twine

Golden Texture

I am back with my week 2 tag inspired by Linda at the Funkie Junkie's week number 2 tag from her  annual 12 Tags of Christmas!  If you play along with her for the 12 weeks leading up to the holidays you have a chance to win gift cards at her wonderful boutique The Funkie Junkie Boutique. 

The fabulous inspiration from Linda for week 2 had me thinking of how to create a similar background follow her lead with the snowflakes / design.   

Linda's tag has this soft white patina built with crackle and soft shabby golden brown hues.  This had me pulling out the crackle embossing paste along with a variety of stencils. 

I created about 4 different tags using different stencils and the crackle paste.  After they dried I decided to go with gold  and brown mists to show off the texture in my background.

Inspired by Linda's design/layout I started searching for an image/focal point for my tag.   I wanted to make sure you could still see the beautiful design and texture on the background.  After digging through my leftover die cuts, I was lucky to find the weathered clock (already bronzed up) and the deer which fit perfectly into the center of the clock. 

I sponged the deer with brown dye ink and then put it inside of the clock and attached it off-center onto the tag. I found all the snowflakes in my die cut extras. (I really don't like die cutting so I will usually die cut a bunch of any image and then store them for future use) The snowflakes were spritzed with the gold mist lightly so they remained mostly white with touches of gold.

The sentiments were stamped in coordinating brown ink on a gold misted background.  I took a few vintage buttons and threaded them with gold thread.  I added a hint of gold ink to the buttons and attached them to the snowflakes. The best part is I also have two or three more backgrounds to play with! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz