I Challenge Thee... Chunky Stylee....

...what a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!  Yesterday Ellen and I had an inpromptu Skypey sesh, it was indeedily a lovely surprise when the phone went and there was my lovely arty sister's happy voice saying "hello"  Turns out Ellen had a free afternoon... as I did (which has been unheard of since mid February!) and we did a Skypey I Challenge Thee.  We realised it was exactly THREE months since our last recipe challenge... how mental is that!!!  Anyways... we soon put that right and came up with the following recipe and challenge:

Chunky Canvas - any size
Distress Paints
Tissue Stamping Collage
Stencils
Texture Paste of choice
Embellishments of choice
Idea-ology
Alphapart to make word of choice
TIME LIMIT = 75 mins.

Well, it started off as me saying a time limit of 90 mins and Ellen got all exciteable and said "no, 60 minutes"  So I said  "gulp... erm.. how about we meet halfway and make it 75 minutes...."   Which we agreed upon.   Now folks, please do feel free to lift the recipe and go and have a play - especially handy when one's Mojo has naffed orf (as mine has a habit of doing...)  The recipe is quite flexible... just the bones of a creation really.  And if you do makes somethings... please do let me and Ellen know - BTW... to see Ellen's gorgelous creation HERE.   What I love most about our Skypey sesh's is that we get to really play.  This is not work.. it is all about the process of getting involved in creating... which makes my l'il ol' heart sing.  The other thing I loves about is that it makes me feel closer to my arty sister who is soooo many miles away... the wonders of yonder t'internet eh?  A marvelous thing indeedily!

The base of my canvas (which is a cool 4 x 6" and available from Paper Artsy) was coloured with Antique Linen, Bundled Sage, Broken China and a smidge of Salty Ocean Distress Paints... all blended and spritzed and blended some more with Cut & Dry ... and then I went a bit mental with some drippage (loves that word, thank you Ellen for educating me on that one)   This is SIMPLES with the Distress Paints as they are sooo liquidicious and lushulous (like the new words huh?)  I got some paint on a spatula, ran it along the top of the canvas and then spritzed like mad with water to get the paints to really go watery.  The brilliant thing about Distress Paints is that because they are 100% waterproof when dry, the drippage bit didn't ruin the base I already made.  Normal paints would have had a fit of the vapours and gone mucky.  Hurrah!   The stamping - well, the heart strings is a Stampotique stamp - available from The Stamp Attic... and the stalks are an ancient Magenta stamp also from The Stamp Attic, not sure if they are still available but if you give Wendy a bell, am sure she will help you out.   I stamped onto a single ply of Kleenex tissue with Black Archival ink and used Glue & Seal to apply the stamping... I loves how the tissue just melts into the background with the Glue & Seal (which is why I use cosmetic tissues and not proper tissue papers)   The texture pastey bit... that is Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 Embossing Paste (black) mixed with my fave Crafty Notions Puff Paint (also black) and then spread through a Donna Downey for Prima stencil... and heat dried to make the puffy bits ..erm.. puffy!   As ever, the "trademark" (as Ellen called it) two tone border on the sides... that is another reason to loves (notice a lot of loves going on here today!) chunky canvases.  The stripes were made using Antique Linen and Black Soot DP's... and defined with my Stabilo All pencil... just to make the lines less clinical and more arty.   I used some Treasure Gold to bling up the edges, the stencilling and the embellies... Florentine and Emerald came into goodly uses... especially the Florentine which seems to be my "go to" colour at the moment.  I changed the colour of the Faucet Knob (a-top the canvas) and also the Bead Chain and Pen Nib (Idea-ology) and added smidges of it to the letters ... and of course, the word has to be WISH as that is Hels' word of 2013!   And there you have it... one very happy Hels and a very nice recipe challenge!  Oh and ... BTW... we... ahem... didn't quite finish it in the alloted time... to be honest, for me, it was more like 2 hours... which isn't tooooo bad... ahem!

In other news... the Case of the Missing Butterfly has now been solved.  In yesterday post (which also has a giveaway so please do scroll down to see how to join in) I mentioned about the clear butterfly on a stalk lighty thing I have in the garden and how the stalk was there minus butterfly after the high winds of Thursday.  Well, I have to admit, I was thinking AlfieCat had had his paw in its disappearance... but no, I apologised to him and gave him some treats to make up for doubting him... after some searching, I found it, nestled in the Borrage that I have been growing (ok, it is growing itself from last years seeds lol) and... it had severed a stalk of Borrage at that too!  Blimey, it is only a small thing too!    Anyways, to make up for his Mummy doubting his honesty, AlfieCat decided to turn into the Black & White Assassin!  Oh yesh, this time it was the turn of an unwitting Cabbage White that fluttered into the garden yesterday afternoon.  Alf the Assassin was having a mooch araaand 'is manor (said in my best Ray Winstone voice) when he happened across said butterfly.  Not only did he pounce and pat it and pounce again, he then proceeded to eat it!! Ewwww... and then we wonder why he leaves us very smelly parcels in the litbox.. you know, he goes out - can be out for a few hours at a time... and still comes home and dumps in the lit tray.  I have tried moving it outside but no, he waits til it comes back in!   And on that delightful (if ever so slightly smelly) note... I shall bid you a very goodly day!  Do check back tomorrow for a brand new Sunday Stamper theme. Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Ruby Tuesday...

..ahaha, I am making meself laugh, never a good sign... why Ruby Tuesday? Well, it is Tuesday (for once I know what day of the week it is lol) and... I have some ruby slippers going on on my latest piece for The Stamp Attic DT. To see all the deets on how I made it, what I used etc... please CLICK HERE.



I am on a mission today... oh yesh, I spent yesterday lounging about watching telly - although I did do battle in Sainsbury's because we had literally no food in the house... and, more worryingly, we were out of Diet Coke, never a good thing for me lol Anyways... my mission today, after being a lazy old bag yesterday, is to make my Room of Stash sparkle again. I had thought about chucking a load of glitter all over it but then that would defeat the object... I need to tidy up... there, I said it. I may be some time... if you haven't seen me in a few days, send out a search party! Have a fun day... TTFN!!

Hels x

On The Block...

...It would seem that I have become a smidge addicted to this paper blocking technique that I found HERE a couple of weeks ago. Yep, totally addicted. Mainly because it is collage, it uses my patterned papers that have been very neglected of late... and it just appeals to my inner control freak and I can add loads of layers and grungyness too.


This here piece is a 5" x 7" canvas board and I used some papers that have been nestling quietly amongst my paper stash... the Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland pad. I have only used these a couple of times because I hated the thought of cutting into them... but time has come to be ruthless. I know I can't be the only person who buys papers and then is reluctant to cut into them... can I? Then I thinks "what's the point of having a stack of papers that I never use and will eventually be so old that I won't want to use them?" So. I cut them up! I used Cosmic Shimmer glue to stick the layers of paper to the board (tis the BEST glue) and then gave the whole thing a wash with watered down Traditional Tan paint (the BEST paint!) The darker lines around the edges of the blocks are done with a Stabilo All pencil (the BEST pencil!!) and I used a babywipe and my fingernail to smudge the lines up, you could use a charcoal pencil just the same though. Adding some texture to the piece is my fave bit, mixing DecoArt Texture Paste with Trad Tan paint and then smooshing through a Crafters Workshop stencil... love the effects that gives.




Another neglected crafty item in the Room of Stash is my Stampotique collection. I haven't had chance to play with these for a yonk and a half, so I inked up Heart Throb and coloured him with a waterbrush and some Distress Stains. The little Bat is from the Hallowe'en Cube, he is coloured with Pumice Stone and Bundled Sage DS. The sentiment, makes me LAUGH everytime.. makes me think about me in the morning, I am soooo not a morning person. Anyways... I you can see I didn't embellish the piece, not a single smidge of Idea-ology/metal/charms/beads etc... I am forcing myself to be "clean" and not layer so much stuff on.. not sure how long that will last but I will try... a bit lol All of the goodies used on this project are available at The Stamp Attic... take a trip over there to see the mahooosive range of Stampotique stamps that Wendy has in stock... HERE are the deets :O)) Ooh, and while I think of it... Wendy has been playing and has made an amazing tag... tis on her blog HERE... go and take a peek, tis LUSH!!!





I am feeling icky today so I shalln't stop and waffle (a tad of gastric flu has come to stay)... that there pic is (nabbed from Grim) the Olympic Torch passing by yesterday. Oh yes, two hours, in the pouring down rain... but it was worth it for the atmosphere alone.. all the schools in the area (ok, both schools lol) had all the little ones lining the route too and they were all cheering and making a racket which just added to the specialness of the occasion - oh and, we got a free bottle of Coke too from the sponsors vans that passed by just before the Torch (freebies... mmm hahaaha) Anyways, I should get a move on... as ever, thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

He's A Heart Throb...

...I think of all the Stampotique stamps I own, this is my fave little fella... he is called Heart Throb and here he is today with his little pet Kitty. A couple of weeks ago I did a mini canvas using Claudine's gorgeous paints and I enjoyed it sooo much that I decided to make a bigger one - this is 5" square and is a deep edged one (IMO, the best ones to work with) and I have teamed up Claudine's gorgeous colours mixed together to make more gorgeous colours - they are perfect because you can mix them and you don't get seven shades of doo-doo!


So... the canvas was pre-gesso'd so I went right in with a big old paint brush and slapped a layer of Dab of Yellow all over it and gave it a zap with my heat tool... I am always a bit careful when drying paint because it bubbles when it gets too hot... so I just waffed the heat tool over the top of the canvas til the paint was done. I used a spatula to apply the next few layers... starting off by mixing a 50p size of Dab of Yellow with a 5p size of Dash of Red... this makes the most delish bright orange... but did you know... if you mix Pastel Yellow with Modern Red you get a totally different shade of orange? That is just how cool these paints are! Building the layers of scraped on paint is easy... just dry the layer in between applications... on the canvas, in order are: Dab of Yellow base, orange (mixed as mentioned), Altered Orange and Dash of Red. On top of all of those layers I added smidges of Gesso - I was a bit heavy handed in one patch of it so I just went in with a baby wipe and smudged some of it off... simples :O))


I used the diamond background Dylusions stamp (my favest already!) and stamped in Charcoal Black... once this had dried I used a Pitch Black Dabber to add edges to the canvas and then used bottle tops to add black and white circles... and the edge of a Ranger scraper to add a couple of lines. Heart Throb and Kitty are stamped onto copy paper and coloured with Distress Stains... and the sentiment is done the same way - edging around all the images with an "All" Stabilo pen and then smudging these edges with a waterbrush. A few months ago Kate Crane had a gorgeous canvas piece in Craft Stamper... her project gave me the idea to combine Stampotique with painty techniques... I have to say, anything painty/journally etc that I make is usually inspired by Kate... she really is a classy lass... check out her BLOG... totes amaze-balls :O))



Right then, I had better get a move on... I am working on some more class samples today and am champing at the bit to get to the desk (still neat and tidy BTW) Oh but, before I go... I got asked a couple fo Q's yesterday: First one... NO Kathy, I am not making the kitchen and inky tip and leaving the Room of Stash tidy... cheek of it eh? ROFL And secondly... Alison Horne asked where I got the Optical Lenses from... ahah, that would be from eBay (US) and I got a bundle of them (can't remember how much they were) Ok, am offski... have a good day and as ever, thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 190 - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles + Candy Winner!

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all! Well, what a fantastic response to last weeks challenge! Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and entries... it sure does make it very rewarding to know that so many of you love this little old challenge! I have a very special guest theme setter this week.. more of that in a mo because I need to tell you who won the Candy from last weeks challenge. So, there were 77 comments and as promised, if you entered as well, I doubled up your number so you had two entries which made 94 in total. I have asked Mr Random.org to help me pick a number and he chose... # 31 which tallies with the entry from CLAIRE. Thanks Claire, if you could email me your addy please? Right, on with this weeks challenge.




As suggested earlier, I have a special guest setting the theme this week... let me introduce Kate who suggested the song title I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles and the theme... BUBBLES. As soon as I heard this suggestion I had to leap at it... love the song and love the theme! ** it reminds me of when I was a nipper and my Dad used to sing it to me... we used to harmonise... ah, happy days...** To join in with the challenge is simples, make a little something, add in some stamping and the theme and then pop back here to leave a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry. As ever, if you don't have a web place to enter, bung me an email over and your entry will still count! The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 6th February 2012.


So... that there pic is my entry - a little ATC sized chunky canvas that I have had kicking about for about 281 years... I got a bargain box full of them online and it is the last one.. and now of course, I need more... cos I have fallen back in lurve with the size.. humph! I used several Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints... mixing some together to get the right colours - I love how you can do that and they don't go all muddy! The colours I used are: Pastel Yellow (base), Dash of Red mixed with Dab of Yellow to get a vivid orange, Altered Orange mixed with a Dash of Red to get a gorgeous salmon pink and Teal for the colouring in bits.


I applied the paint using a spatula (and no, not the one I usually put my make up on with lol) so there are dragged patches... I like the rough look of that on the canvas. I added some stamping using Gesso (black and white) and Dylusions background stamps... I bobbed a smidge of Dab of Yellow through a dotty stencil using Cut & Dry too... forgot about that layer! I used Word to print out my words... using Adler font... and glued these on with Multi Medium. I stamped Wilbur (isn't he so cute!) and Puss Puss on copy paper, painted them in and stuck them down with Multi Medium too. I used an "All" Stabilo pencil (amazeballs for writing on ANY surface) to edge around the words and the characters and then blended the lines a bit with a fine paintbrush and smudged with my favourite tool... my finger!


Now, I have got an old bottle of Stickles and it is all finished... not a single smidge left in it because, I don't know about you but I am very stingy and I always take the stopper out of it and then cut into the bottle... there's looooads left in there you know. So, I saved the stopper bit and used the base of it to add "bubbles" in the black and white Gesso. I smidged some Black Gesso around the edges to close the design in and then finally... used Glossy Accents to fill up some of the bubbles... and voila, finished mini canvas... oh apart from the feet which are little Maya Road cotton reels. All of the goodies I used are available from The Stamp Attic... paints, Stampotique & Dylusions stamps etc :O)) (just sayin'!!)


Here are a couple of pics of the totally gorgeous creations that Kate has made as her entries... check out the CUTENESS of this little fella... as you know, I don't normally "do" cute but sometimes I just get swept away with the adoreableness (is that a word? Well, tis now lol) And then Kate has done an inky piece too... seriously... she is a talented gal... please do hop over to HER BLOG and leave her some lurve... she is my first proper guest setter... and I hope the first of many because... as much as I lurve this challenge I am kinda running out of ideas! Big thanks to Kate for this FAB theme!!!



So, if you have a song that you love and it can incorporate a theme... please just give me a shout... leave a comment or send me an email... there isn't a pressie for doing it... but you will be left with a warm fuzzy glow for helping out a batty old moo... me, that is, self confessed and all that... because, don't tell anyone but... I got all engrossed in my arty stuff the other day and remembered I needed to nip to the Post Office. So, off I went in Ferdy... and when I was walking around the shop I thought "blimey these shoes are uncomfortable"... to look down and see... slippers! Yes folks, it has happened, I have made the slide into old age effortlessly... no wonder people were staring and young children were pointing and laughing... thank goodness I hadn't still got my jammy's on!!! Right, I will leave you with that rather unsettling image and say... as ever... thanks for looking and... TTFN!

Hels x

WOYWW... And The Winner Is...

...ok, who did it? I know it was someone... fast-forwarding a whole week! I say this every Wednesday I know but still... this time next week we will be in February already! Anyways... Wednesday can mean only one thing! Time for the bloggers of the world to unite in a hoooge bloghop to have a nosey at each others desks/floors/cupboards... The phenomenon that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday... hosted and devised by Julia Dunnit... all the deets about this are .. HERE!


So... my Room of Stash remaind pristine = yes a whole week later and it is still spotless... I am still tidying away after each crafty make... and picking up bits off the floor... and cleaning my desks... ooh-hooohoo... I am a reformed character! **and will have to be careful, I may choke on this Halo lol** On my desk today is the finishing touches for a little folder book thingy I have made using those deeevine new 7 Dots Studio papers and some delish Stampotique stamps for The Stamp Attic... all the deets of how I made it etc are HERE on the Stamp Attic blog!


Right... on to business... WOW and thrice... thank you all for your lovely comments last week. I had 82 comments... and Mr Random.wotsit has picked #74 which belonged to a comment left by BECKY... congrats to you and please can you email me your addy so I can pop the book into the post for you? :O))


Right enough of my wafflings... busy day doing painty and inky stuff... hurrah! Oooh but before I go, a quick reminder that the Sunday Stamper is celebrating its 4th birthday this week so there's some candy up for grabs... **points up to the top sidebar!** Thanks for looking.. TTFN

Hels x

Car Maintenance...

... please don't laugh... it isn't funny... not at all... well, ok, upon reflection... maybe a smidgey bit amusing but... at the time I was SO not laughing. It all started yesterday morning when Ferdy hit a big pothole on the way to The Stamp Attic for my class. I cursed, as you do - well I do lol, but didn't think anything else of it... until lunchtime when I went to feed the parking meter so that Ferdy didn't get a ticket. Well, as I was walking back to Ferdy I noticed something black and plastic looking underneath the front of him... I thought it was a black binbag or such like, so, being a bit stooopid, I kind of leaned over, resting my hand on the bonnet and grabbed what I thought was something loose. When I pulled... it resisted... which is when I felt the most horrendous burn right up my back... akkk!! Turns out the pothole had caused the sill thingywotsit that hangs down under the back of the front bumper to come loose... but only on one side. To the point that it had dragged against the road for goodness knows how long... scraping away the plastic to reveal the metal jobby the runs along the top of it.




So, being a rather resourceful lass *ahem* I decided to lay down in front of Ferdy and pull at the rest of the sill, thinking that it would come away easily enough. WRONG! It was stuck fast... held on my hoooge clip thingys... and the bit that was flopping about wouldn't clip back on because the little tab things had been busted off. Needless to say, I did get a few "comments" as passers-by... erm... passed by. One chap was really helpful... he asked me if there was a problem with the car!!! How intuitive of him... ahem. *I mentally awarded him with the Award For Being Captain Obvious of The Day* Anyways... all was not lost because... I managed to fix it! Oh yesh indeedily... I used... my Tim Holtz scissors to cut through the plastic sill AND the metal thingywotsit that runs along the inside of it! Now that is what I call THE perfect tool... so, if you haven't already got a pair of the Tim Scissors, I urge you to invest in some... you never know when you might have to do a bit of car maintenance yourself!!! Unfortunately, whilst Ferdy is "fixed" my poor old back isn't and after a visit to the Doc this morning he has told me to "take it easy" and not to "overstretch" myself... aw shucks, that is my urge to Hoover and dust dampened then... (like I am bothered rofl)


The class yesterday was a really good one... lovely ladies who all really engaged in covering themselves in ink and paint... I will post the photo's later on... in the meantime I have just blogged my latest DT creation for The Stamp Attic... HERE. The pics on this post are little snips of the creation. I am embracing all things Hallowe'en this year... even if I am being a stick-in-the-mud and insisting on the apostrope. Right... time to go and rest up for a bit... there are some crumpets in the kitchen with my name on them.. well, not actually really my name on them because that would be far too weird... but you know what I mean... nomnomnomnom.... Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

PS... a quicky reminder... my candy giveaway is HERE... to celebrate my Octocentarian of followers... THANK you all for the comments btw... love them!!

Real Men Wear...

...pink! Or at least Toby does! Toby is one of the brand new character stamps from the pen of Daniel Torrente for Stampotique Originals... I love him, he is rather fetching in his half mast trews!!




I went a little bit bonkers with the pink - colouring him with ProMarkers (yep, I remembered I do have a few of these lol) and adding Distress Ink (namely Victorian Velvet) around the edges... and stamping the Abstract Foliage to finish off the design.



This is a super short post from me today... cos I have to get an early night and I have heaps of stuff still to do before tomorrow **that soooo doesn't make sense because I am talking about "today" which is Saturday... and "tomorrow" which is also Saturday cos I am actually typing this on Friday night ready for Saturday morning publishing... I have to stop... I am confusing myself rofl** thanks for looking... have a fab day! TTFN

Hels x

Favourites...

...I am well aware that I am a total crafting tart... I have a new favourite every week... I love new stash... stamps, Alterations, paper stacks, paints, Idea-ology, ribbons... you name it... I am a baaaaaad girl... always saying "oh this is my favourite..." Well, today... this card actually does feature my all time favourite paper set... seriously, this is MY TOP FAVOURITE... I know, that doesn't make sense... I mean, a favourite should be singular... not a whole heap of things... but... I am sure that you feel the same way about your stash don't you? Well, my all time favourite paper set is called Avenue and it is by Crate Paper. I think it came out in 2007/08 and I had to have a set as soon as I saw it. Then, because I had used so much of it so quickly, I had to have another pack... and then that got a bit used up... so... I went to buy another set and lo! None left! Not a single set could be found anywhere in the whole widest world.



Seriously, I used Mr Google and Mr Jeeves and neither of them were any use... so, there we were at Ally Pally one year and Linda E spotted a pack, so she swooped down on it and grabbed ... so, I was just about to throw myself on the floor in a tantrum when she handed the pack to me... bless! It was a pressie... she is a sweetie (but, please, DO NOT tell her I said that rofl)



Then... I started to be a bit frugal with the papers that I had left and eventually, for fear of not having any more ever again, I stopped using them... and then... Andrea had a few sheets left and she said I could have them... bless her!!! Then... Kerry went and bought me the last few she could find... so... all in all I had a fair few pages left... well, about 12 in total. So... remember a few months ago I bought a maahooosive box full of goodies from THE Wendy Vecchi and my stash mule friend Ellen struggled across the Atlantic with said box... well, inside the box are... two sheets of Avenue!!! I did a dance, true, I jigged and the squealed (and then went and sat down cos I had worn myself out)




So... I love this paper... and I love the new Large Papillon stamp from Stampotique... and I love the Friend sentiment too... so I decided that Avenue has to be liberated and used a bit... I am hoping that Mr Crate Paper may see this post and decide to do a "retro sale" and re-print this set... mmm, I can wish lol Anyways... to see all the deets about this card... please click HERE... you will be whizzed off on the back of a large butterfly to the Stampotique Designers Blog. Right, that is more than enough waffling for one post... I have a plan for some of the rest of the paper... I can keep this piece too... result!! Ta for looking... have a very goodly Monday! TTFN

Hels x

Please Release Me...

... oooh, excitement abounds today because... it is time for the new release of Stampotique stamps... You know how much I love to talk... well, I have been uber goodly and not breathed a word about these FAB new stamps that I have been sent to play with... all the deets of the new releases are HERE... do hop on over to see them... I think that there is something in there for everyone!



Now, you may not know this but.. I happen to LOVE hares... I have my very own collection of them in the living room... well, imagine how happy happy I was when I saw a new image from Daniel Torrente... a hare!! Corrr.... I made this card using other Stampotique designs and added Hare (I am going to call him Hartley after the mangey old hare on Pipkins... am guessing I am showing my age now ROFL) So, Hartley was stamped and coloured with Distress Inks and then popped on 3D foam to sit on the card. The little Owl is a new design from Jo Capper-Sandon... I sketched a little swing for him to sit on, dangling from the tree... Ohh, and I almost forgot, the little butterfly and flowers along the bottom are also a new release from Jo!




Another of Jo's new designs is a maaahhoooosive butterfly... called Large Papillion... it is one of the most beautiful butterflies I have ever worked with... I made this little arch tag using some papers that I have painted over ...





And... finally, Small Moon and Little Owl along with Lavendar Sprig appear on this simple card... now, you know how much I love (for that read NEED!) to embellish and over stamp and cover up any white areas on the stuff I make...well, I reigned myself in with this card and simply coloured the background with Milled Lavendar Distress Ink. The ickle stars stamped behind are stamped using the Small Moon and just masking the moon and string before inking up and stamping...



Well, that is exciting news isn't it?? I also have a couple more things I have made using some fab new Daniel Torrente designed people... they can wait til next time though :O) Oooh, and don't forget to hop over to the Stampotique Designers Blog... the team have been busy making new things.. and WOW, you have to check them out... they are LUSH!!! I feel very honoured to be part of the team! Right... time for inkyness again.... thanks for looking... have a fabby day! TTFN

Hels x

Stampotique Junkies...

The Stampotique Designers Challenge this time is being sponsored by The Technique Junkies... here is all the blurb for you to read before you dash off to see the amazing artywork from the DT...




We are so excited today at Stampotique Designer's Challenge! Have we got the ultimate challenge for you

Our hostess this week, Monique challenged our team to use a technique on their creation. And, we decided to take it a step further and what better place to turn than Pat Huntoon of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. Stampotique is teaming up with the Technique Junkies team to create using the Faux Barnwood Technique. We want you to join us this week and you can use the Faux Barnwood Technique or any of the techniques Pat uses on her website. Please make sure to link within your post which technique you are using. If you are a Technique Junkies subscriber and using a technique out of the newsletter, please highlight the name and issue you are creating from.

What are you playing for this week? Oh.....good question! How about we give away 2 prizes this week along with 2 winners??? Pat Huntoon has been very gracious and is giving away one of the Fancy Folds and Motions CDs PLUS a two year, online only subscription (2010 and 2011 issues) for one winner and the other winner will be receiving a $30 gift certificate towards stamps to the Stampotique store. We will randomly draw 2 winners for the prizes before our next challenge on March 9th.

Make sure to stay tuned to the website as both the Stampotique design team AND the Technique Junkies design team participated in this challenge and we will be sharing some wonderful creations using the Faux Barnwood technique over the next 2 weeks here.

So, what are you waiting for????? Get out some papers, some inks, some stamps and join us!

Please remember the following rules when entering this challenge:
1. This is a STAMPOTIQUE ONLY stamps week
2. You must LINK to the Faux Barnwood Technique or a technique from Technique Junkies that you chose to use within your blog post
3. Please link directly to your challenge post, not to your general blog
4. Contest will close at March 8th at 5 p.m. EST
5. HAVE FUN CREATING!!

I have altered a little 5" square hardcover book for my entry... I started by painting the whole base with black paint and then once this had dried I stamped Daniels Hearts in Gold Krylon... then I applied the technique and whilst this was drying Wilbur and Marci met up and decided to stick around on the front of the book (oooh, yes, mentalness is starting to show thru again)

The Hanging Hearts and the Hearts Border were stamped with black StaZon and then coloured using Distress Inks and a waterbrush. I added an Ornate Frame and the word Whatever... because the book is actually my "whatever book" for my hangbag... so I can jot down "whatever" whenever I feel like it :O) Thanks for looking... do hop on over to see the Design Team and their GORGEOUS pieces... I tell you, they are well worth the hop over .... TTFN

Hels x