Funky Fossil Designs - New Release Day!!!!

 Hi everyone!! Hope you've all had a wonderful week and bet your looking forward to the weekend. Well, some good news for the end of the week is that Funky Fossil Designs New Release is now available to purchase!!

 

There are five new stamp sets, 2 new dies, paper pad and washi tapes to tempt your wallets. There is something for everyone in this release from Steampunk images, to cute little sheep and even some magical designs. You can check them all out now in the Funky Fossil Designs store.

To celebrate this day I went a little 'die-cutting crazy' but as you know that's one of my favourite things to do on a card so I loved every minute of it:

Nothing like rainbow colours to make you smile and celebrate the day. And even a hint of gold for a bit of shine. This was a little fiddly to do but I just sat myself in front of the tv (started watching 'Superstore' on Netflix, didn't like it at first but have become rather obsessed....) and set my Cuttlebug in motion.

I started by gathering a rainbow of CS. I used a chain-link type die that comes in the brand new 'Cogs and Gears' die set and die-cut from each colour once. I then die-cut some white CS using the 'Zen Mandala'  die set. Using some Gina K Connect Glue I adhered the coloured die-cut pieces to the solid white base. I then glued the mandala white pieces on top.

After die-cutting the same chain-link die from some gold Craft Smith 'Holiday Foil' paper, I inlaid some pieces into the end of each chain. I adhered a piece of black CS to a 4.5 inch square white card base and then put the mandala die piece on some black foam. The sentiment (from the 'Whimsy Town' stamp set) was gold heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with white CS and put on foam tape in the middle of the card, along with some Studio Katia gold pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

 

I hope you have fun shopping the New Release and can't wait to see what you do with them all. Don't forget to tag #funkyfossildesigns on Instagram so we can see your amazing creations. And I have loads more cards using these new products to share with you over the coming weeks, so I'll see you back here very soon.

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #181

 Hello there!! Its been the strangest week here weather-wise. February in New Zealand is normally the hottest month of the year but it feels like we've missed the month completely and near the end of March, going into Autumn. The nights have been really cold and I've been in my Winter pjs instead of sweltering with all the windows open. Its supposed to be really hot tomorrow (after another cold night) so wouldn't surprise me if people started coming down with colds etc....

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day. Its not something my husband and I celebrate and I completely forgot all about it. However I've loved looking at all the entries for this TIME OUT challenge, there's so much love out there in the world. The photo for this challenge is all sweet and 'hearty' with lots of different ways to be inspired.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and they are very sweetly giving the winner of this challenge a $25 gift voucher to their store!!

For my card I couldn't help but be inspired by heart shapes and managed to find two dies that fit together perfectly:

I always enjoy a good die-cutting session, however my Cuttlebug is nearly 10yrs old and making funny noises, so not sure how much longer she is going to last.....

I found a die from Simon Says Stamp 'Heart Vent' that cut stripes across a heart shape but didn't cut out the outline. So I used one from Uniquely Creative 'Nordic Hearts' that fitted around it so well, they were made for each other!

I die-cut the SSS die twice on a panel of white CS. I also die-cut it from red CS. I glued a spare piece of white CS behind the white panel so I could inlay the red strips. After die-cutting the heart frame from the same red CS, I glued it around each shape and then cut around it. These were put on the card front using foam tape.

The Simon Says Stamp 'Love' die was die-cut 3x from pale pink CS and the shadow from black CS. These were glued together and then over the heart. The sentiment (also from Simon Says Stamp 'Love') was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with some dark pink CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia silver pearls. I also added some Wink of Stella to the 'love' die-cut for a bit more sparkle.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #169  where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Favourite Technique' and you know how much I LOVE die-cutting!!

You have until Wednesday 24th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT   challenge and if your needing some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Nancy of Nancy's Creative Mess have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see all your 'loving' projects in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

Funky Fossil Designs - Watercolour Experiment

 Hi everyone!! I'm slowly getting back into card making. Work has been very busy with it being Summertime here in New Zealand (lots of weeds.....) and homelife has been rather hectic, so I still struggle to fit in some crafting time before I go to bed. I had decided to make this year different and make sure my hobby features higher up on the 'To Do' list but I'm still guilty of putting myself last. One day I'll get it right....

One thing I want to do more of this year is try out some of the MILLIONS of techniques and ideas I see on other blogs, YouTube videos and Pinterest. There are so many talented people out there and I know I won't be as good as them but gives me a little bit of a thrill being like them for a few minutes.

I follow a lot of watercolour painters on YouTube and Instagram and see a lot of them using tape to mask off areas and watercolour. I decided to give it a go and even though it didn't go to plan, I'm still so glad I tried it:

I never use pen on my cards but found the rectangles needed some sort of definition. This was WAY out of my comfort zone....

I started by using washi tape to mask off three rectangles on a piece of Strathmore watercolour cardstock. I usually use the back, smoother side of watercolour CS but have come to appreciate the texture after visiting an artists house recently. She is the neighbour of someone I garden for and she invited me to see her garden. I saw the vase of brushes on her table and she took me inside to see her painting room. It was unbelievable and I could see how the bumpy paper added so much texture to her beautiful paintings.

I used Distress Inks 'Dusty Concord', 'Seedless Preserves', 'Victorian Velvet', 'Squeezed Lemonade' and 'Mustard Seed' to create a night sky. I've never used this combo before and was quite amazed how the pink and yellow blended together. I did quite a few layers, using my heat gun to dry in between, to get the look I was after.

Once it was dry I removed the washi tape. Unfortunately I had a bit of bleeding under the tape but it was ok. Using Versafine Onyx ink and Funky Fossil Design 'Winter Wonderland' stamp set, I stamped the images a few times with my MISTI to get good ink coverage. I then decided that I wanted to flick over some white paint, so I put the washi tape back on and created some basic masking with post-it notes to cover the images. I mixed water with Gansai Tambi white paint and flicked away......all over my computer.......

When the paint was dry I used a Uniball 3mm black pen and ruler to go around each rectangle. I then popped up the white heat embossed sentiment (from Funky Fossil Design 'Small Print') on foam tape and glued on some Studio Katia silver pearls after adhering the panel to a card front. Definitely going to try this again!!!

Off to hang out the washing. It rained all night last night which was a godsend as it hasn't rained for months. So no gardening for me today, going to prepare for a New Release coming up soon for Funky Fossil Designs and watch Netflix, probably movies I've seen before. With all the new content why do we go back to ones we've already seen???

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #180

 I'm back!!!! After a much needed break over the holiday period and January I'm back with cards to inspire you for the TIME OUT challenge!!! I've really missed seeing and commenting on all your amazing entries, so can't wait to see what you come up with.

We have this fantastic phrase to inspire you for this challenge. You could pick one word or maybe use the whole phrase to get ideas for your project, its completely up to you!

The Sponsor for this challenge is Newtons Nook Designs and they are giving the winner a $25 gift voucher to their store. They have so many cute stamps and dies, I'm sure there will be no problem finding something to buy!!

For my card I already knew which stamp set I would use as soon as I read the phrase:

 

I couldn't think of a better stamp set to use for this challenge. Its by Uniquely Creative 'Reading Past your Bedtime' and one of my favourite sets.

I stamped the images on white CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cut out.

I wanted to create a 'room' feel for the card, so I used the 'Arch Window' stencil from Funky Fossil Designs, blending over Distress Inks 'Salty Ocean' and 'Chipped Sapphire. I then used a white gel pen to create some snow.

All I had to do then was adhere the images in place, pop up the white heat embossed sentiment (from the same stamp set) on foam tape and then glue on some pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 13th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge and if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see you in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona