Makes Me Happy...

...to get inky and messy!!! Which is exactly what I got up to yesterday afternoon... a couple of hours playtime in the Room of Stash faffing with Distress Ink and a whole host of delish Tim products. I decided to go for something completely different and alter a mirror... then I got distracted with a tag and... well, I made a tag lol The altered mirror is still unaltered and my desk is now overflowing with Art Parts and Studio 490 stamps. I did buy the mirror about 381 years ago and another couple of days laying bare won't hurt it lol


I started off by using Multi Medium to make a resist of my fave and probably most inked stamp which is the long script stamp from Letters to Santa... I can't help it, it gives a gorgeous image that isn't too in-your-face. I then grabbed some Distress Inks; Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Aged Mahog and Walnut Stain and blended them over the tag and then spritzed with water to distress the colours. I did a bit of background stamping using Jet Black Archival but then went and covered those up with the embellishments.


The flowers and leaves are Kraft Glassine cut with the Tattered Florals, M&S Branch and Tattered Leaves dies... the leaves were made by colouring the Glassine with Lettuce and Pesto and Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink and then crumpled up and Walnut Stain rubbed over the top. The flowers are slightly different... I used my finger to smudge some Bronze Perfect Pearls onto a couple of them, heated the Glassine which changes the surface so it grabs the PP's so they are stuck in there and won't make everything they come into contact with blingy. The Tattered Pinecone has been kicking about my "shelf-of-things-made-and-not-needed-so-put-on-the-shelf-of-things-to-use-sometime" That is made out of Grungepaper and some kind of brown DI. I added some Idea-ology and made a little banner from Film Strip and then popped one of those gorgeous File Tabs onto the edge of the tag... I LOVE those File Tabs!


I would love to say that this tag took a couple of minutes to make but... it didn't. Mainly because I am nursing a broken arm, broken hip, broken shoulder, broken wrist, broken knee, broken ankle, broken elbow, broken head and a broken nail. Well, I might be exagerrating a smidge or so but... one thing I do know is that I am in a g o n y! Oh ho, indeedily, skateboarder girl here (ok, skateboarder old bag) is suffering with aches and pains and bruises and stuff. The main hurty bit is the top of my right arm... that's the main part that landed first. I am going off for a rest now (am scheduling this post) cos I am away to Bedford to Stamp Addicts for a demo day today. If you are going, please do come and say hi! Right... I shall hobble away and get myself to my bed. Thanks for looking, as ever, have a lovely day. TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 204 - Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all! Many thanks for the gorgeous red creations that you all entered last week... I know, I say this all the time but... it makes me smile BIG to see all your lovely entries... so thank you!! On with this weeks challenge. Now, I have used this song before (I know, naughty Hels!) but it is one of those that combines two things for the one challenge and it was a yonk and a half ago that I had this one. The theme this week is... BLUE & BROWN. To join in is simples: make a little something - it can be anything you fancy. Add in the theme and some stamping, pop back here to leave a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I can then pop and visit you. If you don't have a blog, Flickr, Picasso etc, you can join in by email or on Facebook. The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 12th May 2012.



My entry this week features brown and blue - they are a fab combo together aren't they? I started out with a nice white tag and used Picket Fence with Pine Needles and Broken China Stains, making a marbled background. I overstamped with Aquamarine Archival for a more blended background and then got cracking on the embellishing. Now, I have had Movers & Shapers dies for yonks but haven't really used them to cut apertures. So, I thought I would have a little play and see how I liked it. Like it? I LOVE it!!! I used a Mini Butterfly, cutting it out of the tag - then I covered a piece of card with some Tissue Tape and cut another butterfly out. I added more Tissue Tape to more card to make a little thingywotsit to sit behind the cutty outty bit so it matched in with the other butterfly (am I making sense? I don't think I am lol)



I then made some little flowers using Kraft Glassine and the Mini Tattered Florals and normal Tattered Florals dies; scrumpling up the Glassine to make wrinkles in them and on the middle flower in the layers, I rubbed on some Blue Raspberry Perfect Pearls, then heated the Glassine which "grabs" the PP's and they are then bound to the paper. Some little paper roses, that I coloured the edges of with Broken China, adorn the centres of the flowers and I added some little Movers & Shapers leaves, cut out of Grunge covered with canvas and coloured with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss.... oh and some Movers & Shapers Branches... coloured with Gathered Twigs. I added a little banner and some of the Lace Strip die, cut out of Kraft cardstock and then blinged up with a strip of AB gems. The words are Chit Chat Stickers and the Philosophy Tag was coloured with Pool Dabber.



Phew! I think that is all... cor blimey, that was a long description! As ever, thanks for looking and for supporting my little weekly challenge... I hope that you have a good Bank Holiday... and the sun shines nice and warm on you! TTFN

Hels x

Challenge Ellen...

... cor blimey and thrice, I am a lucky lass indeedily because when the chips are down, or rather, when the Mojo naffs orf, I have a lovely friend who will step in and try to help out... namely Ellen... her blog with all her lush art is HERE btw in case you haven't see her stuff before. Anyways... being a I am Mojo-less at the moment, Ellen set about giving me a challenge. It has become a bit of a tradition between us, this old Challenge thingy.. and usually it works a treat. Ellen chose some stashly bits we could use... and then we set off making our tag. We decided to do a simultaneous blogcast of our tags btw, so Ellen's will be on her blog now too.... Here's the stuff we could use:

Dylusions Stamps: Around the Edge, Basic Backgrounds, Quintessential Quotes
Giant Tag
Any colour Colorwash Spray
Perfect Pearls Powders - to make into paint
Gesso & Craft Scraper
Stencils
Rosette Alterations Die - any size
Embellies of choice
White Pen
Easel Alterations Die (if needed)



So... that there tag is my effort. Actually it is my THIRD effort. Now, I love those stamps and I love using Gesso and I love Colorwash Sprays... but mix all three together when the old Mojo has naffed orf... forget it. The first two tags were right holy shows, so bad they couldn't be resurrected ever. I have never been able to get the proper effect using a stencil, I always end up with more of the sprays on me than on the tag... so I used Gesso to squidge through the stencil.. worked a bit easier but still...messy lol


I am a bit chuffed with the way the Rosette went.. I sprayed some card with Colorwash Sprays, die cut it, assembled the Rosettes and then stamped and cut out loads of leaves and then glued them under the Rosette. Oh and... the words... I cut them into strips and used a Tiny Attacher to staple them on... I like the "pillow" effect, I did this by curling the strips of card thru my fingers, it made it just a bit dimensional.



So... there you have it. THANK YOU to Ellen for trying to get my creative juices going... sadly whilst it was fun to get inky, it hasn't lured that old rapscallion back yet... am still after rummaging through old stash to see if that sparks something! Don't forget to hop on over to Ellen's blog... her tag using the same stash is there for you to see! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Simon Says...Bling!

...over on the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge the theme this week is Bling! Well, never one to shy away from adding a bit of sparkle I have embraced the challenge and made... a tag ... for a change lol




The base of the tag was covered with 7Gyspies tissue paper - it's covered in words and I lurve it! Then I used some Trad Tan to dull the writing a bit... and then added Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Stains to colour it. The butterflies were stamped in Archival... and then stamped again onto Glassine... and then I pounced a paintbrush of Perfect Pearls (try saying that 17 times in a go lol) over the top of them to add some more bling... I used Biscoti - tis one of my faves btw (I may or may not have mentioned that before!)




The Rosettes are made from scraps of Lost & Found paper, with an Idea-ology keyhole and a little paperclaymouldywotsit heart that Dan gave me... I just coloured it with Fired Brick and Aged Mahog Distress Stains. I made a fancy Facet - more bling - and added a dangly blingy droplet jobby too.


So... I am home... got back yesterday afternoon... after a lovely weekend, I spent a few hours on various trains back to Chez Sheridan. I very nearly missed the train from Durham... I thought it was leaving at :57 and it was actually :47... well, Dan had dropped me off with loads of time... so I went and got a butty and then went to stand outside for a sneaky ciggie before going onto the platform. Well, I totally blame Stephanie Meyer... I am re-reading Twilight for the 382nd time... and I was completely engrossed... and goodness knows what made me check the time... but thank the lordy above I did... only just made it onto the platform as the train was getting ready to leave!!! You'd have thought that 10 years driving trains would have learnt me to actually be on time... ahem lol. Anyways... I had better stop all this waffling and get on with the job in hand... which is to pack up my tote again for tomorrow's UTEE class... ooh I am really looking forward to it! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Grungy...

...cor blimey and thrice! Another week has whipped by and it is time for another gloriously gorgeous Grungy Monday challenge. I know I say this every week... but... indulge me do... this challenge is devised and hosted by the lovely Linda Ledbetter (she is, believe me, really lovely, I know that because I spent Ranger U with her :O)) Anyways... the Grungy theme this week is based on THIS technique from the one and only Tim Holtz... and the deets are HERE about how to join in etc.



So... I had every intention of getting cracking on the new theme as soon as it was published this week because, let's face it, it is a few days (nay hours) since I made a tag and I was suffering withdrawal symptoms... and then... I got a better offer! I know! Better than sitting getting inky! I got the chance to leap (ok, I don't leap but imagine if I did) into the car and go to visit my lovely Mum & Dad-In-Law yesterday afternoon. I am all of a quiver because Grim has a couple of weeks off and I am revelling in the fact that he is home with me.... awwww.... sorry for going all gooey there lol



Anyways... a lovely afternoon spent with my in-laws and then home to a lovely chattering Skype session with my American sister, Ellen - who BTW has been making some extremely gorgeous stuff lately - do pop and see her blog cos it is nectar for the eyes.... blimey, talk about tangents and me waffling... anyways... I finally got stuck into getting inky around midnight last night and then the sleep fairy came and waved her wand and I had to give up half way through, something I rarely do with a tag! When I came back into the Room of Stash this morning I just had to sit and play because, of course, it would have been rude not to. So... the technique... I love this one, in fact, I hardly ever use it which is just plain wrong because it is a fabby way to get inkyness onto card or paper. Speaking of paper... I got all exciteable and decided to see if I could use the technique on Kraft Glassine... oh yesh indeedily, it works! More subtle of course because of the nature of the Glassine... buuuut, I love it! I used an eeny weeny flourish stamp to cover the Glassine with dabbered images and then went bonkers with the spritzing... And then zapped it all with a heat gun... coolio! I die cut the Glassine and made a flower using the Tattered Florals Die.




The colours I used are: Aged Mahogany with Perfect Gold, Tumbled Glass with Blue Raspberry and Wild Honey with Perfect Bronze... mmmm, lushness indeedily. I also used Snowcap Dabber to paint over the metal Foliage, gave it a zap with the heatgun and then gave the flowers a spritz with the colours... mmmm, liking this look! Oh and I used the Snowcap Dabber to paint onto the Nib and Trinket Pin... so it sits in the debossed words and once it is wiped off it looks like it should be there. The butterfly was made the same way as the technique, I just cut it out and edged with Black Soot DI before popping it onto the tag. Oh and I made a little banner to go along the bottom of the tag using left over Glassine and cutting it like a fishy tail on the ends.




Anyways, you might have been able to guess that I am ever so slightly (insanely) excited today... because... Victor MkII is arriving!!! OOOOhhh, I have been missing my Victor soooo much and today his replacement should arrive and I can once again cut things out of mountboard and Grungeboard... I am just too much of a weed to be able to cut it using the Bug. Right... time to get inky again... I have an urge to make stuff!!! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Grungy...

...Monday!!! Oh yes indeedily, there is a brand new challenge in Blogland and hurrah and thrice for lovely Linda Ledbetter for devising this challenge to take up where the Compendium Challenges ended. This new challenge is based on the products and techniques of the one and only Duke of Distress... yes, a challenge focusing purely on the works of Tim Holtz... well how could I not join in!!! The challenge this week is based on THIS TAG... and here is my take on it... *I actually started this tag on Tuesday morning but...erm... got a bit distracted with that news lol... ah, cannot go a single day without mentioning that news rofl*




I cheated... big stylee.. because I asked Victor Vagabond to cut me a nice piece of Grungeboard into a butterfly shape... see how clever he is...he even cut some fancy paper to go underneath it... and then he went and made me a bacon buttie... *I made the last bit up... but just think, that would be well coolio wouldn't it!!* The base of the tag has the Flourish Mask on it... which, alas, has had to go to the big Mask Heaven in the sky... because... Mrs Thicko here decided to dry the base before removing said mask... and it ...erm... shrivelled right up... oooopsie-daisies...



Now, the letters... humph, I have the stamp that Tim used... but... it isn't actually in the Room of Stash at the moment... it has had to go on a little jolly jaunt that I can't tell you about yet but all will be revealed in...erm.. about a months time ;o)) Anyways... I have got some of Tim's Chronicles Alpha Stamps which are positively ancient but still work fine... so I improvised... used these, cut them out and then added dots and swirly bits to the background.



I also want to tell you about Kat... she is the Guest Designer over on the Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog this month and her first contribution is blogged today... and... OMG... it is totally stunning... all the deets are HERE if you fancy seeing something utterly gorgeous! Right... I have a day to myself cos Grim is working til late... what to do first... make the bacon buttie that I now need because I mentioned it a few minutes ago and now I am craving one... or... make another tag??? Ahhh, decisions, decisions.... thanks for looking... have a lovely day... TTFN

Hels x

Perfect Stamping...

...is the challenge for the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo group this week... based on projects from Wendy's books, this week sees the challenge featuring Wendy's "perfect stamping" technique. I have to say... I cheated ever so slightly to come up with my entry... mainly because I am butt lazy and knew that searching for the magic ingredient would take me faaaaar too long... so I improvised and used Perfect Pearls Mists instead.. but the end result is the same :O)
My tag is coloured with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink (now needing the Stains in this colour!!!) and over stamped with a big background 490 stamps in Forest Moss with the magic ingredient. The little mat for the Rules to Live By had the same treatment with a plaid background.



I used more Studio 490 images to make the Grungepaper flowers .. all coloured with Distress Inks... I NEED more Stains!!! Like NOW!!! (she says, dropping maaahoooosive hints to Grim LOL) I "borrowed" Wendy's fab idea of using Idea-ology as a centre for the butterfly (wish I could think of things like this!!!) and filled the centre with Glossy Accents and seeing as I am tooooo impatient to wait for things to dry the GA still looks milky in the pics. I have an old zippy baggie that has some ancient old lace in it, which I do like to save for special things so I added some of that to this tag too... thing is, most of it is hidden underneath the mat!



I have been a little soldier this weekend... battling on through the coughs and snuffles to keep making stuff... to be honest, I am feeling a whole heap better but... still no sense of taste or smell which is getting rather irksome as I really need to taste coffee... tis daft really but that kind of shows that I ...erm... drink too much!! Coffee that is... you all know, I don't touch a drop of anything else... well, apart from Diet Coke but that doesn't count... you know what I mean LOL Right... time for bed... I have a nice cosy hot water bottle waiting for me... and a rather fat and fluffy AlfieCat warming himself on it... Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Perfect...

...well I never, Monday crept up on and whizzed past while I was preoccupied with all things eBay (am getting rid of all my Tilda and cute stamps, I don't use them any more so why keep 'em LOL *ahem, plus the fact... sell old stash = ££ which in turn = new stash... mwahhahahahhaaaa!!!*) So, I spent Monday being all efficient and doing listings and when I finally realised the time it was Tuesday already... so what is all this waffle about days of the week? Well, it just so happens that every Monday there is a brand new theme on the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge... if you haven't heard of this phenomenon, please click HERE to be whisked off to Linda's blog where you can see all the deets you need and see the lovely prizes on offer too...




So, this week is one of my fave techniques and I just love the way the effects take place, like magic, when doused in a bit of water. And cos the name of the technique is Perfect Distress, I decided to make the actual tag imperfect, full of scuffed bits and looking rather worse for wear... like a juxtaposition between the "perfect" theme and the "imperfect style" Please don't worry, I am the real Hels typing all this and I haven't gone all philosophy-wotsit... I just like the word juxtaposition and like to drop it into sentences whenever I can LOL




So... do you like my Rosette??? I didn't want the Rosette to be solid cos this covers up half the techniquey bit, so I decided to pull the perferations apart to make the Rosette more flower like - I quite like it .. I could have done it neater but then it would be as shabby as I wanted... I embellished my tag with Idea-ology - lots of it, love Idea-ology (no? never? you would never have realised that wouldya? ROFL) and I popped a Ticket image into the Bracket Plate.

Right then, all this chattering about all things long wordy has me needing my bed... if you haven't seen the challenge before do head over to Linda's to see all about it - tis a FAB challenge! Oh and before I forget, all the stashy bits on my tag (including plain tags) are available from The Artistic Stamper. Can you hear that??? It's the sound of my hot water bottle calling my name... I had better go and keep it company :O)) Thanks for looking.. have a... FAB day! TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stampers - Week 128 - Walking In A Winter Wonderland

Goodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to y'all! Thank you for all the lovely Autumnal entries last week... and for your lovely comments about my meeces and pumpkins :O)) The theme for this week is... WINTER. Following on from a seasonal theme last week, the temperature has dropped a lot this weekend and it is fair nippy out there... in fact, I can quite confidently say, it is ... nesh! *Northern readers will so know what I mean LOL* As ever, to join in, all you need to do is make something including the theme and some rubber stamping, leave a comment for me here along with a linky to the place you are showing your entry and I can hop on over to see you. The challenge will be open until 21:00 Saturday November 13th '10.



So... for my entry I altered a wooden box, painting with two coats of Claudine's Blank Canvas white paint, then popping some Picket Fence Cracklepaint over in patches. Once this had dried, I used Perfect Pearls Mists - the blue one, can't remember the name though - and spritzed this over the crackley surface, heating as I went to get the mist to dry quickly. I used my finger to apply a bit of Silver Dabber over the top of all of this - just to highlight the crackles. I then added some Marshmallow Glimmer Mists to make it sparkle even more.




The inserts of card were stamped and resisted with some of Tim's snowflakes and then coloured with Distress Inks. I gave these a right generous splosh of Mists too... you can't see the sparkle on the pics but it is there :O)) I made a moon for the scene using my finger to make a circle of white paint and then using the lid of the Glimmer Mist to make a circle around the moon in Silver Dabber. I stamped some of Tim's trees - firstly in Brown and then in Midnight Blue StaZon... so they look like they have some perspective.




I went over the top and spent no less than two hours making some Fimo Snowmen and a... well, it is supposed to be a tree and if you squint a bit and cock your head on one side, it does kinda look like one! The snowmen were supposed to have top hats on - which turned into Stetsons... but I think they look a little bit cute anyway. The tree... well, that started off in a cone shape and I was trying to get it to be a bit branchy and it ended up as a spiral.




Finally, I added some Maya Road Snowflakes for embellishment and popped the word Winter onto the front... which I stuck on cock-eyed... that is going to be rectified later... and I am going to try and get better photo's in the daylight cos these are truly baaaad! I made this with Christmas in mind - because I will pop this onto the mantle as a Christmas decoration... once I have fiddled and refined it a little at least LOL Anyways... Thank you for looking... have a FAB Sunday... TTFN

Hels x

A Binding Journey...& 720!

...Following on from yesterdays mammoth Sunday Stamper post (deets of which can be found HERE) I have an annoucement to make! Yes sirreeeeee, I am making my 720th Blog post! Can you believe it? I can, actually, cos I do like to talk a lot LOL...and... I have had my blog for nearly three years!!!! So, I said yesterday about how I made my Sunday Stamper entry... and here are a few more pics of the pages within the book... a quick reminder what the book looks like...




And here are some of the pages:





The offcuts of mountboard I used were white on one side but different colours on the other sides, so I used some Multi Medium and covered the layers with Tim's Retro Grunge Stack... I had a few queries about the papers... like when was I going to show the layers with said papers on.. actually, two appeared here yesterday - I did forget to mention that... I used to plain side of the papers, not the patterned sides, as I wanted to be able to add some colour and stamping which wouldn't have shown up too well on the patterned sides...




Apologies for not being clearer yesterday - see, that is what happens when you read something written by me, it is hotpotch and all over the place... I have a baaad habit of going off at a tangent and then I lose my train of thought!




So...where was I again??? ROFL Ah yes, the pages in the book... I remember telling you yesterday that all of the stamping was done with Tim Holtz Collection stamps... and that I had to use just the one Studio 490 stamp... that was 'cos I wanted the word Believe... DOH! How stooopid am I? Tim has a Believe (and a mini version) in his Christmas sets... thank you to Helen and Sue for being clever and showing me how dim I truly can be LOL ;o)) * I actually put it down to forgetfulness in my old age*




I tried to do a few different techniques with the stamping.. this is one of my favey pages.. but I just cannot get it to photograph - basically, I coloured the mountboard with Distress Inks... Tea Dye and Peeled Paint... dried them completely with a heat gun... then I stamped the tree in Peeled Paint, immediately dusted Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls over the top, dusted off the excess and spritzed the image with water and heat dried it... the DI bleeds out from under the PP, so the PP is set with the actual image and the DI comes out to give it a watery effect...cool huh? And the lion, he is one of my fave Tim stamps (yep, another one LOL) and I haven't used him for an age... so here he is, resplendent with an Idea-ology crown on his bonce.




So... today is Monday... and I am fair bristling with excitment... first of all cos it is Monday, which means a new Compendium of Curiosities challenge later on.. and... because... Grim is being a total darling and taking me to see Eclipse... I CANNOT WAIT *to see Edward again*!!!!! When we first met (me and Grim not me and Edward.. that would be waaay too weird! *but on second thoughts, weird but...erm...nice ROFLMAO... stop it Hels, you dirty old lady!!!! Grim asked me to go to... a football match with him - to see his beloved Luton Town. Now, never being one for the footy, I went under sufference and we made a deal that if I went to a match with him, he would take me to the flicks...mmm, guess how many matches I have been to??? I would estimate about... 40 odd... guess how many times we have been to the cinema??? FIVE!!!! And how long have we been together??? Knocking on TEN YEARS!!! LOL So, I guess that he owes me!! *I won't mention that a lot of times I have been to matches purely cos I get to have a pie at the ground... and I love pies... you would never have guessed that in a million years would ya???* And... and, and... we are going to Nando's afterwards...oooooh, I love Nando's - I go for the hot option - Grim goes for the blow your head off and make you sweat option ROFL Anyways... I shall be back later with my tag for the C of C, hopefully... until then... what is your fave film? Are you a Twilight Saga nut like me? Do you love the action movies... or are you a chick flick kinda gal? Do tell!!! Thanks for looking ... TTFN...

Hels x

On The 2nd Tag Of Christmas....

...The genius that is T!m only went and did some amaaaaazing stuff with his Foliage Idea-ology flowers...so...here is my version! I would never have thought that I could actually cut into the flowers and make them into a rose! Where does he get his ideas from...that is the question! All the details about this tag are on Tims blog...if you haven't seen his 12 Tags before then hop on over there...leave a comment too 'cos he is giving away stash!! What a guy!!!




I didn't have the right size frame to make the tag...I only have the mini one at the moment...but I thought I would give it a go anyways...and it really does need the bigger one LOL I might have done a bit of *winking* in yesterdays post...well, I am still at it *wink wink* cos...hopefully Mr Postie will be bringing me the proper size frame tomorrow...all the way from Wendy @ The Stamp Attic who has got T!ms stamps there ready for you to grab and then make the tags yourself!




Thanks for looking...I am off to see what the crafting genius has made for today...I will be inky and messy very soon hopefully :O))

Hels x

Reason To Stamp - Family History Month

...Another one of those fab Reasons To Stamp over on Gingersnap Creations today...Family History Month....so I made a card; I used a Paperbag Studio's stamp which I coloured with Distress Inks and then layered the photo's and the little barn. I made a couple of messages using Innovative Stamp Creations and PaperArtsy stamps.




For the background, I stamped a Tim Holtz collection tree stamp using Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Whilst this was still wet, I dabbed old gold Perfect Pearls over the top and then used a Mini Mister, spritzing water over the top of the image. This is a fab technique because the Pearls have set but the Distress Ink still reacts with the water, so it bleeds and makes a really cool smudgy image. Thank you to Mr Holtz and YouTube for this technique :O)

Have a good day all...a day of craft is on the cards for me...on the cards.....ah, I am sooo funny ROFL .....

Hels x


In my excitement to Blog this card...I completely forgot to announce the winner of Scamp....

Congrats to Shazza who left me the chosen at random comment :O))

Haute Couture Paris Style

...Woe is me :O(( I have got the dreaded lurgy and have just had a couple of really rough days...so no crafting has been done...typical cos I have my lovely tidy craft room to play in ... and... I have received the most gorgeous stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms who are sponsoring the Gingersnap Creations team this month.

Today, however, I am a bit better so made this card using the brand new Haute Couture stamps which were released today:




In with the stamps was a copy of Rubber Stamp Madness - wow this is a seriously fab magazine, so thank you to Ali for being so kind and sending it - along with two others - to me....and in the mag is a brilliant tutorial for Perfect Pearls...which I just had to try... the finished result is amazing! I have a few packs of Perfect Pearls and have never really done much with them as I didn't really know what to do with them save for adding them to water and re-inker to make a glimmer spray.




With this technique, you saturate a piece of cardstock with spray starch and then dab the colours on until the piece is covered ... and then run it thru the Bug - I used the Fleur De Lis folder - and then use a brayer with permanent ink and roll gently over the top of the embossed detail, which then makes the black of the card pop out! I just know I am going to be using the technique over and over again!




The images on the card are coloured with Distress Inks and a waterbrush and then layered with 3D foam to make them stand out a bit.

Thanks for looking...am off to snuggle on the sofa with my hot water bottle now!

Hels x