The Birds & The Bees(Wax)...

...Over on the Lots To Do Challenge the new theme today is Beeswax... oooooooo, how could I resist playing along at this challenge 'cos Beeswax is one of my favest mediums to play with. I spent the most of yesterday sitting in the sunshine with the old dear who came to visit me - we did start off with all intentions of getting inky but after about half an hour the lure of the freshly cut sandwiches I had so lovingly removed from their packets... I mean hand-made... coupled with the sunshine, well, we sat in the garden and chatted instead LOL Crafting can wait when the weather is so nice :O))




Anyways, I am getting off the subject... what I was meaning to say is that I had every intention of making stuff and blogging today with what I had made... instead, I spent a quick 40 mins making this canvas late yesterday evening... actually, about half an hour ago but it is now Saturday... which also means I am off for a gathering of friends is sunny Kent today... which means that I should really stop prattling on about nothing in-particular and get myself off to bed... so, quickly... Canvas, Painted, Trad Tan, streaked Sable Brown & Teal, Stamp images, Tissue paper, Beeswax, Paint on, Harden (ooooooer missus -- snort), Buff, Finished.





There, did you like my Gordon Ramsey stylee of recipe??? I am off, think I have had too much sun cos I have just read this back and it reads like the insane rantings of a mad woman... *whadya mean I is a mad woman ROFL* TTFN

Hels x

Dancing In The Rain...

...I just love some of the sentiments that Mr T'Holtz has on stamps...and the one I used for this piece has to be one of my faves...so I used it today on a quicky piece I made...cos I felt the urge to get inky and also cos I haven't used his stamps for at least 36 hours now and I felt the withdrawal symptoms kicking in... you know them...furtive glances at the OH to see if he would miss you if you nipped off to the Room of Stash...those pangs of guilt that the poor stamps are sitting there, un-inked and unloved...and...most of all...clean fingers!!!




This piece is a plain wooden frame which is really good value...which I painted with...wait for it...Trad Tan paint...well, I have my favourite paint but I thought I had my favourite Distress Ink, until this evening when I have fallen madly in lurve with Victorian Velvet...the dusky pink of this is just so gorgeous...so I used this colour...and a bit of Antique Linen in the centre...and overstamped with black StaZon for the sentiment and Olive StaZon for the twigs and foliage.



The butterflies...oh, they are my fave new Tim stamp...are stamped onto Grungepaper which had been covered with an old book page...then inked with Vict Velv (see, I love it so much I have given it a pet name LOL) and then curled... finally, adding an old pearl to the centres of them.




The frame was coloured with Vict Velv and Forest Moss Distress inks, just to give it a bit extra rather than just plain old Tan :O)) All of the stash used on this piece can be bought from The Artistic Stamper :O)) That's all for now...I am off to make something waxy now...and thank you everyone for all your lovely comments and good wishes about my poor old back...sad to say, I am still bent double but hey! why let pain get in the way of a good crafty session!!

Hels x

The Bird & The Bees...

....Wax! I have finally managed to be brave enough to attempt a Beeswax project all by myself :O)) I went on a Beeswax class at LB Crafts back in December and totally loved playing and making something that looks great and different at the same time. I used Natural Beeswax pellets in my Melt Pot and some fancy tissues that I bought in a heavenly shop in Faversham last time I went to see Jennie...I did have to explain why I bought so many packets of tissues and napkins...she probably thought I had lost the plot...or was expecting a posh cold LOL




The canvas is a diddy one...just 4" x 3" and deep edged, pre-gesso'd so no mucking about first...I just painted it with...erm...*why change a habit?* Traditional Tan Claudine Hellmuth paint... I know, I know, it is always that colour but it just lends itself sooo well to most things...anyway, I split the tissues so it was just one layer (or for those who study loo rolls, ply :O}) and then painted a bit of Beeswax onto the canvas and then overlaid the tissue...the used my heatgun to keep the wax melted whilst I placed my tissue bits where I wanted them...and used a paintbrush to smooth out the surface and get an even layer of wax.




The cute birdy is a Long Tailed Tit...**oh how I wanted to call the title of this post something else but I just didn't dare...I could have been reported for being naughty ROFL**...I cut this little fella out of the tissue pattern and popped him onto the canvas in the same way as above. I used some script stamps to break up the plain background...stamping with Timber Brown StaZon...adding teensy round fragments over the letters to make them stand out and I then added some divine little gold pearls that I bought yonks ago on eBay and found them when I was tidying the room the other night...they were pre-strung and are cultivated wotsits...so they are all different shapes and sizes which I thought made them look prettier. The final bits were a few clear micro beads in clumps and then a swoosh of Gold Krylon around the edges to finish it.




Then...disaster struck! There I was merrily tidying away *so good still* and I dropped the StaZon pad onto the canvas!!!!!!!!! Before I had put the lid back on properly!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!! But...I rectified this mess up by swooshing the pad right around the edges over the Krylon which thankfully didn't rub off onto the pad and I actually think that it frames it better!




Thanks for looking...sorry I haven't visited peeps for a few days...been bogged down with the Lappy being re-jigged and haven't been able to get online much...Now I am up and running properly I will be able to hop later to see all your lovely creations :O))

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 85 - I've Just Seen a Face....Plus Candy Winner

Hello Stampers ... Happy New Year to you all...may 2010 bring you lots of health and happiness... not to mention very inky fingers too :O)) A HUGE thank you to everyone who joined in with the challenge last time... it was great to see so many lovely pieces of art and to have so many comments too :O)) I used a very special mathematical solution to be able to chose a winner of the Mega Candy...basically, every comment that was left over the three posts I made, I assigned a number to, then if you joined in with the challenge, you got an extra number...makes sense huh? I used the Random.Org generator to chose the number *one day I will learn how to get the picture from there, to here, so you can see the result!!!* ...which turned out to be #42....so....drumroll.....the winner is:

Laura from As Happy As....congrats hun, please can you email me your addy details and I will pop the candy into the post for you. I got over 50 comments in total so I am adding some more bits and bobs to the stash too :O))

On with the new challenge...I had a little think over the holidays (don't panic, I was sitting down so didn't exert myself!) about the way the Sunday Stampers format is...with the song title for the theme etc...and decided that I like it that way...and it keeps me on my music quiz toes trying to think of new titles all the time LOL So, the theme this week is going to be Faces. It is easy to join in, all you need to do is make a piece of art, include some stamping on it and let me know about it with a comment here. Simple! Just like me ROFL Include a face in your art...this opens up huge possibilities and means that you can make just about anything really...and yes, I do love to see cute cards too...



I got a lovely blank mirror for Christmas and today I got all inky with Chalk Inks and Stampbord, making little tiles to fit around the edge of the mirror and scratching away some of the image to highlight the designs. I prepped the wooden frame with ... no prizes for guessing.... Claudine Hellmuth's Traditional Tan paint (what did I do before this product!!!)





And...to make the whole thing look a bit fancier, I used a gold Krylon pen around the edges...however, my photography!!!!!!! Yes, I know, I say it every week *yawns* but I really am rubbish with a camera ... so imagine how much trouble I had taking a picture of a mirror, when I didn't want my goofy reflection in it...in the end, I was lying on the kitchen floor, with the frame in front of me, trying to make the flash thingy work without it drowning out the colours...ah well, I promise, I will try to learn how to take photo's this year...cos it is becoming a bit of a joke LOL




Anyway, back to the project....All the stamped images are from PaperBag Studio's...I loooove their stamps and have been neglecting them lately so it was nice to have a play with them. I used a black StaZon for stamping...I find this to be the best permanent ink to stamp onto Stampbord with...it kinda soaks in without it ruining the image or the colour underneath...and the scratching...well, that is another lesson I need to learn, I went a bit bonkers with the only tile I hadn't used a face on...trying to make it pop...and ended up with it looking a bit manky, but ... I did use that sentiment for a reason...we all have "ugly days" right? Only me then? Well, I thought, I could be having one of my "ugly days" and look in the mirror and see the reflection...and then read the sentiment and remind myself that underneath all the flesh and spots, I reckon I am a stunner **for new readers, please, laugh...for peeps who know me...yes, you already are rocking aren't you?** And...this little tile here...well, the sentiment is just perfect...cos ... I will look in the mirror....read the sentiment...and remember, it is MADE for me LOL




I think that is enough waffle for one post...Just one more thing to say ... THANK YOU to everyone who joined in with the Sunday Stamper in the last year...it is incredible but the challenge has been running for nearly 2 years now...in the next few weeks there will be another Blog Candy for the anniversary...so, again, thank you all...it is so good to share my art and visit so many talented crafters....right, I am off before I get all soppy and sentimental.....

Hugs Hels x

Altered Canvas - Visions of Nature

Morning Peeps,

Eeeeew, yukky horrid weather out there this morning so I am staying indoors and I am going to have a little play in my room of stash....I have an altered art project to be getting on with and I think a few mins playing with inks might be fun :O))

Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend a few days respite being looked after by my bessie mate Andrea. She is such a great friend and I wanted to say that here...she will probably phone me up and tell me off for saying that to everyone, but it is true!!



Anyways, whilst staying with Andrea, and being looked after and treated like a Queen, we had a little play with our stash. We both altered a canvas and used stampbord and inks and stamps and this is what I came up with.




As usual for me, (yawn, I am getting boring) I used a canvas, covered it with chalk inks - the colours on the piccies are as near as I could get them but it is a little more purple in the centre - then I used 9 pieces of 2" square stampbord, which I inked, stamped with StaZon and then scratched with a scratchy tool....there is a novelty! And then I used UTEE and embossed them to make them look like tiles.



I also used some Claudine Helmuth Sticky Back canvas to make a couple of pretty flowers to add to the canvas.




I used the same chalk inks to colour the canvas first, then stamped the flowers with StaZon and then used a fine tip paint brush to add a little bit of white paint to them to co-ordinate them in with the scratchy stampbord.

I edged the canvas with a little diamond border but because of my wobbly arms and hands, the border just isn't straight at all....eeek, it looks a bit messy but it is done with StaZon so no going back!


That is it really....whooops, nearly forgot to credit the stamps I used - Prima clear stamps and Penny Black were the main ones and one by Stampers Anon I think, it was a borrowed one so not 100% sure I am right on that one!! LOL I hope you all have a lovely day and your weather is better than mine!

Hugs Hels x

Postcard From Santa

Hello Peeps,

I have finally managed to get right stuck into the Christmas Card making....and have done 20 today! Mind you, they are more or less all the same designs so have been easy to put together!




This is one of the designs I have used - the stamp is an ATC collage stamp by Stampers Anon from the Tim Holtz Collection. I stamped it using black StaZon and then used a waterbrush and watercoloured Santa's hat and coat, his face and his holly wreath.




I stamped a holly border using another Tim Holtz Collection stamp using Olive Green StaZon to do this.

Finally, I added a little message which is an Inkadinkado stamp and added Ruby Slippers Stickles to the border and to the wreath on Santa's hat.

Simple design, but that is me all over LOL :O))

Thanks for looking.

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 39 - Lily The Pink + Blog Candy Winner!!

Morning Stampers,

First of all, thank you to everyone who joined in with the Sunday Stamper last week - it was great to see so many peeps visit my Blog. Without further ado, I can announce the winner of the Blog Candy that was on offer last week is.......


*drumroll please*


Wacky Jacky


Well done Jacky, I will be in touch hun and your Candy will be on the way to you this week.

Secondly, I apologise that I haven't been able to be here since Tuesday.....but.....I have had a really bad 'Flu bug which has completely wiped me out :O(( (1,2,3.....awwwww!!)

I have done no crafting at all, spent most days in my bed and been thoroughly wretched! However, thankfully the worst is over now and I am hoping to be able to make a little something for this weeks theme later today.

The theme this week is Pink - simply make something that has pink on it and incorporates stamping, link a post on here and then I can come and see what you have made. **here is wot I made!!**




I will be back later to post my entry - am thinking something canvassy as I am still really enjoying altering canvases at the moment.

Anyway, have a good day everyone, congrats to Jacky and have fun :O))

Hugs Hels x

Later...........

Hi Peeps

Teensy Weensy Canvas




I have had a really fun time getting covered in paint and I made this canvas for my entry to this weeks' theme.....using Adirondack Dabbers in Pink Sherbert and Raspberry, I painted the whole canvas, painted a teensy weensy canvas and some Stampbord shapes. I used some old dressmaking patterns and stamped onto them using Timber Brown StaZon ink. I cut them out and pasted them directly onto the canvas surfaces using watered down PVA as a medium. The Stampbord was stamped and scratched them attached to the canvas using Glossy Accents.


Stampbord Piece



The stamps are mainly from the Tim Holtz Collection by Stampers Anon and the dotty background is by The Artistic Stamper.

Thanks for looking!

Hels xx