Welcome Spring with Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome! It's Nancy Dynes turn to host the latest challenge over at Frilly and Funkie and for her chosen theme she wants us to 'Welcome, Spring!' Here's what she says about it; "It's fresh, soft breezes and fragrant blossoms have finally arrived. Create any vintage or shabby chic project that welcomes the advent of this glorious season. Think budding trees, birds and nests, butterflies, and beautiful blooms!"

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.

As you may remember we are celebrating all things Wendy Vecchi over at Frilly and Funkie at the moment. This 8" deep canvas (yes, it's a canvas, not a card) came about as a result of one of the 'specimen plaques' I made at the end of last year using Wendy's fabulous tutorial. The image is called 'Freshly Picked' and features two flowers which remind me of the first ones to bloom in Spring here in the UK. They are a sign of optimism, of new life, of warmer and lighter times to come and of the return of brighter splashes of colour to nature's palette. I wanted to build a collage around this plaque but didn't have any fabrics to match. What to do! - cue the calico, burlap and Distress Paints!

The base layer was made from ivory calico, repeat stamped with the Freshly Picked image using Wilted Violet Distress Paint and machine stitched to resemble quilting. The first central band was made from a crisp white muslin stamped with the new Herringbone background using Mustard Seed Distress Paint. The second band was created on a fawn burlap strip stamped with the Ticking background using Peeled Paint Distress Paint.

I layered the 'specimen' panel onto layers of patterned paper (from my stash) kraft card, mulberry paper, book page, a piece of lace handkerchief, white corrugated card and off-cuts of the background fabric. Touches of Venise lace were tucked in between the layers with some sari silk, and I added a piece of amethyst to the bird nest charm (available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique) before surrounding it with coils of coloured burlap string. The wording from the Framed Art set, stamped on the 'antiqued' plaque at the bottom, perfectly sums up optimism that Spring holds,

Here are some final close up photos showing the textures and layers in more details;

That's it for my DT project for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge 'Welcome, Spring!' Do make sure you hop on over to see what my talented team mates have created with their Wendy Vecchi goodies to welcome Spring. And remember to link your own Spring inspired shabby chic or vintage projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

I'm off to finish up getting prepped for the upcoming IndigoBlu tv shows this weekend on Hochanda - hope you can join me for those.
Have a great end to your week and have fun! Take care, Jenny xxx