Sunday Stamper - Week 192 - I Will Always Love You

Gooooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy, albeit freeezing, Sunday to you all! Many, many thanks for the lucious heart entries for last weeks challenge... and being as lurve is still in the air with the day of love on Tuesday, this week the theme is... LOVE! **EDIT** I have changed the song title for this weeks challenge after hearing the very sad news that Whitney Houston passed away yesterday evening. There are a lot of songs by her that have "love" in the title... however, I think this one is probably the one that most people will remember her by. RIP Whitney, another talent taken too young. To join in with the challenge is easy-peasy; make a little something, include some stamping and the theme... then pop back here and leave me a comment with a linky to the place you are showing your entry... as ever, if you haven't got a blog/flickr/picassa jobby, you can email me with your entry :O)) The challenge will remain open til 21:00 Saturday 18th February 2012.


I have made a little something for me and my lovely Grim; it is our 10th Anniversary this year so this piece is very apt. Now the traditional "thingy" for 10 years married is Tin, so there's a little smidge of metal mesh in the mini frame and the modern "thingy" is aluminium... but apparently it is suggested that this can be changed into faux diamonds... so... I have a couple of little trinket pins in there too :O))



The shadow box measures 6" square and I covered it with some Crowded Attic papers and then added some stamping in the middle bit. I covered a teensy frame with the same papers and bashed some holes into the top of it and the insidey bit of the shadowbox and used screw eye jobbies to hang the little frame from it. That has been decorated with the wire mesh and an Idea-ology Locket and a sweet little heart made from Poppy red UTEE poured into a little mould I have... and then I added a teensy Idea-ology crown. I added a bit of paper that has been cut using the Pinking Alterations OTE die and then glued some little epoxy Charm Clips that spell out the word LOVE... the letters were from the Lost & Found stack and popped behind the Charm Clips and filled with Glossy Accents (FAB idea from Wendy Vecchi BTW) and I then added some Type Charms that spell out GS HS... which are our initials.



The finishing touches were three paper roses made using the rose flower stamp from Dimensional Rose Art, stamped into the little 2" snips in the paper stacks, cut out, coloured with Fired Brick DI and then sanded and cut and assembled with a Muse Token on a Memo Pin and a few Maya Road trinket pins.


I am a very happy bunny today... Grim is starting his week of annual leave which means I get to be with him all day and no shifts *yay*... mind you, he did mention something about shed building so I think I will make myself scarce on that day... after all, I need not give any explanation about how accident prone I am... me and a hammer? together? at the same time? probably not the best idea... I will stick to ink and rubber I reckon lol Right... best get a move on... tis nearly bedtime and I have a hot water bottle with my name on it and a rather sleepy AlfieCat who also thinks the hot water bottle has his name on it too! Thanks for looking... have a good week... stay warm!! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 176 - If You Leave Me Now...

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all! Thank you for all the fabby orange and blue creations you entered for last weeks theme... it was grand to see so many different pieces of art. This week I am really scraping the barrell with the whole "song title matching the theme" ... erm... theme. Because it is Autumn I decided to have LEAVES as the theme... and the only song I could think of that had "leave" in the title was this one. Still, it is a good one and it does kind of make sense (well, to me... a bit!) To join in with the challenge is simples... make a little something and include the theme and some stamping. Pop over here and leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry (or you can email me if you haven't got a blog) and then I will hop on over to visit. The challenge will remain open until 23:00 Saturday 22nd October 2011.


My entry this week is actually a commission piece for Patti at The Queen's Ink, based around an original piece of metal art I made last year. This one is made entirely from Ten Seconds Studio's metal and the Wonderful Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 stamps. I am sooo lucky... I spent yesterday taking two classes with THE Wendy Vecchi... and today I have another class with her too... oooh lala, tis like my birthday all weekend!!!


The whole piece is inspired by Her Very Royal Highness, Queen Patti of Ink-n-RubberLand and her love of the colours purple and green... oh and the theme is all based around the fact that this piece was for THE Queen herself. When I set out making this piece I hadn't got the foggiest idea what the finished look would be... I was just kind of hoping that whatever it turned out like, she would like it... and... she does! Hurrah and thrice, a result indeedily!




The base is actually a Bind It All cover, I love the shape of it so it is perfect for what I wanted to make. The gold metal was pressed into a Kabuka mold... the whole mold looks like a grid but I just squashed in random squares so it is more of a crossword look. I scooched around the edge of the metal so finish it off and then aged it with Black Dabber.


The flowers and leaves are all 490 stamps, stamped using either Black or Olive Archival Ink, heat dried and then cut out, scootched, overstamped, scribbled on and then aged with more Black Dabber. I then assembled the flowers together and stamped the sentiment which was then made into a banner.



Anyways.. that's enough about my entry... how about you? Are you having a goodly weekend? What are your plans for today? Do tell! I really should be off to bed to get some beauty sleep... I have a busy day ahead... you know, hanging out and making art with THE Wendy Vecchi ;o)) To say this weekend has been awesome is an understatement... it has been beyond brilliant and meeting Wendy has been a dream come true. Seeing Wendy's art all laid out and being able to get close to it has been a joy in itself but to actually be taught by her is just quite unbelieveable... and THE best experience. A HOOOOOGE thank you to my lovely Grim for making this trip possible... he is, put quite simply... THE BEST, he is a STAR... and I love him to bits! I am getting a little misty here... wishing that Grim was here to share this fantastic adventure with me. I will probably be back to blog later on... with piccies from the classes and a class report too :O)) Right... I am deffo offski now... as ever... thanks for looking and have a wonderful Sunday... TTFN!

Hels x

Tag-Velope 490 Stylee

...cor blimey, what a weekend!! Boiling hot and busy, busy, busy... I got absolutely nothing made and it was actually quite nice to just faff instead of concentrating. This tag turned into a Tag-Velope late on Sunday night.... and then sat there, sweating ever so slightly until I returned to the Room of Stash today to finish it off.


The base of the tag and the velope were smudged with TradTan paint.. and then splatted with Distress Stains. I used a gorgeous 490 background to stamp over the base of the Velope using Aquamarine Archival Ink,... and then added a word or two and a flower to decorate.




The tag was overstamped using Coffee Archival with stripes at the top and my fave flower border along the bottom... and then I added some pearls (they are on a strip so far easier than placing them individually!) I made a big Grungepaper flower, again using 490 stamps and Distress Inks... and added Maya Road chippie bits for the sentiment and the birdy.




So... tis a special day today! Yes, indeedily, it is our wedding anniversary... 9 years ago today I pledged my troth to my lovely Grim... I can't believe that all those years have just whipped past, it feels like only yesterday... although if you ask Grim he might possibly say that it feels like a lot longer rofl.... So, because it is our anniversary today, I bobbed a little Maya Road Bingo Counter onto the flower... and it is a #9! Cool huh!!




Anyways... time for me to get cracking on tidying up this messy old Room of Stash... don't forget to check back tomorrow because I will be annoucing the winner of the tag giveaway from last weeks WOYWW. Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

PS... Thank you to everyone who left me lovely messages about the Vagabond... I am waiting to hear back from Sizzix as to what to do.. watch this space!

Oh Mousey, Oh Mousey...

...well, you know that we have a mouse in the loft because I waffled on alarmingly about him yesterday... actually, I just read my post and realised that I do sound quite mad... maybe I should read my posts before publishing them lol Anyways... I had the best comment ever left for me yesterday... HERE is the post and comments if you haven't read it already and are wondering what on earth I am on about again... and... this is the poem that Wendy made up... isn't it just THE best!!! And very clever indeedily too...

Ode to the Mouse!

Little mousey in my loft
Just what is it you're after?
As you scrtich and scratch about
run up and down the rafter
Hunting in amongst the boxes
chewing holes in the insulation
are you hoping you might find
a bit of inspiration
Did you steal some stash from Hels
some Tim inks and a spray
were you watching her at work
in the room of stash all the day
Did you want to have a go
Make a card or two
for all your little mousey mates
their kids and mummies too
Well while its very flattering
Its keeping Hels awake
she really needs her beauty sleep
she has lots of samples to make
So please have some thought for others
trying to sleep in their bed
and take your friends and stamps and ink
and move out to the shed!!

Isn't that the best comment ever?? And... isn't Wendy clever!!! Anyways... a little mousey update; Grim went and got a couple of traps... they trap the mousey inside and then you just get rid of mousey without having to handle it... they are set with peanut butter as bait... and, I haven't heard any mousey clunkings since last night so I am hopeful that said trap has done its job.


These pics here are of a tag I made before I went away and had completely forgotten to blog... I used those lush new Fresco Finish paints, painted, crackled, painted, stamped and then added some stamped "Metal on Card" ... the new coolio stuff from PaperArtsy... painted with Fresco paints and then stamped and cut out and a bit of refining with a TSS tool. The colours used are London Night for the base and then Vintage Lace over the top. The birdycage is Old Gold and the flower is the same as the tag... with Toad Hall leaves. The flower is inspired by the gorgeous flowers from Lin Brown... if you click her name you will be whizzed off to her blog where there are several fab tut's on how to make them :O)



I had a bit of a scare this morning... last night I had been playing with Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints (and no, not a drop of Trad Tan in sight!) and stamps... and had been using Dash of Red. Well, my hands were covered in paint... and Dash of Red was all under my thumb nail... so I spent a few mins scrubbing away with the Craft Scrubbie (if you haven't got one, get one, they are THE best, they get rid of painty & inky paws with little effort) Anyways... off I went to bed... obviously not looking in the mirror on the way... because I woke up this morning, went to put my contacts in and nearly passed out when I saw a big red gash right across my cheek! Gingerly I dabbed at it... and it wasn't blood... no, it was Dash of Red paint... all crusty and flakey... mmmm, attractive! Oh and the Sky Blue under my chin could only serve as an addition to the attractive look I was sporting. Thank heavens no one had come to the door before I spotted this... goodness knows what they would have thought! Right... back to the Room of Stash and the very messy desk to crack on with more projects... I am in the middle of playing with some Kraft Resist... I am just lurving this paper! Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

You Know I Said...

... mmm, famous last words huh! So, you know I have said that I hate packing... I am not fussy what kind of packing I hate... like at the supermarket, yak, hate that... or when we moved house... yakkier, hated that... and packing a suitcase... even yakky yakkier... I really don't like doing that!! So... being Mrs Smug lasted all of an afternoon... because... nay and thrice... I had finished my packing at lunchtime... ok, admittedly, I had packed twice as I wasn't happy with the first load... but yes, I was rather smug... I was planning a nice relaxing evening, chilling out and an early night.




Humph... what actually happened was this: I had a smaller case in a big one... having been advised by loads of peeps who have already done Ranger U that I would have a goody box to bring home... so, smaller case is loaded with clobber.. and larger case is around it. I decided to do the old online check-in doodah at about 7pm. And at 7.15pm I was stomping about the house in a right old huff... because my case was over the baggage allowance by... TWO kg's... and... the online check not only wanted to know everything about me from my name to my inside leg measurement... but they also needed to know the weight of the case. I was fully prepared to pay a few quid extra as I knew I was slightly over my allowance... what I wasn't expecting was a notice across the screen telling me that the excess baggage fee was... TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! I nearly passed out!! That is £125!!!!




Anyways... Grim dragged said case back to the bedroom and I unpacked... took out a few bits... like a pair of shoes and a vest... reweighed it... still the same... so, I ditched the smaller case and repacked it all into the bigger case... and weighed it... and it was still 1kg over... and... yep, still $200 fee! So, poor old Grim then went up into the loft and brought down the other big case we have which is a bit lighter... and I repacked... AGAIN! Another weigh in and it is 3kg under the allowance... phew! Still a pair of shoes less... just hope it doesn't rain over there because I only have my Birki's and a pair of muley things now.





Anyways... this here tag is made using those lush new Fresco Finish Paints from Paper Artsy... the crackle is fab isn't it! And the flower is made from the new Metal on Card... painted with the FF's and then stamped with PA images... and I finally made one of those lovely style flowers that Lin invented... she has loads of tut's on her blog that are worth checking out :O)) Anyways... it is late, I have tried bed already... no avail.. I am just too excited!!! Mind you, we have to leave just before 5am and I really had better get some sleep otherwise I will have gigantic bags under my eyes... and I don't want them charging me excess baggage them!! Thanks for looking... next time I waffle at you I will be in America!!! TTFN

Hels x

PS... thank you everyone who has left me lovely comments and sent messages wishing me well on my awfully big adventure... it has been fab to be able to share it with you x

Oh and... PPS... I just noticed the time... tis... TODAY that I am going to ... RANGER U!!!

2 Days, 18 Hours And...

...25 minutes until... I go!!! Eeeek, that has come around sooooo quickly... which is a good thing 'cos I haven't had that much time to wait til I go to Ranger U. I am still at the "cannot believe it" stage... I am sure once I get that case packed I will be believing it a bit more :O)) So, I have to pack... I really do not like packing... putting it off to the last minute is NOT going to happen this time though... no, I shall be organised and be ready and not haring about like a loon on Thursday morning.



Anyways... in the meantime... and as a bit of a diversion, I got a bit inky last night with a mini canvas... this is just slightly larger than an ATC. I love those new Distress Stains... they have to be another "fave" product... and one thing I particularly enjoy doing is mixing them with paint... Claudine Hellmuth's Traditional Tan paint in the case of the blues/browns and Blank Canvas for the others... so... mixing a generous dollop of Trad Tan with Faded Jeans Stains... using Cut & Dry to apply it... then drying and then making some drippy bits of Trad Tan down the canvas... Ellen gave me a coolio tip yesterday, spritz the drips... they then go more splodgy on the edges... which is what I did. The flower is made of Kraft Glassine, painted lightly, splatted with Distress Stain, dried, scruched and then a Maya Road Resin Bloom, also painted, in the middle.





I used the Cut & Dry to alter the colour of the Idea-ology Trimmings... and dabbed a bit more Stain over the top and allowed to air dry... well, I had to allow them to air dry because... disaaaaahhhster... Horace Heatgun died! Yes indeedily, yesterday afternoon I went to dry something and Horace didn't work... well, I flicked the switch and a few seconds later it worked... so I turned it off (doh!) and tried again and bums... it didn't work! To say I am miffed is an understatement and I never really thought about how much I use the old thing... anyway... I have one of those nasty long blue ones but it doesn't get very hot and it is noisy and... it blows stuff all over the shop... time for a new Horace to come and live in the Room of Stash methinks!



Right... I have a date with a little project I am doing for Sunday... the Sunday Stamper is going to be scheduled next week... and I have it on very good authority (ie, Ellen said and she is really clever so it must be right) that as long as I don't change the time on Lionel, the time of posting will still be midnight GMT. If you see it at 7pm on Saturday you know I made a boo-boo... now that wouldn't be the first time lol Thanks for looking... enjoy the sunny weather! TTFN

Hels x

SIX....

...It's the final countdown... oh dear, now I am going to be singing that ALL day long... anyways... tis now six days til Ranger U... on the excitement scale of 1 to 10 I am now heading for in excess of one million... so, to calm myself down I have been totally inspired by a fab project in the latest book by the Wonderful Wendy Vecchi... which is book IV.




All of the deets on how I made the box etc are HERE on The Stamp Attic blog... I had greeeeat fun using all my favourite products... which leads me nicely on to reminding you that there is still a teensy bit of time left to enter the Sunday Stamper challenge this week... closing at 21:00 today... and yummy candy is up for grabs... CLICK HERE to see all the deets about how to enter :O))


So... I am ready! All I need to do is pack... which I absolutely hate doing and always leave it to the last minute... like the time that me and some of my girlfriends decided that we deserved a really special holiday in St Lucia. I had got all my stuff together the day before we were due to fly, all I needed to do was A) iron it and B) pack it. But... we decided that seeing as we had to be at Gatwick for 7am, we would only go out the night before until 10pm and go straight to bed... and not... erm... imbibe much of the strong stuff. Aha, best laid plans and all that. I got home at about 3am and decided that I would have a little 40winks before I got myself ready. Next thing I knew it was 5am and my doorbell was ringing...




You know "that" feeling you get when you realise that you have overslept? Well, it was that feeling times by about a hundred... and yes, my case was still sitting empty on the bedroom floor. It is fair to say that I recreated that famous scene at the start of Four Weddings & A Funeral... running around the flat hurling things into my case... and then dashing off to Gatwick pronto. Trouble was, I had not removed my make up from the night before (dirty moo) and actually was a lookie-likey for Alice Cooper. Oh and... when I finally got to St Lucia and unpacked I realised very quickly that the woolly poncho and thick black tights would so not be suitable!! Anyways... I am NOT going to let that happen again so I shall start packing... now! Yes, right now... well, after I have just gone and done the dishes and cleaned the lavvy... Have a lovely weekend... new Sunday Stamper theme tomorrow and the winner of the candy will be announced too!! TTFN!!

Hels x

Whole Lotta...

...Rosettes! Yesterday was a goodly day indeed because the new Alterations Mini Rosettes Die arrived in the Room of Stash... I have been patiently waiting for this forever... and it is here!!! Victor made light work of making the rosettes... and wow, I luuurve them! So, I was just faffing really, using Victor (who, btw, is the Vagabond that lives with me now) and cutting various of the Alterations dies... and I decided to do another canvas... similar to the Sunday Stamper canvas I made... deets are HERE if you would like to see it :O))



The canvas is that 5" square size again... you know, the one I haven't ever liked and now...erm... it seems to be my favourite! Well, I covered said canvas with papers from the Lost & Found stack... the page that is all bright blues and flowery... I have never used this page so I decided to chop into it... made the rosettes from it and then used it to cover the canvas. But first, I painted it with Traditional Tan paint (what else would I use) and then I used a combination of Cyan Dylusions and Butterscotch and Espresso Colorwash Sprays. And... combined it gave me this bluey green colour which I was rather taken with. (edit..for some reason I started to talk like I was in a Jane Austen period drama then LOL)




So... the base for the front of the canvas has some stamping on it... I used just water to stamp a script background... this lifted the sprays off and made the paint show through a bit...cool! I also used Coffee Archival to stamp a flourish. I then set about altering the colour of the Grunge that I had cut... the Gadget Gears and Hardware Findings are cut with Grungepaper and the Hanging Sign & Flourishes are cut with embossed Grungeboard... oh and check out the little zig-zaggy thingy at the bottom of the canvas... that is the new Pinking/Scallops On The Edge... that was cut from plain Grungeboard. All of these bits were painted with Trad Tan and then spritzed... I used Worn Leather to colour the hinge and the gears... and the largest of the gears is sitting underneath the rosette...



Which leads me nicely onto the rosette... each layer was spritzed with the Cyan and Butterscotch and then I dabbed Trad Tan over the top of them to make them pop a little. The centre of the rosette is a Maya Road Resin Bloom... which was also coloured using a dirty bit of babywipe... gotta love those cleaning up babywipes that are soaking with the sprays... they also coloured the trim at the bottom of the canvas and the word... which, BTW, I have just realised... is the theme for the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge this week... and I know I have already entered... am wondering if I can enter again... shall I try and see what happens??? Do you double dare me LOL



Anyways... as usual... I have waffled on alarmingly and you have probably nodded off by now... You know how I have "favourites" and, well, most things are my favourites ... well, this new Mini Rosette die is my absolute fave ever.... I can see I am going to get heaps of use out of it... and the fact that I have been trying to make a layered rosette ever since I got the big one and keep bodging it just means that I can do it now without snipping and then whinging that I can't get it to work... oh and I got the new dies and the ...ahem... new Idea-ology from The Artistic Stamper... just saying ;O)) Right, time for bed.. again.. it seems it is always time for bed when I am blogging... that makes me sound like a right lazy old moo... am not... really... honestly... well, ok, sometimes lol Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Scroll & Chips..

...is the recipe for the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group challenge... did you know there's a Yahoo Group dedicated to ...erm... everything... Wendy Vecchi? If you lurve Wendy's style and all things Studio 490 and would like to join the group, click HERE ... all the deets are there! Anyways, Lori - who is the List Mom (Mum for us Brits) organises this cool challenge every week... I won't go into too much detail cos you can read all about it when you join... all I will say is that the challenge focuses on Wendy's books... which, BTW, there is a #4 book out now... and... I am a very lucky Hels... because last week I won a copy of Book #4 - all I had to do was join in with the challenge, and let's face it, that is easy seeing as I have a bit of an...erm.. addiction to all things 490.



So... waffling aside... my card... right, our cousins in America use a different size card to our basic A6 one, a size that I rather like... so, I chopped down a square card and made my own version, I think it is a bit bigger than the US ones but still, it makes a nice change not to make a square card... the centre piece was cut using one of Tim's Alterations (can't remember the name of it and I am too bone idle to go and check ROFL) I made a wrinkle free distress on my craft sheet... and yes, there is pink in there... I used to love pink... (hence the http of my blog) and I had pink phones, camera's, clothes, hair accessories, hangbags, jewellry... and then one day I woke up and vomitted (no, I didn't really but I could've done I was sooo pinked out!) Anyways... the pink is Victorian Velvet and Worn Lippy DI's... along with Wild Honey, Crushed Olive, Broken China and Chipped Sapphire... loving the Chipped Sapphire mixed with Victorian Velvet, it has gone mauvey in colour.




The stamping is a technique I learned from one of Wendy's books... ink the background, smoosh said inkpad onto sheet and spritz, stamp into it and then stamp onto card... cooolio or what!! Thanks to Wendy for sharing that cos I use it alll the time! Now, there is a scroll on the card, just under the flower and behind the chips... I should have stamped it further into the middle of the card but that is just me being a dipstick and stamping before I have the embellishment ready. Oooh, and ... if you love Studio 490 and would like to see some new stamps and stash in your mailbox, The Stamp Attic have the whole new range... stamps, Art Parts, Clearly For Art etc... *just saying ;o))* Right... I have a special project on the go... I will be back later (if it works, if it doesn't you won't see me for dust rofl) time to get inky!! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 145 - Brown Eyed Girl

Goodly Morning Stampers... happy Sunday to you all! Many thanks for all your lovely entries last week and a big welcome to those who joined in for the first time :O)) This week the theme is a simples (yep, imagine I am saying that like those Meerkats lol) one... the theme is... BROWN. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make a little something; it can be a card, ATC, tag, altered art - the choice is yours... then pop back here and leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry - or you can email me if you prefer - be sure to include the theme and some stamping and then I can hop on over to see what you made. The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 19th March '11




For my entry this week I altered a 6" square shadow box. I know, I know, me and my shadow(boxes) - I am a little bit addicted to making these... well, this time I decided to do something a little different from the norm. Usually I would paint the box, or stain it, or Rock Candy crackle it and colour with mists... so, for a change I decided to cover it with papers... ah yes, the papers... those heavenly, deeevine, scrum-diddly-umptious Crowded Attic papers to be precise. I used to be a bit of a paper freak... like I would buy patterned papers and make sure I had two of each... then I could stroke one page and cut the other...well, with the Stacks that the Duke of Distress has designed, I can just snip away to my hearts content seeing as A) they are so not going to be unavailable cos they are sooo lush and B) there is sooo much in them already to snip at.



So, I digressed slightly then... where was I? Ah, yes, papers... covering the box with papers and using Claudine's Multi Medium as glue (which, I have to say.. is F A B!) I used sandpaper to smooth and distress the edges of the paper and then whipped a bit of Walnut Stain DI over them to age them. Next I spritzed from a distance (oooh, I just broke into song then...ahem) Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearl Mists... which is my fave one and which... the photo has kindly picked up so you can see the shimmeryness (is that a word???) on the paper.




Now, the ickle hanging frame is actually part of a set of three frames that are all connected by hangy loopy things and jump rings... and I had a mishap with this particular one in as much as it went under my chair and got wheeled on... so I took it apart, screwed some hooky loopy things into the top of the shadow box and then hanged (hung???) it from there... after covering it with more Crowded Attic of course.. oh and the stamping inside is one of the new stamps from the Viscount of Vintage... corrr, I love those Stuff to Say stamps!



I made some little paper roses using the medium flower on the Artistic Stamper Flower Power set... and the snippets from the paper stack... oh and I bobbed a few Maya Road pins behind them to make it pretty. Finally, Idea-ology... lots of it... cos I do love my Idea-ology and I think it looks cool when it is all piled up ... it has a Red Poppy UTEE heart in the middle which I distressed with Pitch Black Dabber and it has been altered slightly with Perfect Pearl Mists and Inka Gold.




So, that is me for today... blimey, I bet you have nodded off... I have gone into marathon scale waffling today! Oooh, but before I forget... I have had a few questions over the last few weeks asking me what I do with all this stuff that I make. Well, some of it stays at Chez Sheridan... the shadowboxes are hanging on the wall above the stairs, some of it stays in the Room of Stash and some gets swapped... some goes onto Folksy and the rest either goes to Design Team commitments/shop/show samples or just gets given away... thanks for asking questions though... I love getting them!! (so long as they aren't about quantum physics or quadtratic equations cos I am rubbish at things like that!) Thanks for looking... have a ink-tastic day! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 144 - Mother Nature's Son

Goodly Morning Stampers! Many thanks for all the oooh laaa laaaa entries for last weeks challenge, twas like travelling to Paris all week :O)) This week I am returning to my favourite-ist band ever and I have chosen a track from the White Album (which was actually titled The Beatles but by popularity became known as the White Album... I said that wearing my best anorak BTW ROFL) **and... BTW, I actually have two copies of the White Album...one is on CD and the other is most prized indeedily - it is the original vinyl copy with all the stuff inside it and it has a serial number on it... my Dad gave this to me when I was in my teens... precious stuff indeed ** Anyways, here is a linky to YouTube so you can hear the song I am waffling on about! **half an hour later, Hels returns after being distracted by allll those Beatles songs on You Tube LOL** So, the theme!! I nearly forgot in all this excitement of Beatles music... the theme this week is... NATURE. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make a little something (can be anything of your choice) include the theme and some stamping and then leave a comment for me here with a link to the place you are showing your entry ... then I can hop on over to see your entry. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 12th March 2011.



My entry this week is a shadow box that I have turned into a "specimen" box. Totally inspired by those amazingly lush new Crowded Attic Papers from the Duke of Distress whom I am now going to also call the Prince of PaperStacks... wow, is all I can say... I thought that the Lost & Found was the best ever but this new one... oooohaaaaooooohaaaaahhh is all I can say LOL *along with how gorgeous it is and how much you neeeed it!* The frame started out as a plain wooden box that I painted with black Dabber and then sanded back so the pale wood showed through... I then added Vintage Photo DI over the top and bashed away with a Texture Hammer to get the vintage look. The number at the top is a Plaquette - aren't those just perfect!!



Now, I do have a "girly" side... it occasionally rears its head and makes me do daft things like dye my hair pink or wear... gasps with horror... skirts! (not that often I hasten to add!) So, I do admit that I love a nice butterfly... and I love a nice moth... so... both on the same page!!! Imagine... I was sooo excited I just had to get the scissors and start snipping away and cutting them out. The idea behind this piece was to recreate one of those old fashioned butterfly collectors boxes... you know, those rather sad looking ones with the beautiful butterflies pinned to a board... well, this way, no butterflies are harmed and it looks as nice, well, I reckon it does :O))




The stamping on this piece was onto the cardstock which is lining the inside of the box... I coloured the card with Antique Linen Stains and then blended Vintage Photo DI over the edges... then did some stamping with more Vintage Photo and some distressy background stamps from Tim's collection. Oh and I added my vintage date stamp on there too... so it looks older than it is... The little pins are Maya Road Crystal Trinket pins which I just cut down in size so they fitted into the butterflies... which I had coloured with Distress Inks... I used my butterfly and moth guide to get some ideas for their colours too.




Anyways... that is my entry... what will you make??? And... do you have the Crowded Attic papers already?? Whatcha fink of them??? Right... YouTube is calling with more Beatles songs for me to listen to *which is stoooopid because I have all the CD's downstairs and could just load them onto the laptop LOL* Thanks for looking... Have a fabbylicious day! TTFN

Hels x

An Olde Book... Part Deux...

...d'ya remember last week I showed you part of an old book I had altered over that superfast speedy weekend with Ellen??? Last week I only got to show you some of my finished pages so I thought that I would show you the rest now. The colour scheme is the same throughout the book... I have a habit of normally doing a different colour for each page so I am chuffed I stuck with this black, cream and red colour way... which, BTW, was totally inspired by Ellen's original olde book that she journalled her first visit to the UK in... tis HERE if you fancy a nosey.



All of the stamping is Studio 490 - I have used Jenni Bowlin papers (I need more of these because they are now my new faves... and sadly I can't find them anywhere over here!!!) I also used some of those new Art Parts... and... my newest favest product to play with ... Clearly For Art BlackOut... oooh, you so need to try this... tis... DIVINE!!





Now I have never really been a "dressy/sewing/frilly" kinda gal... hey, I was the six year old who wanted brick wallpaper on my bedroom walls when most girls wanted Cindy or My Little Pony ROFL However, I was rather pleased with myself when I made a teensy pleated skirt for my little dressform... turned out better than I could have hoped!!!



All of the Studio 490 range, the Art Parts, Clearly For Art etc is readily available from The Stamp Attic... I am off there in a mo to order some more Art Parts and CFA BlackOut, I have another book in my head that needs attention!



Oh and here is a reminder what the front cover looks like... tis old, like very old... the date on the inside is 1922!!! I just love that there is so much age in the covers and yet the inside is new but distressed to make it old... cool huh?!




Right, enough of my waffling... am still suffering with the old war wound and it is driving me nuts so I am off to lay down on a hot water bottle... thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Curiously... 33 & ... Three...

... Oh I know, you will be wondering what on Earth I am on about again... I know I have this habit of *trying* to make ooohhhhahahahaaa titles for my posts but actually this title is... well, apt! Mainly because I have been a tidge excited and distracted the past few weeks what with all the anticipation of Ellen coming to stay and then of course, me going to sit in a room with THE Duke of Distress... actually, this is funny because I have been thinking up different titles for the Duke... so far, the Sultan of Stamping and the Viscount of Vintage... and the latest one... (bear with please as I fear for my sanity...) the ... King of... Kraft!!! Well, he has those new Kraft papers doesn't he? I have yet to see them but I know already that I will not be able to kraft (ahem) without them!



Anyways... the title... I am soooo late on my entry for the Compendium of Curiosities challenge... I mean, I have entered every single week and it would be daft not to just pip in before the bugle calls on last weeks challenge... which, btw, is to Alcohol Ink Metal... all the deets are HERE on Linda's blog... oh and if you are new to this blogging lark and haven't met Linda before, do hop on over for a nosey around her blog... oooh, she is a clever lass and her artwork just schmooozes originality...



So... my tag for this week... a total crib from Day 3 of the King of Kraft's Tags of Christmas '10. I set myself a challenge a few weeks ago that I would try and recreate those tags... and here I am, a few weeks later doing my first one. Oooh, and I used... DISTRESS STAINS... sorry I had to shout then but... seriously... when I first heard about them I did the usual "what would I use those for???" and... now... reality strikes and I neeeed them all.. actually, I need ALL the Distress Ink colours... oooh, lushness indeedily! I used only the Stains for the tag - colouring the background all over with Antique Linen, then smooshing a bit onto my craft sheet, spritzing with water and dip-drying-dip-drying. I inked the stamps with the Stains and coloured birdy and the tree (both Alterations dies) oh and stained the trim with them too....


The next part of the title... the Three... is for week #3 of the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group challenge... basically, Lori - she who is our List Mom and uber organised and talented, has devised a challenge using projects from Wendy's books... this week the challenge was to make a hanging, add a heart and a bit of junk jewellry... My hanging is an abudance of Art Parts (oooh I loooove these), Clearly for Art BlackOut (my new fave stuff) and some inks and Grungepaper and some Jenni Bowlin papers... I am still on my black, cream and red kick... well, if it works why change!



My ickle bit of broken jewellry is teensy... it is hanging from the hanging chain and was an old earring... I just re-jigged the pearls onto head pins and jump rings (am hoping this ickle bit is ok for the challenge!) The Grungepaper flowers and the Art Part leaves were coloured with more Distress Stains... I think the Fired Brick just looks that bit brighter and more oooomphy, if you know what I mean.




I have tried to get a close up photo of the Clearly for Art... I stamped the images with Gold StaZon ink and just whizzed the heatgun over the top to dry it enough so when I was cutting it, it didn't smudge the details... then once it was cut out, I heated it up and then shaped it... seriously, it is that easy to use!!! Ooh, and before I forget, all the 490 stash is available from The Stamp Attic...




Anyways... I have waffled on alarmingly today... if you are still with me... thank you for sticking with me and reading this far :O))... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x