Sunday Stampers - Week 93 - Send In The Clowns

Morning Stampers...Thanks ever so much to everyone who joined in with the challenge last week..it was lovely to see so many different interpretations of the theme :O)) Some of you may have your gasts well and truly flabbered when you find out the theme today is... CLOWNS! Yep, I have bitten the bullet (or should that be the red nose) and faced these demons head on. I usually go running for the hills when I see a clown, but, for some reason I have been drawn to the Cirque set by Mr T'Holtz...that Freddie Mercury lookalikey stamp has helped...so I figured I would challenge myself to use the clown stamps...and here it is;




As ever, when I lose my Mojo, I resort to Tim stamps, a pile of Distress Inks and a Shadow Box...can't go wrong there I reckon. The inks...wow....are some of the new DI's...the ones I used are Wild Honey with Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey with Barn Door. The box exterior was painted with...do I need to say??? Claudine Hellmuth's Trad Tan paint as a base. I then added some patches of Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick Cracklepaints and set aside to dry. Whilst this was drying, I made a centre piece for the frame...cutting up a 6" sq piece of card into shapes and then inking each piece and stamping various Mr T'Holtz's stamps...note how Freddie has turned up on this piece too :O)




Once the frame had dried, I used a concoction of Glimmer Mists, spritzed and dried, layered and dried until I got the desired effect, and then added some gold wax over the crackles to make them pop a little. The bits n bobs are Idea-ology...and the little "house" (idea stolen from Mr T'Holtz) has a DooDad in the middle which is actually a replica of the main clown stamp...and I used clear UTEE poured straight from the Melt Pot into the little frame to make a glass like bubble cover for it.... The little bottle has some seed beads in it...and...as a little taster for what I will be doing today...check out the flower on the frame.. it is made from card, inked, stamped and then dipped into the Melt Pot ... and then...how cute! I added a little propeller to the centre...and it actually spins...it kinda reminds me of a clowns bow tie (or for EastEnders fans...Frank Butchers bow tie...remember that scene LOL)




I will be helping Jennie today at Stamperama at Stevenage, doing Make & Takes ...so if you are going to be at the show, please pop on by and say hi and take part in the M&T and you will come away with a certain little something for keeps :O))




Thanks for looking...as ever with the Sunday Stamper all you need to do to join in is make a piece of art, include the theme and some stamping, leave a comment here for me and I can come and see you! The theme will stay open until 23:00 Saturday March 6th '10. Have a great week :O))

Hels x

Playing With...

...ATC's today :O)) Over on the Play Date Cafe, the new challenge theme is to use a splash of colour, either Teal Blue/Teal Green...so I chose the blue option.



The base of the ATC is a piece of mountboard...I just love using mountboard for ATC's because it is sturdy and you can chuck loads of stuff on it and it doesn't go all warpy like cardstock. Now, to some peeps, the design of this ATC will look really familiar...and that is because I have lost my Mojo *sob*...and ... when I lose my Mojo, I always turn to either books or mags for inspiration...and having recently got myself a copy of the Compendium of Curiosities, there was this little ATC sitting there in the back just calling to me to copy it LOL




I haven't got my mits on any of the new Idea-ology stash yet ... humph... so I used a little hummingbird charm that was in my stash which was gold, so I coloured it with a Krylon to make it match in better. Whatcha fink of the ATC colour???? It is a combo of *big grins* Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky...yep, the new Distress Inks have come to live with me! So, these colours are just about right for the Play Date challenge - I hope - so the ATC is my entry!




Still in copycat mode, I made another ATC which is in the book...this time using some Cosmo Cricket papers (not got my mits on those heaven new papers from Mr T'Holtz), stuck to mountboard, covered with Rock Candy Cracklepaint, the letters are Grungeboard with printed cardstock over the top...and that little fella...is it just me...or .. does he remind you of Freddie Mercury? I know, the stamp sheet he is on scares me witless... but I had to have him :O)) Oh, and...all of the inks and Idea-ologies used on these can be got from The Artistic Stamper.

Thanks for looking...have a good day ... and please pop by tomorrow for the brand new Sunday Stamper challenge :O))

Hels x

It's A Date...

...Cor...you will never guess what!!! Grim was rootling in the loft the other day and brought back a little gem for me...a date stamp which used to be his Mum's...well worn and inked...the years ranging from 1947 to 1958! And..then he asked...."could you use this?" Er...he still has his hand attached to his arm .. but only just cos I was in like Flynn to snap it out of his hand LOL I have a date stamp which I use on the back of my artwork...but it is a new one, so here is a piccie of them both, side by side...but which one looks the best do you reckon??? *I could do the Harry Hill thing..."there's only one way to find out.....FIGHT"....and all that...but that would be silly wouldn't it? ROFL*





I got inky and messy with some smooshy distressy techniques, using bright colours for a change...Spiced Marmalade, Broken China and Fired Brick.. which started out as Worn Lippy but that was a bit wishywashy so I traded up... I stamped some T'Holtz images using brown StaZon and a bit of gold Dabber and added an Idea-ology corner.




The rose was made using Grungepaper...covered in 7Gypsies paper...aha! Copycat time...I saw Tim using this on Sunday at the NEC and then he mentioned it on QVC, so never one to miss out on a chance to copy (anyone) I had a go meself, attaching the paper to the Grunge using Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Matte Medium....easy peasy lemon squeezy! The paper was then inked using Cut & Dry and assembled with silicone glue and attached with a little Philosophy Tag under it.




Thanks for looking...have a brill day...I am off to get Ferdy washed...he is very very very mucky - all that snow and spray and salt on Sunday has made him look a bit dull...There is a very nice man around the corner who washes cars - and does a great job ...all for a fiver....bargain!

Hels x

It's I-Resistor-ble

...Another day...another inky tag using Tim Holtz inks, stamps and Idea-ology....and...did you see the title??? Cos, I used....Resistors on my art today :O)) Clever play on words...or just another daft Hels title then??




The inky background was made by first stamping a large clock image in clear, embossing in clear and then once this had cooled, making a smoosh of inkyness on my craft sheet by swiping several DI pads over it, spritzing with a Mini Mister that had water and Perfect Pearls in it, then dipping the tag into the the inkyness...drying inbetween each swoosh thru the inkyness gives more depth and picks up little droplets of the PP's too.




The stamping was done using DI's - the crackle, the date stamp etc to add depth, then I added a flourish stamped with Gold Dabber for a bit of popping....and then finally the main images were stamped with black StaZon.




The little wooden looking ruler at the bottom of the tag is actually a small piece of ruler paper, stuck onto mountboard and then this was stuck onto more mountboard to make it raised up...then I would some little resistors around the ruler...where did I get the resistors from???? Don't worry, I haven't taken apart one of Grims electrical gadgets, all radio's and suchlike are still intact, I actually bought them from Sky Blue Pink...which is a fab little store in the US of A that stocks amazing stuff for altering and adding to art! The tag was finished off with a smudge of Walnut Stain around the edges to bring it in and some Idea-ology stuff.

Thanks for looking...I have an inky day planned today...with maybe a little paint too...and, a few peeps asked me some Q's on yesterday's post...so here are the answers:

Helen asked..."How do you get that info into the pics you post?" Ah, this is easy - I use Paint Shop Pro X2 to faff with my pics and then add a Vector layer, pick up the Alpha Tool and then type in the words I want to be on the pic....

Diane W said...."BTW I have green eyes,so I can be part of Hels gang,LOL!!! ;o)x"
A gang? That sounds like fun! We could all have green inky fingers too LOL I love green eyes...and...hurrah, my Grim has the most beautiful green eyes, so I can look at them all day long :O)


Paula Gale asked ... "I'd like a go at doing tags, do you buy just plain old parcel/luggage tags?" I have mailed Paula but thought I would answer here too...I get the same kinda tags that Tim uses, they are a creamy colour (not sure if that is buff or manila - confused already!) and they are really smooth...and I get them from LB Crafts :O)

Hope these answers help :O)) Have a grrrreat day!

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

Snappy Dressers...

...Over on the Gingersnap Creations challenge there is a brand new theme today...which is one that everyone can join in with cos we all have theme...BIRTHDAY'S! The Artistic Stamper has been sponsoring the Gingersnaps this month and this is the final challenge that you can join in with to be in with a chance of winning some candy :O) I used some ladies from the new 20's plate, along with another lady from the original 20's plate..and added in a new lace image, stamped with Broken China Distress Ink. The ladies are coloured with DI's and the sentiment is also by The Artistic Stamper.



Thanks for looking...I have got ever so very inky fingers now and will be back later with my incredibly messy desk for the WOYWW - last week some of you told me off for being too tidy! Er...when you see the state of my desk later you will be changing your minds LOL

Hels x

Metal-I-Like-A

...Oh ho ho, I am trying to be funny haha today...the title...Metal I Like...with an A .. means ... Metallica LOL *just me again then????* I have got inky and painty and messy with some Ten Seconds Studio metals, Ferro and Terra along with some Precious Metal paints and some Idea-ology...adding in a bit of stamping to boot.




The base is a Maya Road book page, Gesso'd to prime it and then the bottom half is covered with some Ten Seconds Studio silver coloured metal, which I used on a Kabuka mold, just picking out random squares...then antiquing with black paint and colouring with Glimmer Mists.




The top half has Ferro on the left hand side, which is silver..then stamped into...and Turquoise Precious Metals to highlight and then a few dabs of Silver Precious Metal on top. I used a Sequin stamp from The Artistic Stamper to get the bobbly look...it is such a versatile stamp to use for texture on backgrounds. The other half of the top half...*or if I was a mathematically minded bod, I would have said quarter!!!* was covered with Terra, which was stamped into with a dotty background and the sequin stamp again...then once this was dried, assisted by the heat gun, I painted it white, then used more Precious Metals to colour this in to match.



I added an Idea-ology frame, again aged with black paint, then silver paint over the top...the sentiment is a new Studio 490 stamp...and I added the large heart, stamped onto silver metal and refined to give it texture, adding Grungeboard swirls behind....and then finishing off with a 3d metal rose, stamped onto Peacock TSS metal, swirled freehand and black paint again and then popped together using silicone glue.




Thanks for looking...has everyone been watching the Ranger legends on QVC? How fab to see Suze, Claudine and Tim on the telly :O)) *and I have to admit, I may have made a little order LOL*

Hels x

Staple Diet....

...Mmm, so not perhaps what I eat...that certainly can't be looked as a "staple" diet...but...I did go completely bonkers with a Tiny Attacher when I made this tag :O) Hence...the staples!




The tag started out as a sort of copy of the Tims 12 Tags of Christmas version but without the Christmas and using just the Mini Stamps from the collection...and then blending different colour DI's over each image. The centre piece is a Memory Frame complete with a Memory Capsule filled with beads n bits n bobs...and a I made a mountboard back for it, stamped with a TH collection stamp too. Check out the ickle birdy...isn't he just toooo cute...I got him ages ago and have been waiting for something to use him on.




So, yesterday! Blimey, imagine the look on my ugly mush when I woke up to see a fair blizzard falling from the sky...never one to be deterred by a bit of snow, I hastened to the NEC, which is pretty close to where I live so it was only about an hour for me to drive...*and no, I wasn't driving like the clappers!!* I got the chance to meet Claudine Hellmuth...oh yes! The woman who made my crafty life by making Traditional Tan paint...and of course, I had to tell her that I love her paints and her art...even admitting I am on my 11th pot of the paint ROFL She is sooo sweet, and I found out that she is on QVC UK tomorrow at 2pm...so I will be tuning it to watch! I also met Suze Weinberg again...and took a photo of her and Jennie...which she has blogged ...and then I saw some crafting bloke called Tim who had a fair throng of peeps around him...but I did get to see the new Distress Ink colours...all of which are DIVINE and I need them all ... like NOW! The new Tim papers look FAB (neeed them)...and the new Idea-ology is pretty much perfect( neeeed them too)... But I have to say, the highlight of my day (apart from spending time with Jennie) was meeting Wendy from The Stamp Attic...who is soooo lovely...even if she did try to get a mugshot of me LOL

Thanks for looking...have a good week...tis snowing here still...brrrr....time to get the fire set and lit I reckon...I shall go and call for Grim to do this cos it is such a mucky job!

Sunday Stampers - Week 92 - Nowhere Man...

Morning Stampers!

Many thanks for all your lovely entries last week...all as fab as ever :O)) This weeks new theme is...MEN...'cos today is a special day ... I am going to be standing and gawping at some crafting bloke who is uber popular...think his name is Tim something-or-other LOL And...the song is one of my faves...blimey, most weeks the songs are my faves...see, I am as bad with music as I am with fave stamps ... another Beatles track which I hope you will be humming along to all day.




The first thing I made was a Tag, using white acrylic paint to stamp a scroll and then blending Distress Inks over the top of this, so it gives a resist. I stamped the birds and the sentiment onto the tag and then covered them with Rock Candy Crackle.




The man is stamped and embossed onto Grungeboard, cut out and then inked with DI's to tone in and popped onto silicone glue to raise him up a bit. I added some Rock Candy Stickles to the brolly but it doesn't show up in my marvellous photos :O# Still needing photo taking practice!




The second piece is a hangy thing, mountboard base which was covered with Trad Tan paint and then stamped with a combo of StaZons - Black and Cherry Red and then a swirly stamp in gold paint. Once this had dried I painted it all over with Rock Candy Cracklepaint. Once the Rock Candy was dry I added on the sentiment...isn't that just soooo cool and it goes with Brolly Man, who was made the same way as the other, this time embossed with gold and DI was Walnut Stain. I added on some Idea-ology and check out the button in the middle...I have been saving this for yonks, it was in a bumper bag of junk I bought on eBay and it is just as nice on the back as the front...thing is, I should have threaded it onto the wire instead of gluing it down!! Oh, I almost forgot to mention....all the stamps used are by...er...what's his name again....???? Oh yes, Tim Holtz :O))




Thanks for looking...as ever with the challenge, all you need to do to join in is make a piece of art, include some stamping and the theme...and then add a comment here with a link to the place you are showing your art. The theme will remain open until 23:00 Saturday 27th Feb '10. Have a great week everyone....

Hels x

Empire State Of Mind...

...Cos this is New York...*tra~la~la~la* I am just loving that song! Anyway, today is a brand new theme on the Allsorts Challenge...and the theme is to use to a Tag, Ticket or Label...oooh, just perfect for me cos I am into making tags at the moment! The title of this post refers to the theme of the tag...which is New York...somewhere I have always wanted to visit and not yet had the chance...one day I will jet off there and take in all the fab sites...and have a cwoffee...you see, I can already speak the lingo :O)) The stamps are by Tim Holtz from the Rockstar Plate...and I included a mini version of one of my fave sentiments of his.




The base of the tag had a bit of Gesso smidged over it and then DI's blended over the top, splooshed with water to make it drippy and then stamped with StaZon. I made a mini tag to add to the big tag for the sentiment...and added Idea-ology bits n bobs, check out the Type Charms...how cute! NY! Finally, I applied a libel dollop of Rock Candy Crackle over the top of both tags and once this was dry, I smudged some Rock Candy Stickles over to get some bling in there. All of the goodies used on the tag are available from The Artistic Stamper.





Thanks for looking...have a great day...change of plan for tomorrow...I get to see T!m tomorrow instead of Monday...I am soooooo excited... there will still be a Sunday Stamper challenge though...I am containing myself .. for the time being anyways :O))

Hels x

Playing With Wabbits...

...Over on the Play Date Cafe Challenge there is a new theme which is to use brown, red and linen in your art...how cool, my fave colours :O))



For my entry I have made a tag using inky splotchyness to create the coloured background - basically, rubbing DI's onto a craft sheet then spritzing with a mix of water and Perfect Pearls, swooshing the tag thru the inkyness and drying, then repeating until I liked the effect enough to stamp all over it...so most of the inkyness doesn't show...I need to hold back on the stamping I reckon LOL




The stamps are all Tim Holtz Collection and were stamping using Fired Brick and Brushed Corduroy, except for the star border across the middle, another image that isn't showing to well on the pics, but this was stamped in Trad Tan paint, this gives it a bit of texture too and adds in the linen colour required. The rabbit was stamped onto plain Grungeboard, which I had prepped with Tran Tan...he was heat embossed to make him pop a little and then I used ProMarkers to colour in his jacket and give some shading to his legs. I added a little scarf made using ribbon and wire so it looks like it is whipping behind him in the wind as he rushes along.




The sentiment is stamped onto a Ticket and the Type Charms hold a 13 and an H and the Bingo counter is a 40 ~ all of these are significant because...I am a 13th baby, my initial is...erm, H and...believe it or not (I know, you will all be wondering how on earth I have managed to keep such youthful looks ROFL) I am 40 this year.





The sentiment is just so perfect...'cos it never is too late to find out who you want to be...and as life goes on we can all change with it....blimey, that was a bit deep and meaningful...I had better revert to my usual juvenile self PDQ...hey, I am off now...to eat a McDonalds...there, back to being a big kid again :O))

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Hels x

Messy Desk....What Is That Smell????

.....I love it! I can sit and sniff it for hours...but does anyone else love the smell of freshly melted Beeswax? :O)) Here is my messy desk today...with a couple of projects that are just starting to take shape...one of them, hopefully, will be here tomorrow...the other is a bit of a secret for the time being LOL Did you spot the Tim stamps? A lot of them are being used at the moment...I am such a tart when it comes to stamps....somedays I loooove Studio 490, other days all I want to use are Tim's...but most days I use what ever I can get me inky mits on!




Pop on over to Julia's Blog....she has a whole host of peeps joining in showing their work areas, some are really neat, some a bit messy and some just a complete bombsite *naming no names of course* ;O) I should have posted this pic on the post below, which is Wednesdays offering of art...so if you haven't seen it already, please scroll on down and let me know what you think of the card I made ... ta!

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

Orange Is The Colour...

...of Grim's footy team (Luton Town)...which meant that when it was his bessie mates birthday the other day, I made a card that was...erm...very orange...but rest assured, not a single football in sight!




I used some of the fab Tim Holtz collection stamps...colouring the card base with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and then smudging Black Soot around the edges. I stamped the Umbrella Man and masked him off and then used the huge diamond background over the top...and added some of Tim's Staples and then added some of my own staples over the top.




I love using the birds on a wire over the top of Brolly Man...cos we all know exactly what birds sitting on a wire can do...now, did I ever tell you about the time we were in Whitby, we had excitedly rushed to the local fish n chippy shop and were sitting on the harbour wall, stuffing (well I was stuffing, Grim is more refined) faces with said fish n chips when all of a sudden a deluge of Seagulls arrived...making that funny bobabob noise and generally begging to be fed. When I didn't give up any of my delish cuisine,(I share my chips with NO ONE!!) one of them decided to take revenge...and flew down, low, very very low, over my head...well, it is supposed to be lucky...the only luck I had was that the said birdy poop didn't land on my sacred fish n chips...it just ran down the back of my head and into my collar....mmmm....nice ...thank heavens Grim is a proper gent and carries a hanky LOL Anyone who has been to Whitby will know what I mean when I waffle on about the heavenly taste of the fish n chips there...if you haven't ever tried them, you don't know what you are missing. So, back to the card...the rest of the card was distressed and edged and then had some Idea-ology added and then I added a little message mat that I made with a punch and some scrap card. Grim's bessie mate loved his card BTW...even if it didn't have a football on it!

Thanks for looking...have a goodly day!

Hels x

One World One Heart....And The Winner Is....

...Crikey, I cannot believe the amount of amazing comments that I was left for my OWOH entry this year....at 803 I am gobsmacked! As you know, I added more than just the one giveaway to say thank you to you all for your lovely comments and support...believe me when I say that all those lovely kind words have seen me through a tough time and made me feel really chuffed.

I have used Random.Org to choose the winners...and this is the order in which they came out...so this will be the order in which the giveaways are allocated. I will leave comments on each winners blog and ask for them to email me their addy. However, if any one of the winners doesn't come forward to claim the prize before Saturday 20th Feb '10, I will re-draw accordingly :O))

So...here are the winners;

SANDY From Stempelchaotin - Wins giveaway #1 Claimed Posted Out RM - 20/2/10



SHAZZA From Time to Craft - Wins Giveaway #2 Claimed Posted Out RM - 20/2/10




ROB From Creativ Spirit - Wins Giveaway #3 Claimed Posted Out RM - 20/2/10




LINDA B From Eclectic Visions of an Altered Journey - Wins Giveaway #4 Claimed Posted Out RM - 20/2/10




LYNN STEVENS From Trash To Treasure Art - Wins Giveaway #5 Claimed Posted Out RM - 20/2/10




I would also like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to Lisa who organised this amazing event...and I just cannot wait for the next one...something like this kinda makes me realise that the World ain't such a big scarey place while there are loads of not only talented but also completely bonkers crafters like me in it :O)) ROFL

Thank you ALL again....from the very bottom of my inky heart :O))

Hels xx


**EDIT**

Please peeps, I just want to emphasise that I did use Random.Org to chose the winners...it happens that a couple of them are peeps who comment regularly, but that is just the way it goes...I am being criticised again by yet another "anonymous" commenter...and I really do not want to make this whole giveaway thing turn negative. For heavens sake, there is enough bad in this world already, why make a good and happy thing like the OWOH turn sour. If ANYONE has an issue with the peeps who have been randomly chosen, please just email me and don't bring everyone else down with you? Thanks!

Wun Wabbit, Wun Wabbit....

...Oh how I have longed to be able to say Wabbit out loud! I may even be daring and say...Waskally Wabbits *just me then*LOL So, over on the Play Date Cafe Challenge the new theme this week is to use Red, Lavendar and Silver on your entry;




I was sitting here this evening, hopping about Blogland, as you do...when all of a sudden I was hit with the urge to get my Melt Pot out and play with some beeswax. And...this time I have been more careful and only burnt the side of my hand on the tag I was melting the wax onto...no clothing calamaties this time ROFL Now, when I saw the new Tim Holtz collection stamps one of the first ones I said I wouldn't get was the one with the Wabbit..cos I didn't think I would ever use the stamp. Time to eat my words now...I loved the backgrounds and the butterfly so thought that I could use the sheet anyways...and guess what? The very first stamp I have used is the blinking Wabbit! He is sooooo cute in real rubber and pics on the screen just don't do him justice. I can see he is going to be a fave of mine from now on...plus I can say Wabbit loads of times too!




The tag was cut from Mountboard...wanting something sturdy to apply the beeswax onto gave me this idea - it is 6" x 3" so the normal size I would use anyway. I applied a few smudges of Trad Tan paint to the tag surface using Cut & Dry and then added Dusty Concord and Fired Brick over the top...blending them as I went...and then did some background stamping using the foliage and schwirls from the Wabbit sheet (Spring Sprung to give it it's proper name) ...using Silver Dabber to make the impressions.




I then stamped Wabbit and coloured him with Pro Markers and then painted beeswax over the top of the whole tag... buffing to make it nice and polished once it had cooled. The butterflies were made in the same way...adding some more beeswax once the wings had been curled just to set them so. I added some black StaZon around the edges, adding a few schwirls in black to make it contrast and then finally, I added a sentiment from Wendy Vecchi and some micro beads to the Wabbit tail and the butterfly bodies.





Thanks for looking...have a FAB week...I am going to be sorting out the draw for the OWOH event later on...and will be posting the winners on here too :O))

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 91 - All You Need Is Love

Morning Stampers and Happy Valentines Day to you all...hoping you are all indulging in lots of chocolate and lurve :O)) Many thanks to everyone who joined in with the challenge last week...wow, there are some seriously delish roses out there...speaking of which, I hope that your beloveds have bought you some for today! The new challenge for today could only be one thing couldn't it...so, I chose LOVE...and the song, another Beatles classic is one of my all time faves - yep, another Beatles song so it goes without saying that I am going to love it LOL To join in with the challenge, all you need to do is make something, incorporate the theme and some stamping and then leave me a comment here with the link to the place you are showing your creation. The challenge remains open until 23:00 on Saturday February 20th.





I have always been a bit of a grump when it comes to Valentines Day and think that it is commercialism and why should I just have one day to tell Grim that I love him when I tell him everyday anyway...still, every year I succumb to the "romance" of it all and end up making a card for him LOL This year, I have done a card and a matching altered frame...using a combination of inky messy techniques and some delightful Wendy Vecchi stamps. The main idea actually came from a tut that Wendy had on her Blog (HERE) so I kind of nicked the heart idea and actually, more or less copied the whole tutorial! **anyone else think that Wendy is a Beatles fan too? Only, check out the titles of her last two posts :O))**



The card was made using some cardstock which was dipped into Cranberry and Sunset Orange inks, which had been swooshed over my craft sheet and then spritzed with Perfect Pearls in a Mini Mister. I made a few of these until I got the colours I wanted...now, Wendy was using Adirondack Pigment Inks for her tut...I have a fair few of these...well, I did have...until my drawer unit decided to eat them all up... they have fallen right into the back of the drawers...and the drawers are those daft "male" ones that are attached inside, so unless I grow some massive muscles overnight, the ink pads are trapped until the whole chest is moved :O( So, I improvised and used /adirondack dye ink pads instead :O)) which, I have to say, are loads richer in colour but didn't give me the pale washy look I wanted.




The background is made up from two different stamps, stamped with Cranberry and then I made a divider using a Martha Stewart punch. The heart is stamped into cardstock and swooshed thru more inkyness and then the little flowers and leaves are made from Grungepaper, coloured with DI's and then attached with silicone glue. Now, don't you just LOVE the sentiment? This is actually a Beatles lyric from a song called The End, which is the 2nd to last song, side B of Abbey Road...which I have to admit is my fave album too...ah, many an evening spent in my bedroom as a teenager, pretending to drum along to it...*back to present day* So, I was over the moon when I saw that this was on one of the new Wendy Vecchi plates...Isn't this sentiment just perfect?




I wanted to make something for Grim this year...I usually buy him something (which...*whispers* I have but don't tell him cos he doesn't know yet) and because I loved the card stylee so much I altered a photo frame, this can be for his study/computer room/den/room of boxes....ROFL I started by sanding the frame and then hammering it with Tim's texture hammer (actually, it is my hammer but Tim designed it...it would be just too funny if I had actually got the one that belongs to Tim!!!) I painted the whole surface with Trad Tan and then slapped on patches of Rock Candy Cracklepaint...which is my ultimate fave cracklepaint in the whole wide world ever....and once this was dry, I used a combo of red and gold Glimmer Mists...the clogged one was de-clogged! I now have a delightfully splattered tshirt though...(memo to self, when de-clogging GM's, wear a pinny) I rubbed some golden wax into the crackles to emphasize them but the pics really do not show it properly, I may try to do pics in the morning when it is daylight and see if it looks better with no flash!




The middle of the frame was made using some sturdy card, swooshed as before and then background stamped with Cranberry...and the With Love added a little too far to the right...whoops, forgot the card was larger than the frame apperture...actually, I did that on purpose really LOL




The heart is made from mountboard, inky swooshings and Glimmer Misted and then the same embellies as the card, except this time I used some Maya Road Trinket Pins and a pearl. The sentiment wouldn't fit as it is stamped, so I chopped it up and made it into little pieces, 3d'd them onto the cardstock and then bunged the whole thing together. I decided against adding anything else to the frame as I want the heart and sentiment to stand out...whatcha fink? Does it need more embellies on the frame? I hope Grim likes these...if he leaves a comment then we will find out :O))

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a great week....

Hels x