Curiously Watercoloured Pt 1

Gooooodly Morning to all you Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of a brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... well worth taking a cuppa and a Hobnob with you :O)    The challenge is sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium this time... so you will have a chance of winning a generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  As before, Tim & Mario have very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 39 of the book and playing with Distress Watercolouring.  Now, as ever with the Compendium Challenge neither I nor the Curiosity Crew will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.

 
My entry is a tag to go into my collection, it is coming along nicely.   I used Distress Watercolor Cardstock to do the technique - I have tried this on other watercolour cardstocks and I have to say that the Distress just seems to give me so much better results.   Now, the cardstock is a little smaller than a Size 8 tag so I cut it down to fit onto a tag and blended Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain DI's over the tag underneath... that way the watercolour part has something to sit on.  I also got my Distress Puffery-jobby *can't remember name lol* and used Walnut Stain Distress Marker to puff little freckles of ink over the background.

I used the Papillon stamp set from Tim... Stamping the large background first onto the cardstock using Frayed Burlap that I lightly misted with water and pressed down with less pressure on the right hand side... because I then stamped the butterflies using Jet Black Archival ink and didn't want the FB to show under them.   I used an offcut of the cardstock to stamp the butterflies again, cutting them out and then colouring them, along with the first impression ones using Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge, Barn Door and Tea Dye Distress Markers.  Now, I am never one for having a white background... I just don't seem to gel with it, so I used Antique Linen DI to blend over the card and making it tone into the tag helped how I liked it.  I added my trademark diamonds using Jet Black Archival... did I tell you I plan to use that diamond stamp on every thing I make for the Compenium Challenge?  I did?  Oh well, in case you missed it... I am using that diamond stamp on everything I make ;O))  

Best laid plans and all that... disahhhhster struck half way through making my tag!   I was sitting in the Room of Stash, minding me own business, when I heard a kerfuffle outside in the Spinney (the wood at the bottom of the garden) and being as it was gone midnight, I went to investigate.  I think it was a deer because the noise was too big for a foxy or a kittycat.  Anyways, when I got back to my desk, to my horror (and annoyance) I saw that my waterbrush had only gone and leaked its contents all over the freshly coloured cardstock!  Grrrr!  I dried it off and it looked a right mess.  Well, I had spent half an hour faffing getting the look I wanted and I wasn't about to be thwarted so I tore out the offending bit and layered the two bits onto the tag and added the sentiment underneath the torn bits... like it was supposed to be like that... I won't tell if you don't :O))  Final touches are the metal flowers - a combo of Vintaj and Idea-ology and some linen ribbon (oh I loves this stuff, i need more already!)

As ever, you will have two weeks to enter the challenge... and don't forget, the Crew's Choice prize is a mahooosive haul of stash donated by Tim & Mario... so remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too!   Thanks for looking, have an inky day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 300 - Dream Lover **With Mega Candy!**

Gooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Many thanks for all your grand entries for last weeks challenge, sure did make me happy to visit you all and see your gorgeous works of art.  SO! Today sees the 300th Sunday Stamper challenge.  And as promised last week, I have been gathering sponsors for this weeks challenge being as it is a special occasion and all that.  Let's start off by telling you the theme...which this week is my "word of the year" DREAM.  Joining in with the challenge is the same as ever... only this week you will be in with a chance of winning some great candy!  The rules are simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping and then pop back here, leave me a comment with a linky to the place you are showing your entry and I can hop over to visit you.  As ever, if you haven't got a blog, you can also join in via tagging me on Facebook on your upload or by emailing me a small resolution piccie. 
To be in with a chance of winning the candy, here's what you have to do:
Make something and join in with the challenge as stated in the rules above. 
Regardless of how you show your entry, you must leave a comment on this post = so if you are joining in via email, for example, you need to leave a comment here, I can't add your comment for you, same applies for Facebook entries.  
Just leaving a comment won't enter you into the draw... so this is the perfect excuse for getting inky and stampy.  
The winner will be picked at random and announced on next weeks Sunday Stamper post. 
The closing time date for all entries is 21:00GMT Saturday 29th March 2014.

You wanna see what you could win?  Firstly, please allow me say to a big mahooosive thank you to the lovely sponsors of this week's challenge: Crafty Bunch Telford, Craft Obsessions, Art From The Heart and Jones & Co Nottingham.  As regular Sunday Stamper fans will know, this is usually a "just for fun" challenge, with me adding the odd bit of candy every so often but as it is a momentous occasion, I figured I would say a big thank you also to all you lovely folks who join in with my challenge.  Right... I kept you waiting long enough... here's what you could win:

From Crafty Bunch Telford: 5 fabby stamp sets from Kaiser Craft!!!
From Craft Obsessions: a £25 voucher to spend on goodies!!!
From Art From The Heart: Dylusions stamp set This Old House, Dylusions Sprays: Tangerine Dream, Pomegranate Seed, Chopped Pesto, Slate Grey, Polished Jade, Ground Coffee **yes, all the NEW ones!!!**
From Jones & Co: Buttons! Lots of delish buttons!!!
And From me: The artwork that is my entry for this weeks challenge, Kaisercraft Stamps, Card butterflies, Spools, Vials, Texture Paste Clear & Silver, Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks in Red Geranium, Potting Soil and Watering Can, Chapel Road Artstamps U/M stamp set and a papier mache hanging board.
This prize package, worth over £100, is offered to one randomly chosen entrant to the challenge. If the winner doesn't claim their prize within 7 days of announcing, the draw will be done again.

So... whatcha finks?  Seriously cool prize package right?  Cor blimey!!!  300 Sunday Stamper challenges... that is one heck of a lot of art, stamping, inking and song titles!  Over the years I have been asked a fair few times why I bother to host a "just for fun" challenge when there are so many out there that have prizes every week.  The answer to that is simples: it is all about having fun and getting creative... and when I started this challenge there weren't that many challenges about (yes, 2008 is a very long time ago in Blogland lol)  Another question I get asked is why I don't have a design team for the challenge... that is easy to answer too... cos I am bone idle and it would mean having to plan weeks in advance what the theme will be... seriously, sometimes I don't even know the day before what the challenge theme will be!  One day I will be organised!!! 

Anyways... that is enough wafflings from me.  Again, thank you to my lovely sponsors... and thank you to all of you who join in with the challenge, I don't think you know just how much it means to me that you all take part!  I shall away now... thanks for looking - happy stamping!  TTFN

Hels x

Favourite Things...

...blimey! Cor blimey in fact! It be Friday already!  Where did this week go to huh?  Well, my week has been spent mainly lounging around feeling a smidge sorry for meself because the old war wound has well and truly flared up again... so I have done the sum total of naff all... all week!  Well, until yesterday when I dragged my pained carcass, kicking and screaming, from its torpor on the sofa and forced meself into the Room of Stash.  Oh yes, the tidy *for a change!* but badly neglected Room of Stash!   Yes, it is tidy, thanks to some industrious activity last week but alas, the severity of this flare up has stopped me from even entertaining the idea of picking up a blending tool!  Oh ho, yes, I have been feeling well and truly sorry for meself I can tell you. 

So, how to get oneself feeling happy again?  Well, in my case it is simples!  Wave a few Distress Inks at me and a fistful of 490 and I am a happy bunny indeedily.  I decided on a "quick make" as I knew if I got involved in a big project, I wouldn't want to leave it be and then I would over do it and end up with even worse pain.  Setting myself a time limit usually helps the old Mojo kick start... and I was really strict with the ingredients for my tag too.  I was only allowed to use certain stamps and certain colours too.  Always pick your fave colours when you are doing a kick start, if you pick ones that clash with your brain, you will never like what you made.  Anyways, one hour later and I was happily covered in Broken China, Antique Linen and Salty Ocean Distress Inks... and I cheated a smidge too cos I added a bit of Forest Moss for the leaves too... well, cheating is allowed... isn't it?

The base of the tag had the Wrinkle Free Distress technique to apply the inks, I go back to this technique time and again, it is quick and it is also easy on the old arms and shoulders as there's not much blending to be done.   I overstamped the base with Antique Linen DI and the large background from Heirloom Art for a subtle pattern and then set about stamping a pop out background, this time using Jet Black Archival ink and the sprigs from Art Comforts.  A waterbrush assisted with the colourations of the sprigs, scooching DI onto the craft sheet and picking up the colour with the waterbrush.  Next up I stamped the large flower, from Forever Art, five times onto cream card.  The first image had the leaves stamped in Fern Green Archival Ink and the other four, I just stamped the flower head.  I cut them out in decreasing layers to get some decoupage layering going on and then coloured with Broken China and Salty Ocean DI's.  I grabbed a Paper Stump to puff the layers up so the finished effect, once assembled with the assistance of PinFlair glue, is a nice big blousy flower.  I then decided the leaves needed a bit of dimension too, so I stamped them again using Fern Green, cut them out and then coloured with Forest Moss, curling them slightly to make them pop too.  The sentiment is from The Purpose of Art, stamped onto a smaller piece of card I coloured the same way as the base tag.  A good old blend of Gathered Twigs around the edge of the tag and sentiment framed the design (yes, cheating with the colours again... ooopsies!)  Finishing touches were a bit of ribbon for the top of the tag and a little bit of Glossy Accents to highlight the flower... oh and the ickle butterfly - he is from Art For You and he is my most stamped stamp!  He is the one that I use all the time for arty kits for classes, the last class I did using him I had stamped him over 400 times just for that class, so yes, most stamped :O))  He is stamped with Jet Black Archival onto Clearly For Art modelling film and then heated up and shaped and a little dot of a pearl to finish him up nicely.

Today I am planning more gentle recouperations in the Room of Stash, I have some more Crackled Texture Paste to play with and some new Kaisercraft papers that I bought a couple of weeks ago and they are singing to me to cut them!  Fancy that!  Whatever you have planned today... hope it is a good one!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Schneezy Greetings!

...aaaatchoooo!!! Oh yesh, here we are at the end of February and I have my nose all a-bunged up and I am sneezing like Sneezy McSneezy from the little town of Sneezington in Sneezeshire!  Yikes!  So, not only am I all of a moan and a groan, my face has also taken on the appearance of a Moomin... just call me Moomin Mamma and let's have done with it lol   Anyways, a brief interlude in my bemoaning... here's another sample I made whilst demo-ing at the NEC trade show last week.  This is another Pronty MDF heart, again painted with the new Cosmic Chalk Paints.

I used a brayer to apply several layers of the paints to the heart.... btw, answering your questions: no, I never gesso the MDF before playing... am lazy like that :O) That isn't to say you can't, you can, if you want to :O)  I added circles using the top of a water mister bottle and lines using my Ranger scraper and then popped the new That Special Touch Fleur De Lys stencil over the heart and blended Jet Black Archival through it to add some details.  Next up, I stamped the Dandelion in Jet Black Archival and then applied the Cosmic Shimmer Crackle Glaze over the top of the image and then applied more paint over the top whilst it was still wet.  The butterflies were stamped onto cream card and then cut out, coloured with Distress Ink and added to the heart with some gems for the bodies.

 
Today I am getting my stuff together in preparation for my trip to Crafty Bunch in Telford this weekend.  I am so looking forward to returning to Crafty Bunch, the ladies are all brilliant - they love getting covered in ink and paint... and remember me talking about Margaret, the gorgeous lady whom I want to kidnap and bring home?  Well, she will be there too! Hurrah!!!   I couldn't mention Crafty Bunch without mentioning our Sue, the owner, who makes THE best salmon sammiches in the world *yep, best Jeremy Clarkson voice for that....* and who also kept me topped up with coffee and Creme Eggs during the trade show!  I shall away now, to my germ ridden Room of Stash, where, you will be gobsmacked to hear, tidiness prevails! Oh yesh!  It took me several long hours to get it resembling normality but... well, it will do, the desks are clean and tidy... just don't look at the floor!   Have a good day all!  TTFN

Moomin Mamma x

Sunday Stamper - Week 284 - Fields of Gold

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Big massive thanks for all the gorgeous entries for last weeks challenge.  This week sees a return of a theme... and one of my fave songs ever too.  The theme is... GOLD.  To join in is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme and some stamping and then pop back here and leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog, worry not, you can also join in via Facebook (just tag my name on your upload)  or via email, attaching a small pic and description how you made your entry.  You can find my email addy by clicking on my piccie over in the left hand sidebar.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 30th November 2013.

My entry this week is my class sample from Friday's class at Birds in the Barn.  Thanks to Janet for hosting the class (and making me so welcome, as usual) and to the lovely ladies who came along to play.  As it is a workshop sample, I won't go into too much detail how I maded my creation... all I will say is that tonnes of ink, Distress and Archival, paint, embellies and gorgeous Tim Holtz Alterations dies were used.  The gold element is from the little snowflake embellies - simply coloured with Treasure Gold and some other bits and bobs that I popped onto my creation to make it pretty.

Each year, since 2007, I have made an 8" x 8" piece for Christmas... be it a canvas, shadowbox or frame.   Every Christmas they are displayed in the living room along with the rest of the decorations.  It is nice to unpack them every year - they get stored in the loft for the rest of the time - and remember what I used and how I made the creations... and also, I can see the different techniques I have learnt over the years.  I have been playing around this year, making Christmas stuff... but, no cards yet!  I know!  I am a baaaaad girl!  I was planning on a mammoth card making sesh today... but I have a much better plan for today now... oh yesh, me and Ellen are having one of our Skype Sunday sessions... I can't wait... it is toooo long since we had a chance to sit and get crafty together!

But before I can do anything remotely crafty, I needs to get my Room of Stash sorted out.  Going out teaching is brilliant, I loves it... what I no likey is the unpacking of the boxes at the end of it all.  And last week I put it off... but no!  This week I am going to be uber organised and get it all done and dusted so I have two desks for me and Ellen to play at.  I usually pop her onto the spare desk, well, not her really, that would be hilarious though... no, I pop the laptop onto the spare desk so it is just like she is right here with me.  Thank heavens for whomever invented Skype!  They are a genius!!!

I had a bit of a "do" in the night last night!  I haven't been sleeping too well of late.  You know that thing when your brain won't shut off and it keeps on buzzing like it is on a treadmill?  Well, mine has been even bossier and has been on a cross trainer for the past few weeks.  Add to that the old war wound is playing up... sleeps has been a bit elusive.  Last night I was sooooo knackered (although I managed to watch Dr Who, OMG, how amezzzzin' was that!!!) anyways... knackered old carcass in bed and bam, sleeps!  Not even a full page of book read!  Hurrah!  Well, not so much hurrah when two hours later I somehow managed to fall out of bed!  (again at that!) When I say "fell", it was more of a slither!   I am blaming pyjama's.  And now I just typed that I am wondering... have I mis-used the apostrophe?  Pyjamas?  Pyjama's... uh-oh!  Well, I blame my pyjama bottoms!  *ha got around the apostrophe quandry there ... teehee*   And why do I blame them?  Well, they are a bit slidey and the legs are too long - on account of me being... ahem... a smidge on the sort side.  So... I conclude that the wearing of a pyjama ensemble (see, got out of the apostrophe thing again) is dangerous for your health!  And on that bombshell I shall bid you a very goodly day and say.... thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

P.S - don't forget, I have a giveaway running until 23:59 GMT tonight... CLICK HERE to be in with a chance...

Play Time!

...oh yesh indeedily! I have finally had a chance to sit and play with my new Distress Paints and the new stamps I got at the NEC last week.  Seems like a yonk since I had some guilt free crafting time so I have made the most of it this week!   Have you seen the new clear stamps from Kaisercraft?  I loves them!  And they are so affordable too (which is always a bonus right?)   So, last night I got a little inky and painty in the Room of Stash and made a couple of tags... and here's one of them:

I did a "partial resist" technique on the base of the tag... how does that work?  Well, use Glue & Seal or Multi Medium to stamp your image - I used a script stamp. Dry it off and then add some colour.  For the "partial" bit of the resist you need Distress Paints as they are opaque when dried.  I used Antique Linen, Scattered Straw and Aged Mahogany (be still my heart! I love that colour!) Distress Paints, smooshing them onto the craft sheet, lightly spritzing with water and then swiping the tag through the paintyness.  As soon as I started to dry the tag, I spritzed lightly with water which moves the paints about a bit.... as they start to dry, go in with a paper towel and lift off some of the still wet paint.  This will reveal the resist underneath... and where the paints are dried, you can't see the resist... hence partial!

I loved the effect of the background so I decided not to add any more Distress Inks to the tag but I did add some more stamping.  Starting with my new Kaisercraft Script, I stamped this in Watering Can Archival (THANK YOU Wendy Vecchi for inventing this colour... tis my new fave!) As it is an oil based ink you will need to heat set the stamping to avoid smudginess.   Next I used the new Kaisercraft Diamonds stamp and Plum Archival to add some more layering to the base of the tag.  The Plum goes perfectly with the Aged Mahog too... like they were made to be together!   Next up came the butterflies... another new Kaisercraft stamp (can you see a theme here?)  Stamped in Jet Black Archival so they pop off the tag, I stamped them again onto cream card, cut them out and used a waterbrush and Distress Inks to colour them.   They were then layered over the original stamped images for some dimension.   I then got all spritzy with the decorations.  Plain white paper flowers, spritzed with Cranberry Colorwash and then zapped with Black Marble Dylusions and Ancient Copper Cosmic Shimmer mists.   A few metal embellies, the word WISH from Alpha Parts and some dangly bits finished off my little tag!

I am all excited today!  I am packing up in preparation for my trip to Taunton this weekend where I will be demo-ing and teaching at Craftasmic... I best get a wiggle on as I have boxes to pack and blog posts to schedule!  Busy busy!  Thanks for looking, have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 274 - And Your Bird Can Sing

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Many thanks for all your gorgeous entries to last weeks challenge.  This week the theme really chose itself as all I seem to be doing at the moment is bunging our feathered friends on my creations... so the theme is... BIRDS.   To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping and the pop back here to leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog/web-photo-hosty thingy, you can also join in via Facebook - simply tag my name on your photo upload - or pop me an email over with a small sized pic.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 14th September 2013.
 

My creation this week is a tag... long time since I had a proper taggy play!  I started out using some of the new deeelish Laboratorie papers from the Duke of Distress.  I LOVE these papers... the black and whites are just perfection and whilst I ain't a skull kinda gal, I love the backsides of the papers (you know what I mean lol)  The script page I chose to cover my tag proved another fluke too!  Unbeknownst to me, whilst I chose this paper just 'cos I like the writing, when it came to look at my piccies close up I noticed the typeface that says "54 Eagle Street"  How blooming spooky is that!!! I had already picked birds as the theme too... tis an omen!

I used some Antique Linen Distress Paint and drippaged some down the tag and then misted it so it went all smooshy and then once dried, I edged the papers with Vintage Photo and added some stencilling using the Dot Fade and Stars Stencils, also from the Duke of Distress.... love the little dots in Black Soot... how cute!  I added a snippet of the diamond papers... I LOVE diamonds as you know and these distressy ones on the papers are perfect.

I added some birdy and flourish stamping using Jet Black Archival ink and where the paint has dripped down the tag, you can see the Archival Ink is going creamier... I also added a couple of squirts of Espresso Colorwash and then set about the decorations.   In the form of a few little Prima flowers, layered up, spritzed with Espresso Colorwash to tie them in with the tag design and then layered up with a few metal and twiggy bits.  The charms were a pressie my mate Dan got me from Michael's... they are just jzuhjzzed up a bit with some Treasure Gold.

So, whatcha got planned for today?   I am in Southampton this weekend teaching at Pickwell Farm... I know a lot of peeps who live down this way might not be aware of this little jewel of a craft shop... seriously... it is my idea of heaven! Not only is there a Farm Shop (as the name would suggest) but it has Yankee Candles (mmm, my faves) and plants... and... STASH!   Worth a visit if you are in the area :O)  Right, I shall away, todays victims, I mean students (ahem) will be arriving shortly!  Thanks for looking, have a fabby day whatever you are up to!  TTFN

Hels x


 

Sunday Stamper - Week 269 - Diamonds Are Forever

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy *birthday* Sunday to you all!  Many thanks for the entries for last weeks challenge, I am a little late visiting every one who entered last week (a day without internet is the excuse!)  so apologies for my tardyness, I shall be around later today/tomorrow to see all your beautiful creations.   This week I have chosen the theme DIAMONDS.  Be it a diamond pattern or a proper diamond (well, ok, gem/diamante) that you use, the choice be yours.  To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something - it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping and then pop back here to leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog/web-photo-hosty thing, don't worry, you can also join in via Facebook (simply tag my name on your photo) or via email (email address found by clicking my pic on left hand side) by attaching a small size pic to the email.  The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 10th August 2013.

The reason for my theme choice for this week is because this one is dedicated to my lovely Grim... because he truly is a diamond to me!  This week sees the return of my guest designer, making his third appearance on this blog.  He has been wittering at me to show off his crafting prowess so I have relented and am allowing him blog time today!  And who is this very special designer?  None other than Lord Alfonse of Sheridan!  Oh yesh, AlfieCat has been busy getting ink on his paws for a very special reason.... for today is Grim's birthday!  And here is the card that Alf has made for his special Daddy! 

He wanted to use Grim's colour - which is most definitely orange being as that is one of the colours of his beloved Luton Town FC - so a smidge of Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door DI's onto the craft sheet, a spritz with water and a pick up with cardstock for the Wrinkle Free Distress effect... and then some stencilling!  I had to help him at this point as his little paws weren't big enough to hold the stencil in place (ahem)  Using Wendy Vecchi's Diamond Stencil for Art with first Spiced Marmalade and then a very light hint of Orange Blossom Archival (from Wendy's new range... love this colour muchly)   Next came some stamping ... using the big background from Tim's Papillon set and Orange Blossom again and then some "pop" stamping... ie in Jet Black Archival so the image pops from the page.... with the butterflies from the same Tim set and one of my most used and beloved stamps, the ickle harlequin diamond stamp from one of Tim's mini sets.   Of course, he wanted to personalise his card so I helped him with the Alphaparts (they got stuck to his furry paws!)  And yes, it is completely true... I appear to have lost the plot!

So... moving on! Yesterday I did a 24 hour giveaway and I had a whopping 91 comments (there were 93 but two were duplicates so I deleted those)   After feeding the numbers into Random.org, the generator picked out number 14 as the winner...which tallies with the comment left by LISA WINNARD.  Congrats to Lisa on winning... please email your addy to me... and THANK YOU all for your lovely comments... it seems that you are all lurving your Melt Pots, that makes me VERY happy!   

I shall away now... I have a birthday boy to spoil, a cake to make... and it is the British Touring Car Championships from Snetterton today so we shall be sitting watching the tellybox coverage whilst shouting... GO PLATO!   Thanks for looking, have a lovely day!  TTFN

Hels x

Rules To Live By...

...well, I have always loved this stamp from the hand of Wendy Vecchi... her Studio 490 stamps are my most beloved (oh, you already know that though right?)  This stamp has oft been the starting point of a creation and today this tag is no different.  You know I said I have the brand new Wendy Vecchi Signature Designer Archival Inks?  Well, I have got thoroughly inky and made a few tags and had a play, you know, just cos it would be rude not to!  This is a quicky tag I made, just trying out the inks on different surfaces and for different stuff.

I had seen on Wendy's blog that she had been using her new Archivals with her Stencils... so being as whatever Wendy does, I have to try, I ...erm... had a try!  Using small squares of Cut & Dry foam to apply the inks thru the Stencil is simples... the inks are a beautiful medium to use and because they are Archival, they won't budge when you then ink with a waterbased ink (like Distress) right over the top.  I started out doing the leaves at the top with Fern Green and added a stripy bit at the bottom with Cornflower Blue.  Little Mr Birdy was added with Watering Can (excuse me whilst I have a fit of the vapours, this is my new FAVE colour... I have oft yearned for a grey Archival... and now we have one... and a chuffing brrrilliant one at that!)

I then gave the inks a quick zap with the heat tool just to ensure they were set and then did some Distress Ink blending with Broken China, Bundled Sage and Forest Moss and added a frame with Walnut Stain.  I squidged Broken China onto my craft sheet, spritzed with water and use the large background from Heirloom Art, dipping it into the inky/watery mix, stamped over the tag and then allowed it to react with the Distress for a few moments... once the ink had started the react with the water, I heat dried the tag.  I love the bleached stamped effect of this technique.  Very delicate.  I made a little messagey bit for the Rules to Live By stamp and then made a floral embellishment. Stamping the flower onto Grungepaper three times with the Watering Can and colouring with Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge DI... and the ickle spiky flower from Funky Flower Art was stamped with Cornflower Blue and coloured with Broken China.  I stamped the leaves in Fern Green and overstamped with the same and then coloured with Forest Moss DI.  Check out the ickle rose in the centre... that is an Embellish Your Art piece, lightly coloured with Orange Blossom Archival... so I think the only one I didn't use was Red Geranium... but I made up for that with another tag I made earlier soo..... 

I must away... I keep glancing at the clock... any second now Mr Virgin is going to turn off our internet... yikes, how will I cope without my internet allll day???   Typically, the day that the internet is changing, Grim is on a loooong job... so when the new jobbywotsitthingymibob arrives from BT today, he will be out ... so the setting up of the new internet and email stuff will have to be done tomorrow night when he gets home... or on Friday.  Whatever, I have a swanky smart phone now and it has 3G stuff (you can SO tell how teckernologikly minded I am right?) so I will be able to get online... I just won't be able to blog.  Hopefully, all will be set up and I will be back blogging over the weekend!  Or sooner!  I am off to sit by the backdoor now and wait until the Lord Alfonse of Dirty-Stop-Outsville turns up.  He snuck out about three hours ago and when I tried to get him an hour ago he looked at me, hooked his tail over his back and scarpered off down the path.  He isn't allowed out at night for this very reason... ie, he turns into a loony!  So, I shall be awaiting his return... pointless me going to bed as there is no way I will sleeps til I know he is home safely... could be a long night eh?  Thanks for looking, have a cool day (gonna be a hot one again I hear!)  TTFN

Hels x

Schpeedy Gonzalez...

...ha! That has foxed me good and proper... what would the plural of Gonzalez be?  Gonzalez's? Gonzali?  Well, whatever it is, that's what Ellen and I were doing yesterday afternoon when we decided to have a "speed recipe challenge".  Being as we had spent most of the Skypey time yakking (what? us? yak? hell yeah!) we only had a short time left afore I had to go and have my tea... so we set ourselves a schuper schpeedy challenge which was as follows:

Size 10 Manila Tag
Painted Background
Collage
Paint Stamping
Dylusions Sentiment (ahem... I cheated)
Time limit - 30 mins... (ahem... yep, guessed it... cheated...)

So... that there tagingtons is where my effort was at after the alloted 30mins.  Pretty background, very plain and boring foreground (ok, non-existant foreground)  I had some butterflies and the sentiment sorted but that was it.  Let me tell you about how I got to this stage though:  Distress Paints - OHHHH MYYY!!!!   I loves them!!!  Well, I used Bundled Sage and Broken China and scraped the paint on with my palette knife.  The paint is sooo smooth and liquid, it scrapes on perfectly.  Once that was done, I added some torn bits of music score paper and lightly scraped a smidge of black Gesso... and then slapped a good old layer of  Glue & Seal to seal the whole lot.

Next I did the paint stamping... who decided on that one huh?  Wasn't me (lol) but it was me that decided in my infinite wisdom to use the biggest stamp I own to do the paint stamping... so not only did the stamp, the tag, the sleeves of my hoody and my inky binky get covered in black paint, so did ever other thing in the Room of Stash!  (ok, slight exaggerations but... feels like it... I am finding splats of paint all over the shop!)  The stamp is a Donna Downey one, think it is called Holly Hocks and I do loves it very muchly and it is perfectly sized for the big Size 10 tags.

I made up some more card using the same method of paint application for a message mat... this time I added some background stamping using Broken China DI and a brand new Studio 490 stamp that is on Heirloom Art... and then stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Archival.  What?  No Dylusions sentiment?  Well, no.. basically the only set of wordy stamps from the Dylusions range that I own are the newest ones... and they are all in the first person.  And there's no way a butterfly would talk so... I cheated!  Oh yesh, rules are there to be stretched right?  

Finally, after much deliberating I decided to get up at stooopid o'clock this morning ... like 4.30am stooopid (Grim is on earlies lol) and came back to look at said tag again... well, it looked, to coin a phrase, pants!  So I cheated a little bit more and grabbed some Studio 490 florally stamps and stamped and cut them out from patterned paper and then popped them together with an Embellish Your Art button for the middle... sooooo much better!  So, all in all, it took 30 mins for the base tag and then about 25 mins for the florally bits... I am a big fat cheater lol     Do pop over to Ellen's blog and see her gorgeous creation... she didn't feel the need to cheat... and her creation is gorgelous... CLICK HERE to be whizzed off on a giant snowflake.      Right, I shall away... I am snow watch at the moment... it is snowing here in wintery Wellybobs and I cannot wait for it to get deep enough so I can faff about in the garden and make a snowman... I thinks it may be a tidgy one but a snowman is a snowman isn't it?  Thanks for looking.. have a fabby day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 239 - Come Fly With Me

Gooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Huge thanks for the gorgeous entries for last weeks challenge.  I will announce the winner of the tag in a mo... but first! This weeks challenge.  Well, I am about to spontaneously combust with excitement because this week is THE week that I fly to America to CHA and to meet up with Ellen and my Ranger Sisters.  I am feeling a bit of a giddy kipper now because I have realised it is THIS week!  So, with that in mind the challenge for this week is THINGS THAT FLY (see what I did there huh? you know, cos I will be flying THIS week *snort*) and all you need to do to join in is make something that includes stamping and the theme.  Once you have made your creation, pop back here with a link to the place you are showing it - if you haven't got a blog, worry not, you can also join in via any web-hosty photo-jobby and also by emailing me direct with a photo or via Facebook - simply leave me a Facebook message and I can come and visit you.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 12th January 2013.

Anyways, I have kept you in suspenders for long enough... the winner of the tag I made for last weeks challenge has been picked.  We had a total of 85 entries, so I fed that into Mr Random.org and he gave me this result:

Which tallies with the entry from KEZZY.  Big big thanks to everyone for joining in... and Kezzy, please can you email your addy to me so I can pop your tag into the post :O))

So, my entry this week.  Well, as you know, I have been fighting the Battle of the Doom of Trash since early Wednesday.  Yes, that's right... a whole FOUR days is what I have spent in my Room of Stash, bringing order and cleanliness back to my life.  You see, as well as my resolution to find the positive in all things and have a more positive outlook, I have also decided that it is high time to become a grown-up and get organised.  I have never really been one for orderly things... but when it comes to booking classes and demo days I needed to get my act together so I know what I am doing, where I am doing it and when I am doing it!  So, I have become a veritable paragon of virtue and have made myself a book for...erm.. bookings (fancy!) and also added pouches to it so I have an "at a glance" thing for each month too!  So as well as clearing out old crud and getting rid of 543 tonnes of cobwebs (yep, there were that many) I have brought some order to my life.  And I have to say, I feel rather good about it.

So good that being as the Room of Stash is now clear of trash, I decided to get out all my Studio 490 stamps (I am lucky to have very lots of them) and had a good old play with ink and Grungepaper, stamps and embellies.  The tag is a #10 size so it is a big 'un.  I started by colouring it with Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet and Frayed Burlap DI's, flicking with water to add some blotches and then edging with Walnut Stain.  The overstamped background is one of my favest 490 backgrounds and it was stamped with Rose Madder Archival Ink.  I then added the wordy strip in Jet Black Archival and sized up roughly where my floral embellie was going... and then stamped some flourishes in Coffee Archival so they look like they are appearing from behind the flower.

Speaking of the flower - four different flower stamps make up the main bit - Funky Flower Art has to be one of my most used sets - the half flowers are my fave, perfect for breaking up a design without overpowering it.  All the flowers and the leaves were stamped onto Grungepaper using Jet Black for the flowers and Olive Archival for the leaves.  A quick zap with a heat tool to dry off the ink and then I cut them out.  Next I overstamped the flowers and leaves with background stamps, both front and back, to add some more decoration.  I stamp the back so when the Grunge is curled up, you can see more pattern, no ugly plain bits.  The same applies for inking the Grunge... always do both sides - that way you don't get ugly grey bits and it also covers the cut edges too.   The butterflies were stamped onto Grungepaper and Grungeboard three times each.  I cut out the Grungepaper ones in full and just the top wings and body for the Grungeboard... then coloured them with DI and stuck them together.  The body bits are little resin buds which were white... so they got the Treasure Gold Brass treatment to colourize them.

I added some lace and Gem Clips to the middle of the tag and ribbon and Idea-ology to the top of the tag and made a sentiment using cream card and 490 wordage... how perfect is that sentiment eh?  I coloured the card as before and then just cut out a banner shape.  Oh and Sam Spidey came out for a play too... he has been ignored for far too long, I can't help but love him.  Finishing touches were a light scribble of 0.01 size black pen to add some faux stitching and a smidge of Treasure Gold right around the edges.. and that was it.  I had a lovely couple of hours playing and making this... and because I am so organised, I put everything away (it has a home now) before I did anything else!  I am not sure how long this organisational spree will last but, for now, I shall enjoy it!

So, there are a couple of piccies of the Room of Stash now it is nice and tidy... I haven't take photo's of the main bulk of the work, which was organising drawers and sorting more storage... basically cos whilst I know what is now in them and each has its own genre (for want of a better word) when I look inside them, they look...erm... a bit messy!  Well, crafty stash is never neat... is it?     Right, I shall away... have a lovely day and a fab week.  I am headed for bed now.  I haven't slept properly for three nights now... tis the excitement I am sure... Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

I Just Wanna KISS...

...actually, I am not so sure if it is KIS or KISS... I am rubbish with acronyms.  What am I waffling on about?   Well dear bloggers, I have been incredibly slatternly this year and haven't made many Xmas cards... I say every single year that "next year will be different"  and is it? NO!   Anyways, I decided to try my hand at "keeping it simple" and making some batches of cards.   Tis Tuesday so my day for DT at The Stamp Attic... the deets on how I made some batch cards are HERE and here's a sneaky peeking of one of them:

 I also made another card... using the same ingredients as the cards for my DT and I think this one is my fave.  I wrapped the Paper String through the card!  Oh yesh, finally I figured that if I wanted to wrap something straight onto the base card I just have to prick a hole in the fold!  How long have I been making cards huh?  I know, sometimes I astound myself at my incredible intelligence lol    

Anyways... tis a speedy post today because I am in batch-making mode... whilst I have bought cards (shock horror) I do want to make some... Christmas isn't Christmas without me haring about a few days before the final post!   Hope you have a nice day planned... I shall be the one in the corner covered in ink and snippets of Paper String lol   Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 224 - Behind The Mask

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Big thanks for all the gorgeous be-ribboned creations for last weeks challenge.  This week is a nice and easy one... and the theme is... to use MASKS/STENCILS on your entry.  To join in is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping and then pop back here with a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you don't have a blog/picassa/web-hosty-thingywotsit, you can enter by emailing me or via Facebook.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 29th September 2011.  I have been asked a few questions recently so thought I would answer them here:  "Can I join in with the challenge even if I don't live in the UK?"  YES!!! It is open to anyone, worldwide... the more the merrier!  "I don't have a blog, can I still join in?"  YES!!!  Just so long as you leave me a comment and either a link to your web-hosty thing OR email me OR link me to your Facebook album... simples... like I said... the more the merrier!  "I haven't used any stamping on my entry, does it still count?"  Well... I have been known to get so involved in my creation that I forget to add in the stamping and end up bunging a quick sentiment or the odd "fill in" stamp. Soooo, I guess the answer is... Try to use stamping as much as you can.

On with my entry for this week.  I spent a lovely day yesterday demo-ing for Creative Expressions at the Big Stamping & Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace.  It is my fave venue for demo-ing, I don't know if it is the space, the people, the hooooge amount of stashly wares on sale... but, whatever it is, it is always special.  It was grand to meet so many lovely peeps and put faces to names too.  So. I was demo-ing Studio 490, Tim Holtz and Ranger.  And a little Art Parts piece that I had made as a sample is my entry for this weeks challenge.

I used some of the brand new Studio 490 stamps and stencils and Art Parts for my creation.  The base is a Hearts Art Part and I added a Scallop Trim to make a little shelf.  The colours are Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo.  The background honeycomb stamp was inked with the brush tip of a Vintage Photo Distress Marker - this is a cool technique because you can just ink the stamp in patches so you get a random background... I have tried this with an inkpad but I always seem to get harsh edgey lines... so the Marker is sooo much better.

My masking is in the guise of one of the new Studio 490 Stencils for Art - the Spots & Stripes.  I LOVE this stencil (actually I love them all... no big surprise there lol)  I used a smidge of Rusty Hinge and a smidge of Vintage Photo to add some detailing on the base through the stencil - the lines under the shelf are meant to be shadows... mmm, not quite but the idea was there :O))

I added a Grungepaper flower - Accents For Art stamp set, both flowers, stamped in Sepia Archival, inked with Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge DI and then curled... the centre is an Embellish Your Art flower button... coloured with co-ordinating Distress Markers.  This is a cool technique from Wendy Vecchi - simply colour the EYA piece, heat set it with a heat tool - don't overheat, it will go all stinky and wobbly - experience there folks lol - and there you go!  You can also use Alcohol Inks, Copics, Pro-Markers and Archival Inks to colourize the EYA pieces too.  The little metal thingy at the point of the heart is actually one of the new Creative Expressions Antique Corners... I just bent it slightly and popped it on with some Cosmic Glue.

Anyways... I shall away. I have some much needed beauty sleep to catch up on... we are away to Rockingham this morning to watch the British Touring Cars... YAY! I love Rockingham... only about 25 mins in the car and nice seats to sit on all day... oh and they always have a rather nice hog roast too... and a donut stand (oh, no, not more sugary chops) and of course, we shall be cheering Jason Plato on - I really hope he has a good meet this time... the last couple of meets have been pretty poop!   Thanks for looking, have a fabbbby day! TTFN

Hels x

Spook-tag-stic

... I know, I know, it is only August but... Hallowe'en is fast approaching... and those brand new Tim Holtz Hallowe'en stamps are fab. I know we Brits don't go for Hallowe'en as much as our American cousins do but I can't help getting just a smidge excited by the whole spooky festival. When I was a kid, I used to get a swede and hollow it out (scoffing the hollowed out bits, I lurves swede - I know, strange child) I used to use a grapefruit spoon.... do they still make those? You know, like a teaspoon with a jaggedy edge on the pointy bit? Well, I used one of those and then chopped out the eyes and mouth (usually injuring myself in the process lol) and then a little stubby candle (the same one every year) and some string to make a handle. I was set then to go out and annoy the neighbours with my BFF Elaine - we had very angelic faces though and always came back with some booty.



Anyways, the reason for all that reminiscing is because I have been playing with those brand new Tim Holtz Collection Hallowe'en stamps. I have all of Tim's Hallowe'en stamps, collecting them over the years... I love the whole skelington, crow, skull thing. And now, even better, there's an owl! Yipyah and thrice, I do love owls and this little fella is especially cute. The sets I used are the Hallowe'en Cut Outs and the Apothecary sets - with a spidey and a border from the Mini Hallowe'en set.


The background was one of the tags that I made last week using the "mist with water and spray" Dylusions technique. The colours are the most gorgeous Squeezed Orange and Black Marble. I love how the sprays have dried into a swooshy effect.


An oft asked question I get asked is... "how do you get the stamping layers?" So, I thought that I would show you an inbetweeny stage, background dried and stamping started. The stamping was all done with Jet Black Archival Ink. I love Archival Ink because it is permanent and when set (with a smidge of heat) it is waterproof, so you can stamp first and then apply paints, inks, watery things over the top and it won't budge. You also get a really nice crisp image. As a rule of thumb I always heat set anything I have stamped using Archival. This is a good habit to get into - stamping onto normal card sometimes won't warrant a zap with the heat tool but you can guarantee that the time you don't set it, you will get a smudgy inky fingerprint. Best safe than sorry eh?


Anyways... back to the tag: the spiders were stamped onto one of my favest products: Clearly For Art from the fair hand of Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490. This stuff is fab, I used the clear flavour to stamp the spiders (again using Archival Ink and heat setting) Once dried I cut them out and then gave them another zap with the heat tool. Clearly For Art is heat reactive but doesn't shrink so you can mould it into lots of different shapes, very versatile. The finishing touches are some bits of ribbon (seriously, I bought about 20 sets of ribbon, all different colour families, about 103 years ago and I found it the other day, still unused lol) I added a Wire Pin and a gorgeous Idea-ology Owl, isn't he just goooooorgeous?!


Right, I had better get myself moving. I had a rotten night sleep so am feeling a bit like a zombie today - I think a little play with some paint and ink might perk me up though. Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x