And The Winner Is...

...mahoosive thank you to everyone who joined in my Burlap Panel giveaway.  There were 77 comments left in time so I fed this number into Random.org and he came up with the following:

Number 28 tallies with the comment left by HELEN.  Congrats to Helen, please can you email me your addy and I will pop your panel into the post!  Again, thank you to everyone who left me such lovely comments... makes me smile biggly!


In other news... you will be happy to hear that I managed to spend a whole night in the bed last night!  Now, those slippy pyjamas... are actually made from jersey cotton and not satin (I mean, really?  Who would actually be comfy and snug in satin jammies huh?)  Anyways, said pyjamas weren't worn and I stayed put.  See, tis all their fault and not me being a complete div!   No arty bits to show you today because I am mid way through a big project that I started yesterday on my Skype sesh with Ellen... we decided to revisit a previous I Challenge Thee... am having so much fun playing!  I better get a move on, paint to dry and other stuff to...erm... play with!  Thanks for looking, have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner... Is...

...teehee, I am going to make you wait a wee while longer to find out because first, I need to tell you what I have been up to with my Snazzy DT this month... we have been playing with some delicious My Minds Eye papers and here's a little schneaky peekingtons at what I made... BTW... you can see the full pics/deets etc HERE on the Snazzy blog!

And enough of me making you wait... so, I had a whopping 70 comments left for my giveaway, thanks all for those!  I fed the number into Random.Org and he decided that #26 was the lucky one this time... which corresponds with the comment left by Almo.  Congrats to you and please can you email me your addy so I can pop your prize into the post!  *my email is available by clicking on my pic at the top of the page*

I shall away now... I have a few things I need to get sorted out today and of course, as ever, the Room of Stash needs a smidge of attention... all this in and out teaching and demo-ing lark has left the old four walls in a state of disarray!  *nowt new there then!* and if I leave it any longer it will be one of those "whole day wasted clearing up after ones slatternly self" jobs!  Thanks for looking... have a great day!

TTFN

Hels x

...And... The Winner IS!!!

...cor blinking blimey!  Big thanks for all the lovely comments on my giveaway bloggy birthday post!  79 comments in total and all of you are telling me that you loves my waffling!  Whey hey, I don't need an excuse to yak for England now lol   I used Random.org to pick a winner, feeding the numbers in and it came up with number 11.  This tallies with the comment left by....

TRACY HEATON!  Congrats to Tracy, please can you email me your postal addy and I will pop this tag into the mail for you.

No art to show you today... oh ho, I am midst sample making for the telly shows on Friday (brand new product... loves it!) and also I have my secret project that I am just putting the finishing touches to... and another good excuse is that yesterday I spent most of the day gawping at the telly watching the Touring Cars.  We were going to go as it is only 20mins down the road to the circuit but... Mr Weatherman said that it was going to be horrendously rainy and freezing cold and what with my back and Grim's knees we decided to watch it on the tellybox.  What actually happened was it spat with rain and wasn't that cold!  Tsk... never mind, to make up for the lack of seeing the racing live, I cooked a nice beef in ale and Yorkie Puds... so all was not lost!   NOM!

I shall away now... I have an appointment with some... new stuff!   Thanks for looking! TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is......

...cor blimey and thrice indeedily!   Today is the day to announce the winner of the blog candy giveaway... and WOW, 104 comments in total!  Thank you all so much!  *there were 110 but 5 were duplicates and one was spam, so those were excised for fairness' sake*     I fed the total number of comments into Random.org and this is the result he gave me:  The winner is.... Comment #16 which is from Valerie.   Congrats to Valerie, please pop your postal address over to me by email and I will send your goodies out to you this week.    
**EDIT**   Valerie, if you click on my Profile, it will give you my email addy.... hear from  you soon :O))

I had a cracking weekend at Birds in the Barn in Essex, teaching on Friday and Saturday and then a fabby demo day yesterday... and, I am fair pooped.  For, you see, something happened on the way home!   A couple of weeks ago, Jane, the Sat Nav, fell sick... and Mr Tom-Tom suggested we return her to them and they will fix her up.  So, errrrm... I am LOST without Jane, she is my little guardian angel, she gives me directions and never huffs or rustles maps at me when I go wrong (which is oft!)   Anyways, knowing I have been to BITB several times, I figured I would be ok, just so long as I got back onto the M11... there's this roundabout, well, a set of them, and you have to go in ever decreasing circles around them, lane changing and all that malarkey.  Well, me and Ferdy were managing just fine, negotiated the roundabouts and were soon tootling along the M11 (in the right direction too) when I spied one of those big flashing orange hangy-over-the-carriageway-signs telling me that the A14 was closed from J26 - J21.   Now, knowing I had to go along the A14, and being as I am ever so prepared *not* and didn't have a map, I decided that I would give Grim a call... he would know A) if it was the bit of the A14 I needed and B) a different way... being a bloke and good with directions and all that.   Anyways... bless him... it is a relief that he has free minutes on his moby cos I would hate to think how much that call would have costed.... he got his map (I heard rustling but no huffing, he is good like that too) and told me which exit to take to go on a diversion.... and then, clever old stick that he is, he got the iPad thingyjobbywotsit and got Google Earth so he could actually see road names and landmarks and such like.   Well, it must have been over 30 mins that he guided me through the countryside... I tell you what, there's a place called Kimbolton in Beds that is gorgeous... all windy lanes and pretty houses, we may have to visit there!   And he even didn't growl at me when he was giving me yet more directions and I yelled "Oh NO! There's a rabbit.... "  which thankfully, decided not to run in front of Ferdy.  Phew!  Then, I was driving through a village called Hilton and I could see a cricket pitch on the left hand side of the lane.  And on one side of the lane were some cricketers, then I sussed that I had actually just driven through their game of cricket!  They were all togged up in white and all that too!  Whoopsie-daisies!!!    Finally I made it onto the A14 (after the road block) and got home, a little later than planned (ok, nearly an hour later) but in one piece... and the moral of the story.  NEVER send your Sat Nav away for repair when you have to drive your car ... even if it is only for 3 miles...  And... always keep your phone juice topped up... and... erm... get a map for the car.... you know, just in case!  And on that bombshell, I shall say... thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

And The Winner Is...

...cor blimey!  Many thanks for all your lovely comments on my giveaway!   There were a grand total of 84 comments left (I have deleted ones that went on twice to make it fair)   So, Mr.Random.org has done his stuff and told me that the winner he has chosen is........

Yepo, numero uno!  Which tallies with the comment left by Amanda.   Thanks Amanda and please pop your address over to me on email so I can send your prize out to you.  I will do as I always do too... if the winner doesn't claim the prize by 07:00 Monday 20th May 2013, I will re-do the draw.

I am having a lovely time here in sunny Telford at Crafty Bunch where owner Sue has made me ever so welcome.  Yesterdays class was fabby, everyone really had a lot of fun and there weren't any burnt fingers either... which is always a miracle if I am teaching cos I am the one usually saying "OWWWW"  Today I get to do it all again too... hurrah!   Kaz has been her usual awesome self with the old social media - I am so forgetful, I know I have a camera on my phone, I just forget to use it!  Anyways... there's a piccie of us before the class.... And this next one is my new trick.....

Kaz has taught me the art of Malteser Blowing!  I have seen her doing this before and I have tried and better tried and nope, several tonnage of Maltesers later and I am still no nearer to getting this little choccy morsel to float... After several botched attempts and Maltesers on the forehead, chin and eye (yes, into the corner of it..)  here's me mastering it... I shall be doing this alllll the time now you know... everyone should know how to blow a Malteser.....

Right, I shall away... I am so looking forward to another day teaching Melt Pot techniques... and I will try and get something finished to show you what we have been up to!    Thanks for looking... have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

And... The Winner Is...

...cor blimey!  Tis winner's day again today and, firstly, thank you for the mahooosive 70 comments left for me... wow, I am so chuffty tuffty! Thank you!  So, I fed the data into Random.Org (get me, feeding data, makes me sound like I am a whizz with all things computery lol)  And this is the answer he gave me:

Which tallies with the comment left by Tracy Heaton. Congrats to Tracy and please can you send me your addy by email so I can pop your pressie into the post!    

A quick update on the old poorly peeper... still poorly!  Not quite sure what I have done, well, I didn't actually do anything, it just got reallllly sore... so I am confined to specs again and am getting used to them, well, a bit used to them lol  
Anyways, let me tell you about what AlfieCat did last night!  He is a little monkey indeedily... leading Mummy down the garden path!  So, we got home from our meal out (which was scrummy btw and we were all very saintly and declined pudding!) and Alf is expecting his supperingtons.  Which I was going to give him but first I needed to take some meds and have a crafty you know what out of the back door.  Now, Alf is allowed out during the day but not after dark because he turns into a lunatic and goes off for hours on end.  Well, I was wearing a new hair accessory... namely a big bundle of blue feathers... and when I took it off Alf was making out he was wanting to nick it, so I clipped it onto his collar... and in return for my jazzing up his outfit, he beggared off into the garden, danced about a bit (you know that daft cat-dance thing when they are wearing something that annoys them?)  and then he ran down the garden path to his little Alfie Hole in the fence (years ago, when we had the new fence installed, we got the nice Fence Man to cut a hole in it so Alf can get through to the Spinney and go mousing - see we are good parents like that...)  Anyways... after calling him, trying to see him (remember, I am partially sighted with my broken eye) I gave up, turned the catflap to open only and went to sit down... Then I remembered he hadn't had his supperingtons so I grabbed his bowl and a fork and rattled them outside the back door... my neighbours love me you know :O))   Well, there he is, hurtling up the garden path, sans fancy feathery hair accessory... or so I thought.  What had actually happened was it had spun around on his collar and was now under his chin.  He looked SO cute, blue is SO his colour!  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it, so I shall spend today trying to recreate it and try and get a piccie to share with you.... but he did get extra treats last night because he came home for Mummy, meaning I didn't have to sit by the back door all night worrying about him and waiting for him to put in an appearance (yes, been there, done that... several times... much to Grim's surprise as he keeps reminding me "he is a cat, he likes the dark... "  Well, I am an anxious Mummy...)   Right, enough of my wafflings, I shall away, I have cats to accessorize and work to be done!  Thanks for looking.. have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

PS... just a heads up - I have been given some more dates for Melt Art shows on Create & Craft, as it stands it will be 9th May at 12pm and 4pm but that could change so I will keep you informed :O))

...AND... The Winner Is...

...cor! blinking! blimey!  Thank you all for the mahoooosive 117 comments on the pendant giveaway... wow, my gast is truly flabbered!  Anyways... I have done the old Mr.Random.Org thingy and this is what he came up with ...

Yes, the winning comment is #110 which tallies with the comment left by LinW.  Congrats to Lin, please email me with your addy and I will pop the pendant into the post for you!   Tis a super fast post for now, am midst making something and I hope to be back later with it... if not, it will be tomorrow!  Oh ho, I shall have to get a wiggle on, that "to-do" list has gone bonkers this past few days!  Thanks again for all your lovely comments... have a fab day!  TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is... Take II

...teeheeee, I loves a giveaway, makes me very happy to read all your lovely comments too... so thank you for all 58 of them on the card giveaway post from Saturday.  Tis time to draw the winner, so what I did was asked Mr. Random.org to think of a number (remember Johnny Ball and "Think of a Number"? OR am I just showing my age? hahaha)  Anyways... he chose my lucky number 13 to be the winner, which tallies with the comment left by Cornish Emma.  Thanks again folks for all your comments and please can you email me your addy please Emma?    On with todays post.....

Even though the samples do get chance to be seen on yonder telly, I know it isn't a proper old look at them... so I have picked three of my fave cards from the sample collection (and there were over 30!) to show you today.  The stamp sets used on them are: Wildflower Art, Art For You and My Kind of Art which are all lush Studio 490 stamps.  The leaves are Spellinders Foliage 2 and the flower is Spiral Blossom 3.    This first card is my FAVE of all the cards I have made... ever!  I consider myself to be a bit pants when it comes to card designs... I see so many beautifully sculpted and dimensional cards on my travels and I wish I could come up with something special like that... I seem to be better doing dimension on canvases and Art Parts and the like... I need a cardmaking lesson methinks!   But... this one.. I like the balance of it... and I also love the kraft colour (cos it... erm.. is brown lol)  I like the pile of embellies in the corner... the spiral flower was made with black card, the leaves are cut from Bazzill and the little raven and air mail piece are the Embellish Your Art goodies I had on the shows: aren't they just SO cute together!  This is a card I dreamt too... the raven with the air mail thing, a flash of inspiration during a trip to the Land of Nod!

Next up is my second fave card from the batch: another simple design but this time adding a pop of colour to the base of the card.  Made by popping the new Chicken Wire That Special Touch stencil over the card and lightly blending Barn Door DI over in patches... and then just making a little mat for the sentiment and bunging a spiral flower with some leaves a couple of pins... simples!

And finally, a card with a bit more substance, ie: a ton of paper!  I loves Embellish Your Art for many reasons: one being that they are designed by the crafting goddess that is Wendy Vecchi... and another is the attention to detail, like the fact they are all flat backed, so no matter how much dimension you have on them, they stick perfectly to your artwork without need for clods of silicone glue.  This little Star Brand bottle is a case in point, a little cut out bit has been made in the neck of the bottle... so the flower slides in perfectly and yep, it is all flat backed!  Genius right!   A few layers of paper and a simple sentiment and voila, a pretty card all done and ready to go.  To jazz up an otherwise plain mat, I stamped the beautiful flourish from My Kind of Art onto the mat using Pale Ochre Archival Ink.. just adds some decoration without being over-powering.

Anyways, that's a few cards for you to see :O)   I had a question left by Carol Q the other day... she asked which set the sentiment on Saturday's card came from... that is the Wildflower Art set hun :O)    Right then, I shall away.  We have an exciting day ahead.  Grim is off work this week on annual leave so today we are away to spend the day with Richard & Mary and Jerry the Springer (I am sooo looking forward to seeing him (Jerry that is *snort*) cos I haven't seen him since Xmas!)   And... today is the day that Richard teaches me how to play... my Ukelele!  So if you see lots of riots and stuff on the news tomorrow you will know it is their neighbours out with burning pitchforks trying to get me to stop torturing my new instrument (not to mention the singing lol)   Thanks for looking... have a lovely day!  TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is... Take I

...cor blimey and thrice! What a lot of wonderful comments you all left for my Giveaway Part I last week! Thank you all... muchly appreciated :O)   Without further ado, I shall announce the winner of my giveaway tag... so there were 70 comments in total... and Mr Random.org chose... Number 32... which tallies with a comment left by Denise.  

Thanks again all of you and if Denise could drop me an email with her addy so I can pop the tag into the post.  Also, there's still the rest of today to leave a comment HERE to win the card I am giving away :O)  I have had a lot of lovely emails and comments about the shows last week and the main theme is "can we see more of the samples..." so, being as I am like that, here are two more of the samples that I made using the Studio 490 goodies on the shows:  I have chosen two with similar colours so I don't have to talk right through everything... if you know what I mean...  Here's the card I made:

All of the colours used are: Scattered Straw Distress Stain and Ink, Wild Honey Distress Ink & Marker, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink & Marker, Vintage Photo Distress Ink & Marker.  Olive Archival and Jet Black Archival.   The Studio 490 Stamp sets used: Art For You, Wildflower Art & My Kind of Art.  For the card I cut a piece of card (cream in this case) and spritzed it liberally with water and then pounced the Scattered Straw Stain onto it and let the Stains drip... then dried it with a heat tool.   Next I smidged some Vintage Photo DI onto my craft sheet and spritzed with water, dipping the card into the inky mix and picking up little dotties of ink.  Another zap with a heat tool.  The honeycomb background was created by lightly scribbling the Vintage Photo Marker onto the large stamp... only in patches so it isn't an over-all image.

 Once stamped, I zapped with a heat tool to dry the ink.  Next came the masking - using the new Chicken Wire That Special Touch mask and Scattered Straw DI on some Cut & Dry foam, I blended patches of the mask to add extra detail to the background.  The butterflies are card covered Clearly For Art, stamped, coloured with Distress Markers and then heated and moulded.  The flower is a Wildflower Art Part, overstamped with the co-ordinating stamp and coloured with Distress Markers.   A smidge of jute to add a bit of extra texture to the card and the sentiment, stamped, coloured and chopped up to fit on the card and voila... finished card.... oh apart from the scribbles around the edges, done with a fine marker :O)

This next piece is the base of a Rectangle Art Part, coloured with Scattered Straw Stain and dried immediately - tis always the best way to operate when putting Stains onto Art Parts, so the paper fibres don't separate.  A smidge of blending around the edge of the Art Part with Rusty Hinge DI and another zap with a heat tool to set the ink.  Next I used a sanding block and lightly sanded the edges of the Art Part to shabby it up a bit.  The same application of Distress Marker for the honeycomb background to make a nice little something to see on the base of the Art Part... and then a smidge of flourish stamping with Olive Archival ink to add interest to the bottom of the Art Part.  Next came another Wildflower Art Part, stamped with the corresponding stamp and coloured with more of the Distress Markers.   The butterflies... they are book page covered Clearly For Art, stamped in Jet Black, coloured with Distress Markers and then cut and heated up and moulded.  To make the ickle hanging bit, I punched two holes in the Art Part base using a Crop-A-Dile and added in rusty wire for the hanger.   And there you have it.  I will be back tomorrow with a couple more cards that were samples on the shows... and also the winner of the card giveaway.  

Now, let me tell you... there was much mirth and utter excitement Chez Sheridan on Sunday evening.  I got back from my weekend of teaching at about 7pm and we decided to be very lazy and have some takeaway for tea... I know, lazyness indeedily but we had both been working all day... (any excuse right?)   Anyways... we settled down to our takeaway and a night of telly catching up.  After about three hours of telly catching up I needed a break.... you know, a *fresh air* break (hahaha) and went outside into the back garden.  Well, imagine the look on my chops when I saw something sitting in one of the trees in the Spinney at the bottom of the garden.  Guess what it was.... go on... guess.....    Nope, wrong... it was... AN OWL!!!  Oh yesh!!!! AN OWL!!!  At the bottom of the garden... like a REAL OWL!!!   See my excitement?  That is cos I LOVES Owls... very lots.  I have heard him callling a few times of late but hadn't actually seen him.   Anyways, I nipped back inside and called for Grim to come and see and then went back outside and walked veerrry slowly towards the bottom of the garden.  Every time he looked at me, I stood stock still... I was about five minutes looking at him.  Then Grim comes out and didn't adopt the one step at a time approach (rofl) and Mr Owl saw Grim and flew off.  Pah!  Never mind that though.  I saw a real OWL, you know, like a wild one, not one in a Raptor Centre.  I am still SO excited... to the point that I am going to let me hair grow wildly, buy a stick on beard and pretend I am Bill Oddie (rofl) and set up camp in the back garden again to see if Mr Owl comes to see us again.  Anyways.. enough wafflingtons from me for one day.  I have been visited by Mr Horrendously Evil Back-Pain so I am planning a day of rest...   Thanks for looking and have a fabby day!  TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is...

..cor, just like being at the Oscar's eh?  Firstly, THANK YOU for all your lovely comments on the giveaway post - 99 comments in total (I deleted off the duplicates so it was fair) and fed the number into Mr Random.org and he chose.... #40 which tallies with the comment left by GILL.   Congrats to Gill, please can you email your addy to me and I can pop your prize into the post :O))

I had a fabby weekend with the JoLLie StaMpeRs playing with lots of goodies and getting painty and messy.  I wish I could say that I finished my sample but... erm... because I was so busy teaching, I didn't get chance to get past the initial painting stage (aha, another sample consigned to the "do it later" pile under the desk lol)   Getting there was a dream, early Saturday morning when the roads are lovely and quiet seems to be the right time to travel.  However, Sunday afternoon/evening isn't!   I had this cunning plan that we would start early on Sunday morning so we could finish earlier, meaning I could be back on the road home by 4.30pm.   All well and good, I was on the road by 4.20pm!  Anticipated time, according to Jane (SatNav) was 7pm.   All was going well, Jane behaved and didn't send me via the Trafford Centre (like last time when I was tootling past it and thought "uh-oh, wrong direction")   Anyways, I got onto the M6 and... dragged along for nearly 20 miles... at 20mph.  And then I dragged along a bit more... for another 40 miles... and then!  The M6 Toll.  Well, it would have been rude not to... you know... erm... give Ferdy a stretch of his legs *ahem*    By now I was due home at 7.20pm... still not too bad right?   WRONG!  I got onto the A14 and the incredibly clever bods in the Highway Agency had indeedily decided to close a lane. On a Sunday night. How incredibly clever... NOT!   Anyways, I sat there, and sat there a bit more.. and then Jane said I was not going to be home very soon.  So, I screeched off the A14 and went the back way - Jane was no use by now, she kept telling me to get back onto the A14... so I ignored her and followed my nose.  I walked in the door at just after 8pm.  So, the moral of the story... don't plan to be home at a certain time on a Sunday evening, the roads are too small, the traffic too heavy and my impatience... too much lol    


Right, I shall away, I have a to-do list again that is making noises... no art today *sad face*... hoping to blog some tomorrow though :O))  Thanks for looking.. TTFN!

Hels x

If You Want To Get Ahead... *with Winner*

...get a hat!  Oh yesh, indeedily and thrice, I am sooo chuffed with this little fella that has been lurking in the Room of Stash for months!  More of that in a mo... firstly, HOOOGE thank you's to everyone who left such wonderful comments on yesterdays post. I had a total of 76 comments and having fed this into Mr.Random.Org he came up with #15 as the winner... which tallies with the comment left by DOT'S DABBLES  Please can you email me your addy and I will pop your pressie into the post :O))

On with todays offering.  Like I said, I have had this little titfer for yonks.  I actually bought it for the Jubilee... wore it to the shops and had some funny stares because it was actually sparkly blue with red, white and blue ribbon attached to it.  As ever, I forgot to take a before pic...  

I slapped some black paint all over the hat and let it air dry for a day or so - the paint soaked right into the felt underneath and took foreeeever to dry!  Once dried I left it on the shelf for several weeks, ignoring it really... poor little thing.  So, yesterday afternoon I decided to punk it up in time for the Big Stamping & Scrapbooking Show in Kettering this weekend.  There's a whole heap of Idea-ology attached to it, some with hot glue and some with the wonder that is Cosmic Glue.

I had a fabby day yesterday - Gillian is in the Room of Stash!  She has come to stay for the weekend so she can have a wee shop at the show.... and guess what!!! She has given me a make-over!  Oh yes... after 42 years of having feathers for hair, I now have lovely sleek locks.  All down to some GHD Hair Straightners and a mahooosive amount of patience (on Gillian's part, I was more than happy to sit and be preened lol)  Whether or not the gorgeousness will last overnight is debatable.  As I have told you frequently, that ugly little critter that lives under my bed may well brandish his extra strength hair gel and sink plunger my face - he normally does ... finger's crossed he will behave!  Whatever the state of the old barnet, I shall be sporting my new hat all weekend... well, until I forget I am wearing it and bash my head against the desk... like I have never done that before... not lol

Anyways, I shall away, tis time for bed... if you are going to the show this weekend, please do pop by to say hi - tis lovely to meet up at these shows... faces to names and all that.  As ever, have a FAB weekend... oh and a brand new Sunday Stamper theme will be posted tomorrow too!  TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is....

...aha, now, I said didn't I? I said... time is going waaay too quickly... and this past week is a case in point - I mean, is it really a whole week ago since I said that I was doing a giveaway and the winner would be announced next week - which is now this week, well, today actually. With all that waffle you have probably nodded off *gives a nudge to wake you* Well, I had 30 lovely comments (thanks all) and I fed this into Mr. Random.org and he said this is the winner:

Which tallies with the comment left by Keren Howell If you could send me your addy please Keren, I will pop the card into the mail for you :O))


I wish I could say that I have some new stuff to show you today but... alas and alack, I have been very busy with sample making and prep and stuff.. so, I thought I would share a couple more of the cards from the Spellbinders Pick of the Week - is it really two weeks ago since it was happening? See, that time flying thing again! I am getting forgetful in my old age too! I can't remember if I have blogged these or not.. if I have, ignore me, I am a dimwit, if I haven't... well, of course, this was all carefully planned lol



And I guess now would be a good time to let you know that I have some Create & Craft shows happening on Sunday 12th August. I will be doing some Spellbinders Mini Shows, the times are 12pm for a two hour show and 5pm for an hour - I have some FAB goodies and stashly delights to share... which means I also have some more samples to make, so I guess I had better get a wiggle on and get cracking.


As ever, thanks for looking... ooh and a quicky update on that ironing situation... I did it! Oh yesh, I spended an hour doing it... and I did have that little fizzle of satisfaction that the pile is now gone. Well, it had gone, I am just making some more now lol Have a good day... TTFN!

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 207 - Words

Goooodly morning Stampers and a very happy, sunny Sunday to you all. Mahoosive thanks for all your gorgeous entries last week. I have added the comments to the entries and there were 74 entries in total. Mr. Random.org was very obliging and picked #42 as the winner, which is the comment left by Redanne. Congrats to Anne and please could you pop me an email over with your addy so I can post your prize :O))


On with this weeks theme; following the very sad news that Robin Gibb passed away last week, this weeks Sunday Stamper theme is in his memory, with one of my favourite songs by The Bee Gees. Actually, it is really tough to just chose one song because there are so many brilliant ones. So, the theme is WORDS. To join in is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy. Add in the theme and some stamping, then pop back here and leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry. If you haven't got a blog, you can enter by email/flickr/picassa or on Facebook. The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 2nd June 2012.


My entry this week is actually what we will be making in the workshop this morning. It is a chunky little wooden block that Grim very kindly cut for me - seriously, me and a fast whirring saw? Tres dangerous, I cut one block and then handed the reins back to Grim... he also made some ickle feet for the block to sit on. The front, back and sides were covered with cardstock that has been stamped and Stained. I added some 3d butterflies and diecut letters for the word "dream". The finishing touches are the Curio Knob on the top and the Type Charm.


I am sitting in Dawn's kitchen at the moment, we have had a lovely evening making cards and watching the Eurovision...poor old Engelbert, he was robbed!!! Tis time for bed now though... I will be back tomorrow with some pics from this weekends classes - I had my camera at the ready yesterday and it spent all day under my inky binky so I forgot to get pics as the class was going on... whoooopsy-daisies! I did take a few at the end though, well, better late than never! Many thanks to all the lovely ladies and gent who came along for a day of inkiness, twas a fab day!

As ever, thanks for looking... Have a lovely summery day .... TTFN

Hels x

WOYWW... A Winner!

...Cor blimey and thrice alive it is that day of the week again... already! Oh yesh, it is Wednesday, time for the amazing hop that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Devised and hosted by the one and only Julia, HERE are all the deets on how to join in with this brilliant hoppety-skippety around the crafty desks of Blogland. Last week I had a little giveaway on my desk... and I had 80 lovely comments left... and I went over and demanded that Mr Random.org do the maths for me and he picked... Comment #4 which was left by Craftimamma. Thank you all for your fab comments... and if you could email me your addy please Lesley, I will pop your pressie in the post :O)


So... this week I am polishing my halo! Oh yesh, that is cos I spent a couple of hours last night cleaning up and tidying away and banishing junk to the bin so the Room of Stash is looking totes-amazeballs tidy! On my desk is my trunk of Art Parts... I know, I know, there's a lot of Art Parts in that there trunk but... I have been collecting them for a while and erm... I am kind of addicted and... erm... well, there's no excuse really... apart from the fact that I love 'em! I am going to make a couple of samples ready for my Demo Day on Saturday at Let's Create in Lincolnshire... I am really looking forward to that... if you are in the area it would be fabbydabby to meet you! Remember that chunk of wood from last week? You know, the one that I was altering to make something pretty? Well, I am no further forward with it but I did make a couple of metal roses and then decided that they didn't suit the piece... back to the drawing board on that one lol


Right, I must away to my bed... I have a date with the pointy doo-dah's again in the morning... although I have come to the conclusion that acupuncture doesn't work for me :O( Still, it was worth a try... Have a goodly day... thanks for looking.. TTFN!

Hels x

Wascally Wabbit... Plus Tag Winner

...Isn't it the best time of year? With all those acid greens and yellows popping out of branches and the ground, Spring is my fave season.. so inspired by the colours of the new leaves budding on the tree outside my window, I have made a tag. But first, to business! Last Saturday's taggy giveaway had 57 lovely and muchly appreciated comments... and I hopped over to see Mr. Random.org to ask him to pick a number for me... which he kindly did... and that number was #24, which tallies with a comment left by MINXY. Please can you email me your addy so I can pop the tag into the post for you!


I don't know about you but I tend to see colours in the real world and marry them up with colours in the Distress range... so we could have a lovely Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahogany sunset... or a Wild Honey and Worn Lipstick sunrise. (please tell me it isn't just me that does that... is it???) Anyways... Scattered Straw, Crushed Olive and Pine Needles made up my colourful background, all blended and spritzed with water, then edged with a very teensy smidge of Black Soot to frame the design. The butterflies are Wild Honey with Rusty Hinge and the Wabbit... well, he was coloured direct to rubber with Distress Markers, stamped onto Grungeboard, embossed with clear a few times and then overpainted with Snowcap Dabber and a waterbrush.


I had better get going... I have my Sunday Stamper entry for tomorrow to make... oooh, it is the 200th week of challenges, so there will be candy up for grabs... please do hop back tomorrow to check it out!! Thanks for looking... and Happy Easter! TTFN

Hels x

And My Faith Is Restored...

...I am a very thankful and happy bunny today. Remember yesterday I told you about the stealing thing? Well, last night I went onto yonder t'internet to find some Grid Blocks to replace the nicked ones. I placed my order with Craft Obsessions late last night... and this morning had a lovely phone call from David; he said that he and Brenda had heard about the theft and were disgusted by it... and were going to let me have the Grid Blocks at cost price. WOW, how kind is that! So a very big and mahoosive thank you to David and Brenda... they have restored my faith... and made me smile big.


So... Postie just arrived with a package for me... and it it was a packet of honeycomb paper from the very kind and thoughtful Joanne... so my big smile is even bigger now. I had had a natter with Joanne on Sunday and said I needed some of that honeycomb paper... of course, I did have a packet of it in my stash from about 382 years ago and hoofed it out just three weeks ago when the Room of Stash had its overhaul... and then of course, the Duke of Distress uses it on his 12 tags of 2012 and I need some... like really need! Jennie very kindly brought me a die cut heart and a couple of the the cherubs so I could make the tag (I had none of the stuff needed except the heart die)... so... between Jennie and Joanne I can now go and play and get started on the tag... which is what I intend to do in a mo... so thank you both!!




But afore I go (blimey, I sound like I am from the 19th century lol) I will just show you this little brooch I made using some of the demo bits from the weekend... the rose is Grunge with Gold Dabber, the flower underneath is Grunge with Gold Dabber pounced onto it and then dried so it bubbles a bit and then slapped with a Coffee Archival pad so it looks rusty.. .and the black flower is Clearly for Art Blackout flavour, stamped with Gold Dabber and heated and curled... and the leafy bit is a Leaves Art Part, coloured with Peeled Paint DI and stamped with Olive Archival and edged with Gold Dabber.


Oh and... I nearly forgot!!! The winner of the Fantastic Ribbons button giveaway! I had 93 lovely comments (thanks all) and I asked Mr Random.org to pick a winner... and #34 was chosen which tallies with the comment left by Elaine. Thank you all for your lovely comments... and Elaine, please can I have your addy? Ta!


Right, I am off now... I have a tag to make and... erm... I still haven't unpacked my kit bag... ooops, the halo is slipping lol Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

A Thank You & A Winner and... A Giveaway!

Yay! A giveaway for today...more of that in a mo... Because.... brrrr, tis fair nesh outside... I mean hello? After a very mild Winter who went and flicked the frost switch huh? Tis colder than a Polar Bear's paw out there... thankfully, I have a day of insideness planned... apparently we are in for some snow later (the little kid inside me is fizzing ever so slightly at that thought... you know, snowmen, snow angels, snow ball fights....) But enough of me being typically British and talking about the weather... on with the giveaway! But first! I see that this blog now has over 1000 "members" when did it change from followers to members (must have missed that) Anyways... thank you all from the bottom of my heart for clicking to follow my inane wafflings... it truly makes my heart happy... so... THANK YOU!!!! Ooh and yes, my PomPom tag giveaway from last Saturday... there were 34 comments... and Mr Random.org picked Lucky 13 to be the winner which tallies with the comment from CRAFTIMAMMA.... please can you email me your addy? :O))


This is one of the Art Parts samples from Thursday's show... I have to say, how much fun I had... I felt a lot more relaxed this time and yes, I managed to goof a couple of times... especially when trying to stamp a heart, I mean, how hard can that be? Obviously very hard because it was green and not black... but... never mind... that is just the type of thing I do in the Room of Stash (I really must try harder!) Leonie is just the sweetest lass... and she made me feel really comfortable... I loved being with her, her enthusiam just shines right through. And poor Dave, bless him, with his croaky throat... when he said "over to you"... aha, the usual over talkative and waffling part of me decided to get shy... hence the "hello everybody" comment... oooh, really original lol




Anyways... this here piece that I am showing you was made with Art Parts, Crowded Attic Papers, Distress Inks, Studio 490 stamps, a smidge of Clearly For Art and Idea-ology... oh and a bit of Grungepaper thrown in for goodly measures. The large circle frame has been covered with the papers and I sanded the edges to neaten them up and add a bit of white in there. There's Art Part Florals and Leaves, coloured with Distress Inks and overstamped with Archival Ink to add a little pattern.... the Scallop Trim has been covered with paper and sanded (I use an emery board for the fiddly inbetweeny bits) and then I added some stamping to the background... added a sentiment (I love this one) and a little Grunge butterfly with the Locket Lock over the top of it (another of Wendy's very cool and fab ideas - wish I could think of things like that lol)



Check out little Stanley Spidey... he is too cute to be scared of... and I promise he won't escape and chase after you (I love spiders but totally get that some peeps realllllly don't like them so you could always chop him off) The flower also has some Clearly for Art Clear flavour, covered with paper and stamped, cut out, heated and then jazzed up with an Accoutrement.



So, if you would like to own this piece, all you need to do is leave me a comment for me on this post... I will get Mr Random.org to do his bit and announce a randomly picked winner on next Saturday's post. I need to do a catch up on blog hops and emails because I spent the whole of yesterday being a very lazy old moobag, snuggled on the sofa with AlfieCat, a very nice relaxing pyjama day indeedily. I shall away now... to stare out of the window to see if it is snowing yet... oh and yes, the Sunday Stamper entry... need to make that too! Thanks for looking... and again, thank you for following... bless you all! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 190 - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles + Candy Winner!

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all! Well, what a fantastic response to last weeks challenge! Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and entries... it sure does make it very rewarding to know that so many of you love this little old challenge! I have a very special guest theme setter this week.. more of that in a mo because I need to tell you who won the Candy from last weeks challenge. So, there were 77 comments and as promised, if you entered as well, I doubled up your number so you had two entries which made 94 in total. I have asked Mr Random.org to help me pick a number and he chose... # 31 which tallies with the entry from CLAIRE. Thanks Claire, if you could email me your addy please? Right, on with this weeks challenge.




As suggested earlier, I have a special guest setting the theme this week... let me introduce Kate who suggested the song title I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles and the theme... BUBBLES. As soon as I heard this suggestion I had to leap at it... love the song and love the theme! ** it reminds me of when I was a nipper and my Dad used to sing it to me... we used to harmonise... ah, happy days...** To join in with the challenge is simples, make a little something, add in some stamping and the theme and then pop back here to leave a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry. As ever, if you don't have a web place to enter, bung me an email over and your entry will still count! The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 6th February 2012.


So... that there pic is my entry - a little ATC sized chunky canvas that I have had kicking about for about 281 years... I got a bargain box full of them online and it is the last one.. and now of course, I need more... cos I have fallen back in lurve with the size.. humph! I used several Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints... mixing some together to get the right colours - I love how you can do that and they don't go all muddy! The colours I used are: Pastel Yellow (base), Dash of Red mixed with Dab of Yellow to get a vivid orange, Altered Orange mixed with a Dash of Red to get a gorgeous salmon pink and Teal for the colouring in bits.


I applied the paint using a spatula (and no, not the one I usually put my make up on with lol) so there are dragged patches... I like the rough look of that on the canvas. I added some stamping using Gesso (black and white) and Dylusions background stamps... I bobbed a smidge of Dab of Yellow through a dotty stencil using Cut & Dry too... forgot about that layer! I used Word to print out my words... using Adler font... and glued these on with Multi Medium. I stamped Wilbur (isn't he so cute!) and Puss Puss on copy paper, painted them in and stuck them down with Multi Medium too. I used an "All" Stabilo pencil (amazeballs for writing on ANY surface) to edge around the words and the characters and then blended the lines a bit with a fine paintbrush and smudged with my favourite tool... my finger!


Now, I have got an old bottle of Stickles and it is all finished... not a single smidge left in it because, I don't know about you but I am very stingy and I always take the stopper out of it and then cut into the bottle... there's looooads left in there you know. So, I saved the stopper bit and used the base of it to add "bubbles" in the black and white Gesso. I smidged some Black Gesso around the edges to close the design in and then finally... used Glossy Accents to fill up some of the bubbles... and voila, finished mini canvas... oh apart from the feet which are little Maya Road cotton reels. All of the goodies I used are available from The Stamp Attic... paints, Stampotique & Dylusions stamps etc :O)) (just sayin'!!)


Here are a couple of pics of the totally gorgeous creations that Kate has made as her entries... check out the CUTENESS of this little fella... as you know, I don't normally "do" cute but sometimes I just get swept away with the adoreableness (is that a word? Well, tis now lol) And then Kate has done an inky piece too... seriously... she is a talented gal... please do hop over to HER BLOG and leave her some lurve... she is my first proper guest setter... and I hope the first of many because... as much as I lurve this challenge I am kinda running out of ideas! Big thanks to Kate for this FAB theme!!!



So, if you have a song that you love and it can incorporate a theme... please just give me a shout... leave a comment or send me an email... there isn't a pressie for doing it... but you will be left with a warm fuzzy glow for helping out a batty old moo... me, that is, self confessed and all that... because, don't tell anyone but... I got all engrossed in my arty stuff the other day and remembered I needed to nip to the Post Office. So, off I went in Ferdy... and when I was walking around the shop I thought "blimey these shoes are uncomfortable"... to look down and see... slippers! Yes folks, it has happened, I have made the slide into old age effortlessly... no wonder people were staring and young children were pointing and laughing... thank goodness I hadn't still got my jammy's on!!! Right, I will leave you with that rather unsettling image and say... as ever... thanks for looking and... TTFN!

Hels x