He's Such A Heart Throb...

...tee hee... yes indeedily, that is his name... actually, I have been admiring HeartThrob for a few months now and the other day when I went to see Wendy, he was sitting there on the shelf looking all cute and then he starting whispering at me! He said that he wanted to be liberated and come and live in my Room of Stash... so who am I to ignore such a plea? Well, that is my excuse and I am sticking to it LOL



Over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge the new theme is Birthday's. Now, this doesn't necessarily look like a birthday card... but it is! I just made this a few days ago for a certain person's birthday... and I know he loves Stampotique so I reckon he will like this card... I hope he does anyway... and I am also taking a chance that he won't see this post til after he has received the card!!!



The papers are from the Retro Grunge stack by the Duke of Distress... and inks I painted HeartThrob in with are Distress Inks... and I cut out some stars from the Retro Grunge stack, popped them onto Rusty Wire and added the Stampotique sentiment... that makes me laugh that sentiment... I am sure that all of us feel like that sometimes :O)) The idea for the stars on wire is actually taken from Carol Q who has a card on show in The Stamp Attic and it has a Stampotique chap holding balloons... so the stars are the balloons.



My messy room that was tidied is still relatively tidy... I have actually been putting stuff away as soon as I have finished using it! And... the floor now has the special protector on it... ask me, have I dropped an ink pad face down onto it yet?? Nope!!! Yet, when it was carpet... dropsy every time I picked up a pad! ooh, and my new chair... comfortable-icious... oh and ... if you are free on Saturday and fancy a day playing with inks and rubber and Grungepaper... there are a couple of spaces on my Playdate at The Stamp Attic... the pic above is a sneak peeps at one of the CD's that we will be altering... CLICK HERE for all the deets or, you can call Wendy on 01235 760821

Twinkie And His Wings...

... I have been trying to play with ink and rubber and get messy but the old Mojo has upped and gone! I reckon it is sunning itself on that beach again... drinking Moj-ito's... again! But I did manage to get this little card finished, I started it the other day and it just needed assembling. The deets etc on how I made it can be found HERE on The Stamp Attic Blog. I am also entering this for the Stampotique Designers Challenge... which is WINGS... I know Twinkie doesn't normally have wings but...*couldn't help myself.. the story is over on the Stamp Attic blog :O))*




So, THANK YOU massively to everyone who helped this computer stoooopid woman yesterday... ArtyJen, Heather, Lynne1 and Andrea-Wales... all of your suggestions were brilliant... to the point that instead of making arty stuff, I have been making my screen words large print, then small, then large again... ah, how little minds are occupied!! I had a Q on yesterday's post... and I couldn't reply by email so thought I would do here... it was from Susan Allen and she asked where I got the little circle tag and letter from on the first ATC... the circle is a Philosophy Tag (Idea-ology) and the letters are snipped from the papers of the Duke of Distress' Lost & Found stack :O))




And.. thank you for all your lovely comments about Sunday... I have been fair crocked since I got home but it was worth it... my old t'internet was playing silly beggars but it is back now... I am off to have a little rummage in my stash to see if I can kickstart my Mojo... I wanna get inky and messy today. What do you do when the old Mojo wanders off? All hints n tips gratefully accepted :O)) Thanks for looking and have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

PS... DOH!!! Cos my t'internet has been a right old moobag, I totally forgot to pick a winner for the Giggle ATC from Friday... so, without further ado.. here is the number, chosen at Random.org... which is... 24...which tallies with the comment from DANIELE... thanks for all your lovely comments BTW :O)) Could you email your addy to me please Daniele and I will pop the ATC into the post for you :O) ta 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

In Disguise....

...Over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog there is a new challenge...and the theme is Easter...and it has to include Stampotique only stamps and I haven't got a single bunny or egg...so I improvised;




Check out Kitty...he isn't really a kitty ... he is the Easter Bunny in disguise... how can you tell? Cos his ears wouldn't fit in the kitty costume ROFL




Twinkie and Kitty were coloured using Distress Inks and a waterbrush and cut out and popped onto the card using silicone glue...and then...ta dah! I drew some bunny ears and coloured them and cut them out and popped them behind kitty's head.




Finally, I printed off a little saying and then coloured the card with Distress Inks and Glimmer Mists and made some ickle Easter eggs....thanks for looking...have a good evening...a quickie post from me today cos I have tonnes of stuff to do...as usual!!

Hels x

Spring...Has Sprung...

...In Stampotique land :O)) The new challenge theme over on the Stampotique Designers Blog is Spring...and this time you can use any stamps to enter...but being as I have a little soft spot for Stampotique stamps, I thought I would use one of my faves...who is called Bat Boy...and incorporate a couple of other springy things in the art...*see what I did there...I said "springy"...cos I used....coils of metal to make springs!*



The piece is actually a square tag...I started colouring it by swooshing several different coloured Distress Ink pads onto a craft sheet and then spritzing with water, then swooshing the tag thru the inkyness...and drying with a heat gun...and re-swooshing til I had the background I liked. I used some Cut & Dry foam to blend in some of the colours to make patches on the tag have more depth of colour.




The background stamping is from Mr T'Holtz's Spring Has Sprung sheet - stamping in Crushed Olive at the bottom and Rusty Hinge at the top...and then stamping with just water spritzed onto the stamp - I loooove this effect, it kind of bleaches the base colours...but...alas, as usual, my photography isn't the best, so it doesn't show up too good on the pics...




I stamped BatBoy and the Wabbit with StaZon and then coloured them in using Distress Inks and a waterbrush. I popped them onto 3d foam and attached some metal coily springy things for the Wabbits paws and Bat Boys hat...then stamped some butterflies onto a book page, coloured them, added more springs to their bodies and then made a little message mat - using StudioG alpha's...yep, I am trying to be amusing again LOL

Thanks for looking...have a great day and don't forget the Sunday Stamper is open 'til 23:00 and there is Candy involved ... I will be posting a brand new theme tomorrow...well, tonight at midnight :O))
Hels x

Stampotique Crazy....

...Love 'em or loathe them...you have to agree with me that Stampotique stamps have a certain unique quality that just draws your eyes to them! Over on't Stampotique Designers Challenge blog the latest theme is to use three colours with a fourth as optional

Rose
Yellow
Mossy Green
Optional - Blue

Last time I joined in with this challenge I got a bit of stick from an anonymous commenter...which did make me chortle actually...they asked how much had I been paid to use the stamps...well, to that person, if you are reading this...I was paid nothing for using the stamps... I wouldn't need to be paid to use them for the simple reason that they are quirky, beautifully made and have the most adorable characters...especially the characters I favour which are the Daniel Torrente designed ones. *so there LOL*




I made a big square tag for my entry this time...using Victorian Velvet, Mustard Seed & Forest Moss Distress Inks, which were swooshed onto a craft sheet and then spritzed with a Mini Mister filled with water and some yellow Perfect Pearls. The stamps used are Bow Tie and Marci. I have been longing for Marci to come and live in my Room of Stash for yonks now...and she finally moved in last week...hurrah and thrice, I can't stop using her...yes, she may look a bit rough around the edges, but sooo cute...and she certainly loves sitting up on the shelf next to Bow Tie...whom she has a secret crush on...hence...




The script, which for any old rockers out there, you will recognise as part of the lyric from Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top...yep, another glimpse into my misspent youth :O)) Now, the remit of the challenge is to just use Stampotique stamps, but once I had stamped and coloured Marci and her beloved, cut them out and 3d'd them, the background looked a bit bare....so I hope I can be forgived for using a couple of the new stitches stamps from the fabulous Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 range. Oh, and to emphasise the words, I popped some Rock Candy cracklepaint over the top, doesn't show up too good on the pics, so please click on them to see it enlarged *oooer, missus*. Finally, the optional blue was used on Bow Tie's eyes, the stitches and the ribbon thru the top, which also has some beads which I popped onto headed pin jobbies (you can just see I am useless with jewellry and the like) cos I wanted something more dimensional just to finish it off.




Thanks for looking...have a great day...it is a beautiful sunny day here in Lutonia and I am going to make use of the natural light and spend some time getting inky :O))

Hels x

Love, At First Sight....

...Oooo, a brand new challenge blog...called Stampotique Designers Challenge...very exciting! I don't own very many of their stamps...total of three at the moment *sad face* but I do love the quirky designs of Daniel Torrente and really there are limitless ways to use the stamps. The theme for this very first challenge is to make a love themed card.




I used two of the three stamps I own...stamping in StaZon and then colouring with Distress Inks...and then I made a little message...which I thought was a bit clever for me really...cos the girly is cute and the little fella is...erm..how can I put this? .... er...as ugly as sin?? ROFL The little figures are actually on 3d foam but it doesn't show up too well in the pic.




I used some Glimmer Mists to make a background...argh, my favest colour has blocked up! Typical after I have only just said that none of my Mists have ever clogged...so the colour used isn't the one I wanted to and it doesn't really go with the heart, which is actually cut using a Grungeboard element as a template (the Grunge heart is long gone!) and inked this with Fired Brick and then stamped a Tim Holtz harlequin stamp and added his Staples.

Thanks for looking and if you get chance, pop over to the new challenge blog...their designers are truly talented and very inspiring!

Hels x