I promise I haven't been slacking..

With my weekend away last weekend and no posts all week I bet you were thinking that Anice was having an extended holiday! Well I haven't, I have been working away all week preparing for three shows that I am recording for Create and Craft next Wednesday. All my other shows so far have been live one offs on Ideal World so it's a big step forward to get to record shows that will be shown repeatedly over the next six months or so. It means I wont have to keep traveling down to Peterborough from Newcastle (which is a loooong and boring journey!) to have my products seen by crafters. So this week I have been designing card demonstrations, and throwing them in the bin, and then designing some more! I have finally completed six demos two each of each of my latest CD releases Funky Seasons, V Funky & Now that's Funky. I'm recording a half hour show for each so two demos each should be enough (I hope!!)
I thought I would share a few sneak peeks of three of the cards just to prove I have been doing something all week..







As well as making card demos I have also been having very exciting meetings with a stamp manufacturer and I am all excited about getting started on my stamp designs once these shows are out of the way. Anyway I have loads of work to get on with today..even though it is Sunday so I had best get back to it, speak again soon...

Anice xx

It's not always, work, work, work..

Last weekend Ian and I took a well earned trip away for the weekend with a couple of our friends. We visited the Lake District and enjoyed a little time away from Funky Hand..don't be shocked it was only a couple of days, I couldn't leave it for much longer!! I thought I would share a few of the photographs of this momentous occasion, I hope you are getting the drift that we don't get out much!!



We stayed in a fab bed and breakfast not far from Lake Windermere and this is a picture of the great view we got when we were out and about of the hills around us.
We pushed the boat out and visited a very nice Michelin starred restaurant on the Saturday night where we ate fantastic food at enormous prices!! Thank goodness it's only every once in a while or we would be bankrupt!!

Ian has a bit of an interest in prehistoric stone circles so we agreed to go and see some on the way home on Sunday thanks goodness the weather was good as they were in the middle of nowhere!



I have to admit I am a bit of a town girl and I don't really 'do' the outdoors that much which Ian finds hilarious most of the time as he is a bit of a country boy at heart. He took this picture of me out in the middle of a field where some standing stones were, I wasn't really that comfortable walking in fields etc..I had heels on!



I'm glad he finds me entertaining sometimes..I'll find him some work to do to pay him back!!

Anice xx

Another day, another birthday card!

As usual it's none stop here at Funky Hand Towers but I've had to fit in making a few cards as it's Fathers Day on the 15th June and Ians Sister has a birthday this week as well. My Fathers Day cards can be seen on the craft forum Blog here blog.craftsforum.co.uk if you'd like to see what card my Dad will be getting this year!

I was struggling with an idea for a card for Sandi until I looked at
Di Hickmans blog. So this card has been made using Di's latest sketch.





I used papers from my latest craft backing paper download Shabby Saturday. I printed the polka dot paper directly onto the base card so that the paper design is all over , that's something I have been finding I am doing regularly at the moment it's simple to do just make sure if you are making an A5 card like this one that you set you printer to borderless print then your A4 card blank will be covered completely. The flower is by Brazill and I attached it to the card using my trusty 21 gauge craft wire and a button. The lettering is large Doodlebug All Mixed up rub ons which I am still in love with using at the moment!

Since my last card post where I introduced you to Kendrick Kat I have had a few queries asking if I am going to make stamp sets. Well that's the plan. I am still in the designing stages at the moment and I'm having talks with manufacturers so it's not going to be any time real soon but I will keep you posted on my progress.

The weather has been so fantastic here in Newcastle for the last few days it makes it really hard to stay in doors so today I might venture out into the garden with my laptop and try to do a bit more designing for the new CD away from this office, which even with all the windows open is like a sauna this morning!! Have a great day whatever you are upto.

Anice xx

I've been tagged!

Esther on her wonderful blog has tagged me so, as I am hiding from the lounge whilst Ian watches Big Brother (I can only stand it in small chunks or I start shouting at the TV!!) I thought I would answer the questions and pass it on!!

This or That Tag

Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla ice cream...Chocolate, is there any other flavour of ice cream?

Big Mac or Whopper: Big Mac every time..err if you saw me lately you would know it far too many times as well!!

Coke or Pepsi : Coke as long as it's diet..I never believed those ads you know the Pepsi challenge that Pepsi tastes better..yuk it tastes like sugar in water!!

Beer or Wine: Beer if it's Cherry Beer!

Coffee or Tea: Tea..Earl Grey though not your horrid builders tea like what Ian drinks!!

Apple Juice or O.J.: Orange Juice, Apple juice tastes like cider (which I hate)

Facebook or MySpace: Facebook, I spend far too much time on there when I should be designing.

Summer or Winter: Both..for different reasons.

Windows or Mac: Windows but I would like a MAC.. oh dear more money to spend!!

Cats or Dogs: Cats

Now I am supposed to pass this on to three other blogger friends so.. I will tag three of my design team craftling, tip top and Jozza

Anice xx

This weeks Daring Card Makers Challenge

I don't always get a chance to take part in the DCM challenges but when I looked this morning to see what the challenge was and I saw that our very own Funky Hand Design Team Member Jozza was a guest designer I promised myself I would join in.

Here is this weeks challenge:
Jane this week has dared us all to include a quote on our card. Stamped, Computer Generated or Rub Ons it doesn't matter and choose your own style or occassion.

The design teams cards are fab and my effort seems a bit simplistic but I wanted to introduce you to a new friend of mine Kendrick Kat...





Kendrick is a cat that has been hanging around my design space for quiet a while in many different guises..I am auditioning him at the moment for a possible part in my up coming new rubber stamp collection.. he's a bit of a pain and can be a touch grumpy but he's one of the front runners at the moment!!
Anyway the card has been made with papers from my Funky Seasons CD and Kendrick has been badly chalked by me..but I am trying to use different techniques..not all that successfully!! The quote 'Dogs come when they are called, cats take a message & get back to you' (incase you can't read it!) is one I found on the internet by Mary Bly ,it spoke to me as that is exactly how I always thought my cat behaved when she was with me.

I mentioned in my last post that I was having some PR photographs taken for a Business thing that the local enterprise company were doing. Here is one of them..



The photographer came early so I hadn't finished sorting out my hair but at least it was sunny outside in the garden..I was terrified he might want to take the pictures in my office..I would have needed a couple of weeks to clean up first!!

Anice xx

More Magazine stuff for Funky Hand !

I thought I would share with you another card that I made which has been included in a designer card give away booklet this month..as well as the one in Crafts Beautiful I shared a few days ago I also have one included in this months issue of Simple Cards & Papercraft.



The papers I used for this card are from my CD Now that's Funky.. I had a bit of a green and blue theme going here, the advert matches my card!!

I got my timings off a bit this month and I've also got a competition running in the same issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft. You can win a complete set of all six of my CDs and the two paper packs, the competition is to make a card for a Teenager and send it in to the magazine.



It's always fun to see my designs in print and to hear the reactions from readers. I've been lucky enough to have a few very pleasant emails which has been really nice.

On the work front I am still beavering away designing papers for my next CD release, I'm afraid it's not going as quick as I had hoped, other things keep getting in the way but I will keep at it. Tommorrow I have a photographer coming here to take my picture for a PR thing for the local Tyneside Economic Development Company. They are using me and Funky Hand as a case study about new businesses in the North East. I will need to get myself tidied up for the photograph, do my hair and put some make up on..I wouldn't want anyone to see what I really look like when I am working..(looks down at the stylish New York Police Department t'shirt, Jeans and spotty slippers combo I am wearing.)
Speak again soon
Anice xx

A sneak peek at some new paper designs !

I have been working away for a while on paper designs for a new CD collection and it is finally starting to come together! It can be difficult to find inspiration sometimes when I am dealing with all the other 'stuff' that has to be done when you run a business..all the boring stuff!! So when I heard that my long standing hairdresser was celebrating finding out she is to have her first baby I decided to use a couple of my new papers to make her a card.





The papers are both from the next CD which will hopefully be out in the next couple of months, if the mojo keeps on working!! The lettering is doodlebug all mixed up letters and the little lady is a stamp by Stampendous that I have had for ages! The stitching isn't real stitching, it's far to neat for that!, they are also Doodlebug rub ons.

Things have been really busy here as usual but there have been some fun things happening too..as I mentioned in my last post I have had a few cards printed in craft mags as well as Crafts Beautiful I have also taken part in some things in this months issue of Simple Cards and Paper craft. There's a competition in there to win all the Funky Hand CDs and paper packs. I will be back to tell you more about that once I have my copy!!

Well I had best get back to designing some more papers or this new CD will never see the light of day.. speak again soon.

Anice xx