Simon Says....

...get a better internet connection!!! Actually he didn't say that but that is something that is deffo needed here at Chez Sheridan... more of that in a mo because I need to tell you about the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge this week. The theme is to Show A Word... so, haha, I happen to have a rather lovely stamp that is 297 years old and is a woodie... and it is also one of the original designs by the Duke of Distress and 297 years ago it used to find itself onto everything I made. And then, alas, I stopped using it.. in fact I can safely say it is a yonk and a half since I used it... then Dan comes to stay for the weekend and dusts it off the shelf and that is it, I need to use it... BTW, to see the amazing technique that Dan made up, click here to be whizzed off to his blog.


So... armed with the old Dream woodie, I attacked my Kraft Resist pad and went bonkers with the paper trimmer and made another tag-pouch - which, BTW, Dan suggested is now called a T'Pouch... so that is what it will be called from this day forth! Lots of Trad Tan and Distress Stains and Inks later, a bit of stamping and some chopping about, the T'Pouch was done... apart from the word.



I wasn't happy with the word just stamped onto the pouch... and I wasn't happy with just a plain scrap for it to sit on... so I made a banner... well, it is supposed to be a banner, although I do think my interpretation of a banner is somewhat removed from what an actual banner is.



Cor blimey, that was a whole lot of waffling about T'Pouches and stuff wasn't it??? No need to answer that lol So... yesterday I got myself all set up for a morning of desk hopping... got onto the internet and kapow... it stopped working... not a single whiff of connectivity! So, my lovely and rather handsome (even if I do say so myself) Tech Guy (in fact, that is Grim lol) spent 35 years yesterday sorting it out and by the time it was fixed it was time for The Apprentice so I never got chance to desk hop and today... well, projects are piling up so I won't get much time... I will try though... honest!



I got bitten yesterday... not by a wolf or anything alarming... although I think a wolf bite would be less annoying... no, it was a mozi.. or a gnat (another word I like... gnat) So... it has been very rude and has gone up my shirt and bitten me right in the place that is just out of reach of fingers... in the middle of my back! Grrr.. I have been rubbing myself up against door frames and rolling around on the carpet (blimey, that sounds naughty!) and now have resorted to using a ruler to itch the pesky bite.. I know you aren't s'posed to but... it is driving me nuts!!! Anyways... apart from the bite I am feeling more normal than I have for a fortnight because I went to see my Doc and he said that the new meds aren't working and the side effects are too bad... so I have stopped them. They made me hot, thirsty and a bit grumpy... not to mention the headaches! The thirst got out of hand over the weekend and I think that three pints of water and 12 cans of Diet Coke in a day is excessive... you should have seen his face when I told him that! Anyways, I am off them and already feeling heaps better... pain is still rubbish but hey, the new meds didn't make a jot of difference so... back to the drawing board again. Right... I have waffled on enough for one day... time to get inky again... thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

WOYWW... A Winner...

...Cor blimey and thrice indeedily!!! Tis Wednesday already!!! Cor blimey!!! Who pushed that fast forward button then? Was it you? Or... am I getting old and losing track of days? Mmm, no need to answer that one lol Anyways... tis Wednesday again and therefore time to pay hommage to the Desk Hoppers of the Blogasphere, led by the very esteemed Hopper in Chief, Julia Dunnit... if you click HERE you will whisked off to her blog to view all the other Hoppers joining in...




So... my desk... bor-ing! Actually, I am still in neat freak mode... I tidied up last week and although my Room of Stash got trashed at the weekend (not by me, I hasten to add lol) I have tidied up again and it is back to its clean and tidy mode... yes, you read that right... clean! No sluttish behaviour here this week... well, apart from that glass of black stuff that looks like gone off Guiness with paint brushes in it... that is actually me, well, not the glass of gunk, that isn't actually me... but that is my doing and I need to clean it away... maybe I will get around to it before next week lol On my desk this week is my latest tag pouch.. being made from Kraft Resist - oooh, I lurve this paper!


Anyways... time to announce the winner of the tag I was giving away last week... I had an amazing 93 comments!!!! Bless you all!!! So, I used Random.org** to chose the number for me and it came up with 34 - which tallied with the comment left by .........

MORTI - from Mad Ramblings... congrats! Please can you email me your addy so I can pop the tag into the post for you? Here's the tag again...



Well, that's about it from me for one day... time to get back to the Kraft Resist and Distress Stains... happy days!!! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

** - photo taken of screen cos I am rubbish and don't know how to do that downloadycopyjobbywotist lol

Tag-Velope 490 Stylee

...cor blimey, what a weekend!! Boiling hot and busy, busy, busy... I got absolutely nothing made and it was actually quite nice to just faff instead of concentrating. This tag turned into a Tag-Velope late on Sunday night.... and then sat there, sweating ever so slightly until I returned to the Room of Stash today to finish it off.


The base of the tag and the velope were smudged with TradTan paint.. and then splatted with Distress Stains. I used a gorgeous 490 background to stamp over the base of the Velope using Aquamarine Archival Ink,... and then added a word or two and a flower to decorate.




The tag was overstamped using Coffee Archival with stripes at the top and my fave flower border along the bottom... and then I added some pearls (they are on a strip so far easier than placing them individually!) I made a big Grungepaper flower, again using 490 stamps and Distress Inks... and added Maya Road chippie bits for the sentiment and the birdy.




So... tis a special day today! Yes, indeedily, it is our wedding anniversary... 9 years ago today I pledged my troth to my lovely Grim... I can't believe that all those years have just whipped past, it feels like only yesterday... although if you ask Grim he might possibly say that it feels like a lot longer rofl.... So, because it is our anniversary today, I bobbed a little Maya Road Bingo Counter onto the flower... and it is a #9! Cool huh!!




Anyways... time for me to get cracking on tidying up this messy old Room of Stash... don't forget to check back tomorrow because I will be annoucing the winner of the tag giveaway from last weeks WOYWW. Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

PS... Thank you to everyone who left me lovely messages about the Vagabond... I am waiting to hear back from Sizzix as to what to do.. watch this space!

Sunday Stamper - Week 160 - More Than Words

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all. Thank you for all the lovely creative entries to last weeks challenge... and it was also grand to see a few new entrants too :O)) This week the theme is set around a piece of artwork, rather than the other way around... more of that in a mo. The song title is a classic lurve song... and the theme is WORDS. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make a little something - it can be anything you fancy. Include some stamping and the theme and then leave a link here to where you are showing your entry and I can then hop on over to visit you. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 2nd July 2011.


As hinted, this project is the reason for the theme... I don't often make something and then fit the song title around it - that is far too much like hard work lol. However, my mate Andrea hinted that it would be lovely for her to have a few pieces of art up her newly decorated staircase... so I have made her a 12" shadowbox and filled it up with mini canvases and little bits and bobs. The shadow box itself was painted with good old Traditional Tan. I added some little wooden embellishments to the frame and painted over them... so they look like they are part of the frame. I used a piece of Cut & dry foam to smudge some Inka Gold "Old Silver" over the top and then buffed so it is nicely polished.



The base of the box is actually a 12" sheet of paper from the Crowded Attic stack. I dulled the pattern down by painting with Trad Tan... .using Cut & Dry foam to apply it and then letting loose with Worn Leather Dylusions spray and Vintage Photo Distress Stain. I used Coffee Archival ink to stamp some script and my fave mini harlequin stamp too.




The mini canvases were covered with music paper and old book pages... using Multi Medium as a glue... and then inked with Fired Brick, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Stains... and edging with Walnut Stain DI. My "words" part of this entry are in the little frame in the bottom right hand corner... utilising the fabby new Stuff to Say stamps from the Duke of Distress. The 42 is actually made from Idea-ology Numerals which have been triple embossed with white UTEE... and then smudged with Black Dabber to make them look old... they are significant because that is her house number and I wanted to make this piece that little bit extra special.


The rest of the embellies are either Idea-ology or found bits and bobs... my fave bit is the Monopoly Dog.. he is metal and is the last one of my metal pieces... I am now scouting about for old Monopoly games... the new ones are plastic and just aren't the same. Anyways.. .that is enough waffle from me... thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

Victor Est Morte!!!

...alas and alack... nay and thrice... indeedily I am beyond gutted today... I had planned to blog a tag I was making last night but... I went to cut Brolly Man using Victor Vagabond... and nothing happened... I lined up the gubbins, pressed the button... nothing... not a single peep did he issue forth. So, I checked the plug, moved it to another socket... tried again and it made a little strangle wheeeezey noise... and nothing else.


So, I tried the button to move it in the opposite direction... still nothing - apart from another strangled little wheeeezy noise... and then came the weird smell... like Scalextric cars that are over heating... you know, that mechanical metally burny smell. So, I have deduced that Victor is indeed dead, dead as a doornail... and I am GUTTED!!! I never realised just how much I loved him til he became no more. I mean, it isn't as if I have over-used him... and I used him yesterday morning to cut a dress form and he was fine... so what happened in those 12 hours is a mystery. I am probably going to have to go through the palaver of sending it back to Sizzix and having to wait for them to let me know what is wrong with him... and be without a Vagabond for goodness knows how long and of course, it is Saturday and there's no one there today... booohoooooooo And... above all else I was lucky enough to get a special UK sticker for him when I went on the Artsy Crafts day with the Duke of Distress.. and of course it is stuck to the side of him (Victor, not Tim rofl)... so, I am going to try and get that off... using a heat gun to gently heat the sticker glue cos that is what my lovely Grim told me to do and he is clever. Right... I am going to go and organise the funeral... I will have a couple of extra mourners today because Andrea and Dan have made mercy dashes to comfort me ROFL TTFN!

Hels x

A Form of Alteration...

...mwhahahahaaaa... did you see what I did there? A Form... of Alteration... I have made myself laugh which is so not a good thing... anyways... today is my day for the Bubbly Funk DT... and I have been playing with ink and Alterations and made another tag. All the deets on how I made it are HERE btw.




I got caught on the hop yesterday afternoon and it is certainly a lesson learnt... you see, I am a slob... I am! Honestly! I am!!! Say it isn't so lol Anyways... when I know I am having a day in and not going anywhere I have a tendancy to not do my hair or put make up on... see told you I am a slob. Well, yesterday I got caught out. I had spent the morning making a certain something for Andrea (she hasn't see in yet!) and I was just finishing up and the doorbell went.



Well, I went to answer it thinking it would be the Postie... ahem, NO! It wasn't Postie... it was Grim's Bessie Mate and his Mrs! So, I have answered the door wearing my crafting clothes (for that, read inky, painty and scuzzy clothes) and there they were! A surprise visit! Now Bessie Mate has never seen me looking anything less than groomed (for that, read hair brushed, make up on) And... even worse... Bessie Mate's new girlfriend has never met me before!!! I was seven shades of scarlet I can tell you... however, thankfully, they are both lovely and didn't laugh and point at me and call me a slob or anything. So, lesson learnt... I shalln't get caught out like that again I can tell you. I got up extra early today and have myself all coiffed and made up, mind you, wearing lippy to clean out the lit tray is probably a bit excessive but AlfieCat is impressed lol.




Anyways... I had better get a wiggle on... Andrea is coming to stay with me this weekend and I have stuff to do before she gets here... namely tidy up the Room of Trash... alas it has become that again... obviously I have been busy entertaining and spending a yonk doing my make up and all that... but that really is no excuse!! Right... gotta dash... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

It's Grungy Monday...

...time again! Yeehawwww!!! Tis time for the Grungy Monday challenge again and this week my lovely Ranger Sister, Linda Ledbetter, has pulled a fantastic technique out of the archives of the one and only Tim Holtz. HERE are all the deets of the challenge.... and HERE is the link to the technique on the Duke of Distress' blog.




Now, I have never tried this technique before... and I had to do a couple of dry runs - mainly because I couldn't get the embossing right. No matter how many times I did the whole ink, stamp, sprinkle, heat thing, I just could not get it to go right... I know! Who knew embossing could be such a pain in the bum! The first three efforts were, for want of a better word, cack! The embossing powder was over cooking and soaking right into the paper... so when the Espresso Dabber went on, it just looked like seven shades of... erm... poo!


Finally... I got it sussed... I was holding the heatgun too close to the paper and spending too much time trying to melt one patch of it. I have been embossing for 832 years and have never had a problem before... so I am blaming the new heatgun I have (ahem, a poor workman always blames his tools and all that) it is a lot more hotter (oh how my English teacher would cringe if he read that). Anyways... enough waffling. This tag is TOTALLY inspired by the tag on the technique by the Emperor of Embossing... you see, I have the papers! I know! Not often do I get chance to use up papers that have been lurking in my stash for 284 years... but yep! Yeehawwww indeedily because I just knew that one day I would use those Wanted papers from Crate Paper. Actually, I did use them eleventy-hundred years ago when I made a card with them.. but alas, they have been neglected. So, now I know this technique, I will be using it... again... and again... and again!



So... I copied the tag Tim made... cheating I know.. but sometimes you know you just see something that is perfect and this design is that. I love to make stuff that has pockets, layers and pouchy things... and the pouch at the bottom of the tag is a FAB idea... I used the new Pennants On The Edge die to make that... I thought that the diamond shape tied in nicely with the rest of the design... and of course, because I can't seem to make anything that doesn't feature a flower and Idea-ology I got stuck in with that too. I tell you what, I loved making this tag... I had the best fun, even though I mucked it up several times... and I now have an idea to challenge myself... to use this technique on loads of different papers I have... nay and thrice, I could make a series of tags... oooh, you see, one nugget of inspiration lodges in my bonce and there is no stopping me...




Well, I have waffled on enough for one day... apologies for the shortest post ever yesterday (if you haven't seen it, I am giving away a tag on it :O))... and for no post at all on Tuesday... you see, these new meds are playing havoc! Not only was I walking around like a zombie and falling asleep at the drop of a hat, I was also suffering with the mother of all headaches... like 52 hours worth of headache. I think I am starting to get used to them now but on Saturday I have to up the dose again! Eeeek!!! I wouldn't mind if they actually were making a difference but they aren't... at the moment... guess it may take a while, who knows. Anyways... I have waffled on even more now lol Time to get inky again... and painty... more tags to make lol Right... offski... thanks for looking... have a grand day... TTFN

Hels x

WOYWW... Plus a Giveaway!!

...another Wednesday which means it is time for the phenomenon that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday... hosted by the inimitable Julia Dunnit... all the deets of THE hop of the week are HERE.



So.... my desk is a bit messy because I took this pic about half an hour ago... just before I finished this tag... which is what I am giving away to one randomly drawn commenter!





I missed out on the anniversary WOYWW a few weeks ago, so I thought that I would do a little giveaway now.... and also as a thank you for all the lovely comments that I get left each week... the tag is one of those massive ones, painted with Fresco Finish paints and decorated with metal bits and bobs... and because it is metal, I am also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp & Show this week...




Anyways... if you would like to own this tag, please leave me a comment... I will pick a winner next Tuesday (28/6) evening and announce it next Wednesday... am off to get painty again... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

Archiving Studio 490...

...well, yes, indeedily... another rubbish title for a post but... it is sort of relevant, in a round about way. I am not actually archiving anything, I have, however, been using some of the new Archival Inks from Ranger. I was lucky enough to bag a couple of these lush new colours when I was at Ranger U and finally, I got around to playing with them.



The tag base is coloured with Distress Stains.. I am loving the intensity of the colours - Wild Honey, Fired Brick and Dusty Concord (oh how I NEED all the other colours.... NOW lol) Anyways... the Stains were spread onto the tag, spritzed with water to blend them a bit and then dried with a heatgun. The gorgeous florally background was stamped using Aged Mahogany (oh how I NEED Aged Mahogany in a Stain... NOW lol) Oh I forgot... I used Fresco Finish paint to smidge around the edges of the tag as a bit of a resist (Snowflake colour btw).



The stars in the background were stamped with Monarch Orange... corrrrrrrr... tis a lushly-licious burnt orange colour and goes perfectly over Wild Honey as a tonal stamping colour. The flower Art Part was bodged... seriously... baaaaadly bodged... to the point that I had to paint over the top of it and start again... only now, the photo is not picking up the colours on the petals... which is more of the Monarch Orange with a dash of Aged Mahogany on the edges... oh and I used Sap Green for the stem and leaves and over stamped with Olive... they go together so well too! All of the stamps, inks, paints, stashly goodies on this tag can be found at The Stamp Attic... except for the ickle star dangly thingy which is from Michael's... so if you are in the USA that is cool... if you are in the UK and Europe, that is pants and WE NEED A MICHAEL'S in the UK lol (plllleease???)




Anyways... enough of the waffling for one day... actually, it is still night... because I was all set to go to bed about an hour ago and then I saw the new inks in their storage jobby and I decided just to have a little stampy play so I could see what the colours looked like and then I decided to try and stamp them over a Stained tag... and then I decided that seeing as I had done that, I could try them on an Art Part... and then I bodged that and had to paint it and try and do it again... and then I spent 382 hours trying to sort out the stooopid camera so it wouldn't flash and that didn't work so... here I am... still waffling away and now eyeing up a rather blank looking canvas and a pile of diecuts that are talking to me... saying "Heeeee-eeeels, come and plaaaayaaayyyy" Whatcha fink? Bed... or... play? Mmmm, we'll see... TTFN!!

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 159 - All Around My Hat

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all... many thanks for the fab steampunk entries last week... all gorgeous creations. This week I asked Grim to choose the theme... sometimes I just can't think of anything new... so I was rather chuffed when he said "HATS"... and a cool song title to go with the theme too! To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make a little something, it can be anything you fancy, include the theme and some stamping, leave a comment for me here with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I will hop on over to visit you. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 25th June 2011.


My entry this week is something a bit different... actually, it is and it isn't because it is a tag... but there is also a tagvelope... cool name huh? Well, it is a donkey's yonk since I last made one of these folded tag jobbies and I decided to take it one step further and include a normal size tag inside the tagvelope. You do realise that I will be saying that word over and over now... tagvelope...


The large tag is hoooge and is a perfect size for folding... so, I used Snowcap Dabber to stamp some images and then went over them with Weathered Wood, Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Stains... and for the main tag, I also used Chipped Sapphire DI - I wanted the white bits to look like a blue-print... well, it sort of does... if you squint a little lol


I used a combo of Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi Steampunk stamps... you can find these at The Stamp Attic BTW. I used mountboard to cut some Gadget Gears and coloured with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Stains... and then cut into them so only part of them are on the tag...


I added a few bits of Idea-ology to the tag and the outside of the tagvelope and used a piece of Grungepaper cut using the Hardware Findings Alterations die to make a closure for the tagvelope... all in all, I am rather chuffed with the idea of making a tagvelope... I enjoyed this almost as much as I did making that pouch last week.


Right... that's me for today... I hope that I managed to leave comments on all your entries last week.. Mr Blogger was being pesky and refusing to let me comment... I think I have just about caught up now though. Ooooh, and I very nearly forgot... Happy Father's Day! AlfieCat has been ever so clever and gone out and got Grim a bottle of something nice... and he made a card for him too... I have such a clever furbaby lol Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Three For One...

... it is official!! I have been living under a rock for the past 837 years... I mean, how could I miss the Tag It On Challenge!!! Anyways... now I know about it I shall be taking part muchly because after all, when do I need an excuse to make a tag lol. So the theme this week is "Numbers Game" - all the deets are HERE. So I got cracking making my tag... starting out with a bit of Faux Batik... which just so happens to be the theme on Grungy Monday... details of this challenge are HERE - based around this fab technique from the Duke of Distress... and then... Lo! I saw that I was scruffing up the edges and doing a bit of tearing... so that meant it fits the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge this week too... deets HERE. Haha! Three challenges on one tag... and two of them not intentional either.


The Dressform is cut from mountboard and the Sewing Room Alterations Die.. stamped over in Victorian Velvet with a marvellous old Tim stamp of a dressmaking pattern, clear embossed and then altered with Vintage Photo and Aged Mahogany and then ironed!! To remove the clear embossing... love this technique! The base of the tag had a line of numbers stamped in the same way.. over the top of Antique Linen with clear embossing... ironed... etc...



The wings behind the dressform are actually from the Crowded Attic Salvage Sticker set... a Cut & Dry Nib was used to pick up Aged Mahog and Vintage Photo inks to colour the wings... and I blended Vintage Photo onto the back of them so the edges weren't left a nasty white colour.




The edges of the tag were scruffed with an Edge Distresser and I tore the numbers part off a Journal Ticket and used my lighter to singe the edges for a proper burnt look... I was UBER careful with this bit too... knowing how clumsy I am, I literally offered the card to the flame and blew at the same time... don't want burnt fingers now.


Anyways... today over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog there is a giveaway... namely an ATC I made... plus some fabbylicious new stamps to go with it... so... all the deets for this giveaway are HERE... please do hop on over and leave a comment if you would like to win... oh and if you leave a comment here too... you get entered twice ;o)) Right... that's me for now... I start my new meds this morning... wish me luck, I am keeping it all crossed that I don't have any side effects... and that they work!! Enjoy your weekend... get inky... Ta for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Cracking Colorwash...

... I had a lovely time getting inky and painty with Colorwash Sprays and Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paints. If you haven't tried the paints, here is what I think *not that I am an expert but I have used a lot of paints in my time soooo... * they are lush! I could waffle on for ages about the different properties, the chalky smooth finish, the fab crackle that dries completely flat so stamping over the top is easy... but I shalln't bore you lol. So, I painted my tag with Little Black Dress, dried it, a very thin layer of Crackle Glaze went over the top, applied with a spatula jobby... and once this was dry (you can heat dry it) I used Snowflake... the crackles look amazing!




The Colorwash Sprays are a firm favourite - even though they are really messy, I can't help it.. I love the bright colours that instantly appear... so, I used a combo of Red Pepper and Cranberry, spritzing water over the top of them and drying with a heatgun. While the tag was still wet, I used a papertowel to remove a bit of the top coat of paint... leaving patches of black showing through.




I made a flower and ruffled it up with some leaves... using Hot Picks for the stamping. The seam binding ribbon was dyed with the same Colorwashes, as was the sentiment card. The ickle moth has a blister pearl body and I popped three of them at the bottom of the tag too... I can't remember where these came from because I have had them in my stash for 783 years... they matched so well with the colours though... oh and the ickle dragonfly is a Steampunk Charm from The Stamp Attic.



So... I had a teensy bit of a mishap with the old Red Pepper... well, my hands were a bit wet, a mixture of water and sprays... and the little nozzle jobby that you press down to release the sprays flipped around under my wet finger and delivered a rather large splat of Red Pepper, right over my face and neck... I looked like I had the measles! And yes... the Craft Scrubbie works on faces... gently does it though lol




Knowing how... errrr... mishap prone I am, you would think that a fizog full of Red Pepper would be enough self colourization for one week. Well, why stop at the face... why not get matching hair too! So... yesterday afternoon I was busy making samples for classes and had the old Alcohol Inks out. Recently my right hand has been playing up and bit and I keep dropping things... and a bottle of Watermelon Alcohol Ink dropped right out of my hand and headed towards the floor - knowing darn well that it was going to bypass the plastic mat I have under my chair and head straight for the carpet.. why does that happen! Anyways... it landed under my desk, so I went to pick it up, went to straighten up, banged my head on the desk, said bottle of Watermelon was lid-less, it got a bit... squeezed and being as I was using my elbow resting on my chair to lever myself back up off the floor I had no room to dodge said Watermelon...





So, I now have an altered fringe... it is brighter than a badgers bum and I can tell you quite sincerely folks that Blending Solution doesn't work... it just spreads it out even more. So, I tried Surgical Spirit, that got the ink off my forehead and eyebrow but not the hair... so... I am now sporting a rather fetching bright pink streak. **it actually looks worse now than before, I shouldn't have tried to get it out lol** Well, thank goodness it wasn't green!! Ah well... it will fade... eventually... hopefully!!! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Grungy Monday...

... a new week means a new challenge and yes, I am a little bit late at joining in with the Grungy Monday challenge but it is worth the wait because I had a whole heap of inky fun playing and making my tag. Devised, invented and hosted by my lovely Ranger Sister, Linda Ledbetter, all the deets for this week's challenge are HERE. And of course, not forgetting that the very clever and uber inspirational Tim Holtz... this week his technique HERE is the one to try out.




So... armed with a tag and a teensy bit of Mojo, I set out to get inky and try out this technique again. It is like a Batik but instead of clear embossing ink and powder you use a pale colour Distress Ink and clear powder... so I chose my fave Pumice Stone (I NEED this in a Stain!) and stamped up Tim's birds and a rather splendid clockyspinery-thingymabobs that I can't remember the name of... stamping, embossing and then using Distress Inks over the top to create a resist.


I didn't bother really chosing the colours, I just grabbed some and went with it... so, on this tag are Rusty Hinge, Stormy Sky, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain. Then ironing the resist off and doing some stampy bits and then decorating with Brolly Man - I stamped part of a clock onto his brolly. The On The Edge Iron Gate was cut from Mountboard, coloured with Walnut Stain and then sprinkled with ickle dusty bits of Queen's Gold Embossing Powder... giving a bit of a rusty effect. I added a little round Fragment with a little clock stamped image under it and finally added some Idea-ology to finish. I wasn't 100% sure about the colours at first but they have grown on me now - not my usual style but it is good to do something different right?



So... last night... did you see the Moon? You know that supposedly blood red Moon that was going to be eclipsed by the Earth? Did I? Did I chuffery because... it was raining! Huff! I got myself all excited that I would see this rarely seen phenomenon only to go outside to see cloud and little else... then by the time the clouds had gone the Moon was back to normal! Why does that happen huh? Anyways... time for me to stop with the waffling and get on with the creating... I have a few ideas buzzing about my bonce and need to get cracking before I forget them all lol Have a grand afternoon... TTFN!

Hels x

WOYWW...GM WIP + 2

...acronyms... don'tcha just love 'em? Well, I do cos it means that I get to be all cryptic and mysterious... mmm, maybe not lol Anyways... tis Wednesday and time for the bloggers of the world to unite in the mahoomoth (note new word - a combo of mahoossive and mammoth... feel free to use it lol) Anyways... yes, Wednesday... What's On Your Workdesk the weekly event hosted by the one and only Julia Dunnit... and I have not had chance to join in for a few weeks so am rather chuffed that this week I can! The acronyms in the title... well the GM is Grungy Monday, I am in the middle of making my entry... I challenged myself to use loads of Distress Inks on my tag - ones I don't normally use... hence lots of inkpads out of their storage... am not sure about the colours yet.. maybe it will grow on me... or look nicer once I have covered most of it with embellies lol


The +2 is actually two other projects that are there waiting patiently for me to stop pontificating and get on with finishing them.... one is going to be a grungy, distressed and inky folder using Art Parts and those Binder Ring jobbies of Tim's... well, not actually his cos I don't think he'd be too chuffed if I nicked his stash... but YKWIM... see more acronyms. Oh and the other thingy is a little shadow box... really ickle... waiting to be transformed Studio 490 stylee. There's a yellow post it note with a reminder on it... new series of Dexter on FX on Friday at 10pm... I must NOT forget... which is why I have written it down... can't miss the new series!! Right... time for bed said Zebedee... have a goodly day... and see you in Blogland! TTFN

Hels x

Simon Says... That's Torn It!

...well, sort of... Simon actually said to show ripped/torn/distressed edges... I have gone with the distressed edgey part of the challenge because I lurve my Egde Distresser. The deets for this weeks Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge are HERE if you fancy joining in.. oh and do check out the arty pieces from their DT.. corrrrrr!!!


So.. off the back of the pouch thing I made for the Sunday Stamper, I decided to make another.. told you I would get addicted to them! Oh yes indeedily, I now think that every tag I make should have its very own pouch... oh I love that word too... saying it over and over again makes me giggle (little things amusing little minds and all that)


The pouch is just plain white card, folded, cut etc, the front and back of the main parts of the pouch have some Crowded Attic paper which has been painted with Trad Tan and then Stained to within an inch of its life. I wanted a contrast between the colours of the pouch and the tag, hence the paler look for the pouch. The flower is made from Glassine...cut with the Tattered Florals Alterations, scrunched and then spritzed with Red Pepper and Cranberry Colorwashes. I wanted a little "cup" for the pearl to sit in... so I punched an inch and a 5/8th circle of Glassine... snipped a frill around the edges and coloured with Sunset Orange Colorwash and then nested them together.


The tag had the background stamped with Trad Tan... dried, Stained... using Spun Sugar, Fired Brick and Vintage Photo with a smidge of Walnut Stain... oh and I forgot to say... I scruffed the edges up with my Edge Distresser... I think that is pretty much for the tag... I had a lovely time playing and making this though... kind of satisfying to get covered in ink and paint!




I had a fabby day yesterday - and thank you for all the lovely messages and birthday wishes... I felt thoroughly spoilt all day. I have been busy this morning... you know I got mucked about with my clinic appt last week? Well I went today... and have been told that I need treatment again so I am now waiting for an appointment so the Dr can shove a chuffing mahoosively hoooge needle into various points of my back... this time I will get sedated though... thank goodness because after last time... akkk, I can still feel it now!! Oh and she has changed my meds too... so, if I start talking gibberish you will know when they have started... *whatcha mean you won't be able to tell the difference? lol* Right... can you hear that noise??? That is the sound of my desk calling me... thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x