Those Crazy Birds!!!

...uh-oh!  It has happened!  Yes, I have succumbed to the lure of the Crazy Birds!   Last week I spent a couple of days at the NEC on the Craft Obsessions stand having a ball playing with all things Distress, Gelato's and Tim stamps and stencils.  Thank you to all who popped by to see me, it was lovely to put names to faces and to see your enthusiasm for all things inky and messy too.  Also a big thank you to Brenda and David for putting up with me too!   So.  These birds.  They have accessories!  So you can dress them up! All of a sudden I "got" them... I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to put bunny ears on a bird right?  Anyways, here are two of the samples I made during the show... First up is Mr Painter Bird and his mate who is looking rather jealous of Painter's rather splendid brush in his chops. This was dead easy to make... Spritz Distress Spray onto card, blow like billio *yes, I nearly hyperventilated* dry, spritz another colour, repeat with the blow like billio *stop for much needed oxygen hit* and then stamp, die cut and colour all the components.  The brush is just soooo cute isn't it?  Well, Brenda saw this sample and said... you could use the bristles to make a moustache!  Hey! What a grand idea!!! 

However, with this second card I got thoroughly carried away and instead of a moustache... he has... a flat top!!!  This little fella is all about the Gelato's.  The background is Gelato blending through a few stencils and he is painted in with them... check out his jazzy bow tie too... that's using the metallic Gelato's.

Right, that's me for today... I am about to set off to Preston for my class tomorrow at Inspirations... I am not looking forward to the M6..... hope it isn't toooooo busy!  Ha, who am I kidding!!!   Thanks for looking and have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 354 - You Got A Friend

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your fabulous framed entries for last weeks challenge.  The new theme this week is... FRIENDS.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: be it a creation you have made for a friend, add a photo of a friend or, like I have done, the word "friends"... the choice, it be yours!   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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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 25th April 2015.  

This weekend I am demo-ing at Daisy's Jewels and Crafts in Coventry along with the Pauline Wheeler and Johnathan Lockwood.... if you are around today, do pop in to see us - entry is free and I can guarantee you will learn tonnes of new stuff. *not to mention see all the gorgeous stashly goodies Wendy has in her shop!*  I am doing my thang with all things Ranger, Distress and Tim (it's a hard job right?)  And yesterday I made a fair few tags... being as I am slack and slatternly of persuasion, I hadn't made the Sunday Stamper so picked this tag as my entry.

Finally I have managed to get my very inky paws on the Bird Crazy stamp set by Tim.... hurrah! This is even better IRL!  And they are SO fun to use.  The background is Distress Spray Stains all smooshed and washy with a smidge of stencilling and, of course, the little sentiment to go with the birdies... another of Tim's from his Way With Words set.

I had better get a wiggle on, nearly time for me to attempt the "taming of the barnet" and the "resuscitation of the face" as it would appear that Mr Gorilla With The Extra Stength Hair Gel and Mr Troll With The Sink Plunger, who live under my bed and come out on special occasions to work their magic with my appearance, have... um... done just that overnight!  Wish me luck!  If you do pop into see us at Daisy's, I will be the one in the corner looking a little bit strange (ok, stranger than usual!)  I shall also be avidly avoiding Facebook, Twitter and all manner of social media today as... tis the BTCC from Donington and we are recording the whole programme (ITV4, thankyou!) to watch this evening... but it would be very remiss of me not to shout... GO PLATO!   Hope you have a great day and... thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 351 - Fly Me To The Moon

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your great floral creations entered into last weeks challenge.  The new theme this week is... THINGS THAT FLY.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: add a flying thing, add the word fly ... the choice, it be yours!   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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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 4th April 2015.  

I've been faffing about with the new Distress Ink colours recently - having just taken delivery of Mermaid Lagoon (oh!la!la!) - anyone else got theirs yet?  You won't be disappointed if you haven't yet!   Anyways, new colours means time to see what other colours they marry up with.  And Cracked Pistachio, the January colour, works beautifully with Frayed Burlap... which just so happens to be my "go to" colour.

The background was created by spritzing Cracked Pistachio and Frayed Burlap Spray Stains and adding water to get a nice washy effect.  Once dried, I used Tim's Flourish Layering Stencil *um, yep, a fave of mine!* and blended Frayed Burlap DI over the top, just in patches, so it gives a cohesive look across the background.  I will never sicken of that butterfly - Tim's new Perspective stamp set - but I wanted him a bit smaller so I just cut into his wings, added more of the same DI's and bobbed a resin rose into the middle for his body.  He is sitting on a few paper flowers and some die cut "greenery" which didn't look right in green card, it needed to be black to drag it all together.  Also attached to the base is Tim's Lattice Mixed Media die, cut twice, cut out of its background and glue on... of course, a little bit of harlequin stamping has to find its way on there doesn't it!  And finally, the word... cut from Tim's new Alpha Thinlets.

That is all from me for today... I am away to Hessle to teach a Distress It book... lots of lovely "different" distress techniques... so it is inky time!   Thanks for looking, have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Frameworked...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of another brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... they never cease to amaze me with their inspirational ideas and art!   The challenge is sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  Tim & Mario have, as ever, very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 64 of the book and playing with Framework Alterations Dies.  As ever with the Compendium Challenge, neither I, nor the Curiosity Crew, will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.  

As ever, I have made a tag for my entry.  Before I waffle on alarmingly about how I made my tag, I will answer a few comments I have been left have suggested that the Curiosity Crew's entries are all "way out there" and "I'd never be able to make that"  So, this week I have done a really simple tag... that way, if you are a bit daunted by this world of Distress, you can start off with a nice easy project... feel free to use this design if you would like to... just let me know you have so I can come and visit you.

To start the tag, I scribbled Bundled Sage, Stormy Sky and Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint onto my craft sheet and spritzed with water, I then dipped and dragged the tag through the painty mix and dried it.  By spritzing as it is drying,  you can make the paint move about a bit... don't forget, once it is dry, it is waterproof and won't budge.  This is a cool thing too, paint that's waterproof means you can add ink... which I did, blended the same colours over the top to add depth and then Gathered Twigs around the edges.  My Frameworks were cut out of Grungepaper covered with bookpages for the actual framey bit and the innards are a combo of black card, Grungeboard and patterned papers.   I have gone all retro with my stamping... the large background is on a really old Tim set of stamps... tis Urban Tapestry CMS061 if you are interested!  That was done with Jet Black Archival...as was my little harlequin stamp.   A zap from a heat tool to set the stamping I could then assembled the Frameworks.  I added Glossy Accents to a few of the chambers to add a bit of interest.  You'll find when you scribble paint onto your craft sheet that there's loads left over after you've dipped your tag... perfect for mopping up with spare card... which then comes in really handy for colour co-ordinated stamping card.  That's what the butterflies and sentiment are stamped onto. Finishing touches are the little rusty wire bodies and the ribbon which was coloured with the same Distress Spray Stains to match the background.  Voila, easy-peasy tag!

Don't forget, you have two whole weeks to enter the challenge... and a bat at the chance of grabbing the Crew's Choice prize which is a mahooosive haul of stash donated personally by Tim & Mario... so if you are joining in, remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too *believe me, this is one gigantic pile of goodies*!  Thanks for looking, have an inky and inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x

Bitsies and Bobsies...

...I've been having a little play with a few "leftovers" that have been lurking on my desk and popped a quick tag together.  The base of the tag came from a demo thingy I did a few weeks ago - Ranger's gorgeous Texture Paste through Tim's Flourish Layering Stencil and then a liberal spritz of Abandoned Coral, Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stains.  I love how the Texture Paste just sucks that colour up.

I had a bit of a destructive session a few weeks ago - butchering old tags from a few years ago that were just sitting, unloved, in the garage.  I nicked all the embellies off them and binned the base tags... and blimey, I have a box full of embellies to re-use.  The Idea-ology Foliage came off a tag I made in 2010!  I remember I had painted the Foliage with Traditional Tan paint and then scraped off the edgey bits to reveal the metal.  It got a bit bent as I was ripping it off its original home, but hey, that adds to the distressed look! 

The butterfly had been stamped a few weeks ago and coloured with Abandoned Coral and Aged Mahogany Sprays... I wasn't happy with it at the time so I chucked it to one side... but for this tag, perfect match colour wise!  I added an Idea-ology Lock with a Resin Rose to the centre... popped him onto an Industrious Sticker frame (which I changed the colour of with a smidge of Treasure Gold and Alcohol Ink) and I die cut the word (Tim's new thinlets) and popped that on with another couple of Resin Roses and voila, a leftovers tag finished.

That's all from me for today - I will be back tomorrow with a new CC3 challenge entry... wait til you see what we're playing with this week!  Thanks for looking, have a goodly day!

Hels x

Curiously Remnantly Rubbed...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of another brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... they never cease to amaze me with their inspirational ideas and art!   The challenge is sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  Tim & Mario have, as ever, very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 51 of the book and playing with Tim's Remnant Rubs.  As ever with the Compendium Challenge, neither I, nor the Curiosity Crew, will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.  

As usual, I have made a tag for my entry.   Once I had "done the technique" with the Remnant Rubs, I used Distress Spray Stains to colour over the tag base.  I used Cracked Pistachio, Wild Honey and Crushed Olive.  I chose the Sprays because I am addicted to them... pure and simple!  Distress Inks or Stains work equally as well with this cool technique though.  Here's what my tag looked like before I got decorating.  (and yes, the ickle harlequin stamp has made its way onto the tag!)

Next came the decoration.  It was obvious that I was going to grab the butterfly from Tim's new Perspective stamp set... well, I seem to have used it on practically everything I have made recently!  I have been stamping twice and layering the wings... so I decided to add in another layer and stamped the image three times, cutting each layer slightly smaller so Mr Butterfly really is a big old blousey creature now.   I coloured the wings with the same colours but this time using Distress Inks to get the colour intensity I wanted.

I have some of Tim's Framed Alpha Parts so I snipped one out and then cut it down to individual words... I wanted to created a little more depth on the tag than just having it as one piece.  I coloured the bits with the same colours of Distress Paint, part drying and then wiping off the excess paint to show the black base through.

The butterfly needed something to sit on so I used an Industrious sticker frame... colouring this with the same colours of Distress Paint, blending them a bit with my finger and then heat setting it and smudging off the wet bits... I love this technique... it is so cool to age up stuff.

Finishing touches are a few bits and bobs of Idea-ology.  The Heirloom roses were coloured with Wendy's Orange Blossom Archival re-inker and ink, the Dewdrops were coloured with Hazelnut Alcohol Ink and I popped a Sheild Charm on with a smidge of ink to colour the little paper insert thingy.  And there you have it!

Don't forget, you have two whole weeks to enter the challenge... and a bat at the chance of grabbing the Crew's Choice prize which is a mahooosive haul of stash donated personally by Tim & Mario... so if you are joining in, remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too *believe me, this is one gigantic pile of goodies*!  Thanks for looking, have an inky and inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 347 - Happiness is a Warm Gun

Goooodly Afternoon Stampers and a happy Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your fab orange entries to last weeks challenge.  The new theme this week is... USE WARM COLOURS.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: use paints, papers, inks, embossing powders... any medium you prefer ... the choice, it be yours!   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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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 7th March 2015.

Uh-oh, it's that butterfly again!  Actually, I made this tag a few weeks ago during a class - I have been right proper poorly again this past week so haven't felt up to getting inky :O(  So poorly that I completely forgot to post the Sunday Stamper today!  Anyways, I am here, better late than never right?  I have chosen "warm" as the theme because I can't remember the last time I was actually warm... I think it is a symptom of this thing I have going on...

Anyways, here's my entry... a Distress Spray Stain background on the tag, I used Wild Honey, Crushed Olive and Broken China and then stamped with Ranger's Sticky Embossing Powder and popped Rock Candy Distres Glitter over the top to add a little sparkle.  The butterfly is stamped twice, coloured with the same DI's and then layered up.

I won't stop and yak today, I am still feeling mighty crook so it is time for me to get back on the sofa again.  Hope you all having a goodly weekend!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Rock Candied...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of another brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... they never cease to amaze me with their inspirational ideas and art!   The challenge is sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  Tim & Mario have, as ever, very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 55 of the book and playing with Rock Candy Distress Glitter.  As ever with the Compendium Challenge, neither I, nor the Curiosity Crew, will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.  

As per usual I have made a tag for my entry.  Before I waffle on, I shall answer a couple of questions I have been asked recently: "what do you do with all the tags you make?"   Well, that depends!  For example, the ones for the Compendium Challenge, have made it onto a big old book ring and will eventually be turned into wall art... the rest... they usually go into a basket and serve as a "mojo-buster" should the Old Cad Mojo swan off on his holibobs.  Occasionally I will pop one onto a card blank.   Another question: "why do you make mostly tags?"  I love tags, the size is perfect for me to work on, I love the manila surface to play on and I guess, they just make me happy.    And another: "What size tag do you use?"  My favourite size is Ranger's Size 8 Manila... I LOVE this cardstock SO muchly!  Hope that answers a few of you :O)   Anyways.. on with the challenge!  My tag! I started with my tag and spritzed Milled Lavendar, Antique Linen and Seedless Preserves Spray Stains over it, misting with water to get a nice drippy effect and dried it with a heat tool. 

Now, 213 years ago I was lucky enough to see a rare demo morning with Tim himself in a little craft shop in London.  It was upon that day that I fell hook, line and sinker for all things Tim and Distress!  I treated myself to a couple of wood-mounted Tim stamps (this was just as Tim released his very first 10 unmounted sets and the shop didn't have them in yet!) One of the stamps was Peacock Flourish - which is now on the unmounted set Tattered Elements - and it has remained a much beloved stamp of mine.   I used Seedless Preserves Distress Ink and did the technique as outlined on Page 55 of the book.  Isn't that glitter just soooo pretty?  I don't normally "do" glitter, I hate the way the stuff flies all over the place and ends up in places that glitter really has no business of being!  However, Distress Glitter is a complete different animal... it doesn't flap about, it isn't static and... best of all, it looks realllly chunky but is so smooth.. oh and better than best of all... you can ink it!  YAY!

Once I had the background how I wanted it (and.. ooopsie-daisies, I forgot to get a photo of the background before I decorated it) I set about layering up some decorative bits.  I used manila cardstock (Ranger) and did the same Spray Stain spritzes to colour it, die cut it with the Tattered Florals die and made a rose *points left - see full photo tut in sideybar on how I make my roses*   I then cut some Garden Green leaves, added bits and bobs of trim and ruler ribbon and Idea-ology and then got out the old Underwood (ahem, did I mention I loves my old Underwood?) and typed a few words... and voila, assembled!  I liked the look of it but it still needed something... so I grabbed some Crinkle Ribbon and followed the awesome Paula Cheney's bow tutorial... I LOVE how she makes those bows soooo easy... thank you Paula!  I make no secret of the fact I think she is a ROCK star in this world of craft we inhabit.

Anyways... that's it from me for today... don't forget, you have two whole weeks to enter the challenge... and a bat at the chance of grabbing the Crew's Choice prize which is a mahooosive haul of stash donated personally by Tim & Mario... so if you are joining in, remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too *believe me, this is one gigantic pile of goodies*!  Thanks for looking, have an inky and inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x

Tim's Tags of 2015 - January

...Cor blimey and thrice!  It seems like a very long time ago that I had a chance to play along with Tim's monthly tag-fest... so I made a decision that I will make time each month to play along, after all, I loves all things taggy and I loves all things Tim!  HERE is a linky to Tim's tutorial... and yes, I am scraping in at the last minute with mine, I made it last week but forgot to blog!  Memo to self: remember to blog!!!

I won't go into details how it was made as you can check out Tim's fab step by step tutorial... and for peeps who are a bit new to all things inky and grungy, this is a perfect "toe in the water" moment... you don't have to copy exactly, you don't need the exact same stuff, you can put your own twist on it... I, however, am a notoriously bad copier when it comes to Tim's tutorials, I like to make my tag look as near as possible to the one that the Duke of Distress himself maded... that way I can pretend that he did make it... *snort*

I am in a state of excitement today!  Oh yesh... indeedily!!! We have snow!!!  For some reason, Wellingborough seems to be by-passed of snow each year, getting only a smattering... and last Winter we had not a single flake.  Last night I noticed it had started to fall a bit, off I went to bed with no anticipations as I knew that it would be "gone by morning".  Aha!  I was wrong.  We have.... 1cm!!!  WOW!!! On that bombshell, I shall bid you all a very goodly day and say... thanks for looking!   Oh and before I forget... there be a brand new Compendium of Curiosities challenge starting tomorrow so please do pop back if you can... TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 342 - Wind Beneath My Wings

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your fab textured entries to last weeks challenge.  The new theme this week is... WINGS.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: be it a birdy, a bug, a bee or a butterfly... the choice, it be yours!   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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 31st January 2015.

My entry this week is a little tag I bunged together whilst I was having a quick Saturday night Skypey sesh with Ellen - for some reason my Mojo has well and truly upped and offed to sunnier climes... the old cad... and he has been gone for over a month!!! However, just sitting yakking with our Ellen made him come home (momentarily) so I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and got cracking making this tag.  The background was made by spritzing the tag with Antique Linen, Bundled Sage and Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stains... I LOVE these colour together. Once dried, I used Tim's Latticework Layering Stencil and Bundled Sage to add a bit of detail to the Bundled Sage bits where the sprays had landed.  I blended around the edge with a smidge of Gathered Twigs and then used Walnut Stain Distress Marker to puff little speckles onto the tag.

The butterfly has been sitting on my desk for yonks... inked and cut out but not coloured... so he got some Bundled Sage and Stormy Sky DI blended onto him and then I set about making something for him to sit on.  I have tonnes of Prima flowers so I made a little bundle... and used a feather that Grim had cut out for me last week (it was supposed to be used on last weeks tag but didn't make it on there!) using Tim's Writing Desk Alterations die feather.. I love the look with the bookpage and a bit of Distress Ink.  A few embellies and a typed word (yep, the old Underwood came out again for this... can you see on the G... it has a bottom bit of red... need to sort that out, must be the ribbon thingy... as ever, I am showing my intelligence with all things teckernickals lol) And there you have it... one tag, made in an hour!  Hurrah!

That's all from me.. I am typing this at great speed as I should be in bed... I am driving to Hull first thing for a Dabble Day at Craftique.. I needs my beauty sleeps so I shall say... Thanks for looking and have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 341 - More Than A Feeling

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thanks for all your great entries to last weeks challenge, it was so lovely to visit you all.  The new theme this week is... TEXTURE.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: add some texture paste, triple thick embossing, embossing folders, layers, paint... the choice, it be yours!   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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 24th January 2015.

I have made a tag for my entry this week...for a change lol  I had made the background a few weeks ago for my Pocket Pages Compendium entry... I love having taggy bases all prepped and ready to decorate and I loved the colours on this one.  So, here's how I made it:

 I used Tim's Gothic Layering Stencil and spread Ranger's Texture Paste through it, set it aside to dry and made a few more backgrounds while I waited.  You can heat dry the paste, I find it best to wait until there is a crust on the top of the paste otherwise it can really bubble - which is ok if you want bubbly paste but I didn't... not for this one :O)   I spritzed the tag with water and then sprayed Antique Linen and Aged Mahogany Distress Spray Stains over the top, marbling them and allowing them to drip down the tag.  A zap with my heat tool to dry the Sprays and then I blended Walnut Stain DI over the top to highlight the raised bits... this photo shows it better...

Of course, it is the Sunday Stamper so I added in a smidge of stamping using my beloved harlequin stamp... see, you don't need to be a stamper to join in, just bung a little bit on there and there ya go :O)   I needed decoration and because the background is quite dark, I decided to go with something light... bookpages!  Aha, I love bookpages, die cutting, tearing, painting, you name it, they are so versatile.  I die cut the flowers and leaves using Tim's Tattered Floral and Tattered Leaves dies and used Frayed Burlap and Aged Mahogany alternately on each layer of flower... and Forest Moss on the leaves.  The sentiment was typed out on my Underwood (did I mention that I LOVE my Underwood? MUCHLY!)  I have a little wooden block in my room that has this sentiment on it... Grim bought it for me for Valentine's a few years ago and I think it just works perfectly with my tag.  A few bits and bobs of Idea-ology and suchlike finish my tag... oh and the resin bloom in the middle of the flower was coloured with Plum and Potting Soil Archival Inks...

What have you got planned for today? Whatever it is, I hope it involved lots of Yorkshire Puddings (I have a fancy for a nice roast beef dinner with lashings of grrravy and Yorky puds... and roasty spuds and cabbage and cauli-cheese and... and... and... *oinkoinkoink* ) and lots of ink and rubber!  Thanks for looking... have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 339 - Anyone Who Had A Heart

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy New Year Sunday to you all!  Before I waffle on, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who joined in with my little challenge through 2014 - it is so good to see different interpretations of my themes and your artwork.  As ever with the Sunday Stamper, I chose a song title to go with the theme and this one is one of my favest songs... I love a bit of our Cilla :O))  The new theme this week is... HEARTS.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: get your Valentine creation made early, add the word heart like what I did, add heart embellies, heart stamps... the choice, it be yours!   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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 10th January 2015.

I actually made my entry on Christmas Eve!  I know, I got ahead of the game!  That will be the only time this year! On Christmas Eve, Ellen and I had a little Skypey sesh and got inky in our respective time zones.  I haven't had a good play with my Studio 490 stash for yonks so I got all my stamps and stuff out and got playing.

The background was created by stamping the pattern with Antique Linen Distress Paint and drying it.  Doesn't really show up on a manila tag... until ink is applied... and then it is a fab resist technique as Distress Paint doesn't budge once it is dried.  I used Tumbled Glass, Milled Lavendar and Seedless Preserves Distress Stain Sprays, adding more water to make it washy and then standing the tag up so the inks drip down the tag.  Once this was dried, I whipped around the edge with a smidge of Seedless Preserves DI to give it a bit of depth and then finished with a smidge of Black Soot DI to give it a frame.   I stamped the large flower using Jet Black Archival Ink and used a waterbrush and piece of kitchen roll to dab off the ink where the leaves were stamped... zapped with a heat tool and then added Forest Moss DI using a waterbrush.... see how that resist just doesn't budge? Cool huh?  The Idea-ology florals were coloured with the same Distress Paints, part dried and then wiped so the still wet paint comes off and the dried paint stays on giving a faux enamel effect.  A strip of torn book page, a butterfly (she is my fave butterfly ever) and a sentiment and ta-dah, finished!   I had the best fun playing with this tag, I just let my mind wander and didn't over think it...

I shall away now.  Today we are doing the job I like the least... taking down the decorations.  It has to be today cos Grim is on nights for the rest of the week so there won't be time on the proper twelfth night but I will keep one thing out so I can put that away on twelfth night so I am doing a bit of it right.  Oh and... this post is a milestone post!!!  It be my 1900th blog post!!!   WOW!!! That is one heck of a lot of waffling... and art!  Thanks for looking... have a FAB day!  TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Frayed...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of another brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... they never cease to amaze me with their inspirational ideas and art!   The challenge is sponsored by the Inspiration Imporium this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  Tim & Mario have, as ever, very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 66 of the book and doing the Frayed Fabric technique using Tim's gorgeous Eclectic Elements fabric.  As ever with the Compendium Challenge, neither I, nor the Curiosity Crew, will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.  

Before I waffle on I shall say a very Happy New Year to you all and wish you all the very best for 2015... let's hope it brings all our dreams come true! 

My entry for this weeks' challenge is another tag to add to the collection.  Now, for those who have read my blog for a while, you may have got the gist that I am not a sewist... nope, I struggle to thread the machine, let alone get a stitch out of it.  Grim bought me a little diddy machine a few years ago and that did ok until it ran out of thread and yep, I struggled to get more thread into it.  I am that thick... really!   I knew that I was going to have to do something about this not being a sewist issue... so I hatched a cunning plan.  A plan so cunning that Jock McCunning from Sneakyville would be amazed by it.   What did I do?  I collected together all the ingredients needed for my tag and popped next door to see my lovely neighbour Carol, who is an expert sewist and asked her to... um... help do it for me.  *insert gasps of shock*  I know, I kind of cheated... ok, I really cheated but in my defence, I happen to like Carol muchly and should she have allowed me loose on her beautiful sewing machine, I would have broken it... so better safe than sorry and all that.... ahem.... and I did do all the decorating bits meself...

Anyways, the decorations:  I popped some of the Eclectic Elements fabric (apparently I had a fat quarter, whatever that may be... it was indeedily gorgeous but not that fat...) onto a piece of black Clearly For Art using Glue & Seal and once this had dried, I used Tim's Mini Tattered Florals Movers & Shapers die to cut out a few spikey flowers, the Heart M&S die to cut the... um... heart and a few leaves from the Mini Tattered Leaves die.   In order to see the diecuts, I firstly dulled the print of the fabric on the heart using a smidge of Antique Linen Distress Paint, secondly spritzed the flowers with Wild Honey and Broken China Distress Spray Stains and thirdly, inked the leaves with Forest Moss Distress Ink.  Hey, the fabric takes Distress sooo well! Result!  I used my Scratchy Tool to fray the edges of the shapes to make them a bit shabby and then heated the CFA from behind to shape them.

Last year I treated myself to something I have been longing to own for a very long time... an old Underwood typewriter!  I had been a-mooching around eBay one Sunday evening and spotted a portable Underwood on a listing that was just about to end and it was dirt cheap... so I snuck in and popped a bid in at 4 seconds to go.. and won it!  Hurrah!  Now I have got the Room of Stash nice and tidy, I have finally got room for it to be used...  high time I got typing!  One of my all time fave songs is P.S. I Love You by The Beatles and this song has been floating around my head for a few days... so it seemed right to type the words and pop them onto my tag.   Oh and do you see the little harlequin stamp made an appearance too?  Well, it has to be used for continuity... and cos I loves it muchly of course.

Don't forget, you have two whole weeks to enter the challenge... and a bat at the chance of grabbing the Crew's Choice prize which is a mahooosive haul of stash donated personally by Tim & Mario... so if you are joining in, remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too *believe me, this is one gigantic pile of goodies*!  Wishing you all a very crafty 2015.. may your fingers be forever inky :O))   Thanks for looking, have an inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 338 - Mr Bojangles **Two Week Challenge**

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy *nearly Christmas*  Sunday to you all!  Thank you all for your fab entries into last weeks challenge, it was great to see you all playing along.  The theme this week is... MEN.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: make something for the chap in your life, make something including a blokey theme... or just add a man on to your art, like what I did... the choice, it be yours!  As we have Christmas and New Year fast approaching, this challenge will be a two-weeker so you have plenty time to play along. 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 *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  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.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 3rd January 2015.

WOW, that is the first time I have typed 2015... I don't know about you but 2014 has whizzed past in a blur... has it been a good year for you?  I hope so.  Anyways, on with my entry for this week (or fortnight!)  Remember yesterday I posted my latest Compendium of Curiosities challenge... using Pocket Pages... CLICK HERE if you missed it.   This is one of the tags that I made to fit into a Pocket Page.

The base is coloured with Distress Spray Stains - I used Antique Linen, Wild Honey, Frayed Burlap and a smidge of Vintage Photo and once it was dry, I blended Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to add a bit more depth to the colour.  I only used one stamp set for my tag - Paris Memoir from Tim's collection - the background was stamped using Potting Soil Archival (IMO, Wendy Vecchi got it SPOT ON when she designed this colour Archival... tis me fave) and the old fella was stamped in Black Archival, cut out and then coloured with Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain DI's.  The Fleur is stamped into card, coloured with Rusty Hinge and then popped onto the tag.  Of course, I had to add my little harlequins... I think they just finish me designs off nicely... I would be lost without that ickle stamp!  Old Fella's pose suggests he should be carrying something, so he has his heart full of dreams in his hand.

And there you have it... the final Sunday Stamper for 2014.   May I take this opportunity to say a massive big thank you to every one of you who has taken time out to join in with my little challenge.  It really does mean the world to me that after nearly seven years of the Sunday Stamper, you still enjoy playing along. It warms me cockles, it do :O))   I shall away now, I have a few more Christmas cards to finish but I will be back tomorrow with another project, this one is a special one I have done using Darkroom Door.   Thanks for looking... have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Pocketed...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of a brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... well worth taking a cuppa and a packet of Digestives :O)    The challenge is sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  As ever, Tim & Mario have very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 36 of the book and playing with Pocket Pages.  As ever with the Compendium Challenge, neither I, nor the Curiosity Crew, will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule.  

Tickets ready to be popped onto artwork

If you remember, a few weeks ago we looked at making over Worn Covers and since then, my Covers have sat on the shelf, quietly admired but totally ignored for any additional art.  The Pocket Pages are perfect for fitting into the Worn Cover and I had lots of fun making loads of different things to fit inside them.

In keeping with the overall design of the covers... more collages Wallflower papers

The Pocket Pages have lots of different configurations which means that you can add small bits and bobs right up to full size 8 tags.  Over the next few days I will add more photo's of the things I have made - otherwise this post would take you 17 hours to read!

Oooh, folded tags!

So these pics are just an "overview" of the things I did.... and I also made lots of backgrounds on tags.... I had a good old play with Distress Spray Stains so I now have 6 tags ready to stamp and decorate, which is perfect for my "Week of Art" which always takes place between Xmas and New Year.   Grim is always working over the festive period and there's only so much tellybox I can watch so I normally repair to the Room of Stash and get inky... what plans do you have for that "week inbetween?"

That's all for now - don't forget, you have two whole weeks to enter the challenge... and a bat at the chance of grabbing the Crew's Choice prize which is a mahooosive haul of stash donated personally by Tim & Mario... so if you are joining in, remember to comment on all the Crew's blogs and you will be in with a chance of winning that too *believe me, this is one gigantic pile of goodies*!   I will just say a big thank you to every one of you who has taken part in the challenge so far, it has been great to visit your blogs and see your wonderful interpretations of the challenge themes!  And... HAVE  A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR... HOPE TO SEE YOU IN 2015.   Thanks for looking, have an inky inspirational day!  TTFN

Hels x


PS... check back tomorrow, there will be one of the tags I finished on the Sunday Stamper :O))