Sunday Stamper - Week 314 - Knock On Wood

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thank you for all your fabby entries for last weeks challenge and it is lovely to see some new peeps joining in too.  This week sees a nice different challenge - and that is to USE WOOD.  To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping and then pop back here, leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I can come see you.   If you haven't got a blog, you can join in via Facebook (just tag me name) or by emailing a small res.pic to me.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 5th July 2014.

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

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

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

Hels x

Baroque Love...

...cor blimey!  This is making my brain ache... I am actually typing this post just a few seconds after publishing yesterdays post... I am a-scheduling this one to appear at midnight today, so if you can't see it, the publishing went wrong.. .mind you, if you can't see it, that means you won't even know I am waffling again!  *I need help.... *

Todays offering is another sample from the shows on Tuesday.  This one is a Baroque frame, painted with the Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Paints using a brayer to apply the paints... and I also added in some stamping using  Distress and Archival Inks, Dina's stamps and stencils and the Gold Pearl Texture paste that I loves so muchly.  I used the mask from the Basic Shapes stencil/mask set, once the paste was dry, over the mask went and I got stamping with the Textures stamps... I love that the mask is also more or less the same as the medium sized heart stamp... this was stamped and coloured in and then 3D'd over the paste heart....

Today I am in Preston at Inspirations - I will be demoing all things painty, mixed media-ery and inky... if you are in the area it would be great to see you!   My friend Pauline Wheeler is also demoing today... and that means that last night we will have been sitting yakking our heads off so we might be a little hoarse lol    Thanks for looking... have a great day! TTFN

Hels x

...Sample Time!!!

*...der.der.der.der...deh.deh Sample Time!*  Oh dearily me!  Yes, it is that time again... you know, when I spend alllll day humming the same old bit from the same old song... MC Hammer's Hammer Time... feel free to join in with my ear worm :O)   Anyways, enough of MC Hammer and his baggy pants, let's move onto the purpose of todays post.  And that purpose be showing you one of the samples I have done for the telly box shows tomorrow (show times are 10am and 3pm and deets on how to view are over in the sideybar *points left*)

New stamps!  New stencils & masks!  Oooh, be still my heart!  In this world of craftiness and artiness there are a fair few designers whom I think are absolutely marvellous and Dina Wakley is one of those artists.  I was so lucky a few years ago, my friend Minxy paid for me to take a class with Dina -and poor old Minx missed it because she was in hospital :O(! - it was a great class and I learnt soooo much from Dina, she is a veritable mine of information and so sharing with it too. 

I was delighted when I saw that Dina has joined Ranger as a Signature Designer... and of course, that means new products.  And that also means that lucky me gets to use them for tellybox shows and have a good old play with her new stamps and stencils & masks.  I won't go into too great-a-detail in how I made this creation as I am planning this one to be my first demo, getting all down and painty and inky :O)

Speaking of demo's, I really should get myself a-moving as I need to get everything sorted, prepped and ready to be packed up.  I hope you will be able to join me tomorrow... thanks for looking, have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

Never Trust Something That Doesn't Have a Brain!

...oh ho, I don't mean me this time.... oh no, I mean machines!  In fact, I shall be more specific!  Never trust Jane, my SatNav.  So, yesterday I spent a lovely day at Inspirations in Preston, demo-ing all things painty and stampy... I had such a great time, meeting up with friends old and new... and getting pressies too!  Let me tell you about the Saga of the SatNav.   Now being as Ferdy and I traverse the country, my Grim decided that it was high time we updated the maps on Jane and he got the "live services" thing included too, which means should there be a delay on the route she has set, she will re-plan and duly advise me of said re-route and offer me the alternative.  On the few occasions this has happened, she has saved me hours of sitting, bored rigid, in traffic.  Oh yesh, I even grew to love Jane, saying thank you to her each time she said "you have reached your destination"   *just like I say thank you to cash machines when they happily dispense monies to me*   

Anyways, yesterday afternoon I left Preston, having set Jane to get me home and picking up a mahooosive caramel frappuchino from Starbucks for the 2 hour 36minute journey she was advising me it would take, ETA of 19:48.    Those mahoooosive frappuchino's are indeedily that.  Mahooooooosive... so that was surely going to last me til I got home and, with want for a better description, I would not have to make a toilet break en-route.   Off I toddle and as soon I got onto the M65 the big old warning signs over the motorway were a-flashing that the M6 was closed from J15 - J14.  I knew that was on my way, so I figured that maybe said closure would be open again once I got to that bit of the road.  Then the over head signs starting telling me that there was severe congestion around J17 of the M6.. and Sally Traffic on Radio 2 was reporting that the M6 had indeed been closed for over 12 hours and was still shut, with a 25 mile tailback.  "Poor souls caught up in that lot" I says to Jane.  Which is when I noticed that the ETA home was now 20:23 and Jane speaks to me.  She says "Hels, do you want to take this alternative route that will get you home a little later but sooner than the 23:1 I am calculating now?"  I said, "thank you Jane, I love you, yes please"  and pushed said button confirming this change.    At this point I left the M6 and off we tootled onto the M56, Chester bound.  Mmmm, as I am about to leave the M6, my little old brain is saying "hang on a mo, M56, Chester?  How about diving onto the M62, M621 at Leeds and then up the M1"     But no!  What do I, a mere mortal, know?  Jane is surely going to be right isn't she?   Having got onto the M56, I noticed that Jane had sneakily changed the ETA to 23:12.  Bear in mind I had been driving over an hour and now I have a further 6 hours to drive,  where on earth was I going?   Still thinking that she knew best, I also listened to Jane when she said "Hels, I am re-routing you here, accept yes?"   *note she is being a bit terse with me now, warning signs, should have listened to the warning signs!*    Next, I am off the M56, following her instructions, turning right at the roundabout and exiting on the 5th exit which is...  hang on a mo ??  which is BACK along the M56 in the opposite direction that I have just driven along for the last 20 minutes!  A severe case of fumingness starts to build up in me and I say "Ok, Jane, I am getting a smidge annoyed here now, what are you playing at?"  Silence.  Utter silence.  With an ETA of 23:59 now I am fast losing patience.  But no.  Jane is a SatNav.  She knows best!  Then Jane says "Take the next exit unless you want to drive until the wheels fall off this wagon"    So, I took the next exit.... and turned left at the roundabout, went back underneath the M56 and .... yep... back onto the M56, in the direction I was going in the first place.

At this point my phone rang.  Ferdy has that handsfree bluetooth jobby so I can answer a call.  Thank the merciful heavens!  It is Grim!  He is calling to see how my journey is going.  Needless to say, I had a little bit of a wobble and said a few very lot  rude words about Jane... forgetting that she listens, silently sitting there minding her own business but all the same, listening to my cursing of her.  Next she says "next exit sucker".    "Ok, Jane, you know best... you had better do" I said through very gritted teeth.   By this time Grim is trying to figure out where Jane is directing me using Google Earth on his computer.  I am trying to describe where I am.... which basically was in the middle of nowhere.  Next thing She tells me to go onto the A41.  Which I did, because, after all, She is the one with the travel knowledge right?  As I am tootling along the A41, the weather turns.  It is snowing. And hailing. And raining. All at the same time. And then. A wabbit ran out in front of Ferdy and I couldn't swerve.  Bump. Cue sobs from me, in fact, I had a proper boohoo... I couldn't do anything to stop it (the wabbit or the crying)   By this time I am in a proper pickle.  It is pitch black, the road is all windy and the weather is revolting.  There's a rather lovely chap in a white van behind me flashing his headlights at me to remind me that I am indeed, lost, driving slower than the 60mph speed limit and in the middle of a minor melt down.  Lovely bloke that!  Then I spot a sign for Betsw-Coed!  NORTH WALES!!!   Erm.... hello!  North Wales!!!!  Finally Grim has found out where I am... and is telling me different village names I will be travelling through, so I make a mental note of them, say goodbye to him and promptly forget said village names as by now, Mr Lovely White Van Man is about a gnats hair away from Ferdy's rear bumper!  Aha!  I spy a garage ahead and turn into the garage forecourt so I can get hold of Jane and smack her about the screen.  And yes.  Mr Lovely White Van Man waved at me has he went past me.  Lovely bloke, hope he enjoyed his journey as much as I did!    After grabbing Jane, giving her a good talking to and re-programming her, she tells me, quite snappily, that I need to take the A41 to the A5 and then pick up the M6 from there.  HURRAH!  I am going in the right direction! 

I finally got home four and a half hours later.  And yes, drinking a Venti Caramel Frappuchino from Starbucks at the start of a 2 1/2 hour journey is NOT a goodly idea.  Why is it that the key will never fit into the door lock when it really needs to fit into the door lock immediately?  Anyways.  All in all, apart from the slight detour, I had a great day!  I feel sorry for the poor peeps who were stationary in all that traffic and of course, the poor peeps involved in the cause of motorway closure.  At least I got home safe and sound... but the moral of this little story is... never trust anything that hasn't got a brain!  Oh and buy a road map!!! Oh and... never buy a mahoooosive drink for a journey, even if it is only a 10 minute trip up the road... no, I shall not be caught out like that again!   On that bombshell, I shall bid you a goodly day!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Orange Blossom...

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

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

Aw, Moomin blowing snotty bubbles!

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

Hels x

Schneezy Greetings!

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

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

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

Moomin Mamma x

Crown of Love...

...brrrrr, cold day here in not so sunny Wellibobs and I think that calls for a day in the Room of Stash... sorting out stuff, putting stuff away and then perhaps a few moments of crafty play to make it all messy again.  I am fighting a losing battle with the Room of Stash, problem is it is just so disorganised (and too small!)  I have a (very rare) weekend off coming up so I am planning to get things sorted, once and for all (what will probably happen is I will do ironing, cobweb removal and oven cleaning as distraction activities!)   Anyways, a bit of art using the new Cosmic Chalk Paints... this one is an MDF crown that I altered using the paints and Crackle Glaze, here's how I did it:

Using a brayer to apply different colours of paints, starting with Grey Sky, moving into the purple tones (can't remember the names, oops) I added extra texture by applying a squidgy layer of paint and dried with a heat tool - yes, you can heat set the paints, fab!  Next, I used a brand new That Special Touch Fleur De Lys stencil, adding the Fleur's using Wendy's Cornflower Archival Ink.   Next up comes the Crackle Glaze Hels' Way... ie,  painting it on and applying the top coat of paint right away before it dries... a gorgeous mottled smooshy effect, I loves it!   I added some flowers and leaves - Heartfelt Creations stamps - and piled them all up with a few pearls and pearly swirls and then added the word onto 3d foam to make it stand out a little more.  Oh and I forgot to say, I edged the crown with Chalkboard Paint to make it darker and give it a frame.

As I said earlier, I shall be trying to sort out the Room of Stash today and Dad is arriving this afternoon as we are setting off at 4am tomorrow to drive to Cornwall for my Aunty's funeral.... long drive so we are sharing it.   And Dad is bringing proper northern fish n chips with him.. nom nom nom, so this afternoon I shall be stuffing my chops and ooing and ahing about the deliciousness that is proper northern fish n chips!  I shall away now... thanks for looking and have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Painty Painty...

...cor blimey! What a whirlwind three days I just had!  It was the annual Stitches trade show at the NEC in Birmingham and I was demoing some lush new paints from Creative Expressions.  Here's the info about them:  37 brand new colours in a yummy natural palette, these paints are semi-opaque, super smooth, chalky and dry fast too.  As well as the 37 new colours, there are also four new Glazes added to the range.  A Pearl Shimmer, Gloss and Matt Glaze... and then best of all... a Crackle Glaze.  Armed with some MDF and some cardstock I set about creating some demo samples over the three days... and over the next few days I shall be blogging all about what I made.

Check out the Fleur De Lys, stencilled underneath the Crackle Glaze, so it is revealed when it goes blotchy!

This card shows the new Crackle Glaze.  Having not used it before I figured it would help if I read the instructions... so I did... and did a really pretty crackle on the card.  Then I decided to ignore the instructions and try it my own way... and what happened next was amazing!  So, it says to paint on a base coat of paint... dry it and then paint on the Crackle Glaze, nice and smoothly avoiding brush strokes... and then dry it.  Then apply a top coat of paint and watch the crackles appear.  Oh yesh, lovely!  Next I decided to pop the top coat of paint on whilst the Crackle Glaze was still wet... ohlallaaaa... I love the blotchy resisty effect that happened... so did everyone who came to see the demo's too.  The crackle in on the left side of the card, the resisty blotchy is on the right side.   A couple of tag bases that I demo'd... they needs decorating and embellishing at some point...
*excuse photo's, I had to take them using me phone and the light was pants...*

This tag has the Crackle Glaze used properly

And this tag has it used my way :O)

 I will be back tomorrow with pics of a project I made at the show... today I am mostly being a lazy old bat... after three days of constant yakking my voice is glad of the rest!  At least I haven't lost it this time (the voice, not *it* although....)   Thanks for looking, have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x