Fan-tastic!!!!!

Hi everyone and welcome to my newest followers. I am so pleased you have decided to keep up to date with the crafty goings on in my world. So it's a busy Wednesday and time for the second week of the latest Frilly and Funkie challenge - 'Time for Weddings' where our host Rebecca has requested a creation in white with another colour. Time to think outside the box...

You don't see a lot of purple here even though it's my favourite colour and it can look so good with white. There are a few challenges requesting (paper) flowers at the moment in honour of the Chelsea Flower Show and late onset of spring. To fit with the wedding theme I decided a bouquet would be good and found pictures of flowers encapsulated within a fan.

Creating all these flowers was a mix of inspiration and frustration as bits choose whether or not to stick together and the number required kept climbing.

Lots of people have posted flower tutorials but I must say Jennie Atkinson's blog 'Live the Dream' is well worth a visit if you want a range of styles and methods.

It's good to try Distress Paints for adding colour as well as the tried and trusted Distress Inks. I also concocted my own mauve mist from Re-inkers.

Housing these precious flowers took a lot of thought, but the idea of using a fan was a real breakthrough moment. It had to be made sturdy enough to remain vertical yet pretty enough to grace any table at a wedding reception. Guess what, a step by step tutorial for creating this fan will be posted over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog on Saturday 1st June for anyone who's interested.

White in itself can be quite stark so I took the liberty of using 'off white' as well as pure white to soften the look and make it a touch more vintage.

As well as being a sample for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge this fan is also being entered into the following challenges;

Unruly Paper Arts - Five or more flowers

 and inspired by my team mate Rebecca, Vintage Udfordring - Vintage Wedding

Take care of yourselves, hugs Jenny x

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Seedless Preserve	Ranger Distress Crackle Paint - Picket Fence White	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Shaded Lilac	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Dusty Concord	4 Piece Antiqued Round Copper Filigree Pieces	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Picket Fence White	Rayon Seam Binding

Small Paper (Part Three)

Hi everyone. Hope this Saturday finds you in a good place. It's been a busy week work-wise for moi so I'm posting something new made last weekend which fits in with the Little Paper theme at SSS&S (link below).

Some of that fab Bazzill card in use again (for info. the ranges I've been using recently are Ambrosia, Lucy's Crab Shack and MAC). Origami has been a passion for some time and as the aqua patterned design lent itself beautifully to a 50's modernist feel I went that way with the dress design.

Time to dig out my favourite Andy Skinner pattern stamp which is so crisp and transfers to tissue really well. Then the embossed card, which had previously been brayered with Metallic Distress Paints, was ink blended to coordinate (Victorian Velvet/Spun Sugar/Tea Dye). This would all have disappeared but for the Mulberry Paper frame which matched the belt on the dress. It looks really good when you use a brush to apply water to the edges and then gently tease some away.

Cutting out the strips of buttons (from the Sam Poole Vintage Sewing set, stamped with metallic ink and clear embossed) takes a while but is worth it. It's always a question of working out where the focal element is going and then piling on the extras around it in close proximity. Even a touch of stencilled texture paste got in on the act! A solid background would have been boring, so I drew rough sections on the reverse of the pink card and cut out with fancy scissors. A spot of faux stitching in a mix of gold and silver gel pen, and some Tea Dye distressing finished the patches. Originally they were laid onto aqua card but the contrast was too overpowering so I recoloured it with a white gel pen. This will get a sentiment, but I'm holding out for the TH Simple Sayings set to arrive soon (you will see a lot of that I suspect!)

You will have guessed by now that this is being entered into;

Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Little Paper

and with so much pink, Pan Pastel UK Challenge Blog - In The Pink is a must

And a quick heads up about a few things. First you NEED to see Trace Metcalfe's Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie for the most amazing TH Movers and Shapers ideas - don't worry if your wish list grows as a result, Linda has a MASSIVE 35% DISCOUNT  on them this week HERE.

If you need more Alterations inspiration head over to Plucking Daisies where Amy Bowerman will treat you to some fabulous tutorials and a drool-worthy Pinterest board; this includes items from members the wonderful F&F DT as well as some of my favourite crafters (including Anita, Marjie, Anna-Karin, Tammy, Shelly, Candy, Terry and Alison).

And if that is not enough, Terry Wietsma-Girbes has produced a superb Step by Step today which will help you positively breath life into those tired looking pictures on the walls.

Right, that's the rest of your Saturday used up!! (soz - but SO worth it) Hope your weekend is wonderful. Take care of yourselves, hugs Jenny x

Small Paper (Part 2)

Hi everyone. Thanks for dropping by and huge hugs to all those who have been kind enough to leave comments - a return visit will happen but an all-day course yesterday scuppered plans to get totally up to date on the commenting front. However, a master plan has now been hatched to tackle this - it's the second Semi-Final of Eurovision tonight (on BBC Three at 8pm for those who need deets) so that provides the ideal opportunity to park in a chair and catch up!!! And now...

A friend of mine has requested a card for her sister (no! that wasn't obvious was it!!) and I've been 'die-ing' (seriously?) to use this lamppost die cut somewhere, so by combining it with the current Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge - A Little Paper a plan started to come together.

Thrilled to bits with the Bazzill card (a bit of a bargain from a well known tv channel:) as it is such a good weight to play with. I love adding a spot of faux stitching combined with some ink distressing to age it and add some interest/a border. The purple layer used the Papillon background stamp with a mix of the Metallic Distress Paints on white card. This then acted as a resist to some Distress Inks.

My favourite layer is the brick wall one. A piece of brown card was die cut with the Cameo Frame and embossed with a brick wall folder. I used the Ranger Snowflake Embossing Tinsel (it adds a lovely texture) with Picket Fence Distress Stain to act as a resist to the Distress Inks and finished with some script stamping in Archival Ink. Now for that lamppost...

You'd never believe this started off white! It took a mix of Metallic Distress Paints, Distress Embossing Powder, Verdigris Vintaj Patinas and a sweep of Archival Ink to get it to that stage, each layer heated/dried carefully to give a weathered feel. Don't you just love that lamp? It occurred to me that the honey coloured card would look great at the top, and a touch of Glossy Accents made it shine beautifully.

The remaining elements were stamped and distressed in the usual ways and layered in my favourite scrapping style. The Funkie Junkie Boutique has the most amazing range of metal embellishments (including the filigree elements, flower and leaves) which look even better when aged with Vintaj Patinas/Distress Paints. The flower was layered with some Tattered Florals die cut calico petals (drenched in Seedless Preserves Distress Paints and some gilding wax) and it really stands out against the seam binding and lace.

As ever a list of challenges being entered;

Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Little Paper

Sunday Stamper - Simple Irresistible

Artful Times - Blooming Marvellous

Country View Crafts - How Does Your Garden Grow

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Anything Goes

I've added links to many of the products used below rather than list them all in the description - if you've got any questions please just ask. This should all be about sharing and growing together. Wishing you all well, hugs as ever, Jenny xxx

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Dusty Concord	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Fired Brick	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Peeled Paint	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Seedless Preserve	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Ranger Vintaj Patina Kit - Weathered Copper
Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee	Ranger Archival Ink - Sepia	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Black Soot	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Bronze Metal Daisies for Scrapbooking and Mixed Media	4 Piece Antiqued Bronze Filigree Pieces	6 Piece Bronze Leaf Embellishments
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Fasteners	PRE-ORDER Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Paint - Brushed Pewter	PRE-ORDER Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Paint - Tarnished Brass	Rayon Seam Binding	Embroidered Sheer Lace - 1/2 Inch Wide	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Papillon	Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Movers and Shapers Die - Cameo Frame	Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Holiday Lamppost BIGZ Die
Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die	Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Foam	Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet