Making baby cards? Read on!

Hello everyone,

I'm all excited as I've launched some new digital stamps and backing papers on my website Funky Hand and I wanted to let you all take a look.

Who doesn't need baby papers and images? No one I know anyway, so I thought I'd start my 2014 releases in pink and blue.. First up Button Babies Paper Collection.

These backing papers have gone down a storm with my Design Team and they have been making the most AMAZING cards with them.  Go over to the gallery on the Button Babies Paper Collection product page and have a good look.  There is tonnes of inspiration for what to do using just the papers.

If you like to have an image to top your cards then don't worry because I have drawn two for you..

These pair are little sweeties and very simple to colour or paper piece.  Once again my Design Team members have outdone themselves creating the most wonderful cards and other creations (Don't miss the amazing boxes that Lou has made!) which you can see in the galleries on the Button Baby Boy and    Button Baby Girl product pages.  Click on any of the images and be taken straight to the pages.

You're in for a treat though, as I've got another two stamps for you to savour.  I don't know about you, if I want to say I love you to someone I don't always want to do it in a cute or slushy way.  Now you don't have to!  Introducing 'Takeaway Stamps'

These two takeaway coffees are perfect for saying I love you in a fun quirky way.  They lend themselves perfectly to paper piecing and the DT have found some great ways to use them.  Once again take a look at the galleries on the product pages I Like Coffee and Coffee Love to get some inspiration. These are just the first of  these takeaway digital stamps..look out for more in the near future.

OK, with all this excitement going on I think I need a cup of coffee!  I am working on my craft creation using the paper roses that I made a few days away I promise and I'll be back to share it here very soon.

Click to see the full tutorial on the Get Funky & Craft Blog. 

In the meantime why don't you get over to www.funkyhand.com grab the new downloads and get crafting!

Anice xx

Making paper roses

Hi everyone,

How are you all?  Things are very hectic here but I shouldn't complain about being busy I suppose!  It's my turn to post over on the Get Funky and Craft blog and this month I have explained how to make paper roses.

Here are the ones I made..

I'm not going to tell you how to make them here, go over to the Get Funky and Craft blog and read my step by step tutorial.

I'm about to go off to my craft desk and use them in a new project.  I'll be back in a couple of days to show you what I made.  I'm undecided, could be a tag, could be a note pad cover.  I'll have to see what works the best when I get there.  Hopefully my crafty mojo hasn't left while I have been busy.

Until next time.
Anice x

Happy Valentines Day.

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a nice Valentines Day.  I did have new Love themed digital stamps to release earlier in the week..bit late now!

Unfortunately my dog Travis has been ill and this week we have discovered that he has bad elbows and he needs to have operations on them.  A pretty sad house here.  Poor old Travis doesn't understand why his legs hurt and he can only walk for a short while without limping.  He is a VERY energetic dog, running at 100 mph is the only speed he does..except for now. Due to all the vet visits etc we haven't had an opportunity to put the digis up on the website.  They will be included in future releases though, you always need a bit of love on your cards don't you!  Here are a few cards made by my wonderful Design Team using them.

 This is Georgie- Love Banner

A new collection of Coffee takeaways..This one is, I Love You More Than Coffee..

and this one is I Like Coffee..

They will be available very soon so, keep your eyes on your email if you have purchased something before from the Funky Hand website, here on this Blog, on the DT Blog Get Funky & Craft and on the Facebook page.

To finish off this blog post I have to show you a picture of Travis, it was taken a while ago but his face matches the one he has had on all week!

I'll be keeping everyone, who is interested, updated about what's happening with him here. If you are not interested just jump those bits. There will still be some crafting I promise. Hehe!

Speak again very soon
Anice xx

The winner of the Funky Freebie competition is..

..I'm not going to tell you right away!

This little competition, downloading the February Funky Freebie was such a lot of fun, I've decided that we are going to do it again next month.  So, keep your eyes peeled here on the Funky Hand Thoughts Blog, the Design Team Blog, Get Funky and Craft and our Facebook page Funky Hand.

OK OK, lets get back to the winner!  I'm please to announce that the winner of the Love Love Love download is

Sheila Simpson

Congratulations Sheila, I hope you enjoy using the backing paper download.

Speak to you again very soon,

Anice xx 

Win a copy of Love Love Love.

I really love giving stuff away.  You might ask yourself, why? Well, I love getting stuff and having the chance to win stuff is just as great. So, if I like it so must other people right?  Well, I think you do!

Thinking that I'm right, I have put this simple little competition together for Valentines day.  I could tell you all about it but, I thought a short little video might be a fun way to tell you all about it..

Have you watched?  If you couldn't then here's the info.  You can win a copy of my download Love Love Love.  All you need to do is go to my website www.funkyhand.com and download the new Funky Freebie.  It's a FREE backing paper, that matches the Love Love Love download.  That's it.  You download the Freebie and then get put in the draw to win the collection.

But, you must download the Freebie by Midnight (GMT) Thursday 6th February.  Not long to get that Freebie to have a chance to win the prize.

So, what are you waiting for? Get over to www.funkyhand.com now and get that Funky Freebie!

Speak again very soon.
Anice xx

A bit of a trick for shading with Promarkers

Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year celebration.  I know, I know it's almost the end of January.. My 'New Year New Blog Attitude' hasn't started well, but as usual I have an excuse! I've been really working hard on some new Funky Hand digital products which are now all with my wonderful Design Team so you should be seeing them very soon.  So, less of the weak excuses and on to what I really have come to talk about!

Promarkers & Colouring in general.
I don't know about you but I have got a bit of a 'thing' about collecting Promarkers at the moment.  Over Christmas my collection grew nicely, and the New Year sales helped the storage to get a little fuller! That's all well and good but, I need to work on my actual colouring.

I was browsing some blogs and websites over Christmas and I came upon a really good idea for working out where shading should be on your image.  This is something I always have trouble with. The problem is I can't remember where I saw the tip.. If I find the Blog again I will come here and leave the information for you.

It's really simple, all you need is some acetate and a permanent marker..

What the heck?  I hear you thinking.  Using this simple little technique I was able to work out how to colour the shading on these two Bot - Fire Away digital stamps.  One with the light at the front and the other behind.

I have written all the details for you on a full blog post over on the Funky Hand Design Team blog  Get Funky & Craft  Pop over there and see all the details.

Hopefully you will learn something new, if not then take a look at the other posts over there.  There are sure to be some card images or techniques that the ladies have shared that will inspire you with your crafting.

OK, I'm off to finish off some new images for the website.  I'll be back soon to share some other nugget of crafting info or just my general chatter in the near future.

Anice xx

Merry Christmas one and all !

Thanks for supporting me and the Funky Hand team over 2013.  I hope you all have a wonderful, magical Christmas.

Anice xx

Layering a Funky Hand digital stamp

Welcome to you all! 

Today I thought that I would share a bit more information about my idea for layering one of the Georgie digital stamps 'Georgie Angel' that I posted about over on the Funky Hand Design Team Blog. Get Funky & Craft.  For this creation I messed around with the stamp and created a GSD to cut out the image with my cutting machine.  You don't have to have a cutting machine.  You could just print out the digital stamp image four times and just cut the parts that you want to layer out.

Please remember: Not all digital stamp designers would be happy with you doing this sort of thing so you must remember to check all terms and conditions linked with each stamp.  If it is not mentioned there, it doesn't mean it's OK to do.  Always ask.

OK, here is what I started out with for this project,

As you can see I decided that I wanted to layer her face, the upper part of her body and her hands holding the heart.

I coloured the images in with Promarkers before I cut them out.  Colouring small parts of images when they are already cut out is really hard in my opinion but if you prefer to cut out first please go ahead.

Sorry, that was the perfect opportunity to show off my Promarker collection to you. To say I'm a bit obsessed with them is a little bit of an understatement! I have to admit Ian was a little shocked when he saw them all out on the table.  He says he didn't know I had so many.  I told him I'd had them all ages (wink)

Before I go on, if you have some Promarkers you might like to grab this really helpful free download from Sarah Hurley.

It's a  layout of all the names of the currently available Promarkers (including Limited Editions) with circles to add the pen colour to. Print the download onto the same paper/card that you use for colouring your digital stamps and colour in each of your markers. It will then give you a true coloured effect.  Sarah has laid them out in a really helpful order.  Grab the free download from her website  http://www.sarahhurleydesigns.co.uk/oldshop/prod_2834920-Promarker-Colour-Charts-Updated-for-Winter-2013.html  Please don't just share this freebie with your friends send them over to Sarahs website to grab their own copy. 

OK, lets get colouring in Georgie.  I started with her skin and then her hair..

For her skin I used these Promarker colours: Almond, Blush and Dusky Pink.  It actually looks very pale on this picture but it doesn't look so pale in reality.  For her hair I went for a deep brown/auburn. The colours I used were: Tan, Cinnamon and Coco.  I also added a tiny bit of Henna at the darkest places.

Next up is her Angel outfit.  I saw this collection of Promarkers being used for Blonde hair and I thought it would be a good combination as I wanted it light but not just leave it white.  The colours used are: Ivory, Satin and Almond.  For extra shading I used Vanilla.

Here is Georgie all finished.  I wanted a warmer colour for her wings and ballet shoes so decided on pinks.  The colours used are: Antique Pink, Dusky Rose and Budding Rose.  Finally the heart, I wanted a nice vibrant red colour so I used Red Sweater and Ruby.

I decided to colour in each layer of the image as I wanted no white bits showing under the layered stamp, but also, because it was an opportunity to practice the colouring, as the lower levels of the face, upper body and heart wouldn't be in clear view!



 Finally here's the finished card I made and a closer look at the layering..

I used 1mm foam pads to layer the head and upper body and 3mm foam pads for the heart.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

If you have purchased the (or are thinking about it) Georgie Angel digital stamp and would like the GSD I used in this post, send me a message through the Funky Hand website Contact Us page and I will email it to you for free.

All there is left to say is, I hope you all have a very merry Christmas. Just incase I don't get back to post here before the big day.  I'm crossing my fingers that Santa has more Promarkers in his sack for me.  I hope you get all the crafty stash you have asked for.

Speak again very soon.
Anice xx

A tale of two Christmas cards..

If you read my last blog post, you will know I'm behind with my Christmas card making.  Though to tell you the truth I have the same problem every year!  So, when Ian announced that we needed to send two cards to America 'today' I was reasonably under pressure as he was not aware I hadn't made 'one' yet never mind 'two' to be posted! (I said I was behind..maybe I should have said..hadn't made any!)

So, I decided to make simple, quick cards. Take a look and see what you think.. (Forgive the photographs they really did have to be made and in the post with the glue still wet!)

They are the same, but different!  I used the Doodleword Merry Christmas Digital Stamp, a white textured base card and some wired ribbon.  Due to the time constraints I only used two Promarkers to colour them.  Poppy and Forest Green and left spaces for white.  Even though I was under pressure I couldn't colour them both the same. So, I coloured them the opposite way.

It's actually impressive how different they look just with different ribbon, one being mounted and one unmounted.  I also drew around the letters on the second card with a Promarker (Cool Grey 2) which also gives a different look to the digital stamp.

So, there you are.  My CAS Christmas cards in a hurry.  Are you all ready with your Christmas cards?  Have they been in the post or handed out weeks ago? Or, are you like me, wishing you had kept the promise to yourself after last year that you would make cards all year long so you weren't in this position again?

Good luck with your last minute card making or enjoy your cuppa as you sit back smugly knowing you are all done. Pah!

Speak again very soon,
Anice xx 

Monster Pets are going to get ya!

Here I am again about to apologise for my lack of blogging..I'm so bad that I'm probably speaking to myself right now as everyone has stopped reading!  If you are out there, say hello.  Otherwise I will just chat on to myself!

There was a new set of releases on my website recently that I haven't told you anything about!  I'll start with the digital stamps I think.  These ones are a bit of fun, great for putting on kids cards or adults who are like kids!  They are called Monster Pets.  There's Monster Dog, Monster Rabbit and Monster Cat.  Here's a look at them..

The Monster Cat isn't on a card yet, as you probably guessed by the picture!  I'm still working on that one.  They are so much fun to colour but if you pop over to the website and take a look at the galleries attached to the digital stamps you will see some amazing cards from the design team that have been paper pieced.  Completely amazing.

The other download that is now available is a backing paper collection called Hairy and Scary.  I designed it with these monster images in mind, but you could use it for anything really on its own.  Well, anything where you needed some strong colours and a few 'hairy' papers. Hehe!

Now for a bit of chat I think.  How are you all getting on with making the dreaded Christmas cards?  I imagine you are all organised and have them already written and ready to go..or even gone.  I on the other hand, as usual, haven't even started mine.  Oh the shame!  I am going to make a few hasty ones today as we are meeting up with extended family this evening and I will hand them over as if I'm all organised.  But the rest will need to be fitted in when I can.  It's the same every year, I plan to make them in November and it's gets to December and I haven't even planned what they will look like never mind made any.

Well, I had best get on with the cards I need to make today.  There will be a couple more releases on the website this coming weekend.  I promise that you wont wait weeks to see all about them.

Speak again soon.
Anice xx