Lock all your doors...

Yes it's that time of the year again.. Halloween!  When I was a kid we didn't do anything for Halloween, that was more an American thing.  We were focusing on Bonfire Night the 5th November. Firework displays and baked potatoes cooked in the bonfire.

But these days kids and adults have really got into Halloween.  I have to admit that I'm not that bothered.  Last year, there was a stream of little children at our door and I was handing out sweeties left right and centre!  This year it's going to be a little more difficult as there will be more children (We live on new estate that is still being built so, there will be more families that have moved in since last year) and we have Travis, a rather excitable Lab cross who runs up and down the stairs barking everytime the doorbell rings. Not much fun to be had tonight in this house I think.  He is going off on a nice long walk to hopefully miss most of the visitors.  Lets hope he doesn't meet too many scary monsters on the streets!

Saying all of this I have made a Halloween card for my card of the day, couldn't really miss it could I?!

Please forgive the picture. I made it late this afternoon and the light is really bad, really early suddenly :( The paper is actually a scrap that I had left over from the Christmas card I made earlier in the week.  It's from the Oh Come All Ye Crafters Is It Xmas download collection.  The spider and web and the Boo! sentiment are digital stamps from my craft CD ROM Craft The Year Away. 

I just used plenty of black ink pad all of the card and paper and scuffed up the edges of the orange paper with one of my files.

It took a while to cut out the spider web but I like the way you can see the patterned paper through it.

I attached the spider and the Boo! sentiment to the card using 2mm foam pads so they stand off the card really nicely.

Well, that's me for today.  Whatever you are up to this evening I hope you have a great time.  Just think of me trying to calm an over excited dog and smile sweetly at children dressed as Harry Potter at my front door.

Speak again soon.
Anice xx

Modern Wedding

Recently a couple of friends got married but they kept everything very quiet from everyone..even their own families. So I was very pleased that they shared the news with us before it all happened and we had a chance to buy them a little gift and for me to be able to make them a card.

As you must have already realised this couple are not into the white wedding, going down the aisle, honeymoon sort of people.  They are the most 'cool' without really trying young couple I know so I tried to reflect that in the card I made for them.  It has a bit of tradition on it..the cake but that's about it!!

The card base is 6" x 6" white and the striped backing paper (printed onto white card) is from my craft CD Craft The Year Away, the My July Collection.  The layer for under the image come from the same collection.  It's one of the 'plain' papers, which of course are never completely plain they always have a pattern or effect on them to make them much more interesting..well I think so anyway!

The topper is made with a digital stamp from the choice on the last Papercraft Factory CD Wishes & Kisses. Actually the cake is one of the stamps and the 'I Do' section is a sentiment on there that I messed about with in the workspace on the CD to resize it and position it right over the little Bride and Groom.  I used Promarkers to colour the image and I followed the colours as closely as I could on the backing paper. I added a little glossy accent to the heart on the top tier but you can't really see it that well on the picture. 

Next I wrapped white satin ribbon around the printed card, attached the topper at an angle and then added a couple of light brown heart brads from my vast brad stash through the ribbon.  I mounted the whole thing onto the base card with 2mm deep foam pads.

I hope they liked it, I know they had a wonderful day with just a few of their closest friends around them.  Actually thinking about it all really, they had a wedding day that was all about them, not all the wedding stuff we are really used to having, I think that is really great.  They love each other, they plan to be together for ever, they got married. Nice and simple.

Before I go I have to mention the Get Funky Blog Challenge for this month. Amanda has set us a perfect challenge for this time of the year 'Christmas is for the Kids' so you can create anything you like it doesn't have to be a card, just something with children and Christmas in mind.  All your entry needs to have is one Funky Hand product on it somewhere. I even help you out with that and offer a, what I call Funky Freebie, backing paper to download for free on my website www.funkyhand.com  Get over to the Get Funky Blog and take a look at the great inspiration cards that the Funky Hand Design Team have been posting every few days. You still have plenty of time to join in, the challenge doesn't end until the 14th November and you could win your choice of a Funky Hand download collection as a prize.

OK that's it for me today, speak again very soon.
Anice xx

Naughty peek at Santa..

I'm am being naughty today..but not in that sort of way!

Recently I was commissioned to create five handmade cards that could be made for under £10 from products available from Funky Hand on my website www.funkyhand.com by Creative Cardmaking Magazine.

Hopefully no one from there reads my Blog as the two page spread is in the next magazine issue available in the shops on 9th November.

Anyway I'm going to be naughty and share one of the cards I created with you today..

The Father Christmas Digital stamp is from my new download Oh Come All Ye Crafters Digital Stamps and the paper and digital ribbon along the bottom of the card are from the 'Oh Come All Ye Crafters'     Christmas Tree craft backing paper download collection.

I coloured Father Christmas using Promarkers and the lovely green buttons are from the Funky Hand button collection Remember December.

I had better not stay on too long today as I don't want to get into trouble sharing this card before it has been in the magazine.  In the mag article I go into alot of detail about how I created each card so I'll let you read that if you buy the mag.  Once they are all in the shops I'll share the other four cards with you.

Speak again soon
Anice xx 

Christmas Downloads released...

I have finally had to give in and get those Christmas craft downloads finished and up on my website www.funkyhand.com.  There are eight new collections available for Christmas 2012.  You can choose from the backing paper collections on their own, matching wordbook collections on their own or, take advantage of the multi buy offers and download both the backing papers and the wordbooks for a reduced price.  It's completely up to you!

My DT gals have been working their magic again and you can take a look at the galleries of the cards that they have created to get a better bit of inspiration and a better idea of what you will be downloading.

With my new downloads in mind I thought I'd share a card that I made using the Is It Xmas backing paper collection.  It's not a traditional Christmas colour scheme. But for those of you that like to mix it up a bit when you make your cards it might be just what you have been looking for.

As always with my craft downloads for specific occasions I like to include a number of papers that can be easily used all year around for other crafting occasions so they can be as versatile as possible.  On this card I have used two of those sorts of papers but on a Christmas card..

Yes..orange and purple on a Christmas card. I know it's not that traditional.  Please accept my apologies for the photographs.  I must remember to take photos first thing in the morning now as my lighting abilities as soon as it gets dark do need to be improved!!

The image on the card is a digital stamp from the Festive Fun digital stamp set you can find on my website.  I roughly water coloured it using Letraset Aquamarkers Set 1. All the edges of the image and the two backing papers have been inked with my trusty dried up black ink pad. Then stuck down onto the white 6" x 6" base card with wet glue.

The ribbon and buttons in the corner of the card is my move into trying to adding more to my cards.  Whether it has worked I'll leave for you to decide but I'll tell you how I created it anyway!

The ribbon is from my stash and I knotted it to make it easier to sew the large purple vintage button on to it using plain bakers twine.  It was interesting trying to thread the needle with the twine but I was pleased that I persevered with it.  Once that was sewn together I stuck it onto the card with double sided tape.  Then I added the purple striped and orange buttons both from the Funky Hand April Fool Button collection using 1mm thick double sided foam pads.  The flat backed pearls are from a couple of scoops of pearls that I bought at a local craft show last weekend.  It's the first time I've had a chance to use them and they were a great buy!

So, there is my none traditional Christmas card to get my makes to send out to friends and family started.  I usually leave it until after my birthday at the end of November but after last years mad rush..I'm going to get started a little earlier this time.

Taking of Christmas that's sort of the theme on this months Get Funky Challenge.  Amanda has set us the task of creating anything we like with 'Christmas is all about the kids' in mind.  We have already had some great inspiration creations from the DT members and there will be more over the next few weeks.  Why not join in? The only rule we have over there is to use at least one Funky Hand product. Don't have any Funky Hand stuff yet? Don't worry every month I give away a Funky Freebie download on my website www.funkyhand.com Basically you can download that and join in.  The winner of the challenge wins their choice of any Funky Hand download.  It could be you and I've just release a load of new ones for you to choose from!.

Speak again very soon.
Anice xx

Birthdays, birthdays everywhere..

I am rapidly heading to the busiest crafting time of my year. Everyone I know seems to have been born in November.  Even me! 

So, earlier this month I had a chance to practice my birthday card making and make a card for my friend Lisa to get me limbered up for November.

I have to admit it is not one of the most complicated cards I have ever created but I think this picture doesn't  show it in it's best light!!  Blame my poor camera work for that.

To make this pretty simple birthday card I used the workspace on my Papercraft Factory CD ROMs.  I opened up the flower backing paper design from my CD Craft The Year Away (My July Collection)  in the workspace and then changed the Papercraft Factory edition that I had open to Happy Happy Birthday.  When you do this, on opening the workspace again the backing paper is carried over.  I reduced the size of the paper and over laid the coloured bow digital stamp image resizing it until it fitted onto the backing paper just as I wanted.  I then printed it out onto to white card.  Before printing I added the Happy Birthday sentiment banner to the workspace which meant I only had to use one piece of card for all of the printed elements.

I decided to make the card a little more interesting, as the design was pretty simple, I had created the image smaller than the 6" x 6" base card I was going to stick it onto.  I glued the printed card closer to one side of the base card front and once it was attached I cut the front of the base card shorter. This showed the inside of the base card.  If you used this idea you could add a complimentary paper to the inside of the card and it would be seen.  I decided to leave it blank as I intended to bling up the front.

I covered the bow with Glossy Accents and before it started to dry sprinkled extra fine glitter over it.  The hard part was then leaving it to dry.  It's so easy to get your fingerprints on the Glossy Accents and mess it up.  Take it from me who has done that many, many times!! 

Once the Glossy Accents was completely dry, I left it over night, I added the Happy Birthday banner using foam pads.  I positioned it so it hung over the short front of the card across to the back of the base card.  I only put foam pads half way down the banner so it wouldn't stick the card together. I know that might sound obvious but I've made stupid mistakes like that in the past..so that's just for dummies like me!!

It's a very simple card but when you don't have tons of time and you're friend isn't really one for loads of flowers etc then I think it turned out to be a good option.

Speak again soon.
Anice xx

How to say..

..I'm thinking about you.  It's always a difficult card to make I find. I don't want to be too down in the dumps with the colours but at the same time I don't want to make a card that is too bright and cheery.  I mean you are letting them know you care and are trying to understand what they are going through.

I made this card recently for a friend who is going through a very tough time..hopefully she thought that it hit the right note when she opened the envelope.

I printed off the flower paper from my craft CD Wishes & Kisses into white card and printed off the 'Thinking of You 'sentiment from the same CD onto white card as well.  I layered the sentiment onto another piece of white card, inking both around the edges with my trusty dried up black ink pad and laid them aside to dry.

I used some left over green satin ribbon I found in my stash and laid it onto the flower printed card and stuck it onto the back of the card with tape. Then I wrapped bakers twine over the top of it and tied it in a simple knot.  Next I tied the same twine through two green buttons and attached them to the card with foam pads. All there was left to do then was to add the sentiment which I did with more foam pads and then stick the whole piece of card onto a 6" x 6" base card.

I have to admit I create cards like this alot, printing onto white card.  Creating everything on there, sticking ribbon rather roughly to the back, adding brads etc through the card and then attaching the printed card to a base card so it looks nice and neat!

Kathy one of my Design Team members has started a Facebook group called 'A card a day blogging' to try to help us terrible bloggers to post something every day..  I'm going to give it a go.  If you are on Facebook why don't you join in with the group? We are all trying to urge each other on to blog and craft more and we are all going to visit each others blogs and leave comments.  So I think it will be a nice group to be part of.

Anyway..here's my first post.  Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow!!
Anice xx

New Get Funky Challenge

Hello again.
Loads of things have been going on here in the Garden Studio which is my excuse this time for my lack of blog posts! But I'm here now so, on with the show!

First up I wanted to say a sad goodbye to a member of my Design Team, Debs, she left us earlier in the month and we will miss her alot. Thanks for everything you created over the last few years Debs they were all wonderful.

We have a new Get Funky Challenge on the go at the moment and it is being hosted by our lovely Amanda.  She has set the challenge of 'Christmas is for the kids' which is so true.  Anything goes really for this challenge as long as it has a Christmas feel and is aimed the way of the little ones who still believe in Father Christmas.  I'm really going to have to get my thinking cap on for my inspiration card later in the challenge but here are the first two cards from the Design Team to get your craft mojo going..

First Amanda, our host, with a really clever card/decoration..

and here is Ruth's creation. She has been naughty and made a wordbook with one of the yet to be released 'Oh Come All Ye Crafters' download collections. This one is called Winter Wonderland.  Keep your eyes on here and on my website www.funkyhand.com for the release of it and a few others in the very near future.

So, there's some inspiration for the Get Funky Challenge this month.  Don't forget, to enter you need to have used at least one Funky Hand product..but do not fear if you don't have anything just yet, there is a new Funky Freebie on my website www.funkyhand.com as always to help you.  This free backing paper matches the Christmas Download 'Oh Come All Ye Crafters' Christmas Tree collection.

I've been working hard on some new ideas for products for the New Year which I am very excited about and when you see them I hope you will be as well. But that's all for next year, we still have a quarter of this year left yet!! A busy crafting one I have to admit but it still should be big fun!

Speak again soon.
Anice xx 

It's International Card Making day!

Yes, today all around the world card makers become one and enjoy their hobby together..well that's the idea I think!  There are things going on all over the internet so I plan on having a bit of a look around once I've finished writing this blog post..

This morning I've been getting into the card making groove and created three cards.  All of them have been made using my second Papercraft Factory CD Colour Me Happy.  It's a CD that gets overlooked by me too often I think, and after creating these cards I think I'll be going back to it alot more..I'd completely forgotten the great backing papers and digital stamps that are on it!

First up a cat card in the new vogue colour at the moment 'Orange'

All the papers and the digital image are from Colour Me Happy.  I coloured the cat and his surroundings using Promarkers and the doodling as usual was done with a black Sakura glaze pen.  Take a closer look..my cat paw prints are not amazing but they are my first go!

So, unlike me I was on on a roll so I made another card..well it's a special card making day isn't it. This next card is also all from Colour Me Happy and it was different for me for two reasons..

Firstly it's a card for a man and also I got a bit inky..which if you know me..I'm not one for getting ink on my hands..mad for a crafter I know !  The base card is one of my favourites at the moment made of Kraft card and again the papers and digital image are from the Colour Me Happy CD.  I coloured the Image with Promarkers and then set to work on the the two backing papers. I printed them on white card and got out my file kit.

Not only did I file around the edges to mess them up I stabbed holes in them and then filed the holes..it was great fun.  I folded the card in places back and forth so there were creases and the brown gingham card I cut by hand making sure that it wasn't that straight..not that hard for me as I can't cut by hand to save my life!! To finish it off I added some rough twine and tried to make it look messy to match in with the general feel of the card.  Here's a closer look at the image..

So, you would think that was enough for one morning but not today!!  I made one more card and this again used some techniques that I was trying out for the first time..

As before all the papers and digital image are from the Colour Me Happy CD.  I love green so making a card with my favourite colour is always something I have to try not to do..otherwise everything would be green! The digital image was coloured with Promarkers again. I decided to stitch one end of it with big uneven crosses and then raise the other end a little with double sided foam pads.  Just a little thing I learned whilst doing this..put the foam pads on first it's really had to stick them on and take off the coverings once you've sewn on the other end..what a numpty!!

I said I'd tried a new technique for me on this card well that was of pleating paper along the bottom.  I have admired other craters cards with this technique on so with my brand new Hougie board I had a go.  The outside pleat fronts you can see are 2cm long with a 1/2cm pleat inside.  As I only have one and a half hands to do this it took a little time and few rude words I wont repeat here! But I got it done in the end.  I decided that I didn't want to stick each section down I wanted it a bit free so I only stuck down the ends and added a few double sided pads in a couple of places and I liked the effect in the end.

I didn't add any sentiments to any of the cards as I thought they could go in my box of cards ready for any forgotten occasion so a quick sentiment printed with the writer on any of the Papercraft Factory CDs would make them perfect!

OK, so that's the start of my crafting for today..it's a special international card making day so I couldn't miss out on that could I?  I hope you are able to get to your crafting desk today or sometime this weekend and know that you are joining in with probably millions of people everywhere doing just the same thing.  It's nice to know that we are not alone in our crafty passions!!

Actually if you are making cards I'd love to see any that you make using Funky Hand stuff..take a picture and post the image on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/funkyhand  I'd really like to see them and probably everyone else who follows the page Maybe there might be a little gift for anyone who does.(wink)  You'll have to pop over now wont you!!


Happy crafting and speak again soon.
Anice xx

Happy Happy Birthday!

As usual I'm here apologising for not blogging often enough..but please forgive me as I have been working on some really cool new stuff for Funky Hand and hopefully you will really like the new things we will be bringing you in the New Year.

I have been able to squeeze in a little card making, not enough to fuel my crafting needs I have to admit :( but 'thems' the breaks when you start a craft business rather than being a crafter.

Vic, my friend and one half of the lovely newly wed couple I told you about a few posts back, had a birthday recently so I grabbed my Papercraft Factory CD Happy Happy Birthday and made this simple but effective birthday card..

I was trying to be clever using her age '28' and adding one of the sentiment digital stamps on the CD that rhymed .. Vic as usual was not that impressed!  It looks as though the number 8 isn't coloured in but here's a close up to show you that it has coloured sprinkles!

Ok, that's the recent 'very quick' card making I have had time to do, but I am planning a new improved card making and blogging schedule right at this moment so you should hear from me and see lots more crafting from me very soon.

Before I go I wanted to fill you in on my crafty companion here in the Garden Studio every day.  A while back you may remember seeing a picture and post about Ian and I getting a black Lab puppy called Hugo.  Well, unfortunately Hugo didn't live with us for very long, it's a long a sad tale which I'm not going to bother you with.

After Hugo, I was rather reluctant to take on another dog but Ian is a country boy and loves the great outdoors.  We have some amazing woodland and wildlife reservations in short walking distances from our house now, and Ian really wanted a dog to go out and enjoy them with..so of course I was persuaded.

This time we decided to find a dog we could rescue from a shelter.  We searched and searched for a couple of months until one day we came upon this sweet faced black lab/border collie cross named 'Chester'  He was so sweet we had to save him and bring him home.  As soon as he was home..Chester as a name went out of the window..he didn't even respond to it and we named him Travis.  That was last March and we haven't looked back a day since then.  He is about 18 months old now, mad as a hatter when he is chasing his favourite toy the frisbee in the fields.  He's very loving and when I have cried he tried to join in with me which in the end stopped me from crying and got me laughing instead.  He is my constant companion here in the Studio but he never touches my craft stash just plays with his toys and sleeps on his bed right by my desk, he's there right now..snoring his head off!  I thought you might like to see my little chap..well he's not that little he weighs in at 24kg, here he is waiting for me to give him his lunchtime Jumbone (you can't see his tail wagging because I'm a rubbish photographer!).. meet the new(ish) Funky Hand Gang member Travis.

Well, that's it for today I'll be back as soon as I have something interesting to say or show you.
Happy crafting!
Anice xx