Good News! It's A Boy!

To anyone reading this thinking I'm announcing anything about me, think again!!

No, we have a new member of the family..he was a little earlier than we thought but Ian my other half and Funky Hand techy has become an Uncle once again. Matthew David was born earlier in the week and he is a darling! Of course I needed to make a new baby card so I thought I would share it with you here..in detail!!

The card has been made using my craft CD Craft The Year Away. The collection for the paper I used is November Rain as it has some lovely blues and lilac tones. I used the coloured baby carriage image from the digital stamps on that same CD and wrote the sentiment in the work space. It was great as I was able to put everything I needed, backing paper, sentiment and digital image all on one A4 piece of card and print them all out together.

I decided that I wanted to make a wire curly handle for the pram so I used black covered 22 gauge wire. It's thick enough to look good for the pram handle but not so thick I couldn't add a few black beads to it to give a bit of movement and noise to the card!

Of course I needed to add some ribbon to a baby card but as he is a boy I just wanted something simple so I added sheer blue ribbon with white dots. I have trouble tying bows so I always opt for the 'decorative knot' in these circumstances!! I decided to add a white heart pin through the knot that I found in my stash which has a lovely sheen on it. Sorry I don't know where I got it from, I've had it in my stash for years!

Once I had started to put the card together.. I don't know about you but I always seem to change my mind and add or take things away. It was at this point I decided that there needed to be a little more definition to the backing paper so I quickly doodled a rather wobbly line around the edge of it with a black Sakura Gelly roll glaze pen. It tied the black pram handle into the overall card design better. I mounted the pram on the card with foam pads and once it was all together I added Glossy Accents to the heart to give it a lovely sheen..and it also meant there was no chance of me touching it and messing it up. Which is what I usually do as I have no patience to wait for things to dry.

So there you go..my first real baby card for quite a while!

I hope you all had a chance to grab any Funky Hand products yesterday in my one day birthday sale. It will be a while before you see those sorts of discounts on the website again so I hope you did get anything you fancied before it was all over. I had a lovely birthday yesterday. I went to the hairdressers, did 'lunch' and coffee with my good friend Vic and was taken out for dinner by Ian.

Today is family get together day for my birthday so little Matthew will get his first outing since he arrived home earlier in the week. Bring on the party food! I love that sort of thing even more than the children..well it's my birthday party so I should stuff my face shouldn't I?

Speak again very soon
Anice xx

It's my birthday 43% off SALE

Yes, it's my birthday and for ONE DAY ONLY you can get 43% off ALL FUNKY HAND PRODUCTS on my website www.funkyhand.com

That means prices like my latest Papercraft Factory craft CD ROM Twelve Crafters Crafting coming down from £16.99 to a tiny £9.68    Find the same amazing discount for all our craft CDs


The discounts are not just on our craft CDs but all Funky Hand Download collections and other Funky Hand products like Our Betty Stamps, buttons, ribbons and paper packs.

If you still have crafty gifts to buy for Christmas or just want to grab some huge bargains for yourself you had better get onto my website www.funkyhand.com NOW as this sale is only running from Midnight 24th November until Midnight tonight Friday 25th November.

Don't kick yourself tomorrow for missing out as we will not be having as big a sale discount again.  So get over to www.funkyhand.com quickly before time runs out or the stock does!!

Now, I'm off to enjoy my birthday and wish you all a very happy crafting day!
Speak very soon
Anice xx

Time for a Funky Challenge

It's my turn on the old Get Funky! Challenge blog today. Jackie is the Boss this month and she set us a bit of an interesting challenge.  She wants us all to make a Christmas card in the traditional green and red etc colours and then using less tradtional colours but still Christmas papers from collections make a none Christmas card.. well that's a tester!

I've decided that I'm only going to put the Christmas card that I created for this challenge up here on my blog so you need to pop over to the Get Funky Challenge Blog to see what my other creation was..it's not Christmassy that's for sure!!

 

All the Design Team are using my latest CD release Twelve Crafters Crafting for their cards so I have as well!!  This card is made with the Easel card template that can be found on the CD and papers from the Merry Christmas Collection.  Both the Christmas Tree and the sentiment are hand drawn digital stamps that can also be found on the Twelve Crafters Crafting CD ROM.

Ok, so now you've seen my Christmas half of the challenge pop over to Get Funky and see what else I made none Christmas using Christmas papers then, have a go yourself..we love to see your creations and visit your blogs.  Even if you don't join in leave a comment on any of the posts so we know you were there!!

Speak again soon

Anice xx

A craft gift from my Mom!

If you know anything about me or how Funky Hand started as a business you will know that it was my Mom who got me started papercrafting.  Anyway, since she retired recently she has been picking up old crafts like knitting and sewing that she used to always be doing when I was a child.  But as well as those things she has also been trying out some new ones as well.  She has taken up jewellery making.

Last weekend Mom and Dad visited us and Mom gave me a fab bracelet that she had made for me.  Basically she gathered together every green bead she had in her stash, as she knows it's my favourite colour, and created this wild bracelet..

It's made using memory wire so I don't have to worry about trying to do up clasps with my dodgy right hand.
Here it is on my wrist..

Expect to see this in any future Create and Craft TV shows front and centre..though it does rattle a little with all the giant beads.  It might mean you can't hear me talking, which isn't such a bad thing I imagine you are thinking!! 

Just one last picture before I leave you to your day.  What I really loved was a little charm that Mom had added to the end of the bracelet..

A little silver hand saying Hand Made.Isn't that great?  We should all be proud of our crafty creations, being hand made doesn't mean the item is 'less' than something you could buy in the shops.  It means it's much better as it's been made with love and care.

Speak again very soon

Anice xx

It's time for a new Get Funky Challenge

I know I say this every month but I just can't believe the Funky 15th has come around again.  Which can only mean a new Get Funky Challenge.

Jackie is our Boss this month and as it's her first time running the monthly challenge I thought I might get an easy ride..not a chance.  This month Jackie wants us makng two cards!!  One which is a standard Christmas card using traditional colours like red, green, gold etc and then really stretch our crafting talents and make a card that isn't Christmas themed but with Christmas papers!!

Here are Jackies cards for this challenge to get you started, but go over to the Get Funky Challenge Blog to get a proper look at what she has created.

For both cards she used papers from our latest CD ROM Twelve Crafters Crafting.. First the traditional Christmas card..

and then a really fab Birthday card using the same Christmas CD ROM Twelve Crafters Crafting..

Aren't they both great?  Just proves that Twelve Crafters Crafting, isn't just for Christmas..you can use it all year around!  I'll be showing you my take on this Get Funky Challenge at the weekend.  I just need to get them both made!

So, get yourself over to the Get Funky Challenge blog and join in with this months challenge.  The only rule to be able to win the free Funky Hand download prize is that you use at least one Funky Hand product.  If you haven't got anything from us in your stash just yet then do not fear I have created a Funky Freebie download paper that you can download from my website www.funkyhand.com to help you on your way.

Have fun crafting!
Anice xx




 

If you missed my create and Craft Shows...

..then you missed out on some big savings on my Papercraft Factory CD ROMs including my latest releases Happy Happy Birthday and Twelve Crafters Crafting!  If you've already got them then who cares eh?  If you haven't pop over to their website www.createandcraft.tv and see if they still have any of the deals in stock. If not they are available for sale on my website www.funkyhand.com while stocks last!!

Anyway I thought I would share with you a couple of the cards that I made on the shows so you could have a bit of a look at them!  First up is my go at distressing paper using a file..not a good idea when you have paid good money for a manicure to go on telly!!

This jolly Santa card was created using papers,digital stamps and sentiment from my latest Christmas CD release Twelve Crafters Crafting.  Here's a closer look at the distressing of the edge of the paper..

Next I'm going to share a really simple easel card. All the papers, digital images, sentiment and the easel card template also come from the new Twelve Crafters Crafting Christmas CD ROM.

Here's a side view..

Without reducing the easel card template from full size it measures 4.8" square so it will fill perfectly in a 5" square envelope for sending out to people.

I really think Sally my digi stamp designer has created some wonderful stamps with this CD.  They are not overly complicated so they are great for paper piecing and they are cute with out being cutsey..if you know what I mean!

Anyway, there are two cards I demonstrated making on Wednesdays Create and Craft TV shows.  If you'd like to take a good look at the other paper colours and designs, stamps and generally get a better idea of the sorts of things you could make using this CD then pop to the Twelve Crafters Crafting page on my website and take a look at the gallery on there.  My Design Team have made some amazing Christmas cards and lots of other things besides with the papers available on this CD. Infact if you have a look around at all the other CD pages you will see galleries on all of them that will give you loads of inspiration to get crafting!

I'll be back soon with a tutorial about how to use the pillow box template available on this CD so you can see how to make really great boxes, just right for small gifts like jewellery etc..

Speak again soon
Anice xx

Live shows on Create and Craft tomorrow

Hi everyone.  I'm just dropping by pretty quickly today to remind you, or let you know if you didn't already,  that I have two live TV shows tomorrow.Wednesday 9th November On the Create and Craft TV channel at 8am and 1pm. Find the shows on Sky Channel 671, Freeview 36 and Freesat 813

I will be launching my newest Christmas themed CD ROM release Twelve Crafters Crafting for all you late Christmas card makers like me.  I never make a Christmas card before my birthday, 25th November..though I've had to this year for demo cards!! Ha Ha!

On the shows there will also be chances to see my last CD Happy Happy Birthday which to tell you the truth is only a couple of months old itself so it's like doing a double launch!!  Look out for some fantastic card samples from my wonderful Design Team members as always they will blow you away with their crafty talent!


I want to give you a BIG heads up that there are going to be some BIG savings available on all my craft CD ROMS on these shows..and that even includes the new releases!!  If you don't have Twelve Crafters Crafting and Happy Happy Birthday yet then make sure you watch at 8am and 1pm tomorrow or go on the  Create and Craft website and you might just get yourself a very nice surprise..don't you deserve an early Christmas present???!!

There are reductions on the prices of my older papercraft factory CDs Dreams Come True and Colour Me Happy as well so maybe you need to complete your collection..do it tomorrow with the sale prices on the individual CDs and even more on multi buys.

I'm off now to just finish packing my tote bag and huge Really Useful Box with all the demos and card samples for tomorrow.  I hope we can get them all in the car!!

Let me know what you think of the shows..I'd love to hear from you.
Until later in the week
Anice xx

My Dad had a birthday..

My Dad and I have birthdays in the same month so November is a month for me to make birthday cards and to receive them!  Here's the fun little card that I made Dad this year,

I know I was being a bit cheeky..but he doesn't mind!!  The card was made with papers, digital images and sentiments from my CD Happy Happy Birthday.  I had to send it in the post so I wanted it to have some layers but not be so thick that it would cost a forture to send in the post or would just get wrecked!  So, I didn't use any foam pads but stuck each part of the card down flat with wet glue.  To create a feeling of layers I added a section of the same printed card on top of the main backing paper and just doodled with a black Sakura pen simply around the edges of both.  The topper was created in the Happy Happy Birthday Work Space using three digital stamps, the pint of beer and the two sentiments 'Over the hill' and the 'Happy Birthday' banner.  That's the great thing about the Papercraft Factory Work Space that you will find on all our Papercraft Factory CD ROMS (Dreams Come True, Colour Me Happy, Craft The Year Away, Happy Happy Birthday & Twelve Crafters Crafting) you can resize all the digital images and sentiments and mix and match them to create your own perfect topper.  If none of the sentiments are exactly what you want, maybe you want add the persons name, then just use the sentiment writer, also available on the Work Space, and write whatever you like in loads of different fonts.  Your options are endless really.  Of course you might think that I would say that as Papercraft Factory is a Funky Hand creation but I know that it's a big plus from all the emails I get every week from really happy customers..so I must be doing something right with it!!

Anyway, back to my Dad's birthday card !  I finished off the topper by colouring it in with Promarker pens and adding highlights to the image with a white Sakura pen.  I always find it a bit strange using a white Sakura pen as when you draw it on..it's clear..then after a few mins it dries and it's suddenly white. Then you find out if you have put it in the right place!!  But that's what crafting is all about to me..having a go at things you have never done before and having fun at the same time !

Enjoy your crafting this week!
Anice xx

Twelve Crafters Crafting CD officially launched!

 
Yep, I'm all excited today as our Christmas CD Twelve Crafters Crafting  is officially launched on our website www.funkyhand.com.. all you eager crafters that pre ordered the CD all last week should be seeing your copies arriving today as they were all dispatch first class yesterday to you (Friday 4th Nov)

I've been working with the CD all week and will be the rest of this weekend coming up with demonstrations to include on our two live TV shows on Create and Craft TV next Wednesday 9th November at 8am and 1pm.  I hope you can join me to have a closer look at Twelve Crafters Crafting and have a few laughs as well, crossed fingers.

Here's card I made with the CD just last week, I even coloured the Christmas crakers myself with promarker pens!  I'm still learning how to use them properly but the digital stamps on Twelve Crafters Crafting really lend themselves brilliantly to colouring..they are amazing, Sally my image designer has done a fab job..I can't wait to be able to show you more of them..though if you can't wait to have a look take a glance at the gallery on the Twelve Crafters Crafting page on the website and you will see some amazing cards and projects that my Design team members have created.

Right I had best get back to making demos or there will be nothing for me to do or show you next week on my TV shows!

Speak again very soon
Anice xx