New Funkie Junkie challenge – Celebrate Friendship

Hello there, our new challenge at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog is live and you won't want to miss out! Our hostess is Laura Gilhuly and the theme is Celebrate Friendship. 

I created a birthday card for a good friend of ours. We have known him for decades so he is indeed an "old friend" ha ha. Scroll on to take a peek at some of my design process...

Step 1 - I had some fun creating backgrounds for the various layers. The star layer (which showed through the star cutouts) was Iron Gate Halloween Mica Stain sprayed onto white cardstock. The night sky was an inky combo of Uncharted Mariner Distress Spray (regular and oxide) with a dash of Oxide Villainous Potion spray spritzed in.

Step 2 - I wanted to experiment with using the new Distress Watercolor Pencils for coloring the layers of a Sizzix Colorize Die. I really like the new pencils. I used them to layer on the color and then blended them out with water and a paintbrush. I will definitely be playing more with these great new pencils!

I gave the combined yellow layers a very light mist of Harvest Moon Mica Stain to give it a little glimmer.

Perfect! I'll definitely be using this technique on other layered dies like Otis.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the fun challenges we have on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. They are always good for sparking your creativity! You have two weeks to join the current challenge so I hope you give it a go.

Supplies used:

Tim Holtz die set - Colorize Otis

Tim Holtz die set - Tree Line

Tim Holtz die set - Swirling Stars

Tim Holtz die set - Alphanumeric Label #664177 retired

Distress Watercolor Pencils

Halloween Distress Mica Stain - Iron Gate, Harvest Moon

Distress Oxide Spray Stains - Uncharted Mariner, Villainous Potion

Distress Spray Stains - Uncharted Mariner

Ranger Archival Inks - Black Soot

Distress Collage Medium Matte

Funkie Junkie Challenge – Back to School!

Hello there, our new challenge at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog is live and you won't want to miss out! Our hostess is Teri Wilson and the theme is Back to School.

Teri -"Create something with books, alphabets or anything reminding you of learning!"

I used Eileen Hull's new Skinny Mini Book Box Die to create a pencil box to hold school supplies.

It fastens with a little magnetic closure.

I also used some of the new Tim Holtz Halloween Black Two-tone Woodgrain Cardstock for the spine.

Here are some of the how-to steps:

1) The parts, cut twice from the die. I blended with Distress Oxide Speckled Egg ink and lightly spritzed with Pumice Stone Distress Spray.

2) The front piece is a Gel Press print I embossed with the Numbered 3-D embossing folder. I rubbed the inside of the front half with Black Soot archival ink before embossing. The ink then gets deposited into the debossed areas and helps the details to pop.

3) Stamping the parts:

4) I rubbed an embossing ink pad across the top and sprinkled the Glaze Embossing Powder:

5) Assembly, I like to use a strong, quick-grab wet glue:

Box sides glued first and then glued to the back of the box.

IMPORTANT: When using the die to make the box, you must trim off the outer parts of the spine to match the height of the box sides. If you are making a journal cover, you can leave it or trim it depending on how thick a journal you want to make.

4) Bulb for front: The top layer I cut from waste plastic packaging and then sprayed with Distress Resist Spray to give it a lumpy, glossy texture. Back layer is cut from vellum.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the fun challenges we have on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. They are always good for sparking your creativity! You have two weeks to join the current challenge so I hope you give it a go.

Supplies used:

Eileen Hull die - Skinny Mini Book Box

Tim Holtz 3-D embossing folder - Numbered

Tim Holtz die - Filament

Tim Holtz stamp sets - Ornate Trims, Documented, Glitch 2, Typography

Distress Ink - Black Soot

Distress Oxide Ink - Wild Honey, Speckled Egg

Ranger Archival Inks - Black Soot, Hickory Smoke, Crackling Campfire

Distress Collage Medium Matte

Distress Glaze - Crackling Campfire

embossing ink

Distress Resist Spray

Halloween Black Two-tone Woodgrain Cardstock

Halloween Mica Stain set - (Harvest Moon)

Bloom with the Funkie Junkie Challenge

Hello there! It's time for another new challenge over on the Funkie Junkie Challenge Blog! Our hostess is Janna Ketchum and the theme is "April Showers Bring May Flowers".

Janna - Spring has sprung and flowers are blooming. Add flowers to this weeks creation. They can be your main focal point or hiding in the background. Let’s get into the swing of spring with flowers. Happy crafting!

This was the perfect opportunity for me to make a card for my friend's birthday next week.

There are lots of layers, textures, and of course, flowers! I don't have a tutorial for this but I did take an "in process" photo of the background since it ended up mostly covered.

I applied Matte Texture Paste through the stencil onto some canvas type substrate I had in my stash. While the paste was wet, I sprinkled on some Distress Glaze here and there to add some color and texture. (I embossed it when paste was all dry.) After embossing, I spritzed it with Distress Spray Stains and plenty of water so it would all blend and pool around the pasted parts. Fun!

Hot tips on the part I embossed with the 3D Quilted folder:

1. It's super cool and I love that folder! After embossing, I used a Distress Blending Brush with ink to darken the raised areas (stitching) to make the details pop out.

2. I wanted to make it look more like leather. A little bit of Distress Micro Glaze buffed over the inked panel gave it a subtle shine that looks great!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the fun challenges we have on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. They are always good for sparking your creativity! You have two weeks to join the current challenge so I hope you give it a go.

Supplies used:

Tim Holtz die set - Bold Text #1

Tim Holtz die set - Funky Foliage

Tim Holtz die set - Funky Floral, Large

Tim Holtz 3-D Embossing Folders - Quilted

Prima stencil - Bindweed Wallpaper

Tim Holtz Hex Fasteners

Distress Stain - Saltwater Taffy, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Brushed Corduroy, Old paper, Iced Spruce, Antique Linen

Distress Oxide Stain - Bundled Sage

Distress Glaze - Tattered Rose, Saltwater Taffy

Ranger Texture Paste - matte opaque

Distress Micro Glaze

Industrial Grunge Challenge on The Funkie Junkie Blog

Hello. It's time for another new challenge over on the Funkie Junkie Challenge Blog! This time the theme is "Industrial Grunge" so pull out all the gears and metal bits.

I wanted to combine spring and industrial so I came up with this "mechanized" garden piece. 

The base is a Thickboards tag from Tim Holtz. These super sturdy tags are so fun to create with! 

I also wanted to play with my new Saltwater Taffy Distress products so they are a major part of the color scheme.

The garden is filled with a combination of metal bits (like the painted flowers) and die cut bugs and foliage. Some parts I embossed with "industrial" folders like Circuit, Mini Mechanics, and Mini Foundry.

Here's a peek at some the the in-progress steps and tips:

1) First I made a bunch of tag backgrounds to choose from with Distress Spray Stains.

2) I also made a variety of backgrounds from Distress Kraft Metallic cardstock and alcohol inks to die cut elements from.

3) Broke out my Colorize Woodgrain Die Set to make the strip on the bottom of the tag. Sometimes it's hard to visualize how the colorize dies go together and what layer is what color. In those cases I'll make a practice one to keep with the dies for future reference. Here's how it looked for this set:

All the pieces cut out.

Assembled! It helps to have ones to look at 'in person'.

I knew I wanted to have a layer of the plank be embossed with the Circuit embossing folder and making the practice ones helped me decide which plank design and which layer would work best.

Here are the layers of the plank I ended up using in the project.

4) Backgrounds in place on the tag. I stamped and stenciled to add visual interest.

5) I also embossed the background. I used the Code stencil with Transparent Gloss Texture Paste. While still wet, I sprinkled the paste with Rusty Hinge and Saltwater Taffy Glaze embossing powder. Once the paste dried, I heat embossed the powder. It adds great texture!

6) You can buy various Thickboard Trims to go with the Etc Thickboard tags. I used some to make a ledge to build my garden on. There is a die set, Decorative Trims, which makes it super easy to cut paper to cover the raw Thickboard Trim pieces. I've also used the die set to just cut paper for use in card making. It's pretty handy!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the fun challenges we have on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. They are always good for sparking your creativity! You have two weeks to join the current challenge so I hope you give it a go.

Supplies used:

Tim Holtz die set - Woodgrain Colorize

Tim Holtz die set - Funky Insects

Tim Holtz die set - Decorative Trims

Tim Holtz die set - Funky Foliage

Tim Holtz die set - Funky Floral, Large

Tim Holtz 3-D Embossing Folders - Circuit, Mini Mechanics, Mini Foundry
Tim Holtz Stamp Sets - The Professor, Halftone & Rings, Purveyor, Inventor 2

Tim Holtz layering stencil - Code

Prima stencil - Machinery

Alcohol Ink Products

Ranger Alcohol Ink

Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution

Tim Holtz metallic kraft stock

Prima Mechanicals - Metal Blooms

Etc. Tags Thickboards, Small

Etc. Thickboards Bracket Trims

Tim Holtz Type Chips

Tim Holtz Machinery Heads, Hardware Heads

Distress Paint - Fossilized Amber, Saltwater Taffy

Distress Stain - Saltwater Taffy, Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy

Distress Oxide Stain - Saltwater Taffy

Distress Glaze - Rusty Hinge, Saltwater Taffy

Sizzix Rose Gold Luster Wax

Ranger Texture Paste - Transparent Gloss

Some links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!) 

The Funkie Junkie - "It's a Blustery Day" Challenge

Hello there – we have a new challenge beginning today. Our hostess is Suzanne Czosek this time around and this is what she has to say about it:

"I am inspired by Pooh Bear's quote from A. A. Milne of "It's a rather blustery day." Pooh Bear struggled against the windy day and you can share something you struggle with in your art! It can be a technique, color palette, tools, or supplies that you find difficult to use. Share them with us along with your story on what you struggle with! I can't wait to see your blustery day!"

For my project, I chose to go down an alcohol ink rabbit hole. I've always had trouble getting into using the medium and found it a bit intimidating. So this was a great challenge to just read up on it, jump in and play! I started off by watching again some of Tim Holtz's educational videos (soooo informative!). You can find two here and here. Then I got out all my supplies and played around. I used Yupo cardstock for my substrate. Yupo is a non-porous synthetic paper that is perfect for alcohol ink. I have a list of other supplies used at the bottom of this post but you can browse products here in the Funkie Junkie store.

Here are some photos of the results of my experiments:

LOVING the Alloys

For these backgrounds I used Metallic Kraft Stock for the substrate. I like how they turned out, especially when I used a bit of Snow Cap Mixative with the ink (red ones on lower left and upper right corners). I'm going to try embossing some of these backgrounds - I think they'd look cool!

Here's one technique that Tim shared that I really liked. He showed us how to make prints with stencils.

stencil prints, yeah!

Mist a stencil with isopropyl alcohol and "stick" it down onto the Yupo. Drip various colors of ink onto the stencil/paper. It will wick under the stencil but that is what you want it to do. Let it sit there until all the ink dries underneath the stencil.

Peel off the stencil and you get your first generation print!

You can create several successive prints with the ink left on the front of the stencil. Mist it with more isopropyl alcohol and lay it on a new sheet of Yupo. Let it dry and peel it off. Repeat!

cool backgrounds!!

So there is a little look at my alcohol ink fun. I will have to play around some more. ;-) I'll be on the Funkie Junkie blog this Saturday with more alcohol ink projects! Stay tuned…

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the fun challenges we have on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. They are always good for sparking your creativity! You have two weeks to join the current challenge so I hope you give it a go.

Supplies used:

Tim Holtz die set - Bold Text #1

Tim Holtz die set - Crochet

Tim Holtz Multi Level Embossing Folder - Swirls
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Ornate Trims

Tim Holtz layering stencils - Bouquet, Doodle Art 2

Alcohol Ink Products

Ranger Alcohol Ink

Ranger Alcohol Ink Pearls

Ranger Alcohol Ink Alloy

Ranger Alcohol Ink Mixatives

Ranger Lift-Ink

Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution

Ranger Archival Ink -  Black Soot

Splatter Brush

Stamp Cleaner

Alcohol Ink Blower tool

stamping platform

91% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (from drug store/grocery store)

Yupo cardstock

Tim Holtz metallic kraft stock

Some links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!) 

Mixed Media Challenge at the Funkie Junkie

Hello Funkie Junkie fans. It's time for a new challenge! This time the challenge is to "Create a mixed media project about/for someone or something you love."

I'm continuing with my Book Box of the Month series. (Did you catch my last challenge project?) I'm using Eileen Hull's new Sizzix Book Box Die and each month will have its own holiday/seasonally appropriate diorama book. Here is the March book:

Open it up and find…

a little fairy/leprechaun birthday party! Here's where the "someone you love" part of the challenge comes in. My Mom's birthday is on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day so we've always had a fun festive time on the 17th. The holiday is forever connected to my Mom. =)

Now for lots of detail photos LOL:

I used the new Damask 3D Embossing Folder for
the cover. I'm in love!

Used another 3D embossing folder for the edge facings (Lumber).

Much media of many different types was used…

I made a little cake for the party. The cake is a roll of paper with drippy hot glue "icing" that I painted.

Here are a few "how-to" details:

1) I created Distress paint backgrounds (always fun) with various colors. This was for the cover 3D embossed panels. (I have a lot extra for other projects!)

2) When you are embossing, you can rub ink directly onto front side of the embossing folder, then put in your paper and run it through your machine. The ink transfers to all the debossed areas and gives you so much depth and makes the details stand out.

I also used Gold Luster Wax and a blending brush to highlight the raised areas of the embossing. I really love this folder. It is gorgeous!

3) More 3D Embossing goodness! I added strips of "wood" to the box edges.

4) Here's an "in progress" look at the interior.

So now I have a book series of two. ;-) More will come with time.  

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the fun challenges we have on the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. They are always good for sparking your creativity! You have two weeks to join the current challenge so I hope you give it a go.

Supplies used:

Eileen Hull die - Book Box

Eileen Hull Full Size Journal Die (for the label shape diecut)

Tim Holtz die sets - Flower Field, Feathered Friends, Garden Greens

Tim Holtz 3D Embossing Folders - Damask, Lumber, Seal, Lucky Love
Tim Holtz Stamp Sets - Spring Sprung, Glorious Bouquet, Watercolor

Silver tone 4-leaf clover charm

Sizzix Mat Board

Distress Paint 

Distress Glaze - Rustic Wilderness

Tim Holtz Halloween Mica Spray Stains

Ranger Archival Ink - Hickory Smoke, Black Soot

Distress Crayons

Idea-ology Bouquet

Sizzix Luster Wax - Gold

Some links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!)