New Year's Resolutions at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone. Over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog Linda is hosting the first challenge of the New Year.

"It's time again for new beginnings and New Year's Resolutions. We know you got 'em. Even though you might not have written them down, told your significant other or shared them with your BFF, there are still some positive aspirations lurking in the back of your brain. Now it's time to share them. Let's see a card, tag or project depicting a New Year's resolution. Be sure to tell us what your New Year's resolution is!"

This is mine. Of course every year I'm no different to so many others in having a myriad of desires and dreams, but rather than setting myself up for a fall I'm keeping it simple. If it's in my head and needs doing there will be no more procrastination!

This canvas is a case in point. I added the textured paste lines to this a few months ago and even slapped on a layer of paint. Then it sat there waiting for me to come up with more ideas.

You've actually witnessed the turning point if you followed me through December 2013. After selling pretty much all my Christmas cards at the November craft fair I had to get a pile of them made pdq...

So I set myself a challenge of getting all of Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas done in a couple of weeks, and guess what - I did it!

At that point I decided this needed to be my mantra for 2014 and promptly set about getting that poor canvas finished.

An extra layer of stencilled texture paste added much needed flourishes.

A layer of tissue tape added interest to the edges and blended beautifully when Distress Paints were blended over the top. I love that they blend really well when they are still wet and give you plenty of time to play.

Of course when you use a stencil for the paste you can then go back and use it again to add different colours to the same areas, like the Brushed Pewter flourishes. Drips and dribbles of contrasting ink added the final much needed injection of colour to the base.

Die cut letters coloured with contrasting Distress Paint cried out for some Glossy Accents.

I love Linda's crinoline. It cuts beautifully (even with an Alterations Strip Die) and copes with layers of ink and heat without flinching. Having tried out a couple of colours the Seedless Preserves/Aged Mahogany mix with some Watering Can stamping worked a treat. There's also a thin brown card layer at the base.

Adding the final touches is always my favourite part. I love to raid my coloured card stash and die cuts box to see what might work well. Adding even more interest to those shapes is easy with embossing folders.

One of my favourite parts of this project are the metal leaves. Linda sells a fantastic range of metal filigree embellishments that are so easy to alter. This time that was done by adding Distress Paint and then rubbing the leaves back when the paint was partially dry.

That's my resolution for 2014 - what's yours? Make something which depicts your resolution in some way, link it to the Frilly and Funkie challenge, and you could be a future Guest Designer or the winner of a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

So what are you waiting for? Just do it!!

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

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