Ciao Italia!

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




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

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 105 - Wings Of A Dove

...Morning Stampers and many thanks for all the fabby entries to last weeks challenge, it was great to see some new peeps joining in too :O)) This week the new theme is... WINGS. It can be any kind of wing...birds, butterflies, bees, bugs, angels... To join in with the challenge is easy; simply make a piece of art, blog it, leave a comment here with a link to the place you are showing your art, I can then come and have a nosey at your lovely creation...simples :O)) The challenge will remain open until 22:00 Saturday 5th June (arghhhh ... June already... we all know what that means...*gulp* only a few days til the big FOUR-OHHHH!!)




For my entry this week I spent a lot of time faffing with Grungepaper and Grungeboard, making lots of little embellies for my altered piece. I used only Studio 490 stamps by the very talented and incredibly arty Mrs Wendy Vecchi. I just love her stamps, they are sooo versatile, I may have mentioned a couple of times before my addiction to them LOL If you haven't used them before, check out her blog *click on her name above* and see the amazing unique art she makes... so inspirationals!





I started off with a wooden house shape to alter - painting it the usual way... Trad Tan.. and then a good thick coat of Rock Candy Cracklepaint. This was set aside to dry and then I got cracking on making the centre bit. I wanted a layered look, so used Nesties and my Bug and cut a few shapes, coloured them with Distress Inks - this week I used Crushed Olive, Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey... for a change ROFL




I made some backgrounds on the layers using more 490 images - some stamped into water first for a bleached out look too. Once layered, I added some Idea-ology, those ickle teensy brads are so sweet, you know, I have never noticed, they have little marks in them, like a screw would have! Cuteness!




The Grungeboard and Grungepaper was stamped several times with the Butterfly and the Mini Butterfly and then coloured with same DI's. I stamped some leaves and flowers and then added on some little beads that were part of a goody bag that Annette sent to me to play with... thanks hun, those Amber beads... perfect colours for this project!




The large butterflies have two layers and then some more Idea-ology added on - Foliage leaves and Trinket Pins for the body and some extra wingy things...all held together with a brad - and this time I was truly careful and didn't poke the pokey tool thru my hand ROFL Finally, little birdy (which is Maya Road) was added on, I used a Mini 490 stamp for the wing.. so cute! Oh, and as usual, the colouring on the wooden frame is done with Glimmer Mists, spritzed and dried immediately with a heatgun so they dry nicely and don't go muddy. Please feel free to join in and also, if you would like, grab the logo for your sidebar *points upwards*. Thanks for looking - have a FAB week... TTFN

Hels x

**PS - Soz for the rubbish pics, I couldn't get the proper look of this piece cos it was too dark so I needed a flash... will try to get more pics later on - if the light is right :O))**

Creatively Written...

... I got an award!! It is a special award and here is the blurb that goes with it:

1 Express gratitude to the blogger who bestowed the award unto you... Copious, grovelling …I am not worthy… SO - many many many thanks to the lovely & incredibly talented Darcy

2 Display the picture on your blog proudly.


3 Be nice and provide a link to the person who gave it to you.

Find DARCY's blog HERE


4 Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth, or switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie. I'm not telling which is which :)

5 Nominate seven creative writers who might be into doing this. I am passing this one on to Bloggers who make me smile, laugh, emote in some way or another... basically, talented girlies whom I admire *not in a lezzy way though PMSL* :O))

6 Post links to the seven blogs you nominate and let the owners of those blogs know:

So here are my Lies &/OR Truths....

1) I once got into the Final of a talent competition but was pipped to the post by a Little Jimmy Krankie impersonator - my act was Fire Eating and singing Amazing Grace at the same time.

2) When I was at school I once climbed onto the top of the Gymnasium for a bet, the school bell rang and all my friends ran off back to class and left me up there. Then they forgot I was up there at home time and left me there all night in the freezing cold. I had nothing to eat or drink with me, so I had to take rainwater from a gutter and eat moss and spiders.

3) I once drove Tony Blair (when he was the Prime Minister) from Nottingham to London. He came to say thank you to me at the end of the trip. I didn't shake his hand though.(PMSL)

4) I have an IQ of 158 and am a member of Mensa.

5) When I was in my last year at school, I was bitten by a weird bug and my left arm swelled up to the size of a tree trunk and I was hospitalized for 3 weeks. The bug got away and no one ever really knew exactly what it was but the Dr's took some of my blood and made an anti-venom in case it ever happened again to anyone else. To this day, over 2 people have been saved because of my bravery.

6) I hold a full HGV driving licence, a full PCV driving licence, a full Motorbike licence and not only can I drive big lorries and buses, I also have a small aircraft Pilots Licence too.. all that on top of being a train driver.

RIGHT! Whatcha fink then peeps? Am I a total big nosed liar.. or is there an element of truth in each statement...or are they all TRUE!!!!

I hereby nominate the following peeps and again, say a hugely grovelling and muchly appreciated thank you to Darcy :O))

LINDA

ALISON

SHAZ

MINXY

GERRIE

LAURA

HELEN

That's all folks :O))

Parlez Vous Francais???

...Moi? Non! LOL Actually, I can order a ham and cheese sandwich and a coffee with milk in French, sadly that is the limit of my capabilities...call it too much dossing about in school... Anyways.. I am not here to talk about my linguisticly challenged brain... I am here to show you this card I made using some fabby Paris themed stamps by TJ Designs, which are available from The Stamp Attic.




The card is actually a postcard on a card... that was the plan when I set off with it this morning anyway as the theme for the Lots To Do Challenge this week is Mail Art. I used some cream textured cardstock and covered it with a combo of Ginger, Rust and Butterscotch Adirondack Dye inks - spritzed the whole lot with water to make it more blended and then added on some of the stamps. I made a little postage stamp using one of the rubberstamps... stuck this to the card and then used another of the stamps as a "frank" - so it looks like it has been posted. The little wax seal is by 7Gypsies - I have had these for literally yonks... and hardly ever used them! I emphasized the seal with a bit of gold Krylon pen and then added on some brads and lacey trim.




The stamps and inks etc are available from The Stamp Attic... I have some Italy ones to play with now too.. so I am off to get inkier and even messier now. I woke up feeling heaps better this morning, thank heavens cos this week has been pretty yuk. I still need to get the room sorted... I know, those four last boxes are not unpacking themselves you know... Grim is going to add some more shelves for me so I have more storage space... that will be tomorrow hopefully so I should be all sorted by ... er... well, soon! Thanks for looking - don't forget there is a new Sunday Stamper theme tomorrow morning... TTFN... or should I say.. Au Revoir! LOL

Hels x

Flowery Powery...

... did I mention that I am the UK Co-ordinator for the Gingersnap Creations Flower Art Exchange?? *oh how I looove saying that.. makes me feel all important LOL* Anyways... a few of us joined in with an Art Exchange, using a template made by Shar, then just decorating the flowers however we fancied.




As usual, for want of not being different (!) I used Distress Inks to colour the cardstock and then used a selection of Wendy Vecchi's FAB Studio 490 Stamps... I looooove these stamps, you may have sussed that one out already :O))




I used some Grungepaper to make a big floral decoration for the flower and added some Rock Candy Stickles to it for a bit of bling. Just a quicky post today... I am feeling a tad better - thank you for your lovely comments yesterday - just feeling a bit jaded so a day taking it easy is in order I reckon. Thanks for looking... have a FAB day... TTFN

Hels x

WOYWW... Not Contagious...

... At least I hope I am not... for you see, a severe bout of ickyness has befallen me *sad face* Apologies for not being here for a couple of days - I have been as sick as a pig, now either it is a reaction to the injection or I have eaten something dodgy *and with my cooking, the latter is more than likely to be the culprit LOL* Needless to say, I am absolutely shattered and the pain in my back is totally horrendous, I think that that act of "talking to God on the big white phone" has made things a lot worse though. *Sympathy needed please.. I know, all I ever seem to ask for at the moment is sympathy... I am such a wretched creature ROFL*# Anyways...today is Wednesday which means WOYWW.. led by Julia, the Leader of us nosey parkers... come on, join in, tis fun to see what everyone else is up to :O)





I am ashamed of this pic today... don't look at the mess below my gorgeous shelves - they are fab and I have three more that Grim is going to put up for me - I need more space for the rest of my wooden stamps and for bits and bobs, hence the detritis on the desk! It is a culmination of all those little bits and bobs that haven't got a home in the not so new room at the moment!




Anyways, thankfully, I managed to join in with the brand new Gingersnaps challenge before the sickness arrived - the new theme is a Color one and the colours are... Black, Burgundy and Ivory. I love this combination and I could have made something really classy... but... being a lazy old moo, I just picked up whatever was laying about close by and made the above card instead... I am really loving using the spikey flower from Tim's Alterations to make a Crysanthemum-like flower. For the background stamping, I tried a different way of the "watercolour" technique, instead of spraying water onto the inked stamp, I sprayed water onto the craft sheet and dipped the stamp into it, more controlled amounts of water onto the inky bits and I loooove the effect :O))




The base of the card is coloured with Aged Mahogony Distress Ink and then I added in some stamping using Tim stamps and an Idea-ology Book Plate for the greeting. Those little Idea-ology pins are so addictive, I neeeeed some more already :O)) Now, if you fancy a little challengey thing today, hop over to the Gingers, they have some amazing art on there from the rest of the DT. I am off to hop around to see as many peeps as I can before I have to retire to my sick bed again, I am hoping I can get about to see as many of you as I can this week but I apologise already if I don't make it... have a goodly day peeps... TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 104 - Rip It Up & Start Again...

...Morning Stampers, first of all, thank you to everyone who joined in with the challenge last week... so many divine works of art to see on my "hops". This week the song title has been inspired by my love of the 1980's and a new radio station I have found on DAB called Absolute 80's - and it literally is all 80's music... FAB or what?!




So.. the theme this week is to use something Ripped or Torn on your artwork. To join in is simples - make a piece of art and blog it, leave me a comment here with a link to the place you are showing your art and I can hop over to see you. The challenge is open until 22:00 Saturday May 29th (blimey, who fast forwarded May already???)




Now, my entry this week is a really quick piece... Let me say THANK YOU to everyone for your lovely comments and support about my "injection" - let's just say, it hurt A LOT... and once it was over and done with I had a bit of a giddy spell and ended up having to have some Oxygen 'cos my Sats had drops to 75% - not good at all! I think it was the combo of having a socking great canula in my arm with a saline drip and the fact that I was 100% awake for the epidurals.... note I used the plural... I had four in total but thankfully the lovely Dr used just one big needle instead of four smaller ones. There was a bit of a problem getting the needle in - I have scar tissue there cos of my op from years ago and she was having trouble getting the needle into the place it needed to go - anyways... all is well apart from the soreness, which will pass.. BUT.. I have had a reaction to whatever was injected and spent most of Saturday in bed, feeling very yukky and very sorry for myself *pauses for the sympathy to come rolling in* However, I have dragged myself from me sick bed and made a little hangy piece for the Sunday Stamper :O)




I used an old book, Distress Inks, Tim's Floral Alterations and a bit of Idea-ology to make it.. added some wire for the hangy bit and that is it really... a really quicky piece. The flower is just loads of the spikey one, coloured and layered up and then a brad thingy popped into the middle... Maybe I will feel better today and be able to make something else... in the meantime... THANK YOU all again, you have been so lovely and sent me lovely messages and left sweet comments, it has made it a whole lot better for me... TTFN

Hels x

Altering It...

... Aha! How come I am here and not laying, supine on the sofa, groaning for sympathy after my ordeal yesterday??? Well... truth is, it is actually Thursday and I am scheduling this post to coincide with my latest Tutorial for Gingersnap Creations.. which is all about my favest subject... noooo, not that... Altered ART!!!

I did a couple of pieces for my Tutorial, showing how to make something ancient and a bit shabby into something pretty - this spoon infact:




And then I made a Trinket Box which started life as a plain box from QD stores. Now, answering Q's from several of you lovely peeps... QD is a shop that sells just about everything from crockery to garden supplies, sweeties to home furnishing... and it is really cheap too.. which is fab for me cos I love their wooden stuff to alter... This box is for the latest lot of Idea-ology that has come out, my old Idea-ology box hasn't got enough compartments!




All the details on how to make these pieces can be found on the GINGERSNAPS blog... please pop by and tell me what you think... in the meantime.. have a fab day... I am hoping that I will be ok for making the Sunday Stamper tomorrow! TTFN

Hels x

Tick... Tock... It's...

Twelve O'Clock! Actually, it is a little past midnight but hey, who counts minutes when they have a massive, big, huge, enormous, terrifying and very scarey day ahead??? Mmmm, I am counting seconds now... Tis the big day, the day of the injection... and I fear for my skin, I truly do. Honestly, big strapping lass like me should be ok with a little bit of pain... but what I keep reminding myself is that I may be a big strapping lass, but I am "you know what" scared of neeeeeedles!! Big neeeedles!!! Eeeeeeks!!!! Big Eeeeeeeks!!!! So, I am sitting here and thought that I would do a post showing some of the tags I made at Ally Pally - I know, I am rather late with them, they were packed up and I found them the other day LOL




They were all made using those divine Artistic Stamper Cog and Time stamps... these are my new faves... they are Steampunky without being too "out there" .. if you know what I mean :O))




The colours are a combo of Distress Inks and the new Crafty Notions sprays, which are .. LUSH! The colours are perfect, and they have just the right amount of sparkle in there too. The moulds are made from Mold & Pour - and then I used a Tim clock to make one mould, one is a face and the other is a keyring that Jennie brought back from USA - tis Johnny Depp as The Hatter, it comes out fab with UTEE poured into it and then black ink to highlight the wiggly bits...



Ah well, time for me to say TTFN I think.. I shall bid you adieu and hope that I will be able to get here later... otherwise... I scheduled a post for tomorrow anyway.. tis my turn doing a Tut for the Gingers :O)) thanks also to everyone for your lovely comments and emails.. bless you all.. am still a big fat scaredy cat though ROFL

Hels x

PS - Just had a thought, I had better be here later, tis the very very very last Ashes to Ashes... *SOB* Is it just me or is anyone else upset/excited/can't wait to see how it all ends but wishes it wasn't ending??? :O))

Havin' A Rummage...

.. and I found some old Scrapbook albums I did yonks ago... Honestly, I used to spend hours doing LO's and, since this inky stampy malarkey took over, I haven't done a single LO. Well, I had a good old clear out when we moved and found some really nice LO's I made ages ago.. this is one of me... by me :O)) Check out how plain the LO is - nowadays I have collected a whole load of stash and would do this totally differently... actually, that could be a challenge for me, to make use the same pics and colours and do something totally new... I guess I never got past the beginner stage of Scrapping ROFL






The pic was taken about four years ago on a trip to North Yorkshire - we were on the North Yorks Moors Railway at the time and Grim did a close up *and yes, his camera did still work afterwards LOL* ... we had just been away to Skiathos for a week, hence the freckles - I don't tan, I just freckle, peel and then back to pale and interesting again LOL The pic reminded me of a nickname I was called when I was little.. FreckleFace... so that is why I named the LO this. Anyways.. I just wanted to share it - it was done long before I began to blog so I really don't think it has been seen before ... and you probably won't want to see it again ROFL Have a great day .. TTFN

Hels x

WOYWW ... To Coin A Phrase...

Who Fast Forwarded the whole week??? Anyone else out there thinking that it is Sunday when in reality it is Wednesday again??? Someone took last week and pressed Fast Forward I reckon! Anyways... Happy Wednesday and a brand new WOYWW starts... click HERE to go and see our Julia, the leader of the clan of WOYWW'ers :O)) I have done two pics of the room today, first one is my desk - very untidy and DI's all over the place cos I haven't unpacked their storage yet... and the second one is a close up of my computer desk... complete with all the manuals and instructions books for the gadgets and gizmo's I have... oh and the very first piece of Altered Art I made... a little baccy tin covered in Rob & Bob papers - which was supposed to be for ATC's .. but then it got too small ROFL




Anyways... I have shelves! Yes, Grim was as good as his word and on Friday last he put up loads of shelves for me so I could unpack the last few boxes and get the Baskets of Stamps out... erm... in actual fact, that hasn't happened yet cos my back has gone! Well... not literally gone ...wish it had then I wouldn't be able to feel the beggar paining me!!! ... but you know what I mean... So I have been taking things easy and not doing a right lot at all... which is bugging me cos I really want to get my room sorted! And... on Friday I have to go into hospital so they can stick a metre long *maybe a teensy exageration there* needle into my back - I am having an "epidural" but apparently it won't affect my legs - am DREADING it ... no anaesthetic either... eeeeeks!!!!




So, enough about me and my ailments... *did I mention I have a whiff of a head cold too??? ROFL* and let me tell you what else happens on a Wednesday... Gingersnap Creations have a brand new challenge! This week the challenge is Quotes - and I made a flower... Using Distress Inks and Wendy Vecchi stamps, I did some bleachy stamping by dabbing the background stamp into water and then popping over the DI'd piece... then zapping with the heat gun.




Did I mention before that I am the UK/Europe co-ordinator for the Gingersnaps latest swap? I didn't??? Well, I am co-ordinating the current swap and am making my own flowers to go in the swap... Shar has sorted the template and we literally just download it and then get stuck in.




Right that is enough from me... time for my meds and time for me to try and get at least one box done today! Don't forget to go and say Hi to Julia... and thank you too to all who visited me last week... I reckon I got about 75% of the entrants visited.. hoping to get everyone done this week LOL TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 103 - Red Light Spells Danger... PLUS Candy Winner!

Morning Stampers... and a very big THANK YOU for all your entries last week - it was great to see so much fabby art :O)) This week the new theme is RED. To join in is simples *those MeerKats again peeps* ... Just make a piece of art that incorporates the theme and some stamping... once you have blogged, leave me a comment here with a link to the place you are showing your art and I can come and visit you :O)) Last week I was offering some Candy as a thank you for all your loyalty during my move. The winner has been chosen by using the very techernical way of writing all the names down *peeps who joined in got in there twice* onto paper, folding them up and popping them into a bowl (I don't possess a hat!) The name that was first out was... *dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dahhhhhhh*

Liverpool Lou - Congrats hun, thank you for joining in and please can you email me with your snail mail addy :O))






Now, plenty of you will know that I have just moved house... ergo, I have a new Room of Stash... and plenty of you will know that I am *very grudgingly* sliding towards 40 - in fact it is exactly 4 weeks til the big day and 'cos of the new room and the lack of things on the walls, I decided to make something to commemorate the milestone in my life, at the same time as using all my fave things and little bits of junk I have been hoarding for yonks.



Remember a couple of weeks ago I was almost weeing myself with excitement cos I found a QD store here? Well, I made a visit to said QD and bought this AMAZING 12" square shadowbox frame - and it costed the princely sum of £5.99! Cheap or WHAT!! It would have been very rude of me not to buy one... and you know how much I loooove making Shadow Boxes.




I used a piece of 12" square white cardstock, chopped up randomly and then coloured with Distress Inks; Old Paper, Fired Brick, Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain. I then used only Tim Holtz Collection stamps for the er... stamping... it was nice to go back to the original ones he first brought out instead of just using new ones or mini ones. And, cos this is a 12" piece, I could use some old faves on it too.




The frame was painted with Trad Tan (I know, am now on 16th pot ROFL) and then I applied a generous coat of Rock Candy Crackle... Once this was dry, I spritzed on a combo of Glimmer Mists; Peppermint Stick, Chocolate, Starfish & Walnut Gold and using the heatgun *everyone .. you HAVE TO read Lin's post HERE about heat guns!!!* to dry the mists as they hit the Crackles... this makes them soak into the crackles, which looks fab. As I said, I have been hoarding pieces for yonks and a few years ago won on eBay, a bag of junk that had been dug up by some bloke with a metal detector... well, in this bag was a British Rail button and an old ASLEF badge - goodness knows how old these are but how utterly perfect to add to a piece of art that is especially for me :O)) *for those who didn't know .. I used to be a Train Driver*




Anyways, that is enough of my waffling for one day - please feel free to join in and grab the logo for your sidebar too - the challenge will be open until 22:00 Saturday 22nd May. Have a fab week everyone :O)) TTFN

Hels x

By The Pricking of My Fingers...

... Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!!!! But... it was all in a goodly cause - my wonderful friend Andrea and her friend Kate are doing the Playtex Moonwalk tonight. It starts at midnight and several thousand ladies walk either a half or a full Marathon distance around London... in their Bra's! The fun part is that the bra's can be really decorated. Andrea, bless her, asked me if I could sew on a few embellies to jazz her boobies up a bit - little did the poor unsuspecting lass know that I can't even sew on a button.




Anyways... helped greatly by a fab idea from Wendy, I used some Grungepaper and some of Claudine's Sticky Backed Canvas and applied this to some material remnants that I have had lurking in my stash for about 100 years. I then whizzed these through the Cuttlebug with the Tattered Florals Alterations Die... these make AMAZING flowers!




I then got a needle (that is the ouch part) and some cotton and stitched the flowers together and sewed in some pearly beads to the centres. Getting totally carried away with myself, I butchered an old bright pink tshirt that I had never worn - it was unearthed during the move and alas, was waaaaay too small for me now, so that made the little bright pink flowers.




The shoulder straps then had little flowery shell sequiny things (I am sure someone will have the proper name for them) and beads sewn onto them. Now, around the bottom of the bra's I sewed some beaded fringing... and nay and thrice, I hadn't stretched the elastic enough, so when the poor girls tried the bra's on, they nearly got their circulation cut off *memo to self... don't do beaded fringing on elastic!* However, all is not lost, Kate has seen to the fringing.




Now, the IMPORTANT bit. This is a fundraising event and if you would like to make a donation for Andrea and Kate, their Just Giving page is HERE. All the proceeds of the walk go to helping to fight Breast Cancer - which is a very worthy Charity. So, GOOD LUCK to Andrea and Kate 'The Chatsworth Chicks' and I hope that their boobies stay safe and secure in those bra's and I haven't... erm... booby trapped them with my sewing ROFL TTFN

Hels x

And Now For...

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




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




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




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



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

Hels x

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

WOYWW - Guess How Many Boxes....

... I have unpacked??? Remember the past couple of weeks I have been a right lazy cow and done naff all in my new room? Well, for fear of being told off by all those lovely *but ever so slightly bonkers* followers of Julia, the esteemed leader of the WOYWW crew... yesterday... I unpacked... *pauses for dramatic effect* 23 boxes!!!!! Yes folks, my room now looks more like a room and less like box hell :O)) I am paying for it bigstylee today, my back is cracked.. but it is worth it :O))




I have taken a couple of piccies as it is at the mo - I have a couple of boxes in here that belong to Grim, a couple that belong to Christmas so will go into the loft once it is boarded (tomorrow...yipyah!) and then a couple more that can't be unpacked cos it is stuff for shelves... and I am waiting on the shelves being put up. Now, dilemma time. Do I tiptoe into the garage, snaffle Grim's drill and get it upstairs and try myself... OR... do I exercise a little patience and wait for Grim to do them on Friday? I realllllly want to have all my shelves up cos I reallly want my room to be finished... BUT, I know, I truly know, that if I attempt to put a shelf up, it will either be down within a second or will be all wonky and nothing will stay on it. Notice that there is a tin of polish in my room...sitting next to a duster. Now, please don't worry, I haven't gone over to the dark side and started doing the H word... no, I used this yesterday just to wipe over the desks and the photo's and stuff. Also, as a precauation, there is a First Aid kit...knowing how dangerous and clumsy I can be, I thought it would be a good idea to have one of these to hand ROFL





On the computer desk - how cool, I have a computer desk!!! there are all my Craft Stamper mags, my Somerset Studio mags and some books. My ProMarkers now live here too - as do a couple of photo's - one is of my Gran, bless her, she was a darling and this pic was taken when she was probably my age - there is also a pic of Grim - taken on his birthday when we were on holidays in Skiathos, he looks so happy in it, tis one of my faves ... and also to go on to this desk is the printer... *does a happy dance* I am having the printer in my room... so that means I can just print something off and not have to walk a hundred miles downstairs to get it! And... under the desk..well, you can't see that yet cos I just stuffed it all under there and it needs sorting LOL




Anyways...enough babbling from me - can you tell I am excited by my new room??? I cannot wait for it all to be finished so I can come and play properly - I am so missing playing and making art, you wouldn't believe! Oh and I almost forgot... check out the window... in need of a swag or curtain, but the view is right onto the Spinney at the back of the house... there are a couple of big fat Wood Pigeons that sit on one of the branches and watch me watching them! Don't forget to pop on over to see Julia - I love this WOYWW lark and it is nearly a whole year since it started so there is something special going on too... which I have to join in with! TTFN - have a FAB day

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 102 - We Are Golden + Candy!!!

...Yes indeedily Stampers, we are all Golden - cos we lurve stamping so much LOL Morning and apologies for the late start of this weeks new challenge... put it down to an excess of Chinese food and lack of sleep ;O) Basically, I stuffed my face with Chinese last night...then nodded off on the sofa - I had every intention of making this post before bedtime, but alas, I started a-snoring and was told off by Grim - apparently, I snore really loudly, I cannot for the life of me think that this is true though ROFL





Anyways... without further ado - THANK YOU to all who joined in with the challenge last week and here is the theme for this weeks challenge - to use GOLD on your art work. To join in, all you need to do is make a piece of art - card, ATC, tag etc... and then once you have blogged, leave me a comment here with a link to the place you are showing your art, then I can hop and see you. I am also adding in some Blog Candy as a thank you for your support during my house move and for visiting me when I haven't had chance to come and visit you :O)) It is a little collection of stashy stuff; an 8" canvas, some Idea-ology in a little box, a Tim Holtz Ruler Book, some tags in two different sizes, some flowers, the little box I made for my entry...





There is the piccie and with the logo, which you will need to pop into your sidebar to be in with a chance of winning. As ever with the Candy on the Sunday Stamper, if you join in with the challenge as well as leaving me a comment and linking from your Blog, you will have your name into the hat twice :O)) Simples! *as the MeerKats would say...is anyone else totally loving those Compare the MeerKat adverts?? And, why do they have Russian accents? Aren't MeerKats African??? I digress, as usual!! *





The little box was painted with Alfie ... don't worry, I haven't taken leave of my senses and started using my puddytat to paint things, no, this is a little matchpot from B&Q ...tis nearly as nice as Trad Tan! Then I added some Gold dabber with my finger so highlight the woody bits.... then I stamped scrolly bits on (Mr Holtz's collection) and then I added a Book Plate, which was painted and sanded and then highlighted with gold.




I also made a tag - nowt new there then... colouring the base with a combo of Broken China and Stormy Sky DI's - then sploshing water onto it to make it a bit grungey, then using some sequin waste and gold dabber and my finger again to make some little dots on the background. I stamped some backgroundy images and the sentiment (again, Mr Holtz's collection) and then added a piccie from the new Lost & Found paper stack - popping this behind another Book Plate which had been painted, sanded... you get the picture (LOL) I filled the centre of the plate up with Sepia Accents to make the photo look even older and then roughed the edges of the tag and used some more Gold dabber as highlights.




So... to join in with the challenge, all you need to do is make a piece of art, blog it, link it, add a piccy of the candy logo in your sidebar with a link to here, leave me a comment - if you join in as well as linking, you get entered twice. The challenge will be open til 22:00 Saturday 15th May and then winner will be chosen at random from a hat. Thanks for looking - have a fab week! TTFN

Hels x

Happy Birthday Craft Stamper!

... today see's the 10th Birthday edition of Craft Stamper magazine... and it is a copy that you realllly need to get your mits on - I have mine already and it is chock full of fabby tutorials and a really cool Masterclass on how to use a Bind It All by Linda Elbourne. The contributors for the mag were asked to make a card for the web Gallery - which if you click HERE you will be magically transported to - there are some divine cards on the Gallery so it is worth taking a look... not to mention the Web Extra's too.




My card was made using the usual - Distress Inks and Grungepaper and a few Tim Holtz stamps... and the Idea-ology Type Charms say CS - which is for Craft Stamper :O))



There is a great article in the magazine also about which is your favourite project from the past 10 years - I chose one by Carol Quance which really prompted me to start stamping and also to get a Bind It All machine ... Happy 10th Birthday to Craft Stamper and here is to many more years of this fabby magazine! Gotta dash now ... I have started something that I shouldn't have... unpacking boxes...which are now all over the place... and I am sitting here typing away when I should be fettling ROFL TTFN... oh, and before I dash off... there will be a brand new Sunday Stamper theme on Sunday... with a little bit of Candy too :O)

Hels x