Count Me In at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome! It's my turn to host the latest challenge over at Frilly and Funkie and I've called it 'Count Me In!' Numbers are a huge part of our everyday lives so it is no surprise they are also often included in our creative ones too. For this challenge you need to use your choice of numbers to add that special 'sum-thing' to your vintage or shabby chic project. Make them count as part of the design, not just a last minute addition!

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, so there are plenty of reasons for joining in the fun.

I made another little notebook (see the first one here) from scratch as it gave me chance to play and experiment with new schtuff (big grin appears on face!) The cover started life as two pieces of artboard cut to 4"x 6" which were covered with some of the paper from the Dapper collection. My suggestion at this point is to make life MUCH easier for yourselves by using the new Tim Holtz Baseboards as they are already cut to size and covered! Walnut Stain Distress Paint was used on the edges of the boards and a thin layer over the paper to give it an aged look.

Having determined where the binding holes would be I started adding layers of numbers with Distress Paints: Black Soot Distress Paint through the 'Countdown' Layering Stencil; numbers from the new Block Lower Cling Foam Stamp set (LOVE these!) stamped using Evergreen Bough Distress Paint; and the letters from the Documented Stamp set stamped using Mowed Lawn Distress Paint. A little calendar stamp from the same set was used with Red Geranium Archival Ink as a translucent layer. I then set to work with some of the new 'Passport' and 'Vintage' Tim Holtz Design Tapes (again, can't say enough about how gorgeous these are!)

That was it for the back cover but I went on to add trims to the front cover of the notebook. Industrious Stickers trimmed the edges of one of the new Ruler Pieces - as a wooden element it stained perfectly with Fired Brick Distress Oxide. Using a trick from the previous notebook I attached a Hinge Clip with a Dapper Fastener and some waxed thread to the ruler so it would hold a small wooden pencil coloured with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide. Finally a Nail Head and Pen Nib balanced the design and words from the new Clippings Stickers set were secured with a layer of Vintage Distress Collage Medium. The covers were hand bound to five signatures using waxed thread and coptic stitching.

Here are some close ups of the notebook (click on each image to expand it);

That's it from me for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge "Count Me In!" Do make sure you hop on over to see how my talented team mates from both the Frilly and Funkie sides of the Design Team have incorporated numbers into their creations. And remember to link your own numerical, shabby chic or vintage projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

I'm off to create a video for my next project (all will be revealed on Friday).
Whatever you're up to for the rest of the week take care of yourselves and have fun! Jenny xxx