Christmas Clipboard technique video

Hello crafters
Welcome to the first Get Funky And Craft inspiration and technique blog post.  It's me, Anice starting us off and I am cheating a little.  A while back I showed you a Christmas list clipboard that I had made for children to be able to use to write a letter to Father Christmas to ask for the gifts they would like this year. Here it is if you didn't see it..

 

I'm pleased to be able to share a video with you showing you how I made it.  I hope it gives you some inspiration to create not just a clipboard but try new ways to use chipboard in your crafting.



The linky that you see below is for you to add pictures of anything you have created using Funky Hand products recently or what you have made using the latest Funky Freebie download available on the Funky Hand website www.funkyhand.com.

Leave us a comment, let us know what you think!
Anice xx

Welcome to the all new Get Funky And Craft Blog

I'm really pleased to introduce you to the Get Funky Design Teams new inspiration and technique blog.

We thought it was about time that we were able to share with you crafty creations of all different shapes,sizes and styles.

From Wednesday this week we will be bringing you craft inspiration to get your mojos on the move.  There will be a post from a different member of the Funky Hand Design Team each Wednesday and then one over the weekend either Saturday or Sunday.

We are very excited about being able to offer you ideas and techniques that we have had or learned.  Ever crafter is welcome here if you are a beginner or a more seasoned crafter.  There will be something twice a week to interest you all.

I hope you like the new look of the blog and you enjoy the ideas that we offer to you over the coming months.

I'll see you on Wednesday with our first post.
Don't just craft, Get Funky And Craft!
Anice xx 

There's going to be some changes around here!

Hi everyone,

We have been running the Get Funky Challenge Blog for a few years now and the Funky Hand Design Team have all decided that we would like to do something different with this blog now.

There are hundreds of 'Challenge' blogs out there in Blogland so, we have decided that we are going to make a bit of a change here and start offering you more inspiration, techniques and general crafty fun.  There will still be a Funky Freebie each month on my website www.funkyhand.com for you to grab and have a play with but there wont be set challenges anymore.  We will be giving you tips, showing you cool things that we have made and hoping to inspire you to get crafting. You will be free to add any blog posts you write where you have used the Funky Freebie or any other craft creation using your Funky Hand stash so everyone can pop over to your blog and take a look.

If you don't have a blog remember we have a Facebook page as well www.facebook.com/funkyhand where we would love to see your creations, so get posting your pictures and comments there as well. We'd love to hear from you.

I want to say thank you to all the crafters who have entered our challenges over the years. I know the Funky Hand Design Team are really looking forward to showing you great crafty makes and letting you know how you can make them as well. We will need a little time to get everything organised around here but we will be back very soon. So don't forget to visit us to see all the new changes.

It's going to be great fun!
Anice xx

Little chrimbly treat house!!

 Morning Peeps!!
Its Funkette Lou here this morning to carry on with our Amanda's awesome Christmas is all about kids challenge.
In our family christmas has always been centred around the children completely, and Scott and I have carried that through into our little home too so when I saw Amanda's challenge I was so excited I got to work on a little something for my Little Mo. Each year we put a treat on his bed for him to nibble up on christmas morning when he wakes up and he loves it, he gets so excited because he knows its the only day he will get a treat before breakfast!!!

So this year I grabbed my Funky Little Christmas download and got busy on a super cute little house to pop on his bed. I love the mix of kraft feeling papers and zingy greens in this download and the little christmas tree toppers. Those toppers were too cute to use as little trees around the outside of the little house. I popped them out on foam squares, awwwwww!!!

I used one of my punches to make the cute shingles on the roof, inking each one to make it stand out and die cut 25 to pop on the door. I used a teeny brad for the door handle too.

And here's a peek inside.....

 mmmmm yummy!! just perfect for a treat size bag of dairy milk buttons.
Mo loves candy canes so I tied 2 together in a heart shape and attached them to the back of the house.

Now, you still have a couple of days to join in with the challenge before it ends on the 14th november,as always our gorgeous Anice has prepared a fab funky freebie for you to use if you don't own any Funkyhand goodies. The only challenge rule is that you use at least one Funkyhand product,and the prize is any download from Funkyhand shop.

Huge hugs Lou xxx

Santa card

Hi,
 It's Debbie here with my card for this months challenge with the theme set by Amanda which is:

Christmas is all about the kids.

The lovely Anice has prepared a fab funky freebie for you to use if you don't own any Funkyhand goodies. The only challenge rule is that you use at least one Funkyhand product. So show us what you can make as there is a prize of any download from Funkyhand.

I decided to do a card:

For the background paper and rosette I used papers from the Trad ole christmas papers download and  I cut it into a strip then scored the paper on a score board then glued the join together and attached some die cut snowflakes.

I printed out the Santa digital stamp from oh come all ye crafters digital stamps download and coloured it with promarkers, added glossy accents for his glasses and plenty of glitter.

Just a little bit of inking around the paper edge, some bakers twine,  typed a sentiment and card candi and it was all done.

There's still a couple of days left before the end of the challenge so we'd love to see what you've created.Remember to check out what the rest of the funkettes have created over the last month underneath this post.  Also there's lots of ideas of how we've used the new downloads over at Funkyhand.

 Add your link to join in this month's Get Funky! Challenge.

Lots of luck Debbie x

 

He's making a list..

.. he's checking it twice!  Oh dear I think I should stop the singing right now!  It's Anice here today to share my inspiration creation with you for this months fab challenge set by Amanda.  Christmas is for the kids so how hard can it be to create something with them in mind?  Well, I'd decided that I didn't want to make a card for this challenge but it took me a while to come up with an idea.  I did in the end and here it is, a Christmas Clipboard for making a list to send to Father Christmas..

In the very near future I will be adding a video explaining how I created this clipboard so, keep a look out on the Funky Hand website  www.funkyhand.com on my blog Funky Hand Thoughts and our Funky Hand Facebook page. There will be a free download of the list for you as well so it will be easy as could be to create one of these for your kids..or even just yourself!!

You can see in this picture a little better that I covered the front of the board with glitter and I was covered in it for a whole day!  It wouldn't wash off no matter what I used..it just had to wear off. So, I am hoping that means it wont come off over everything when I pass it on to the children in our family.  Anyway, back to the clipboard. The papers I used to create the clipboard are from one of my latest download Christmas backing paper collections Trad Ole Christmas

At the top of the 'letter' to Father Christmas I have added the beginning of the letter..on the free download I have created two versions one with 'Father Christmas' the other 'Santa' so whatever you prefer to use is covered.

This is the bottom of the letter on the clipboard.  I wanted to end the letter for the kids by saying they would be happy for whatever he could bring them..just incase they had asked for a horse, quadbike or a new brother or sister!!  Then there's a space for them to sign their name.  Once it's completed they can send it up the chimney to him or put it in the post to the North Pole.

I hope to have the video ready very soon so you can see how easy it is to create this sweet little Christmas clipboard.

You have until the 14th to get your entries into this months challenge so a few more days.  See if you can spare an hour to have a go at creating something and sharing it with us here.  If you don't have a blog, don't worry you can add you creation to our Facebook page.  We'd love to see any creation you make. Remember there is only one rule here and that is for you to use at least ONE Funky Hand product in your entry to be eligible for the download prize.  Every month I make that easy for you if you don't have any Funky Hand products there is a Funky Freebie backing paper download on my website that is Free and you can use that!

Looking forward to seeing what you are inspired to create.
Anice xx

Kathy's Tree

 Hello Funky Followers!

This month's challenge has been set by Amanda

Christmas is all about the kids

so that's what I am setting for this month's theme.

Anything Christmassy for a child.  It can be anything you want........a card, a gift, a layout, a decoration ~ whatever your imagination can come up with.

It's me, Kathy here today with my idea for Amanda's challenge and I thought that maybe something that you could get the kids to help make  would fit the theme nicely.

So here's my little tree decoration - I think that they'd look really cute in a group of three, or maybe lined up on your windowsill - or change the star for a tiny name card and use them as place settings for the Christmas dinner table.

* Print a selection of the papers (I used the "Christmas Tree" download) on to thin card - print on BOTH sides of each sheet

* Use a die cutting machine such as the Cuttlebug to cut a few each of various sizes of a set of circle dies - I used the Spellbinders Large Scalloped Circles set, and used all but the largest of the dies.  My finished tree is about 17cms including the pot and star.  Varying which size dies you use will change the look of your tree.

" Cut a length of paper to make into a tightly rolled "tube" for the trunk of the tree - or cover something like a bamboo skewer or pencil to use for the trunk

* Divide the cut circles up into piles by size to make it easier to "build" the tree.

* The children will need help with this bit - poke a small hole in the centre of each circle, then use something like a bamboo skewer to make it bigger.  I then used a pencil and pushed that through the holes to make them big enough to slide onto my paper tree trunk.  You don't need to cut neat centre holes as the raggy bits you get from pushing the pencil through will adhere the circles to the trunk.

* Start building the tree, by adding some PVA glue around the trunk - leave the bottom 4cms clear for adding the pot later, then add glue to a few cms at a time and add the circles in order.  Wet glue allows you a bit of "wiggle-room" or drying time to rearrange the circles a little as you go.  Leave a few cms at the top to add the cone to the top and the star

* Cut one circle in half and form into a cone - make sure there's a small hole remaining at the top, big enough to poke a piece of wire into. Glue the cone in place and leave to dry

* Cut two identical star shapes and glue together, sandwiching one end of a short piece of wire between them.  Allow to dry thoroughly and then you can make a spiral in the spare wire if you wish.  Add some strong glue to the end of the wire and poke it into the hole in the cone at the top of the tree.

* Cover the star with Stickles if you wish

* For the pot I used a tightly spiralled length of card, which I glued to the base of the tree.  I squeezed a "ballast" layer of blu-tack around it then covered it with red paper.  - this is a bit of a faff so here are The  lid from a large used up Pritt Stick would be perfect

Small plastic pots could be cut down  eg empty large size Stickles pots 

Just make a pot shape from plasticine!

* Cover whatever you decide to use with coloured paper and use something to weight the tree down/. Not being a household with children in, I used blu-tack for weighting my tree - but something like plasticine would be perfect.

In "another life" I taught in Nursery and Primary Schools and I know the children would have loved making these.  Nothing needs to be too accurate as a bit of "wonkiness" adds to the character of the finished piece.  There's lots of counting and geometry skills involved, plus some good old cutting practise if you get them to make the circles themselves!

I hope you like this idea and will be having a go yourselves - I'd love to see them if you do.

Download papers are perfect for this as you can print off as many as you need - and more if you run out.  

That's my project all done, and I just need to remind you that to enter our challenge and be in with a chance of winning a gorgeous Download collections of your choice, all you have to do is make a project for this challenge ensuring that you use AT LEAST ONE FUNKY HAND PRODUCT,then link it via the Linky gadget below.

If you don't have any Funky Hand stash yet, you can use this month's Freebie from Anice which is available to download from the Funky Hand web site. 

Please don't just take the paper and run, use it and join in - you might win more lovely goodies from Funky Hand!

While you're on the Funky Hand web site for the freebie paper, please take an extra 10 minutes or so and have a look around. There are lots of new Christmas downloads at fabulous prices and each download has it's own gallery to (hopefully) give you a bit of inspiration.

Have fun, Happy Crafting

Kathy xx