Sunday Stamper - Week 219 - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker

Gooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy sunshiny Sunday to you all. Many thanks for the gorgeous entries for last weeks challenge. This week is a very special challenge because it is sponsored! The lovely folks at Crafty-Emblies are kindly sponsoring this weeks challenge. There is a £10 voucher to spend in their shop as the prize up for one randomly selected entrant. The theme for the challenge this week is.... STEAMPUNK. To join in and be in with a chance to win the prize is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy. Add in the theme and some stamping and pop back here to leave me a comment. If you don't have a blog/photo-web-hosty-thingy, you can also enter by email and on Facebook. If you leave a comment here you will be entered - if you leave a comment AND enter the challenge, you will be in with a second chance of winning. The winner will be announced on next Sunday's post. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 25th August 2012. Entries after this time won't be entered into the prize draw.



My entry this week has lots of the gorgeous Crafty-Emblies bits and bobs. Let me first tell you about them if you haven't seen them before: they are GORGEOUS! They are little embellies made from precision cut wood, the detailing on them is amazing and you will LOVE them all! I especially love the honeycomb piece - I used this as a mask and also as an embellishment - it is about 5" square in size, I just snipped into it to make it sized to fit my project.




The cogs are fab and whilst they are uber sturdy, I managed to snip through these too so one is cut in half. Colouring them is easy - I used Rusty Hinge DS and then a smidge of Espresso Colorwash Spray with a bit of gold embossing powder to add some shine. The leaves were coloured with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss DS too... fab or what!!!


The base of the piece is a 7" square canvas board, painted using Eco Paints - Birch, Lake and Clam Shell and a smidge of Traditional Tan paint for goodly measures. The sentiment is an Artistic Stamper image and the flowers are Prima. I added some Idea-ology and a few brass charms to the piece for a finishing touch.


To recap: the competition is open until 21:00 Saturday 25th August 2012. I will use Random.org to pick a winner. Leave a comment you will be entered: leave a comment AND enter the challenge you will be entered twice. Entries after the closing time won't be eligable for the prize draw. And the prize is £10 to spend in the Crafty-Emblies shop! That's all from me today... Thanks for looking, have a good week! TTFN

Hels x

I Challenge Thee...

... I know I say it all the time but I do love a good old Sunday Skypey sesh with Ellen because invariably we do an "I Challenge Thee" where we are really strict and have a list of stash we are allowed to use. This weeks sesh was a bit different... we are both feeling in a rut with ink and stuff so we decided to chose some different items... and... old/neglected stamps. Here's the list of goodies useable: Canvas board, Paint, texture paste, old/neglected stamps, masking tape, Alterations Strip Die, Prima Flowers, Embossing Powder, Stencils, Scraped Paint technique, Splatter technique and a theme of circles and diamonds. Cor blimey... it was SO nice to get out of my comfort zone and try some new stuff.



Who knew that painting and stamping Masking Tape would be such fun!!! (I know, you are gonna tell me you have done it before but... it would seem I have been lurking under a rock lol) A lot of the inspiration for my piece has come straight from the marvel that is Anna "Finnabair" Dabrowska. If you haven't seen her work before, take a look HERE. Seriously, she is an inspiration. Her style is loaded and yet it looks clean... it is hard to describe really, you have to see it to understand it. Anyways... she is, as I said, totally inspiring me at the moment.. you know, to try something else, something different to what I normally do.


This canvas was one of those things that I just couldn't leave alone... like 3am can't leave alone. I have gone back to it a couple of times to add a few extra bits of beady things... and I have also re-discovered my love of embossing powder. I think because most of my artwork is grungy and inky, I neglect these things badly. I used Queen's Gold Embossing Powder, which is IMO, the best gold powder I have used so far. It is fine and a proper gold... sometimes a gold powder can be a bit greeny, not this one :O)) The stamping on the edges are some Catslife Press stamps I have had for 272 years and haven't used since I moved house over two years ago (naughty Hels) and the word in the middle is a gorgeous grungy stamp from The Artistic Stamper. You might be able to see some script on the masking tape... that's also an Artistic Stamper stamp - they have some cool backgrounds and scripts you know :O))


Well, I reckon I have waffled enough for today... please do hop on over to see Ellen's GORGEOUS creation - HERE it is. I am off to play again... can't keep me away from paint and texture paste at the moment lol Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Challenged...

... aha, tis the first of the month, a pinch and a punch and all that... but it also means that it is time for a brand new Challenge over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog. To see all the deets etc, please click HERE.


My entry is a tag... which I have coloured using Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahog Distress Inks... and then added lots of background stamping... oh and lashings of Perfect Pearls Mists... Anyways... lots of backgrounds and such like on the tag, along with some Grungepaper and Idea-ology and stuff.


Cor blimey, I don't know where the time is whizzing away to... tis November already... which means that if I am to be good and stick to my *clears throat* New Year Resolutions, I should start making Christmas cards this week, have them finished by next week and in the post by the week after... well, all I will say is...





Mwhahahaaaaaa..... I have stuck to my ALL Resolutions ALL year... and... erm... it is high time to break one... ahem... yes, just one, all the others in intact... they are... really... **rushes off to tidy Room of Stash up**




Anyways, enough of my wafflings... that was another New Years Resolution too... to stop waffling so much on my blog... mmm, that one lasted all of five mins then lol Right... time for bed... thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Spookilicious...

... tis that time of the month already... time for my Tag Giveaway over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog. All the deets on how to join in etc are HERE... but... before you go, if you leave me a comment on this post as well ... you will be entered into the draw twice :O)) The tag I have made is all Hallowe'eny - I am embracing Hallowe'en this year - I know I have always been a bit reluctant to get into it but the colours, the images... and those rather splendid new Hallowe'en Adornment charms are just asking to be used.



Well, you will never guess what I did yesterday! It all started the other week when the local Fishmonger called upon my next door neighbour, who happened to be out. So, he asks me if I know when she will be back... "nope" I says... and that was that. Until! I had a flash of inspiration. Grim absolutely loves Gurnet and it is impossible to find any round here. So... me being a thoughtful and caring wifey *ahem* asks Mr Fish if he has any Gurnet in his van. No, he says... but I can get you some! Oh lala, feeling rather chuffed at my wifery talents, I forgot all about it. Until yesterday afternoon, the door bell went ding dong... and there was Mr Fish with a polystyrene box... "I've got that Gurnet for you love" says he. "Ooooooh, ta" says me. Without bothering to have a proper look at said Gurnet, I paid him and off I went into the kitchen to have a nosey parker. Well, I wish I hadn't. Don't get me wrong now, I do like a nice bit of fresh fish.... but I rather prefer mine coated in batter and not... and I kid you not... still....erm... WHOLE. Like head, skin, fins, innards.... akkkk. So... inspecting these here Gurnets... I picked one up for a little closer look, being of an inquisitive nature and all that. Oh dear... the poor little thing looked at me and... opened its mouth! EEEeeeeeeeek. Needless to say, it was returned to its icy confines of the poly box for the duration. Grim is going to be ever so busy this morning doing the necessary to the fishes... I just couldn't bring myself to do it..... Maybe next time I will ask Mr Fish to do all those icky bits for me. Right, gotta dash.... thanks for looking.... TTFN

Hels x

Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot!

...well, not me personally, mind you, with that super sunny weekend we just had, I was a bit melt city.. however, the hot I am waffling on about today is the new challenge over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog. Tis time for a new monthly challenge and the team and I have been getting very inky indeedily. To see more of the hot creations, please CLICK HERE and you will be whizzed off on the back of a giant sombrero to see all the goodies...



So... you know me by now... so you know that I am a proud Mummy when it comes to my little furbaby AlfieCat... well, he was a clever boy yesterday! A very clever boy indeedily! Actually, he could be seen as being a very naughty boy too but... I shall leave that up to you. So... the back garden, otherwise known as the bombsite, has undergone a bit of a transformation in the last few days... basically the old sheds that were out there have been moved. So, these old sheds - and I mean reeeeally old - one of them looks like it was an extra in the Wizard of Oz - well, they both harboured little rodenty secrets... namely little mousey nests... and AlfieCat being a super intelligent and clever little fella has been laying in wait, ever so patiently and today, his patience bore fruits.






Yes, there I was, sitting in the Room of Stash when I heard a great thundering noise on the stairs... so I went out to have a look and there was Alf, resplendant in his hunter-gatherer role, tossing a poor mousey up the stairs, then running after it, catching it and hurtling back down the stairs again. Said mouse was alive (goodness knows how) so out it went into the long grass at the side of the house (where Alf doesn't go) An hour or so passed and again, I hear a thumping about, this time it is downstairs. "Further investigations are needed" I thinks to myself... so off I trot, down to the dining room where Alf is now tossing an even ickler mousey about... this time it is stiff... so yep, it was either deceased when it was caught or... Alfie helped it on its way. Said mousey was dispatched to the great Wheely Bin in the sky. So, back I goes to the Room of Stash. I settled down to a nice afternoon of inkyness and time passed, like it does you know. So, I hear a little tinkle bell on the stairs and AlfieCat appears in the Room of Stash and guess what!!! He has brought a little pressie for his Mummy... awwww, bless him (not!!) And he drops the little pressie at Mummy's feet... and the little pressie runs off under Mummy's desk... and Mummy is NOT pleased at all... However, I haven't got the heart to tell him off... he was bringing me a prize after all. So, the third mousey of the day was rescued and popped outside and the door was then locked and AlfieCat was confined to barracks... much to his disgust as he tells me there is a veritable feast of meeces out there... I told him there is always tomorrow lol Right... best go... enough wafflings for one day!!! Thanks for looking.. have a grand day! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 145 - Brown Eyed Girl

Goodly Morning Stampers... happy Sunday to you all! Many thanks for all your lovely entries last week and a big welcome to those who joined in for the first time :O)) This week the theme is a simples (yep, imagine I am saying that like those Meerkats lol) one... the theme is... BROWN. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make a little something; it can be a card, ATC, tag, altered art - the choice is yours... then pop back here and leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry - or you can email me if you prefer - be sure to include the theme and some stamping and then I can hop on over to see what you made. The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 19th March '11




For my entry this week I altered a 6" square shadow box. I know, I know, me and my shadow(boxes) - I am a little bit addicted to making these... well, this time I decided to do something a little different from the norm. Usually I would paint the box, or stain it, or Rock Candy crackle it and colour with mists... so, for a change I decided to cover it with papers... ah yes, the papers... those heavenly, deeevine, scrum-diddly-umptious Crowded Attic papers to be precise. I used to be a bit of a paper freak... like I would buy patterned papers and make sure I had two of each... then I could stroke one page and cut the other...well, with the Stacks that the Duke of Distress has designed, I can just snip away to my hearts content seeing as A) they are so not going to be unavailable cos they are sooo lush and B) there is sooo much in them already to snip at.



So, I digressed slightly then... where was I? Ah, yes, papers... covering the box with papers and using Claudine's Multi Medium as glue (which, I have to say.. is F A B!) I used sandpaper to smooth and distress the edges of the paper and then whipped a bit of Walnut Stain DI over them to age them. Next I spritzed from a distance (oooh, I just broke into song then...ahem) Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearl Mists... which is my fave one and which... the photo has kindly picked up so you can see the shimmeryness (is that a word???) on the paper.




Now, the ickle hanging frame is actually part of a set of three frames that are all connected by hangy loopy things and jump rings... and I had a mishap with this particular one in as much as it went under my chair and got wheeled on... so I took it apart, screwed some hooky loopy things into the top of the shadow box and then hanged (hung???) it from there... after covering it with more Crowded Attic of course.. oh and the stamping inside is one of the new stamps from the Viscount of Vintage... corrr, I love those Stuff to Say stamps!



I made some little paper roses using the medium flower on the Artistic Stamper Flower Power set... and the snippets from the paper stack... oh and I bobbed a few Maya Road pins behind them to make it pretty. Finally, Idea-ology... lots of it... cos I do love my Idea-ology and I think it looks cool when it is all piled up ... it has a Red Poppy UTEE heart in the middle which I distressed with Pitch Black Dabber and it has been altered slightly with Perfect Pearl Mists and Inka Gold.




So, that is me for today... blimey, I bet you have nodded off... I have gone into marathon scale waffling today! Oooh, but before I forget... I have had a few questions over the last few weeks asking me what I do with all this stuff that I make. Well, some of it stays at Chez Sheridan... the shadowboxes are hanging on the wall above the stairs, some of it stays in the Room of Stash and some gets swapped... some goes onto Folksy and the rest either goes to Design Team commitments/shop/show samples or just gets given away... thanks for asking questions though... I love getting them!! (so long as they aren't about quantum physics or quadtratic equations cos I am rubbish at things like that!) Thanks for looking... have a ink-tastic day! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 140 - Midnight At The Lost & Found

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all! Thank you all for your wonderful sentimental entries last week - they were all amazing. This week we have a brand new theme and... some goodies to giveaway too to one randomly chosen comment that is left on this post. Plus, if you join in with the challenge, your name will be automatically entered twice into the draw. Oh, and I best give you the theme too!!! Which is... TIME. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make a piece of art - it can be ATC, tag, card, Altered Art, tis up to you... leave me a comment here with the link to the place you are showing your entry and I can hop over to see you. The challenge will remain open until 18:00 Saturday February 12th 2011. So, the candy this week is... a brand new set of "Time & Keys" stamps from The Artistic Stamper with the KlingOn to mount them onto... plus the ATC that I made for my entry. As well as commenting here to be in with a chance of winning, you can also hop on over to The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog... all the deets are on there too.. oh and... some news too!! :O)



So, my entry... an ATC which was made using Lost & Found papers (total coincidence with the song title for this week too!!) which had a collage of clocks stamped over the top, a clock cut out and then natural Beeswax layered all over the top of the ATC. I added splatters of Beeswax by flicking the paintbrush at the surface of the ATC.




Do you like the "owl"? Well, he is actually a column top from an Architecture Plate from The Artistic Stamper - I saw the owl totally by accident last year when I was tidying up and the stamp was lurking at the bottom of a basket - and it was "upside down"... well, I saw this and so did Minxy - who made a gorgeous charm using him. I stamped him twice and layered his "eyes and beak" on 3D foam and then coated it all with more Beeswax.





The flowers... well, these are actually made in the same way as Faux Porcelain flowers... but instead I used Beeswax... I love them, they are really subtle and where the Beeswax has landed on the petals, it leaves dewdrops. I will be demo-ing how to make these along with other Beeswax techniques at Stamperama at Stevenage today... I will be on the Artistic Stamper stand... Jennie will be demo-ing UTEE too so there will be loads of Melt Pot action! Anyways... if you are going to be at Stevenage, do pop by and say helloooo, it would be lovely to seee you!!





So... you know I said I went to see Harry Hill the other day... well, we watched it tonight and...oh the shame... on several occasions you can actually hear my cackling... oooops, at least I managed not to snort - that would have just been too much!! And... did you get my "know what I mean 'Arry references from yesterday??? That is cos Frank Bruno was the guest on the show... that was so cool to see him!! Right, bed time for me... early start in Ferdy! Thanks for looking... have a FAB Sunday! TTFN

Hels x

Cogs Are Turning... + ATC Winner...

...I am so excited... finally I am allowed to tell you all about the new heavenly Artistic Stamper stamps I have been playing with this week... I have been nagging and clacking at Jennie to let me show you but she kept saying nooooo... anyways... today is the day they are launched, just in time for Ally Pally this weekend... anyways... here is a little something I made using the new stamps... all the deets are on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog... HERE :O)) Check out that ickle snail... how cute is he!!!



And... cos it is Friday it is also time to announce the randomly picked winner of the "Altered ATC" from Tuesday... so without further ado... randomly picked using Mr Random.org is...

Kathy Eddy - thanks for your lovely comment and could you mail me your addy please hun? :O))




So... you know I have been making noises about sewing and needles and stuff? Well, that is cos I have been busy for the past couple of weeks making a whole heap of flower brooches ready for this weekend... basically, each day on the Artistic Stamper stand we will be giving away 25 of these handmade brooches to the first 25 peeps who spend £25 - and... on both days... one of the roses is... GOLD... which means... you win a Goody Bag stuffed full of delights from Jennie - and you know how mad generous she is... we don't know where the gold one is... they are all packed up and jumbled about so it really is pot luck! So, those roses above are made by moi and the ones below are made by Jennie... that will be pot luck who's you get too :O))



And... I will be sitting relaxing, chattering and doing Make & Takes... so if you fancy popping by and saying hi and having a little play with Grungepaper and Inks and Tissue Tape... we are on Stands 49 & 50. OMG, I had started to panic a bit last night... I had a reallllly sore throat and felt a bit cacky and really was worrying that I had a bug and would be too germy to go to Ally Pally... thankfully a goodly nights sleep helped... phew! So, don't worry, I am not infectious ROFL Anyways... stuff to prep for the Make & Takes and... the Sunday Stamper to make and schedule.. oh and this week it's sponsored by The Artistic Stamper... just saying... you know, in case you fancy winning some cool stamps ;o)) Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Playing With Metallics....

...Over on the Play Date Cafe challenge blog there is a new theme this week....to use Black, White, Silver and Gold....




Oh how totally perfect for me...my fave colour combo's! I could have made several things for this challenge...but I have yet to make my Sunday Stamper entry for tomorrow so I had to do everything on one piece :O))



I used a Maya Road chipboard base and covered it with a layer of Claudine Hellmuth's Blank Canvas paint...dried this off with the heatgun and then popped some Terra on top. I used a couple of background stamps from The Artistic Stamper, including the new Sequin Waste stamp...which is now my favest ever *see how quickly my faves change and then change again?* I used the heatgun to dry the Terra...and this bubbles it up in places which gives a great textured base to then play with paints. Painting over the Terra with more Blank Canvas and then using Silver and Gold Dabbers to emphasise the bumps and textures.




The roses are made using the Flower Power plate, medium sized flower, stamped onto Claudine's Sticky Back Canvas...I painted this with a couple of layers of Blank Canvas and then used a StaZon to stamp the flower. One of the roses had the Houndstooth and the other had the Dotty backgrounds ... again from The Artistic Stamper. I backed the canvas onto Rock Star black Ten Second Studio metal...this doesn't show up as well as I would have liked...think I need to try this method again and perfect it LOL The birdy is a Maya Road shape, as is the message mat, stamped with background stamps and then a Studio 490 sentiment. I added in a few scrolls .. yep, Maya Road again...and some black pearly things to finish it off.




I loved making this...fave colours, fave products and ...Mojo restored! I can now go and make something for tomorrow...thanks for looking...have a great day...I am off to get inky and messy and see what I can come up with for the new Sunday Stamper tomorrow...please check back in the morning to see what the new theme is :O))

Hels x

Be Good With Blog Candy

Evening peeps,

Another Christmas card made using the fabulous Cosmo Cricket "Be Good" range of papers, I have to say, these are my absolute favourite Christmas papers of all time :O))

I began by stamping a lovely Holly Scroll stamp (Inkadinkado) onto a plain piece of the Be Good paper, embossing the image in gold. I added dots of Ruby Slippers Stickles to make little berries on the holly.



I matted this onto some golden cardstock and then used a small piece of beige card, running it thru my Cuttlebug to emboss a holly design onto it. I matted this onto gold card and just lightly rubbed a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink over the embossed leaves to highlight them. I added a couple of dots of the Ruby Slippers to the berries on the embossed detail.

Matted onto a large piece of the Be Good paper, I finally popped a lovely little sentiment onto the card and et voila, finished!!



Then, I sat there looking at it and thinked to myself....mmmm, it is missing something....so I had a rummage in the Prima stash I have and added a couple of flowers and a brad to the card....much better I think :O)

Now, for the important bit.....I have a little bit of Blog Candy to giveaway to a lucky reader, who will be chosen at random, on Friday 5th December.

The candy is a little sheet of unmounted Stitchels Mini-Mini stamps that I designed. Here is a little piccie of them coloured in, so you can see what you could win:



Along with the unmounted stamp sheet, you will also win a piece of Kling-On Repositionable Cushioning, so you can mount your Stitchels straight away. Now, the Stitchels are mini in size, so they are perfect for those tiny little details you want to add to your ATC's, Inchies, Moo's etc. I will however, be giving away an A5 size sheet of Kling-On, so you will have plenty left over to play with on other stamps :O))



All you need to do to enter this giveaway is add a post here & add a link from your Blog to mine.

There will be another couple of Candy giveaway's later in the month, so please come back and visit to see if you could be the winner :O))

The Stitchels stamps, Kling-On, Distress Inks, Stickles etc used in my project can be found at The Artistic Stamper.

Thanks for looking and I look forward to reading your comments.

Hugs

Hels xx

Jolly Santa!

Good Morning,

Blimey, I finally managed to get around to blogging a card I made ages ago - yes, it is a Christmas card too!!

So far, I have managed to make the grand total of three more - I seem to have lost my Mojo, which is never a happy thing for a crafter who has a trillion cards to get ready for the festive season - I was in such a fluster earlier, I actually considered......buying some!!! Before you all start to shout at me - I have talked myself out of it and decided that little and often may just be the ticket to getting the cards made. You know what it is like though...when you have a brain full of ideas that are not Christmas based!



Anyway, this card was made for The Artistic Stamper boards for Port Sunlight. I love this image, he is so jolly and happy looking isn't he?

I prepared some plain cream cardstock by spritzing it with Gold Glimmer Mist. I then stamped the Santa and edged the card with Fired Brick Distress Ink. I next matted this onto some gold card, onto red Bazzill and gold card again... and then onto the sage coloured Bazzill cardstock which makes up the most of the card front. I bent up the edges of the cardstock to make it look a little bit shabby - I must have been going for a vintage look :O))




The little embellies around the edges are actually Fragments from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range. I love these little clear tiles, they are so versatile and to achieve this effect, I stamped parts of some Bauble stamps - also from The Artistic Stamper - onto gold card, using gold embossing powder. I then popped the Fragments onto the bauble images and used Glossy Accents to stick them down. The beauty of using GA is that it dries completely clear so you get a clear finish. However, whoops-a-daisy, by the time morning came, the GA had changed the colour of the gold embossing to a greeny colour....yikes, it is potent stuff then...but I actually quite liked the look of it, so I left it in!




Thanks for looking - hopefully there will be a few more Christmas cards coming soon - I have some delightful little Tilda stamps to play with and I have lots of ideas for the Stitchels Snowmen - click here to see them online. I have been told that they are really easy to use for colouring in and popping onto cards as a main image - and I (of course slightly biased) love them loads!

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 34 - Love Is Like A.....

Morning Stampers,

Another Sunday, which means another new challenge from the Sunday Stamper. This week my theme is Butterfly.

Now, there is a very special reason why I have chosen this theme this week. If you click here, you will be magically transported to Dan's Blog. Dan has posted this week about a most wonderful request from The Holocaust Museum in Houston. They are hoping to collect 1.5million decorated butterflies and hold an exhibition in 2012, showing all of the butterflies they have been sent, and this exhibition will be held to commemorate that 1.5million children who lost their lives in the Holocaust. Dan has done his usual magic and made a template for two butterfly designs, which you can download to use with a CriCut or, if like me you haven't got a CriCut, you can also download the images straight to your printer. I printed off several of the butterflies and then simply cut them out. *I will at this point remind you all that I am a completely useless computery person and I was well chuffed that I managed to do this downloading lark all by myself :O)) The only stipulation is that you don't use any glitter on your decorated butterflies.

I would love that peeps could hop over to Dan's Blog and read all about this very special request - and maybe decorate your own butterfly.

However, if you are limited for time etc, please join in the Sunday Stamper anyway - simply use a butterfly stamp or incorporate a butterfly in your stamped design this week. Once you have completed your artwork, please pop a message on here and add a link to the place where you are showing your entry.




Yesterday I spent a lovely crafty day with my friend Linda. Whilst I am a bit slow at crafting at the moment cos of my horrid pain, I did manage to make a few butterflies for this good cause. After cutting out the images, I simply decorated with stamping techniques and inkyness.


I will just mention that the stamps I used on this fancy butterfly - wow, they are the brand new Flourish designs from The Artistic Stamper. Oh my goodness, I simply adore these new designs, they are so fabby to use and I know you will all think I am biased, but seriously, they are so versatile and just perfect!! :O)) Go on, you know you need to have a look here, don't you LOL

Here is one that I only managed to half do - I will try to get it finished later but thought I would include this piccie so you can see how easy it is to just download and print off the butterfly itself.




Anyway, thanks for looking and reading everyone - I think that this is a wonderful tribute to all those innocents who lost their lives so needlessly.

Hels xx

Groans!!! Christmas In July :O))

Hi Peeps,

Over on The Artistic Stamper blog, the challenge for this month, set by Jennie, is Christmas. I know, I know it is soooo early to be thinking about Christmas already and if you are like me you will leave it all to the last minute and end up stressing...I will never learn!!

My Entry


For the challenge, I made a canvas which is 8 x 8 in size. I used Stampbord pieces & chalk inks, which I then Ultra Thicked with Clear powder......all of the stamps and the UTEE are from The Stamp Connection.

I would love you all to pop over to Jennie's blog. As usual, she is offering some candy and this month the prize is actually another canvas, which is 4 x 4 in size, which was made by yours truly.

What You Can Win


So, whatcha waiting for? LOL Go on, you know you want to rummage thru all your stash and find all your Christmassy bits, think of the glitter and the lovely mess you can make when you are creating your little masterpiece....don't forget to add your name to Jennie's blog so you will be in with a chance of winning too!

Thanks for looking.

Hels x

Another Tag :O))

Evening peeps, just a quickie post this evening as I have been on a long job today and I need my bed!!

Another of the chipboard tags that I altered! Again, using stamps and Chipboard from The Artistic Stamper.

Front


For this tag, I used Adirondack Inkpads in Lettuce and Butterscotch. I used a brayer to get the background inked and then used sequin waste and Cranberry ink to get the dotty effect. I stamped the large leaf using Pine Needles Distress Ink and then used Pine Needles and Cranberry Adirondack for the flower stamp, spritzing with water before I stamped the image so I got a watercolour effect. I added the little words and fibres and then used sandpaper on the edges to distress the chipboard.




Back


I used some Basic Grey paper from the Sublime range and covered the whole of the back of the tag. I then used sequin waste again and used Cranberry Adirondack ink for the dots and then used Pine Needles for the leafy images. The word is another stamp from the Artistic Stamper, adding fibres for a bit of decoration and then smudging Cranberry ink around the edges for definition.

Thanks for looking!

Hels x

Butterfly Beauty Tag

Afternoon Peeps

I haven't had any Mojo this week.....it packed up on Monday and went off for a couple of days, thankfully for me, it has come home again today!

I have altered some fabby chipboard tags from The Artistic Stamper. They are really thick and have a white coating on one side, which means they are excellent for distressing.

Butterfly Beauty

In a change to my usual style of dark colours, I decided to get bright and pretty for this tag. Using Adirondack inkpads in Stonewashed and Wild Plum, I smudged the colours on and blended then using Cut & Dry foam. I used some sequin waste to dab on a Purple Twilight Acrylic Dabber and then blended this in with the Cut & Dry too. I randomly stamped the butterfly image and made masks for the three of them. I inked up a large script stamp and over stamped this using Denim Adirondack ink. I then lifted the masks and I had this lovely effect of the butterflies perching on the script. Next, I used one of the little plastic "Willies" in the butterfly shape and painted it with Purple paint. Once this was dry, I applied Duo glue to the butterfly and dipped it into gold and copper leafing flakes. The flakes stuck to the Duo glue and I was left with the lovely painted and gilt effect. To finish off the butterfly, I popped a Bindi that I bought in an Asian fashion store, into the middle of its body.
The words on the tag are made using a Jnr Dymo and I sanded them and then smudged gold Krylon over the top to make them tone in more. Sanding the edges of the tag with sandpaper and then adding dashes of gold Krylon finished it off for me.

Pretty Fritillary


This is actually the back of the tag, which I inked up and decorated in the same way, using sequin waste again. This time I kept the design simple, stamped the large moth twice and then added the Dymo words which I had distressed as before.

All of the stamps that I used for this tag are from The Artistic Stamper and are available here.

Thanks for looking

Hels x

A Bunch of Flowers

Hi everyone,

This week has been tough - long jobs and not much time to Blog! I have a piccie here of some Chipboard flowers that I altered for The Artistic Stamper a couple of weeks ago.

Jennie is stocking these fabby Chipboard shapes and the chipboard is lovley to work with being white on one side and grey on the other. Also, it is lovley and thick and is just ripe for distressing too.


I picked (pardon the pun) a few of the flower shapes and then on each one did something slightly different.

I used Distress Inks, Chalk Inks and Acrylic Paints, along with embossing, stamping and grunging. I even used some glitter on one of them!! :O)) I used a bead from an ancient necklace to make the centre of the first one, punching a hole using my Crop-A-Dile which is fab for getting through thick projects. Finally, I popped them onto a ball chain and added a clasp so they all sit together.

Thanks for looking....hopefully I will be able to get into my Craftroom on Friday so I can catch up with all the weekly challenges! I am getting withdrawal symptoms :O))

Hels xx

A Bind It All Book - Artistic Stamper

Good Afternoon!

It is one of those days today. My Mojo has packed up and left home and I sat in my craftroom this morning for two hours, fiddling about and getting nowhere....so I gave it up as a bad job and sat and watched the TV :O))

Here is a little BIA book I made for The Artistic Stamper a couple of weeks ago. I have used the new stamps that Jennie is selling now along with some old favourites.

FRONT COVER



The cover is a chipboard book cover from the new range at AS. It is roughly A6 in size and is fab to work with. To colour it, I used Scattered Straw, Pine Needles and Walnut Stain Distress Ink, blending with Cut & Dry foam. I spritzed the cover with water and dried using a heatgun. Then I used a metal file and ran it over the cover to get the scratched look. For the stamping, I used one of the new sentiments and my fave flower from the Botanical Plate.




PAGE 1

I used Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks along with a smudge of Aged Mahogany, to colour the card. The stamp is the new collage and I love this so much!! The best thing is that along with the collage, you also get the components separately, so you can cut out the elements without having other parts of the image showing. I picked out the words I liked the most and layered these on with 3D foam. Adding a little gem to the birds eye and using a paper distresser got the look I wanted.




NEXT PAGES



For the back of the first page, I used the same collage stamps and then did some 3Ding with the images. I added the little beads to the birdy's beak to make it look like he had found is breakfast :O)) The next page I decided to cut it smaller and make it a different shape. The stamps I used for this one are the other new Collage ones from Jennie. This little girl is so sweet but I just kept her as a single collage, then stamped the random numbers behind her. The colours are Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Inks.



AND MORE PAGES

The back of the odd shape is using the same colours. I stamped the little girl with her bike, masked this and then stamped a script for the background. I added a mini chipboard tag, colouring it and stamping the word randomly on to it.
The next page is coloured with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint. I stamped a random collage of script and flowers and made the beauty the centrepiece. I used Walnut Stain to do the stamping.



THE LAST PAGES



The back of the "Beauty" page is coloured with the same inks and then I just stamped the daisy onto it, added the sentiment and then 3d'd another sentiment in the middle. The last page, sadly, only has one piccie, my camera ran out of battery and I needed to send off the book to Jennie, so I only got this one! I used Milled Lavendar and Dusty Concord Distress Inks. Stamping the Family Values in black, I added the words to the page using 3D foam.

All of the stamps, inks and chipboard I used for this book is available from The Artistic Stamper

Thanks for looking! Hopefully the old Mojo will return soon :O))

Hels x