I Challenge Thee...

...oooh, I do love a good challenge and this week sees the 4th "I Challenge Thee" (already!!!) between me and Ellen. This week we decided to make things a little tougher... in as much as we weren't allowed to use any inks for colouring etc... nay and thrice! We were only allowed to use ink for stamping the sentiment!!! So, the item to play with was a 4" square canvas and the ingredients were: Terra, Paint, Stamping, Sentiment/Word, Grunge Flourish, Clearly 4 Art and... HANDMADE fabric flowers! **gulp**




Ah for the love of the God of Crafting!!! I can hardly thread a needle, let alone sew a button on, so how on Earth was I to make a fabric flower??? Well, it just so happens that thanks to the miracle that is Skype and the cleverness that is Ellen, I had an "online" live tutorial. Well, you would think that there would be a bit of a hurdle to start off with being as I don't do "fabric" - like I wouldn't have any... aha! Ellen very kindly bought me some when she came (all the way from America!) to stay with me last year. So, with said fabric, a pricked finger and a bald patch from the hair pulling, I finally finished my very first handmade flower... I shalln't show you it because I fear you would fall off your seat laughing at it... and then you could sue me for not warning you about offensive content on this post!!! LOL Oh and do hop on over to see Ellen won't you... I haven't seen her canvas yet and I just know it is so going to be gorgeous!!




So... a whole lot of waffling later, I did it! Yes sirreee (said in my best American accent) I made a flower... and then, as ever, I got ever so slightly excited and plonked myself onto the sofa to catch up several episodes of Doctors that I have on the Sky wotsit and, several decades later, I had made three that were... well, usable, for want of a better word. Anyways... all the pics here... they are of my finished canvas, which I hasten to add, looks nowt like I envisaged because I made the flowers too big (blame the cack-handed sausage fingers for that one) But... I do love the colour, which is... well a mix of purple, green, Trad Tan and gold.




Anyways... moving on, like you do... this here is a little sneaky peepings at my entry for the brand new Artistic Stamper Creative Team challenge... which has just been posted HERE. To see all of this bit of art... and the gorgeous projects from the other girls on the team, please do hop on over, oh and as ever, there is a fabby candy prize up for grabs too!




Anyways... again... blimey, this is a long old post, maybe I should have warned you when I started waffling... oh but, I just had a thought, maybe you have nodded off already LOL Well, I promised photo's of the drive... and photo's of the drive I have... only two because the others were a bit...erm... poo really... I need to get them jazzed up in Photo-wotsit-thingymajig... however, I have been going on alarmingly about this here "distressing for drives" and the concrete being laid... well, it was!!! Huzzah and thrice! and... I have a piccie of the "stamps" they use!!!




How coolio are they!!! And... here is a piccie of what these here stamps do to the concrete. It is still mega dusty as it has a special thingy-doofer on it at the moment... but then once the concrete has "gone off" the nice man from AJ Imprinted Driveways **I said I would give them a shout... if you decide to ask them to get your drive done, tell them "Coffee Lady" sent you... I will share the commish with you ROFL** is going to come back and wash it off, then seal it and then do some other stuff to it... oooh, I am even more excited now to see what it will look like. Apparently the colour is, from what I can gather... a mix of Frayed Burlap, Pumice Stone, Walnut Stain and a smidge of Fired Brick, just scattered in patches...




Oh, and if you really fancy a giggle... imagine this... from the front door out across the drive is a plank of wood, balanced on a crate at one end, and a crate at the other... so we can get in and out of the house...errrrrm... well, I walked the plank, or should I say, wobbled.. and suffice to say, I shalln't be doing that again in a hurry...I have visions of it snapping and me landing face down in the still slightly wet concrete... I shall leave you with that vision... and I shall say... Thanks for looking... apologies for waffling on ... and... TTFN!

Hels x

One World One Heart 2011

Hellooooo and welcome to my blog and to the final One World One Heart event. My name is Hels Sheridan... I am addicted to all things inky and crafty... I hope you enjoy your stop at my blog!



I took part in the OWOH event for the first time last year and loved every minute of it and I made some lovely blogging buddies along the way... Here is the "door prize" which will be shipped to one randomly chosen comment...




For this years One World One Heart event I have made a metal hanging using Ten Seconds Studios metal, tools and molds and Studio 490 stamps. I won't go into great detail on how I made it because I know how many peeps join in so there is a lot of blog hopping to be done, so I won't hold you up :O))



I wanted the piece to be heart themed to go with the whole event title and also added the word art in there too... just because that is what unites us all on this ever so special blog-athon.




I hope you like the piece I made, please do leave me a comment and a way of contacting you in case your name is picked to win this hanging... oh and do let me know if you are joining in with the event too and I will hop on over to see your blog :O)) I will be chosing the winner totally at random... and I will ship the prize worldwide too :O))





Thanks for looking... enjoy this wonderful phenomenon... and...I would just like to say a THANK YOU to Lisa who has organised this for the past five years, I am going to miss it!! TTFN

Hels x

Oopsie-Daisies!!!

...oooh, you'd have thought that by the time I reach 40 I would be able to tell the time...well...erm... I can't... and... I have only gone and posted the One World One Heart event a day early... I got confused (something that does happen regularly) and thought that midnight on 30th was today... actually it is tomorrow... so... I have removed the OWOH post (ooops... LOL)




Anyways... here is a card I made last... well, I say a card, actually, it turned into three cards!!! What happened was... Grim says he needs a card for his Uncle and because I am oh so organised (yep, Resolution is still intact even now, the end of Jan - well, I have broken most of the others so the making 2 cards a week had to stay LOL) anyways... I have shown Grim (rather smugly I have to admit) all the cards I have made... and guess what!!! He chose... a really old one that wasn't birthday themed and asked if I could recreate that one and incorporate the birthday sentiment on it.



Well, never one for passing up a crafting challenge and opportunity, I set about recreating the original and did it in the Brown DI colours Grim wanted... then, I got a little overexcited and decided to make another using only blue DI's... And then I went totally over the top and made a third using only Orange DI's... and ... for the first time in about 900 years, I used... Dried Marigold! I have a bit of an aversion to this colour for some reason when actually it is a beautiful colour... it must be a throwback to my childhood, living in fear of a relative getting married and expecting me to wear a peach frock (actually, it never happened but the fear was enough ROFL) So... three cards, one theme, one style... and all different!!! Whatcha fink?




So, what have you got planned for today? I am looking forward to my weekly Skype session with Ellen and starting our new I Challenge Thee challenge. And then I shall be doing a "warm weather dance" because if it doesn't warm up above 3degrees tomorrow we won't get the concrete down on the drive... eeek, I am getting breathless with the anticipation of seeing this humungous stamp that they use for the imprinting! Right, I am off to lay down in a darkened room with a big clock and learn how to tell the time!!! Thanks for looking... have a GRAND Sunday... oooh, which reminds me, if you are looking for the Sunday Stamper... it was posted yesterday (cos ...erm... I couldn't tell the time ROFL) TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 139 - Sentimental Journey

Goodly Morning Stampers!! Don't worry, you haven't fallen asleep on Friday night and woken up in a parallel universe... it is Saturday... and also, don't worry, I haven't gone a bit bonkers in the last six days and forgotten that a Sunday Stamper is set on a Sunday... cos this week it is starting a day early. And the reason for this unheard of before occurance? Well, tomorrow is the start of the blog-athons to end all er... blog-athons with the worldwide phenomenon that is... One World One Heart 2011... but more of that later!




So, last weeks challenge was really popular (I think it was my choice of song title that swung it you know ROFL) so... thank you everyone who joined in... and that challenge is still open until 21:00 tonight. Anyways, I am starting this weeks challenge early... so you will have an extra day to play too! The theme this week is as the song title would suggest... SENTIMENTS. To join in is simples... make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, altered art, tag... tis up to you. Include the theme (which this week can be any kind of sentiment) and a bit of stamping... then leave a comment here for me so I can hop on over to see your entry. The challenge will stay open until 21:00 Saturday February (already!!!) 5th 2011.




My entry this week is something I have been planning to do for yonks. Last year I made a similar piece but did a load of stamping behind the fragments. This time I wanted to use the Lost & Found paper stack... simply because it is chock full of images that are just perfect for collaging. One of my fave techniques is to layer up underneath the fragment... so you have an enclosed collage. I even went so far as to make an itsy collage under the smallest square fragment.




Running through the collage of fragments is a general theme of ... erm... me!!! Well, I wanted to make this for me... I wanted the frame to be permanent but to be able to change the centre when I got bored of looking at this one. So, you will see lots of initial and numbers... but the one I love the most is the large oval at the bottom of the frame. The paper said Sunday... it would be rude not to use it... so I added on a 1 and a 39 - the age of the challenge this week... and adding on the dictionary def "inspiration" because I get so much inspiration from all ye who join in each week. Oh, and... the harlequin stamp... I know, I use it almost everything I make and it is getting a bit old but I still love that stamp the best!




So... I mentioned the One World, One Heart event earlier. If you haven't heard of this before do hop on over to Lisa Swifka's blog where all the deets are. Basically, it is a mammoth hop around all the peeps who join in. In a nutshell, you make something to giveaway or arrange some candy to giveaway. Then you make a blog post, email Lisa with your deets and she very kindly sorts it all out, so there is a blogroll to click off and off you go, into the Blogosphere. Last year I met some wonderfully talented crafters and have made friendships through this amazing event. Sadly it is going to be the last OWOH ever... so it will be worth joining in!!! I think that last year there were over a thousand entries!!!




Anyways... that is me for today... I hope you don't mind me starting this weeks challenge early! We were supposed to be getting the drive finished today...but... *sad face* it is tooooo cold for the concrete... so fingers crossed Monday will be warmer and it will be done then. I am just excited to see the humungous stamp they will use! Have a grand weekend whatever you have planned... thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Lurve Is The...

...Tag!!! Hands up who thought I was going to say drug? Which, I have to say is a fabulous song... anyways... I am in the mood for lurve... oh dear, I am singing again... simply because you are near me.... (you are sooo lucky that you didn't hear that ROFL) Ahem... where was I??? Ah, yes, my latest tag... is lurve themed... I had this little flash of inspiration the other night when I was making my Love Configurations box... and decided to incorporate a few elements from the Duke of Distresses 12 Tags... and I came up with this... rather overloaded... tag.




The base was covered with paper from the Seasonal Stash pad... I cut a Rosette and sanded it a bit to make it look shabby. The Trim was coloured with Peppermint Stick Glimmer Mists and then dried on the radiator... oh you should see the radiator in my room... yak! It would be no good for drying clothes it is so inked up!! *I so want to make a rude comment about drying drawers but I won't... I shall be ladylike... for a change LOL* I know, I should wipe it off but... it looks kind of grungey... which is probably why I like it!


The little heart on the Rosette is made from UTEE. I got this diddily little heart yonks ago and so didn't want to use it... so I made a mould from Mold & Pour and then used Red Poppy UTEE... I made a heap of them at once so I have a nice little stash to grab at... oh and I also whacked some black Dabber over it to grunge it up a bit. The ickle crown is Idea-ology and glue into a raised position with hot glue... oh how I love my new Glue Gun.. tis FAB! The 14th Feb stamping is using my ancient date stamp - which is probably one of my favest bits of stash ever... it dates from 1948 to 1959 - so it is almost as old as Grim (don't tell him I said that will you LOL) The letters are cut from the Lost & Found stack and mounted onto card for dimension and then I chopped some photo's from the L&F stack and popped them behind Film Strip.



So... I did the fair weather dance yesterday and it didn't work!!! Grrrr... the drive is looking even more mahooosive now you know... the nice chaps have been tamping down hardcore stuff and mapping out the lines and edges... but... snow is forecasted for today and if just a few flakes fall, they will cobble up (aha, scuse the pun... cobbles, tis what pattern we are having LOL) the concrete setting and colouring malarkey.




The huge stamp they use is so going to feature here... I cannot wait to stand and watch them doing that... anyways... we are waiting until Saturday to get the concrete down so we will only be a day behind... and... we have to wait 10 days after to put the cars on there!! Ferdy is going to look so smart though so it will be worth the wait. Right... time for bed for me... another late night!!! Although... I have to say... I think I craft better when it is dark outside... maybe it is my inner vampire?? Oh and I almost forgot to say... that pic up there... is a card I made using yesterday's sketch - but instead of using inkyness I used papers... tis all on the Bubbly Funk blog if you fancy a gander... Right, bedtime!!! (ooh, I said that already!!) Thanks for looking... have a fabbylicious day! TTFN

Hels x

Challenge Hels...

...aha! Yes, I could tell that he was losing interest you know... that he was already planning his trip abroad... who? Mr "I need a holiday" Mojo... yes, he is quite the cad you know... one minute he is all cosy and telling me that he will never leave and then the next minute off he pops... leaving me in a Room of Stash and no inclination or idea what to make next! So, a few weeks ago you may remember that I made myself a book to sketch ideas in... well, I have foiled that Mojo chap... because I had a sketch I had...erm... sketched... and... the challenge was that I wasn't allowed to use a single Distress Ink at all.




Blimey! I cannot remember the last time I made something inky without Distress Inks (except for an Alcohol Ink card last week but that doesn't count...cos...erm... it is different ink!!! ROFL) Anyways.. the challenge was to use only Adirondack inks and the sketch I had...*here we go again* sketched.




The colours used were particular too! I had to use Butterscotch, Slate Grey, Cranberry, Pesto and Espresso. Not a chore to be honest as I do love using these dye based inks... they do smoosh around lovely when mixed with water. So, I got very messy, smudging the inkpads straight onto the craft sheet and then spritzing with water and dipping the card into the mix. I love that the inks go into little bobbles which then leave little dots on the card.




This is a pic of my sketch in my book... feel free to use it if you fancy joining in with my Mojo bashing! You don't have to use the inks I chose... in fact, I like this sketch so much I may well go and make another card right now!!




Ooh, and ... check out the drive!!! And check out the mini digger... oh how I have been yearning to get into it and have a scoot around the garden in it... I did kind of mention to the nice man who drives it that I would like a go... he looked at me as if I am mad... can't understand why he would think that! And then he told me that they tip up really easily, so I have changed my mind now ROFL You should have seen the amount of stuff they dug out yesterday, a mahooosive truck arrived that had a clampy jawlike thingy that literally scooped all the dug out stuff and loaded into the back of the truck and off it went! And... the biggest surprise we have had... the drive is huuuuuge!




Before we had to faff about with Ferdy and Gordon (I hasten to add, I did not name Gordon, poor old Grim, my mentalness has rubbed off on him) where was I? Ah yes, Ferdy and Gordon... on the drive, only just room for them both... now it wouldn't surprise me if we had room for two more... which is a good thing because... I really, really, really would love a Hillman Imp and I am whittering away at Grim to buy an old wreck and then we could do it up... now that would be coolio!! Keep your finger's crossed because they have just delivered a big pile of hardcore rubbley stuff which will be tamped down today and tomorrow will the concrete day... only if it is dry though... and... at the moment there are a few flakes of snow drifting down... anyways... I am off to make another card... I think that I have deffo stopped old Mojochops in his tracks!! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

WOYWW...How Can It Be!!!

...yes, indeedily... I have... kept the Room of Stash really tidy for yet another week!!! Cor blimey, it is easier than I thought it would be too! I have been tidying away after each session, emptying the bin, vacuuming the floor, dusting the shelves... I am so sorry to use bad language so early in the morning... all this talk of chores! Anyways... the is a very simple reason that I am waffling on about my desk today... yes, it is Wednesday which can only mean one thing... Bloggers of the Globe unite in one common interest... snooping each others desks LOL Headed up by the inimitable Julia Dunnit, whom, I can assure you is hilarious so it is well worth a trip on over to her blog... HERE... and then you can see the deets and join in too! Believe me when I say... this desk hopping is seriously addictive too!



There isn't a lot of action on either desk this morning... on Desk 2 there are some cards and DT projects that are waiting photographing... and on Desk 1 there is... a pair of scissors! I know! I am ... positively... angelic!!! Above Desk 1 is a shelf, which is usually the place that I bung bits and bats that are useful but likely never to get used, anyway, on the shelf are a couple of Yankee candles... so not only is my Room sparkling, it also smells lush too!


I have also been making another box for my Configurations box that I am altering for my Stamp Attic DT... here is a sneaky peep at it... the rest of the deets and more pics are on The Stamp Attic blog... the idea is that I alter a box a week - and each box is going to have a theme... I have them already written down, in my 13-6 book... blimey, I am almost passing out at the thought of me being so organised!!!


Anyways... today is D Day!!! I am over the top excited at the thought of actually being able to park Ferdy on a nice, neat, clean, mudless and squelchless driveway... we have got a clever man bringing a digger with him today to... well, dig out... the drive area... then he will take all the nasty muddy stuff away and tomorrow he will put a whole heap of heavy duty something-or-other before slapping a load of concrete down on Friday... that is the exciting bit... if you didn't see yesterdays post, basically it is distressing for the drive... it will look amazing!!!




A few peeps have asked for a "before" shot of the drive... this pic was taken last Summer just after we had all the big old trees removed... oh and of course, Ferdy is there, showing off his splendid roof! Right, time to go on a hop about! Have a FAB day... thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Weathered...

...Cor blimey indeedily, have I ever told you that I LOVE the Compendium of Curiosities challenge??? I bet I may have mentioned it once or twice! Well, hosted, devised and co-ordinated by lovely Linda Ledbetter... HERE are all the deets for this weeks challenge theme... and... there is also some cool candy to be had! Anyways... I have never really tried out this technique... I mean, I did on the 12 Tags last year but apart from that... nope! And... now I know I will be using this all the time cos I lurve this technique!!



I have made another tag for the collection... using the usual Duke of Distress products; stamps, inks, paints, dangly bits... (oh I just cannot help a good old double entendre LOL) The Grungeboard was cut from the Mini Baroque Alterations and then embossed with that lovely collage Texture Fade, painted with Cloudy Blue and inked with Vintage Photo. I then got a bit excited (nowt new there then!) and decided to try the technique on Grungepaper... so I did... embossing the flower layers with another Texture Fade and using Gold Dabber and Vintage Photo ... well, I rather like this look for the rose... whatcha fink?




Anyways.. excitement abounds in the Sheridan household at the moment... because... we have a very nice man coming to start on our drive tomorrow. After a very near miss with the Pikey's, we have struck gold and found a lovely chap who will come and dig out the old drive and stuff... and do whatever he needs to with the base... and then... oh be still my over exciteable self.. they are... distressing the drive!!!




YES!! How cool is this? They lay some concretey stuff down and then get some powders that are different colours and sprinkle them over the top... and then they get an industrial sized rubber stamp, press this onto the wet concrete and when they lift it up is has left a cobble stone imprint on the concrete...which once it has dried and set and stuff (you can so tell that I am not at all teckernical) it looks like it has been there for yonks... so, distressing for driveways! Perfect for outside the house that the Room of Stash is in!! How cool!!! Right, time to get playing with some rather delish stamps that arrived in the Room of Stash yesterday... ooooh, my Stampotique DT stamps have arrived... so excited!!! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

I Challenge Thee...

...Week 3 already!!! Oh yes indeedily, during our weekly Skype session yesterday, Ellen and I sorted out our latest Challenge Thee... erm... challenge! Now, these challenges are so addictive that I am positively drooling by the time it gets to Sunday afternoons. Who would have thought that three little words could open up a whole host of possibilities. So... in usual fashion, we chose the "thing" we would be making... this week was Ellen's turn to pick, so it is a card. The recipe is simples; Ellen chose Worn Lippy and Broken China DI, and I chose Spiced Marmalade and Stormy Sky DI with us both being allowed one "wild card" although why we call it that when it should really be a "wild ink" LOL Then Ellen said we had to use Stampotique stamps... which is hardly a hardship for me seeing as I lurve them all. Oh and we had to add ribbons on the card too.




I decided to make a card like I used to make "cute" ones... yes, it is true! Newer readers of this waffley old blog probably won't realise that at one time I did make cute as well as grungey... I know! Me! Cute! However, it is over 13 months since I last made anything vaguely cute... but I do like the layouts of the cards and the little flowers always look so pretty... so, as I was saying before I whizzed off on a tangent... cute style with my little old grungey Heart Throb Stampotique stamp... isn't he just adorable! I coloured him with the DI's and a waterbrush, edged the card and paper with Brushed Corduroy which was my "wild ink". I added some balloons I cut out of papers (which are all from the Vintage Shabby stack) and drew some stitching on using a fine pen.




I am not sure if the "ribbon" actually qualifies as it is more of a twill... but don't tell anyone and I may get away with it LOL So... there is my I Challenge Thee for this week... roll on next Sunday!!! Actually, we have also devised a quarterly challenge too... so I can make some of that this week if I am missing my recipes too much. Right... I said this half an hour ago on my other post today... bedtime! I am scheduling this to publish at 11am which is 6am in Maryland... so, please do pop on over to Ellen's blog to see her card... which is gorgeous. Thanks for looking.... TTFN..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hels x

The "HoltziVecchicus-Ideaologicus"...

...butterfly... discovered in the Room of Stash (aka Room One4) on this day in January '11. Thought to be native to the America's, it is also migratory to the isles of Britian. Feeds on a sticky sour nectar that has special accents within it. The female is usually blue in colour and features an ornate body and wing adornment which is seen especially after feeding. The male is brighter in colour and displays an ornate body usually made up of three or four sections. Approx. 2" wingspan that can alter depending on age of butterfly. Lives, seemingly forever, if the climate and conditions are right for it. Thought to be named after two people who inspired the butterfly and the fancy body adornments.



Ooooh, you know, sometimes, I make myself chortle, which is something that I shouldn't admit to... but... I had the best time making these little fella's. They are made from Grungepaper cut with the Tattered Florals Alterations die... then snipped into, coloured with Distress Ink, overstamped, some with Studio 490 stamps (hence the Vecchicus part of the butterflies name...) and some with the Sultan of Stamping's stamps (hence the Holtzicus part) oh and decorated with Idea-ology **which I hasten to add is totally cribbed from a fab piece of art from Wendy Vecchi... wish I could have these clever ideas lol** (hence the ...erm... Idea-ologicus) I know... I am ... losing the plot ROFL



Anyways... you remember when Tim did his 12 Tags in December??? And he made a poinsettia from a Tattered Floral?? Well, this idea has been... bugging (!) me since then and finally I managed to get some time to play... and... a big thank you to Ellen... we were talking about the butterfly on Skype yesterday afternoon and I said I just had to make something that the buttefly could go on... and she said... "what about the little frame you had that you made a 490 box for me?" Aw, bless! Ellen is a star!! So... I have a few of these little boxes... they are only diddy, about 3" in size. I painted the insidey bits with Trad Tan paint... and made a little square of paper to look really old. I used a black Dabber to colour the outside of the box and then sanded it to within an inch of its life... then walloped on some Walnut Stain Distress Ink... and then, this is the best bit... bashed it to chuffery **NB, this is not a swear word but is, indeedily, a coloquialism LOL** with the Texture Hammer, also from the Idea-ology range. The little pins are there to sort of mimic those poor little butterflies that the Victorians used to capture and then pin into display cases... the fiends!!!


Anyways... I had a whole heap of fun with this ickle project... there's nowt like a quicky (I know, I know, that sounds smutty but it isn't meant to be... much ROFL) So, I have been faffing with rosebuds and pretty looking flowers too... all for the I Challenge Thee...challenge, that Ellen and I have going each Sunday... my card is drying so it will be featuring here later today... am off to schedule the post so I don't forget it later ... because... it is today that Ferdy goes into hospital to have his brake disc replaced... at least he won't be screeching along stopping people in their tracks to have a stare at the noisy car!! Right.. bedtime! Thanks for looking... happy Monday peeps... TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 138 - Push The Button

Goodly morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all... and, as ever, huge thanks and muchly appreciations for your entries last week! This week I have done something that I never have done before... I have... made my entry before I have chosen the theme! Risky business but it worked out very well... apart from the song title being by the Sugababes ROFL So, the theme is... BUTTONS. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is... make something, (card, ATC, tag, altered art etc), 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 can hop on over to see you. The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 29th January 2011.




My entry this week was heaps of fun to make... starting with a wooden frame and altering it by painting with Old Paper Cracklepaint and once the paint had crackles, doing a black colourwash over the top with Dabber and water. Once this had dried, it got bashed with a hammer and sanded down and then stamped with Black StaZon using a small script stamp.




The backing paper is from the Lost & Found stack and has been inked and stamped a bit more with Walnut Stain Distress Inks. I added mini canvases which had been covered with old papers and inked with more Distress Inks... I added the handmade letterblocks from yesterday's post and popped a little Monopoly doggy on the top of the A




The buttons are from another of my eBay finds... I got these yonks ago and have been saving them for a rainy day... one of the buttons is really special... it is from the London, Midland & Scottish Railways... and because it is "posh" I believe it to be from an old drivers uniform (actually, I mean that the uniform is old, not the driver, although, admittedly, he may well have been ... I shall shut up now ROFL) The spoon is another eBay find... like I said before, I have been amassing artifacts (ok, bags of junk that no one else wants) in order for me to make some altered art and also for the Configurations boxes I am working on. The 41 is on an old bingo counter... I used this because I am 21 + VAT this year so it kinda works for me! (for readers who are fortunate NOT to live in the UK, you probably don't know that our VAT rate is now 20% - don't get me started cos I will go on alarmingly about taxes etc... all I will say is this... if I were Prime Minister I would make it the Law that Stash and Stashly goodies would be VAT free and if you spent over £30 in a single transaction, you would automatically get some free money to spend on more stash... now, how do I go about getting voted in?? ROFL)




So... what have you got planned for today??? I will be having my weekly Skype session with Ellen this afternoon - not sure if we are doing a challenge thee "live" but I have a little project up my sleeve ready to be put into action. Have a FAB day and thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Soup & A Block...

...I haven't gone bonkers... promise! No, the title of today's post is called Soup & A Block because once I have explained it all you will know what I am on about... hopefully LOL So, you know those little letterpress blocks that cost around the price of the gross national debt? Well, I had the luck of buying some last year for a snip (on eBay, it pays to prowl the "listed in the wrong sections" stuff) Anyways... I bought a full alphabet with an extra set of vowels which I have been using on altered art... but the stingey moo in me is saying nooooo, don't use them!! What I am saving them for I have no idea... but... all the same... I saw somewhere - I think it was on All Things Tim - that you can make faux letterpress blocks with ... Alphabet Soup Grungeboard... aha!!! There is the soup reference. So, being as I am really efficient, I took a note of the instructions and promptly lost the piece of paper in the, what was then but is no longer, Doom of Trash.



So... I have a bucket load of plain wooden building blocks... a chance happening at a Car Boot sale one Sunday morning meant that I managed to buy several hundred weight of building blocks for the princely sum of 50 English Pence. (and... I hasten to add, I had bartered them down from a pound!!!) Anyways, these here building blocks have been sitting in a drawer awaiting attention. I have altered a couple but soon got bored of sanding and drilling holes in them (ok, ok, I admit... Grim drills the holes... he doesn't trust me with a drill... actually, I don't trust me with a drill LOL) Here are some of the blocks before the altering treatment... just plain old varnished wood in all different sizes.



Making these was... a... doddle!! Seriously, I thought that it would take me ages and it would be laborious but it wasn't. I sanded the blocks, painted them over with black Dabber a couple of coats... added a coat of brown Dabber (think it is Espresso) and then sanded them again, added Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then heat dried them. The letters - simples.. pick two the same, layer one on top of the other and glue the together. Paint with black Dabber, sand... ink with Walnut Stain and then stick to the blocks. Or, at least, I thought it was simples until... I smugly took them to show Grim who took one look and said... "but if they were printers blocks, the letters would be backwards" So, I shuffled backwards out of the room looking faintly embarrassed and muttering that I wanted them to be readable!



So... I have made Faux Letterpress blocks... but... erm... I bodged it because I was so excited that it was easy and I didn't think it through.. so... erm.. I am using artistic licence with them. And... just saying... they are featuring in the Sunday Stamper this week... I have made it already you know!!! I am so organised!!! Anyways... I think it is time for a nice deep hot bath and then bed...busy day today! That sounds so wrong... it is because it is not quite Saturday but by the time I have finished waffling it will be so... erm... I have foxed myself now... I shall say... Thanks for looking... have a BRILL day! TTFN

Go... conFigure!!!

...oh, I know... I do... I really know that... my titles are getting groaningly worse.. however, I am rather chuffed with this one as it is... sort of a play on words... because.. you know that saying "Go figure"? Well, I have been ... ConFiguring! Yes, Wendy from The Stamp Attic gave me a Configurations box set to alter and play with as my DT thingy... so, I have been snaffling away bits and bobs and buying more bits and bobs in junk shops and on eBay and I have now started my very first box. I have gone into great detail over on the Stamp Attic blog... which is HERE... and there are some more photo's on there too. I have to say... I think that this project is going to be highly addictive... I have already started finding bits for my own Configuration set... the theme will be travel (well, at the moment it is but that could change LOL)



Speaking of travel... Ferdy!!! He went for his service yesterday... and good job I took him too... because... he is gravely ill... to the point that he has to go back to be seen to on Monday! Now, for well over a year there has been a weird squeaking coming from the front near side wheel... last service I pointed it out and the mechanic said that it was the brake disc and he had filed it down a bit as it wasn't rubbing properly on the pad. Well, this noise... it is so loud I have to turn the radio up... and, more embarrassingly, it makes people turn and stare as I am tootling along... anyways... the nice mechanic at the new garage rings me up yesterday morning to tell me that... the brake disc is... and I quote... knackered!




It is still working... but... it is sticking on.. which would explain why I have been dawdling everywhere recently (joke!!) (ooh, and now I have said joke, I feel the need to say... no, I don't speed everywhere either... I think I will shut up now as I seem to be digging myself into a hole... officer LOL) No, what has happened is it wasn't fitted properly and as a result a socking great ridge has been carved into the disc by the caliper! Thankfully it is a warranty issue (can you just imagine that cold finger of ice, sneaking down my spine as I heard the words "very bad, needs fixing urgently, brake disc"? I thought I was going to have to part with even more stash fund, I mean cash...lol) Anyways... Ferdy, bless!!! Has... been... cleaned!!! The nice man at the new garage gave him a right good scrub, I had forgotten that Ferdy has silver wheels... and his white stripes and checkers are white again!



I have to admit that cleaning the car is not one of my favourite pasttimes... mainly because... did I ever tell you about the time that I took Claude (my old beat up Corsa) to the carwash? Well, it was, quite frankly, hell on earth!!! I don't particularly like sitting in a car (that leaked through the sunroof) whilst HUGE, massive, GINORMOUS, spinnery things that are made of metal and sharp stuff whizz alongside you... nope, I used to get a bit... antsy. Well, Grim has decided this particular day that Claude is shameful and needs his yearly wash (I am not kidding... whether that is something to be proud of tho...) Anyways... long story short (thank the Lordy above you say!!) half way through the machiney, whizzery, sharp, wet brushes bit, the machine conks out!!! With the big machiney, whizzery... jobbies, right up against the drivers door! So, I hooted the horn... nothing... so I did it again... and... after about 20 mins the lad who was supposed to be supervising realised that there was this mad woman who was becoming more and more deranged by the second, trapped in the carwash. Needless to say, poor Grim had his ear chewed off (as did the boy who wasn't supervising but was, instead, listening to his music on his headphones!!!) and, I am quite proud of this... I vowed I would never ever go in a car wash again... and I haven't... and I won't!! Anyways... this was supposed to be a quicky post... and yes, I have waffled on alarmingly as usual... do hop on over to the Stamp Attic blog if you get chance so you can see the rest of the piccies!! Thanks for looking... have a ... FAB day!! TTFN

Hels x