Sunday Stamper - Week 314 - Knock On Wood

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 week sees a nice different challenge - and that is to USE WOOD.  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 5th July 2014.

My entry this week is actually a show sample from my last tellybox show that I haven't got around to blogging... better late than never.  I had lots of painty fun making this wall hanging.  The paints are Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Paints, I used Spiced Raspberry mixed with Vanilla and brayered the paints onto an MDF board.  Once I was happy with the background painting, I added some Spiced Raspberry to Clear Texture Paste and popped this through Dina's Plastic Canvas Stencil.  Once dried, I set about adding some light stamping using Dina's Textures stamp set.  I used Vanilla to stamp with so the background is nice and splotchy.

I make no secret of my lurve of butterflies and I went a little... erm... bonkers (!) with the butterflies on this piece... all stamped onto patterned papers and coloured with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink (you can see I missed colouring the underside of a wing... oops!)  The woodie branch is from the garden, I was cutting back a camellia and the twigs are really sturdy, ideal for adding to something crafty.  I tied string through the holes in the MDF and wrapped it around the twig to fasten it in place.  A wee sentiment to finish and voila, one painty project.

That's all from me for now... I am taking a couple of weeks off to recharge the old batteries so if I am a little quiet, it is probs because I am curled up with a good book :O)   *either that or up to mischief!*  Thanks for looking, have a goodly week! 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!!!

Orange Blossom...

...tis a super schpeedy post from me today!  Oh yesh, I am doing some schedulage of my blog because first thing this morning I am away to Crafty Bunch in Telford for a weekend of teaching.  So, being as I am uber organised and have got everything ready and all I needs to do now is sleep, I thought I would pop a quicky post on here today.  Actually, it is really last night, which is so confusing because it is now... erm.. now.. so... erm... quite!   This is the last demo piece from the Stitches trade show the other week.  Another Pronty MDF heart, this time painted with Chalk Paints in paler colours and stencilled with my new fave That Special Touch Fleur stencil, using Wendy Vecchi's Ranger Archival Orange Blossom... this is a beauty of a colour and to make the design really pop, I coloured the flowers with it too... tis easy to blend Archival inks... just use Cut & Dry foam.

Right then... time for bed... well, it was then... it won't be now, it will be time for breakfast... right?  *wanders off scratching head.... *   I am still full of sneezles... I actually geniunely lost count yesterday the amount of sneezles I actually did... very lots that is how many!  My face is all puffed up like a big Moomin puffy thing - bunged sinuses I think. 

Aw, Moomin blowing snotty bubbles!

I see a lot of you commented that you too are suffering with this lurgy... get well soon!!!   Moving on, you don't want to hear all about me being a snot monster... there be a brand new Sunday Stamper for tomorrow = that too is scheduled - see, uber organised... for a change!  Thanks for looking, have a great Saturday! TTFN

Hels x

Schneezy Greetings!

...aaaatchoooo!!! Oh yesh, here we are at the end of February and I have my nose all a-bunged up and I am sneezing like Sneezy McSneezy from the little town of Sneezington in Sneezeshire!  Yikes!  So, not only am I all of a moan and a groan, my face has also taken on the appearance of a Moomin... just call me Moomin Mamma and let's have done with it lol   Anyways, a brief interlude in my bemoaning... here's another sample I made whilst demo-ing at the NEC trade show last week.  This is another Pronty MDF heart, again painted with the new Cosmic Chalk Paints.

I used a brayer to apply several layers of the paints to the heart.... btw, answering your questions: no, I never gesso the MDF before playing... am lazy like that :O) That isn't to say you can't, you can, if you want to :O)  I added circles using the top of a water mister bottle and lines using my Ranger scraper and then popped the new That Special Touch Fleur De Lys stencil over the heart and blended Jet Black Archival through it to add some details.  Next up, I stamped the Dandelion in Jet Black Archival and then applied the Cosmic Shimmer Crackle Glaze over the top of the image and then applied more paint over the top whilst it was still wet.  The butterflies were stamped onto cream card and then cut out, coloured with Distress Ink and added to the heart with some gems for the bodies.

 
Today I am getting my stuff together in preparation for my trip to Crafty Bunch in Telford this weekend.  I am so looking forward to returning to Crafty Bunch, the ladies are all brilliant - they love getting covered in ink and paint... and remember me talking about Margaret, the gorgeous lady whom I want to kidnap and bring home?  Well, she will be there too! Hurrah!!!   I couldn't mention Crafty Bunch without mentioning our Sue, the owner, who makes THE best salmon sammiches in the world *yep, best Jeremy Clarkson voice for that....* and who also kept me topped up with coffee and Creme Eggs during the trade show!  I shall away now, to my germ ridden Room of Stash, where, you will be gobsmacked to hear, tidiness prevails! Oh yesh!  It took me several long hours to get it resembling normality but... well, it will do, the desks are clean and tidy... just don't look at the floor!   Have a good day all!  TTFN

Moomin Mamma x

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

Sunday Stamper - Week 294 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Many thanks for all your fabby black and gold entries last week.   The theme this week is DIAMONDS - how you choose to interpret this is entirely up to you - add in diamond stamping, stencilling, diamond embellies, real diamonds ...   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 to leave me a comment along with a linky to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog, you can also join in via Facebook (tag my name on your upload) or by emailing a small resolution piccie of your creation to me.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 15th February 2014.

My entry this week is one of the samples I have made for todays tellybox shows.  I will be on at 12pm with Dean for a two hour Tool Shed and today I will be using lots of 3D stuff so you can see how easy it is to create nice bits of art for your home.  This frame is part of a pack of three that I have split down into individual frames.  The frame is paper covered, the gorgeous Teresa Collins for Creative Expressions papers, sanded, edged with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and then cut up to make a piece for the middle that was coloured with more Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.  I overstamped the inky paper with a gorgeous diamond stamp from the show - Heartfelt Creations again :O)  using Wendy's Signature Archival Ink, Orange Blossom colour (which goes perfectly with Rusty Hinge, love this colour muchly)

 See, I am now a bit addicted to making these mahoosive flowers now and here's another one... and I will be doing a full step by step photo tut tomorrow on how to make them from the Flora Grande Heartfelt Creations stamp.  The leaves are also Heartfelt Creations, and yes, I cut them out!  A bit fiddly but so worth it as they are really pretty and delicate, these were stamped with Wendy's Fern Green Archival Ink.  A little pile of embellies hidden around the flower including Embellish Your Art and some metal bits and bobs finished off my frame nicely.

 
I really must stop gabbing and get moving... I have got a couple of boxes to pack up and pop into Ferdy so we are ready for the off in the morning.  I hope you can join me at midday and again at 5pm... all the channel deets etc are over in the left hand sidey bar.  Thanks for looking and have a great Sunday!  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

Giveaway Time!!!

...yes indeedily, it is that time again.  As a thank you for all the lovely comments and messages and emails and stuff, I am giving away this little piece of artwork that was prepped as a demo and I didn't get chance to do it live on air... so I finished it off at home and here it is.  To be in with a chance of winning the plaque, simply leave a comment on this post (click on the "inky thinkings" button at the bottom of the post).  The closing date/time for the giveaway is 23:59 GMT tonight, 6th December 2013. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on tomorrow's post.  In the event of the winner not claiming their prize in the next seven days, I will do a re-draw and a new winner will be announced.

I love these MDF Rectangular Plaques.  This one is the largest one and I painted it with a layer of Lake Mist Dabber... and added the edging in Pitch Black Dabber to give it a frame.  The stencilling is the gorgeous Fuchsia That Special Touch mask... I loves this mask muchly seeing as I am collecting Fuchsia's at the moment and now I have my new greenhouse, I can keep them over winter too!  Anyways, once I had popped the mask into position, I spread a layer of Gold Pearl Texture Paste through it and then allowed it to dry.  I tend to pop things onto the radiator to dry - I am impatient!  You can gently heat dry the paste, just make sure it has formed a "crust"  on top of it to start with otherwise it can bubble and distort.

The decorations are made from flowers stamped onto the lush Teresa Collins Creative Expressions papers... the flower stamps are from the Studio 490 Live & Make Art set... loves them muchly because they have so many petals, you can make them more 3d.  I added some hand cut leaves that I lightly coloured with Forest Moss Distress Ink and then bunged a few embellies onto the plaque too... the buzzy bee is an Embellish Your Art resin piece (how cute!) and the key is a Creative Expressions Assorted Keys embellie... and the ickle bottles are Glass Vials which I filled with Persian Dawn Gilding Flakes to add a smidge of bling.  The words are a combo of stencilled (Always from the Classic Words Stencils for Art) and the Be You is a stamp from the Art For You 490 set.

Right, that is all from me for today... I am tackling my "to do" list ... starting with the dreaded trip to Morrison's... oh how I love doing the grocery shopping... not!!!  Wish me luck, I thinks it might be a bit busy in there!  Thanks for looking... have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

Arty Collections...

...tis that time again!  I am on the tellybox again tomorrow, this time with some gorgeous Dimensional Art goodies.  I have been playing working my fingers to the bone (ahem) in the Room of Stash, making samples and experimenting with different products... one is brand new to me too, never used it before and I am having fun getting me and the rest of the house covered in said stuff... all will be revealed tomorrow though :O)   My show times are 8am and 1pm on Create & Craft.  All the channel deets are over there *points left* in the sidebar.  I hope you will be able to join me! 

This is one of my larger samples.. it is an MDF Collection Box and comes flat so it is a doddle to paint or paper cover because there are no nooks and crannies to try and paint (or paper cover) and putting it together is simples too!   The back piece has been painted and stencilled and stamped and faffed with to make it pretty... and then I just popped the sections in and glued them into place... so easy!

I have some lovely little trinkets on the shows too and you know how much I loves to embellish stuff... I am happy, happy, happy that the little Glass Vials are back in stock too, they are so versatile... do you spot a different use for the diddy ones?  Pretty cool huh?

I have had a bit of a... errrrm... mishap... with my hair!  I know I am not the cleanest of crafters, in fact, I do tend to "wear" the stuff I am playing with on my tops... be it ink, paint, glue... I am not choosy, just as well I now have special crafting tops to wear.  However, I now seem to have adopted "crafting hair" too.  Oh yesh, a nice dollop of Texture Paste has lodged itself onto my head... Lord alone knows how I did that!  I have tried teasing it (not like "ner, ner, ner..." teasing, I mean the gently trying to remove said texture paste without removing a clump of hair lol)  And I have tried rinsing it out with cold water... ahem... I thinks that "set" it!  So, if I look a bit perculiar tomorrow, it is entirely, ahem,  unintentional.  

I shall away now... time for me to go and try to get a few snoozles.  Grim is on nights... and whilst I rather like being able to spread right out across the bed, I don't half miss him and weirdly, when Grim is on nights, Alf sleeps on his bed in the Room of Stash or on the landing outside Grim's study door.  Normally he is vying for bed space with us... strange little fella!   Hope you have a great day... thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Simples...

..is the title of todays offering!   Many thanks for all the support, messages, emails etc for the Pick of the Day shows.  I can safely say that I have now more or less recovered the use of my brain and can string a sentence together once more.  That last show on Wednesday... truly showed my capacity for being a div lol  Still it was a good one and everyone seemed to enjoy it!  BTW, very lots actually does mean... very lots!   Anyways, on with todays simple art!
 

This is a large rectangular MDF plaque... covered with paper and distressed around the edges with Gathered Twigs to give it a frame.   I cut a heart shape from more of the papers and popped it onto card to make it sturdier and then set about making some UTEE embellies for it.    I have some gorgeous silicone flower moulds so I used three of them to make the bundle of flowers - using Marbled Plum and Olympic Gold UTEE's together and forming little leaves by dipping leaf shaped shrink plastic into clear UTEE I had dyed with Paris Green Melt Ink... wow, I loves those new Melt Inks!  As the shrinkage happens, the leaves started to curl, so I whipped them out of the pot whilst still a bit curly and they made perfect little additions to the flower bundle.  The background of the plaque was stamped with the Chicken Wire stamp (love that stamp) using Gathered Twigs DI too.

Today I am mostly unpacking boxes... then repacking them in readiness for my trip to Sparkle Dreams in Swindon tomorrow. I have a lovely Mixed Media Masterboard class happening and I can't wait to go and get inky with all the lovely ladies who will be joining me.  After all that packing and unpacking and repacking etc, I shall be sneaking off into the Room of Stash for a little play with some ink and paint... feels like such a long time since I did any playing, I need to feed the Ink God inside me!   Right, I shall away... thanks for looking and have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Just Call Him Mr Beaky...

...or rather... Mr Beakless... poor little thing!  I made this birdy house as a sample for last weeks tellyshows and I had this little birdy pin that I decided I would use to adorn the birdyhouse.  Somewhere along the way he has lost his beak... only I didn't realise until I was looking closely at the pics... whoooops!  Anyways... here's how I made it!

The birdyhouse is fab!  Tis all in slot together pieces that I covered with Teresa Collins Creative Expressions papers and then sanded around the edges to smarted them up.  I used Jet Black Archival to stamp some swirls onto the sides and front and then set about adding some flowers.  Well, I have to add them to most things don't I?  These are made from the Funky Flowers Creative Exprssions stamp set, stamped in Orange Blossom Archival onto more of the papers and curled and shaped to make pretty blooms.  I added leaves behind them, they were stamped in Fern Green Archival (I am LOVING the new Wendy Vecchi Signature Designer Archival Inks... you NEED them too!)  The roof was so easy to do too.  I used one of the panels as a template for the scallops and pencil drew around them onto the papers... and cut strips, cut out the scallops, sanded them, layered them up and then glued the whole layered effort to the roof panel.  REALLY, that simples!  And very effective once I had curled up the "tiles" using a pencil to assist with the rolling.  I am off to hunt for the poor old beak... it must be languishing in the bottom of a box somewhere... well, if I can't find it I shall have to fashion another one... can't have the little fella beakless forever now!

Don't forget, there isn't a new Sunday Stamper tomorrow... but you still have another week to join in with the current theme which is KEYS.  All the deets for the Sunday Stamper are HERE... I am a little slow in visiting you all this week but I will be around soon, promise!  Thanks for looking and have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

The Key of Love...

...blimey! What a past few days indeedily!  Friday with the telly shows and then Sunday and yesterday teaching 30 wonderful ladies how to get thoroughly painty and messy Distress stylee over at Crafty Bunch in Telford... big thanks to Sue for being a brill host (and supplying copious amounts of THE best salmon sarnies in the world *said in my best Jeremy Clarkson voice*) and also thanks to all the ladies who came to play... and special mention to Margaret who most certainly is the funniest dame I ever did meet... I told her I am bringing her home with me next time :O)

Anyways... as promised here's one of the samples for the telly shows on Friday.  Made from the "ornaments set" this is the Love Tag.  Description being very self explanatory, it is thin wood/ply/veneer, laser cut for the tag (it is like it was made for me!) and then the laser cut letters too! Ha!  I used some of the delish Teresa Collins papers (Creative Expressions special pack) and popped this onto the tag, cutting around it, sanding it and then edging with Walnut Stain DI.  I was so in my comfort zone, I loves music score muchly.  I also covered the little heart with the paper and used Fired Brick DI to colour it... painting the letters black and then sanding them and Distressing them and gluing them to the tag with the best glue ever, Cosmic Glue... and then adding a little Fancy Key Charm and a ribbon embellie to finish.  A nice simple tag but I do loves it :O)

Please do pop by to see me tomorrow.  I am all of a dither with the excitement of it all... I let the cat out of the bag the other night on Facebook but for those of you who didn't see it... Lisa Pace, the divine goddess of all things detailed, is doing a special blog feature called My Life in a Dinghy.  Pop on over to her blog to see what it is all about... and... she only went and asked me to take part!  I am overwhelmed and honoured to be asked... and blimey, you should see who else is being featured... I am grinning like the proverbial loon to think I am part of this brilliant feature!  Anyways... my dinghy will be posting tomorrow afternoon at 2pm GMT.. can't wait to see what you thinks of it!   In the meantime, I shall bid you a very goodly day and say... Thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 276 - Lock & Key

Gooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thank you for the gorgeous entries for last weeks challenge.  This week is going to be a slightly different than normal challenge... because it is going to be a TWO week challenge.  Oh yesh, for the first time in 4 years, the Sunday Stamper will be taking a week off... fear not though, it will be back again on October 6th.  On with this fortnightly challenge theme though which is... KEYS.  To join in is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping.  Once you have made your creation, 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 Facebook, simply tag my name on your upload... or by email and attaching a small resolution piccie for me to see.  My email addy is over there *points left* where my photo is, click on that and you can get the deets :O)  Remember, this is a two week challenge and will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 5th October 2013.

My entry this week is one of my show samples... I have been so busy making samples and such like that I didn't get chance to do any other art for the past couple of weeks.... and I know that sometimes we don't get a chance to see the samples close up so I thought I would share a few with you this week, starting with this one.  It is made from the 3 board hanging set and it is MDF based.  I love love love this set... perfect size and of course, being MDF is always going to be a winner.

The base was painted with Lake Mist Dabber and then I layered up some That Special Touch stencils... Scattered Straw blended through the Trellis stencil... then Broken China through the Flower mask and then the Sunburst stencil... LOVE this one... that is Seedless Preserves DI blended through that.  The stamping is done with Watering Can Archival Ink (LOVE this colour, tis my new fave.. thank you Wendy Vecchi for making this one happen!)  I used the Creative Expressions Textures stamps.. the top and bottom panel have the crackle background randomly stamped and the middle has that gorgeous french text stamped.

The flowers are stamped onto Foundations papers using Aquamarine and Blue Violet Archivals and then cut out, curled, layered and decorated with pearl middles.  I love adding lots of goodies into a bundle of flowers which is where the fabby Embellish Your Art pieces came in handy... and of course... glass vials filled with the delicious new Broken China Distress Glitter...well, it had to be done!  I LOVE that new glitter!  Shhh, don't tell anyone though... being as I am a non-glittery kind of person normally lol

Right, I shall away... hope you all have a great day planned... I am away to Telford to teach at Crafty Bunch today and tomorrow.  Thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Twit... Twoo!

...tis showtime today!  I am going to be on Create & Craft at 11am, 4pm and 7pm on Stamping with Creative Expressions.  For all the channel deets, please see the left hand side bar :O)  Anyways... as I have been twittering on all week, today I have a gorgeous new brand to show you all... and here's one of the samples that I made:

Firstly, isn't he cute?!!!  And secondly... I loves those Foundation papers, they distress up really well just with a sanding block.  I made lots of ruffles for Mr Owl, alternating the papers (they are double sided!) and then popped them onto his body and wings.

I better get a wiggles on, I am scheduling this post and as I type it is nearly 10pm and my nails needs attention!  Serious attention... they are covered in black paint!  Thank heavens for the Craft Scrubbie and a bit of clear nail varnish lol   Thanks for looking... hope you can tune in to see the other gorgeous MDF pieces that are on the shows.  TTFN!

Hels x