It's A Wrap with The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. It's time for another challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. Sara Emily is your host for this one and she has called it 'It's A Wrap!'."Whenever I hear this term, I think of something that's finished or completed. But for this challenge, we want you to share your vintage or shabby chic gift wrapping, gift box or bag or perhaps a set of gift tags. Or maybe you might take a different approach and use a wrap die cut or gift packaging on your project -- just be sure to tell us what your 'wrap' is if it's not obvious!"

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 The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and three additional outstanding entries 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.

Yesterday I shared a new junk journal, created after a clear out which provided the perfect opportunity to find 'free' stuff full of memories. Today I'm sharing the wrap cover made to keep it safe and add decoration to the outside, my take on Sara Emily's wrap challenge theme.

Above you can see the wrap tied securely around the journal, below what it looks like unfurled and laying flat. As the art inside the journal develops the idea is that I can continue to add to and embellish the wrap cover with other scraps.

I've taken a few photos to show how it came together, starting with the floral tag on the front. The smaller of the flowers from Wendy Vecchi's 'Bravo' MAKE ART stamp/stencil/die set were stamped onto some cotton calico with Archival Ink before being filled in with embroidery thread (floss) using satin stitch. Using a variegated strand meant that different shades could provide contrast between the separate petals. The spare calico was trimmed away to leave the flowers and a small border around each one.

An old luggage tag was altered with some washi tape, black acrylic paint lines and a little stitching. A couple of leaf stems for the flowers were cut from an old map using dies from the Sizzix Thinlits 'Intricate Corners' Die Set and were embossed with clear embossing powder to strengthen them.

You can see below where the leaves and flowers were added to the tag along with some Rub-Ons for added detail. There's also a little torn cheesecloth glued onto the reverse of the tag ready to mount onto the wrap.

The main body of the wrap was cut from a layer of cotton calico and a slightly larger one from an old lace tablecloth. They were measured to ensure the finished wrap would cover and overlap around the journal even if it were to expand further. After marking where the spine would sit I used Wendy Vecchi's Background Stamp 'All Scratched Up' on a couple of pieces of tea stained cotton watercolor paper and stitched them securely onto the fabric layers.

After adding a panel of thick cotton lace from my stash across the spine area the remaining visible pieces of paper were enhanced with die cut leaf panels using another of the dies from the 'Intricate Corners' die set. These were glued firmly in place with an added layer of matte medium applied over the top to keep them secure. You'll see below that more lace has been added to the left hand side of the wrap - this is lace trim for net curtains, another of those lucky finds during the clear out.

Needing something to keep the wrap in place around the journal I measured a length of old cotton seam binding in place and stamped it with numbers in random patterns. To finish I added an extra piece of contrasting vintage lace around the spine and glued the finished tag onto the front along with a little bronze key from Linda's store.

Here are some close ups of the finished wrap;

So that's my take on the theme 'It's A Wrap!' My wonderfully talented team mates have also come up with their own wrap 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 pieces to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes that's up for grabs.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create this card are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below;

Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp, Die, Stencil Set - 'Bravo'

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Background Stamps - 'All Scratched Up'

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - 'Intricate Corners'

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - 'Black'

Dina Wakley Media Cotton Watercolor Paper Pack

Bronze Keys - Set of 2

Rayon Seam Binding

Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad Kit #1

Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad Kit #3

Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - 'Mail Art'

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs - 'Specimen'

The Funkie Junkie Boutique - Laces and Ribbons

Memories Junk Journal for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team are focusing on junk journals in all their forms. Eileen has a wonderful variety of dies for creating journals in different sizes and they are easy to assemble. Using items of 'junk' (stuff you might otherwise throw away or have left over from other projects) to create the pages inside is great because it's accessible to everyone and for the most part free, though not everyone likes this style of crafting and some raise the valid question of why you would do it in the first place.

My project this month shows some ideas for using a variety of bits and pieces that have collected during a recent clear out to make a new art journal. It is a way of capturing memories through the assembly of the pages themselves and eventually by the art that's added to them. It also means I don't have to buy a new art journal and have something much more personal to use. Here's what the 'completed' journal looks like at the moment - since the pages inside will be a 'work in progress' I decided to leave the cover unfinished too so more could be added along the way;

You'll see from the photo above that the pages aren't all sized to fit nicely inside the 'Pocket Notebook' cover because there are no rules to say that they should and those brief glimpses of the contents make you want to look inside and see more.

I started this journal by making the cover, cutting the front and back from matboard using Eileen's 'Pocket Notebook' Die. Below shows how I cut away the spine section from each cut and reattached one of these pieces to the centre of the covers using Architape, the 1/4 inch spacing tools and Teflon bone folder from Cool Katz Craft. This is done to make the spine more flexible and to allow the finished pages to open flat once the journal is complete.

Below you can see how the covers were decorated with assorted salvaged bits and pieces - there's the textured surface which is actually the reverse of an old map (the fold lines are still visible and I kept the bits of brown card that were stuck firm to it. You'll also see the old bits of string, masking tape, the frayed edge from an off-cut of calico fabric and some ribbon that coordinates with the spine.

Turning to the pages inside I knew I wanted different sizes and was inspired by Eileen's suggestion of using envelopes. The ones below are small brown wage packed envelopes that have been joined together by slipping the opening of one into another and covering the join with washi tape. The brown surface has been given a coat of white gesso and on one side of each page a piece of mixed media journal paper has been added. I also cut off a thin strip from the sealed end of each envelope to create pockets.

During the clear out I found some lace pocket handkerchiefs. Rather than send them to a charity shop they were torn in half and had more of the journal paper stitched onto them, ensuring some of the lace detail could still be seen. You'll see below that more washi tape was added to the centre - this is a way of strengthening the centre fold in preparation for being stitched into the journal.

Another way of preserving memories through things which might otherwise be discarded during a clear out is to cover some of the handwritten detail with clear gesso so that it can eventually be incorporated into the art that's created on top. Below I did this with the notes written in pencil on the manuscript paper, again attaching the journalling paper to the untouched sides and strengthening the centre spines with washi tape.

Having used some of the manuscript pages from an old music book I also decided to use the cover too, adding white gesso to the front and stitching journal paper to the reverse sides.

To make some flap pages I used pieces of vellum, again stitching different sized pieces of journal paper to them so that sections of the vellum could still be seen.

Returning to Eileen's idea of using envelopes I used these DL sized ones that had previously been tea stained and again attached them together by inserting the opening side of one into the other before securing them with glue and washi tape. Since these pages are large they were also ideally suited to being cut along the centre on one side to create flaps. On the non-flap side I once again cut off a small strip from the closed edge to create a large pocket.

Finally I salvaged some old dress patterns and applied the white gesso and journal paper to them to create more pages. Once assembled and altered the pages were hand stitched together before being secured inside the covers with a fabric spine backing and some old aged copier paper.

So now you've seen the bits and pieces I used to create the pages inside the finished journal let's take a look at how it all came together, going back to the front cover;

Delving inside the front covers here are the end pages, the old copier paper used to secure the stitched signatures inside. I ran a piece of masking tape along the spine partly as a decorative feature and partly to protect this potentially weaker join from becoming damaged when in use.

Turning the end pages over you can see some of the stitched spine and the first of the lace pages.

Below you can see how one of the flip pages works, concealing some of the previous page and revealing some of what's to come.

Here you can see some of the covered manuscript paper and one of the larger envelopes. As well as providing different sizes of page to work on going forward they are also different surfaces.

The mix of sizes and surfaces can really be seen here where the protected manuscript and covered wage packet pocket also reveal the larger envelope and sewing pattern pages below.

And here is that sewing pattern, obscured on one side by the journal paper and left partially visible through the white gesso on the other.

Finally here's more of the lace handkerchief and one side of the music book cover. You can see how the stitching and flexible spine allow for the pages to lay flat ready for working on in future.

That's it for this month's projects from me. Make sure to check out what the rest of Eileen's Inspiration Team have created for the junk journal theme by visiting Eileen's website.

For now, thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Stencilmania with The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. It's time for another challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. I am your host for this one and I've called it 'Stencilmania'. "Stencils are such versatile tools - you can add colour through them, add texture and patterns with them, draw with them, emboss with them, print with them and so much more. So for this challenge we want you to get creative with your stencils, adding as many layers as you dare to create a vintage or shabby chic project to share with us all."

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 The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and three additional outstanding entries 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.

For this challenge I've combined a couple of Finnabair stencils with one of the new Sizzix Chapter 3 die set releases - it's officially a Christmas themed one but I've taken it on a tropical journey to create these Summer inspired cards;

To show how these cards came together I've put together a tutorial.

First up I got out every shade of blue in the Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint range and painted a length of A4 paper (half a width wide) ensuring each one blended into the next.

Once dry I applied Dina's White Acrylic Paint through the Finnabair 'Oriental Wall' Stencil. It's really helpful that this stencil is a long one as it made the process quicker and easier to line up.

When the stencilling was dry I cut the strip of paper up into sections as shown below. The edges were inked with Wendy Vecchi 'Acorn' Archival Ink.

Taking two pieces of card a little smaller than A6 size I covered them with Ranger Opaque Crackle Paste, applying it through the Finnabair 'Vintage Wallpaper' Stencil. It was left to dry and crack beautifully before having a coat of matte gesso applied over the top to seal in the cracked surface.

To finish the matting and layering portion of the cards more of the 'Acorn' Archival Ink was blended around the edge of the stencilled card. I also brushed a little over the surface of the raised crackled parts to emphasis the texture further. Slightly larger pieces of paper were painted with 'Gilt' Acrylic Paint to act as a border between the card blanks and stencilled paper. Once layered together the stencilled strips were added on top, with some raised using dimensional tape.

Moving on to the tropical flowers I began by painting four small offcuts of paper with 'Cheddar' Acrylic Paint, cutting four of the large geometric frames using the new Sizzix 'Geometric Winter Frame' Die Set by Olivia Rose. The inside portions were saved for using with the flowers and leaves.

The first of the inside pieces was repainted with the 'Lemon' Acrylic Paint before some of the larger leaves in the die set were cut from it.

A second inside piece was repainted with the 'Ruby' Acrylic Paint and had the little flowers cut as shown below.

Some of the waste edges from the original frame cuts was repainted using the 'Sedona' Acrylic Paint so I could cut some contrasting larger flower petals from it.

Another inside section was repainted with 'Olive' Acrylic Paint and had a selection of the smaller leaf stems from the set cut from it.

Finally I repainted some of the remaining leftovers with 'Tangerine' Acrylic Paint to cut the berry stems from. They were given more depth and dimension by adding little drops of Wendy Vecchi's 'Orange Blossom' Liquid Pearls.

To finish, the frames were offset over each other onto the stencilled background and the flowers, leaves and berry stems added on top. I added sentiments from Wendy Vecchi's MAKE ART 'Thank You' Stamp/Die/Stencil Set to each card, stamping them onto white card to contrast with the background. Here are some close up photos so you can see the details more clearly;

So that's my take on the theme 'Stencilmania'. My hugely talented team mates have also come up with their own stencilled 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 pieces to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes that's up for grabs.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create these cards are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Prima Marketing Finnabair Stencil - Oriental Wall

Prima Marketing Finnabair Stencil - Vintage Wallpaper

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 'Geometric Winter Frame' by Olivia Rose

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gessos

Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp/Die/Stencil Set - Thank You

Wendy Vecchi Liquid Pearls - Orange Blossom

Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Acorn

Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste