It's nearly 2015 & we have a MEGA SALE !

Yep that's right, everything on the Funky Hand website is priced at £1.00

Grab any backing paper download collections, Craft CDs, Our Betty stamps, ribbon, buttons, twine, paper packs, Card Candi..oh heck anything you can find on the website and is in stock you can have for £1.00.  Be quick though things are selling out as I'm writing this !  If there is anything left it will be in the sale until 6pm on Sunday 4th January.  www.funkyhand.com

Hope to see you over there grabbing a bargain.
Speak again soon.

Anice xx

A lovely new download that you need!

Hi everyone,

It's been a bit of a while since I shared a new craft backing paper download with you so, here is a new one..
Keep In Touch. It contains 22 A4 high resolution backing papers and 2 sets of matching toppers.  It's nice and bright as you can see below.  Perfect for creating for youngsters and not so youngsters alike!

This craft download has proved very popular with my design team and they have created the most amazing things using it.  Want to see a few of them?  Oh go on then!

This little stunner of a handmade card is by Kathy. She has resized some of the toppers to use as embellishments.  That's the great thing about digital downloads you can make them whatever size that you need. 

How about creating your very own notelets?  Well Lou has and aren't they amazing!

Another handmade card using lots of the different backing papers from the collection and a topper included in the collection for the central focus from Marleen.

and finally a card I made.  I've used one of the toppers but a blank one and added my own sentiment.

If you would like to see even more samples to get your crafty juices flowing using this Keep In Touch backing paper collection then visit the Funky Hand website www.funkyhand.com and take a look at the gallery attached to the product page.  

While you are over there why not add this download into your basket.  It's only £2.49 for 22 papers and two lots of matching toppers..you know you need it!

Speak again very soon.

Anice xx 

Spooky Dookie Forgotten Funky Part 2

Boo!  Did I get you?

As I promised here are the other creations from my wonderful Design Team member for this months Forgotten Funky, Halloween download Spooky Dookie.  The theme of course is Halloween and the girls have created some amazing crafty items.  Can you believe that all these different creations were made using the same downloadable backing paper collection?

A scary ghost card from Tammy

Something to collect all those treats in from Debbie

Ruth is going to create a right stir with these cupcake toppers and spooky straws

Who wouldn't want a treat rather than give you a trick if you offered them these made by Lou?

I have really enjoyed seening the creations from the Design Team this month, I hope you have too.  Why not pop over to the Get Funky & Craft Blog and leave them a comment.  We love to hear from you and get your feedback.

Until next time,
Anice xx

Get ready for a spooky Forgotten Funky..

Hello everyone,

This months Design Team Forgotten Funky over on the DT Blog, Get Funky and Craft is the download collection Spooky Dookie.  They created some amazing things, from cards to treat bags, take a look..

A super scary card and treat jar created by Marleen

Wow! Those ghosts poping out from this card by Allison would make you jump!

Yummy treat bags made by Kathy

If that has given you some spooky ideas then pop over to the Get Funky Blog to take a look at all the other creations or pop back here tomorrow where I'll be sharing some more of their scary creations..

Until then..
Anice xx

Old England to New England.

Hello all,

I've been away for a few days visiting Ians brother over in the US.  He has just moved from New York to Boston so we needed to have a look at his new appartment (It's very swish by the way :)) and take a look around at where he now lives.  Neither of us have ever been to Boston or the New England area before so, it was great fun.

Lucky for us we were just at the beginning of their 'Fall', Autumn for us!  and New England is known for it's beautiful colour changes in the mountains so off we headed.  I was also taking to opportunity to be inspired by the lovely colours.

We were just a little too early for the full colour changes to the trees but it was still wonderful to see..

Right, my holiday is over.  I have to get back to the pile of emails that are in my inbox.  I'll be back soon with some fantastic creations by the Funky Hand DT ready for Halloween.

Until then, take care.
Anice xx

All a crafter needs, Our Betty stamps for just £1.00!

Good afternoon everyone,

I know everyone thinks I've gone a little mad but I've decided to add more Funky Hand stash to my £1.00 sale over on the Funky Hand website. This time as well as all the craft CD ROMs you will find the Our Betty clear stamp sets.

These stamp collection are made up of loads of high quality acrylic clear stamps.  There's a 'Betty' image on each and then loads of other things that go perfectly with her, some really handy sentiments.

Betty is a girl after my own heart, she isn't a skinny minny and she likes her cakes, tea, handbags and of course wine!!

She was priced as £7.99 so grabbing her for £1.00 means that if you buy all three sets you are making a huge saving of £21.00

So, I have to get back to work lots of new things to finish off.  Speak again soon.
Anice xx

A 'Fading' Beauty of a card!

Hi everyone,

With all the madness here in the Garden Studio because of the £1.00 CD sale, which is still going on over on the website www.funkyhand.com by the way, I haven't been able to craft at all. Boo!  So, I though I would share a few of the cards that the Design Team have been creating and sharing over on the                          Get Funky and Craft Blog.  To give you a bit of inspiration from them whilst I am trying to keep my head above the sea of CD packages!

Here is a lovely card made by Sammylou using the Fading Beauty backing paper download collection.

Lou made this fabby aeroplane using the Steam Funk download.  How great is this?

Mareleen made this lovely love themed card using the Georgie Love Banner digital stamp.

Debbie created this 'die'tastic card using backing papers from the Minty Madness downloadable collection

 and finally Kathy showed us that you can create all year around with Funky Hand Christmas themed downloads by making this gift bag using the Sleigh Ride backing paper download,

So, there is a bit of inspiration from the Funky Hand DT.  I hope that you enjoyed having a look.
Don't forget that you can see the DT creations first hand by visiting their Funky Hand Blog Get Funky and Craft.  For more Funky Hand fabness why not 'like' our Facebook page or join the Facebook Group? We'd love to have you there for a good ole' chat. :)

Until next time.
Anice xx

Sorry for the delay of your order

Hi everyone,
If you have placed an order for a Funky Hand CD (or two!) during our crazy sale this post is for you. Please accept my apologies if you haven't recieved your order yet. We have been a little overwhelmed with all of the orders and we are getting to your order as fast as possible. 

Thanks for your understanding. Best get back to it!
Anice xx 

FLASH SALE £1.00 Funky Hand CDs

Hello all!
I headed into the stockroom yesterday and started a 'good old' clean out!  While I was in there I decided to have a Flash Sale.  So, all the Funky Hand CD ROMs that are available on the Funky Hand website are, for a short time, just £1.00 each.

All the CDs are included Papercraft Factory and the Original CDs.  If you have any gaps in your Funky Hand CD collection then now is the time to fill them.

There are only a few copies allocated to the sale for each CD, some more than others depending on the stock numbers..so when those allocated copies have gone..they are gone!

See you over on the website
Anice xx

Making the most of your digital stamps..

Hello everyone,

I hear regularing from crafters who either use digital stamps or normal stamps, or they don't, that they don't use them more than about twice before they are forgotten about as they are worried that all their cards will look the same.

That got me thinking. I thought I would share the idea that I had that might help..

This is a image that I drew this week for on a card for my friends birthday.  It's not a digital stamp yet.. maybe I should release it.  What do you think?

Now, I'm no fantastic colourer so bare with me with the following coloured images.  This is the first version that I created for going on my friends card.  All pastel, bright and happy.

Here it is on the finished card just so I can share that with you as well. :)

So, I then tried to look at the image in a different way..

This time I coloured it as if it was night time and the street light was just lighting a bit of the street.  Add a different sentiment and this image can now go on a completely different sort of card.  It would be perfect to send to a friend or family member that was having a tough time.

So, before you put that stamp to the back of the drawer or archive it on your PC drive take a look at it again.  Can you colour and mount it in a different way and use it for something else?

Until next time
Anice xx

Special offer you don't want to miss!

Hi everyone!
I'm really excited to tell you about the special offer that is on over on my website.  I'm having a bit of a clear up and I thought it might be nice to offer you all a really great offer while I'm working on the nightmare that is my stockroom! So, here it is..

Yep, every downloadable collection and digital stamp on www.funkyhand.com is only £1.00! It's not going to be available forever of course.  Everything will go back to it's normal price on Friday 22nd August at midnight.  So there isn't too much time to waste.

When you think that some of the wordbook downloads are priced a £4.59 there are some serious deals to be had!  Am I mad?  I must be, but not for long!!

Grab a few deals while you can.
Until next time
Anice xx

This months Forgotten Funky..

It's the last Friday of the month so that means a new 'Forgotten Funky' blog post from my wonderful DT members.

'Forgotten Funky' what is that?  You might be asking.  Well, each month the Funky Hand Design Team members choose a Funky Hand download collection and they revisit it, making new cards with it.  It's great to see what they create this time around.  Also it reminds me what I have created in the past!

This months it is the backing paper download collection Rainbow Polkadots.

Here are some of the new creations that the DT have made..

You can see more fab creations over on the DT blog  Get Funky & Craft.  Actually if you haven't visited there before you will find loads of posts from the Design Team showing you new creations, tutorials and lots more.  Take a look and be inspired!

Until next time.
Anice xx

Something a bit off topic..

Good morning everyone,

Things have been a bit hectic around here recently. (When are they not? I hear you ask!)  We, Ian and me, have just come back from a fantastic holiday with our friends.  We were only away for a week but while we were away we did NOTHING! It's amazing how just having some time away from home, work, life in general can revitalise you isn't it?

Though it didn't last for long as we have only been back a few days and our little dog Travis had to go back into the vets to have another operation on his elbow.  I'm not sure if I told you about his first operations in February earlier this year.  Well, the left hand leg has never really improved so after six months of physio, he had to go back under the knife yesterday.

He is a very sad little chap today.  He's not supposed to get off his bed for five days except to visit the garden for the toilet.  Though that is pretty hard for me to make happen as you can imagine.

So, me and Travis are locked, well a baby gate is blocking the door, in my office all day for the next week.  Until Ian gets here and he can be carried up and down the stairs. I'm not strong enough to carry him. :(

It does mean I can really concentrate on creating new products and planning for the Christmas period.  Arrgghh! I'm sorry I know I have just mentioned the 'C' word, but it has to be worked on so stuff is ready when you might want it.

I have a few plans that will be going ahead in the near future, hopefully they will all work out how I am planning.. we shall see!

I'll leave you there and get myself a cuppa.  I doubt Travis will want one, though he might be tempted with a chicken breakfast. Ugh!

Anice xx

Wash It All Away with new downloads!

Hi everyone,

Here I am again to show you some new download releases that have just been put onto the website.  This time there are two digital stamps and one backing paper collection.  Enough of my talk lets take a look,

These coffee takeaway cups have proved popular so I thought I would draw a couple more to add to your options, 'Thanks A Latte' would be great to send to a friend to just say thanks for being my friend.

Second coffee cup, Full Of Beans, people we know can get sick but that doesn't mean that we want to send a boring Get Well Soon card. A card to pep them up can be just what they need!

When I started designing this Wash It All Away backing paper download I didn't plan that it would be good for men but, with these deep colour and slightly grunged effect it has turned out just to be perfect for that.  It would be good for other stuff as well but aren't we all always a bit lacking craft stuff for the male creations we need to make?

Here's a card I made with the Wash It All Away backing papers,

I was pretty happy with it until I wrote on the little paper attached to the clip board.  I think I will pull the paper off and print something and re attach it.  I thought I'd share it with you anyway.  Feel free to agree with me!

OK, that's me done for this post.

Speak to you again very soon.
Anice xx

Happy Fathers Day!

It's Fathers Day, the day when crafters/card makers everywhere breath easier as super hard mens cards are behind us for another year!

Why are mens cards so hard?  I can't answer that question, but they are.  Here is a picture of the cards I made for our Dads this year.

There have both been created using the Funky Hand backing paper download Boys Will Be Boys.  The toppers are my own design on photoshop.

To have a closer look pop over to the Funky Hand DT Blog.  Get Funky and Craft.

So, as well as visiting blogs do you frequent any other social media outlets?  If you do, did you know that Funky Hand has a presence on most of them?  If not, why not visit us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest? There are fun things going on on all of them.

Take a look at the latest cards made by the Design Team for this months Forgotten Funky Summer Wedding on Pinterest. Very soon there will be competitions and give-aways happening on our Facebook page and I'm around on Twitter alot of the time and happy to have a chat..anything to keep me away from doing my accounts.  Hehe!

I hope to see you over there.
Speak again very soon
Anice xx

Making a flat card interesting.. Part 1

Hi everyone,

Today I thought I would talk about some of my ideas for creating flat cards that go through the post and don't cost you a fortune. But are still interesting to make and receive.

It's sad for us card makers but sending a beautifully crafted greetings card through the post is not only pretty expensive these days but the rough treatment they can receive on their journey can mean all our hard work is left in pieces in the envelope. I save all my fancy 'big' embellishments for cards I hand over these days, but that doesn't mean I don't bother much with the ones I send through the post.  You just have to think of ideas to make them flat but interesting!

This is a card I made a couple of days ago for Ians Sister Sandi.

I had to go through the post as we were not going to see her on the day so I decided that I would create something that was layered.  As Sandi is a girl, I went for the pinks and greens on the backing papers from the Fading Beauty collection.  I'd already decided that I was going to use a kraft tag that I'd bought a packet of recently, so I dug out a kraft base card.

Layering can come across a bit boring if you don't try to spice it up a bit. So, all the layers that I included I printed on thin white card. I inked around the edges of  each layer with a dried up black ink pad just to make them stand out a little from each other. I then scuffed them all up around all the edges using a file from a Basic Grey Precision file set I've had forever in my craft stash.

If you are interested in what this set is like and what you can do with it take a look at this video on the Basic Grey website http://www.basicgrey.com/pages/basicgrey_precision_file_set

You could use a metal nail file if you have one that should work OK as well.  I scuffed/roughed up the edges to give some texture to the card but it didn't add to the weight or thickness.

You probably haven't noticed, but I then got to the layers with a circle punch..

If you don't have time to colour a digital stamp or other sort of topper, adding a tag as a topper can work well..

So, there are a couple of ideas from me for a 'flat' card to send in the post that hopefully the recipient wont feel flat about when they open it!

Do you have any little techniques that you use to make a flat card interesting?  Tell me about them in the comments I'd love to hear them.

Speak again soon,
Anice xx

It's true, time flies when you are having fun!

Hello everyone,

No, I'm not giving you another reason why I haven't blogged for a month with my post title..though I suppose it would be a good one!

Today I am not talking about crafting. I want to talk to you about my milestone this month June 2014.  I have lived in the North East for 20 years!  I moved here on the 1st June 1994.

This got me to thinking about what I have done over the last twenty years..at first I thought, 'I haven't done much' but then I started thinking a little harder..

Since 1994 I have:

Lived in six different houses
Worked eight different jobs.
Worked two jobs at the same time once.
Got a divorce!
Saw a new Millennium in dressed as an Angel
Learned to drink and then given up again!
Been diagnosed with two long term medical conditions.
Owned and driven five different cars
Fallen in love many times, and discovered that it wasn't love!
Really fallen in love 'once'  (Love you Ian)
Owned a cat and a dog.
Been on two all inclusive cruises.
Travelled business class to America five times.
Learned to craft (this is still a work in progress)
Learned to use Photoshop
Learned to use Illustrator
Tried to learn Italian and failed
Started my own business
Won a business retail award
Appeared on TV with my products
Made loads of friends
Lost loads of friends (not something I'm proud of)

and that is just the tip of the iceberg. This list was long enough, I don't want to bore you too much!

It's easy to think that nothing really happens in your life day to day.  I have to admit I'm the worst for complaining that I never do anything.  But we all do alot in our lives and we just forget about it.  It's only when something makes you think, like my twenty years in the North East has, and you realise that you have done alot.

But there is alot more to be done in the next twenty year..what have you been doing?

Speak again soon
Anice xx

Oh, I passed my driving test twenty five years ago this month as well..though Ian might question whether I should have!

More new releases to snuggle up with!

I'm here again telling you about MORE Funky Hand new digital download releases.  I'm on a designing roll at the moment so I don't want to wait to give you only a couple of new things..I want you to see them all!

OK, what have you got for us today Anice?  First up the backing paper collection Fading Beauty,

This paper collection was inspired by the sun bleached colours that you see in lovely hot places.  Not that I see them much here the North East!  The paint work being a bit worn out and flaky and the colours sun bleached.  The Funky Hand Design Team loved using this collection and created some really diverse cards and scrap pages which made me realise that this is a very useful set of papers to have in your stash.  Here's a few examples, you can see them all in the gallery on the Fading Beauty download page on the Funky Hand website www.funkyhand.com

The second release today is a new Georgie digital stamp called Night Night.  I'm really pleased how this stamp has turned out, I was so pleased that I decided to give everyone who purchases it a little extra free.  As well as the usual line drawings I have digitally coloured the stamp and included that in the file as well.  It means that if you don't have time to colour a stamp you can print off a ready coloured one.

So, another release day for you!  I hope you like them.  If you have any questions about these downloads or any of the others don't hesitate to ask them.  Either ask here or send me a message through the Contact Us page on the website.

Speak again soon.
Anice xx

Memories In Sepia..new backing papers

Here I am again after quite sometime,

I've got something great to share with you on this post.  We have a new backing paper download available on the Funky Hand website and it's a little different.  This set of backing papers isn't bright colours it's a little more subdued. It's called Memories In Sepia and it's priced at only £2.99 

This collection has lots of different patterns for you to create with, bicycles, the Eiffel tower, old lace and more.  The Funky Hand Design Team loved playing with this one and have made some beautiful cards and scrapbook pages.  Here are a few examples and there are loads more in the gallery on the Memories In Sepia page.

There is even a card from me!..

Go and have a look at the Memories In Sepia backing paper collection now and start thinking about what you can create with them.

Speak again soon
Anice xx