Schpeedy Gonzalez...

...ha! That has foxed me good and proper... what would the plural of Gonzalez be?  Gonzalez's? Gonzali?  Well, whatever it is, that's what Ellen and I were doing yesterday afternoon when we decided to have a "speed recipe challenge".  Being as we had spent most of the Skypey time yakking (what? us? yak? hell yeah!) we only had a short time left afore I had to go and have my tea... so we set ourselves a schuper schpeedy challenge which was as follows:

Size 10 Manila Tag
Painted Background
Collage
Paint Stamping
Dylusions Sentiment (ahem... I cheated)
Time limit - 30 mins... (ahem... yep, guessed it... cheated...)

So... that there tagingtons is where my effort was at after the alloted 30mins.  Pretty background, very plain and boring foreground (ok, non-existant foreground)  I had some butterflies and the sentiment sorted but that was it.  Let me tell you about how I got to this stage though:  Distress Paints - OHHHH MYYY!!!!   I loves them!!!  Well, I used Bundled Sage and Broken China and scraped the paint on with my palette knife.  The paint is sooo smooth and liquid, it scrapes on perfectly.  Once that was done, I added some torn bits of music score paper and lightly scraped a smidge of black Gesso... and then slapped a good old layer of  Glue & Seal to seal the whole lot.

Next I did the paint stamping... who decided on that one huh?  Wasn't me (lol) but it was me that decided in my infinite wisdom to use the biggest stamp I own to do the paint stamping... so not only did the stamp, the tag, the sleeves of my hoody and my inky binky get covered in black paint, so did ever other thing in the Room of Stash!  (ok, slight exaggerations but... feels like it... I am finding splats of paint all over the shop!)  The stamp is a Donna Downey one, think it is called Holly Hocks and I do loves it very muchly and it is perfectly sized for the big Size 10 tags.

I made up some more card using the same method of paint application for a message mat... this time I added some background stamping using Broken China DI and a brand new Studio 490 stamp that is on Heirloom Art... and then stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Archival.  What?  No Dylusions sentiment?  Well, no.. basically the only set of wordy stamps from the Dylusions range that I own are the newest ones... and they are all in the first person.  And there's no way a butterfly would talk so... I cheated!  Oh yesh, rules are there to be stretched right?  

Finally, after much deliberating I decided to get up at stooopid o'clock this morning ... like 4.30am stooopid (Grim is on earlies lol) and came back to look at said tag again... well, it looked, to coin a phrase, pants!  So I cheated a little bit more and grabbed some Studio 490 florally stamps and stamped and cut them out from patterned paper and then popped them together with an Embellish Your Art button for the middle... sooooo much better!  So, all in all, it took 30 mins for the base tag and then about 25 mins for the florally bits... I am a big fat cheater lol     Do pop over to Ellen's blog and see her gorgeous creation... she didn't feel the need to cheat... and her creation is gorgelous... CLICK HERE to be whizzed off on a giant snowflake.      Right, I shall away... I am snow watch at the moment... it is snowing here in wintery Wellybobs and I cannot wait for it to get deep enough so I can faff about in the garden and make a snowman... I thinks it may be a tidgy one but a snowman is a snowman isn't it?  Thanks for looking.. have a fabby day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 221 - Tulips From Amsterdam

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy September (already!) Sunday to you all. Many thanks for all your magnificent green entries for last weeks challenge... I know, saying it again... I love that you all join in and are so enthusiastic about my little challenge! I didn't really have a theme for this weeks challenge, I was mulling over ideas yesterday evening when I heard about the sad passing of Max Bygraves and instantly I knew that todays challenge title was going to be Tulips From Amsterdam (an oldie but goodie right?) So, this weeks theme is.... STAMPED FLOWERS. 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 to leave me a link to the place you are showing your entry. If you don't have a blog/picassa/photohostingthingymibob, you can join in by email or on Facebook. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday September 8th 2012.



Firstly, apologies for the late start of this weeks challenge. I was all set to finish my entry last night... and then I put my back out - big style :O( It has been giving me some real grief for the past couple of days and then last night, AlfieCat decided he was going to lay on the floor in front of me, on his back, and grab my foot as I stepped over him. So, it was either stand on him, which I could never do, or, make a stupid stretchy sideways movement that made me look like I was attempting to breakdance. Well, I felt something "go"... and promptly ended up on the sofa for the rest of the evening. ouch!


Anyways, moving on... in a hobbly kind of fashion... I embellished one of the tags that I had altered last week with Dylusions sprays. So. The background stamp is Holly Hocks by Donna Downey for Unity Stamps. I wanted a resist with this image... but being as I am very tidy (ahem) I couldn't find my Multi Medium. So, I thought "I guess Glue & Seal will work... I shall try!" Which is exactly what I did ... and yep, fabby resist! And because Glue & Seal is 100% waterproof when dried, I could splash as much water and as many Dylusions over it without losing the image. Oh and... if you do do this technique, please remember to clean your stamp immediately... 100% waterproof is on any surface!


The colours are a mix of Squeezed Orange and a couple of the old Dylusions (the Altered Originals ones, I love these so much too) namely, Pomegranate and Burnt Orange. I spritzed the tag with water and then sprayed the colours over the top, standing the tag up so the colours drip down together. I used a Crafters Workshop Chicken Wire mask and spritzed more Squeezed Orange over, dried it, and then went in with the Circles Dylusions stencil and used a baby wipe to remove some of the colour.... and then moved it a bit and lightly misted Pomegranate. I coloured a piece of Specialty Stamping paper with more of the same colours and then stamped a load of flowers from the How Does Your Garden Grow Dylusions stamp set, cutting them out, curling the petals and layering them onto the tag with DewDrops for centres. Usually I colour the back of my flowers but I left these white so they toned in with the sentiment... which is from the Quintissential Quotes set.



So there you have it! Apologies again for the lateness of this post... hope that the challenge theme was worth you wait. Thanks for looking... I am off to lounge on the sofa again... and I have a lovely Skype sesh planned for this afternoon with Ellen. Have a good day! TTFN

Hels x

Simon Says.... No Rules!

...Tis a very long time since I had the chance to play along with one of my fave challenges - the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge, all the deets are HERE for this weeks theme, along with all the totes-amazeballs arty stuff from the DT. So, no rules eh? Well, it just so happens that I took a few crafty minutes this morning to sit and play with a new arrival in the Room of Stash - the most gorgeous Holly Hocks stamp by Donna Downey for Unity Stamp Co. I have been lusting after this stamp for yonks and I spied it on that special auction site that always has goodies to be snaffled.



The stamp is a big 'un but... not too big, it fits perfectly onto my Size 8 tag and because the Hollyhock flowers are graduated they are smaller at the top, meaning it will fit on loads of stuff (I already have a little list of things to do with it :O)) I started off by using Mushroom Dabber thru a Crafters Workshop Chicken Wire stencil, just a couple of patches of it. Then once it was dried, I grabbed some Distress Stains: Barn Door, Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold, spritzing the tag completely with water and then pouncing the Stains onto the tag, where they meet the water, they bleed out. Once the tag was covered, I stood it up, let the Stains drip and then dried it.



Next came some more colouring - using a large floral stencil (think it is a CW one) and Forever Red Perfect Pearls Mist, spritzing right over the stencil and then drying off the spritzy bits. Once that was all neat and dried, I inked up the Holly Hocks stamp with Vermillion Archival ink and stamped to the left of the tag. A quick zap with a heat tool to set the Vermillion was the last thing for the background. To frame the whole tag, I lightly blended Black Soot DI around the edges, I think this just closes the design in.



I grabbed a bag of Prima flowers and rummaged to get a nice layered flower to pop onto the tag - using several different colours to make the layers. I then added some paper leaves, some wire twists and a couple of decorative pins to the flower and popped it onto a "banner" I made using Idea-ology Film Strip. Next came the word - an Adage Ticket, coloured with Fired Brick DI to make it match the rest of the design. I used an Ornate Frame for the ticket and then set about adding a few more bits and bobs for decoration. The ribbon at the top is recycled Sari Silk that my lovely friend Barbara gave me for my birthday ( LOVE THIS STUFF!!!) and added a Wire Pin, some pearls and a little File Tab to finish.



I have been in the wars again! I know! I can't go anywhere without sustaining some kind of injury. This time it was on Saturday when we spent a lovely day with Rich, Mary and Jerry the Springer (check out the pic below, isn't he just adorable!) Well, I managed to get right thru the day without hurting myself. And then the dusk came and with it the monster of all Mozzi's... which bit my ankle and made me feel as rough as a bear who's eaten a vindaloo! Goodness knows what it is in my blood that makes them like me so much... I have tried everything - I mean everything, to stop getting bitten... and nowt seems to work! The bite itself is a blister, size of a pea and as hard as a pea too. The swelling, right across my foot, up my leg and as itchy as... well, a very itchy thing! I hankered for a bit of sympathy yesterday so spent the day dragging my leg behind me *well, I have always been one for exaggerations lol* . It worked though... Grim cooked us a lovely BBQ (I keep away from BBQ's: too hot, too dangerous lol)


Right, I shall away... I have a Room of Stash that resembles a pit of dispair... I have been a very lazy slatternly lass this past few weeks and I have now run out of desk space, floor space, shelf space and chair space. Something drastic needs to be done... and soon! If I am not back in a few days you best send out a search party lol Thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x