Sunday Stamper - Week 367 - Just An Old Fashioned Girl

Goooodly Afternoon Stampers and a very happy  Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your entries into the last challenge... I loved seeing all your gorgeous entries!  This week the theme is ... VINTAGE.   To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something; a card, canvas, ATC, a piece of altered art... the choice.. it be yours! Add in some stamping and then hop back here, leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I can come see you.   If you haven't got a blog, you can join in via Facebook (just tag me name) or by emailing a small res.pic to me or by leaving me a link to your Pinterest or any other photo hosting site.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 5th December 2015.

 My entry is a whoppping mahooooosive canvas (12" x 16") I decorated... it was my class sample from my Melt Pot class yesterday for Ali-Craft in South Hykeham... we had a glorious day getting all hot with the Melting Pots... you all know how much I love anything with a smidge of beeswax slapped on it and this canvas sure is covered in it!

The papers are from Prima's Archivers collection - they are beautiful... the colours are right in my comfort zone... and I just edged them with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to give them a bit of oomph.  The flowers are made from Tim's Tattered Florals die... they are my fave flowers to make - you'd never have guessed that right?  I just edged these with Aged Mahogany to give them a bit of a pinky tone and then dipped them right into beeswax to coat them... I did the same with the leaves which are Tim's Tattered Leaves... and then I added a butterfly - stamped onto the same card and also dipped into the wax and pearls added for his body.  The birdy is my Carabelle Studio FAVE bird stamp EVER *and I have a lot of birdy stamps!* ... he was stamped onto the same papers and cut out, inked and then glued down before I waxed so he looks part of the design.  The little embellies are moulds of UTEE poured from the Melt Pot and then generously coloured with Treasure Gold - I am loving the flower... the different metallic colours look so pretty IRL.

Thanks for looking and have a great rest-of-the-day... I am about to bung a leg of lamb into the oven (yes, the Domestic Goddess in me is alive and kicking today) and I shall be serving it with cauliflower cheese (nomnomnom), swede and carrot mash, roastie spuds and sweetheart cabbage.  A few Yorkshire Puds will also put in appearance along with my special mint gravy too... ohalalaaaa... and wait til I tell you what is for pud!!!  Mmmm, I am positively drooling and having to sit on my hands so I don't go and nibble at it already... my favest raspberry cheesecake and..... double cream!!!  I can hear my hips saying "please no" but today I shall be listening to my mouth which is saying "give me something tasty!"   Well, it is a well known fact that raspberry cheesecake and double cream is actually completely free of calories if eaten after lamb... they cancel each other out you see... *ahem*    Right, I shall love you and leave you and say.... TTFN!

Hels x

P.S.  Now... I have some verrrry exciting news to share but I will keep you in suspenders for a few more hours... check back tomorrow when I will be letting you know about a grand new adventure! 

Sunday Stamper - Week 303 - Eternal Flame

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to  you all!  Big mahooosive thank you's to you all for all the gorgeous nature themed entries to the challenge last week... I am loving visiting you all and seeing your interpretations of the theme.  This week is a nice and easy-peasy theme... and it is... FLAME COLOURS.   Think reds, oranges, yellows... those bright happy colours to get us into the mood for some sunshine.  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.  Pop back here and leave me a comment with a linky to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog, you can also join in via Facebook (just tag my name and I will find you) or by emailing me a small res. piccie of the creation.  The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 19th April 2014.

Now, you may have noticed that this poor old bloggetty-blog has been somewhat neglected of late.  In fact, I have been very remiss and hardly blogged for the last few months.  The reason for this is my old Mojo seems to have done a runner!  Oh yesh, the old cad Mojo has beetled off on his jollies and left me here, bereft and thoroughly cheesed off with a lack of inkyness on my fingers.  I actually think that the old war wound flaring up hasn't helped, pain tends to squash any creativity right out of me... and I have been a smidge busy teaching and getting ready for my next lot of classes.   So where am I going with this waffling?  Well, last Sunday I had a lovely day over at Crafty Bunch in Telford, learning how to make cards, being taught by someone whom I really admire... none other than our Pauline Wheeler.  Please do pop over to Pauline's blog.. oh and remember to take a cuppa and a packet of Hobnobs with you, her scrapbooking, cardmaking and 3d art is all beautiful.. you will be there a while... and HERE is her blog.

Yes, you see, I have, um, issues, making a card.  My usual stuff is over flowing with embellies and lots of 3dness which makes my style pretty difficult to compute onto a card.  I have a mental block when it comes to card designs... I just always seem to do the same old thing... so what a delight it was to learn a few new card making techniques and be able to play with some lush Indigo Blu stamps at the same time.  This card here is using the massive Sunflower stamp... I NEED this to come and live in the Room of Stash!  I used Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and a smidge of Vintage Photo to colour the sunflower... it was stamped 3 times and cut out in ever decreasing petal layers to build up some volume and dimension.  Isn't it just a beautiful design?   THANK YOU to Pauline for inspiring me!

I shall away now.  It is actually Friday afternoon!   I am heading up North to Art From The Heart in Harrogate tomorrow - which is now yesterday (???) for a weekend of teaching.   So, I decided to be all organised and get this post all scheduled and done so I can put my feet up this evening and get an early night for a change!   As ever, thank you for looking, have a fabby Sunday!  TTFN

Hels x

Craft Stamper - Make It, Take It Challenge

...tis that time again... oh yesh a brand new challenge over on the Craft Stamper blog... and the challenge technique this month is to use repeat stamping.  This is a fabby technique and perfect for jazzing up background papers and your own inky backgrounds too.  For my creation, I have made a tag and used Distress Inks and Archivals to make my background... here's how I made it:

Starting out with a Size 8 manila tag, I blended Antique Linen DI all over it and then blended Stormy Sky DI around the edges and in towards the middle, leaving some of the Antique Linen showing.  I then used Faded Jeans to blend a bit darker around the edges and finally used Black Soot DI to give the tag a frame.  Using a watermister, spraying water into my paw and flicking it at the tag, I achieved a nice bleachy splatty effect.  The repeat stamping was done using a really old PSX stamp I have - it was the second rubber stamp I ever bought about 271 years ago... and I still loves it.  I used Wendy's Cornflower Archival ink - this is perfect to go with Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans... however, I did a "second generation" print... basically, ink the stamp as normal, stamp onto paper and then onto the tag... this way the ink is slightly lighter and that is what I wanted as I didn't want the butterflies to be too prominent.

 
Adding in a smidge of black stamping around the edge always pleases my eye, adding to the "frame" of Black Soot, so I did a few impressions of the shabby diamond stamp using Jet Black Archival... and remembering to dry the ink too as Archival needs to be heat set to ensure no smudgey paw marks.  The big old butterfly is an Indigo Blu stamp, isn't it gorgeous!  That was coloured with the same DI's as the tag... and then pearls added to jazz his body up.  The sentiment is one of Tim's from Stuff to Say, stamped onto card, 3D'd and torn along the bottom for a bit of extra texture.  A few pearly swirls added a little bit of prettiness... and there you have it! 

 

Don't forget to CLICK HERE and visit the Craft Stamper blog... also, there be a prize for one lucky entrant too!!!   Today I am mostly going to be prepping for my class tomorrow at Neil Burley's Studio tomorrow... and also, playing with something *brand new* that will be launching at the Stitches trade show this weekend... ohhhlalaaa.. I am loving this new **********.... teeheee!!   Thanks for looking, have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

Busy As A...

...butterfly!  Last Saturday I travelled up to Sheffield to take part in a Dabble Day with Busy Bee's Crafts.  There were three teachers, me, Jo and Julie... and 27 peeps taking part.  I had the pleasure of teaching a mixed media class, altering a wooden plaque with paints and inks and some fab Indigo Blu stamps.  Because I am a numpty, I totes forgot to take photo's of the two plaques I had prepped already for the classes... but I have got this one which is the one I used for me demo-ing and I finished it this morning.

The background was painted with EcoPaints, blended with Cut & Dry foam to get a nice smooth blend and mixed with Aged Mahogany Distress Stain to get that gorgeous pinky colour at the edges.  The other two plaques I had done were very masculine so I decided to pretty this one up and used a Kaleidoscope of butterflies... actually it is a moth but I don't know the collective term for a group of moths lol  There are 11 moths, stamped onto card using Jet Black Archival and then coloured with Victorian Velvet & Aged Mahogany DI and the backs were coloured with Frayed Burlap DI.

The cogs stamped onto the plaque have been jazzed up a bit with some Idea-ology Gears, Mini Cogs and Snaps (oh how I wish Snaps were still being produced, I know you can get them from haberdashers but it is the metal colours that I lurves)  All of the bits and bobs have been glued on with the best wet glue in the world... *used my Jeremy Clarkson voice for that one* Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear.

Anyways, that is todays little offering.  I must take a moment to say a hoooge thank you for all your lovely comments on yesterdays post... I was blown away by all your kind words!  Right, I shall away, I am prepping for my demo's at Ally Pally tomorrow - I will be on the Creative Expressions stand, playing with Studio 490,  Distress and... Tim Holtz stamps... you know, the new ones!!  Oooh and I am doing a 20 min demo in the downstairs demo area too... not sure of the time yet... but they will be announced periodically during the show.  If you are going, please do pop by to say hi... t'would be F A B to meet you in person.  Thanks for looking... have a grand day... TTFN

Hels x

Fancy A Flutter...

....nooo, not that kind of flutter. No, this week for my DT piece for The Stamp Attic, I have been playing with those lush Indigo Blu stamps again. All the deets and the bigger pics are HERE if you fancy a peek. Here's a little peek at the card.



I got caught up with the whole flutteryness of my card and decided to make a tag to go with it. It is not normal for me to just stick to one colourway but the Distress range has so many gorgeous shades in the green section that I just needed to use them all. Well, I didn't use them all... I used three of them. And because there are loads of blues, reds, browns, oranges etc I can do more cards and tags, same design, different colour.


Anyways. My tag is a super simple one - not a single smidge of metal embellishing going on. I was attempting the whole KISS thing... I think I need to look again at the whole simple thing, I can't help but add ink around the edges and stick something 3d on anything I make. Ho hum, I will make it my mission to be flat...


I have some news too peeps. Not the best news I would like to share but... it can't be helped and hopefully it will turn to good news soon. My shows on Thursday on Create & Craft have been postponed *sad face* but all being well, they will be re-scheduled for very soon. As soon as I know, I will let you know. Thanks for all your lovely comments/messages about the tv planner, I do appreciate your kindness. Right, I shall away... I have decided to use the time I would normally be making samples to spend a bit of time in the Room of Stash playing... I may be some time :O)) Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Speedy....

..just a quicky post to let you know I have just popped my DT piece for The Stamp Attic over HERE... I have been playing with Dylusions and Indigo Blu stamps again... and who knew... Archival Ink colours go perfectly with Dylusions Sprays! Cool huh? Here's a sneak peek at the tag...




Oh and before I forget, I have finalised all the details for my next batch of classes at The Stamp Attic... they are online and available to book now. All the deets about the classes etc are HERE. I shall loves ya and leaves ya now - I have another "to do" list to...erm... do! Thanks for looking! TTFN

Hels x

Special Day...

...oh yesh, indeedily, tis a very special day today. My little AlfieCat is celebrating his 9th birthday today. But, before I turn into a kitty-bore I shall just tell you about my latest DT offering for The Stamp Attic which is HERE on the blog. That there is a sneaky peeky at the box I altered... all the deets on what I used etc are all detailed on the blog. Oh and before I forget! I have news! Due to a couple of cancellations, I have a few spaces left on my Stampotique Street workshop which is taking place at The Stamp Attic this coming Sunday, September 2nd. As ever with my classes, you will be getting inky using Distress. You will also be playing with Sprays, Masks, stamps and your favourite Stampotique characters - and don't forget, Stampotique isn't just the cute little grungy fella's, there are cutey pie stamps and nature themed stamps too. To book a place, please don't delay - you can book by calling Wendy on 01235 760821 or online HERE. All you will be needing will be provided, including chocolate and coffee/tea, all you need to bring is yourself, your lunch and your scissors. I hope you can make it, I am reaaaally looking forward to this class, tis gonna be fun!




Right, enough of that... and now onto the special little kitty. My little AlfieCat is 9 today. He has started the day by having a whole tin of tuna (his favourite, I get the "in spring water" stuff for him) and he has had a slice of ham, his other favourite human food. He has a new collar - he lost the other one... again and hasn't brought it home yet and I got a packet of catnip for him to stuff his mouses (he has three, very icky, very soggy looking creatures they are lol) so he has been spoiled.





A couple of photo's of him, indulge me do... he is my little furbaby after all ;o))





Thanks for looking, I hope you will be able to make it to the class on Sunday, the more the merrier :O)) TTFN

Hels x

Butterflies & Masks...

...cor blinking blimey! You should see the state of my paws! I am covered in ink again... I have been playing this morning and have made my DT piece for The Stamp Attic - I have just blogged over HERE on the Stamp Attic blog. All the deets on how I made my tag are over there so you can see how I made it... and... links to the shop so you can get there nice and easy too (am good like that!)


Because I was enjoying myself so much, I decided to make a card to match the tag too. I used the same techniques for the card as I did for the tag. I stepped right out of my comfort zone and decided to do a "snatch and grab" of the Distress Stains. Normally I will consider the colours and make sure that they are all in the same family... with the snatch and grab method, all you need to do is shut your eyes and grab the first one you come to. I did that a few times and got a smidge disappointed when I saw Pine Needles. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely colour - just not "me" IYKWIM.


Well, I am happy to say that I have changed my mind (again) and I am now lurving Pine Needles... I expect that you will be seeing a lot more of it very soon lol For the base of the card I used some Dylusions Stencils and added some pattern using Distress Ink blended thru the holes... something a bit different than leaving the base blank - which I normally do.


Anyways. All good plans of tidying the Room of Stash went slightly askew yesterday - mainly because I decided to clean out the laundry room instead... it sounds posher than it is, it is teensy... but it still took hoooours. I am the worlds best avoider you know. Avoiding cleaning the Room of Stash - and it really needs it. Today I am thinking I might have a go at the kitchen... which is also teensy so won't take too long. Anyways... I should get a move on. Before I do go though - hoooge thanks for your suggestions about the mozzi bite - it is a lot better, still a bit red and itchy and the bite itself is still like a hard, pea-sized blister but... phew, I feels better in myself too! Thanks for looking... have a good day ... TTFN!

Hels x

Sneaky Peeks....

... I am whizzing on here for another super fast, fingers flying post. I am in a hurry... oh yes, I have a To Do list today that has 291 things on it!!! I know!!! That many!!! Anyways... just a super quicky to point you in the direction of The Stamp Attic blog HERE. Today is my day for the DT and I have been playing with some gorgeous Fresco Paints and Indigo Blu stamps and I made a card.


I know, get me.. .making cards! You never know, it might become a new addiction! Anyways... I shall away... and say, as ever... thanks for looking!!! Oooh, and I did just remember... I am doing a giveaway tomorrow so please do pop back :O)) TTFN!

Hels x

If I Had A Box Just For Wishes....

...ahh, a line from one of my favourite songs, Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce. Well, I have had this little alterable box for a yonk and a half so I decided it was high time that I... erm... altered it! It is my DT offering this week for The Stamp Attic. To see all the deets on how I made it, altered it, embellished it and the goodies I used, please CLICK HERE to be magically transported on the back of a humungus dandelion clock (I used Indigo Blu stamps on this box, hence the dandelion reference... )



Anyways... that there is a sneakily peekily at the finished piece. I know... it is ... PINK! Whatever is happening to me eh? Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a wee young lass who adored pink. She had pink hair streaks, a pink mobile phone, a pink camera, a really cool pair of pink suede boots (actually, I still have them and I still lurve them and don't care that they are sooo out of fashion lol) Where was I? Ah yes, the girl who loved pink. You know, she loved pink so much she even named her blog after her nickname at that time, which was Pinkle. So began the crafty blog "pinkleart". Then one cold and frosty morning, she awoke and realised that her world had become black and white and grungy. So she cast aside her love of all things pink and turned her back on the colour that she had so loved. Several years intervened where she avoided all things pink at all costs. Then one day, she awoke and realised that actually, pink is a rather nice colour... and there are so many "pretty" shade of pink that they should be embraced and used.... maybe not on everything but... it's a step in the right direction.

Anyways... enough of my inane wafflings... don't forget to hop over to The Stamp Attic... I have done links and all that stuff so if you fancy yourself a nice little bit of retail therapy, they are all there, at the click of a button.... am good like that yes? Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x