Curiously Watercoloured... Part II

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of another 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... they never cease to amaze me with their inspirational ideas and art!   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.  Tim & Mario have, as ever, 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 40 of the book and doing the Distress Watercolour Part 2 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.  

As usual, I have made a tag for my entry.. I am getting quite a nice collection of them now and I need a bigger bookring to store them on.  I have decided that come the end of the challenge series (sob, I don't want that to ever happen... Mr Holtz, get writing Book 4 now please!!!) I will mount all the tags onto a big old board and pop them onto the wall in the Room of Stash... I do enjoy flicking through the bookring though... it is nice to see what I have made (I am of an age now where I cannot remember what I did this morning, let alone a few months ago lol)

Anyways, my tag!  I cut a piece of Distress Watercolour Paper down to size and then stamped Mr Snooty from Tim's Time Travellers stamp set using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I then used the following Distress Markers for colouring: Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Scattered Straw, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy, Forest Moss and Walnut Stain.  I LOVE Distress Markers the best for colouring in... I am rubbish at colouring in so these are very forgiving being waterbased.  

Of course, Mr Snooty is a lovely old chap but he needed some embellies.. so I dug around my Idea-ology boxes and grabbed Mini Cogs, Sprockets, Word Band,  Compass Coin, Nib, Arrow, Bulb, Washers and Mini Fastners... piled them all on with a scrap of Ruler Ribbon and then because you can never have too many metal embellies I popped some chain with a Clip and a Philosophy Token to make a link between the ribbon a-top the tag and the sidey bit... The base tag was coloured with Walnut Stain DI and then I added Walnut Stain and Black Soot Distress Embossing Powders over the top, heated them, removed the crystals and got a cool grungey background for the main image to sit on :O)

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*!  Wishing you all a very crafty 2015.. may your fingers be forever inky :O))   Thanks for looking, have an inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Tinted...

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 Funky 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 41 of the book and playing with Distress Photo Tinting.  Now, as usual 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. 

My entry this week isn't a tag!  The main reason for this - as actually it did start life as a tag - is because once I had the photo tinted, it was just too special to bung on a tag which would then be hanging with a load of other tags.  And what makes the photo so special?  Well, allow me to introduce you to my Grandma!  This photo was taken on 26th June 1929, making her 16 years old at the time.   Another special reason is it would have been her 102nd birthday yesterday.  So this little shadow box is in memory of my wonderful Grandma who taught me so much about life, the natural world and how to make a complete mess of every available surface in her flat making Christmas cards using glitter, a dab of Gloy glue and cotton wool.

As detailed in the book, I did the technique on the photo and then mounted it onto black cardstock, scuffing the edges of the photo to make them a bit shabby to give the photo a bit of age.   The shadow box was painted with a mix of Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Paints, sanded back and then inked with Vintage Photo to add a bit of a distressy feel to it.  The insert is a piece of Wallflower Vellum, popped onto cardstock to give it a plain background and then I used my good old harlequin stamp to add a few diamonds to the background.

Next came the embellishmentising:  when I was little, Gran and I used to go for walks along the Leeds/Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, both of which ran close to where she lived.  We always came home with a jam jar of tadpoles, a bunch of wild flowers or pockets full of acorns and conkers, depending on the season.  One particularly chilly day, it must have been late March/early April, we arrived back home with that pink cheeked look one can only get whilst walking in the cold air.  To our dismay, we saw two baby blue tits had fallen from a nest that was a-top of an out building and were on the path outside Gran's bedroom window.  Never one for ignoring such things, Gran quickly looked for the Mummy bird and she was no where to be seen.  I remember her saying that these little babies would "perish of the cold" if we didn't do something, so she bustled off and found a shoebox, filled it with and old towel, some cotton wool and some leaves and after donning a pair of gloves, she lifted up the babies and popped them into the box.  She said it was important not to touch their feathers as Mummy might come back and she would smell us on them.  After a few hours, the babies were still alone and Mummy bird was no where to be seen so in came the shoebox and so began a late night vigil... a vigil that lasted weeks!  And sure enough, as soon as those little babies were big enough and strong enough to fly, off they went.  And back they came... daily!  Oh yes, the little birds came back daily to dine on fresh lamb fat (off the chops, cooked of course!), bacon rinds (fried just for them!) and morsels of her rather delish cakes and pastries.  My Gran was a character - she was a one in a million special lady who gave me such a good grounding, she was a sage, wise old owl who knew a fair few curses in her native Welsh tongue - a few of which were directed at me when I was being cheeky or naughty but my lasting memory of my Gran is her laugh, we used to laugh 'til tears ran down our faces... so this little piece of art is for her... for my Gran.

So you see, when I saw this sheet of Tim's Wallflower paper had the little blue tits printed on it, I just had to cut them out and add them to my memento box.  Along with the blue tits, I added a few bits of Idea-ology, some off cuts of lace and a couple of paper flowers, layering them all up and finishing off with a little acetate butterfly.

That's all for now - don't forget, you will have two 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 315 - Hello Goodbye

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thank you for all your fabby entries for last weeks challenge and it is lovely to see some new peeps joining in too.  This weeks challenge is a little different... you need to USE A GREETING on your creation.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: add a "hello" or an "I love you" or whatever else you feel like using to your project :O)  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 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.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 12th July 2014.

 My entry this week is a card I made for our lovely neighbours to say thank you for looking after the garden whilst we were off sunning ourselves in Rhodes.  Since the advent of The Greenhouse That Grim Built, I have got a little bit into my gardening again and this year I have sewn tonnes of stuff from seed and now have 96 pots and tubs (yes, I counted them all and no, for once, I ain't exaggerating!)  Being away for a whole week and not watering said 96 tubs would have no doubt left them all in a very bedraggled state so our lovely neighbours said they would come in and water them everyday... and a grand job they did too as the garden looks amazing at the moment.  *I will do photo's at some point, I keeps forgetting!*

The card is a 6 x 6" blank, decorated with a little bit of Tumbled Glass and Pumice Stone DI, a smidge of flourish stamping using Wendy's Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink and some inky freckles made by using the inky puffer thingy and a Walnut Stain Distress Marker.   The butterflies are from Tim's Papillon set - stamped in Archival, watercoloured in with Distress Ink and a waterbrush and then more speckles added... and the largest butterfly was stamped again, cut out, coloured and shaped and then popped over the original one.  The greeting is also a Tim stamp - I love the font on this set and there are loads of different greetings too :O)

That's all from me for today... I am in a state of high excitement because in about half an hour we are going to collect my AlfieCat from his holidays in the cattery... I have missed him SOOOO much! We were only home for Thursday so it wasn't fair to get him home and then leave him again so he has had a longer holibobs too... but wow, how quiet the house was on Thursday and I kept finding myself calling for him... I know, I am quite mad!  I am still on catch up with all your entries for the past few weeks... please bear with, I will be visiting you soon :O)  Thanks for looking, have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Watercoloured Pt 1

Gooooodly Morning to all you 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 Hobnob with you :O)    The challenge is sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium this time... so you will have a chance of winning a generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  As before, 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 39 of the book and playing with Distress Watercolouring.  Now, 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.

 
My entry is a tag to go into my collection, it is coming along nicely.   I used Distress Watercolor Cardstock to do the technique - I have tried this on other watercolour cardstocks and I have to say that the Distress just seems to give me so much better results.   Now, the cardstock is a little smaller than a Size 8 tag so I cut it down to fit onto a tag and blended Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain DI's over the tag underneath... that way the watercolour part has something to sit on.  I also got my Distress Puffery-jobby *can't remember name lol* and used Walnut Stain Distress Marker to puff little freckles of ink over the background.

I used the Papillon stamp set from Tim... Stamping the large background first onto the cardstock using Frayed Burlap that I lightly misted with water and pressed down with less pressure on the right hand side... because I then stamped the butterflies using Jet Black Archival ink and didn't want the FB to show under them.   I used an offcut of the cardstock to stamp the butterflies again, cutting them out and then colouring them, along with the first impression ones using Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge, Barn Door and Tea Dye Distress Markers.  Now, I am never one for having a white background... I just don't seem to gel with it, so I used Antique Linen DI to blend over the card and making it tone into the tag helped how I liked it.  I added my trademark diamonds using Jet Black Archival... did I tell you I plan to use that diamond stamp on every thing I make for the Compenium Challenge?  I did?  Oh well, in case you missed it... I am using that diamond stamp on everything I make ;O))  

Best laid plans and all that... disahhhhster struck half way through making my tag!   I was sitting in the Room of Stash, minding me own business, when I heard a kerfuffle outside in the Spinney (the wood at the bottom of the garden) and being as it was gone midnight, I went to investigate.  I think it was a deer because the noise was too big for a foxy or a kittycat.  Anyways, when I got back to my desk, to my horror (and annoyance) I saw that my waterbrush had only gone and leaked its contents all over the freshly coloured cardstock!  Grrrr!  I dried it off and it looked a right mess.  Well, I had spent half an hour faffing getting the look I wanted and I wasn't about to be thwarted so I tore out the offending bit and layered the two bits onto the tag and added the sentiment underneath the torn bits... like it was supposed to be like that... I won't tell if you don't :O))  Final touches are the metal flowers - a combo of Vintaj and Idea-ology and some linen ribbon (oh I loves this stuff, i need more already!)

As ever, you will have two weeks to enter the challenge... and don't forget, the Crew's Choice prize is a mahooosive haul of stash donated by Tim & Mario... so remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too!   Thanks for looking, have an inky day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 310 - Girl Talk

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy sunny Sunday to you all!   Thank you for all the great altered entries for last weeks challenge - it was great to see so many new-to-altering-addicts joining in :O)   This week the new theme is... GIRLS.  A nice pretty and feminine challenge for you... interpret as  you wish, your creation could feature a girl, be about a girl, be girly, covered in flowers.. you know what I means.   To join in is simples; Make a little something - it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping (even it is only a bit, get those stamps out!)   Please let me know you have joined in by popping back to this post and leaving me a comment with a linky to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog/web-photo-hosty site, you can also join in via Facebook (just tag my name) or by sending me a small res. piccie by email.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 7th June 2014. *hurrah, June! Birthday month! Cake!*

Apologies for being late on parade today!  Normally I am quite organised and have my entry all ready and scheduled to publish at midnight.  Well, yesterday was one of those strange days that very rarely occur.  Oh yesh, it was a FREE day!  Unfortunately, due to a water leak, the opening of Cups & Crafts in Devizes was postponed late on Friday evening.  This meant that I had a day that I hadn't "accounted" for.  I should have been a good gal and got some more samples for the tellybox shows on Tuesday made... well, that was sort of my intention.   Well, it was until I trotted off down the garden and popped my head into the greenhouse and saw that I had very lots of plants that all needed attention.  So, I said to meself that I would spend the morning in the garden... and then do some sampling in the afternoon, taking time to do the Sunday Stamper and schedule it and all that.   Yep, all the best intentions... until I glanced at the clock and saw it was 7pm!  The whole day!  In the garden!  Naughty!  But very nice :O)  I will pop a few pics on later this week of how it is coming along now.

So, back to the reason for the post, here's my entry!  I started this little wooden frame a few weeks ago and once I had covered it with Tim's Tissue Tape and added colour using Broken China and Antique Linen Distress Paints - applying with my finger and smudging the paints over so the tape shows through in patches - I ground to a halt!  I loved the frame but just didn't get what I was then supposed to do with it.  And then I spotted Tim's Found Relative Cards and aha! An idea was born!  The Found Relative was a little too narrow to fill the frame so I popped a bit of vintage lace (my beloved vintage lace that is used very sparingly as I haven't got much lol) along the side.  A project wouldn't be a project without lots of flowers and embellies, so I coloured up some paper flowers with Black Marble Dylusions and Egyptian Blue Cosmic Shimmer sprays.  I then realised there wasn't a single smidge of stamping on the project!  Whooopsie-daisy!  I find that a perfect stamp to add a little extra interest is Tim's Flourish, I just used a smidge of Jet Black Archival and added in a bit of stamping to the edges of the frame.  I then stamped the word Dream *Tim's Stuff To Say set* and added it to an Ornate Frame.

Next came the best bit (IMO)  Embellishmenting!!  I make no secret of the fact that I think the more embellies the better and this frame is the perfect size to add lots of little bits and bobs: metal leaves, cogs, Idea-ology, paperclay birdy (treated to Treasure Gold) and jazzy buttons from Jones' (also TG treated) and then a few pearls to finish it off nicely.  Oh and I forgot to say!!!  I used a Milled Lavendar Distress Marker to add a little blush of colour to the black and white photo... I was tempted to go a little darker with the tint but I didn't want to goof it up so I played it safe - you can add it but you can't take it away and all that :O)

I better get a wigglebottom on  now... whilst the sun is cracking the flagstones out there and there be temptation to get my hands mucky, I have samples to get finished and some demo's to prep for the tellybox shows... plus,  my poor old war wound is well and truly aggravated after yesterdays exertions so it is probably for the best that I am inside behaving meself.  Have a grand day!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Motorbiking...

... I know, not a very imaginative title for todays post but all the same, it is topical... namely because today is my turn for the Darkroom Door DT and this month I have been playing with the fabulous Classic Motorcycles set - all the deets for Darkroom Door are HERE.    So, being as I am an old biker chick - oh yesh, a little known fact about me is that I, indeedily, have had my fair share of motorbikes over the years.  I started out at 17 with a little Yamaha TY50 called Maurice, then I had another Yamaha, this one too called Maurice... and then another Yamaha (can you see a pattern emerging here?) also called Maurice.. in fact, all my motorbikes have been called Maurice!  Such an imaginative mind eh? lol 

Anyways... being as I have been playing with these fabby stamps, I thought I would show you all the things I have made... starting off with the card.  I love that sentiment.. which is also on the stamp set... how cool is that... I can see me sending that to an aging friend for his birthday (naming no names.. of course... )   I used some of the new Tim Holtz papers (oh, lushness) and stamped out the bike using Black Archival and coloured it with Distress Markers.  The sentiment was stamped onto cream card, coloured with Antique Linen and then overstamped with DD Corrugated Iron stamp using Frayed Burlap to add a smidge of pattern to match the papers.

Next up is a canvas... I didn't want to go OTT with the embellishing as the bike stamp images are so detailed and I wanted that to be the main focus... so instead, I used old map paper, knocked back with Traditional Tan paint wash and then lightly spritzed with Black Marble Dylusions spray so it looks like it has oily splats on it.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set and the box corners are Idea-ology, as is the paper string wrap.

The bike has been coloured with Distress Markers again... I am gutted because my Fired Brick has run out!  I have used it a fair bit though and even a spritz with Ink Refresher didn't juuzh it back to life... needs a new one of those.  So, instead, I used Barn Door Marker and went over the top with Antique Linen to dull it down a bit.  I used Glossy Accents to ... erm... accent the metal bits and the tank and used a paper stump to puff the wheels out to give it some 3dness.

Finally, I decided to make a keychain... there are five bike stamps in the set - 3 big ones (2 already shown) and 2 ickle ones.. still the same amount of fabbilicious detail on them... so they were all stamped onto Shrink Plastic and shrinked.  I punched holes in the Shrink before shrinking too (usually forget to do that) and then added Jump Rings to them to attach it to a Swivel Clasp.  I also added some Idea-ology Cogs and Mini Cogs and some old keys that I picked up when I was in America with Ellen when we went to an antique mart.  On and I edged the shrinked pieces with gold Krylon just to jazz them up a bit.

So there you have it.  I could quite easily have carried on and made a ton of stuff with these stamps... they just appeal to me so much and I know they will be a staple in my stamping arsenal from now on.

Right, I shall away... thanks for looking... please do take a hop over to the Darkroom Door blog .. my talented teamies have all been creating up some deeevine pieces that are so worth a look... tonnes of inspirations to be had!  HERE is the link to the blog.   Have a fab day!  TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is... Take I

...cor blimey and thrice! What a lot of wonderful comments you all left for my Giveaway Part I last week! Thank you all... muchly appreciated :O)   Without further ado, I shall announce the winner of my giveaway tag... so there were 70 comments in total... and Mr Random.org chose... Number 32... which tallies with a comment left by Denise.  

Thanks again all of you and if Denise could drop me an email with her addy so I can pop the tag into the post.  Also, there's still the rest of today to leave a comment HERE to win the card I am giving away :O)  I have had a lot of lovely emails and comments about the shows last week and the main theme is "can we see more of the samples..." so, being as I am like that, here are two more of the samples that I made using the Studio 490 goodies on the shows:  I have chosen two with similar colours so I don't have to talk right through everything... if you know what I mean...  Here's the card I made:

All of the colours used are: Scattered Straw Distress Stain and Ink, Wild Honey Distress Ink & Marker, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink & Marker, Vintage Photo Distress Ink & Marker.  Olive Archival and Jet Black Archival.   The Studio 490 Stamp sets used: Art For You, Wildflower Art & My Kind of Art.  For the card I cut a piece of card (cream in this case) and spritzed it liberally with water and then pounced the Scattered Straw Stain onto it and let the Stains drip... then dried it with a heat tool.   Next I smidged some Vintage Photo DI onto my craft sheet and spritzed with water, dipping the card into the inky mix and picking up little dotties of ink.  Another zap with a heat tool.  The honeycomb background was created by lightly scribbling the Vintage Photo Marker onto the large stamp... only in patches so it isn't an over-all image.

 Once stamped, I zapped with a heat tool to dry the ink.  Next came the masking - using the new Chicken Wire That Special Touch mask and Scattered Straw DI on some Cut & Dry foam, I blended patches of the mask to add extra detail to the background.  The butterflies are card covered Clearly For Art, stamped, coloured with Distress Markers and then heated and moulded.  The flower is a Wildflower Art Part, overstamped with the co-ordinating stamp and coloured with Distress Markers.   A smidge of jute to add a bit of extra texture to the card and the sentiment, stamped, coloured and chopped up to fit on the card and voila... finished card.... oh apart from the scribbles around the edges, done with a fine marker :O)

This next piece is the base of a Rectangle Art Part, coloured with Scattered Straw Stain and dried immediately - tis always the best way to operate when putting Stains onto Art Parts, so the paper fibres don't separate.  A smidge of blending around the edge of the Art Part with Rusty Hinge DI and another zap with a heat tool to set the ink.  Next I used a sanding block and lightly sanded the edges of the Art Part to shabby it up a bit.  The same application of Distress Marker for the honeycomb background to make a nice little something to see on the base of the Art Part... and then a smidge of flourish stamping with Olive Archival ink to add interest to the bottom of the Art Part.  Next came another Wildflower Art Part, stamped with the corresponding stamp and coloured with more of the Distress Markers.   The butterflies... they are book page covered Clearly For Art, stamped in Jet Black, coloured with Distress Markers and then cut and heated up and moulded.  To make the ickle hanging bit, I punched two holes in the Art Part base using a Crop-A-Dile and added in rusty wire for the hanger.   And there you have it.  I will be back tomorrow with a couple more cards that were samples on the shows... and also the winner of the card giveaway.  

Now, let me tell you... there was much mirth and utter excitement Chez Sheridan on Sunday evening.  I got back from my weekend of teaching at about 7pm and we decided to be very lazy and have some takeaway for tea... I know, lazyness indeedily but we had both been working all day... (any excuse right?)   Anyways... we settled down to our takeaway and a night of telly catching up.  After about three hours of telly catching up I needed a break.... you know, a *fresh air* break (hahaha) and went outside into the back garden.  Well, imagine the look on my chops when I saw something sitting in one of the trees in the Spinney at the bottom of the garden.  Guess what it was.... go on... guess.....    Nope, wrong... it was... AN OWL!!!  Oh yesh!!!! AN OWL!!!  At the bottom of the garden... like a REAL OWL!!!   See my excitement?  That is cos I LOVES Owls... very lots.  I have heard him callling a few times of late but hadn't actually seen him.   Anyways, I nipped back inside and called for Grim to come and see and then went back outside and walked veerrry slowly towards the bottom of the garden.  Every time he looked at me, I stood stock still... I was about five minutes looking at him.  Then Grim comes out and didn't adopt the one step at a time approach (rofl) and Mr Owl saw Grim and flew off.  Pah!  Never mind that though.  I saw a real OWL, you know, like a wild one, not one in a Raptor Centre.  I am still SO excited... to the point that I am going to let me hair grow wildly, buy a stick on beard and pretend I am Bill Oddie (rofl) and set up camp in the back garden again to see if Mr Owl comes to see us again.  Anyways.. enough wafflingtons from me for one day.  I have been visited by Mr Horrendously Evil Back-Pain so I am planning a day of rest...   Thanks for looking and have a fabby day!  TTFN

Hels x

Simon Says....

...I have had a few free days this week - what with the old jet lag catch up and all that - and I was mooching around my fave blogs and happened across the challenge that is Simon Says Stamp & Show.  This week they are asking for you to "show what you are known for"   Erm... well, I sat and had a thunk, and thunked a bit more... and decided that I didn't know exactly what I was known for.  Until the lovely Tracy Evans left me a nice comment saying "one of your trademark flowers"  Aha! Light bulb moment.  Yes, it is true, I do like to pop a flower or two onto everything I make.  So then I had a mooch through my blog and spotted that I am rather addicted to all things Studio 490.  There it is!  Studio 490 stuff and a flower!  So I whipped off to the *very tidy* Room of Stash and had a little play:

I was playing, as you do, with stuff on my desk and wondered what Rock Candy Cracklepaint would look like if it was popped onto Embellish Your Art pieces.  So I had another play and posted a photo of the result on Facebook and then decided to make another couple of flowers like this, so I did step by step pics... and here they are!  Here's what you will need:

STEP 1
Colour the EYA piece with Distress Marker.

STEP 2
Heat set the Marker until dry.

STEP 3
Blob Rock Candy Cracklepaint onto the flower and set aside to dry.

And there they are... I don't know if this will work with any other kind of marker... the Rock Candy reacts with the water based Distress Markers so they bleed a bit... I guess permanent markers will stay put... worth a try though!

Anyways... as usual, I have decorated the tag with lots of stuff... so I took a photo of it before decorating.  The background was achieved by layered scraps of book page over the tag, spreading a smidge of Traditional Tan paint over the top and drying.  Next I used Broken China, Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Stains and coloured over the top of the tag and dried it.  Next I used the new Stencils for Art Diamonds and sprayed the new Dirty Martini Dylusions spray over the top.  I dried this and then used another Stencil for Art - Spots and Stream Colorwash spray to add more decoration to the tag base.  Finally, I added smidges of Black Marble Dylusions spray and a Crafters Workshop stencil.

I used some of my favourite Studio 490 Embossing Paste - Black flavour and added some stenciled flowers to the tag base and set this aside to dry.  Whilst drying I stamped the Art Part Phrenology Head with the corresponding Stampers Anon stamp and then coloured with Antique Linen Stain, dried this and then blended smudges of Barn Door DI for the cheeks.  The eyes are Peeled Paint Marker with a couple of white dots.  The specs and lips are Embellish Your Art pieces.  The Top Hat and Flower are also EYA - I added a little feather behind to jazz the hat up a bit too.  The Butterfly also had a smidge of Distress Marker and Rock Candy added to it and then I popped it onto the head as a bow tie.

Finishing touches are the flower - of course, I had to add a flower!  I glued some dictionary page to Clearly For Art and stamped out some flowers and leaves, cut them out and then coloured with Distress Stains... the middle is another of the EYA Rock Candied flowers and some Wordplay die cut letters covered with Black Embossing Paste spell the word ART.

Right, I shall away... I have got a day of ink in the Room of Stash - Grim is away to Norwich to see Luton Town playing in the FA Cup.... finger's X'd they will win... although they are most deffo the underdog!   Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 241 - And Your Bird Can Sing

Goooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Many thanks for all your fab entries for last weeks challenge - sorry I was a little late visiting... I have been a smidge preoccupied (ahem).  This week I have chosen the theme to be BIRDS - two reasons, firstly it is the perfect excuse to use my brand spanking new Studio 490 Art Parts and Stamps *hurrrrrahhhhh*  and secondly.. it is a very special day today in Baltimore because the Baltimore Ravens footy team are playing a very important match which could see them heading to the Super Bowl and being as Ellen's hubby Jack is a Raven's fan, I thought the theme fitted perfectly.  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, pop back here with a link to the place you are showing your entry and then I can pop and visit you.  If you don't have a blog/web-photo-hosty thingy, you can also join in via email or on Facebook.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 26th January 2013.

As I said... I got some of the brand new release Studio 490 Art Parts and stamps whilst I was at CHA (thank you muchly Mr Stampers Anonymous!)  And because they were practically screaming at me from my bag to be used, I decided to get inky with them.  The base of the piece is an Art Part Journal Cover which I paper blocked with My Minds Eye papers and dulled down with Traditional Tan paint wash.  The middle bit is a Small Art Parts Page which I covered with more of the MME papers which I then edged with Gathered Twigs DI and then sanded the edges of them both. 

I used Glue & Seal to ...ahem... seal the papers and then got all excited with the new Studio 490 Stencils for Art - the one I used is Lovely Leaves and I applied some Black Embossing Paste through the leaves and made them a bit textured.  The birdy is one of the new Art Parts and he is coloured with Barn Door Distress Stain and edged with Gathered Twigs and then over stamped with one of the new 490 background stamps using Jet Black Archival ink.  I did the same with the spout Art Part, using a different new background stamp.  The umbrella and branch were painted with Pitch Black Dabber and once dried, sanded and distressed with Gathered Twigs.

The finishing touches are the Raven which was coloured with Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint (yes, I have a couple of them and they are... DEEEVINE!) and the roses are coloured with Fired Brick Distress Marker.  I added some little pen stitches around the edges to finish it off nicely.  I am LOVING the new Studio 490 goodies and I can't wait to get my inky paws on the rest of them too.

Right, I shall away... we have an evening of inkiness going on here with Ellen's friends Connie, Patti and Terry and we are covered in paint and ink... fun times!  Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

**GO RAVENS!!!**

Sunday Stamper - Week 224 - Behind The Mask

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Big thanks for all the gorgeous be-ribboned creations for last weeks challenge.  This week is a nice and easy one... and the theme is... to use MASKS/STENCILS on your entry.  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 don't have a blog/picassa/web-hosty-thingywotsit, you can enter by emailing me or via Facebook.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 29th September 2011.  I have been asked a few questions recently so thought I would answer them here:  "Can I join in with the challenge even if I don't live in the UK?"  YES!!! It is open to anyone, worldwide... the more the merrier!  "I don't have a blog, can I still join in?"  YES!!!  Just so long as you leave me a comment and either a link to your web-hosty thing OR email me OR link me to your Facebook album... simples... like I said... the more the merrier!  "I haven't used any stamping on my entry, does it still count?"  Well... I have been known to get so involved in my creation that I forget to add in the stamping and end up bunging a quick sentiment or the odd "fill in" stamp. Soooo, I guess the answer is... Try to use stamping as much as you can.

On with my entry for this week.  I spent a lovely day yesterday demo-ing for Creative Expressions at the Big Stamping & Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace.  It is my fave venue for demo-ing, I don't know if it is the space, the people, the hooooge amount of stashly wares on sale... but, whatever it is, it is always special.  It was grand to meet so many lovely peeps and put faces to names too.  So. I was demo-ing Studio 490, Tim Holtz and Ranger.  And a little Art Parts piece that I had made as a sample is my entry for this weeks challenge.

I used some of the brand new Studio 490 stamps and stencils and Art Parts for my creation.  The base is a Hearts Art Part and I added a Scallop Trim to make a little shelf.  The colours are Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo.  The background honeycomb stamp was inked with the brush tip of a Vintage Photo Distress Marker - this is a cool technique because you can just ink the stamp in patches so you get a random background... I have tried this with an inkpad but I always seem to get harsh edgey lines... so the Marker is sooo much better.

My masking is in the guise of one of the new Studio 490 Stencils for Art - the Spots & Stripes.  I LOVE this stencil (actually I love them all... no big surprise there lol)  I used a smidge of Rusty Hinge and a smidge of Vintage Photo to add some detailing on the base through the stencil - the lines under the shelf are meant to be shadows... mmm, not quite but the idea was there :O))

I added a Grungepaper flower - Accents For Art stamp set, both flowers, stamped in Sepia Archival, inked with Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge DI and then curled... the centre is an Embellish Your Art flower button... coloured with co-ordinating Distress Markers.  This is a cool technique from Wendy Vecchi - simply colour the EYA piece, heat set it with a heat tool - don't overheat, it will go all stinky and wobbly - experience there folks lol - and there you go!  You can also use Alcohol Inks, Copics, Pro-Markers and Archival Inks to colourize the EYA pieces too.  The little metal thingy at the point of the heart is actually one of the new Creative Expressions Antique Corners... I just bent it slightly and popped it on with some Cosmic Glue.

Anyways... I shall away. I have some much needed beauty sleep to catch up on... we are away to Rockingham this morning to watch the British Touring Cars... YAY! I love Rockingham... only about 25 mins in the car and nice seats to sit on all day... oh and they always have a rather nice hog roast too... and a donut stand (oh, no, not more sugary chops) and of course, we shall be cheering Jason Plato on - I really hope he has a good meet this time... the last couple of meets have been pretty poop!   Thanks for looking, have a fabbbby day! TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Repackaged...

...tis that time again already folks! Time for the one and only Compendium II challenge, hosted and devised by that marvellous lady Linda Ledbetter... HERE are all the deets on her blog on how to join in with the challenge. Tis all about Book II from the Duke of Distress, to see Tim's blog, click HERE. So, this week (which is the 8th week of the challenge already!) we are turning to page 62 and repurposing packaging.


Now, I don't know about you but I think that packaging is a right royal pain in the backside. I spend hours making trips right across the grounds to the recycle bin (ok, it's outside the back door but I am on a whinge so it sounds better lol) Why do companies seem to think that wrapping products in plastic is going to a)make is more saleable and b) make the consumer very happy when they have to use scissors, knives, nay and thrice, a chainsaw, to get through the iron tough plastic? Humph! Ah for the days when we wrapped everything in newspaper and wasted nowt. So, because I hate waste, I took to collecting all kinds of plastic packaging in order to use it on my arty stuff. Several years later and there are little areas of the Room of Stash that will forever be a resting place for boxes, cartons and tins... However, I am happy to report that I did use some proper packaging on this tag today! Yes, the acetate is from an Alterations die and I have embossed one bit and cut the other bits out and coloured with Alcohol Inks. I got chance to play with my Distress Markers too... oooooh, I loooove these loads, especially on the Ranger Specialty Paper cos it is the bees-knees for colouring onto. Anyways, all the colours/deets etc are HERE on the Stamp Attic blog in case you fancy a nosey :O))


You may have noticed that Mistress Huffy has come to stay today. Oh yesh, she has indeedily. Namely because I got out of bed at stooopid o'clock to get ready and go and see Oliver Cromwell. Well, not the actual real Oliver Cromwell, I am pretty sure that he isn't still about. No, I am talking about the female Oliver Cromwell... nope, not lost me marbles... I am on about the steam locomotive. Well, up we gets and off we go with Grim's lovely pal Richard (hi Richard, am seeing if you are reading lol) So, we gets to a vantage point and find out that the poor old Loco failed last night and the train is now being powered by 2 diesel loco's. Weeeeell, we says, a train is a train so we will wait being as we are here. Aha! Until we found out that it was 97 minutes late. So, we got back in the car, came alllll the way home (ok, so we were 5 mins from home but... am ranting tho remember? rofl)


Right, I shall away... I want to go and park my btm comfy so I can watch the Queen's procession and the RAF flypast (praying the clouds stay high) Oh and did anyone watch the Jubilee Concert last night? All I will say is... Tom Jones = stole the show! Paul McCartney = superstar (obvs) and Madness = were THE best!!! Elton...er, try autotune love.... hoohahhaaaaa, says me, who sings and makes peoples ears bleed! Thanks for looking.... TTFN!

Hels x