Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thanks for your entries into last weeks nature themed challenge.  This week the theme is... ROSES.   To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something; a card, canvas, ATC, a piece of altered art and add on some roses - be they handmade, paper, stamped, real... the choice.. it be yours! Add in the theme AND some stamping. 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 26th September 2015.

My entry this week is a glass jar *yes, I have been scoffing more pickled onions!* that I altered using the Rock Candy Crackle technique - I love the crackle effect on the glass!  The roses were made using Tim's Tattered Florals die and the Mini Tattered Florals Movers & Shapers die- cutting cream card, inking with Cracked Pistachio and Dusty Concord Distress Ink and overstamping with the Dusty Concord and a Studio 490 background stamp to add a bit of prettiness to them.  There is a tutorial I did ages ago with a step by step on how to make these roses - doesn't matter whether they are the big or little ones... the tut will work for both... tis over there in the sidey bar *points left*


Once the roses were made, I fired up my Melt Pot and melted Clear UTEE into it... then dipped the roses into the clear UTEE to create a faux porcelain effect.  The leaves are the Mini Tattered Leaves Movers & Shapers - also cut from cream card, inked with Peeled Paint DI and overstamped with Forest Moss DI... and also dipped into the clear UTEE.  The sentiment is a Studio 490 stamp, popped onto another of Tim's dies - the Movers & Shapers Labels die.



What a gorgeous day it is here today... bright blue sky and sunshine... which means that I might nip into the garden for a few hours tidying and getting ready for autumn... the old cad Mojo is still not here all the time so while he is away, I shall get greenfingered instead of inkyfingered!  I hope you have a grand day!  Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

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 57 of the book and trying out the Alcohol Ink Ombre technique.  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 maded a tag for my entry.... and I made a concerted effort to keep it simple.  I am one for chucking a load of layers and embellies onto whatever I make (oh, you noticed!) and the sentiment I chose kind of decided how the whole tag was going to look. Nice and simple... plus it shows off the ombre perfectly too.


Once I had the background how I wanted it, I used Wendy's Cornflower Archival Ink (my fave colour .. ok, they are all faves but this one is extra fave!) and stamped a little design at the bottom... and then decided to add some scripty bits but didn't want it to overshadow the paler top half of the ombre, so I used Ranger's Ultramarine and the script was a "second generation" image... basically, I stamped the script onto scrap paper first and used the leftover ink for the main thing... look closely, it is there... just a bit shy for the photo!  I inked some more gloss card with the same colours for stamping my butterflies onto and once cut out, I inked the backs with Mermaid Lagoon DI so there were no bare bits showing.  And yes, there be the little harlequins sitting there... they have appeared on all my entries so it is continuity and not just me being mad!


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

Gooooodly Morning to all you 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 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 33 of the book and altering an Assemblage Clock.  Now, as usual 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. 

My entry this week has been one of those ideas that has been abuzzing about my bonce for yonks - well, ever since the CC3C started actually.  I knew the week we were going to be altering our Assemblage Clocks and I actually planned ahead a little on this one!  I know!  Forward planning and all that!  This post is very photo heavy as there are lots of little details on my clock, so please do feel free to put your feet up and grab a choccy bar :O))



I have seen a fair few altered Assemblage Clocks around and all of them are delightful but I wanted to make something slightly different... something very natural and organic.  The brainwave started out when I picked up a half dead hydrangea from the local Lidl store for a couple of quid at the beginning of June.  The plant had some lovely flower heads all over it but it was really on its last legs... needed a big glug of water and unfortunately, the flower heads were too floppy to revive.  So, I cut them off!  Not only was I promoting new growth, I was also setting aside said flower heads for usage in my clock!  I set them out on a bench in the back garden and hoped they would dry out and skeletonize (new word!) ... which is exactly what they did!  Hurrah! Now I had some "bones" for my clock decorating....



As well as the plant, I also have had this little birdy sitting on my windowsill in the Room of Stash for absolutely yonks.  She was attached to a little log and she was supposed to be being altered in the stylee of the other altered birds I have done over the years... but as per, I haven't got around to it.  She was a bit big for the clock but minus log and minus glass for the clock, she fits perfectly.



So, the altering!  The whole vision I had in me head was one of an old discarded alarm clock, sitting in a hedgerow, covered in rust and reappropriated by Mrs Blue Tit into a little place for her to call home.  The clock comes in a bright silver tone and whilst this is ok, it wasn't anything like what I wanted so once I had removed the glass frontage,  I set to with some Ranger Texture Paste and Alcohol Inks.  I started by mixing up Ginger and Rust into the Texture Paste and popping it onto the clock with a palette knife.  I then used the same AI's along with Butterscotch and Pebble mixed in, applying with a felt pad and in places where my tool wouldn't fit, I used the palette knife to smudge the inky felt into it.  Directly dropping Rust and Ginger AI's onto the paste made it really rusty and a wee sprinklage and Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powders added some extra texture to it.



For the inside I mixed Walnut Stain and Frayed Burlap Distress Paints and painted this one, drying with a heat tool and then adding more of the Texture Paste inky mix and repeating the process I used for the outside.   I wanted to add something pretty for the background so I chopped up some Wallflower paper, stamped my usual diamond stamp (gotta get it in there somewhere!) and then blended some Vintage Photo DI around to mucky it up a smidge.  I wanted to add a few words so I used Chit Chat stickers to make a little phrase to sit inside the clock.


Mrs Birdy was a bit bright - as normal, I forgot to take before pics... ooopsies!  I used a sanding block and took off some of her painted coat and then using the same mix of Distress Paints as before, I lightly painted over her and wiped off the excess... once dried, I added Distress Inks to make her tone in.  



For the inside decoration, I nipped into the garden and snipped up some old twiggy and leafy bits, picked up some feathers, foraged for pebbles and seed heads and of course, grabbed some of the hydrangea heads, they had gone exactly how I wanted... skeletonified!  I then made a circle nesty shape from some grasses and started building up her nesty abode.  Of course, she has to have some eggs so I pinched a few pebbles from the garden, painted them with Weathered Wood DP and lightly spritzed them with a Sharpie Marker and the Distress Spritzer to add some speckles.   Finally, I added some more nesting material around the edge of the clock... the ivy across the top was actually a piece that we cut back at the beginning of the summer and it was missed when we picked all the cuttings up... I was chuffed to see a real spidery web and a dead peel bug stuck to the end of it!  Can't get much more realistic than that!



That's all for now - don't forget, you will have two 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!  Thanks for looking, have an inky inspirational day!  TTFN

Gooooodly Morning to all you 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 Hobnob with you :O)    The challenge is sponsored by the Funky Junkie Boutique this time... so you will have a chance of winning a generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  As before, 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 58 of the book and playing with Faded Layers.  Now, 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.

My entry is a tag... as planned, all the challenges that I can do on a tag, I will do... and the reason?  Well, once the challenge has finished I will have a lovely aide memoire to flick back through... and if the old Mojo goes on his holibobs, I will be able to hopefully tempt him back with some of the ideas I have used during the challenges.



I can't tell you how I achieved my background... in keeping with the challenge rules, you will have to check out Page 58 yourself to learn all about it :O)   I can tell you, however, the goodies that I used!   Starting out with Cool Peri, Pool and Cloudy Blue Alcohol Inks to get some colour down and Tim's Bubbles and Diamonds Layering Stencils to do the technique, I cut my cardstock down to fit onto a Size 8 tag.  I edged around the card with a black Sharpie marker to give it a nice finished edge and then set about adding a very small smidge of stamping.  I didn't want to overdo the stamping as it would have detracted from the subtle techniquey bit.  Finally I have remembered to take a few pics of the "assemblage" bit... so here we go:


I used Jet Black Archival to stamp my little diamonds (this is my most used and fave Tim stamp and I use it on everything... and plan to use it on each entry for the CC3C... a bit of continuity eh?)   The flourishes are Remnant Rubs... I have got the mini flourish stamp that matches but I fancied using Remnant Rubs for a change and a bit of extra texture.   Check out that top flourish... looks like it is floating in mid air right?  For the time being it is... instead it is so positioned so it pops out from under my flowery adornments :O)







Using some of Tim's Paper String, I wrapped around the coloured cardstock and tied a little Heart Charm onto it using a jump ring... I like to add a bit of "natural" to bright projects like this to calm them down a bit... hey this is bright... I am out of my comfort zone lol



I always add something to the top of a tag... and the Linen Ribbon is my FAVE stuff to use.  I picked up a Charm Clip and popped the Linen Ribbon through it, ready for poking through the tag hole.  You will notice that the Philosophy Tag is missin from the finished tag.. that is because it dangled tooo much and blocked out the flowers at the top.. so off it came!  The Ornate Plate has an Adage Ticket inside it, just lightly coloured with a smidge of Broken China DI to make it tone in nicely.  A clip full of pearls and a Chain Tassel for even more embellishmentybobs was also added to the Ornate Plate... ya can never have too many embellibobs!






Using Distress Core-dinations and Tim's Flower Garland and Spring Greens dies, I cut some flowers and leaves and once sanded to reveal the core, I layered up the flowers and then added little Custom Fasteners to the centres.  And voila... all finished!





That's all for now - don't forget, you will have two 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 day!  TTFN

...have you seen those new Idea-ology Woodland Trees? I loves them!  They start life as a creamy white colour and you just add your own colours to them.  For these I drizzled a combo of Lettuce and Pesto Alcohol Inks all over them... turned them upside down to get rid of the excess and then gave it is gentle blast of heat from a heat tool... that burns off the excess alcohol fumes.  As soon as I saw the trees I knew I would be faffing with a Studio 490 Art Part Spool... perfect size and height to show off these cool litte decorations.

please excuse rubbish blurry pics... my camera did not want to focus!!!

Anyways... I decided the trees needed some frostyness... so I got some Ranger Glue & Seal and brushed it over the bristles (be careful with this, I have a lovely Glue & Seal splattered top now lol) and then rolled the tree in Dry Rock Candy Stickles (love this, looks like sugar)  And then I did the same again for the ickle tree.  I wanted to use the wreath that comes with the two trees but it didn't fit with the design so that is waiting for another project.




The Spool was covered with music score paper from the MME Lost & Found Xmas paper pad and then blended with Gathered Twigs DI around the edges... sanded to neated up and then assembled.  I made three Tattered Pinecones (Cosmic Glue is the best glue for this!) and added in a mini Red Cardinal (how sweet is he!) and some Branches and Holly Leaf cut from Grungeboard.   The little reindeer is a Movers & Shapers mini die... with a golden bell around his neck. (all Sizzix Alterations dies)  The ickle snowman is actually a tree decoration; my BFF Andrea sadly lost her father-in-law last year and when she was in the process of clearing out the house, she happened across some really old Xmas decs.  When she showed this little fella to me I knew I would be using him for something arty... I also have a little tree and a little angel from the same set which I will be using sometime soon too.



I have been keeping an eye on the weather over in America... and to all my American friends, stay safe, stay dry and stay warm... and praying the hurricane passes by and doesn't cause too much damage.  It is times like this that I feel the distance between us all.  The internet is a wonderful thing... makes the whole wide world so much smaller and accessible... but it also makes me realise how far away I am from my friends at times like this.  



 
That's all from me for today... I have about 462 things on my to-do list today... having had three days sick last week has made me so behind with all my projects... an inky day is called for me-thinks!  Oh and thank you all for the amazing comments on yesterdays post... wowow!!! Over 100 comments.... good luck all in the prize draw!  Thanks for looking... TTFN!


Hels x

..Patina...erm...Patinad? Patinaed? Well, however it is supposed to be spelt... that is what I am today! Oh yesh, it is time for the Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge again. Hosted by the delightful Linda Ledbetter, all the deets on how to join in and what the theme is are HERE on her blog... and don't forget to hop over to see the guy whom this whole challenge is about... Tim Holtz... his website is HERE. This week we have turned to Page 58 in the book and are playing with Alcohol Inks... I shalln't go into the details etc on how to do this technique as it wouldn't be fair... Needless to say, this is the first time I have tried this technique and I am... in lurve! I expect to see it on everything I make from now on!


All the stashly goodies I made the tag with are detailed over on The Stamp Attic Blog... along with links to the website so you can click over to have a little spend if you fancy. **I am such an enabler lol** Right... I have to tell you all about my near death experience! I have just about calmed down and can now talk openly about it (ok, so I may be milking this a little but, for the first time, I am not exaggerating with this little story) So, I am driving back from my T'Pouch class on Sunday evening when I spy a storm in the distance... I even said to myself "cor that looks bad" Next thing, the car is being pelted by hailstones the size of baked beans... now, I didn't get out and measure them but... that is how big they looked on the road ahead of me.



Nothing deathly about a few little hailstones... no, true... however, the lightning that shot out of the sky and walloped into a 60ft conifer as I was just passing was very deathly... because said conifer literally exploded outwards, all the branches and the trunk were shooting over the road and clattering onto the car!!! (and... I wasn't in Ferdy, oh no, I was driving Grim's car, which is probably just as well because I tend to be a bit... ahem... slower in Grim's car) So, I managed to swerve (thank goodness nothing was coming the other way!) out of the way and carried on my journey for about 5 minutes, by which time I was shaking and in need of, ahem, nicotinely calming measures ... so I stopped in a lay-by and took several deep... erm... breaths!


Being as I had cheated death by seconds, I decided that it might be a good idea to milk the situation... so I spent most of yesterday either snoozling on the sofa or watching telly... I know, I know, I should have been unpacking my tote bag and putting my Room of Trash back into the tidy state it has become accustomed to but... I needed to rest... get over my ordeal and all that lol **yes, and any excuse to get out of cleaning the Room of Stash!**



In all seriousness though... it was chuffing scary.... I have driven through some manky weather in my time but never been as close to lightning as that... the boom that it made was literally instantaneous and the ground shook! Anyways... I am ok, alive and still waffling so it can't have affected me that much (don't groan and say worst luck lol)


Check out the pics... these are from my classes this weekend. Many thanks to Caz, Lewis, Yvonne, Jan and Sue for taking part in the Altered Book class on Saturday and to Wendy, Gayle, Judy, Tessa, Karen, Sue, Lewis and Caz for taking part in Sunday's T'Pouch class. I had a splendid time... oh and if you hop HERE, you can see the finished T'Pouches they all made... I forgot to get pics so good job Wendy was on the case!


Right... time for bed methinks... thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

...Umbrella Man... Aha! I sang that to you, you know... to the tune of Nowhere Man... did you like it? (or, are your ears now bleeding?) So... the other day when I was faffing about with honeycomb paper and Alterations I decided to have a little pop at tranforming Brolly Man's brolly. Cor blimey, how fragile is that honeycomb paper eh? This one is the third attempt, I kept trying to stick it down and ended up getting sticky fingers on the paper and crushing it.


The background of the tag is one of my fave Alcohol Ink techniques... colouring a piece of acetate *I just use packaging from Idea-ology* and I used Cool Peri, Juniper, Cloudy Blue and Purple Twilight AI's. I then used a wordy Reflections stamp, stamping in Jet Black Archival and then immediately dabbing off the ink - it just looks fab, a really cool "resist" technique. I popped this tag over a white one I cut and had edged with Black Soot DI.




Brolly Man is made from mountboard, coloured with Black Soot DI and layered onto 3D foam so he can stand atop the circles which are cut from Grungeboard and coloured with DI's. I added some Idea-olgy for decoration and coloured some cheapy washerywotsits with Rust AI. This tag also fits the theme of this weeks Sunday Stamper... which is Life.


I am wide awake.. it is a little before 5am and I just cannot sleep... I think it is excitement... I am off to Preston today because I am demo-ing at Cardcraft Plus tomorrow... flippin' heck it is miles away from home you know... I will be letting the train take the strain (hurrah, I love travelling by train) so I plan to have a little read of my book and a nosey out of the window (and no doubt I will eat my sandwiches before we have even left the first station lol) So, if you are in/near Preston tomorrow it would be loverly to see you! Oh and before I go... CLICK HERE... that's a link to my Art Part Spool giveaway... just another couple of days left to join in :O)) Right, I am off to see if I can grab a few snoozles before the alarm goes off... somehow I think I will be back in the Room of Stash in half an hour getting inky again! Thanks for looking... have a fab day! TTFN

Hels x

Goodly Morning and Festive Felicitations to one and all! I thought I would pop on today and do a very quick post to say Merry Christmas to all of you lovely peeps who have supported me and this blog this year... and also I want to show off just how clever my little AlfieCat is....



Oh yes, he took time out from mousing and snoozing (not at the same time) yesterday afternoon to make his Daddy a Christmas card. Now, as you may recall, he took over the Room of Stash earlier in the year when it was Grim's birthday and made a really cool steampunky card... and yesterday he made a really cool Christmas card....



I had a few scraps of my fave Graphic 45 Christmas papers left over and he diecut them to make a couple of mini rosettes (he had seen Aunty Ellen do these and wanted to try them) ... and he cut some Grungepaper into holly shapes using one of Tim's Alterations. So, now AlfieCat has Ink on his Paws... and is walking about making noises about setting up his own blog so he can show off his crafty makes and dead mice.... not sure that anyone would want to see the mice though lol



Before I go, I have a very special Christmas message for you all from us Sheridan's.... CLICK HERE to view it in it its entirety......



Anyways... that's all from me for today... I hope your Christmas is all you wish for and you have a wonderful and peaceful time..... Thanks for looking... TTFN!



Hels x

Oooh, I had a lovely afternoon yesterday faffing with all things Tim Holtz and have made a tag for my entry into the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge this week which is make a Tim Tag. I still haven't got past Day 3 of the 12 Tags of Christmas.... I have die cut all the pieces I need and that is my "thing to do" this evening... well, Grim is at work and Alfie is entertained with the Christmas tree, I have got all the shopping done (akkk... Morrison's at 8am... with about 500 people with the same idea as me lol) so a little time playing is in order methinks :O))



I coloured the tag with Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and sploshed a few dabbles of water on to it and then used the Crackle stamp and Vintage Photo to do a smidge of stamping on the background. I snipped some music score paper and popped this across the middle and then got all exciteable with Kraft Glassine paper.



The Pinecones are made from Glassine that was coloured with a few different brown Alcohol Inks... and then I used Gold Metallic Mixative and coloured a whole sheet with it... then scrumpled it up and dragged a Walnut Stain DI over the top.. loooove this antique and shabby look. I used some of the Pinecone paper to cut a lace border for the bottom of the tag and popped some gems over the top.




The baubles are coloured with Red Pepper Alcohol Ink to make berries and the larger ones were coloured with Gold Mixative... simply popping them into a baggy, squirting in the ink and giggling them about... how fab are they!!! I added some bling flourishes and added Idea-ology to decorate the tag and finished with a little Maya Road Star.




So... are you ready for Christmas? I am feeling very chuffty tuffty with myself this year... for the first time ever, I have all the gifts wrapped, cards made and sent, food shopped for... bread in the freezer cos we always run out in those two long days that the shops are shut (ahemmmm... takes tongue out of cheek) and... most importantly... a clear desk and tidy room! I know! I shall have to give this old halo a polish you know! Anyways... I had better get moving... I have 9 Tim Tags to make... oh and... the Sunday Stamper is actually starting tomorrow being as it is Christmas Day on Sunday.... so the challenge will be posted in the morning. Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy frosty Sunday to you all. Many thanks for all the heavenly Christmassy entries last week, I am in a fair festive mood after seeing them all. This week I have some candy to giveaway... well, it is Christmas so it is my thank you to everyone who has participated with the Sunday Stamper this year. The theme, if you haven't already guessed, is SANTA CLAUS. To join in with the challenge all you need to do is make something - it can be anything you fancy - add in the theme and some stamping and then hop back here to leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry. If you haven't got a blog/flickr/photobucket etc you can email me a photo of your entry. To be in with a chance of winning the candy is simples... leave me a comment here and pop a pic & link in your sidebar back to this post ... and if you join in as well, your name will be entered twice. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Friday 23rd December. It is closing early this week because next weeks challenge will be a Sunday Stamper on a Saturday... I thought that we would all be a bit busy peeling sprouts next Sunday so there's an extra day to join in :O))


Right... on with my entry. Each year since 2007 I have made an 8" x 8" piece of wall art. I actually hadn't twigged that I was doing this until a few days ago when I was putting up my decorations and opened up one of the boxes and there sat all these pieces... and all of them are red! I reckon something subliminal has been going on there. Anyways... I decided to make another piece for the collection... I am going to see how long I can keep this up... by the time I am 60 I will have... erm... very lots of 8" pieces of wall art!


So... my shadow box was painted with Fired Brick Cracklepaint... and once this was dry I gave it a rub over with some Gathered Twigs Distress Inks. Then I squirted a very fine coat of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mists to add some Christmas sparkle. The insert is a piece of white card, painted with Glue & Seal and then I popped some Tim Tissue over it, coloured it with Picket Fence, Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap Distress Stains, edged with Vintage Photo and then glued into place with Glossy Accents... and then I realised it is slightly on the wonk... ooooopsie~daisies... don't tell anyone and I might get away with it lol


The focal point of the piece is a lovely big square of Stampbord. I loooove this stuff and am very tight using it... I am always filled with dread that I will get all cack~handed and fudge the stamping... so, I was uber careful and made sure that I was steady when I stamped Santa. I like to use Distress Inks to colour the Stampbord... and stamp with Archival Ink. The trick is to remember to dry everything thoroughly with a heat tool as you build the layers. I used Antique Linen, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo and Tattered Rose to colour Santa, getting into the fiddly bits with Cut & Dry Nibs. Finally, I used a scratcher tool to add texture to his hair and beard.



The embellishments are diecuts using Holly Branch and Tattered Banners Alterations Dies, Bazzill, Grungepaper and music score paper. The Grunge was coloured with Distress Inks and the Pine Cones were assembled and then edged with Vintage Photo. The little Reindeer is sitting in a Memo Pin... and ssshhh, don't tell anyone but... behind all of the holly bits, I used a piece of foam to build them up so they sit nicely over the edge of the box... I just covered it with more music score paper :O)) I want/need some of those mercury glass baubles... but... seeing as I haven't got any I tried to make my own versions using large Baubles and Silver Alcohol Ink Mixatives... mmm, not 100% that it works... but they are a pretty colour at least lol




And... here's a piccie of the Candy... included is; Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Forever Green & Forever Red Perfect Pearls Mists, Maya Road Chip Books, Wooden Word "Friends", Alterable plastic stars, Christmas charms and some 7Gypsies Journalling cards.



Right... I think that is it... blimey, that is one biiig explanation... hope you haven't nodded off! I had better go, I need to get to bed... another late night! Did you watch the Strictly final? I thought that Jason's show-dance was the best of the three and Harry was a very deserving winner... bless Chelsee though, she has a natural talent there... I should be a judge lol Thanks for looking... have a fabby week! TTFN

Hels x

Goodly Morning! Cor blimey, who has been fast forwarding this month already?? I can't believe that we are nearly half way through December already! Anyways... tis my day for the Artistic Stamper Creative Team today, and as is usual for this time of the month, I have made a tag to giveaway. To see all the deets on how to win the tag, please CLICK HERE. You may have noticed that in the title of this post I have said it is a Show & Hels... well, it is! I was planning on doing a Show & Hels on Saturday, as is the norm... however, having been near deaths' door for 48 hours (ok, not quite that close but feeling it lol) I didn't get chance... time to rectify that, so we have a Tuesday Show & Hels instead. Before I crack on with the pics for the Step by Steps, here's a sneak peek at the finished tag that is being given away... and on it are some of the diecuts I have made using this fab technique.



So... the technique is colourizing Kraft Glassine with SnowCap Alcohol Ink. During the 12 Tags, the Duke of Distress was using Kraft Glassine, coloured with green shades of Alcohol Ink and then die-cutting the Glassine to make gorgeous holly leaves... oohlalalaaa, I love the look of this and being as I have a bottle of SnowCap which I hadn't tried, I thought I would give it a go. If you look at the bottom of the tag, there's a snowflake border... and at the top of the tag there's a couple of snowflakes... well, these have been cut from Glassine that has had the SnowCap treatment. Here's a list of the stash you will need to do this technique:

INGREDIENTS:
Kraft Glassine
SnowCap Alcohol Ink
Metallic Mixatives - Gold
Non Stick Craft Sheet
Heat Tool
Blending Tool
Felts
Blending Solution
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Paper Towel/Inky Binky



STEP 1

Shake the SnowCap ink really well, you should be able to hear a little ball rattling around inside the bottle... if you can't hear it, tap the bottle sharply onto your desk, this should dislodge the ball and make it rattle. It is important that the SnowCap is really well mixed before you use it as the contents do separate when not used. Apply three generous squirts of SnowCap onto the felt on your Blending Tool.



STEP 2

Apply the SnowCap onto your Kraft Glassine; you can pop this onto to the paper in exactly the same way you would apply other Alcohol Inks. Make sure that the coverage is pretty even.



STEP 3

Once you have covered the whole sheet, use a heat tool to dry the ink... because the Glassine has a coating on it, the SnowCap will sit on top of the paper until heat dried. You will see as you apply heat to the paper that is goes very shiny, this is the coating on the paper melting slightly. As soon as the heat is removed, it goes back to matte.



STEP 4

Give the Metallic Mixative bottle a really good shake, this too has a ball inside the bottle to help agitate the contents. Pop three drops of the Mixative onto a clean piece of felt on your Blending Tool. You don't need much Mixative as it is really concentrated.


STEP 5

Dab the Blending Tool onto the Glassine... you can add as much or as little as you prefer - you can also use different Mixative colours to suit your own tastes too :O))



STEP 6
Pop a little bit of Blending Solution onto your felt... covering your Mixative dots so they bleed out slightly. Apply these in a dabbing motion onto the Glassine... you will see that the gold dots on the Glassine blend in more... if you prefer a more splotchy look then use less Blending Solution. If you find you have used too much and the Glassine paper is showing through, simply add some more SnowCap over the top and heat dry again.


STEP 7

**You will see on this photo that you can't really notice the Mixative that has been blended... it is there, I just couldn't get the angle of the camera right to pick it up** Shake your Metallic Mixative bottle up again... the contents of the bottle do settle quite quickly. Shake drops of Mixative over your Glassine - like popping vinegar on chips (ooh, chips, who said chips lol)



STEP 8

Use your heat tool to dry the surface of the Glassine, the Mixative will bubble every so slightly, this is normal.



STEP 9

Once your Glassine is completely dry, scrumple it up into a ball. This is going to add lots of lovely crackles and peaks to the surface. You may see some of the SnowCap going a bit powdery and coming off... this is normal, depending on the thickness of the coat of SnowCap.


STEP 10

Open the Glassine out flat and use a paper towel or cloth (see my disgusting dirty inky binky there!) to wipe off any dust that has settled onto the Glassine.




STEP 11

Apply your Vintage Photo Distress Ink directly to the Glassine, it will collect on the peaks in the scrumples... you don't need to press on very hard and I did notice that some of the white had collected on the ink pad, I just wiped it onto some scrap paper and it came back to normal.


STEP 12

Using a heat tool, dry the whole piece of Glassine. As before, you will see that as the heat hits it, it goes shiny - wet looking... and as soon as the heat is removed, it goes back to matte... this is normal :O))



IDEAS FOR USAGE



I have used my Glassine to die cut lots of different shapes... you could also use it to make a ruffle or a flower or a banner border... the choice is yours!


I hope that you like this technique and find it helpful... ooh and before I go... if you leave me a comment here as well as over on the Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog, I will enter your name twice into the hat to win the tag. Right, time for bed already.... thanks for looking... and... as ever... TTFN!

Hels x