Fab 'n' Funky - Beads

It's time for a new challenge at Fab 'n' Funky and this week, we are helping you get on with your Christmas makes! I know, I know, I said the 'C' word, but it sneaks up on us right? So we have a mission at Fab 'n' Funky to help you towards completion of your Christmas cards without the last minute mad dash by hosting a Christmas challenge at the end of every month. Clever eh?! My lovely new teamie Zora is our hostess for this challenge so she has the pleasure of picking the Top 5. We have a gorgeous line up of Design Team cards to inspire you too, so pop over to the Fab 'n' Funky Challenge blog and feast your eyes.

We have an exciting new sponsor for this challenge. See if you can spot the beads used by the DT in our creations in honour of this. They have some gorgeous beads and other lovely embellies on their blog, so do check out their fabulous website.

I think I misunderstood our brief on the DT blog, as I thought we weren't supposed to use an image, but that wasn't the case at all, so my teamies have used some gorgeous ones. I however, am not at all unhappy with how my card turned out, as I tried something a little different, stepped out of my comfort zone and actually, I love how it came together. I've used a bead on my card too, can you spot it?

The card came together from some interesting situations. I used a lovely Christmas paper from an Echo Park paper pad called This & That - Christmas, designed by Lori Whitlock. There was a punch hole through the middle of the top of the page, so I turned the page upside down and added the little red daisy lace to cover this hole which I think worked quite well. Then I realised I had run out of my middle size doilies and was wondering what I was going to do to fill that central space. I played for a little while with a much larger doily toying with using it behind the paper and then I looked closer at the centre of the doily and noticed that it was the perfect size for what I'd first envisioned. So I just trimmed away the outer edge and I must say, it's not as 'lacy' as doilies usually are, but I'm so pleased with that little innovation. I used a tiny felt doily behind the gardenia, it's just lovely and came from a magazine cover gift. I can't find the packet now, to source it, so will update when I do.

Creating a card that didn't have an image was a challenge for me, but I really enjoyed creating this one and when it came to finishing the card, I had a definite look and idea in mind. I have had this cute little tin full of gorgeous 'Greengate' tags for a long while and I really wanted to use one of the tags on this card. Alone it didn't work, but with the addition of the 'LOVE' tag from a Papermania 'Home for Christmas' Toppers & Tags Set, I think it works perfectly. I needed to tie in the Kraft colour more though, so I added a lovely beige gingham ribbon, some cotton lace and used some looped twine behind the Wild Orchid Craft red gardenia to bring all the threads together. I'm really happy with this look, but if you want to see this twine loops technique done properly, you need to visit my old teamie from Dream Valley - Macarena - who is an utter master with this technique. I drew my inspiration from her beautiful creations. Thank you Macarena for inspiring me with your stunning creations.

That's it for today folks. I hope you'll come on over to the Fab 'n' Funky Challenge and join in the fun for our Christmas challenge. I'll be back again soon with my latest crafty adventure. Hugs, Wends x

Challenge Entries:
Crafting From The Heart: #57 ~ Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Challenge: #143 ~ Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge: #103 ~ Anything Goes
Scribble & Scrap Challenge: #43 ~ Anything Goes
Allsorts Challenge: #308 ~ Bring On The Bling (Pearl, lace, charm)
Winter Wonderland Christmas Challenge: Twinkle Twinkle (pearl & charm)