Off The Cuff...

...Cor blimey, who turned the sunshine off??? Today is dark, dingey and damp so what would I normally do on such a day??? Yes, I would sit in the Room of Stash and get thoroughly covered in ink. Mmmm, that is a plan but... Mr "I am on holiday so leave me alone" Mojo has really done a bunk! So... last night I was sitting here bemoaning the fact that I have loads of idea's for making stuff but not actually the wherewithall to make anything. Tis a sad but true fact that no matter how much coaxing I am giving the old scoundrel, he is probably sitting on a sunlounger with his arms crossed and a vexed look on his face. *am wondering why my Mojo is male? That really doesn't make sense but... he is... which is probably why he is being so stubborn! LOL* Anyways... this has happened before - and for some reason it is making habit of being every January - so, I am point blank refusing to let Mr Mojo win and I decided on a plan of assault... namely grabbing my Studio 490 stamps, Distress Inks and an ATC blank... oh and some Grungepaper and a bit of Idea-ology thrown in for goodly measures.



This week I have tried the Challenge Hels where I just stick to a few ingredients and that hasn't worked so I decided last night to make an ATC - going back to basics and old favourites is bound to work isn't it??? Well, it kind of did! Yes indeedily, I made an ATC and really took my time over it, adding more stamping and some faux stitching for details... making a big Grungepaper flower embellishment, cutting up a big leafy stamp to make little leafy bits. Making an epoxy Memo Pin (this is THE best idea - all thanks to the wonderful Wendy Vecchi for this amazing technique which I lurve!) and adding a little pom-pom cuff *hence today's title* to the pointy finger hand image... another thank you to Mrs V for giving me this idea!!!




So, with my ATC assembled and finished I was sitting there fiddling about with a scrap of Maya Road Crochet Trim and decided to turn it Bundled Sage... I love this colour heaps and it has to be one of my fave DI colours - it is soooo versatile because if you put it with browns it looks green... if you put it with blues... it looks blue! Anyhoo's, Crochet Trim altered I thought to myself that I might make a card... and the ATC would make a perfect "topper". I have thought of doing this before but just never got around to it... and now I have found a perfect way of saying ner, ner, ner to Mr Mojo too LOL One of my favest techniques is colouring a piece of cardstock with Distress Ink - the whole piece the same colour... and then stamping script or text over the top in the same DI colour. Well it just so happens that one of the Studio 490 stamps is a mahooosive text stamp, so I did that, blended some Brushed Corduroy around the edges, added the Crochet Trim, doodled some faux stitching around the edges to match the ATC, popped some Idea-ology Washers and Brads thru and... voila! One finished card!




Now all I have to do it try to coax the old Mojo out of hiding... but saying that, if you were given a choice of spending a day in the Room of Stash with me or spending the day on a hot sunny beach (which is very obviously where the blighter is at this moment) what would you choose??? I am going to make sure that when he does decide to return that I use my new Glue Gun and stick him to the desk LOL Oh and... thank you to everyone for your warnings about the Glue Gun being super hot... mmm, I haven't tried it out yet... but... I did borrow Grim's when I was doing my 12 Tags and I have to say that when that hot glue lands on skin and fingernails it does kinda smart a bit!!! Right.. time to go and start my coaxing, wish me luck... and if you do happen to see it, please send him right on home to me LOL Thanks for looking.. have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

PS - I have just realised... this is my 100th label for Studio 490... that is a lot of Studio 490 projects LOL