Winter Blues for Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. Over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog we are in a decidedly romantic mood. It's Kathy's turn to host and she's calling her challenge 'Winter Blues'. Kathy says "January is the longest winter month and lots of us get the "winter blues." Let's take the winter blues in a positive direction by creating a mostly monochromatic vintage or shabby chic project done up in shades of blue. You may use a bit of white, beige or grey for contrast, but I would like to see the blues to be front and center in this project."

As ever, the Design 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 Top 3 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.

I took the opportunity to combine some new releases from Eileen Hull Designs and Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART from Ranger to create this blue floral jewellery box.

After cutting the box from thick board using Eileen Hull's new Treasure Box die set I painted the insides and edges with Dina Wakley's Ancient Acrylic Paint. The paper covering the sides and lid was created by pulling a print from the Ranger Gel Press Plate coated with light layers of more of Dina's paints including Lapis, Sky, White, Ancient and Ruby. I love how it gives the effect of aged walls and makes the perfect base for stamping on.

The flowers and leaves cascading from the top of the box were made using Wendy Vecchi's new MAKE ART stamp, die and stencil set 'Flowers Say It All'. The leaves and flowers were cut from Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock using the dies from Wendy's set. After dampening with a little water I applied diluted paint to the edges, allowing it to bleed and blend randomly before air drying. You'll see above the leaves with the Ancient shade again and for the flowers I used the Marine shade. Once dry I used Ranger 'Jet Black' Archival Ink to stamp the corresponding images from the set onto them; since they are clear acrylic it's really easy to position the stamps over the die cuts and it saves having to fussy cut them all.

The close up photo below shows how I used some of the other leaf stamps from the set on the top and sides of the box, adding them with Cornflower Blue Archival Ink. Wendy Vecchi has recently released some adorable new MAKE ART Washi Tape Assortment sets featuring her own artwork, and this heart design worked perfectly for running around the edge of the lid. Before adding the stamped flowers I also used the stencil from the same Flowers Say It All set to apply Ranger Opaque Texture Paste leaves over the stamped areas.

You can see from the photo below how the flowers layered together beautifully with the leaves. For added dimension I re-stamped the flower centres on more of the card and cut around them before applying them with dimensional tape. The filigree skeleton Bronze Leaf Embellishments from a ranger that Linda sells at The Funkie Junkie Boutique are easy to bend and provided a great way of supporting the die cut flowers on the top of the box. In a final finishing touch I added dots of Ranger 'Slate' Liquid Pearls through the trailing flowers and leaves.

On the reverse of the box are the hinges, cut from Sizzix Paper Leather using Eileen Hull's 'Treasure Box' die set, painted with more Ancient Acrylic Paint and secured with Tim Holtz Long Fasteners.

So that's my take on using 'Winter Blues' for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge. My talented team mates have created lots more amazing projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE. And remember to link up your own shabby chic or vintage Valentines to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

All the products used are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed below.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs 'Treasure Box' die set
Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART stamp, die and stencil set 'Flowers Say It All'
Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Washi Assortment
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints
Ranger Gel Press Plate
Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock
Bronze Leaf Embellishments
Wendy Vecchi Cornflower Blue Archival Ink
Ranger 'Jet Black' Archival Ink
Ranger Opaque Texture Paste
Ranger 'Slate' Liquid Pearls
Tim Holtz Long Fasteners