All Wrapped Up... Plus... The Winner!

..best laid plans and all that.  I am in a serious strop at the moment because our t'internet has been on the blink since 11pm last night... until about half an hour ago when I realised that it had enough ooomph to upload photo's...so, here I am with todays offering... oh and... the winner of the reindeer!  Firstly, THANK YOU all for your lovely comments, there were 88 in total! WOW!  So, I fed this number into Mr.Random.org and he gave me this:

Yes, the winner is commenter #35 which is Joanne.  Congrats Joanne, I will pop the reindeers into the post for you later :O))    Also today I am doing my DT for Fantastic Ribbons.  A few weeks ago the lovely chaps at Fantastic Ribbons sent us all some pretty ribbons to play with and make something wrapped... all of the DT designs are HERE on the Fantastic Ribbons blog... check them out... they are all stunning.  So.  Me and wrapping don't exactly have a very good past history.... I would go so far as to say I don't do it very well... so I have kind of been dreading this challenge because everyone has made such lovely stuff and I knew mine would look like AlfieCat had actually done it.... hey, thinking, AlfieCat would probs make a better go of it rofl

Anyways... never one to be beaten and give up, I decided to go with what I know, in a vain attempt to distract you from actually looking at the bow (never my strong point... I blame velcro lol)   I used brown paper to cover the pressie and smudged Vintage Photo DI right around the edges to add some inkiness.  I then got the Distress Markers and inked up some stamps... stamped them onto the wrapping and then heat set them.  Next came the bow making... best say not much about that... ahem... and because the wrapping was so atrocious, I added some little beady flower jobbies... and a Journal Ticket with a sentiment on it... ta-dah! Done!  Not my best make of this year but... it is the taking part right? 

Thanks for looking... I am away to lounge about a bit more.. I am having myself a jammie's day today... I have slobbed about all morning... and more slobbing about is required this afternoon.... and then I shall rush around about 10mins before Grim is due home from work (about 7.30pm) and do some dusting and empty some bins and get the dinner on so it looks like I have been a hive of activity all day... somehow I don't think I shall be fooling him though!  Speaking of Grim... I AM SO excited!!!!!! OH YESH!  Cos... I have got his Xmas pressie, it is wrapped (after a fashion) and I thought it all up by myself because he kept saying "nothing" when I asked what he would like to have for Xmas.  So, I thunked up the idea, got the thing and I am doing a little giggle-wiggle cos I think he will LOVE it!!!   All shall be revealed after the big day ;o))   Right... am offski, that sofa is callling me!  TTFN

Hels x

Fantastic Washi...

..there's nowt wishy washy about Washi Tape (did you see what I did there... and this early of a morning too!)  Over on the Fantastic Ribbons blog the DT are playing with Washi Tape this month, do nip over there to see the gorgeous things that the other DT have been doing with this fabby tape.  I decided to grunge things up a little and made a collage on a little 4" canvas.  Total freakery-oooh-look-at-that-how-it-turned-out techniquery going on on mine too. One of those... ooh I like that look (although I wasn't trying to achieve that!)  Tis oft the way though isn't it?  Playing, trying stuff out... getting an effect you didn't expect.

Anyways - enough waffle, down to business: I covered the whole canvas with some blue spotty Washi Tape, applying it in long strips across the canvas.  Next I added torn strips of the tape randomly and gave the whole thing a coat of watered down Cloudy Blue Dabber, applying it with Cut & Dry foam.   Then I got some black spotty tape and some black and white stripey tape and added smidges of these over the top - taking an inch long piece and ripping it along to get torn edges and jaggerdy bits (like me new word?)

Then I spritzed right over the top with watered down Purple Twilight Colorwash - my spray nozzle thingy is broken so I just decant some into a Mini Mister and add a bit of water.  I let the Colorwas run over the canvas and then dried it.  Next I gave the canvas a good spritz with Black Marble Dylusions Spray... and used a water mister to get the spray to move about a bit.  Where the sprays have soaked into the painty bits, I think it looks a bit like weathered wood... am chuffed with that!  Decoration came in the form of some paper flowers, spritzed with the same colours and a smidge of Vintage Rose Cosmic Shimmer to add some bling, a couple of fancy pins and an Idea-ology Ornate Frame with an Adage Ticket inside... oh and forgive the cruddy pics, the Glossy Accents I used to fill the frame are still not dry.... think my Room of Stash is a tad cold.

Right, I shall away... bags to pack and journeys to drive today.... thanks for looking.. have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Fan-snippetty-tastic...

...tis indeedily Fantastic you know. Tis time for my Fantastic Ribbons DT piece for August. I can't believe that this month has whipped past soooo fast! Over on the Fantastic Ribbons blog there are looooads of gorgeous projects to look at from the DT girls. HERE are all the deets... and, it would be remiss of me not to point you in the direction of the shop too... HERE.


The challenge this month is to use snippets. Well, my snippet inparticular was a bit bigger than a snip because I had cut a piece of ribbon a few months back and misjudged the size and made it too small. Too much to throw away but not enough to be of any use. Aha, thinks I, I shall do something with that. Which is exactly what I did. The ribbon in question has a white running stitch in it. So, armed with a lighter (if you do this, please mind your fingers, the fibres catch sometimes!) I singed the end of the ribbon to seal the fibres over. I then pulled at the white thread and it ruffled the ribbon along it. Once at the desired tag width length, I sealed the other end and it was ready to apply to the tag.


The background tag and layers were coloured with Dylusions sprays, misted with water first and then dripped. I did some overstamping using Aquamarine Archival for the background text and Jet Black Archival for the butterflies. Check out the cute ickle buttons too... they are also from Fantastic Ribbons.


Well, AlfieCat certainly enjoyed his birthday. He came and snoozled on his bed yesterday afternoon so I read out all your birthday messages for him. He was very chuffed to hear so many lovely messages for him! He decided to go out for a prowl early evening and brought us home a lovely little pressie... oh yesh, a mousey for his birthday. Not content with a mammoth amount of food and treats, he fancied himself a nice mousey snack. Aw bless him, he always looks so proud of himself when he brings us pressies. Anyways... I guess I had better get a move on, I have a "to do" list to make! I managed to get rid of all of the jobs on the old one and I don't know about you but a "to do" list is the only way I can keep on top of all the things I need to do! Must be an age/hormone thing lol Thanks for looking... have a "fantastic" (groan) day! TTFN

Hels x

Getting Knotted...

...this month the Fantastic Ribbons team are all getting knotted, so, armed with some really coolio ribbons and lacey trims, I got knotted myself. I have made a card using some lush Basic Grey LBD papers and added some fancy knot embellies. Making the knots is simples, cut six lengths of chosen ribbons, lay them across each other in a starlike fashion, pick up the length that is across the middle and then knot them all together.... simples :O)) To see all the deets about the challenge, please CLICK HERE.



I am pretty rubbish at tying bows - I even spent a very lot of ££ on a crafty weekend once and the only thing I did learn was how to make a bow... and then promptly forgot. I know, I know, it is just like tying a shoelace but... I can never get my ribbons to behave and go in the direction I want them to, so... knots... for me, the perfect excuse!


Anyways... I can't stop and waffle as normal, as much as I would like to... I am knee deep in kits in preparation for this weekends workshops up at Dawn's shop... and a little birdy just told me that there are a couple of spaces on Sunday's classes; there are two classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and we will be making a little wooden blocky thing (fab description Hels!) and a little mini street using canvas, card and bookpages... oh and butterflies, always gotta have a butterfly somewhere! Right, I shall away... if you do fancy coming along to the classes, give Rifat a bell on 01254 356501. Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Fantastic...

...Backgrounds! Oh yesh, the theme for the DT over on the Fantastic Ribbons blog this month is... to use ribbons as a background. So, there I was, scratching my bonce and wondering what on earth I was going to come up with... I mean, after all, I am no cardmaker... and I don't do pretty or clean or neat... so... I thunked outside the ...erm... ribbon... and came up with this tag:



For all the deets on the challenge HERE they are... and if you fancy a little competition, Fantastic Ribbons are running one... to design a Washi Tape... which, btw, they now have several lush designs on order (I am going to smile sweetly and see if I can nab some of that to play with.... ) All the deets for that are HERE... oh and... Team Leader Kirsty is designing some too! Tis all exciting stuff!


I used a couple of different ribbons and lace for my design... and coloured them with Distress Stains to tone them down a smidge. I then got it into my head that I would do some weaving... oh ho! How difficult was that... tis a good job that I wasn't doing that there weaving in the presence of anyone... they would have had a right old laugh Anyways... I did it... I weaved and woved... and did some stapling with a Tiny Attacher and added some Brads for a bit of extra texture. The tag was finished with a smidge of stamping, some Idea-ology and a beautiful paper flower.


Right... that's all from me for today.. oh, before I do go... THANK YOU to all you lovely folks who have clicked to follow this l'il ol' blog... I just noticed it is at 1101 now! My gob is still smacked and my gast is still truly flabbered and I do have a very warm fluffy feeling... it is nice to know that you like all this nonsense that I waffle everyday! Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

PS... almost forgot... so many peeps asked about the rose from Wednesday's post, I thought I would do a little tut tomorrow...

Ruffley Ribbons...

Cor blimey, all this sunshine is going to my head and making me want to play in the garden instead of the Room of Stash! I know! Mind you, if you saw our garden you would totally get why it needs some attention... two long years of chopping trees, taking down the hideosity that was the decking, moving sheds, laying a patio (ok, so we didn't actually do that, the nice man who distressed the drive did that for us... picture it now, looking like a Venetian square....) anyways.... all that is left to do is get the patch ready for turf, get the turf down, build a border, plant a border and then... I can get cracking on my veggie patch, although the plan for world domination in all veggie growing contents has gone to the wall, my veggie patch is probably big enough for a pea and a sprout, it has potential though!


In the midst of all this diggery pokery (like what I did there? huh? lol) I am still hunting high and low for Mr Mojo, whom, it appears, has decided to take a sabbatical... a long one at that! So... faced with my challenge for the Fantastic Ribbons DT to make something ruffley, I went in search of projects of old and found some canvases I altered this time last year... and copied the idea, the colours, the diecuts, blahblahblah... and came up with this effort. No matter how hard I try, I can never get Colorwash Sprays to play nice with masks... so ignore the splattery bits... they are there so you can see how not to do it lol


The ribbons are another story though. I mean, I love a good ribbon and Fantastic Ribbons certainly do have tonnes of them... gorgeousness isn't a word big enough to desribe them all... so I will let you suss them out for yourself... HERE's the link to the shop.... oh and... of course, hop on over to see the other girlie's on the teams work.. HERE on the blog... ohhh, lalalaaaaa, all gorgeous! A quicky on how I made mine: Covering a canvas with Destinations papers, using Matte Medium as a resist to streak over the paper, colouring the paper with Colorwash Sprays, edging the paper with Tissue Tape, smudging this with black Dabber, using masks to make a mess, I mean, add decoration (snort) and then bobbing a big old Rosette on there, adding the ribbon in a ruffle and then popping Idea-ology on to finish it :O))


Right... I must away, I have 56 kits to ... erm... kit, in preparation for this weekend's classes... and of course, there's the call of the garden... oh and of course, the search for Mr Mojo, if you do see him lurking about, please shove him back in this direction won't you... I am missing him! Thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

WOYWW.... Getting Carried Away!

...cor blimey, I know, I am boring and predictable but... is it really Wednesday already? Really? This last week has fair whizzed past hasn't it?! Well, it is Wednesday which means that it is time for all Crafty Bloggy Buddies of the Blogasphere to unite in the wonderful event that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday... devised and hosted by the fair and lovely Julia, click HERE to see all the deets and info and stuff... BTW, did you know... it is now 141 weeks old... which is erm... about... nearly three years... and yet it seems like only yesterday when it all started! Cor!!!



Anyways... regular hoppers will be aware that I turned over a new leaf last month and spouted off about being uber organised, neat, tidy etc... and... I am happy to say... I am keeping it up... really, none of the pics have been digically altered, no photowotsiting or anything like that.. I know there are doubters amongst you (Minxy) who said they didn't quite believe that I could walk on the floor, let alone see it...well, this proves that... you can! See, carpet! And tidy carpet at that!


On my desk there's a nearly finished canvas, I am just colouring some images ready to stick on... and then there's my class notes and a pile of tags to be turned into a sample... and then there's a horror of a canvas that really is not my colour scheme at all... akkk!!! Needs toning down!



And then there's the "corner" of the room with the Wall of Art feature... and can you see it? Can you? There it is, in front of Victor Vagabond... oh yesh, a signed copy of the latest book from the Wonderful Wendy Vecchi... Wendy Stamp Attic brought it back from CHA for me and I am one happy bunny... thank you both Wendy's for gifting this to me!!!






And... more news... a few weeks ago Kirsty Wiseman asked me if I would like to join in with a brand new Design Team for Fantastic Ribbons... well, how could I say no eh? Being as I love all things ribbony. So, February is the start of a brand new blog and challenge... the theme this month is to make Accessories... and erm... this is where I got carried away! The first thing I made was a bracelet... with pink and green ribbons tied on the links and buttons dangling from jump rings... and then I made a little pouchy bag for it and added a big old wired ribbon bow and some inked lace to it... and then because I was in bright and ribbony mode, I made a little brooch/medal thingy... using a blank pendant, filling it up with buttons and then adding some bright stripey Grosgrain as a bow...

photo is rubbish - glue has now dried lol

And then... because that wasn't enough I altered an Optical Lens... and added a little smidge of white organza ribbon as the necklace bit.



Anyways... the fab news is that Fantastic Ribbons are giving away a fab goodie bag of bright and pretty buttons... and there are two chances to win because as well as giving one away on the DT blog, I also have a packet to giveaway too! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post... and if you want to double your chances... pop across HERE and leave another comment! Simples!! The winners will be announced on Sunday February 19th 2012.

FANTASTIC RIBBONS GIVEAWAY BUTTONS!!!

Right.. I have taken up too much of your time with all this waffling today... time for me to get back to my desk and get my canvas finished... thanks for looking... have a FAB day! TTFN

Hels x