Sunday Stamper - Week 248 - You Make Me Feel Brand New

Gooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Mothering Sunday to all you Mummy's in the UK.  First of all, many mahoosive thanks for all your fabby pretty entries to last weeks challenge - and it is fab to see some new peeps joining in too!  This week the theme is based on the fact that it is around this time of year that all the brand new stashly goodies from CHA and recent releases are beginning to arrive in our Rooms of Stash.  So, without further ado, the theme for this week is "USE SOME NEW STASH".  If you haven't got any of the new stuff just arriving, don't worry because the secondary theme is "USE SOMETHING YOU HAVE HAD FOR YONKS & NEVER USED"  - bit of a mouthful eh?  But it still means that even though it has been in your stash for yonks, if it is un-used, it is new!   To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping and then pop back here, leave a comment for me and a linky to the place you are showing your entry so I can hop over and visit you.  If you haven't got a blog/web-hosty thing, you can also join in via emailing me (addy in the sidebar) or on Facebook.  The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 16th March 2013.

Last weekend I had a ton of fun playing with the brand new Eclectica stamps from Paper Artsy, namely the Lin Brown designs whilst I was demo-ing at Birds in the Barn. BTW... To see more of Lin's awesome art, CLICK HERE.   Anyways, these stamps are gorgeous and right up my street being as there are flowers (obviously lol) and I had a fine time playing with Fresco Paints and other lush stuff to make my tag.   I started by popping an old book page onto the tag and then used the scraped paint technique to apply Nougat, Dusty Rose and Claret paints onto the tag. A smidge of black gesso over the top to bring the text that was still showing back to the top of the design and voila, ready to stamp.

The main floral stamps were stamped in Jet Black Archival, stamping slightly off the edge of the tag.   These had a zap with a heat tool to dry the ink and then I slapped (being the literal word) a load of Rock Candy Cracklepaint over the tag to add some more interest to it.   Whilst this was crackling, I added paint to the flower stamp using Cut & Dry Foam, with Nougat in the centre and blending the darker colours to the outer edges.  I did the same with the leaves - this time using Guacamole and Toad Hall paint and once dried, smidging over with a bit of Forest Moss DI to blend them in.  I cut the flowers out and edged with more black Gesso that was applied using Cut & Dry foam just to make the flowers pop and look finished.  The centres are some Artemio metal flowers that I coloured with Treasure Gold (Rose Quartz) and a little resin bloom that was also coloured with Treasure Gold (Onyxite with a dab of White Fire to highlight the petals)  The sentiment was stamped onto card that I had painted... I just wanted the word "bloom" so only inked that... and then popped it behind an Artemio bookplate.  Finishing touches were some rouched gingham ribbon and some more Artemio metal goodies.

And there you have it, a rather simple tag using new goodies... I hope I have got your creative cogs whirring and can't wait to see what gorgeous creations you all make.  Have a fabby Sunday and I hope all you Mummy's in the UK are being spoilt rotten... thanks for looking and have a great week... TTFN

Hels x

For Want of a Better Title...

...that's just it! I seem to have used up my reserves of witty and clever blog post titles!  Either that or my poor addled brain is refusing to boot up properly today!   Anyways... remember the other weekend when I was demo-ing at Birds in the Barn?  Well, here's the last of the tags that I made using lots of lushly goodies.  This one was one of those "haven't a clue where it is going and half way through I panicking because it looks like poop and I have some lovely ladies and a gent sitting watching me..."   Imagine!  I am still not 100% sold on it... I am showing it merely because I want to share some of the techniques... plus I am feeling quite chatty today.  So here it is... I can see exactly where I went wrong too... 

And where was that?  Dylusions Spray - Melted Chocolate... doesn't agree with the blue paint I had put down already.  You see, brown and blue does go together but! Not when the blue is a purpley voilet blue as this one is... and my cunning plan to try and remove said Melted Chocolate with water spray didn't work because cloth-head here and forgotten the all important layer of Glue & Seal before sprays were indeedily sprayed!  What I should have done is used a cold brown - something like a Walnut Stain or Espresso and that would have worked.  Don't get me wrong, my second fave Dylusions colour is Melted Chocolate (slightly behind Black Marble) but it just didn't work this time. 

Hey ho!  That is what I thoughts... so I faffed a bit more and did a bit of repair work with some Treasure Gold - check out that Florentine colour, all about the top of the tag... tis my new fave colour.. but then again, I loves my White Fire... and I also loves my Onyxite... see the dilemma?  It is like trying to chose a favourite child!  Apart from I don't have that problem because of the no kids thing and... because I am chosing favourites that have no feelings and therefore, I can be a bit ruthless....   Anyways, I digress.  So this is the last tag of the day, it has gone wrong already... and then the finishing touches are applied and I decide to add some ribbon to the top of the tag... and whilst adding said ribbon, I pull too hard and a socking great hole is ripped in the top of the tag!  Gasps all around... and me going "whoops!"  And then me deciding that to cover up the gaping hole I would staple ribbon over it... well, it isn't my finest creation but I am rather fond of it...

Anyways, I shall away... I have a very poorly Grim at home today, he has picked up a flu bug and spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening shivering and red hot at the same time... and I know it is deffo NOT the man flu because poor sausage didn't eat his tea last night... am off to find my nurses hat now... have a goodly day everyone!  TTFN


Hels x

And The Winner Is....

...cor blinking blimey and thriceingtons!!!  Thank you everyone for your lovely comments on the tutorial giveaway post I did on Tuesday!  I had 151 comments! WOW!  Actually, there were a few comments that were duplicates, you know, when you post and Mr Blogger decides to put it on there twice? In one case it was four times!  Anyways, I deleted all those extra ones off so it was fair for all.. .and there were 151 left.  So, I popped that number into Random.Org and the number chosen was...   Number 5 which tallies with the comment left by Miriam.  Congrats to Miriam and thank you all again for your lovely kind words.  Please drop me an email with your shipping deets Miriam... the goodies will be on their way to you next week!

Right, on with todays offering... another demo tag from last weekend at Birds In The Barn... This is my fave one of the day - a lot of goodies that are my faves went onto this tag: I started by scraping a couple of different colours of paint onto the tag and then layering some torn bookpages over the top of it.   Next I added some Dreamweaver embossing paste thru a Studio 490 Stencil for Art and once this had dried I added some smudges of Treasure Gold over the embossy bits to add some bling.

I had stamped an Artemio stamp onto cosmetic tissue for a different demo and had some of it left so I used a smidge of it and applied Ranger's Multi Medium over the top of it to stick it into place collage stylee.  Whilst I was in collage mode, I stamped the Crafty Individuals butterflies onto tissue paper and collaged these with the Multi Medium onto the tag.  Once these had dried, I added a generous splodge of Rock Candy Cracklepaint onto the tag.  I love Rock Candy Crackle because it is clear, it crackles perfectly and... it smells gorgeous too!  Once the crackle had...erm... crackled (!) I set about adding some embellishments to the tag, namely, stamping the butterflies onto bookpage and cutting them out and layering them over the collaged ones... and adding an Artemio metal embellie to the middle of the stencilled flower. Now I do like to add a frame to my arty things so a smidge around the edge of the tag with some black Gesso on a piece of Cut & Dry was just the ticket.

I have a confession to make... hanging head in shame... the Room of Stash... remember the FIVE days I took to tidy it before I went away?  Pointless waste of time.. tis a complete mess again!  I have no excuse other than dire laziness too!  I needs to unpack after last weeks classes and some new stuff has arrived this week in readiness for the trade show and I have samples to make... before I sit and play, I mean work of course, I needs to tidy... so that is where I am now headed... I have a feeling it will be a late night!  Right, I shall away... thanks for looking... have a FAB day! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 238 - Everyday I Write The Book **PLUS GIVEAWAY**

Gooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!   Thanks for your entries last week - very "heartening" to see so many lush creations :O)  This week the theme is a nice simple one to see us into the New Year.... and it is... WRITING.  To join in is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme and some stamping and then pop back here to leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you don't have a blog/Picassa/Web-photo-hosty-jobby, you can also join in via Facebook or by email.    There will also be a giveaway this week as a thank you for joining in with my little challenge this year.  The prize is this tag that I have made for my entry this week and to win it, simples, just leave a comment and you will be entered: Leave a comment AND join in... you get entered twice into the draw.  The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on next Sunday's challenge post.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 5th January 2013. (wow, I wrote 2013 for the first time! yikes!)

I have to admit that for the past few weeks my old Mojo has been having a bit of down time and I had to drag him kicking and screaming into the Room of Stash last night.  It is oft the case when I have a few days off that he sneaks off to hide.  Well, I wasn't having any of that so I set myself a challenge, you know, to tempt him home.   The challenge was to make a tag *yes, comfort zone but it is easier that way with Mojo, he is a miserable so-and-so when he wants to be*   Next on the challenge list was use some of the Treasure Gold stuff I got from PaperArtsy at the NEC and haven't really had a chance to play with.  I also had to incorporate some stencils and some texture paste.  *ok, ok, that is all my fave stuff isn't it?  So, erm... really?  A challenge?  Erm... nope, but it helped to whet the old Mojo's creativity lol*   I started by chopping off the bottom of a large tag - tis a size 10 I think.   I then used some of the lush Studio 490 Embossing Paste (this stuff is LUSH peeps) and mixed it with a smidge of Ferro because I wanted a grittier texture.  This was then smooshed though a couple of stencils and set aside to dry.  Tis worth remembering to clean your stencils immediately when you have used Ferro/Embossing Paste cos it dries really quickly and it does stick (oh-ho, there speaks the voice of the lazy moo who thought waiting til later was a good idea lol)

Once dried, which is only a few mins really, I used Liquid Leaf Silver, painting right over the top of the tag.  I then got my brushes and applied patches of different coloured Treasure Gold wax... a quick zap with a heat tool to make sure it was set and then a quick buff with a soft cloth.  Aha!  I am there, sitting, staring at the gorgeousness of the Treasure Gold and thinking "weeeelll, I loves it but... it is too "in your face" for what I want....."   So.  I got some Traditional Tan paint and using my most favourite applicator tool (my fingers) I picked up a bit of paint and kind of massaged it over the tag...  "Mmm, nice"  Says I. *the effect, not the masssaging, that would make me sound like a weirdo lol*   "But it over-powers the background"  A bit of head-scratching goes on and then I thinks "I know, I shall use a babywipe to knock the paint back a bit"   Which I did.  Which worked!  Hurrah!  Now, as many of you lovely folks know, my skills at photography are, for want of a better word, diabolical (actually, that is rather a better word, I could have just said "rubbish" like I normally do lol)  So, it is with regret that you can't really see how the paint has reacted with the Treasure Gold... I did try really hard to get an in-focus shot but...erm... I couldn't. 

Anyways... once I had the background just how I wanted, I added in some stamping (phew, for a moment it was nearly a "Sunday NOT-Stamper" this week!)   It is my fave script stamp of all time, from Letters To Santa which is a Tim Holtz stamp set.  It has to be my most used stamp, it just is totes perfecto.  I also added a smidge of script to the metal butterfly embellie which is from Graphic 45 - I love those butterflies so much and alas, I only have one left, I think I needs to go on a shopping foray to find some more!   I added on lots of paper flowers, all layered up, spritzed (a la Finn styleee) with Black Marble Dylusions and Teal Wash Cosmic Shimmer to add some more bling.   Check out the ickle star - that is an Embellish Your Art Studio 490 piece, I just added some Treasure Gold to it to tone it into the design.  Oh and check out the ickle Crow, he too is a Studio 490 EYA piece... how cute!

Right then, that is all from me for today... what a lot of waffling I did there eh?   Don't forget, just leave a comment and you are in the draw, leave a comment and also join in (ie, make something!) and you are in twice.  If you join in via email or Facebook, please do add a comment onto the post and remind me you have joined in that way so when the numbers go into the hat, you are in there twice too :O)    I shall away... I have been bitten by the crafty bug again after my little play and I want to go and make the most of Mojo being at home!   Thanks for looking... have a great week and... Happy New Year to all my lovely Sunday Stampers!  TTFN

Hels x

P.S.... 12 Days to CHA!!!!! *I actually think I am doing remarkably well by not waffling on alarmingly about my forthcoming travels... mind you, there's still time lol*