Sunday Stamper - Week 358 - Breaking the Law

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Big thanks to you all for joining in with the challenge last week and it was lovely to see so many new peeps taking part too!   The song title this week suggests some kind of naughtiness... and you'd be right for thinking that.. oh yes, with a break from tradition... the Sunday Stamper's theme is...  NO STAMPING!.  You can make absolutely anything you fancy, no stamping at all. *oft easier said than done!*    To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND leave out the stamping!!!  And then hop 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 or by leaving me a link to your Pinterest or any other photo hosting site.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 6th June 2015.

So, why no stamping???  Well, I made something a few weeks ago and I love it... and it hasn't a single smidge of stamping on it... and being as I have been a wee bit busy with stuff and what-not this past week, I haven't had a chance to actually make something for today!  Aha, I thinks... let's live on the edge and forget the stamping and go for it with this creation.  I won't go into great detail how I made my entry as it is a class sample and it wouldn't be fair on the lovely lasses who joined me a few weeks ago to make this... but I can tell you there is a truck load of PaperArtsy Fresco Paint, Washi Tape, Tissue Tape and Cosmic Shimmered Flowers to see...

Oh and don't look too closely at the photo's... they are reallllly bad and will make you go boggle eyed... I had just eaten a packet of Pickled Onion Space Raiders and think I had a smidge of grease on the camera jobby on me phone!  Ooopsies!!!

I am being all organised today and scheduling this post (tis Friday, not Sunday, at the moment anyway but by the time you read this, it will indeedily be Sunday - unless I goof up and press the wrong button and you don't get to see this until.......   *uh oh, confooosing meself now*)  You get the idea right?   Anyways, whatever you are up to today, I hope you have a very goodly one... thanks for looking and have a great week!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 310 - Girl Talk

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy sunny Sunday to you all!   Thank you for all the great altered entries for last weeks challenge - it was great to see so many new-to-altering-addicts joining in :O)   This week the new theme is... GIRLS.  A nice pretty and feminine challenge for you... interpret as  you wish, your creation could feature a girl, be about a girl, be girly, covered in flowers.. you know what I means.   To join in is simples; Make a little something - it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping (even it is only a bit, get those stamps out!)   Please let me know you have joined in by popping back to this post and leaving me a comment with a linky to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog/web-photo-hosty site, you can also join in via Facebook (just tag my name) or by sending me a small res. piccie by email.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 7th June 2014. *hurrah, June! Birthday month! Cake!*

Apologies for being late on parade today!  Normally I am quite organised and have my entry all ready and scheduled to publish at midnight.  Well, yesterday was one of those strange days that very rarely occur.  Oh yesh, it was a FREE day!  Unfortunately, due to a water leak, the opening of Cups & Crafts in Devizes was postponed late on Friday evening.  This meant that I had a day that I hadn't "accounted" for.  I should have been a good gal and got some more samples for the tellybox shows on Tuesday made... well, that was sort of my intention.   Well, it was until I trotted off down the garden and popped my head into the greenhouse and saw that I had very lots of plants that all needed attention.  So, I said to meself that I would spend the morning in the garden... and then do some sampling in the afternoon, taking time to do the Sunday Stamper and schedule it and all that.   Yep, all the best intentions... until I glanced at the clock and saw it was 7pm!  The whole day!  In the garden!  Naughty!  But very nice :O)  I will pop a few pics on later this week of how it is coming along now.

So, back to the reason for the post, here's my entry!  I started this little wooden frame a few weeks ago and once I had covered it with Tim's Tissue Tape and added colour using Broken China and Antique Linen Distress Paints - applying with my finger and smudging the paints over so the tape shows through in patches - I ground to a halt!  I loved the frame but just didn't get what I was then supposed to do with it.  And then I spotted Tim's Found Relative Cards and aha! An idea was born!  The Found Relative was a little too narrow to fill the frame so I popped a bit of vintage lace (my beloved vintage lace that is used very sparingly as I haven't got much lol) along the side.  A project wouldn't be a project without lots of flowers and embellies, so I coloured up some paper flowers with Black Marble Dylusions and Egyptian Blue Cosmic Shimmer sprays.  I then realised there wasn't a single smidge of stamping on the project!  Whooopsie-daisy!  I find that a perfect stamp to add a little extra interest is Tim's Flourish, I just used a smidge of Jet Black Archival and added in a bit of stamping to the edges of the frame.  I then stamped the word Dream *Tim's Stuff To Say set* and added it to an Ornate Frame.

Next came the best bit (IMO)  Embellishmenting!!  I make no secret of the fact that I think the more embellies the better and this frame is the perfect size to add lots of little bits and bobs: metal leaves, cogs, Idea-ology, paperclay birdy (treated to Treasure Gold) and jazzy buttons from Jones' (also TG treated) and then a few pearls to finish it off nicely.  Oh and I forgot to say!!!  I used a Milled Lavendar Distress Marker to add a little blush of colour to the black and white photo... I was tempted to go a little darker with the tint but I didn't want to goof it up so I played it safe - you can add it but you can't take it away and all that :O)

I better get a wigglebottom on  now... whilst the sun is cracking the flagstones out there and there be temptation to get my hands mucky, I have samples to get finished and some demo's to prep for the tellybox shows... plus,  my poor old war wound is well and truly aggravated after yesterdays exertions so it is probably for the best that I am inside behaving meself.  Have a grand day!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Simon Says... Be My Guest!

...Excited? Me? Oh yesh, indeedily.... very excited! And why? Well, a few months ago May, who is the DT Leader over at Simon Says Stamp & Show asked me if I would like to be their first Guest Designer. Of course, I needed time to think about the invitation.... and about 0.01 seconds later, I emailed right back and said... yes please! I am very honoured to be asked to be a Guest over on my fave challenge blog. All the deets etc for this weeks challenge are HERE along with all the cool DT creations and info on how to join in.



The theme this week is Tape It Up. I toyed with several ideas on what to make, I started out with a tag but it just wasn't big enough for the technique I wanted to use... so I altered a frame instead. On Wednesday this week a tutorial I have done for my entry will be published over on Simon Says Stamp & Show so I won't go into tooooo much detail now on how I altered my frame... but I can say that all the tapes, paints (whooops, was I supposed to mention that I used paint? *teehee*) I used are available at Simon Says Stamp.



Oh and... when you enter the challenge there is a chance for you to win a voucher to spend at Simon Says for $50. I will pop a link on my post on Wednesday so you can nip over to see the tut then :O))



I have an update about that Old Cad Mojo. He slunk home sometime during the night on Saturday and I am pleased to report that he is back to normal (whatever that may be lol) I had a mahooosive crafty Skypey sesh with Ellen yesterday... and Grim went and caught me out big stylee. So. We had been Skyping for about 3 hours and we decided to have a little refreshment break. Then we were straight back into more Skypeyness, for about 3 more hours. Anways, I hears Grim say that he had just had an email from Virgin saying that we were nearing our limit for the downloady-do-dah-thingy-wotsits (my words, not his, I can't remember exactly what he said, you know, like the teckernical speak) So, I am sitting there at my desk, with Ellen perched on the other desk.. (tis ok, she was inside the laptop so she was quite safe) Where was I? Oh yes, justifying our Skypey-ness. "We have Skyped for longer before" says I. "Well, that's what is says.... " Says Grim. And then I hears a little snort. Oh yes, he was indeedily winding me up. Hoooharharharhaaa.... yes, funny... erm... well, a bit lol


Anyways, I shall away. Remember Jerry the Gorgeous Springer? Well, he is bringing his Mummy & Daddy to see us this afternoon and he has a very swishy tail... so I am going to move everything that is in tail-swishing distance. I can't wait to see him, he is so gorgeous, those big soft eyes... ah, tis lurve. Here's Jerry looking very intelligent, I think he was just contemplating 11 down of yesterdays Telegraph crossword lol


Oh and I am cooking too! I have been frantically searching cookery books and yonder t'internet - I stoopidly said "Homemade Crumble and custard for afters" The crumble isn't a problem, that's a doddle, oh no, it is the custard. I can't make custard! Last time I tried it had the consistancy of day old concrete only with more lumps. Maybe I should feign a migraine and get Grim to make it instead (either that or open a tin rofl) Anyways, I needs to get moving... custard making skills to research and all that... Thanks for looking, have a fab day. TTFN

Hels x

I Recipe Thee!

... aha, something slightly different to the I Challenge Thee is afoot! Oh yes, a new challenge has been thunked up by me and Ellen... create a crafty recipe... and see what comes of it. This time the recipe was devised last Sunday, during a Skype sesh and, whilst we didn't finish the pieces during the sesh, it has been the best fun playing with stuff that I have been ignoring for a while.




The recipe was to make a Hanging using:

5 Mini Canvas
Screw Eyes
Dimensional embellies - must include metal!
Sari Silk
Tape - any flavour
Stencils with medium of choice
Book Text
Words/Message of choice
Paint
Ink Sprays
Butterflies
Any additional embellies that we couldn't live without
AND... Something old or neglected from our stash.

I have to say... this pic of the hanging all together is truly cack itself. For some reason, no matter how I tried to take the photo, it has come out all diddy and daft... so, I took the liberty of taking a load more pics... so you can see all the details in full.



My neglected piece of stash was a sheet of acetate printed with butterflies that I bought about 382 years ago and have never used. The old bit of my stash is my Altered Originals Spray - now called Dylusions. It is the most gorge orange colour... I know... me... using orange... the day after using pink! Whatever next??? Lime green perhaps??? Anyways... I will shut up now so you can look at the pics....








Please do hop on over to see Ellen's totes-amazeballs creation... I just love the fact that we have the same recipe and come up with something so different from each other... As I just uploaded the pics I have seen that I have done a boo-boo... I forgot to edge four of the canvases with Black Dabber... doh! I shall go and rectify that now! Thanks for looking... have a lovely day! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 204 - Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all! Many thanks for the gorgeous red creations that you all entered last week... I know, I say this all the time but... it makes me smile BIG to see all your lovely entries... so thank you!! On with this weeks challenge. Now, I have used this song before (I know, naughty Hels!) but it is one of those that combines two things for the one challenge and it was a yonk and a half ago that I had this one. The theme this week is... BLUE & BROWN. To join in is simples: make a little something - it can be anything you fancy. Add in the theme and some stamping, pop back here to leave a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I can then pop and visit you. If you don't have a blog, Flickr, Picasso etc, you can join in by email or on Facebook. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 12th May 2012.



My entry this week features brown and blue - they are a fab combo together aren't they? I started out with a nice white tag and used Picket Fence with Pine Needles and Broken China Stains, making a marbled background. I overstamped with Aquamarine Archival for a more blended background and then got cracking on the embellishing. Now, I have had Movers & Shapers dies for yonks but haven't really used them to cut apertures. So, I thought I would have a little play and see how I liked it. Like it? I LOVE it!!! I used a Mini Butterfly, cutting it out of the tag - then I covered a piece of card with some Tissue Tape and cut another butterfly out. I added more Tissue Tape to more card to make a little thingywotsit to sit behind the cutty outty bit so it matched in with the other butterfly (am I making sense? I don't think I am lol)



I then made some little flowers using Kraft Glassine and the Mini Tattered Florals and normal Tattered Florals dies; scrumpling up the Glassine to make wrinkles in them and on the middle flower in the layers, I rubbed on some Blue Raspberry Perfect Pearls, then heated the Glassine which "grabs" the PP's and they are then bound to the paper. Some little paper roses, that I coloured the edges of with Broken China, adorn the centres of the flowers and I added some little Movers & Shapers leaves, cut out of Grunge covered with canvas and coloured with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss.... oh and some Movers & Shapers Branches... coloured with Gathered Twigs. I added a little banner and some of the Lace Strip die, cut out of Kraft cardstock and then blinged up with a strip of AB gems. The words are Chit Chat Stickers and the Philosophy Tag was coloured with Pool Dabber.



Phew! I think that is all... cor blimey, that was a long description! As ever, thanks for looking and for supporting my little weekly challenge... I hope that you have a good Bank Holiday... and the sun shines nice and warm on you! TTFN

Hels x

Lilac Ruffles...

... I been playing!! Oh yesh indeedily, I been playing with those new Seasonal Distress Inks. I have to say... they are LUSH! The colours fit perfectly into the Distress family... I just wish that we could have the Seasonal ones as Stains too... imagine how cool that would be!! But, that is just being greedy and I don't want to sound ungrateful that I have three more gorgeous Distress Inks to play with so... I won't mention it again ;o))


I had a little play the other day and used all three new colours together and then with inks in their own colour palette. This is the first of the tags that I have finished (the others are awaiting make-overs) This one was coloured with Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves. Ohlalalaa and thrice! Now, a lot of the finished look is to do with the surface you are working on. And I just happen to have some fab tags from Wendy @ The Stamp Attic. She usually has a big old pile of manila ones... and some white ones too. Seeing as I have never used the white ones, I thought I would give them a try. Well, they are beautiful because they have a bit of a coating on them with makes the ink blend on beautifully... and the colours stay true being as it is white that I was working onto. After inking the background I gave it a little spritz with water and dried it... then inked up that big old background from Tim's Papillon set using Shaded Lilac and stamped that over... it is a really subtle background - look closely and it is there though :O))


The butterflies were stamped with Jet Black Archival and then I stamped my beautiful butterfly (first stamp I ever bought) and coloured it with the same inks and a waterbrush. This is popped onto an Ornate Frame and then I got all ruffley with some Tissue Tape and made a rosettey-fluffy-flowery-thing. Finishing touches of Idea-ology, the Lace Alterations using Foil Tape on card and a row of AB blingy-gems that I picked up in Michael's last time I was in the US.


Anyways... I have noticed I have managed to get right through today's post without mentioning the weather!!! That's because I am studiously ignoring it now... if I ignore all that wet stuff maybe it will start being dry and sunny... well, a girl can wish... now, where's my thermal knickers??? Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Lucky Number....

... So, the first of September already! Blimey and thrice, this year is fair whizzing past us isn't it? Anyways... the first of the month can mean only one thing... time for a brand new challenge over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog. This month the theme is ... NUMBERS. Tis worth joining in too because there's always some lovely rubber to be won! This month the Creative Team are focussing on Tissue Tape... it is also on Special Offer too... so bargains galore indeedily.



I used Tissue Tape to make a little banner to fit across the bottom of my tag - which is a doddle to make... simply pleat the TT onto some cardstock, cut to fit the size, trim the edges and then colour with Distress Inks/Stains. My tag base is Pine Needles combined with Picket Fence Distress Stains... oooh, I love that teally colour that combo makes! I used the mini polkadots background stamp to do the background... added some numbers in Black Archival and then set about making a flower. I cut some old book pages on the Tattered Florals die - using the Spikey one... colouring come with Picket Fence and then Pine Needles, some with just Pine Needles and the rest were left bare.




Once they were all piled together, I added a little Accoutrement button and then made a pleated rosette for the flower to sit on. I used the same prinicipal as the banner, but instead just pleated the tape around a circle of cardstock... this was then coloured with Black Soot Distress Ink. The sentiment is another new word... I love the style of this font... it is grungey without being too grungey.. if that makes sense lol



Anyways... enough of the waffle from me for one day... I am off to get inky again and I will be back tomorrow with more inky things I have made! Thanks for looking... have a fabby day! TTFN


Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 169 - Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep...

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Bank Holiday Sunday to you all. Thank you for all the gorgeous entries to last weeks challenge. I have been asked a couple of times what to do if you don't have a blog but want to play along... well, that is simples... just email me a piccie of your piece and let me know how you made it. So.. this week the theme has been set by a VERY special guest setter who just so happens to be celebrating his birthday today! He is 8 today and he is having a tin of tuna for his din-dins. (any ideas who the birthday boy is?) The theme is BIRDS and it was set by none other than my gorgeous little furbaby AlfieCat. (isn't he clever!) Anyways, to join in is simple, make a little something, it can be anything you fancy, add in the theme and some rubber stamping and then pop back here to leave me a comment with a linky to the place you are showing your entry. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 3rd September 2o11.




So... my entry is a T'Pouch... I am still highly addicted to making T'Pouches. If you are scratching your head and wondering what on earth I am waffling about... basically a T'Pouch is the name for a tag that has a pouch to live in. The pouch itself can be made from anything and I have the made up measurements if you would like to make one for yourself... just drop me an email!



I used lots of Black Soot and Picket Fence Distress Stains because my Alfie is black and white... and I also used some of those divine and now no longer made Avene collection by Crate Paper to make the pouch. Lots of stamping from the collection of the Duke of Distress himself... I think my most used stamp is the script background... oh and the flying birds, LOVE the flying birds! The embellies are mostly Idea-ology.



For the tag I made a Tissue Tape rosette... I made three layers so it would be a bit "blousy" and then popped an Idea-ology Accoutrement into the middle. The big show-offy flower on the pouch is one of the Faux Porcelain flowers I made the other night... I cannot help but just stare at it... and the pic really doesn't do the flower justice... if you want to know how to do the FP technique, I have a Step by Step HERE for you.




Anyways... thankfully I have no tales of woe for you today, no injuries sustained yesterday (which is nothing short of a miracle) We have had a few issues with the internet but that is sorted now... yay! Ooo and sorry for the late posting of today's challenge... I have a very good reason... well, I started to make the T'Pouch and oh dear, it went wrong, Mr Mojo walked out in a huff so I decided to have a little play of Words With Friends on Facebook. I lost. Twice! In fact, I have never ever won a game of Scrabble of WWF. So, the T'Pouch was made in installments while I was slowly getting beaten by Grim... the funny thing is, he was sitting not 10 feet away from me in his Room of Electrickery Stuff lol. Right, I have a very lazy day planned, a catch up of the telly and an afternoon of making beady stuff... bliss! What have you got planned for today? Do tell! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

PS (again) More thoughts for my American cousins... hoping they are staying safe x

Grungy...

...is the coolest challenge on the blog (see what I did there... blog instead of block hahahaha) Devised, co-ordinated and hosted by the delectable Lovely Linda Ledbetter. This week the Grungy Monday theme is based on Day 10 of the 12 Tags 2007... deets for this are HERE on Tim Holtz's blog and deets of the challenge are HERE. So... I was incredibly lucky to be able to actually learn this technique from the one and only Duke of Distress when I was at Ranger... it was one of those techniques that I had seen and tried but never really "got it". Having done one there and now this one, I think I have a new fave!! My stamp for the technique is my favest script stamp (actually from a Christmas set) and the colours of paint are Juniper and Pool.



The flower is Tissue Tape made into a concertina around a circle of card... and then a smaller one... painted with the same paints applied with a babywipe so it went on thinner... and then a little Accoutrement popped into the middle. The banner at the bottom is also Tissue Tape... folded onto card, cut out and coloured the same way as the flower. The ickle butterflies are die cut using a Movers & Shapers and overstamped with Pool paint and the co-ordinating butterfly stamp. I added smidges of gold embossing powder to the bits and bobs just to jazz it up a bit.. oh and the frame is die cut from the Tag Alterations and then coated in embossing ink and gold embossed - three times... black paint to shabby it up and a little word added to the middle. Ta dah! Done!





Well, I have been in the wars again... in fact, I am still suffering... I shalln't go into too great a detail because that would put you off your tea but... I shall tell you about the shiner that I have. Well, it looks like I have been punched in the eye, in actual fact it is an allergy. Well, according to the chemist it is... Grim popped up there to get me some Chloremphenicywotsit and the lady said she wouldn't sell him it as it wasn't his eye that was the problem... so he came home with Golden Eye and the info that as it wasn't gunking yakky stuff and was only weeping tears then it was more likely to be an allergy. To what, I have no idea as I haven't done anything particular... however, I am inclined to believe it as I have been...erm... trotting... see, I told you it could put you off your tea.



Anyways... I spent over 16 hours on my death bed, sleeping for most of them... and then have spent most of today doing beggar all apart from groaning every so often and grumbling that I have to wear my specs - contacts are out of the question at the moment and I hate my specs. Actually, I don't hate the specs themselves... they are quite pretty... I hate wearing them though... mainly cos I am a fairy elephant and clobber them and knock them... hopefully the old poorly peeper will be better tomorrow so I can wear my lenses again! Right, best go and see about catching up with blogs and stuff... have missed all my FB'ing and Tweetings!!! Thanks for looking.... TTFN!

One Eyed Hels x

A Bit of A Wash...

...a Colorwash that is... did I mention that I just went to Ranger U? I think I may have forgotten to tell you lol Anyways... whilst at Ranger U, when I was sitting in the same room as THE Duke of Distress for like three days... aha, sorry, I shalln't go on and on about it... really, I won't... much lol Anyways... whilst on said course, I was taught a heap of things about Colorwash Sprays. Now, I have always shied away from said Sprays as I am not the cleanest and most tidy of crafters and my first encounter with them was a few years ago when I very nearly altered the colours of the walls, carpet and ceiling in the Room of Stash. So, whilst I have used them occasionally, it has always been a bit cringy and scaredy-catty.



So, I was sitting there, intrepidly determined NOT to make a holy show of myself and alter the colour of THE Duke of Distress should he pass behind my chair whilst I was in the spraying stage. Phew all round... I learnt how to use them... properly!!! So... armed with my new found courage, I went off to Ellen's Studio and set about making a tag for our tag swap this month. Now, I have to tell you, everything in Ellen's Studio is spotless... cream carpet, white walls, white storage... so... whilst she wasn't looking, I did a bit of spraying... I held my breath... a very lot I can tell you... and nearly had heart failure as a drip of spray landed on the floor next to me... but even bigger phew's... Ellen had the forethought to get one of those plastic sheet jobbies that you put under a kiddie's high chair. I am guessing she figured I would need one rofl



Anyways... this tag is the result of my first foray into using Colorwash Sprays properly... and I have to say... I am in lurrrrve! The colours I used are... Cranberry... and that is it.. I used this colour in layers so it starts off a bit pink and works its way to red through the tag. I did some stamping with a rather smashing flower head stamp (humph, I neeeeed this one now) and Trad Tan paint... then added a sentiment from the Studio 490 range by the Wonderful Wendy Vecchi... and added a cute ickle flower which is from a jar of them that Ellen bought for me and I can't remember the name... like Prima but not... IYKWIM. I used more Colorwashes on the flower too... see how I am getting braver and braver!!



To make the stamped flower stand out a bit more I used a fine black pen to sketch around the image... oh and I made a little banner at the bottom using Tissue Tape... which I then dyed with more CW spray... simples huh! Right... that is enough waffling from me for one day... I have caught up on sleep... well, almost... I set my phone alarm to wake me up early so I could get up with Grim before he went to work... ahem... I had, however, neglected to change the phone's time to UK time... so when the alarm went off at 09.45 this morning I was rather confoosed... not difficult I know... but all the same, I did wonder why it was so light and why Grim wasn't here! I have now changed the time back and since then I have felt more normal... who knew! Change the time of your phone and remove all traces of jet lag... result!!! Thanks for looking... TTFN!!

Hels x

All Things Bright And...

... colourful! Another in the 5" square canvas series that I can't seem to stop making at the moment! This is the third in just over a week... but it is deffo the last one because I have exhausted this design enough! When I set about making the first one (which is HERE) I told you that I have always steered well clear of the 5" size canvas as it was a size that just didn't appeal to me. Then later last week I altered another one (which is HERE) using slightly different colours and adding a mountainous rosette embellishment... well, this one is still based on the same prinicipal... but is it bright... very bright!!! SO much for not liking this size lol



Normally my colour palette is more subdued... I do love using bright colours but I always tend to steer towards the browns and blues... and just recently I have been really into creams and browns... which are nice but it does make a refreshing change to use brights. Well, you can't get much brighter than these colours. I used a combination of Dylusions Sprays and Glimmer Mists to colour this canvas... I made it in the same way as the other two... using papers to cover the canvas... the paper is that really bright flowery sheet from the Lost & Found stack... painted over with Traditional Tan, spritzed with Burnt Orange and Pomegranite Dylusions ... then I added a smidge of Turquoise Glimmer Mists... but didn't shake the bottle so there isn't much glimmer.. I didn't want the background to be too blinging.




The Rosette... I am... ahem... a bit... oh ok, a very lot... addicted to the new Mini Rosette Alterations... added to the original Rosette it just looks fantastic... the little Maya Road Resin Bloom looks like it was made especially for the rosette tower. Now, I have been an admirer of Kate Cranes art for a looooong time... I love the way she makes everything look so bright and cheerful and the different elements she layers onto her pieces... well, I have spotted her using a lid to make painty circles... so I thought that I would give this a go... and I have to say, it rather suits this design... to see more of Kate's art, do click here to go to her blog... she is very, very talented....



As well as the lid stamping, I also flicked a loaded paintbrush at the canvas too ... and where the splats have landed on the coloured papers, they have collected a bit of the colour into them... so they look fabbily blended. There are more diecuts from Grungeboard and Grungepaper - all cut using those gorgeous Alterations from THE Duke of Distress...all were painted with the Trad Tan and then spritzed with more of the colours. The ickle bottle is one of the new Idea-ology Vials - I just wrapped a bit of beaded ribbon around it... and this had had the Glimmer Mist treatment too.



So, I have managed to get almost to the end of my wafflings and I haven't mentioned... you know what... and I really wasn't going to... nope, I wasn't, honest LOL. However, you were all so lovely with your comments on yesterday's post saying that you wanted to hear all about it, I think it would be plain rude of me not to mention my little trip to the US of A. Ooooh, I am still buzzing and still having those little flippyflop feelings in my tummy whenever I think of it... and my concentration levels have plummeted to an all time low... and I can only see that I will get worse the closer we get to the actual date for me to depart these fair shores.




So far I have confirmed my place at Ranger U and booked my hotel... that in itself was a bit panic stations for me... the lovely peeps at Ranger give a couple of hotel recommendations... so when I went online to reserve my room at the first one, it said that there was no room at the inn! So, I went to the second one and... same again!!! Eeeeek!!! What to do!!! I had started to have visions of me taking a tent with me and camping in the carpark at Ranger LOL Well, thankfully a lovely lady at Ranger emailed us all and gave us some other suggestions... so... I have reserved my room...phew! Anyways... enough waffling for one day... I have just looked out of the window and see the yukky weather so I am planning a cosy day indoors - a spot of inkyness is the order of the day methinks!! Right, time to get moving... thanks for looking.. have a grand day! TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Enamelled...

...time for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge again... only a few more weeks left of this challenge so I am making the most of it :O)) If you haven't heard about the challenge before, hop on over to Linda's blog... this week the challenge is on Page 41 of the Compendium of Curiosities... a book by the one and only Duke of Distress. Well, I have to say... I really struggled with this technique... the first tag was binned before the brown ink was added... yuk!




The second tag was binned after I bodged the stamping... doh! I used Archival ink and forgot to heat set it... so I ended up with smudges all over the place... so finally, this one made it to completion! The colours are only Old Paper and Vintage Photo - I do think these two as a combo make a lovely couple :O))



So... how excited am I!!! This time 7 days away, Ellen will have landed in the UK and we should be making our way to Starbucks at St Pancras (well, it would be very rude not to pop in and partake of a Frapucchino LOL) and then we will be on our way back to the Room of Stash via the kitchen for a sausage roll... can you believe that Ellen had never had a sausage roll until she came to stay last year??? Well, it would have been a bit remiss of me to not introduce her to the delights that are the rolls of sausage... mmm, yummy sausage meat encased in crisp golden puff pastry... corrrr, my chops are fair watering already!




I would't normally be so gung-ho about eating "naughty" food but when Ellen was last here, we set a decree... and you might be interested in it because it is a world wide thing, not just a Room of Stash thing... calories are all zero-rated in the following conditions: visiting friends, crafting with friends, when your fingers are inky (the ink zero's the calories straight out), when you are in a foreign country, when you are with someone from a foreign country, when you have been on a aeroplane and when you have visited an airport. **that covers all eventualities LOL** Anyways... all this waffle about sausage rolls has given me rumble tum-tums... time for breakfast methinks! Thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

Philosophically... Sticky???

My name is Hels and I am... a.... Holtz-aholic!!!! LMSO OOOOhhhhh, who is loving the 12 Tags of Christmas??? I certainly am but... alas, I am still waaaay behind on them for the simple reason that I have been far too busy making my own versions of them LOL *which reminds me, there is still time to leave a comment HERE for me to win the first tag I made... just saying* Anyways, The Duke of Distress, the Valedictorian of Vintage, nay and thrice, the Sultan of Stamping... well, he always is a total inspiration for me and this years crop of tags have been no different... so I took lots of different elements from his tags of new and old and put together this one :O))




So, I LOVE the Tissue Tape rosette... heaps and heaps, to the point that I have been sitting a-fiddling with all things tissuey for the last few days and ... made... a jumbo rosette! This is actually three, in graduating sizes, stapled together and then inked with Brushed Corduroy and a smidge of Wild Honey Distress Inks. Birdy is made the Tim way (see Day 3 on his blog for the deets) and I added black Enamel Accents to make an eye and a wing decoration thingy-wotsit.




Moving on... the title of today's post... mmm, what on earth am I on about this time??? Well, last night I was tripping the Skype-fantastic with Ellen and we were talking about Idea-ology, like you do (when you are a total Holtz-aholic) and I said that I was running short of Muse Tokens... and then I admitted why I am short on them... because, being a complete numty, I just ordered what I thought was a packet of Philosophy Tags and a packet of Muse Tokens... from two different shops like. Well, I have taken delivery of them and... yep, you guessed it... two packets of Philosophy Tags... and... erm... I didn't really need them anyway because I sat and counted them up and I have *ahem* 49 of the beggars. So, after me and Ellen had fallen about laughing at the overstocking issue, I said to Ellen, I have a new pack of Word Sticks too... and yep, I counted those and I have... 31 of the beggars!




Here is a piccie of them all... now, I know I am quite capable of using a ton of Idea-ology on one tag but I think it is going to take me a wee while to use all these up! ROFL Well, stocking up is a good thing, isn't it??? Oh and... I still need Muse Tokens cos I can't make yesterday's tag until I get a new pack - the only ones I have left say Courageous and I don't think it is possible for a snowman to be courageous... is it???




I have a very important job to do now... yes, it is that time of year when Grim puts up the outside lights and I really need to go and help (for that read, stand about pointing upwards and sort of holding onto the ladder, whilst being unsuitably dressed in slippers and no overcoat) Gotta dash, I can hear the ladders being put up as I type!!! Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x