Saturday Show & Hels... The Watermark Resist Technique

...I thought it was high time I did another "Show & Hels"... well, the Summer is over (more's the pity) and most peeps will be back from their holidays now... so... time for me to share some more of the knowledge and know how I learnt earlier this year at Ranger U. Today I am showing you the Watermark Resist Technique which gives a totally fantastic faux batik effect... without having to dust the iron off. I have done step by step photo's, so this post is a bit picture heavy, but hopefully you will enjoy it and be whizzing off to try it yourself. Oh... you haven't got a Watermark Resist pad? No problemo... I have a spare one that I will be giving away to one randomly chosen comment... the winner of which will be announced next Saturday, 10th September :O)) Oh and... I will also be giving this card I made away with the Watermark Resist pad too... so you can see what the technique looks like close up...




The ingredients you will need are:

Ranger Watermark Resist Pad
Heat Tool Brayer
Adirondack DYE inkpads **these are the felt ones**
Ranger Glossy Card
Stamp/s
Paper Towels



Before we start...
A bit of info and the science bit... Adirondack Ink Pads come in two varieties... firstly is the Dye based inkpad, which we are using today... this is a FELT pad. The other is a Pigment ink based pad and this one is FOAM... and... just so you don't get muddled up, those clever chaps at Ranger have designed the packaging so the Dye based ink pads are a creamy colour... and the Pigment inkpads are black! Cool huh? Anyways... on with the tutorial!

STEP 1

Cut your Glossy card to your required size. Ink the stamp with the Watermark Resist pad... make sure you have a good even coverage. Stamp onto the Glossy card and dry with a heat tool for a few seconds only. **heat for too long... the image starts to disappear**


STEP 2

Using your Brayer, pick up ink from one of your pads and layer onto the cardstock... repeat with a different colour and so on, until you have all the colours you want to use on your cardstock (don't do what I did and forget to wipe your Brayer clean before going onto your next pad... Butterscotch doesn't like having a dirty great big Terracotta strip down its middle lol)
I used Butterscotch, Stonewashed and Terracotta for this step...



STEP 3

Repeat the layering, really working the colours into the cardstock. You will see the Watermarked image really starting to pop. Now is a good time to bring in a slightly darker colour for the edges. For this step, I brought in one of my fave Adirondack colours... Pesto...




STEP 4

Once you have all your colours as you want them, use paper towel to gently wipe away the excess ink from the cardstock. This will also make the stamped image pop even more. I have found that using a nice soft cloth after you have used paper towel also buffs the card nicely too.



So, there you have it. A really simple, yet very effective, technique. I love using the Faux Batik technique but have soon been won over by this one... and it means that using glossy cardstock also makes a nice change to the normal stuff. **and there is no guilt regarding the whole iron scenario too lol** I carried on to finish the card - I used Black Archival to stamp my image - remember to heat set this otherwise it will just sit on the glossy card and... smudgey mishaps can happen (mmmm, there speaks the voice of experience)



To add a bit of depth to the card, I also made another Watermark Resist on some extra glossy card and used the butterflies that I had already stamped in black, so I could cut them out and pop them onto the main design. The extra cardstock from around the butterflies then meant I had a little mat to fit inside the Ornate Plate for the sentiment, also stamped in Jet Black Archival ink :O)) I do hope that you found this tutorial helpful, please do let me know what you think... and if you have a play yourself, please let me see your results :O))




Don't forget... if you leave me a comment here on this post and I will enter you into the drawer to win a brand new Watermark Resist pad plus the card I finished for this tutorial :O))




I had planned to post this earlier... but... I got waylaid watching the season finale of Dexter... ooooh, I do so lurve that bad-boy! Ooooooh, and... I just remembered... tomorrows Sunday Stamper is going to be a special one with a giveaway etc because tomorrow I start the countdown to a very important and imminent date... check in tomorrow to see what I am waffling on about this time :O)) Anyways... tis waaaaay past my bedtime now so I am going to say... thanks for looking ... and... TTFN, have a lovely Saturday!

Hels x

PS... I just thought that I would mention that the packaging for the Dye based inks changed not so long ago... some of the pads I have are older and they have a flip down lid that pops off for when you are using it... the new ones have a lift off lid... they are still exactly the same ink inside... just an updated packaging :O)) HTH!

Style 490 Stylee...

...indeedily... time for me to play with my favest stamps and stashly goodies... namely Studio 490 and Art Parts from the one and only Wonderful Wendy Vecchi. Now, alas and alack, I have only got two of the latest sets of stamps, so I haven't got the stamp that goes with this dressform Art Part... but I improvised and attempted to make it look like it's velvet covered...




Mmmm, well maybe a bit more work needs doing but I like it... the Art Part was covered with a dabbled layer of Trad Tan paint and then boshed with Fired Brick Distress Stains... then heat dried... and then I used my fingertip to smudge the ink a bit... actually it does look a bit better in real life lol I used a Memo Pin with a little Mini Safety Pin attached to it to dangle a Tassell.




The background of the tag was stamped first with Snowcap Pigment Ink - using the large bubble background and the small dots background stamps (more 490) and then I made a smooshyness of Stains on the craftsheet... Fired Brick, Spun Sugar, Wild Honey, Broken China and a smidge of Dusty Concord for goodly measures. The little bobbins were a gift from Ellen when I was in America... I wound some Twinery twine around and added more ickle Safety Pins and then made them look a bit mucky with Walnut Stain Distress Stains. So... that is that really... a quicky inky tag...oh and all of the 490 stamps and stashly bits are available from The Stamp Attic.


I think I might enter this into Simon Says Stamp & Show... are we allowed to enter twice I wonder... well, I shall try... cos this week the theme is... TAGS! How cool... seeing as that is all I ever seem to make!! Actually I am fibbing because I am in the middle of a biggy project... not a tag in sight but lots of delish 490 goodies... I am not sure how long it will take to finish... it is growing every minute so soon it will be too big for my desk rofl Anyways... time for me to get back to my desk and more inkyness... ahhhh, this is the life!! Have a goodly day... TTFN!

Hels x

Grungy Monday On A...

...Tuesday! I know! On a Tuesday instead of a Saturday... I am feeling rather chuffed that I have managed to join in earlier than normal with the fabulousness that is the Grungy Monday Challenge - devised and hosted by my lovely Ranger Sister, Lovely Linda Ledbetter. All the deets for the challenge are HERE... and please, do go and take a few mins to read what Linda has said on her post this week... kinda important for everyone. So, Grungy Monday's challenge this week is to use Tim's September Challenge from 2008.




Now, this is one of my favest techniques in the whole widest world... one I use all the time when I am making cards... but usually I use Distress Inks... although why, I really do not know because the first inky ink pads I ever bought were the Adirondack Dye Pads. Anyways, it was good to get back to this technique... so good that I got all carried away and made a tag as usual... and a card too!




The tag had to see some Distress Ink, so I edged with Old Paper and then got cracking with the Adirondack pads. They are very versatile you know... check out the seam binding ribbon... that is dyed with the pads too... I just squished them in a line onto the craft sheet and spritzed with water and then dipped the seam binding into it... cute!



I edged the tag with Pesto Adirondack ink too... just to tie all the colours in together... I used Cut & Dry to do this and just blended it a bit. The little pearls are attached to a Charm Clip (remembered the name of them!) and the butterflies have their antenae stamped in black in straight onto the card, I used Post It notes to mask off the body and then inked over... just the antenae get inky then.




So... I made the tag and still wanted to play, so I made a card too. The stamp is one of the very first Tim stamps I ever got... it is so old it is a woodie! I love it because it is really versatile and comes in handy for bold prints and also fadey background fillers. I inked the seam binding like before and then made a little mat for the sentiment.. just using the inkpads like a Wrinkle Free Distress to make them blend nicely.



You should see my desk... I have all the Adirondack inks I own all over it... so that means that I am still being a slut and am not tidying up after each project... which is starting to get very annoying because I am having to shove everything onto the floor or other desk before I can start a new project... and I know I have said that I am going to tidy up... well, today I am. I have made an exekertive decision... tidy away all the stash and stuff before starting anything else. I will take a pic before though.. and print it out and put it above my desk to remind me that slutish behaviour is not conducive to letting the Mojo flow lol I am off... to get... tidy!! Thanks for loooking... TTFN

Hels x

I Challenge Thee...

...number 5 of the I Challenge Thee....challenge... the one that Ellen and I do to keep each other on the old toesies... this week I chose the thing we had to make - which is an ATC which is then the "focal" image on a card - and we decided between us on the recipe... which is;




No Distress Inks!!! (eeek) now why did I say that!!!
No Tim Holtz Signature products except for Grungepaper... because
Use Studio 490 stamps - and it would be rude not to use Grungepaper with those seeing as the uber talented Mrs Wendy Vecchi uses Grungepaper on her art :O))
Oh and No Idea-ology (even bigger eeeeek!!!)
Oh and we could use Maya Road - anything Maya Road (phew!)




Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge because it reminded me just how much I love using Adirondack Pigment Inks... I chose to use the Felt pads, sqwishing them onto my craft sheet, spritzing with water, dipping the cardstock... colouring the Grungepaper with them too... all fabby and the colours are my kind of muted and glorious at the same time (I know, that doesn't make sense but you know what I mean!)




So... number 5 I Challenge Thee is completed and... the next one, next Sunday is going to be extra special cos Ellen will actually be here... in the Room of Stash!!! Actually, she arrives in TWO days time!!! I did suggest that it would be strange doing the I Challenge Thee in person so I may just go out into the garden, Ellen can stay inside and we can Skype our recipe... but that would just be a bit weird and I don't want anyone to think that I am strange ROFL Right, time to go and tidy the floor of the Room of Stash... I was very clever the other night and tipped the box I keep my Idea-ology Fastenings in.... all over the place... I am tippytoeing through brads, jumprings and mini pins at the moment! Thanks for looking... 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

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

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

Cracking Up!!

...Ok, so maybe I already did crack up...but I am even more cracked up now...cos I used some of that delish Rock Candy Cracklepaint on a little tag I found lurking in the back of a cupboard...this one must have been made a year ago...and it was just sitting there...waiting attention...so I got a bit handy with a paintbrush and applied to Rock Candy to the birdy...using my own little paintbrush made this easier...the brush in the pot is fab for larger areas but for finer bits...own paintbrush time :O))




Adding in some Idea-ology and old lace was just a finishing touch...the inky background was made (if I recall that far back) with a craft sheet, smooshed with Adirondack Felt pads and spritzed with water...




Last night was a total hoot...we went to see Jethro live in Dunstable...blimey, he is hilarious...and at one point I am sure he was pointing at me when he said that he didn't need my sort in there....Grim reckons he was pointing generally, but I knew it was me...even in the dark I can't hide ROFL Anyways...have a good day folks...thanks for looking...and...take it easy!

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 91 - All You Need Is Love

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





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



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




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




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




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




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

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

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 88 - Hip To Be Square

Morning Stampers ... have you noticed I am not in my usual place??? Do I look different? Aha, that is cos today I am having to post from....THE BIG COMPUTER! My laptop has passed away (or at least, it will have once I have removed my boot from it...why are computers so annoying, you just get used to it, it understands you, you understand it... and then it goes and plays silly beggars and annoys you so much that you inflict harm on it....ROFL) so Grim has allowed me onto his pride and joy purely to post the new challenge...he just knows how rubbish I am with computers and how I break things, unwittingly of course, but clumsy is, afterall, my middlename ROFL First of all...THANK YOU for all your lovely entries last week... it was lovely to see so many new faces joining in too. I used Random.Org to pick out a winner...basically, using the usual formula, every entry assigned a number in order with date/time posted and then picked out this way...the lucky number was 7. Without further ado, I am pleased to annouce the winner of the "Sponsors" candy from The Artistic Stamper is....

Clarky J - congrats and please email your addy etc to me and I will pop your candy into the post.




Moving on...the new theme this week is....hips....ahahaha, got you going there... really it is SQUARES... and I used some 2" squares of Stampbord to make a little hangy piece. The base is an 8" square canvas oil board which I first painted with ... Traditional Tan (why use anything other when this is THE perfect paint!!!) and then layered some stamped tissue over it using Beeswax to fix it down...the stamping was done with StaZon and are Crafty Individuals stamps and an Artistic Stamper script stamp.





Now, once this was done it was way too in my face, not subtle at all (and, afterall, subtle is my middle name...along with clumsy LOL) so I layered another sheet of plain tissue over the top, using more Beeswax over the top...and then watered down some of the Trad Tan and blended this over the top using Cut & Dry foam. I used some little sprinkles of gold embossing powder to jazz up the edges and randomly over the bumpy bits just to add a bit of emphasis and to close the piece in I dragged a black StaZon around the edges too.




The tiles are all inked with a combo of Adirondack Foam Pigments and Chalk Inks and Colorbox Pigments. I have found that these pigments seem to work the best on Stampbord...basically, just heat set between colourings and stamping...and then I used a scratchy tool to scrape away bits of the images to add some highlights.




Each tile was then UTEE'd with three layers altogether so you get a really cool ceramic look..which doesn't really show up on the photo's too well. I edged all the tiles with gold Krylon to make them nice and neat and then to blend them more into the background I swiped a StaZon around the edges, just roughly, which toned them down a bit.




The stamping was all done with black StaZon and are a bit eclectic this week... no real theme, just some random images that are some of my faves and are from *in no particular order* Crafty Individuals, PaperBag Studio's, Stamp Francisco, Prima, Stampers Anon and The Stamp Bug... I have to admit, this piece is totally unlike the idea I had in my head...so that project, hopefully, will be made today...and will be the One World One Heart giveaway tomorrow :O)) If you are wondering what I am waffling on about, there is a link in my sidebar for you to click on and get transported to the place that is setting it all up...several friends joined in with it last year and loved it...so I thought I would give it a go this year!




Anyway...back to the hangy piece...I added some eyelets and rusty wire for the hangy bit and added a little bead that I nabbed from an old bracelet and a Philiosophy Tag which I dabbed with gold paint and wiped off so the gold stayed in the indentations. Finally, I added some micro beads randomly round the edges, again, they don't show up too well on the pics and some more of the heavenly golden pearls that I am fast running out of now!



To join in with the challenge, all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, altered, tis up to you, incorporate the theme and some stamping and then pop back and leave me a comment on this post with a link to the place you are showing your piece... then I can hop over and visit you :O)) The challenge will remain open until 23:00 on Saturday 30th January...so you have all week to play!

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

Hels x

Heat It Up...

...The weather? Yes please!!! More snow here today so I reckon it is a good excuse for staying indoors and getting crafty....my Mojo has come home!! Actually, I found it lurking under a pile of Christmas papers...thanks for everyone's lovely comments on my last post though...bless you all...and some made me LOL too :O)) Enough about Mojo...it is time to tell you about the new Gingersnap Creations challenge which starts today; sponsored by Serendipity Stamps means that there is some Blog Candy up for grabs too...and the challenge is... Embossing...**BTW, please pop by on Sunday, I am doing another tutorial for the Gingersnaps all about this** However...best laid plans and all that... I ended up using white embossing powder and some Adirondack pigment inks...and unfortunately, no matter how I try to take a pic of this card, it just doesn't want to look like it is in the real...click on the pic to make it bigger if you fancy a proper gander at it though :O))




Anyways, just very quickly...I embossed the image on white card, using clear Gloss Boss ink and white powder, heat setting and then using Cut & Dry foam to blend Juniper and Eggplant inks over the top. I repeated the same method for the sentiment *which actually says Magic Happens* and also for the flutterbys. I also added a square of Stampbord...inking and stamping and then scratching at it and then roughly UTEEing around the edges to make them blend in with the rest of the card.




Thanks for looking...oh and guess what???? It is 7 years ago today since I started crafting! All those years, where have they got to? I had a hoot yesterday, I found some cards I made when I first started crafting...oh dear...they were awful and I thought, at the time, that they were fab...it is good to see how much I have learned over the years, the inspirations I have met along the way...but, most importantly...the friends I have made because of this strange addiction...thank you :O))

Hels x

Ink...Splatter...Crackle...

...Eeeeeek, it is December 1st! Already! Where has this year got to? I was having a rummage in my box of made stuff the other day and found these two tags...they were supposed to be part of a set I was making...which I must have got bored of and waltzed off onto something else...like you do....well I do anyway!




The inky background was created but smudging some Adirondack Felt pads onto a craft sheet, spritzing with water and then picking up the excess with some scrap paper. What is then left are some little dots of more solid colour...which I then swooshed the tag straight through.




I used a heat gun to dry off the ink so it stayed quite colourful...I did find if I left it to air dry, the colours soaked in a bit and weren't so clear and crisp. The stamping is all done with a Ranger Archival black ink pad...and all the stamps are from the Tim Holtz range from Stampers Anonymous.




To glitz up the main images I used Rock Candy Cracklepaint on the birdy...and then once this was dried I rubbed in some Rock Candy Stickles...mmm...they don't show up too well on the photo...but...the Splattery Butterfly was totally covered with the Rock Candy Stickles and it shows up pretty well on the photo **Gasps all round...did Hels actually take a decent photo????** LOL




Thanks for looking...have a great day....tis nearly Christmas!!!

Hels x


{BTW...I am sooooo excited...a couple of cards I made using Mabel Lucie Attwell stamps from The Artistic Stamper have been published in this months Craft Stamper...and...there is even an extra bit on the Craft Stamper website too...**sooo exciting!!!**}

Inksplorations....

...what kind of a word is that???? Well, it is a kind of exploration...but with ink...you with me? LOL I like to mess about with ink, most peeps know that...and I like to mess about with different background looks, so when I managed to make these backgrounds ages ago I got all excited, blogged a few and then put them in a safe place to alter them further.....So I found the safe place yesterday and grabbed some Tim Holtz collection stamps and finished them off.



I need to add more to the tags to make them pop...just have to think what stuff to put on them...any ideas gratefully accepted :O)



It is so lovely here today, sunny, mild...and...best of all..I have a whole day free to make more mess...I mean art!

Have a good Saturday peeps...don't forget there is a brand new Sunday Stamper theme tomorrow so today is the last day for the Rainbow challenge.

Hels x