Welcome to Quirky Crafts Challenges

Welcome to Quirky Crafts Challenges the place where any craft project is allowed.

We're a small design team with big inspiration.

On the first Sunday of the month, at 6pm UK time, we will set a new challenge which will close on the 28th of that month at midday. The DT will pick their top three favourites and you could win a prize and join us as a Guest Designer. Winners are posted on the first Sunday in the month (midday usually) before the new challenge - don't forget to come and check if you are a winner.
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Sunday, 18 December 2011

And finally Challenge 26 Quirky Christmas or New Year with a twist - Steampunk

Cazzy here, I am not going to let you off so easily, and the last challenge of the year is very Quirky (mwah mwah) Steampunk Christmas (or New Year).

I want to see steampunk on your makes, which don't have to be cards, they can be any craft type. If you want to know more about the history and definition of Steampunk check out Wikipedia here. If that didn't help, my synopsis of Steampunk is something modern with old fashioned workings, or something living with clockwork insides, if in doubt add a few cogs! For this challenge you could have cog snowflakes, baubles, flowers etc.

Because some of you may have finished your Christmas cards (I am in panic mode at this point, and have not), you can make a Steampunk New Year make instead if you like, or make both.

You have until 31st December at midday to enter the challenge, and we may be a little late judging this time due to possible celebrations but we will do our best! Gentle reminder: please read the rules in the sidebar, we haven't been too strict on them this year, but we will be checking and we may have to eliminate entrants who don't comply.

This challenge is sponsored by Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps


Stitchy Bear are generously giving our Winner a voucher to spend on any images in the store, you too could have some wonderful steampunk images like the ones the team have used.


If you haven't found out enough about Steampunk yet check out the Design Team examples for some great ideas.

Lets start with our Guest Designers:
Sylvia-Anne used the gorgeous Steampunk Fairy and Steampunk corner on her Steampunk Happy New Year card.

Guest Designer Little Ted Nicki used the Steampunk Corner to make her Steampunk Christmas tree card, isn't she a clever cogs!

and our regular Design Team:

Diane
First, let me apologize for the photo.......I have been chasing all around the house to try to find a better spot to take the photo...but this is the best I could get! I took some backing paper from a very old kit that I have been saving especially for this challenge. in case you can't tell it has compasses on it. I used the Litebrite stamp from Stitchy Stamps as the main element, printed onto acetate...(which explains why I had so much trouble with the photo), I left the acetate wider than the card base which creates a dome effect. I coloured the reverse of the acetate and then used the steampunk corner to finish off.

Lyn
I also used the Steampunk Fairy and Steampunk corner for my Happy New Year card (I've added a tiny SteamPunk robin inside!) I coloured her only with grey Promarkers but added a few black and gold dots from peel off's and metallic silver to enhance the digi's.

Caro: I made the background using distress inks and stamped music and cogs on it. I then used the Steampunk corner to which I added highlights of gold embossing and gems. I then turned the Robin from our sponsor into a clockwork Robin by giving him a gold cog on his tummy, highlighting bits in gold and addeding a turning key and hat.To finish the look off I heat embossed two cogs in green, hand drew some chain links and added gems to make them look like steampunk Christmas baubles and then gold embossed around the edge.

I also made a little tag using the cute 3 trees stamp which I coloured using promarkers and distress inks, then added loads of glitter glue and bling to. I turned the tag into steampunk with the embossed cogs in the background, and the Steampunk style writing of Christmas on the hills.


Cazzy: Here I am late again, hoping nobody noticed! I used Big Ben and Steampunk Corner printed on Acetate and I printed a sentiment which also has some of the cogs from the corner on it. In the background a Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut clock and embossed panel, and a real cog on the greeting to finish. Lots of Distress ink spread liberally around. (I may be back later with another card).

and then I made this card with the Three Christmas Trees overlaid with some of the cogs from the Steampunk Corner, and with the Steampunk Corner, coloured with Promarkers.



Finally we would like to thank you all for playing along with us and showing us some inspirational ideas, and we wish you a Very Quirky Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you all on New Year's day for the next exciting challenge!

Please add a link to your blog post (not your blog) using thebiggest blue froggy at the top of the collection, the other one (at the bottom) doesn't do anything that we can tell, and please comment after you have linked. Don't forget to mention Quirky and add a link back to here (please read the rules). Happy Crafting from:
The Quirky Crafts Challenge Design Team.

Quirky Snowing Winners Challenge 25

What a wonderful response we had to Lyn's Quirky Well Snowing challenge, which was so topical as the U.K. saw snow in some places for the first time this winter.

Once again the number of entries made it so hard to choose, and this time we had to eliminate some gorgeous entries that didn't comply with our rules (see side bar) otherwise it is unfair to those who did follow the rules, and we finally came up with our favourites.

Our winner this week was Mary Ann with this gorgeous Advent Calendar.


Please email Cazzy with your choice of either the cute stamp set, in which case I need your postal details, or choice of digi images from Paper Pretties, and let me know if you want to join us as Guest Designer in the New Year.



Our second place winner is Yogi with her gorgeous tag.
Congratulations Yogi, please contact Cazzy (me) using the email link in the right hand side bar with your choice of 3 digi images from Limited Runs. Please also take the winner's banner to display on your blog, and let us know if you would like to join us as a Guest Designer for the first challenge of 2012.

Our runner up in third place is Vixykins with this cute card.

Well done Yogi and Vixykins, please help yourselves to a winner's badge and contact Cazzy using the email link in the right hand side bar if you would like to join us as Guest Designers in the New Year.

We hope you will all join us again for our next Quirky Challenge later today, it is a cracker of a challenge, hee hee, though I am setting it so I would think so!


The Quirky Crafts Challenge Design Team.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

It's Quirky Well Snowing Spyder's.Challenge 25

Hi peoples! Don't worry, it's not really snowing spiders, I think I put the full stop in the wrong place! Welcome to Quirky Craft's next Challenge! It's my turn (Lyn) to set the theme and after a lot of thinking, ouch! drooling, ew, and debating, ooho, I've decided you all need something nice and easy as we're all very busy at this time of year. So the challenge this fortnight is....
SNOW!
We want to see snow in any way, shape or form on your projects. Torn paper, glitter paper, micro glitter, Flowersoft, Liquid Appliqué, punched out snowflakes, even knitted snow!! (I've seen it out there in blogland!) Whatever you can come up with. Of course this doesn't have to be a Christmasy thing, it can be a birthday, a scrapbook page, an ATC, candles, inches, book marks, something altered, anything crafty, as long as it has SNOW on it, we'd love to see it! Real snowy pictures on a scrap-book page would look fantastic!

We have TWO gorgeous sponsors this week: Paper Pretties and Limited Runs!!

Paper Pretties are offering our first winner the choice of a clear stamp set called Giving Thanks Sophie, or 6 digital images of their choice!
Paper Pretties sell digital images, clear stamps, ribbons and more!
Isn't she cute!! Gotta be in it to win it!

Limited Runs are offering our second winner 3 digital images of their choice!
Limited Runs digital images come as a single image as well as a sheet of images to save time copying, pasting and resizing, so you're getting bags of value for your money! As well as the gorgeous images, you see here provided to the DT, you can also find some freebies over on the Limited Runs blog. If you use one of their digi's why not join in with their challenge too!

We still thought it would still be nice to have a third, runner up, who will receive a banner for their blogs side bar and an invite to become a guest designer for one of our next challenges. This offer also goes to our first and second winners too!

So here are LOTS of fabulous makes from the Quirky Crafts Team, first from our Guest Designers (and winners of some of our past Challenges) and then us lot.... hope they give you some insnowation!

Guest Designer Laney used Stuck Santa with the Season's Greetings sentiment from Limited Runs for this lovely snowy card.

Guest Designer Susan Jones used the Snowman and sentiment from Limited Runs, and some embossing to look like it is snowing.
This is a close up of the sentiment Susan used.

Guest Designer Sara used Sophia Snow Angel from Paper Pretties. Little Sophia looks lovely and warm in those cosy colours despite the snow.


Cazzy: I used Snowman on a Cupcake from Limited Runs for my first card, I think this would also look great decoupaged a little and I will probably try that soon. Image coloured with Promarkers and Trias and a little glitter glue added. I love how the Limited Runs sentiments fit my Nestabilities dies, so neat!

My second card is made using Frozen Frog Legs from Paper Pretties, again coloured with Promarkers and Trias. I cut a snowflake frame and snow flakes with my Spellbinders Snowflake Frame set (obviously) and more flakes using the Create a Flake set also used to make the flake above.

Two from me this time. The first using Frozen Frogslegs from Paper Pretties and....




the for second card, I've used Santa's Stuck from Limited Runs....

This is the first DT card I made. I've used The Snowman from Limited Runs. I printed out two images, embossed the first one with snowflakes and then covered it with the other to give a 3D effect.
For my second card I've used Sophia Snow Angel by Paper Pretties. I've 3D-ed her and used Liquid Appliqué for my snow. On the inside you can just see some mittens from Limited Runs.
For my third card I've used Little Tree from Limited Runs, coloured with Promarkers. There's also a little bit of Liquid Appliqué on the tree. and for my fourth card...just for fun, I've used an oldie but a goodie from Limited Runs ....
Mad Madison with her axe...!! (I've finished the inside see it here)

 
  
Caro:
   For this card I used Sophia snow angel from Paper Pretties, coloured in using promarkers and glitter glue on the snow. I aued a cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder for the background and added silver snowflake and sentiment peel offs.
I also made a quick and simple little present tag using Little Tree from Limited runs, coloured with promarkers, and lots of glitter glue, then cut out with nestabilities, mounted on red card, with a gold snowflake brad and gold ribbon in the corner.

Please add a link to your blog post (not your blog) using thebiggest blue froggy at the top of the collection, the other one (at the bottom) doesn't do anything that we can tell, and please comment after you have linked. Don't forget to mention Quirky and add a link back to here. Happy Crafting from The Quirky Crafts Challenge Design Team.

Winners of Challenge #24 Plain & Simple

Hi guys! Oh wow wasn't it a fabulous challenge! Well done Caro for choosing it. We had some really fantastic makes from light switches to a lovely card made by our Quirky Tiny Tot, Nimu! Thank you to everyone who joined in. It was really hard to chose just three winners...or one winner and two runners up! But after a lot of debating and the secret pointy thingy we do between us on the team, the winner of Caro's Plain and Simple Challenge is...
with this gorgeous card. Well done Sylvia I just knew this was a winner as soon as I saw it! This means of course, you win three images of your choice from our sponsors Digital Delight's by Louby-Lou. We'd also love you to join us as a guest designer on one of our next challenges. Please also take a banner from our side bar and email Cazzy and she'll sort out your prize.
Second place goes to....
First to enter our challenge and straight away ear-marked for a possible favourite! Trees in winter sunrise. Lovely card Nicki. And third and runner up place goes to...
JanR with this fabulous simple Rainbow card...where troubles melt like lemon drops! Love it! We would also love to invite you both to become Guest Designers in one of our next challenges too! Please take a banner from the side bar and email Cazzy if you'd like to do a GDT spot!!

Once again thank you to everyone who entered, hope to see you all in the next challenge coming up shortly. It's my turn to set the theme so that means it's going to be easy peasy coz we know you're all very busy at this time of year! (I wonder why?) So pop back later and join in!! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, 20 November 2011

Challenge 24 - Clean and Simple

What a wonderful lot of attitude we saw for the last challenge. There really were some amazing entries so thank you all so much for joining in. This week it is my (Caro's) turn to set the challenge and I am choosing one of my favourite styles: CLEAN and SIMPLE. By this I mean there must not be too many embellishments and there must be plenty of 'white space' left on your card or creation. For those non-cardmakers out there, this style isn't just for cards and can be used very effectively in altered art and scrapbooking as well.

We have a great sponsor back again this week; Digital Delights by Louby Lou, who provided some great images for the team to use. The top three designers will be chosen by the DT and will be invited to join us as guest designers on a future challenge and will be able to display a winners badge on their blog (new badges are currently being designed). The prize for the winner is three images of their choice from the Digital Delights website as well.

 
Now here are some examples from the team:

The first Guest Designer this time is Jan Del Bone. Jan used the sentiment "You're a Treasure on her elegant clean and simple card.

Our next Guest Designer is Fliss who said: "It's as simple as I could make it and was done by masking the card blank with a circle aperture then stamping Rubber Stamp Tapestry flowers in the aperture. I made a border with the MS punch stamped with the same flowers. The bear and sentiment were both inked then colour added with a mix of pencils and Promarkers with a glitter gel pen for a little sparkle in places." Fliss used Boo Boo bear with the sentiment "Sending you Smiles".

Diane.
Clean and Simple is a style I really admire. You would think it would be easier than other, more elaborate styles, but I find it harder to do. I love the Boo Boo Bear image I chose from our sponsor. She is so sweet. Coloured with promarkers...hope you like!

Lyn
I printed the pirate, sentiment (from our sponsor) and the spotty edge, straight on to pearl card and coloured with my ProMarkers. No glue used at all!Lyn
I also made another card using Bongo the little puppy and the 'Sending You Smiles' sentiment (from our sponsor) I decoupaged Bongo, so this time fixed everything on either with photo or silicone glue. I used my Nestabilites and coloured with ProMarkers.

Caro
I always think that clean and simple on a scrapbook page is so effective as it really lets the photos shine through and after all they are supposed to be the main focus of the page. This layout has no patterned papers, just some speckling with distress inks, a few stamped waves (using a stamp I have had since I was 12!), some sticker embellishments and alphabets, and Presley the Pirate and You're a Treasure digital stamps from our sponsor coloured in with promarkers. The wavy dotted line to the 'X' marks the spot symbolises the dodgy steering of my 4 year old pirate!

I often keep my cards clean and simple though I have lots of pretty papers and feel guilty I don't use them more. I used Claudia Cow and the sentiment I love Moo, coloured with Promarkers and Trias, and some Crafty Ribbon added.

I couldn't resist making a second entry this week as this really is my favourite style. This time I used Bongo the dog and coloured him with promarkers before cutting and embossing him with nestabilities and layering him on a brown card. I printed the sentiment (also from our sponsor) directly onto the background card and added some light doodling in the corners.

Lets see what you can do!

Please add a link to your blog post (not your blog) using thebiggest blue froggy at the top of the collection, the other one (at the bottom) doesn't do anything that we can tell, and please comment after you have linked. Don't forget to mention Quirky and add a link back to here. Happy Crafting from The Quirky Crafts Challenge Design Team.

Friday, 18 November 2011

Challenge 23 Winners!

Well we absolutely loved all the attitude you showed us this fortnight.  There were some really great entries for Cazzy's attitude challenge making it very difficult for the design team to choose their favourites. 

First place, and the prize of the beautiful Crafty Ribbons goes to Laney for her amazing creation.  Lots of wonderful attitude here!

Second place, with a prize of 5 digital stamps from the Stamping Boutique goes to Sara I with this wonderful old fairy!

Third place is Susan for the fantastic temper tantrum. 

Congratulations to all of you.  Please contact Cazzy (using the link in the side bar) to claim your prizes and please help yourself to a winner's badge to display on your blog. We would love all three of you to join us as a guest designer for the next challenge, so please let Cazzy know if you would like to join us.

Don't forget to check back this evening for our next exciting challenge here at Quirky Crafts Challenge blog! We look forward to seeing your work.

The Quirky Crafts Challenge Design Team.