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

Challenge Hels...

...butterflies! Another card today which means that I am being sooooo good and keeping to my resolution of making at least two cards a week!!! I have started really enjoying this "challenge Hels" thing that I am setting for myself. For some reason, I find it quite inspiring to only be able to use a few ink pads and stamps. So the ingredients for this card were: Wild Honey, Vintage Photo, Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks. And the "thing" I had to use was a butterfly but I wasn't allowed to use Grungepaper. The funny thing is that because I love using Grungepaper so much, I have this baaaad habit of reaching for it all the time and not thinking to use anything else.


So... I made an inky mess on the craft sheet to make the background - doing a Wrinkle Free Distress... and then I used a few of the Duke of Distress' stamps. I did a bit of Watercolour stamping... I think that of all the techniques out there, this is my favest... I love using spriggy and backgroundy flowers to do this... it just gives such a soft and pretty look. I did use a technique that I first saw Wendy Vecchi doing - basically you ink up the stamp with your chosen Distress Ink and then swipe either the same pad or a constrasting/co-ordinating one onto your craft sheet and then spritz with water... dip the stamp onto the inkyness and then stamp... so you get a variation on your watercolour image... how clever!!! So, the butterflies... no Grungepaper so I used inky cardstock that was left over from the piece I did for the background and sentiment... I inked the stamp with Wild Honey and then edged with Vintage Photo... then cut it out... flipped it over and blended more Vintage Photo onto the back... this gets rid of the white cut edges and also means that the image is blended in nicely.



So... last night the time came to stop pontificating and to actually do something to the... what I was calling... Doom of Trash. I decided that before I was allowed to make anything else, I had to tidy the Doom of Trash and turn it back into the Room of Stash. I was pleasantly surprised that it only took about an hour! Seriously, all those avoidance tactics of defrosting the freezer and de-fruzzing the cobwebs in the garage were actually more of a waste of time than actually doing the tidying. Once I started to put away stashly bits and bobs and sorted all the Christmas stash into one box it was remarkably easy. Mind you, I have got a really short attention span for all things...erm... tidy and did manage to re-ink all my Archival pads, the StaZon pads and a few Distress Pads. Well, it is another job off the list LOL Here's my desk after the tidying up... see, it even is shining clean!! oh and you can see the floor too!!!


Now, I don't know about you but... I have been keeping offcuts of Grungepaper and Grungeboard and putting them into a pile... along with off cuts of paper and card... well, I saw this humungus (is that how you spelll humungus? Or is it humungous???) heap of offcuts, sorted through them to keep the larger bits that were actually usable and... binned the rest!!! I know!!! I am becoming a neat freak!!! Nah, I'm not... but the thought of it is nice! LOL Anyways, now I have a lovely tidy room I can have an inky afternoon - and yes, this time I will deffo be tidying away afterwards... promise... well, for the time being anyway! Thanks for looking... have a great day! Oh and... a new Sunday Stamper theme tomorrow :O)) TTFN

Hels x

Challenge Hels...

...Nay and thrice!!! I know that January is usually one of those months that everyone feels a bit cheesed off and so on but... I don't think that this is any excuse for my Mojo to naff orf on its holidays, leaving me floundering and sitting here with a head full of idea's and no way of actually using them!!! I seem to recall it did this last January... maybe there is a pattern developing... and that Mojo is having a lovely holiday in the sunshine... sipping the only drink that any self respecting Mojo would drink... namely Moj-ito's (grrroan!!!) Anyways, as it customary when Mojo goes AWOL, I do a "Challenge Hels" card - grabbing a few ink pads and a few stamps and some kind of embellies... So, today I have a challenge Hels card that I made using stashly goodies from The Stamp Attic.. oh and all the deets on how I made the card are HERE on the Stamp Attic blog :O))




I am in a bit of a grump today... mainly because I have got to go to the Opticians this afternoon... I have run out of contact lenses (poor planning on my part on that one) and I have had to resort to wearing my specatics, which I totally hate. Actually, the specs are nice, I just look like a dork in them ... and I keep bashing them too because I forget they are on my face... and if I am not busy trying to injure myself with them, I am forever taking them off and swinging them around by the arm (not sure why I do this... it is a bad habit and one that serves no purpose cos when I am swinging said specs around by their arm, I am rendered blind as a bat!!!) Anyways, I have to see the Optician before I can have any new lenses - they need to check that my eyes are still "normal" and that I haven't got blinder (great command of the English language there ROFL) in the last year. Ohhh, and another thing I hate about specs... is... when I am looking down onto my desk - if I am stamping or inking, I have to slide said specs down my nose a bit otherwise I can see underneath them. I end up with them perced on the very tip of my nose (tis a good job indeedily that I have...erm... rather large flarey nostrils to keep them in place) and I push them back up my nose and end up with a streak of whatever ink I am using at the time... imagine how attractive I look with a streak of Rusty Hinge up my schnozzle. Anyways... I had better go and get myself ready for my appointment... thanks for looking and have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

Challenge Hels...

...don't worry, you won't have to see action shots of my backside wobbling as I run about for clues like the Challenge Anneka programme... nope, this challenge thingy that I have started is proving not only to be fruitful (in as much as I actually get cards made) but also... it is rather addictive! So, you know that my Room of Stash is actually a Room of TRASH at the moment... well, I decided to spend the best part of *ahem* seven hours yesterday trying to tidy it up... it is still not quite finished and to be honest, I am getting bored LOL I spent hours making little labels for my Blending Tools in the Craft Spinner...I am two tools short of a full set (that sounds wrong on so many levels ROFL) Anyways... (off I went on one of my waffles...sorry) I decided to have a little respite from the *cleaning.. ssssh... * and made a card.




The challenge was simples: to be made in under 30 mins, Christmas themed, must be a card, must have heat embossing on it and it must be flat for posting. The result is quite a...erm... flat card... which I don't really like - it needs something else, like layers for the sentiment and more bling... but, it was a challenge afterall. All the stashy bits, inks, stamps etc are available at The Artistic Stamper. I used Distress Inks, smooshed onto the craft sheet, spritzed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mists and then the card was dunked *I love that word... dunked... if you say it loads of times it sounds really funny...mmm, just me then LOL* into the inky mix. I dried it all off with a heat gun and then edged the whole piece with Brushed Corduroy.



The heat embossing part... do you know what? I hardly ever do this anymore and I don't know why cos it is like magic, seeing the powders melt into the image *actually, one of the big reasons why I started stamping is cos I loved seeing those powders melt... before that I was a strictly peel offs and stickers girl ROFL* Anyways... the layout of the card is an idea I picked up from the Duke of Distress himself after seeing some tags on his blog... he is so clever isn't he? The little pine cones are stamped and cut out and then blinged with Rock Candy Stickles (which don't show up on the pics)



Guess what? I got another pressie in the post today... look at him, isn't he just the cutest thing ever? Laura picked up that I looooove hares, I have a lovely collection of them which have featured here before.. well, bless her, she has made me a hare... he is a knitted character with a gorgeous little sweater that has an H on it... I think he is just perfect! I wish I could make something like this... I can knit (well, after a fashion - scarves mainly ROFL) but I would never know how to make a little fella like this... anyways... I just wanted to sHare (!) him with you. Well, I have waffled and gone off on tangents and now... I have to go back and get that room sorted... well, I have got a goodly reason why I need to get it done now... because.. in exactly SEVEN days... Ellen will be here, all the way from America!!! Actually, this time next Saturday I will be actually with her at the airport... OMG, I am peeing my pants excited and this room needs to be perfect and tidy for us to be able to come in here, make some art... and trash it up again LOL Thanks for looking.. have a fabby day... oh and there is a new Sunday Stamper theme tomorrow... TTFN

Hels x

Challenge Hels...

... Occasionally I have a mooch through my basket of stuff I have made and I look at my recent blog posts and then set myself a challenge to make something that is nowt like the rut I have dropped into. Does anyone else drop in to a crafty rut? I do it all the time... I have a suspicion it is because I am inordinately lazy and never put away my stash like I promise myself I will... so I just grab the nearest thing to me and usually it means that everything looks ever so similar.




So, my challenge for today was to make a card with a masculine look without using typical "mans" stuff on it. Part 2 of the challenge was to use only one shade of colour and being as it was a masculine card, that colour had to be brown... Part 3 to use stamps I haven't used for like yonks... Part 4 was to include an inky technique and Part 5 was to make it in 20 mins!!! Nowt like a challenge to get the old creative juices... erm... panicking!!



So, armed with cream cardstock, brown shades of Distress Ink, some water, a heatgun and two stamps, I got cracking. With clock ticking I figured doing resist techniques would take too long so I did the Wrinkle Free Distress technique, drying the cardstock in between each dipping so I could get some little splatters on there too. The stamping... the diamond block pattern from Stampers Anon is one of my fave stamps and is so versatile... I have stamped it twice and cut out random diamonds and then flipped them and puffed them with a paperstump, then they are on 3D foam and onto their relevant diamond on the main image. The "girly" bit is the bow and the beaded fringing.. .which normally I would have coloured but tick tock went the clock and time ran out.



So, whatcha fink? I like a good challenge and I am thinking I will make myself do this more often... plus, the bonus is that while I am clock watching and making quicky cards, I am not having to tidy up - infact, it is worse now than ever, there are beads all over the floor, card on the floor, papers on the floor and the bin needs emptying... tis no good, I have to go and tidy up... before I do though I think I will just give myself another 20 min challenge ROFL Thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x