Feathers & Flutters...

Cor blimey and thrice!   I can't believe how quickly this year is whizzing past, June already!!   Which means it is time for me to show you my offering for this month's Creative Carte Blance blog theme of "Winged Things".   Now, it is no secret that I usually managed to bung a butterfly somewhere on my creations and I positively squealed with delight when I saw what Susan had picked for the theme this month!  Hurrah!  Any old excuse eh?   To see all the details on how to join CLICK HERE and you will be transported immediately on the back of a giant bumblebee to the Creative Carte Blanche blog.

I decided to try and bung as many winged things as possible onto my canvas... starting with birds.  I used the most delightful Birds of Paradise papers from ScrapBerry's as a base and being as I'd cut up a lot of them, I used the offcuts, layered them up and created a blocky collage.  Each piece of paper was edged with Ground Espresso Distress Ink to create a bit of a border on them so the layers stand out a bit.  The second bit of the winged theme is beeswax.  Well, it comes from bees... and they have wings :O)   A liberal slap of wax melted in my Melt Pot, all over the papers, adding extra depth in places for a more rustic effect and just set it aside to dry... no re-melting with a heat tool as this will make the wax soak through the paper and spoil the effect.

I made some paper roses using Tim's Tattered Florals die (wish I had a quid for every rose I've made... it must be in the thousands now, I am addicted lol)  These were then dipped into the melted wax in the Melt Pot and set aside to cool off.  The wax soaks into the papers a bit so it gives a slightly darker effect to the roses.  I did the same with Tim's Tattered Leaves, crinkling them up before dipping so they keep a bit of shape.  Tim's new Doily die?  You seen it? You got it? I LOVE it!!!  I have them both *greedy* and used just half of one of the cuts to dip through the wax... a waxy doily, how cool!

Of course, I needed a sentiment, so I stamped one of Tim's new wordy stamps, quickly painted beeswax over the top and then popped 3d foam onto the back of it.... the reason for the 3d foam is simples... you need to use hot glue to fasten anything to beeswax surfaces... hot glue would re-melt the wax on the stamped words making them look a bit ugly... the foam prevents re-meltage when the hot glue is applied and also lifts the little word block up and away from the surface of the canvas, making it stand out more.   I stamped a Darkroom Door butterfly, dipped that through the wax too and then popped him onto the canvas too.  A few more embellies to finish and there you go... lots of wings and things!

I shall away now... I am busy with the Ink Buds this weekend... and I also have news of more TV shows so watch this space for times and dates etc.   Thanks for looking, have a grand weekend!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 367 - Just An Old Fashioned Girl

Goooodly Afternoon Stampers and a very happy  Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your entries into the last challenge... I loved seeing all your gorgeous entries!  This week the theme is ... VINTAGE.   To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something; a card, canvas, ATC, a piece of altered art... the choice.. it be yours! Add in some stamping and then hop back here, leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I can come see you.   If you haven't got a blog, you can join in via Facebook (just tag me name) or by emailing a small res.pic to me or by leaving me a link to your Pinterest or any other photo hosting site.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 5th December 2015.

 My entry is a whoppping mahooooosive canvas (12" x 16") I decorated... it was my class sample from my Melt Pot class yesterday for Ali-Craft in South Hykeham... we had a glorious day getting all hot with the Melting Pots... you all know how much I love anything with a smidge of beeswax slapped on it and this canvas sure is covered in it!

The papers are from Prima's Archivers collection - they are beautiful... the colours are right in my comfort zone... and I just edged them with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to give them a bit of oomph.  The flowers are made from Tim's Tattered Florals die... they are my fave flowers to make - you'd never have guessed that right?  I just edged these with Aged Mahogany to give them a bit of a pinky tone and then dipped them right into beeswax to coat them... I did the same with the leaves which are Tim's Tattered Leaves... and then I added a butterfly - stamped onto the same card and also dipped into the wax and pearls added for his body.  The birdy is my Carabelle Studio FAVE bird stamp EVER *and I have a lot of birdy stamps!* ... he was stamped onto the same papers and cut out, inked and then glued down before I waxed so he looks part of the design.  The little embellies are moulds of UTEE poured from the Melt Pot and then generously coloured with Treasure Gold - I am loving the flower... the different metallic colours look so pretty IRL.

Thanks for looking and have a great rest-of-the-day... I am about to bung a leg of lamb into the oven (yes, the Domestic Goddess in me is alive and kicking today) and I shall be serving it with cauliflower cheese (nomnomnom), swede and carrot mash, roastie spuds and sweetheart cabbage.  A few Yorkshire Puds will also put in appearance along with my special mint gravy too... ohalalaaaa... and wait til I tell you what is for pud!!!  Mmmm, I am positively drooling and having to sit on my hands so I don't go and nibble at it already... my favest raspberry cheesecake and..... double cream!!!  I can hear my hips saying "please no" but today I shall be listening to my mouth which is saying "give me something tasty!"   Well, it is a well known fact that raspberry cheesecake and double cream is actually completely free of calories if eaten after lamb... they cancel each other out you see... *ahem*    Right, I shall love you and leave you and say.... TTFN!

Hels x

P.S.  Now... I have some verrrry exciting news to share but I will keep you in suspenders for a few more hours... check back tomorrow when I will be letting you know about a grand new adventure! 

Curiously Embossed...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of a brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... well worth taking a cuppa and a packet of Digestives :O)    The challenge is sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  As ever, Tim & Mario have very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 50 of the book and doing the Layering Stencils - Embossing technique.  As ever with the Compendium Challenge, neither I, nor the Curiosity Crew, will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.   

I have another tag to show you for my entry this week!  Yes, I have quite a collection growing now and I need to find a mahoosive bookring to store them all on - I have used up all available space on the 3" one so I thinks I needs a 5" ring... mmm, where to get one from!   Here's a piccie of my tag before I did the stamping and embellishmentizing:

I used Tim's Holiday Knit stencil for the technique and then added smidges from the Holly Stencil.  The ink I used for the main technique is Tumbled Glass DI and the Holly is a mix of Iced Spruce and Forest Moss DI.  Blending around the edges was Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap (where would I be without Frayed Burlap huh?) and Gathered Twigs.  I decided to scruff the edges with a paper distresser to add a more shabby look to the tag.  Of course, I had to add my little harlequin stamp.. this was done with Jet Black Archival Ink.

The rose (cut from the Tattered Florals die) was made using cream card, inked with Broken China and Frayed Burlap, overstamped with Pumice Stone and then once assembled, I dipped it into a Melt Pot full of beeswax.. I love the effect dipping into wax gives the rose and it also makes it a lot more sturdy too.  The leaves are Tim's Holiday Greens cut from Distress Core-dinations and then I popped a few bits of Idea-ology onto the tag to finish.  Ooh, I meant to say... the little jingle bell Idea-ology charm was painted with Distress Paints to jazz it up a bit.

That's all for now - don't forget, you have two whole weeks to enter the challenge... and a bat at the chance of grabbing the Crew's Choice prize which is a mahooosive haul of stash donated personally by Tim & Mario... so if you are joining in, remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too *believe me, this is one gigantic pile of goodies*!   I will just say a big thank you to every one of you who has taken part in the challenge so far, it has been great to visit your blogs and see your wonderful interpretations of the challenge themes!  Thanks for looking, have an inky inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 290 - On The Wings of Love

Goooodly Evening Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!   Huge thanks for all your entries for the last challenge...  this week there be a new theme... and that is... WINGS.  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 then pop back here to leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry.   If you haven't got a blog, you can also join in via email - just email a small res pic to me or via Facebook, simply tag my name and I can view your entry.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 18th January 2014.

Firstly, apologies for the late posting of this weeks challenge... this is because I am teaching away from home this weekend and couldn't get online this morning (thanks Mr BT for doing your engineering stuff lol)  So, better late than never, here is my entry for this weeks challenge.

I have been teaching at Pickwell Farm this weekend, I love teaching here, not only are the ladies who come along a lovely bunch, Carolyn and her family always make me very welcome... not to mention the ace shop, packed to the rafters with stashly delights... yep, tis a lovely place to be.  Anyways, this weekend has been all about the Melt Pot.. and I have made a canvas (actually I made two - I know, I never finish class samples and this time I managed to get two done.. get me!  A new year, a new me... pah lol )   My demo canvas is 8" x 6" in size and once I had painted it, I set about doing some beeswax collage.  Stamping onto tissue and then applying wax... and then.. I had a "lightbulb" moment!   So, I wanted to colour the beeswax.  How to do that?  Well, I have used Melt Inks before to do this, but they do bobble a bit in the wax, whilst they colour it, there's always a residue in the bottom of the mould.  So, I hit on the idea of using Mica Powders to colour it.. hey, it works!!! Yipyah and thrice, a new technique!  Check it out, how sweet is this flower!!!

I used a mix of Kaisercraft and Tim Holtz stamps... and yes, butterflies always seem to feature somewhere on a creation...plus faux porcelain flowers... and some Treasure Gold for goodly measures too...

I shall away now... I am staying in Southampton tonight as I am teaching a private class tomorrow and I needs food... so I am off to have a mooch about and see what I can find.  Thanks for looking, sorry again for the lateness of the post!  Thanks for looking, TTFN

Hels x

The Key of Life...

...I was going to do another cheesy song thing again and decided against it today, my singing is even offending me at the moment lol   Anyways, another day, another demo sample from my Melt Art telly shows on Wednesday.  This creation was the main demo piece on the 5pm show.  As with the 12pm show, I decided to go with this new idea I have had... not making an "original" piece for the demo... you know, where I do the "here's one I made earlier" thing.  So, I prepped up this piece and just went for it.  I am still convinced it makes things feel a bit fresher...  

The base for this piece is a bit of cardboard that I ripped off some of the top layer to expose the corrugations.  Ooh, I likes that word... corrugations... it kind of rolls off the tongue doesn't it?  Anyways, once I had removed some of the top layer I set about colouring it with paint.  Starting with Mushroom Eco paint and then adding smudges of Cool Peri and Pool Dabbers applying the paints with Cut & Dry.  I also coloured a mini canvas in the same way so the piece had some 3d-ness to it.  A piece of cosmetic tissue, cut to size and then stamped with the Heartfelt Creations Tattered Blossom stamps and a few CE Newsprint Flourish stamps, adding a bit of a background design.  I did the same with the sentiment... a single layer of cosmetic tissue and some flowers and swirls.  The tissue was applied with beeswax, I just love the way the wax makes the tissue disappear.. meaning you can get a stamped image perfectly onto the corrugations... mm, am so gonna be saying that word all day!

I made roses out of the Posy Patch flowers stamps and scrapbook paper and stamped and cut the Classic Leaves out and these were dipped into UTEE for the Faux Porcelain effect.  I dragged the metal leaves through the clear UTEE too so they get completely coated... loves this effect too!  The ickle Hat Pin was filled with Tropic Violet, Lapis Sapphire, Olympic Gold and Black UTEE.  If you use your Melt Pot lid as a template, pop it onto a craft sheet, draw around it, cut it out leaving a couple of flaps sticking up at the sides, you have the perfect way of lifting stuff in and out of the Melt Pot.  Placing the Hat Pin on the craft sheet in the Pot heats up the metal, then when you add the powders, they melt and you can swirl them around and make patterns... look at the colours in this...

I am back on the tellybox on January 21st... and I have a new-to-me product... you will be a wee bit surprised when you sees me using it you know... but I have to say... I lurves it!  Thanks for looking.. have a fabby day! TTFN

Hels x

A Million....

...Page Views!!!! *sang to the tune of a Million Love Songs by Take That... sorry about the whole changing-the-words-keeping-the-tune-thing I seem to be doing a lot of..... *  Cor blinking blimey and thrice alive!!!  I been mooching around Blogger this morning, you know, faffing about trying to get up the courage to actually have a jazzy background on me old bloggetty-blog.  And then I sees this...

Yeppo, flabber-truly-ghasted moment!  Over a million page views since I started this little patch of yonder t'internet I can call home.  Firstly, THANK YOU for all those page views! Sure made me smile mahoosively this morning!   Anyways, enough of that waffle... here's some more waffle about my tellybox shows yesterday.  Gigantic, ginormous, jumbo (wracking brains to think of more words that mean big starting with a J) thanks for your response to the Melt Art shows yesterday on Create & Craft.  I love doing the Melt Pot shows because each time there are more and more of you lovely peeps getting addicted to this little machine of magic.  I get lots of questions asked about the Melt Pot.. and I am happy to answer them, so if you are one of those crafters who own a Melt Pot that is languishing in the back of a cupboard, unloved, unused (and still in its box lol) please do get the little machine out and have a play.  And how do I know that a very lot of you are identifying with my description?  Well, cos I was exactly the same... then  Suze Weinberg was in the UK on telly over here in the UK and I fell in lurves with her and the Melt Pot.  Suze has retired now but she is still creating her awesome art, CLICK HERE for her blog... and do take time to go and watch her YouTube Channel vids too... she is THE Queen of the Melt Pot, I bow to her greater knowledge and I tell you what, I have been inspired soo much by her... and she is a gorgeous gal too... did I say I lurves her?

Normally when I do my demo's on the telly box I already have an "original" made.  But, I sometimes think it can look a little bit too prepared, not as fresh as I would like it to be.  So, armed with a big bit of "let's see if this works" I got together all the bits and bobs that would make something that resembled what I had in my mind... I do little sketches of projects all the time so I figured it would work, do  you do that?  When you sit down to make something, have you got an idea what the "finished" thing will look like?  I have always done it... I am interested to know how the minds of other crafters work... are you like me, with an idea of how it will look?  Or are you a free spirit with a "let's see where this takes us" kind of crafter?

Anyways, if you didn't see my demo for this creation, how I made it is simples:  pop some scrapbook paper onto some cardboard. Add a strip of torn paper. Pop a piece of paper onto a Nestaboard shape.  Add some stamping using StaZon and then set about altering it with Beeswax.  Painting beeswax onto the surface of the paper gives it a really lovely vintage appearance.  The flower is a pile of the Tattered Blossoms images, layered up and dipped into clear UTEE for the Faux Porcelain effect.  Same with the leaves, stamped in Fern Green Archival (this is my FAVE green every... thank you Wendy Vecchi for inventing this colour archival!) and dipped into the clear UTEE.  The Hat Pin had a die cut bit of card, stamped with another Tattered Blossom and coloured with Dried Marigold Distress Marker and then filled with more clear UTEE.  I added Saffron Yellow and Azure Blue Melt Inks to the clear UTEE to make green and then I dragged the little metal leaves through the UTEE to fill in the spaces between the veins... I LOVE this effect muchly.  And there you have it!


Right, I shall loves ya and leaves ya now... once again, thank you for all your visits over the years... I am still grinning like a loon that my blog has had sooo many hits!  Thanks for looking, have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

Tic Tac Toe

...today is the day! Oh yesh indeedily, my first tellybox shows of 2014 are today at 12pm and 5pm on Create & Craft... all the deets on how to view are over there *points left*     A yonk and a half ago I used to make these "tic tac toe" designs on an 8" square base with 2" square tiles.  And you know that "if you like this you may also like...." thingy at the bottom of all my posts?  Well, one popped up from 2008 and it was this style... and it got the old cad Mojo all a-gog!

So, being as I am completely out of 8 x 8 canvases, I decided to improvise and cut some mountboard to size.  I also cut some 2 x 2 mountboard tiles too whilst I was at it.  Then I got all painty with Adirondack Dabbers and coloured the bases and then set about altering them.  Five of the tiles have a napkin collage on them, using beeswax as an adhesive is so cool (or hot lol) as it kind of "melts" the napkin so it disappears and leaves the design behind.  The other four tiles have the Tattered Blossom Heartfelt Creations flower stamped onto them... I then used Distress Markers to colour the flowers (oh my, I loves this set!)  I seem to have gone all purple since new year - not me personally though, mind you, it felt so cold last night my feet could well have been blue!  Anyways, back to the art... I gave the base and all the tiles a nice layer of beeswax... I love beeswax, have I ever mentioned that??   I stamped some more of the flowers onto Teresa Collins/Creative Expressions papers and cut them out, glued them and then dipped them into clear UTEE in the Melt Pot to faux porcelain them... I loves a faux porcelain I do!  I added some embellies - using Majestic Purple, Tropic Pearl and Black UTEE's and pouring them into a Media Mixage Bezel and two Hat Pins - I removed the pins from the Hat Pins by twisting the pin around in a pair of pliers... they are nice and bendy so them do come apart quite easily.

I must away now... it is nearly 2am and I am just about to get my old carcass into bed... early start in the morning but I never sleeps right the night before telly shows so me not going to bed before now is normal... good job I am a night owl!  Hope you can join me today ... and don't forget, if you have a question, do please email in, we will get as many asked and answered as possible.  Thanks for looking, have a goodly day!  TTFN

Hels x

Never Mind The Beeswax...

...heehee... I have been wanting to use that for such a long time!   Today I have another sample from the Melt Art Pick of the Day to show you.  This one is using beeswax and UTEE in a couple of different ways.  I am hoping I get time to show you live on air how I made it as it is one of my demo samples...  

I covered the small rectangular MDF plaque with paper and then spread a layer of beeswax over it... once that had set, I added a few more blobby bits of beeswax around the edges and once that had set, I lightly dabbed Mica Powder onto it... and then buffed it to get a lovely deep shine.  The flowers are made from the six petal flower on the Button Florals stamp set (LOVE this set) and I dipped them into clear UTEE for the Faux Porcelain look.   The heart was made by pouring UTEE onto the cute Hexagon Script stamp and popping a cookie cutter over to make the shape.  Finally, the ickle Media Mixage Hat Pin (how cute is that!)  was popped into the Melt Pot on a piece of craft sheet, once the metal was hot, I sprinkled gold UTEE into it and then added a couple of granules of white UTEE... a quick swirl with a pin to marble the molten UTEE and voila, done!

I hope you managed to see the shows last night and love the new goodies as much as me.  Don't forget, if you have got a question you would like me to answer, please do email into the shows as we are going to get as many questions answered live on air... and as ever, there will be giveaways for each show :O))   Thanks for looking, have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 259 - Some Like It Hot

Gooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Many thanks for the fabby vintage creations you all made last week!  This week is a VERY special Sunday Stamper indeedily!  Before I go on waffling about that I will do the usual housekeeping things:  Firstly the challenge theme for this week is... EMBOSSING POWDERS.  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 with a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog, don't worry, you can also join in via email or on Facebook.   The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday June 1st 2013. **entries received after this time will not be added into the prize draw**

And on with the most important bit!  Oh yesh, I am very honoured and proud to have been asked by Ranger to be a part of their Melt Art Mania event that they have running HERE on their blog.  The event runs from May 15th through to May 31st and has tonnes of fabulous inspiration featuring, along with amazing projects by some very talented designers... hence why I am chuffed to little mint balls to be asked to be amongst these incredily clever peeps!  Anyways... being as I am a part of the event, Ranger have very kindly offered up a brilliant prize...   to be in with a chance of winning this box of goodies all you need to do is leave me a comment here on this post.  If you join in with the Sunday Stamper as well.. you get two entries.  Another important thing:  if you join in any other way than on your blog, like sending me an email, you need to remember to leave a comment on this post telling me you have done that... otherwise it would be crazy to try and add in peeps names in the right order.  Each comment will be assigned a number, the total comments will then be fed into Random.org and the winner chosen at random, being announced next Sunday, June 2nd.  Ranger will then send out your prize directly.    I think that is everything....   and on with the post!   Oh yes, here's the FAB prize!!!

Firstly, here's a little peep at the finished project.... but before I show you all about that, I have a little tutorial for you, making my fave Faux Jade/Turquiose.  This is a technique I learned from the wonderful Suze Weinberg.  Please do take time to pop over to Suze's youTube channel too... her art is amazing!  Anyways... on with the tut!

STEP 1
Add 1/3 white UTEE to your Melt Pot and then add 2/3 clear UTEE to the pot and allow to melt thoroughly. (**HINT  Always pop the lid on your Melt Pot whilst melting UTEE... it melts faster with the lid on... and also you have less chance of sticking your elbow into the melting UTEE's)  Once melted give the contents a good stir to amalgamate the two together - use  your Kool Tool spatula for this.

STEP 2
Add a generous droppage of Heat It Inks to your white UTEE mix - I have used Green - you will see it is more of a turquiose colour! You will see the UTEE bubble a bit - this is normal.  Pop the lid on and allow the ink to get to the same temp as the UTEE.. this will only take a minute or so. I have found this helps the mixing in of the colour.

STEP 3
Give the ink/UTEE mix a really good stir using your Kool Tool spatula so the colour is uniform.  If you are quick, you can also pour this while the colours are totally mixed for a cool white/colour look.

STEP 4
Add in Platinum UTEE using your Kool Tool as a spoon (or a plastic spoon, be careful not to dip this into the UTEE though... it will melt!)  Pop the Lid back on the pot and leave to melt.

STEP 5
Use the tip of your Kool Tool spatula and gently marble the Platinum through the colour, you don't want to stir this as it will be all muddy, the trick is to bring one colour through the other.  It is now ready to pour and become gorgeous faux jade/turquoise.

And here's what you can make....  I poured the UTEE mix into a heart shaped mould (made from Mold & Pour) and once it was cooled, I lightly heated the front of it so it is a little shinier than it would normally be.  BTW, check out the heart at the back.. the technique was just a bit of marbling, cookie cuttering... but the ickle heart which is nearly but not quite cut out was an idea I saw a lovely lady called Angela adopting on a class I taught the other week... FAB idea!  Thanks Angela!  That is what I so love about the Melt Pot, it just begs to be played with... experiment, play... have fun!!! 

My project is a wooden trinket case that I decided to alter, using Distress Paints to cover the wooden bits.  I started by removing the hinges and clasp from the chest and put them in a safe place.  Cut & Dry foam to apply the Antique Linen DP to the outside of the chest and also, inside the "shelves"    I added Broken China DP to some Cut & Dry and gently dabbed this around the edge of the lid.  I had also used masking tape to cover up the edges of the glass on the lid too... saves scaping paint off later!  Once that was how I wanted it, I added Pitch Black Dabber using Cut & Dry foam, to the edges and front of the shelves.

Some stamping onto cosmetic tissue with a couple of Tim's stamp and Archival Ink was the next step.  Ensure you give the Archival a good zap of heat to set it before you use beeswax on it otherwise the ink can bleed a smidge.

I popped my Project Pan into the Melt Pot and some beeswax pellets - these are white ones, I prefer the clear effect of white but the natural ones are gorgeous too if you want a more antique effect.  I tore piece of tissue, used a real hair brush to apply smidges of beeswax to the frame and then painted more over the top, using the heat tool all the time to re-melt the wax and ensure the tissue was stuck down.  Once I had all the collaging done, I added more blobs of wax to add a bit of texture to the chest.

The insidey bits are created with a range of different UTEE techniques.  Pouring into moulds, pouring into Memory Frames, Texture Treads, stamping into UTEE and using cookie cutters... I wanted a "curiosity" effect... which this is... the Beeswax Curiosity!

I hope you have enjoyed the tut and seeing my special project.... like I said... I am so honoured to be a part of this amazing event with Ranger... and of course, it is no secret how much I loves Ranger and the Melt Pot!    I am away to Crafty Bunch in Telford today for another Melt Art class..... see, I loves my Melt Pot!   I shall away... don't forget to check out Ranger's blog for all their inspiration...  Thanks for looking, have a great day!

TTFN

Hels x

I Lurves It...

... I do!  Oh yesh indeedily, I have said it a gadzillion times already, I know, but... I lurves beeswax and the cool (or hot!) things you can do with it.  And, it seems, that you all loved the look of it too!  Not only did it sell out once, it sold out twice!  I had managed to get a few more pots for the shows on Tuesday and by Tuesday evening they had gone!  I hear that peeps are already receiving their orders... if you have got your goodies home now, have a fabby weekend playing!  Remember... if you get stuck, gimme a quick email and I will be able to help.  A few of you also left me questions in your blog comments here but I can't answer them directly unless you have email enabled on your comment options... if you have asked a question and not received a direct reply from me, just bob me an email over and I will be able to respond.  Right, on with todays wafflings, I mean post!

Two samples today:  They have both been made using beeswax and fabulous Studio 490 Art Part goodies... plus Eco Paints and Spellbinders and those cute Button Floral stamps I had on the shows.  First up is a 4" canvas I altered.  I started by painting the edges with black paint and then popped a piece of scrapbook paper onto the front, adding a strip to the right to connect the dots on the flowers to the dots on the scallop at the top.  A good old coat of beeswax was added to the front and a smidge on the sides... and then whilst it was still warm (but set) I pounced Forever Blue Perfect Pearls around the edges... then I re-heated the wax and it drags the PP's into lovely patterns and as it sets, they go all blendy and cloud like. 

I added the word Love - from the Love, Hearts and Stars Art Parts set.  The spiral blossom and leaves were cut from more papers, dipped into the beeswax and left to set... I love the way the wax soaks up into the paper and makes it look all vintagey and old.  The bits behind the flower and at the top of the canvas were painted with more eco paints and then overstamped with the large dotty stamp and then glued together... adding a couple of pearl pins to finish.

Next up is a little 4" shadow box that I flipped over and decorated the back of.  This time, I painted the box sides with black and the front with cream and Lime Eco paints... using the scraped paint technique.  I cut a piece of cosmetic tissue to fit the front and then randomly stamped the retro circles from the stamp set... I love these stamps, very funky and perfect for layering.  I then painted a bit of wax onto the box front, applied the tissue and pressed it into the wax and then re-heated the wax - ensuring the heat tool was directly over the tissue - this stops it from flapping about.  More wax was then added and spread about with the brush all whilst the heat tool was still going... this makes it easier to get an even coverage of wax and the whole tissue stuck down.  Don't forget, if you apply the tissue and it is in the wrong place, simply reheat and move whilst the wax is still hot.   The flower is a rose made up from scrapbook papers and dipped into the beeswax... as was the leaf... and then these were popped onto an Art Part and then I added the Love word to finish.  Et Voila, two pieces of art that can be popped onto the wall or bobbed onto a shelf.  Simples.  Just remember, paint on the beeswax, use your heat tool to control it whilst you paint it around... and then once set, give it a buff with a soft cloth.

Right, I shall away... I needs to get myself organised and stuff boxed up ready for my class today... I shall let you into a smidge of a secret though... I have been working on something that should be coming to your screens very soon... I will keep you in suspenders until I know for deffo that the date is set... all I will say is that I am beyond excited!!! TEEHEE!!!  Thanks for looking... have a grand day... TTFN

Hels x

A-Tissue....

...mwhahaaa... did you see what I did there... I did a play on words! I know... groanworthingly groaningtons but... I did actually use a tissue (tis true) to make this sample for the Melt Art shows this week.  I am on again today at 9am and 4pm... as ever, all the deets for the shows and how to watch are over in the sidebar.    Firstly.. THANK YOU!!!  *shouted that loud* for all your amazing emails, Facebook messages, Tweets, comments on here and emails into the studio... they are all so very kind and making me very smiley indeedily!  I am so chuffed that you are enjoying the shows.  Now, because we were concentrating on getting as much demo-ing done as possible, we didn't have a chance to read out all the emails that arrived... and the last show at 7pm received an immense amount of them... so... if you sent in a question and I didn't get a chance to answer it for you, please do email me... if you leave the question in a comment here, the only way I will be able to reply is if you have your email addy enabled in your comments.. if you haven't activated that option, just pop an email over to me (my addy is in the sidebar) and I will do my best to answer asap.

On with todays offering... which is one of the large Square Art Parts (Studio 490) as the base and some of the Art Parts from the Heart, Love & Stars set.  I LOVE Art Parts.. you all know that anyways... and I especially love that they are so sturdy and the perfect base for a nice beeswax project.  As I mentioned in my guffaw inducing (ahem... quite) post title, I indeedily used a tissue to make this piece.  You know those little packets of pocket tissues you can buy that are all jazzy and posh?  They make THE perfect thing to collage with beeswax!  Oh yesh... this one was 3 ply (told you it was a posh 'un) and I pulled the plys apart so I just had a single ply.  You need to do this for two reasons: firstly, the beeswax kind of melts the tissue away so you are just left with the image, so the thinner the better... and secondly, two layers invites air bubbles... which are ugly and I disuade air bubbles from my arty stuff :O)  The Art Part base was painted with Mushroom Eco Paint and then I used a Tim Holtz script stamp, stamping onto one of the other tissue plys, tearing out the images, beeswaxing them on and buffing the wax once it had set.  The hearts were done in exactly the same way, using Black Eco Paint on a bit of Cut & Dry foam to add a frame around each piece.   The butterfly... well, he is a Studio 490 Embellish Your Art piece.. I only have one of him so I decided to make a mould of him from Mold & Pour, I painted him black (the UTEE was the old bits of amber coloured clear) and then used one of those gold liquid leafy pen jobbies to add the border and the dots... I love him and can see the possibilities in using him with different colours of UTEE... pretty!

Right, I shall away.. I have another early start in the morning so I am scheduling this, although it is gone 11pm now... so please do excuse the excess baggage I will be carrying under my eyes later lol   Thing is, I get myself all excitable and my brain is a-buzzin ('scuse the pun, beeswax... buzzin... ah, just me then lol) and I then get to thinking about demo's on todays shows and by the time I realise it, the alarm is going off... and while I sit here waffling that will be sooner than I want... so, as ever, thanks for looking... and thanks again for all your support, you are all stars!  Have a great day... TTFN!

Hels x

One Thousand Six Hundred....

...cor! blimey! and! thrice! (sang that word)  This is my 1600th post!!!  That is one heck of a lot of waffling... and if I had a care to, I could always go back through all my posts and see how many words I have typed... yeah, right!  Can't see that happening too soon lol   Anyways, today sees the start of my 4 Day Deal on Create & Craft, starting bright and early at 8am.  All the deets on how to see the shows are in the sidebar... and remember, if you aren't in the UK or can't get the channel, you can always watch online on the website.  

Today I have another canvas sample I have made for the shows.  This one has the scraped paint technique (am hoping to demo this) and a tissue (good old Kleenex) stamped background, applied with beeswax and then a diddy canvas on top to add a bit of extra depth and somewhere for my sentiment to go... which also ties in with this weeks Sunday Stamper challenge too... deets HERE.  

The pretty flowers are made using the Spellbinders Spiral Blossom die, three of them in total and all dipped into the molten beeswax and then dusted with Forever Blue Perfect Pearl powders to add a smidge of blingingtons.   The leaves are the Spellbinders Nested Leaves (loving these!) and they have also been dipped into the wax.  Once I had done the background, I added some more splodges of molten wax to the corners of the canvas, once it had set, it had some Biscotti (my FAVE) Perfect Pearls pounced over the top and then a quick buff to make it all pretty and shiny.

Much mirth and merriment (what? again?) in the kitchen again last night!  So.  Grim cooked the most delish roast dinner for us - we had bought an "extra" turkey thingywotsit from M&S at Xmas and frozen it... so we had that, oh my word, it was deeevine... along with swede and carrot, brocolli, cauliflower cheese (nom! sorry Ellen) and Grim's special roastie spuds.   For afters we had also bought an "extra" Kirsch soaked Cherry filled Xmas Pud from Sainbug's at Xmas... so we had that.  But!  No rum sauce!  So I decided I would make some custard.  No matter what Grim says, Xmas pud and cream is just plain wrong... and it needed a sauce so custard it was.  Now, I loves custard, one of my fave things... but I am ... ahem... not that good at making it and usually resort to a tin.  Which we didn't have.  So I decided to use the Bird's powder.  After carefully checking to see if it was still in date... and reading the instructions and getting everything out I needed, I attemped to open the tub.  And the lid was stuck fast.  So, I pulled a little harder.  And the lid flew off, covering my face, hair, chest and most surfaces in the kitchen with said powder.  And did you know, if you try to pat a big dump of custard powder off your chest and breathe in at the same time, you can inhale said custard powder and then practically choke to death?  No? Well, you can lol   Anyways, undeterred, I carried on and made my custard... and oh my word! I can indeedily make custard... I didn't burn the pan (most unusual that) and it was lovely and thick and creamy and... ooooooooh perfect!    With that lovely image in your mind, I shall bid you a goodly day.  Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 251 - Mother Nature's Son

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very Happy Easter Sunday to you all.   Big, big thanks for the whopping amount of entries for last weeks' challenge - I think we set a record with 40 entries!  Before I announce the winner,  I will let you know the new theme... and do the usual housekeeping:  So this week the theme is... NATURE.  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 haven't got a blog, worry not, you can also join in via email or on Facebook.   The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 6th April 2013.

So, before I waffle on about this weeks challenge, I have the winner of the last weeks candy to announce.  Like I said, there were a massive 40 entries to the challenge - thank you all, I truly appreciate each and every entry.  I fed the number into Mr Random.org and the winner he picked is #14 which tallies with Sue's entry.  Congrats to Sue, please can you send me your addy and I will pop the candy into the post for you :O)

The theme this week is a poignant one for me.  I decided to dedicate the theme this week to my lovely Grandma who passed away, this day, 25 years ago.  I chose nature for the theme because she taught me more about nature than anyone else.  We used to spend hours walking along the river Aire and fishing for sticklebacks and tadpoles in the Leeds - Liverpool Canal and the time she devoted to teaching me names of plants and different uses for them will always stay with me. 

I am sure I am the person I am today because of the time I spent with her when I was growing up.  I still miss her incredibly, I wish that she had been around to see me mature into a woman, I wish she had been able to meet Grim, I know she would have loved him but more than anything, I miss her wisdom and her unfailing faith in me and unconditional love for me.  We used to get up to all sorts of larks too, like the time we went for a walk and inadvertantly wandered into a field of bulls... or the time we were watching Jasper Carrott on the tellybox and she was laughing so hard, she fell off her chair (I still reckon that Sherry might have played a part in that too....)  Anyway, this one is for you Grandma.....

This canvas is one of the samples for my upcoming shows this week (all the deets are in the sidebar)  I think all of the products on the show are online now so they won't come as a massive surprise.  I used Eco Paints, Beeswax (LOVE the new Creative Expressions beeswax, tis lush) and some stamping to make the background for the canvas... and then added some ickle canvases to add depth to the design. 
 

 
The leaves are Spellbinders and the roses are made from a stamp... well, not the actual stamp, you know what I mean lol   And the spiral flowers are also a Spellbinders flower.  I dipped the flowers and leaves into melted Beeswax - bit like a Faux Porcelain but with wax... and check out Mr Owlington ... he is made using Mold & Pour and a pendant I have... and then beeswax poured into the mould and a dash of Perfect Pearls to jazz him up a little.  Cute huh?

Right, I shall away... I am going to be having a busy day today... not only am I going to be doing my demo prep and last minute samples, I will also be eating lots of chocolate (I have two Easter eggs! Yay!) and it is the start of the new British Touring Car Championship season today at Brands Hatch so we will be watching the races... and cheering on Jason Plato as usual.  Grim is cooking our dinner and we have a Christmas Pud for afters that we have saved, tis one of those Kirsch Cherry filled ones from Sainsbug's... ohhhlllaaaaallllaaaaa... I am turning into a little piggy!    Thanks for looking... have a lovely day!  TTFN

Hels x

PS.... GO PLATO!!!