Hopping Again :-) x

Yayyy it's Friday and time for another challenge over at Polkadoodles :-D We're lucky enough to be working with their gorgeous team again this week on a new blog hop and if you enter you’ll have the chance to win some goodies from the lovely Polkadoodles store.

You can find the free digi to use and the full rules for the hop HERE – good luck :-)

If you've come to my blog from Shell along the hop then you're at the finish line but if you got lost along the way just go back to the Polkadoodle Challenge blog as the full list of participants is there. Don't forget that you need to leave a comment on each of the blogs to be in with a chance of winning the Polkadoodle prize x x

The Blog Hop will end at 12noon on Sunday the 20th of January along with the challenge - so good luck and happy hopping!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Nikky and all the lovely design team ladies over at Polkadoodles - it's been a real treat getting to see all of their gorgeous cards.

Have a lovely weekend everyone x x

Blog Hop :-) x

Hiya guys, we’re doing a blog hop in conjunction with the lovely ladies over at Polkadoodles this week and you have the opportunity to win some goodies by entering their weekly challenge.

You can find the full details and a free digi to use HERE along with some gorgeous inspiration from the design team :-)

Don’t forget that you need to leave a comment on each of the blogs to have a chance at winning the Polkadoodle prize x

The blog hop will end at 12 noon on Sunday January 13^th along with the challenge so good luck and happy hopping! x x 

Challenge 4 – Put a Bling on it x

Hey guys Happy New Year!!! I hope you’re all feeling okay this morning and that you had an amazing Christmas break – mine has been perfect – full of family, friends, and some serious overindulgence! I’ve been wayyy to scared to brave the bathroom scales and, as has become tradition every year, I’ll be avoiding them until January is out of the way and I’ve been really good for a month :-D

Anywho, onto business – first I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who joined in on our challenge last month. I loved all the cards and really enjoyed the white on white theme – such simple elegant designs – gorgeous. I've run the numbers though the Random Number Generator again and the winner for the White on White challenge is:

Heather

Congratulations hun – I’ll add your card to the winners wall today x If you email me at flatfriendsboutique@gmail.com using verification code FFC3 with your choice of 4 digis I’ll get them over to you. You can grab your winners badge from the sidebar too – any probs let me know x

As you can see from the title above this month’s challenge is ‘Put a Bling on it’ – we thought it may be nice to continue the glitz and glamour of last night into the New Year so we’re looking for glitter/rhinestones/sparkles (basically anything that makes it gorgeous and blingtastic) :-)

A winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator and announced on the 1^st of February (when we launch the next challenge). They will have their choice of 4 free Flat Friends digi’s and their card will feature on our Wall of Fame throughout January.

As always a Flat Friends digi must be used for your creation but there are a couple of freebies that can be used if you don't already own one of my designs which can be accessed from the freebies tab above x

Okay – that’s enough from me – I’m off to enjoy New Years Day with some gorgeous friends :-) As always, I’ll leave you to look at the beautiful inspiration from the DT – a massive thanks from me to them - stunning as always and seriously blingtastic x x

Happy Crafting & Digi Hugs x x

Kathy - Happy New Year everyone! May 2013 be the best year yet! I love bling and use it on almost every creation. When I saw this new Cheerleader image, I knew she would be fun to bling up! I've used plenty of stickles on her pom poms and outfit. I also glazed her boots for some shine (who wouldn't want green leather boots, right?). I added a few rhinestones to the sentiment as well. Hope you will join us for this bling-tastic challenge!

NJ - Hello lovelies and a very Happy New Year from me. I hope you have all had a wonderful time over the festive season and looking forward to a great 2013. Now I absolutely love this theme as bling is just right up my street! LOL I have used Taylorbell and I wanted to just use 2 sparkly colours so I have gone for silver & black. I wanted to do something a little different so I have coloured her with Sakura Gelly Roll Pens Silver Star and Black Sparkle. I chose not to add any other colour as I wanted to keep the focus on the glitz and glamour of a New Year Celebration. I like the fact too she has a wand and then she can make all your New Year Wishes come true! Hopefully..lol.... Happy New Year Lots of love NJ XXX

Sally - Happy New Year Girlies! Let's hope it is a good one! Here is my card for the New Year Challenge, using Taylor. I have glitzed her up using lots of glitter, cut her out and then chose some card stock from my crafty stash. Cut out a scalloped circle using Spellbinder's dies and cut scalloped ovals using Sizzix dies. Chose a sentiment and adhered it to a Spellbinder's flower.

Sarah - And a very Happy New Year to you all too!  I hope 2013 brings all that you could hope for.  I also used Taylorbell for my image, I thought those wings would look fab all blinged up and they do! I added some of my favourite papers, die cuts and some rhinestones and there you go - my first card of the New Year.  Looking forward to seeing more of your fabulous entries in this month's challenge.

Challenge 3 - White on White with a Splash of Colour x

Hi guys, thanks for popping by again – last month went by sooo quickly – I can’t believe it’s very almost Xmas!! :-) I’m so excited - Christmas is by far my fav. time of year - you’ll struggle to find me without a grin on my face in the weeks leading up to the big day :-D I’m guessing the festive tunes will go full pelt on the radio today and I’ll hopefully be watching a few DVD Crimbo classics over the weekend lol x

Right onto business :-) I want to say a massive thanks to everyone who joined in on the challenge last month – we really enjoyed looking at your beautiful cards x x I've run the numbers though the Random Number Generator again and the winner for the Dots & Stripes challenge is:

Ruth

Congratulations hun – I’ll add your card to the winners wall today x If you email me at flatfriendsboutique@gmail.com using verification code FFC2 with your choice of 4 digis I’ll get them over to you. You can grab your winners badge from the sidebar too – any probs let me know x

As you can see from the title above this month’s challenge is ‘White on White with a Splash of Colour’ or 'Color' for our friends across the water :-) It's a fitting theme I think as it looks like we'll all be surrounded in white this month if the weather forecasts are anything to go by :-D 

As always a Flat Friends digi needs to be used for your creation but I’ve designed an Xmas freebie so everyone can play along. I’ve called it ‘Crimbo Shopping’ and if you click on the picture below you’ll be taken to a download of the black and white PNG digi file. I’ve tested the link on a couple of web browsers but if any of you have any problems accessing the file just drop me an email at flatfriendsboutique@gmail.com and I’ll get it sent over to you directly x

A winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator and announced on the 1^st of January (when we launch the next challenge). They will have their choice of 4 free Flat Friends digi’s and their card will feature on our Wall of Fame throughout the month.

Okay that’s enough from me – I'm off to crank up the radio and get going on the decorations :-) As always our gorgeous DT have come up with some beautiful inspiration for us all so I’ll leave you to check out their creations.

Happy Crafting & Crimbo Digi Hugs x 

Hi, it's Kathy here. I love white on white cards, so elegant! I think all the white gives a snowy feel, too, so that is what I went with using Skate Away With Me. I used lots of embossing folders to get some texture on all that white cardstock:

NJ - Hello lovelies, as this theme is white on white with a splash of colour...straight away I knew I wanted to add lots of texture. I have used handmade papers, leaves, a flower, ribbon and pearls and kept the colour tones very similar. I love her carrying the tree!

Hi, it's Patty here. I love white on white cards, there so elegant! I think all the white gives the cards a elegant feel and so clean that anything looks amazing on white.  I used Prom Date, with lots of embossing layers of white and just add the cut out oval with the colored digi and embellish with a red bow:

Sally - Hi, I coloured my image using flexmarkers added a touch of glitter and a flower on her dress and added a dew drop for the centre. Embossed a background, using an embossing folder from Spellbinders, matted it on silver card, tied a white sheer ribbon and added a bow and then embellished it with a few flowers in the corners and added a sentiment "Special Sister":

Sarah here - Oooh White on White (or WoW) cards love 'em!  The freedom it gives you with colour choices for your image is fantastic. Then you can really go to town with the embossing, die-cuts, ribbons, etc, etc, etc!

I really had fun making this one, hope you like it too:

Challenge 2 - Dots & Stripes x

Hey guys, thanks so much for popping by and a massive thank you to the ladies who participated in our 1^st challenge last month – I loved looking at your gorgeous work. It is early days and we’re busy working in the background at getting some more exposure on the site so your lovely creations get seen by a few more peeps in the future.

Okay, so I ran the numbers through the Random Number Generator as promised and the winner of the Tic Tac Toe challenge is:

Mandy

Congratulations hun – I’ll add your card to the winners wall today x If you email me at flatfriendsboutique@gmail.com using verification code FFC1 with your choice of 4 digis I’ll get them over to you. You can grab your winners badge from the sidebar too – any probs let me know x

As the numbers were low and we didn't have to crank up the old generator too much I would like to offer a free digi as a thank you to Mary and Karen for entering our 1st ever challenge too - just email me with the name of the stamp you would like and I'll email it over to you tonight when I get back from work x x

Okay, as you can see from the title above this month’s challenge is Dots & Stripes and you can use dots and/or stripes for your card. The only other requirement for your entry is that a Flat Friends digi is used for your creation (you can see the full range on 'The Digi' tab above) x

A winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator and announced on the 1^st of December (when we launch the next challenge). They will have their choice of 4 free Flat Friends digi’s and their card will feature on our Wall of Fame throughout December. 

Please remember to check out the challenge rules on the tab above where Taylor is waiting to guide you through the formalities in her bossy boots x 

Okay that’s enough from me – I’ll leave you to look at the gorgeous cards our wonderful DT have put together for inspiration. A huge thank you from me to them – stunning work as always x x

Happy Crafting & Digi Hugs x 

Fabi- For my card I have used the cute Tree Hugger, have colored her with Promarkers. The papers are from Polka Doodles, and some Kraft paper from my stash. I inked the sides of my papers with distress ink Walnut Stain:

Kathy - I've used this darling Christmas Camper image and the dots and stripes are in my patterned papers. Such a fun retro image to play with!

NJ - As soon as I saw the Fairytale collection I just knew I wanted to use 'Little Red Riding Hood'. I have used some paper that I already had in my craft stash. I picked this as it had dots all over it and in the flowers. I cut out some flowers to create a border around the image. I added dots to the red robe using a white souffle pen. The stripe is in the rik rak. I wanted the red to be the striking colour!

Patty - For my card I've used Sooty Santa, have colored him with my copics. The papers are from Taylor for Daisyd's and AC and some Brown and White paper from my stash. I inked the the edges of the papers with Toast ink and as a final touch I added Liquid Applique to hat, mitten and chime. Hope you like it as much as I did!!

Sally - Hi this is my card for November Challenge. I love how this has turned out. I used my new Spellbinder die and found the papers on Polkadoodles Pen & Paper Collection 2. I also love this image, it is one of my favourites:

Sarah - I've gone for one of the images from the new release. She is just super cute - love the glasses!! I'm sure you can spot the spots, but the stripes might be a bit more difficult, as I've mostly covered up the paper they are on!!  Hope you like:

Please link to your blog post rather than your homepage on the linky tool below so we can find your card easily x x

Challenge 1 - Tic Tac Toe - 3 in a Row x

Hiya! Thanks for visiting us on our 1^st challenge – I’m beyond excited about getting going and can’t wait to see your gorgeous creations!

Since my last post our wonderful design team gals have been helping me fumble about in the background and I’ve been having fun getting to know blogger more intimately :-)

I’ve invited Paige to help me this month and she’s popped by to show us the Tic Tac Toe options we have to play with. The idea here is that you use 3 themes for your card which can be chosen from any straight or diagonal line from the arrangement below:

So, for example you could:

• Use a straight line going down i.e. Dies, Stitches, and Rectangles
• Use a straight line going across i.e. Buttons, Squares, and Dies
• Use a straight line going diagonally i.e. A Sentiment, Pastels or Pinks, and Dies

Making sense? :-D

P.S. You can use any Flatfriends digi for your creation x

A winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator and announced on the 1^st of November (when we launch the next challenge). They will have their choice of 4 free Flatfriends digi’s and their card will feature on our Wall of Fame throughout November.

Please remember to check out the challenge rules on the tab above where Taylor is waiting to guide you through the formalities in her bossy boots x 

Okay that’s enough from me – I bet you’re itching to see what our lovely DT gals have been busy working on for our inspiration so I’ll leave you to have a look at their gorgeous creations below.

Happy Crafting & Digi Hugs x x 

Fabi’s gone along the top line using Buttons, Squares, & Dies:

Kathy’s gone diagonally using Dies, Pinks, & A Sentiment:

NJ’s gone diagonally using Buttons, Pastels or Pinks, & Rectangles:

Patty’s gone diagonally using Dies, Pastels or Pinks, & A Sentiment:

Sally’s gone diagonally using Dies, Pinks, & A Sentiment:

Sarah’s gone along the bottom line using A Sentiment, Distressing, & Rectangles:

Please link to your blog post rather than your homepage on the linky tool below so we can find your card easily x x

Soooo excited x

Our Design Team x

The last few weeks have been absolutely amazing for me as I have been flooded with entries for our design team. I have literally spent hours going through each entry, looking at the submitted designs, reading all of the wonderful stories, and going through gorgeous blogs. The last week has been spent re-looking and re-looking until my head hurt!

 

There have been points that I just didn’t think I was going to be able to choose as I’d fallen in love with everyone’s work and felt as though I’d got to know all of the applicants a bit from the stories they’d been kind enough to share with me. I wish I could have everyone but I knew I had to get it down to a final six and after countless hours in front of my laptop (and a few sleepless nights) I’ve managed to finally narrow it down to 6 lovely ladies.

 

I want to say and MASSIVE thank you to everyone who took the time to apply for the design team and I hope you will join me in welcoming the gorgeous gals who made it into the final bunch – they’re all wonderful in their own way and I think their styles will complement each other nicely.

 

The lovely ladies (in alphabetical order) are:

www.thescrappingfactory.blogspot.com
 

www.willstampforwine.blogspot.com

 

www.pinkdelightcraft.blogspot.com

 

www.patriciachalasstudio.blogspot.com

 

www.sallybeecarddesigns.blogspot.com

 

www.createdbysarah.blogspot.com

They're a wonderful group - I'm sure you'll agree :-)

 

We'll be busy now getting ready for our first challenge which will be held here on the 1st of October. I'm crossing everything that if you're here reading this you will come back and join in with us on the challenges - we'd love to see more of your gorgeous work and look forward to getting to know you more over the coming months x x

 



DT Announcement Tomorrow x

DESIGN TEAM CALL :-)

Hey fellow crafters, thanks for popping by :-) I’m guessing if you’re here you already understand the ‘DT’ concept but just in case you’re a complete newbie (like I was a couple of months back) I’ll give a brief explanation of what we’re trying to do here. This empty blog page will hopefully soon be filled with gorgeous creations using our digi stamps and will be the host to monthly challenges where crafters can submit pictures of their work with a winner being picked each month for ‘blog candy’ (lush freebies).

6 designers will be chosen over the next month to make up a new design team (DT) - they will chose the themes for monthly challenges and provide the inspiration for entries by letting us display pictures of their lovely work here. We’ll also have a page on this blog where we post the design team’s creations using new digi stamps which are going on sale at Polkadoodles.

As a designer for the Flatfriends Challenge blog you would be required to have the following:

*A love for cardmaking or other crafty creations using digi stamps

*A love for the Emma Canning Flatfriends Digi Collection - all designs must include one of them so liking the range would definitely be a bonus :-)

*A blog of your own

*Internet access and an email account

Chosen designers will be required to do the following:

*Post a creation featuring one of the Flatfriends Digi’s on their blog once a month for the themed monthly challenge linking back to the Flatfriends Challenge page

*Take it in turns with other design team members to choose a challenge theme for the month (you will not be required, however, to write the challenge post)

*Post an additional 2 creations each month using the Flatfriends Digi’s. This will be separate from the monthly challenge to promote new designs (no set theme)

*Submit photos via email of their creations to Emma Canning to post on the Flatfriends Challenge blog including a brief description of the design

*Blog and Facebook/Twitter to promote the monthly challenges and new designs

*Commit to the design team for a minimum of 4 months

What’s in it for Flatfriends Design Team Members?

*Free digi stamps for challenges – you can check out the range over at the lovely Polkadoodles store - http://www.polkadoodles.co.uk/index.php?cPath=381_638 (and we’re just getting started – I plan on making many more in the coming months)

*Free access to selected digi stamps from new ranges for promotional designs

*Design members names and blog links will be published here on the Flatfriends Challenge website

*My gratitude for being part of the team and spending valuable time helping to promote our products

*A bunch of super awesome crafty friends and admirers :-)

If you would like to apply to be one of our designers please email me at flatfriendsboutique@gmail.com BEFORE the 31^st of August 2012 stating ‘DESIGN TEAM CALL’ in your email title and including the following:

*Your full name

*Your blog Link

*Images for 2 of your favourite pieces of work – you don’t have to use one of my digi stamps but please do use digi stamps on the designs you submit to show off your gorgeous colouring skills :-)

*A short paragraph about why you want to be on the team

We will notify you by email if you have been successful by the 9^TH of September 2012.

I can’t wait to see your emails but if we’re fortunate to have a bunch of people apply I absolutely dread having to choose between you – if the Polkadoodle challenges I’ve been following are anything to go by it’s going to be a very hard decision! x x

A final note

I appreciate that I’m a new designer and that we’re just getting started but I’d love it if you wanted to join me at the beginning of this journey in making this range really popular. I understand the work and commitment that goes with being a design team member and you can rest assured that I will be working very hard in the background also to provide you with new images to play with.

Everyone will be considered including Cardmakers, Scrapbookers, and Altered Media Artists as we’re looking for a diverse team. You don’t have to have a zillion followers on your blog or think of yourself as an expert colourer to apply – as a fellow newbie I welcome entries from other people starting out x x

Right I think that’s enough from me :-) If nothing else I recon we’re going to have a whole lot of fun!

Happy crafting and digi hugs x x

Em x