Sunday Stamper - Week 302 - Mother Nature's Son

Gooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  A big thank you to everyone who entered into last week's challenge.   The theme is NATURE.  You can interpret the theme in many ways: nature's colours, insect, animals, plants... the list is endless!  *and yes, I have had this theme before... and yes, it was the same song title - this doesn't happen oft unless it is a particular fave theme and song!*    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 linky to the place you are showing your entry and I will hop on over to visit. If you don't have a blog, you can email me your entry by attaching a small res. pic or alternatively, you can join in via Facebook - simply tag my name.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 12th April 2014

 My entry this week is all about nature.  Starting with the beautiful new Wallflower papers from Tim Holtz.  I have always loved the designs that Tim puts into his paper stacks... but this one, well, it surpasses all the others (and that is saying a lot from me, the self-confessed Crowded Attic freak!)   These papers are absolutely stunning... I highly recommend you save up some pennies and buy a pad for yourself... you won't be disappointed :O)   So, armed with these delish new papers, I set about making something naturified *uh-oh, new word alert!*   I started out with a rectangle Studio 490 Art Part frame, covering the frame with the papers and then making a little piece to go in the middle, adding some torn bits to create a bit of texture and then popping a couple of Tim's Layering Stencils over and blending Distress Inks over them.  I used Doily and Bubble Wrap stencils with Forest Moss and Walnut Stain DI.  I cut some more paper and stamped the sentiment (from Tim's Stuff to Say) and added some little dots from the Dot Fade Stencil, again using Forest Moss.

The flowers are Tim's papers stuck onto Clearly For Art Blackout modelling film (used Glue & Seal to stick them down)  The stamps are Tattered Flowers by Heartfelt Creations, stamped in black Archival, cut out, inked with Faded Jeans and Victorian Velvet DI's and then heated up from the blackout side and moulded into shape whilst warm.. I love Clearly for Art... did I ever mention that???   The leaves are cut from Kraft Core-Dinations using Tim's new Spring Greenery die... those ivy leaves are fab aren't they?   I added some embellies (don't I always!) the butterfly and sprig are from the new Adornments Idea-ology *swoon* which I painted Distress Paint (Victorian Velvet and Tumbled Glass) onto, dabbed off the excess and then buffed up a bit.  The ickle heart is a Heart Charm (Idea-ology) and I used a Remnant Rub to add my own little piccie to it and the buttons and pearl spray are new Creative Expressions goodies.    I am a bit cross with meself though!  I had planned to make this little frame into a hanging... but I am thick (and forgetful) and didn't punch holes in the Art Part before I assembled it... so I am planning on getting some mini bulldog clips, chucking them in a baggie with some Rust Alcohol Ink and then once they are covered, tying them with string.   I didn't do that yet though because I am out of time for faffing...

Speaking of out of time... tis now time for me to get myself to my bed... I am scheduling this post to publish as I needs to be up early in the morning, which, by now, is today... so actually I am probably already up and about and off on my way to Telford to Crafty Bunch to do an Indigo Blu card making class with Pauline Wheeler, tis going to be a grand day!   Hope you have a great day too... thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 301 - Brown Girl In The Ring

Gooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Cor! Blimey! A hoooge thank you to everyone who entered into last week's challenge.  I had a whopping 45 entries!  Seriously, that is the most entries I have ever seen... like ever!  I will let you know more about the candy winner in a few moments... but first, on with this week's challenge.  The theme is BROWNS... my fave colour combo's!   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 linky to the place you are showing your entry and I will hop on over to visit. If you don't have a blog, you can email me your entry by attaching a small res. pic or alternatively, you can join in via Facebook - simply tag my name.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 5th April 2014 (April! Already!)

So, I have kept you in suspense long enough.... you wanna know the winner of the mega candy?   So, I fed the number of entrants into Random.org.... pressed the button and the number he chose is.... #30  which tallies with the comment and entry from Barbara Cady!  Congratulations Barb, please pop me and email with your address and I will have your goodies into the post for you.

My entry this week is a little MDF heart that I have covered with scrapbook papers and then jazzed up with Distress Inks.  The papers are Teresa Collins Creative Expressions ones and my fave ones in the pack are the neutral tones.  This background paper is fabby for just that, using it as a background.  I used a couple of That Special Touch stencils, blending Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo DI's through them... I love overlaying stencils and using more than one design to add extra interest.  The stamping behind the floral bunch is a dandelion stamp from Butterfly Wishes Eco Green set... and then I got crazy with the Heartfelt Creations flowers... stamping lots of different sizes onto the papers, cutting them out, edging with Vintage Photo and then layering up.

The sentiment is from a Creative Expressions stamp set (think it is Thoughtful Ssentiments but I can't remember lol) and look at the scribbles around the edges... it makes me very happy to see sewing on paper projects.. but as I am a very lot rubbish with a sewing machine, I use a fine liner pen to do them myself.  One day, I will be able to thread a sewing machine, get the stitches to stitch and not break it... one day lol And do you see the buzzy buzzy bee?  He is a Studio 490 Embellish Your Art fella... I love him, along with the Crow, he is my fave EYA piece.

I shall away now... today has me very muchly excited!  Oh yesh, it is the first meet up of the British Touring Car Championship 2014.  We were thinking of driving down to Brands Hatch and spending the day watching it live.  Then we both came to the conclusion that whilst it is a great day out, both of us have an enlarged Idle Bone at the moment  and decided that the day, spent indoors watching it on ITV4, whilst consuming several hundredweight of snacks and nibbles and spending some of the ££ we have saved on a rather delicious looking leg of lamb, is a much better idea.  And.  We didn't fancy the 5am set off to get there in time to get a decent place to park and view!   Thanks for looking...have a great day... TTFN

Hels...

PS.... GO PLATO!!!

Sunday Stamper - Week 296 - Anyone Who Had A Heart

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Many thanks for the fabby entries for last weeks challenge - it was grand to see some newbies too!  The theme this week is a nice easy one ... and it is... HEARTS.  You can interpret the theme as I have, using a heart shape, add a hearty word or add some stencilling or stamping with hearts.   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 linky to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog, you can join in via Facebook, simply tag my name or via emailing a small res photo to me.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 1st March 2014.

My entry this week is one of my demo samples from Stitches... I haven't had a chance to do any crafting this week (!) and all goodly intentions of getting the Room of Stash sorted have gone out of the window!  That is a job for tomorrow now methinks.    Anyways, the heart is a Pronty MDF heart, covered with Teresa Collins/Creative Expressions papers and then I got going with the decorating.  I did a smidge of stencilling using Texture Paste and a new That Special Touch mask.  I added some stencilling and Wendy's Archival Inks for the Fleur De Lys and then spritzed the whole heart with Black Cosmic Mist (love the new Cosmic Mists... they are fab!) The floral decoration is made up of Heartfelt Creations flowers, stamped onto more of the papers, cut out and then inked with Wendy's Orange Blossom and Cornflower Archivals - don't forget, you can blend with Archivals with Cut & Dry foam :O)  Smidges of Mustard Seed Distress Glitter for the flower centres and then some Embellish Your Art and metal embellies finished the floral assemblage.  I added scrawled lines around the edges of the heart with a Micron pen and voila, done!  This is the piece I made for Tanya, one of the CE reps, I promised her a tag last year and never got it done so this year I made sure I did something special for her!

That's all from me for today... I hope that you have a great Sunday and you like the theme this week.  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Crown of Love...

...brrrrr, cold day here in not so sunny Wellibobs and I think that calls for a day in the Room of Stash... sorting out stuff, putting stuff away and then perhaps a few moments of crafty play to make it all messy again.  I am fighting a losing battle with the Room of Stash, problem is it is just so disorganised (and too small!)  I have a (very rare) weekend off coming up so I am planning to get things sorted, once and for all (what will probably happen is I will do ironing, cobweb removal and oven cleaning as distraction activities!)   Anyways, a bit of art using the new Cosmic Chalk Paints... this one is an MDF crown that I altered using the paints and Crackle Glaze, here's how I did it:

Using a brayer to apply different colours of paints, starting with Grey Sky, moving into the purple tones (can't remember the names, oops) I added extra texture by applying a squidgy layer of paint and dried with a heat tool - yes, you can heat set the paints, fab!  Next, I used a brand new That Special Touch Fleur De Lys stencil, adding the Fleur's using Wendy's Cornflower Archival Ink.   Next up comes the Crackle Glaze Hels' Way... ie,  painting it on and applying the top coat of paint right away before it dries... a gorgeous mottled smooshy effect, I loves it!   I added some flowers and leaves - Heartfelt Creations stamps - and piled them all up with a few pearls and pearly swirls and then added the word onto 3d foam to make it stand out a little more.  Oh and I forgot to say, I edged the crown with Chalkboard Paint to make it darker and give it a frame.

As I said earlier, I shall be trying to sort out the Room of Stash today and Dad is arriving this afternoon as we are setting off at 4am tomorrow to drive to Cornwall for my Aunty's funeral.... long drive so we are sharing it.   And Dad is bringing proper northern fish n chips with him.. nom nom nom, so this afternoon I shall be stuffing my chops and ooing and ahing about the deliciousness that is proper northern fish n chips!  I shall away now... thanks for looking and have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Beautiful Heart...

...another sample from last Sunday's shows... this time an MDF heart.  I loves working with MDF, it is forgiving, sturdy to play with and also... such a lovely surface to make stuff on!  These hearts are part of a 6 pack and I just used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes into the top to make the hangy bit.

Covered with more of the Teresa Collins papers (mmm, I keep banging on about these but I can't help it, I LOVE them!!!)   I wanted to make a nice background over the papers so picked pretty plainish ones, added some Frayed Burlap DI around the edges and then a smidge of Walnut Stain to darken it and then sanded to reveal the white core and making it look nice and shabby.  I used Black Archival ink to stamp the Eco image of the flowery leafy stamp up from the bottom and down from the top of the heart, zapping with a heat tool just to make sure the ink was set.  Stencilling with Distress Inks to add more interest and then the Small Polka Mask with Gold Pearl Texture Paste spread through to add the...erm... texture!!

The decorations are made from the smallest bloom of the Flora Grande Heartfelt Creations stamps - they are a bit of a fiddle to make as they are small but they are quite sweet... I made three, added in some leaves (Eco stamps) stamped in Wendy's Fern Green Archival Ink and then stamped a couple of moths (also Eco stamps) and popped those onto the heart with some embellies to decorate... and there you have it!

Today I am going to be pacing about, waiting for the phone to ring.. biting nails and pulling my hair out because... Ferdy is having major surgery today!!!  Oh yesh, he has reached the grand old age of 34,000 miles (wow! how many!!!) and is having his Cam Belt and Water Pump changed.  I hate leaving him at the garage, I know he needs it doing and I stupidly gave him a "human" name so I have gotten this strange attachment to him but...  all the same, I shall worry (yes, I am bonkers lol)  And, in true typical stylee, yesterday when I set off from home to drop him off at the garage, he failed to start!  Yep, first time ever, he coughed a bit, spluttered a bit and then the Engine Management light flashed a few times... huh?  Finally he got going (after a lot of revving and praying from moi and the light went out so I am hoping it was just a hiccup!   Anyways, to prove that I am not as bonkers as everyone thinks, I related this to the chap at the garage... you wanna know what he said???   These were his exact words... "well, he knew you were taking him to see me!"  See, not just me that thinks cars are either male or female!  At least he will get cleaned though... he is absolutely minging filthy dirty (thanks to all the rain/salt/mud on the roads and my inherent slatternly nature) and the nice garage chap will give him a spruce up *just hope they don't attempt to clean inside, it is a bit skip-like in there you know... well, it is my travelling "office" lol*   I shall away now... this post is being scheduled as I have my lovely Dad visiting us and knowing how we have a tendency to yak late into the night, I figured I would schedule something just in case I get sidetracked lol   Anyways...  have a goodly day and thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Just Hanging Around...

...see what I did there huh?  A play on words indeedily today as I have one of the hanging projects I made for the shows on Sunday.  This one is actually just one panel from the Three Hanging Panels MDF set... I love the fact you can use them all together as they have holes drilled... or use them on their own (thus making one's stash go further!)  For this project, I used some of the gorgeous Teresa Collins papers and yep, there's that big old bloom again.  If you missed yesterday's post, please do scroll down to see the photo tut I did on how to make one :O)

The base was covered with the papers, edged with a smidge of Walnut Stain DI and then sanded back to neaten up the edges and I whizzed around the edge with some Black Soot DI to give the design a frame.  Next I used the script mask and Walnut Stain DI, randomly stencilling onto the base and then used the quilt mask, this time with Black Soot DI, again, stencilling randomly for that shabby effect.  Because the papers aren't quite long enough to fit onto the base, I cut it into two pieces and used a strip of the back side of the paper to cover the gap - you can just spy that poking out at the bottom of the flower.  I also added a smidge of stamping to the background... the Tattered Backgrounds dots... love these... stamped with Wendy's Signature Archival Potting Soil ink... lush!

The flower... oh, be still my heart, I have a new fave!!!  Made in the same way as the tut and then embellished around it to add some detail... check out the ickle butterfly too.  That is an Eco stamp, stamped onto card using Flake & Glitter Glue and then gilded with Autumn Leaves Gilding Flakes... I love the instant metal look achieved by doing this.  I poked a couple of holes in the top of the papers (thru the original drilled holes) and attached some rusty wire to make the hanging, added a sentiment and voila, finished!

That's all from me for today... busy week ahead of me - I am teaching in Leicester at Neil Burley's Studio on Saturday and then Sunday, Monday, Tuesday it is the Stitches Trade Show at the NEC and I am demoing for Creative Expressions so I needs to get myself shifting and making some samples... I will be demoing a *new* product too and I can't wait to have a play and then show it to you... til then, I will leave you in suspenders!!  Have a great day... Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Flora Grande Bloom Tutorial

...as promised, here's the tutorial on how to make the mahoosive beautiful bloom from the Heartfelt Creations Flora Grande flower stamp - this method would also apply to any other stamp you have that has more than 6 petals (the usual way to make a big rosey type of flower)   Before I go on though... huge thanks for all your lovely messages and emails about yesterday's shows... they were great weren't they?  The "crow/parrot" will forever make me laugh my socks off... I thought I did quite a good job... alas I didn't get a photo of this rare of endangered breed, so perhaps if Liz is reading this she could take a piccie and send it to me... for posterity and all that.  Anyhow, on with the tutorial... you might want to grab yourself a cuppa and a packet of Hobnobs mind you, it is very photo heavy :O)  *~please also excuse the state of my hands and nails.. these pics were taken after three intensive days sample making and therefore my nails are a tad battered and the hands...well, mucky inky dirty will suffice~*  Here's a pic of the finished bloom:

And here are your ingredients:

Four stamped flowers, pokey tool, Cosmic Glue, paper clips, scissors, paintbrush or similar for curling the petals (+stamp!)

Through the tutorial I will post photo's of each step, plus extra photo's (labelled a or b, which show you how the step should look once completed)

STEP 1
Cut up in between two petals to the middle of the flower.

STEP 2
Where your cut is is where one petal will overlay the next one - you need to cut the top off this petal as when it is glued, it will be double thickness and won't curl as nicely as the other petals. Leave a nice "tab" at the bottom of the petal for gluing.

So your first flower will look like this with 7 petals.

STEP 3
Cut out one petal plus a semi circle from the centre (makes it easier to assemble) and the top off the petal that will be underneath once glued.  KEEP THE SINGLE PETAL.

Your second flower will look like this with 6 petal.

Rusty Hinge makes ones fingers look nicotine stained!

STEP 4
Cut out two petals together - set them aside as you will need them. Cut out another semi circle from the centre as before and also the top off the underneath petal.  

This is how flower number 3 should look when glued - 5 petals.

please excuse the sausage thumb shot!

STEP 5
This should be your fourth stamped flower. Cut out three petals together, repeat the process as before, cut a semi circle from the middle, chop the top off the petal that will sit underneath... KEEP THE THREE PETALS

This is how it should look - 4 petals

yep, another sausage thumb

STEP 6
For this step, you need to use the three petals you cut from the previous flower.  Snip a little way into the petals, this makes them easier to curl once assembled.

Use your paintbrush to gently curl your petals inwards, add glue as shown and stick the edges together where they meet.

It should look like this

STEP 7
This step needs the two petals you cut from flower #3 - again, snip a little way into the petals to help them curl once assembled.

Use your paintbrush to curl the petals inwards, this helps it come together for gluing

And it should look like this - as before, just add glue along one edge and stick where they meet. Use a clip to assist the gluing and freeing up your hands for the next step.

STEP 8 
This is using the single petal you cut from flower # 2. Use your paintbrush to wrap the petal around it, glue at the base and use a clip to hold it in place.

for continuity, Hels kept her hands mucky

You are now ready to assemble your bloom!

STEP 9 
Use a pokey tool (or similar) to curl the edges of your petals.  Pop your finger underneath the point at the base of the flower and push upwards to form a little peak inside the flower. This will be the "nest" your next layers sit around.

Add a generous dollop of Cosmic Glue around the base of the "peak".

STEP 10
Remember the semi circles we cut from the middles of each layer?  This eases assembly!  This photo shows that you can now get your scissor tips into the hole and make it slightly larger so it nests neatly within the base flower.  Repeat this process with each layer.

Place your layer into the base flower - you may need to jiggle it around a little until it sits neatly.

STEP 11
As before, snip around the hole in the bottom of the layer to make it the right size to fit into the layer below... add glue around the edges of the hole and pop into place... 

...like this...

STEP 12
As before, snip down the size as necessary and place into the every growing bloom.

STEP 13
Remember we snipped into the petals in Step 6?  This is why!  It makes life easier to curl the petals when they aren't so snug together.

ewwww, don't look at those manky nails!!!

When popped into place, it should look like this:

STEP 14
And again, snipping down between the petals makes it so much easier to curl these back on the layer that has two petals... curl the petals back and pop glue around the base of the layer.

or those manky nails, no! don't look!

STEP 15
Can you believe I deleted the photo for Step 15??? After all those other ones!!! Eeek!! Anyways, all you needs to do with the single petal is cut it to size and pop it into place with a dob of glue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And there you have it!!! Are you still with me or have you nodded off?   I hope that you found this easy to follow and if you are planning on making some beautiful blooms, I would LOVE to see the results! 

I shall away now... as ever, thanks for looking, have a great day all!  TTFN

Hels x

If I Were A Photographer...

...heeheee, if I were a photographer then you would be seeing perfectly poised and posed piccies but, I am not, so, you have to put up with these... erm... shadowy jobbies!   You know I said that I had some gorgeous Heartfelt Creations stamps onto tomorrow's shows?  Well, here's my FAVE!!!  Look at the size of this beaut!  It is a single flower stamp but stamp it four times, cut out petals, curl 'em, glue 'em together and this is whatcha get!!!  I LOVE this flower and actually, I am thinking it is my *new* favey flower!   I shall do a "step by step" tut on how I made it on Monday, seriously though, it is dead simples: stamp flower four times, cut out petals so you reduce as you go and you are left with 3, 2 & 1 left over for the middles.

Like the ickle stand it is sitting on?  Oh ho! These two (ooops, shouldn't have said that....) are on the shows too.. no assembling instructions needed, no glue needed, really simples!  I will demo one so you can see how easy they are.  I am thinking that maybe I could have a couple for arty stuff and then a couple as diddy little tables to hold little choccies and mini muffins in the Room of Stash... mmmm!

I made a bit of a boo-boo yesterday.  Crazy Old Bat Syndrome hit big stylee... I went off to the local Post Office yesterday afternoon as I had a couple of things to post (ok, that bit was a bit obvious but bear with...)  In our hallway is the little heap of shoes, I come in, kick them off and bung them under a chair (well, it is a smidge tidy)  So, being as I had a couple of things I needed to post and as time was getting on, I hastily put on my shoes and dashed off to the Post Office.  When I got home I realised why my feet felt "different"...   I loves my Birki's and have a few pairs... I don't think they are supposed to be worn like this though... mind you, I could be setting a new trend!!!

I shall away... I have samples to finish and demo's to get prepped in readiness for tomorrow.  Have a great day and stay safe and warm!!!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Sample Time!!!

...uh-oh... again, here I sit, waggling around on the chair singing "sample time" to the tune of Hammer Time.... I do it every time!  Now I have an earworm for the rest of the day.  Mind you, it is better than the song I woke up with that was embedded in my bonce, that was "Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo!"   Seriously, I worry for myself, my sanity and my dreams if that is the calibre of song I wake up with!!! EEEEK!!!     Anyways, today I am showing one of the samples I have made for Sunday's tellybox shows.  Now, as ever, all the channel deets/times and how to view are over there *points left* and I hope you can join me for a 2 hour 3d craft-fest at midday on the Tool Shed and again at 5pm for an hour of more 3d-ness.  This fella is SO cute!  I have had my beady eyes on him in the catalogue ever since I first started demo-ing the Pronty MDF and I am well chuffed that I have finally managed to catch him and put him into the tv shows.  He is THE perfect size, not too big, not too small... just right.

As ever, my fave techniques seem to come out all over my samples and being as I have the gorgeous Teresa Collins paper pad on the show (you know I loves that right?  what, you hadn't guessed?  teehee)  I decided that all those ickle bits and bobs of paper I have saved up because they are just too special to bung them in the bin needed using so I adapted the paperblocking technique... and guess what?  I found ANOTHER use for the Creative Expressions Clear Texture Paste!!!!   OH YESH!!!  You know I have used it to stamp with for a cool resist, use it on its own for fab textures, through a stencil, coloured with mica/paint/dye inks... as a collage medium to apply tissue... and... finally... as a SEALER!!! Oh yesh, my little old "wonder if..." nodule in my brain said that to me the other night... so I thought I would give it a try... and there ya go, PERFECT!!!

The flowers are more stunners from Heartfelt Creations and I coloured up some of the TC papers using Peacock Feathers DI.  Normally this kind of colour has me lifting my skirts and running for hills, scary bright colour that it is... but, as ever, it is Distress so it just doesn't frighten me 'cos it blends so beautifully and still has that muted tone that I loves so muchly.  You will also spy some Embellish Your Art and some Creative Expressions embellies... oohlalalaaaa, wait til you see what else I have on the shows too!!! *ya wanna hint?  Ok, remember the "owl clock" from last year? He might just have swooped back into stock ;o))*  Whilst I am a-waffle, check out what the uber talented Sue Wilson has been up to.  Oh yesh, our Sue has her very own die line for Creative Expressions that have literally just been released... she is a awesome designer, one day I hope to be able to create a card as good as hers are (think I will be waiting very long times for that though, I just don't have the co-ordination to make them so perfect lol)  Wanna see what I am going on about... CHECK HERE for Sue's blog and her special news!

I shall away now, today I am mostly up to my eyes in sample making for Sunday (erm yes, last minute Annie as ever, I blame the *bug* I had at the beginning of the week, fair did for me for three whole days!)   I shall sign off by saying... as ever... thanks for looking, have a fab day and I hope that the storms don't cause you any nasty damage!  TTFN

Hels x