The Winged Queen... 490 Style...

... ok, so it isn't the bestest title for a blog post I have ever come up with but... it describes my latest Studio 490 Art Part creation perfectly... cos...erm... it is all about The Queen... and... errr... she has wings!!! So... as I may have mentioned 753 times, I totally lurve everything about Studio 490, including my art heroine, Wendy Vecchi... if you haven't been to visit her recently, CLICK ON HERE... believe me.. there are goodies in store on her blog at the moment because she is doing reveals in preparation for CHA at the end of the month... I am reeaaaallly hoping that us Studio 490 fans get to see the new products quickly... otherwise I may have to win the lottery, charter a plane and get myself to the US of A for a shopping spree!




Anyways... as usual, I digress... I should actually be telling you about how I maded this creation... so... I will! Before I waffle on, I will just say... the majority of the pieces used are Art Parts... my fave things to play with! The base of the piece is a large square frame, I coloured the frame part with Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain and over stamped with a large flower background in Plum Archival ink. The backing board is coloured with my least favourite colour in the Distress range, Dried Marigold. (I have the pad and never use it) However... I am now smitten with the Dried Marigold Stain... it is so pretty! Anyways... I overstamped the Squolka Dot using Yellow Ochre Archival - they go so well together!




I added the Starburst to the base too... stamping with Plum Archival (and the hanging down stars - totally thanks to Gillian, I saw her stamp the stars that way and... erm.. copied lol) Anyways... I re-stamped the stars onto cream card, cut a few out, stuck them on and added Glossy Accents over them to make them pop. I added the sentiment in Jet Black Archival - looove that sentiment!




The Queen herself is an Art Part, along with her crown - I stamped the co-ordinating stamp over her and her crown and then used Brushed Corduroy to gently add colour to her face and used a Cut & Dry Nib to add red to her lips, pink to her cheek and green to her eye - all Distress Inks... oh and then a teensy little white dot to the eye so it looks like it is reflecting the light. I used a crown from the Queen's smaller sister and turned it upside down and made it into whacking great big eyelashes... coloured with Gathered Twigs DI and overstamped with Coffee Archival. Her wings are Art Parts - coloured with Mustard Seed Stain... overstamped with Yellow Ochre and the lace background... and then edged with Gathered Twigs DI.. I then slapped a lovely thick layer of Rock Candy Stickles over to jazz them up. The little flower on her crown is another Art Part... with a little Grunge leaf behind it and a gorgeous resin bloom that Ellen got me for Xmas.


I used another Art Part .. this time the hand... coloured with Brushed Corduroy DI, touched with a smidge of Coffee Archival so it has inky fingers... and then I used part of a sentiment stamp that says The Queen... oh and I added a smidge of lace and pearls to make it look more regal. Finally... the star border... has to be one of my favest Art Parts...coloured with Pine Needles Distress Stain, overstamped with Plum Archival... and the flourish above her crown had the same treatment. The hangy bit is straight from Wendy's inspiration - an Idea-ology D Ring with a snip of Grungepaper to attach it to the back of the frame... and there you have it! All of the goodies I used are available from The Stamp Attic... just sayin' ;o))

Right... time for me to get back to my sample making... am having a ball with Art Parts, 490 Stamps, inks and Grunge... the only draw back is the state of the Room of Stash... eeek, it is a right old tip. Oooh and I nearly forgot... I have had a bit of a clear out of stamps... and they are on eBay at the moment... HERE is the linky thing :O)) Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

It Looks Like a Wasp Gone Wrong...

...were the words that Grim uttered when I showed him this card that I made for the Stampotique Designers Challenge... cheek of it!!! He was referring to the spiders... so, do you think that they look like wasps gone wrong??? Feel free to tell me if they do... which obviously would then mean that you were taking Grim's side and I may have to go off in a huff ROFL




So, the challenge this time is a sketch and I just cannot resist a sketch... basically cos I am the laziest beggar when it comes to making cards and a sketch does all the thinking for me... erm, does that make me a baaaad crafter though? Well, whatever, this is a cool sketch... here it is:




I used Spider Girl, who came to live with me a few months ago and has been up on the shelf gathering... erm... cobwebs *see what I did there!!* And Spider himself... who appeared the same time as Spider Girl... I reckon he has had a massive party though... you should have seen the size of the real spider in my kitchen last night - no word of a lie, it was bigger than a tea cup, had 20 legs which were realllly hair and fangs the size of tusks! Tis true! Tis also very goodly that I am not afraid of Incy Wincy and his pals... in fact, I have to get up close to have a proper look cos some of them are so beautiful. Not however, when you pull the duvet back to get into bed and there is a spider, looking menacingly at you cos he thinks he has a right to sleep there... that was what happened last week... and... hilariously, Grim was already in the bed!!!




So, off at a tangent I went and am bringing myself back now to say... I used some Mini Misters, filled with Re-Inkers and water and Perfect Pearls... smooshed, spritzed and splodged all over the card stock to make a background... Blah, Blah, Blah stamped for wording... Two Sticks *ah little Two Sticks, my favest ever stamp in the World (well, for today at least)* was stamped, I drew on some petals and then painstakingly cut them out... 3D'd them... the *ahem* white pen on black scallop... was meant to look like cobwebs... it just looks like a baaaad mistake but hey, we are on a learning curve here aren't we??? Oh, just me then!!! LOL




All the stashy bits, stamps etc can be procured from The Stamp Attic... *whispers... if you click on the Workshops bit of the website you may see something there ;O))* That's all from me, bed is calling, hopefully spiderless tonight... looking forward to the C of C challenge later... more inky messyness to come! TTFN

Hels x

Hot Picks & Memo Pins...

...how weird is it that someone thousands of miles away has the same idea at more or less the same time??? A few weeks ago Wendy Vecchi showed us a fab new way to use Memo Pins... basically you make a little piece of art to fit into the aperture of the pin, then fill it up with Glossy Accents, let it set and then use it as an embellishment... well, the other night I was faffing about with Memo Pins and Glossy Accents as you do... and I was also fiddling about with some of those new Enamel Accents from Ranger that I have been wanting for yonks and finally got on Monday *thanks to my birthday pressie from Jennie :O))* Anyways, I had some pre-cut book page flowers from the Alterations Florals set and thought, I know, I will pop a pin over the flower and then fill it up with black Enamel...adding in some BeaDazzles for a bit of sparkle and then once it was set, adding in some Glossy Accents... and Lo! I popped over to Linda Cains Blog today and she has done the same thing...except hers are heaps better and she has been brainy enough to use both the black and white together... I would never have thought of that! Anyways... I used said Memo Pin on a tag I have made using some of the fabbylicious new Paper Artsy Hot Picks...which, I hasten to add, are my new favest stamps (I am such a stamp tart) and are available from The Stamp Attic.




The tag is coloured with Crushed Olive and Rusty Hinge and then a bit of Forest Moss for good measure... then I randomly stamped some backgroundy bits, added a sentiment...now how cooool is that sentiment??? I love it! I popped a few of the moth images onto card and cut them out... one of the moths sadly suffered an injury with the scissors and had his antennae cut off, so I stamped those onto the tag and popped him over the top...




The Memo Pin was all set and ready to be added to the tag...when disaster struck! Old clumsy mitts here pulled one of the petals off! Eeeek! So, I had to stick the flower down onto the tag, which isn't what I wanted to do but hey ho...and glued the petal on in the right place... or that was what I thought was the right place til I saw the photo in close up... I did this on purpose, obviously, so as to show that distressed can also mean the artist as well as the stylee LOL




So... how hot is it today??? I am pretty coolio at the moment, but then again it is nearly 1am and I have a fan right next to me... apparently, it is gonna be hotter today than yesterday... which means only one thing... I will be pretending to be the Wicked Witch again and walk about all day moaning and huffing and saying... "I'm melting, I'm melting!" Have a goodly day everyone... keep cool! TTFN

Hels x

Twinchie's...

...times 4... actually, there were 6 Twinchies in the swap I have just taken part in for the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group...but two have already been blogged a couple of months ago... so here are the other ones that went off to the US of A... firstly, many thanks to Lori for hosting the swap... this is my first international swap and I am getting very excited about receiving my ones... to the point that I am thinking of taking a sleeping bag and plonking myself on the doormat for when Postie turns up... then I can pounce on him straight away LOL





The theme... Studio 490 stamps... which... are perfect for Twinchies...actually, they are just simply... perfect... but you know already that they are my favest stamps and I love using them.





Thing is, I was in such a hurry to send them off, the photo's I took were...erm...a bit...kinda...crap! Am I allowed to say that word??? ROFL I used Distress Inks, 490 Stamps (I love Wendy Vecchi's stamps soooooooo much!!!), Grungepaper, pearly gems and Glossy Accents... they do look a bit better in real life I think... not sure who has got them in the swaps yet but I am hoping that whoever did get one likes it :O))




The sentiment on this one is my all time favest... it is a lyric from a Beatles song...and you know how much I lurve the Fab4... oh and... it has pearls on it which is the theme for the Sunday Stamper this week...if you haven't already seen the deets, if you click HERE you can be transported *as if by magic* to find out how to join in :O))





Goodly news yesterday... I managed to get some meds, yipyah and thrice!!! And... I managed to get some sleep too... so I feel a bit perkier today... I am off to get inky and messy... am in the mood for creating :O)) Have a fabbylicious day... apparently it is going to be hot hot hot here today... perfect excuse to stay inside and not get sunburnt LOL TTFN

Hels x

Curious About Fragments...

...Week 2 of Linda's fab challenge to use the Compendium of Curiosities techniques to make some art and this week is to use Fragments... so, never being one for missing the opportunity to make a tag... and to get inky and messy... and to play with paper... and to get Glossy Accents ALL over my nails, I joined in.. and this is what I made:




I used the basic manilla tag that Tim uses - the actual ones he uses indeedily... the surface is super smooth and when you add water it doesn't do that horrid bobbly thing that some cardstock does. I made a bit of a collage from paper from the Vintage Shabby stack, some music score and an old book page - you know, the funny thing is, the book I have butchered was on my shelf for about 6 years, unread, untouched and very rarely dusted...when we moved, I took it apart and saved pages for artmaking... and now, I find myself reading the page before I use it to add to my artwork ROFL... I can see exactly what I am going to do.. I will go and buy another copy LMAO




I used Distress Inks to colour the tag and the papers, added some square, round and oval Fragments over images from the Lost & Found stack... all the deets on how to do this are on Page 62 of the C of C book BTW... then I added Tissue Tape and some stamping and finished with some Jute and Idea-ology. All the stashy bits used on the tag are available from The Stamp Attic. Thanks for looking... oh, and if you fancy joining in with the challenge, hop on over to Linda's Studio L3 Blog... there are lots of peeps playing and ...rumour has it there is some candy up for grabs for one lucky winner! Oh and... it is basic use of fragments cos the fancy use of them will appear later in the series of challenges...excellent!! Have a goodly day... TTFN

Hels x

A Funking Good Heart...

...I said fuNking!!! Yep sireeee, today is my first day proper on the Bubbly Scrumptious DT Blog.. so I have made a post there with what I made.. and have hot footed it over here to show you a teensy taster...*oh, ok, I scheduled it.. I mean, me... up at 7am? ROFL*



Anyway, enough of my prattling on about my love of lounging in my bed.. which, I hasten to add, is very comfy indeedily, hence me enjoying lounging in it.. hey, I am off again with the waffling already! All the bits n bobs you need to know about how to make the piece and what I did etc are HERE.. please pop over if you get chance and leave me some feedback.. I am a very shy and retiring lass, as I am sure you will have all gathered by now (!).. so please be kind to me ROFL I am so chuffed & honoured to be asked to be part of the Bubbly Funk DT - I will be making my posts every Friday from now on... and, get this... sometimes I can post a... recipe!!! So... watch out cos I may just give the famous choccy cake recipe an outing... or the even less famous "swill" recipe an outing... there is a story behind the "swill" name - I will tell you about it one day :O))




Also today is my first proper day on the Fiskarette DT - I got sent a lovely box of Fiskars yummies to play with and made a little wall/door hanging jobby... all the "deets" for this are HERE. The piccie above is a sneaky peeps at what I made :O)) Now, are you a Fiskarette??? If not... why not??? It is a fab community to be part of and there are soooo many talented and inspirational artists on there, you should go and have a little look see if you get chance...otherwise, just go and see my piece and then you can leave me another lovely comment *here's hoping you already left one on the Bubbly Blog LOL* Only joking peeps... thanks for reading all my waffling... I think I am starting to suffer with that very common condition that only ever seems to rear its head between August and May each year - and then definitely once every FOUR years for about...ooooh, far too long... I think it is called Football Widow-itis! Actually, Grim has been rather restrained and only watched about 73 games so far and re-watched the goals like a million zillion times... anyone else have this problem I wonder??? And... I am thinking...*don't worry, I am sitting down*... if Grim is watching the footy, then that means I can sneak off to the Room of Stash and play without him noticing... result!!! oooh and before I go... don't forget that you have only a couple of days to join in with the Sunday Stamper birthday bonanza candy giveaway... click HERE for deets on how to enter... tis worth is cos the goodies are yummy :O* Thanks for looking....TTFN...

Hels x

Ciao Italia!

Scommetto che non sapevo mi poter parlare Italiano! Actually, I can't! Not even a coffee can be ordered in Italian.. however, Mr Google did assist me slightly with the above ROFL So, following on from my travels to Paris (artistically, sadly not literally as that would be fab wouldn't it, mooching around the Eiffel Tower, taking in the sights and eating lots of croissants... I digress) I have travelled to Italy today with some more of those gorgeous TJ Designs stamps. Now, I don't normally do travelly stuff but I have had a right ball with these stamps - did I mention that they are red rubber, already mounted and come in a cool storage folder which is like a DVD case?




For the background, I blended some Adirondack Dye inks onto card, the colours are Hazelnut, Pesto, Denim and then a bit of Espresso. The whole lot was spritzed with water to make a splodgy effect... and then I did some collage stamping and even remember how to do masking LOL The stamps at the top RH corner.. I couldn't resist using those *I am sooo childish aren't I??? Click the pic to see them larger and you will know exactly what I mean ROFL* All the stash used on the Journal cover is available from The Stamp Attic. Thanks for looking and have a goodly day - tis Bank Holiday here in England... what is the betting we have torrential rain!! ` :O)) TTFN

Hels x

And Now For...

... Something Completely Different :O)) Wow, I was asked to be a Guest Designer for this fab challenge Blog - they are celebrating their 1st birthday this week and the theme for the challenge is Twinchies & Flowers. I am really honoured to have been asked to be a GD, so here is a HUGE thank you to all the talented lasses on the team :O))




Now, funnily enough, I have never made a Twinchie! Never! Actually, that is a fib cos I have made 2" square bits to go into Shadow Boxes and onto cards, so actually it was quite an easy challenge for me to do - save for the fact that I got really carried away and ended up making more than just the one!




I used some cream card and coloured it with Distress Inks and stamped with Studio 490 stamps - I haven't used them for a few weeks and was starting to get withdrawals LOL And... I added on some Grungepaper flowers for good measure too.




Now, if you get chance it is well worth a hop over to the SCD Blog - they have CANDY on offer for a lucky winner... go on, you know you want to :O)) And... the designers on the team have made some divine pieces of art to look at too :O)) Thanks for looking... I will be back tomorrow with a rather unusual bit of.. erm... art??? I will leave that decision to y'all... suffice to say, I sewed and stitched!!!! *pass the smelling salts!!*



Am off to get my chicken curry dinner now - homemade and hotter than hot... and... don't forget... devotee's of Ashes to Ashes... tis the penultimate episode tonight *sob* oh how will I cope without the Gene Genie??? TTFN

Hels x

PS... my DIY Hero Grim was in Room One 4 today... and put up shelves for me... I have a new nag now though... I want more ROFL x

On The Wings of....

...Love? Nah! Not today...today, I am on the wings of ... those heavenly divine new Studio 490 stamps by my art hero Wendy Vecchi....and now a little confessional story, don't know if I should actually admit this but...a couple of years ago when the first sets of 490 stamps became available in the UK, my mate Andrea bought some...and I said...*I should wash my mouth out for this* that... I wasn't 100% on them and never thought I would be able to use them!!!!! Oh the shame!!!! Er, I have never been one to stand uncorrected...so...there, I admitted my folly and can safely say now that I have fallen head over heels in lurve with them all...and...I neeeeeed all those new sets too. The thing is, they are so unique and can be mixed and matched together, they look fab when grunged up.. but equally, when used as embellies for cuter cards...see Andrea's blog, she has used the flowers and butterflies beautifully. So...am I forgiven? Or, should I have a pennance to do? Perhaps I should go and buy all the new sets as pennance .. to show I am really sorry like? AND, I wonder if Wendy would forgive me? I mean, she knows I love her art...and I am always telling her...whatcha fink?




So, I have a couple of the new sets...and now have the new DI's to play with...so I set about using all new stuff on the tag I made...and copying (ok, I copy every single time I make something but I can't help but be inspired) Mr T'Holtz's way of covering Grungepaper with script paper, I made a big fat rose...it is the middle size rose from the new set called Rose Art Part 2...colouring it with the new DI's...that was when I realised that whooooops, I had used too much Multi Medium, which had squished thru the paper and was making it nigh on impossible to get the ink to stay on the paper...it had formed a barrier....bear with on this one..I need to find a better way of doing that transfer jobby LOL




The background was made by splodging several DI pads straight onto my craft sheet and then spritzing with Perfect Pearls from a Mini Mister...and sqwooshing the thru the inkyness...drying with a heat gun and sqwooshing again...I used some background stamps to make patterns and then stamped the little birdy (Let Your Art Have Wings) onto more paper covered Grungepaper and added a wing...please please please do not laugh at me on this one...but...it was late, I was tired, my contact lenses were all crackly and I couldn't see prop'ly, so I used what I thought was a wingy kinda stamp ....which in the harsh light of day is patently obviously a... pair of lips (ROFLMAO) but...hey, they kind of work...if you squint a bit and pretend...the set name should have given it away really...I mean, what would wings be doing on a set called...It's Face Art?????




I shall away to my bed now...but before I bid you goodnight, I must remind myself to let you know...that all the new Wendy Vecchi stamps are available from The Stamp Attic...as is Wendy's new book which I need and looks like a cracker :O)) TTFN

Hels x

He's Got The Look....

...He, being that divine David stamp from the new Tim Holtz collection...you know the one...the one that I said that I would NEVER be able to use and didn't really like...until I saw inspiring art by Linda and Dan...and then had to go and get it myself...so thank you to both...I loooove it loads now :O))




The beauty of this stamp (IMO) is that it is a socking great big one...and fits snuggly onto a tag...it has a wide open space on his face, ripe for masking and adding other images over the top...please pop over and see Linda AND Dan's blog...links on their names to see what they have been doing...utterly inspiring and wonderfully creative...*blimey, I sound a bit gushy there but it is TRUE!* I started by stamping David straight onto the tag and then masking his face to make a background, using the large diamond stamp from TH. I then cut the mask down and stamped the alphabet onto his cheeks, colouring in his hair and face and eye...I did his eye green, it is my favourite eye colour...so striking, so I added Glossy Accents over the top to give him a twinkle...Grim has the most divine green eyes...one of the very first things I noticed about him...I even tried wearing green contacts for a while...but cos my eyes are so dark they just looked like mucky puddles LOL




I added some German Scrap to make a bit of a border...and then made a little saying using StudioG alpha's...deep and meaningful? What would he think of the world today? A huge place that is now tiny due to the power of the internet and those big aeroplanes that whizz us about the globe? Or would he see the bad things...like war and poverty? Who knows...I would like to think that he would be impressed with the advances in technology, like what I am...which means that someone from the otherside of the world could just be sitting here reading my wafflings and looking at stuff I made...all in the blink of an eye!




Enough of the deep and meaningfuls...on a lighter note, here is my desk today...for Julia's WOYWW - which if you haven't seen before, you have to go and have a gander at some of the desks peeps show...I was told off last week cos my desk was too neat...so I have left it messier than normal, literally breaking my promise to myself to tidy away after each crafty session...and it is bugging me now so I shall bid you adieu and scarper off to the Room of Stash to put stuff away (yes, I really am that good...ROFL ;O)))

Thanks for looking...have a great day!

Hels x

Three Colours....

...over on the Gingersnap Creations Blog there is another FAB new challenge starting today...and the challenge is....to use your fave three colours. And...joining in also means a chance at winning Candy :O)) February is the Artistic Stamper sponsors month and all the stash used on the card I made can be found there :O)




It was my great mate Andrea's birthday last week...and I wanted to make a special card for her cos she has been so good to me and truly is one of those friends that is a lifelong one. I will shut up now cos otherwise I will end up getting all mushy and sentimental LOL This card started life as a boring cream coloured 8" square...and I fancied using the shadow box stylee but on a card, so I cut out a section to be about 7" square and then cut a section 6" sq out of this...and chopped it up into segments.




Each segment was then coloured with Antique Linen, Fired Brick and Brushed Corduroy DI's. I then used a big selection of Tim Holtz collection stamps to do a collage stylee arrangement....adding in some Idea-ology bits and bobs along the way for that bit of definition. The frame part was the bit that I am not 100% about actually...I think I may have overdone the stamping but it seems to work...a bit at least :O)) And ... I used my favest background stamp of the moment, the Sequin Waste, which is also from The Artistic Stamper.




Thanks for looking...have a great day and if you get chance, pop over to the Gingers...they have the most fabby art samples on there :O))

Hels x

Allsorts of Furry Friends

...Over on the Allsorts Challenge blog there is a new theme - Furry Friends.




For my card, I used Basic Grey papers for the background and coloured the Mabel Lucie Attwell image in with ProMarkers and Copics. The flowers are from the Flower Power set as are the leaves, both stamped onto paper and overstamped with the Houndstooth and Chicken Wire background stamps...and all of the stamps used are from The Artistic Stamper.




I added a few dabs of Glossy Accents to the little girls shoes and decoupaged the teddy and the puppy so the card has some depth. I used a Nestie to make a circle for the image and then used a scalloped one to make a mat for this to sit on. Finally, I added a sentiment to the card...which is another one of those Artistic Stamper greetings :O))



Thanks for looking...have a great day...tis wet and yukky here so a day indoors relaxing for me I think :O)

Hels x

Bat & Bones

...Another cheaty ATC today...made using mountboard for a base and attached to...the cutest little hanger in the world...which I bought from Homespun Hearts.




I used Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to colour the background and then a Tim Holtz ATC stamp, stamping with Black Soot. I edged the ATC with Black Soot too and then punched a couple of holes and added eyelets and jumprings for attaching to the hanger.




I added some Grungeboard shapes which I also coloured with Distress Inks and then finally, added Glossy Accents to the Skelington and bats, layered up another couple of bats onto it and added some Rock Candy Stickles to the middle of the incy wincy web....see, I am being so thoughtful, not mentioning spiders again LOL

I am a tad excited today...actually, more than a tad really...I am going to the Artsy Crafts weekend and I cannot wait!! So, I will be scheduling a post for tomorrow and also the Sunday Stamper too..so please check back on Sunday morning for the new theme!

Have fun :O))

Hels x

Reason To Stamp - Family History Month

...Another one of those fab Reasons To Stamp over on Gingersnap Creations today...Family History Month....so I made a card; I used a Paperbag Studio's stamp which I coloured with Distress Inks and then layered the photo's and the little barn. I made a couple of messages using Innovative Stamp Creations and PaperArtsy stamps.




For the background, I stamped a Tim Holtz collection tree stamp using Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Whilst this was still wet, I dabbed old gold Perfect Pearls over the top and then used a Mini Mister, spritzing water over the top of the image. This is a fab technique because the Pearls have set but the Distress Ink still reacts with the water, so it bleeds and makes a really cool smudgy image. Thank you to Mr Holtz and YouTube for this technique :O)

Have a good day all...a day of craft is on the cards for me...on the cards.....ah, I am sooo funny ROFL .....

Hels x


In my excitement to Blog this card...I completely forgot to announce the winner of Scamp....

Congrats to Shazza who left me the chosen at random comment :O))

Tilda Says It With Flowers

Hey Peeps

I have made a few cards recently, here is one of the new Tilda ones I made:




I used ProMarkers to colour in the Tilda and then using Stitchels stamps and co-ordinating papers, stamped, cut out and layered up the flowers to make some embellishments. I added a few little paper flowers to the middles of the Stitchels just to finish them off and added drops of Glossy Accents to make little dewdrops on the flowers.




The papers are from Basic Grey and I used a couple of Nesties to make the background mats for the message and Tilda to sit on. The sentiment is a Penny Black stamp.

Thanks for looking

Hels x

Vintage ATC - On a Journey

Hi Peeps :O))

I have joined in with the ATC swap on UK Stampers this month where the theme is Vintage.

I just so happen to love all things old...(I could make a joke about Grim here but I won't LOL)




The ATC was made using a card blank, colouring with Old Paper and Tea Dye Distress Inks and then accenting with Vintage Photo. Splashing water gave me a lovely splotchy look and then I used on of the fab ATC stamps from the Tim Holtz Collection.




I stamped this a couple of times, onto the ATC itself and then onto scrap card, I cut out the bits I wanted to layer up and make a feature of and then used 3D foam to stick them to the ATC.

I added a mini brad to the ruler and a teensy little paper clip, both of which are part of the Idea-ology collection. Finally, I added Glossy Accents to the car to make it stand out and covered the whole ruler with it too.

Thanks for looking :O))

Hels x

Altered Art - Hanging With Friends

Hello,

I have made a hanging board ornament based on the theme of friendship. As I mentioned in an earlier post this week, I used a technique new to me to achieve the background of the piece.



I took a piece of mountboard and painted it with a mix of acrylic paints as I wanted a dusky pink and I haven't got the exact colour; I mixed Wild Plum, Cream and Mushroom colours and covered the entire surface with this. Once this was dried, I painted on PVA glue and immediately painted cream acrylic paint over the top of the wet PVA. This is the magic bit because as the PVA and the acrylic paint dries they separate and you end up with a fab crackley scratchy effect that reveals the original colour underneath.




I stamped over the top of the background using Penny Black stamps for the main image, the decorative border and the sentiment.



I used a few pieces of Grungeboard from the Nature collection and coloured them with Distress Inks and then covered with Distress Stickles. The word "friends" is also made up of Grungeboard and coloured in the same way. I added a black border to the whole piece, for which I used Black UTEE.



Finally, I added a little fancy beaded tape to the bottom of the piece, added ribbon and beads for the hanger and touched up the birds and the sentiment with Glossy Accents.

I am so loving this new technique - it really does work and I think the effect is really cool :O))

Thanks for looking - oh, and please pop back after 7pm if you can as I have a special blog post that will be posted then :O))

Hels x

Metal Art - Part 2 - The Finshed Project

Hello again,

Following on from yesterday's post when I waffled on about my new addiction with metal art, I have got the rest of the photo's etc to show you now.

Now, where was I? Ah, yes, the embossing bit. I used my Cuttlebug and embossing folders to achieve the embossed effect on each of the metal squares. I used a small sanding block and a brass brush to remove the alcohol ink from the raised parts of the embossed pieces, this created a really nice contrast. On the plain aluminium pieces, I used the brass brush to make a swirly pattern.




Once I had finished playing with the metal squares, I backed them with Killertape and then popped them onto the 2" square pieces of Foamboard I had previously cut out.




I then moved on to making the bits and bobs for the niche in the middle of the piece. I had previously painted this niche with silver Adirondack Dabber but I was not happy with the colour of it - it just looked too bland when the metal pieces were assembled on to the rest of the board. I decided to use a Pearl Dabber and painted roughly over the top of the silver to try and get a contrast. Still no good - it looked too boring and there wasn't really any definition. The little boxes I had made were just lost in the middle there. Mmmm, what could I do to make them stand out a little more? Well, I took a risk, bearing in mind that I had spent hours faffing about and you know how it goes, you spend ages with something and at the last minute you make a boo-boo and end up ruining it all? Well, I took the risk and out came the black Dabber. I used my finger to apply the paint onto the inside of the little boxes but ... argh...it was too much!! Eeeeek, I panicked and immediately tried to wipe off the black paint with a babywipe. But hang on...what is this? It is actually sticking to the bits of the box where I had applied texture Gel....ohhhh, this is looking more like it I thought to myself. What I had actually done, I have now found out, is "antiqued" the silver boxes! Hey, I am well chuffed that my risk paid off!




So, with new found confidence, I added some black paint to the metal pieces but I think that I could have left more of it on the pieces but I played it safe, well, it was my first time!!

For the niche, the little boxes I have mentioned are actually miniature box lids which I cut down to be level with the depth of the niche. I had gesso'd them and added texture gel to them just to make them stand out a little more. I filled up the larger of the two with a couple of those heavenly ickle vials that The Artistic Stamper sells. I put loads of pearly seed beads into one of the vials and the other was filled up with some mini beading, which, when I put it in the vial, twisted on itself so it has made a coil. The other box is filled with a little piece of an army uniform that I picked up on a car boot - it was all yukky and dirty so I covered it with silver Krylon and then stuck it to the inside of the box, I added a little pearl in there too which was from an old dressing up box earring.




The stamping in the niche is done using Tim Holtz stamps and a couple of wordy stamps I have but don't know who they are by. I stamped, using black StaZon, onto dressmaking pattern paper, then I watered down some PVA glue and pasted the paper into the niche. I didn't want the stamping to be too over powering so I stuck to simple and bold words and I think it really worked.




Finally, I assembled all the little squares into place, added the thin strips over a couple of edges and that was it. Project completed!




I am really pleased with the outcome of this project. Sometimes, when I sketch a design, when it is finished it looks nowt like what I intended, but with this one, it is exactly how I wanted it to be. I keep looking at it and seeing little bits that could have been done better and differently but hey, it is a first attempt!

And, this makes me more chuffed than anything, when Grim came home from work that night, he saw the piece and said he really liked it and wants it for his study! How happy was I???




Anyway folks, if you are still awake and still with me, thank you for reading my posts about this - I know I have waffled on but I am really excited to have a new addiction and that I managed to make something all on my own without anyone telling me how to do it. Now I have the DVD, I will be able to make other things too....so I am off to get cracking on my next project, which is all sketched and ready to be made!

So here it is:




Thanks for looking, again, I would love comments about this piece being as I am new, and if you have any tips etc, I would love to read them.

Hugs Hels x