You Never Make Anything Like That For Me...

...were more words uttered by my dearly beloved Grim... on Saturday night, when I had just made the Sunday Stamper for this week... and what is it about him??? He has this inbuilt sensor that susses out any surprises I am planning for birthday/anniversary/Christmas etc pressies for him... anyone else have a hubby like that??? For example... I will think to myself that I will buy him a CD for his birthday/anniversary/Christmas etc and lo and behold, he walks through the door a few minutes later holding the exact same CD I have been thinking about buying for him... thus spoiling another pressie idea... So, for the last few months I have been a-thinking *don't worry, I do my thinking sitting down now-adays... otherwise the old brain cell will become exhausted* that I want to make a piece of wall art for Grim for his room - he has a Room of Equipment - which is not unlike my Room of Stash... save for the fact that his room is much smaller ROFL. Anyways, I have been saving bits n bobs for months now... you know, to put on this piece of art for him. So, the Sunday Stamper was a "trial" piece to see if I could make what was in my head... I showed it to Grim for approval... and that is when he said..."you never make anything like that for me"... typical! Anyways, I decided to go ahead and make the piece... and here it is:




I used Terra, Ferro and Rock Candy Cracklepaint to make a really texturey frame... and... please all make sure you are sitting down, you may faint when you read this... I didn't use... Traditional Tan!!!! No, not a single drippy drop went near the piece... I used... Claudines Blank Canvas, which is as nice as Trad Tan but not the same colour ROFL.




I also used Claudine's Teal paint.. which was a tad dark for my project so I plopped *don't you just love that word... plopped...say it several times and all of a sudden it sounds really funny... erm.. just me then???* Where was I? Ah yes, the texturey bit... stamped into, heat dried, splodged with paints... added shimmery colours using Precious Metals Paints - Silver and Turquoise..using Cut & Dry foam for applications... and then finally... Silver Dabber... plopped onto a craft sheet, picked up with already filthy dirty fingers... and smudged over the Rock Candy bits...





The bits in the middle... old letterpress letters, the Battleship from Monopoly... Grim usually is the Battleship... and reckons I should now be... the Old Boot (charming huh?) The numbers make up his birthday and age *yes folks, you have found out the truth, Grim is 84 LMAO.. he's not really, I just said that to ensure you all know I have a sugar daddy LOL* The key next to the watch pieces... Life-Time... the ickle train... if you didn't know already... Grim drives trains for a living (which is where we met, all those years ago when I was a young slip of a gal, starting my training and they put me with him so he could teach me how to drive trains for myself...ah, misty eyed memories...anyways... enough of the slush) The heart on the wings...cos even now, after all these years together, he still makes my heart flutter *sorry peeps, am I making you feel ever so slightly queasy with all the sentimentality?* The bottle with the silver bead chain - that is supposed to be Vodka, his fave tipple...the crown, cos he is my Prince Charming... and the propellor cos he loves planes... and the Swallow... ah, that image used to adorn the old ladies of the railway, the Intercity 125's or HST's... and Grim drives those, they are his favourite *as they were mine too* and finally, the resistors around the frame... cos he loves all things electrical and gadgetty :O))




So... how long is this post??? Well, cos yesterday I broke all traditions and did the shortest post in the history of Ink On My Fingers... I decided to bore you all rigid with my inane wafflings and witterings about this piece.. I could have just said... "this is what I made Grim for his birthday" but then you may have been left wondering why in the heck I had added so many random things to a piece of art... I just thought of a better title for this... it could be... Art Imitating Life...mmm, nice! Anyways, I am offski... Grim has a week off work *hurrah and thrice* so we are off for a gentle stroll cos I have that horrid nasty spasmy thing in my back again and I can't move about properly ... a gentle stroll may just ease it up! Thanks for looking... and if you have read to the end of this... a hug for you for reading my waffles... TTFN...

Hels x

Mad Hatter Day With The Gingersnaps ...

... Guess what??? Today is Mad Hatter Day! I have to admit, I sat there scratching my head at first when Laura suggested that the Gingersnaps have a Blog Hop today ... sitting there thinking, "why is it Mad Hatter Day???" You have probably sussed it straight away but if you are like me and baffled... it is 10/6 today... which is the number in the Mad Hatters hat! *A useless bit of info that you probably know already but... did you know the reason why they called Hatters mad? Well, in days of olde hat makers used to use Mercury in the lining of the hat - which after prolonged exposure to, sends you mad in the head!!!! And, did you know that Luton was the hat making centre of the UK... I used to live in Luton, Grim is a proper Lutonian... speaks volumes eh??? ROFL*




Anyways... enough of me pretending to be the font of all knowledge... here we go with the Blog Hop and all the details you need to know :O)) WELCOME to the Gingersnap Creations' Mad Hatter Day Blog Hop... you have reached HOP STOP #3. The Gingers are celebrating Mad Hatter Day and we hope that you will hop along with us - there are some awesome pieces of art along the way to look at too :O)) If you are already hopping then you will have just arrived from Elina's Blog... if you have just arrived here, don't worry, the hop is in a loop, so you can start anywhere!




At each Hop Stop you will need to pick up a word, there are 10 stops in all...starting and ending at the Gingersnap Creations Blog, where you can see the goodies that are on offer and also all the info you will need to be able to enter the Mad Hatter Giveaway. When you have all your 10 words, unscramble them to make them into a quotation from the classic Alice in Wonderland.





Once you have your answer, email it to gingersnapcreations@gmail.com before 25th June '10. One lucky winner will be chosen at random to win the Mad Hatter Goody Package - the winner will then be announced on 29th June '10. If you visit all the stops, you will have 10 words and you should end up back at the Gingersnap Creations Blog.




If you get lost along the way, jump back to the Gingersnaps Blog, there is a route guide there for you... and... this is the important bit for you... my word is DESK. The next stop on your Hop will be at Jean's Blog....Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting me and I hope you like the little pieces of art I have made to celebrate this day :O)) *incase you were wondering... the fabby Mad Hatter stamp is a Mabel Lucie Attwell sketch and is available from The Artistic Stamper* TTFN peeps...good luck!!

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 106 - The Letter

...*ahem* Morning Stampers...apologies for another late start to the new challenge theme... I am afraid that I have to report that I have a very erm, sad reason for being so late... basically... instead of making my entry last night, I sat and watched... the final of Britains Got Talent ROFL And, *woe is me again...* I think I must have eaten something dodgy because I have been doing that yukky thing with a toilet during the night too - enough already! First of all, many thanks to all who joined in with the challenge last week, I have hopped all over the world to see all your gorgeous creations...so inspiring and beautiful wings out there.



The theme this week is... LETTERS. The song title - The Letter - is an oldie but fave song of mine by The Box Tops - from way back in 1967 - click HERE if you fancy having a little listen to it :O)) To join in with the challenge, all you need to do is make something, include the theme and some stamping, blog it, leave me a comment with a link and then I can pop and see you. The theme runs until 22:00 12th June 10 (oooh, that is sooooo close to my birthday, I just had a little wibble of excitement!) Now, my entry is a little bit off the wall - actually it is for the wall... and it is a big MDF letter H - which stands about 12" tall and has been altered using Ten Second Studios metals, some Terra which has been stamped into... and that is as far as I have got with it so far - I plan to go and shower my stinky old carcass and then get cracking and finish it this morning, then I can post the pics later on...

Til then... TTFN and I will be back LOL

Hels x





LATER.. A WHOLE LOT LATER.....

Right then... here I am .. erm... just the odd 50 or so hours late! Apologies for the delay in posting my finished piece... said "bug" actually was literally a real bug - here is what happened... we have massive trees in our back garden which the Mosi's love lurking under. I got bitten on the top of my leg on Saturday evening... spent most of Sunday being icky and with a raging temperature and a bite mark that was... I kid you not... the size of an orange... red hot, really painful and left me feeling very sorry for myself. Anyways.. I am back, still feel a bit grotty but a thousand times better than I was! So, the altering of the H took longer than anticipated but here it is - not exactly how I wanted it to be - the old Mojo is taking a holiday this week too!




I used a combo of Terra and Ten Seconds Studio's metals... painted them, coloured them with Alcohol Inks... added some Precious Metal gold paint over the top... then I made some little Memory Frame embellies. The stamping inside the tall Memory Frame was done onto gold metal and then I stamped the cog background stamp (The Artistic Stamper), puffed out some of the circles, then poured clear UTEE over the top so it sat inside the frame making a bubble cover. Check out the Memo Pin attached to the top - how cooooool is this idea which I have borrowed from Mrs Vecchi - she is just soo clever and inspiring... basically, get a Memo Pin, add a little letter or piece of art, lay it flat on a craft sheet and fill up with Glossy Accents... she is just soooo clever isn't she!!! Go and have a looksee at her Blog, amazing art on there :O))





I did the same again with the UTEE for the inch size Memory Frame but added a Salvage Sticker "h" to the middle before filling it up with the UTEE. The Coggy embelly was made by inking up the cog stamp with red StaZon, pouring clear UTEE over it and letting it set - then adding some more Precious Metal paints to the surface to add definition.



Right, enough wafflings from me... thank you all for joining in so far and being so lovely and patient.. next weeks Sunday Stamper will be a really special one :O)) That is all I am saying at the moment! Thanks for looking... am off to scratch my bite now ROFL TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 98 - Maxwell's Silver Hammer

Morning Stampers...isn't it just the most divine weather??? Guess what??? I know why!!! Cos it is Ally Pally weekend and it is always glorious! Anyways...THANK YOU for all the lovely entries and comments last week...it was an all time high with 62 comments left. It may not seem many compared to some challenges but the Sunday Stamper has always been just a little challenge, it was so great to see so many new faces too...and I do hope peeps will return, not only for today..but also, next week will see the Century of the Sunday Stamper...100 themes...and I have a little secret, which I know I can share with just you cos I know I can trust you...there will be not only a special theme...and some candy donated by moi...but also ... fabbbbbby prize candy has been donated too :O) Speaking of Candy... I have just done that Random.org thingy and it packed up on me...so I reverted to more technical ways of picking a winner randomly...and wrote all the names on paper, folded it up and then picked it from a hat...well, actually, a bowl, can't find the hat..think that Packing Fairy has put it away somewhere....so .. the winner is;

CHRIS - congrats hun ... please can you email your addy so I can pop the stamps and Kling into the post for you - email details etc are on my main Blogger Profile :O))

So, this week the new theme is hammers....AHA, only joking...it is SILVER...I have picked another old Beatles record...I do love the Beatles you know and use any excuse to mention one of their songs! So, all you have to do to join in is make a piece of art...include stamping on it and also the theme...this week is a doddle easy one :O)) *saving up for next week LOL* Then, once you have blogged it, please leave me a link here and I will be able to call in and see you :O))




I have got inkier and messier making mine...I say inkier cos you should see the state of my hands after playing at Ally Pally all day...they are minging LOL I started off with a fabby little wooden frame which is about 6" square. I coated the bare wood with Gesso and then smoothed on some Terra (which is like a fine gritty texture paste) and some Ferro (which is like a gritty metalic paste) and then used the brand new and incredibly divine Cog stamps from The Artistic Stamper, )spritzed with water first so they release out of the Terra/Ferro) and randomly stamped onto the surface.




Next I used my heat gun and dried the frame...drying the Terra with a heat gun isn't necessary - it will air dry...but...when it is heated, it goes bobbly and warty *I have said this already I know but I did get a few mails about what it is and how it works*. I then painted over the top of the surfaces...applying it with Cut & Dry foam is the best way to do it so it doesn't overload in any patches.




Another zap with the heatgun and then I used Precious Metal paint...Silver colour...mmm, lush...again using Cut & Dry to apply this...then dried it again...and then very gently applied a little more black paint on the bobbly bits to emphasise them. The heart, face and clock embellies are made from a combo of clear and silver UTEE poured from the Melt Pot into moulds, made using Mold & Pour. The little clock is actually a mould of one of the new Idea-ology watch faces. I added some black StaZon to the UTEE pieces - using my finger to apply it cos it means more control... I think this just makes the whole piece pop a little bit. Finally I added some more Idea-ology to it to finish.




The centre piece is made from white card which I coloured with Silver and Marshmallow Glimmer Mists. I edged the whole card with Black Soot DI then smooshed the pad onto the craft sheet, spritzed with water and popped the large coggy background into it...then stamped straight over the card...dried with a heatgun and then used some more of the cog stamps for the background, using Black StaZon. The sentiment is fab isn't it? My fave font ever...and this was stamped, cut down and popped onto 3D foam for added dimension. The stamps, frame, Terra, Ferro, Precious Metal, UTEE, Mold & Pour and Idea-ology can be purchased from The Artistic Stamper...and I will be taking this piece to Ally Pally with me today if anyone would like to see it in the real.



Thanks for looking...have a brill day...again, if you are at Ally Pally today, please pop by to see me and Jennie - Stand #49 - where we are demo-ing incredibly divine Spray Mists by Crafty Notions..which are totally lushious! Oh, BTW, the challenge will be open til 23:00 next Saturday 17th April...and then there will be the biggy next Sunday. Also, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all your lovely comments on my blog...and apologise for not getting around to see you all during the week...that Packing Fairy has naffed off with my hat but not bothered to pack anything else up yet ROFL

Hels x

If Music Be The Food Of Love...

...play on! A little known fact about yours truly here... I love Shakespeare! I know, it isn't trendy to love Shakespeare now-a-days...nor is it because I am incredibly intelligent...far from it...but when I was about 15 I had an "Educating Rita" moment... *have you ever seen that film? It is one of my all time faves!* and I was studying Twelfth Night for my *ahem* O Level English Lit...hey, I wish I could say it was my GCSE but they were a distant thing in the future! Anyway, I fell in love with the works of Shakespeare and even now, I am a sucker for all things by the Bard... now did anyone see David Tennant as Hamlet... *swoons* Perfection or what! So, I am waffling away here and not even talking about the thingy I just made... This evening I had one of those moments when you hear a little voice from the Room of Stash calling... so off I went and mucked about with some mini canvases and some Terra and came up with this;




Instead of using the proper side of the canvas, I flipped it over and painted the whole lot with some Gesso - then I added on some Terra to the wooden bit of the framework...application with the finest tool known to a crafter... a finger! I heated up the Terra which made it go lovely and bubbly...then added some Silver acrylic paint - the best metallic acrylic for me is an Adirondack Dabber - and then I plopped some black paint over the top of this but didn't go right into the bubbley bits...I zapped this with my heat gun and then added some Silver Precious Metal paint over the top...again using the finger applicator. BTW .. it is a so and so to get out from under nails... be warned LOL




I set this aside to dry off completely while I got making some little Grungepaper roses - using the medium and small Flower Power stamps from The Artistic Stamper. I over stamped these with one of Mr. T'Holtz's music score stamps and then coloured them with Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick and Barn Red - so each one is a slightly lighter colour than the next.




Finally, I added on a little Adage Ticket attached in a mini clip and made a little mat to go inside the frame...again stamping over with the music score. It was a simple little piece and really fun to make, I love using Terra cos each time the effect is slightly different from before...and I just love the warty effect you get...mmm...warty, doesn't sound too pleasant... but you know what I mean!! Oh, I almost forgot to boast, I mean tell you... the Educating Rita moment worked...cos I got an A for my exam result...the only A I will ever get but I was well chuffed with that result! Thanks for looking...beddybyes time for me now....TTFN...

Hels x

The Cogs Are Whirling...

....Have you ever had one of those really annoying episodes when you know you have got something new ...but cannot for the life of you remember where you put it??? Well, last night I must have spent a good two hours looking for a little pot of gold paint...nothing spectacular about gold paint...but...I NEEDED IT!! I had this idea in my head about making something hangy and something metally but I wanted it to be gold and black...and for the life of me, I can't find that pot of gold paint! I know I definitely bought it last week...so where is it??? Maybe my Room of Stash has got a... Poltergeist...*or, more realistically, it is such a pig sty that it is hiding under something else LOL*




Anyways, having not been able to locate said gold paint, I chose silver instead...and using one of the new Ten Seconds Studios molds - my fave new one with the cogs, I attempted to make a coggy steampunkish kind of thing...which ended up being more about Time itself. The metal was molded and then coloured with black paint to age it, then silver paint to colour it again...then I tried a bit of pink metallic paint...yak, that looked naff, so over went some more silver paint...one of those pieces that just didn't go right no matter what I tried!




The top part is a quarter Terra, stamped into with some Paper Artsy Cogs and t'other quarter is Ferro, stamped into with more PA watchy images and a bit of text, which promptly got covered up with my experimental piece...remember the UTEE from yesterday? Well, the dregs in the pot were poured onto the TSS mold and set to go hard...blimey, I am a dimwit, I didn't use a release ink so it took me about five hours to prize it away from the mold...ok, it took me a little less than five hours, but it felt like it. These pics just haven't turned out how I wanted them to...the piece looks more dimensional in the real...please click on a pic to see it bigger ..it may help LOL




I added the UTEE piece, which was also coloured with black and silver paint, to the piece, adding in some Idea-ology bits and a cute little key... I love those keys sooooo much! The Memory Frame has a piece of mountboard in it, painted black, stamped with silver, with a Memory Capsule over the top with some watchy bits in it...don't worry though, I haven't been at Grim's watch with a hammer, I got these bits from The Artistic Stamper :O)) I added some mini wings behind the dangly Idea-ology word strip, hey, time flies right???




And...cos it is Wednesday, I thought I would show you my desk...I am a bit early with the post so not sure if Julia has done her WOYWW yet...but I am off out in a mo...and .. maybe gone some time :O) The stash on my desk...ooooh, the new DI's which I am playing with and splooshing about with Perfect Pearls and a Mini Mister are getting ready for some Wendy Vecchi stylee playing...hopefully later if I get back in time...Anyway...gotta dash, got a train to catch :O)) Have a good day!

Hels x

Metal-I-Like-A

...Oh ho ho, I am trying to be funny haha today...the title...Metal I Like...with an A .. means ... Metallica LOL *just me again then????* I have got inky and painty and messy with some Ten Seconds Studio metals, Ferro and Terra along with some Precious Metal paints and some Idea-ology...adding in a bit of stamping to boot.




The base is a Maya Road book page, Gesso'd to prime it and then the bottom half is covered with some Ten Seconds Studio silver coloured metal, which I used on a Kabuka mold, just picking out random squares...then antiquing with black paint and colouring with Glimmer Mists.




The top half has Ferro on the left hand side, which is silver..then stamped into...and Turquoise Precious Metals to highlight and then a few dabs of Silver Precious Metal on top. I used a Sequin stamp from The Artistic Stamper to get the bobbly look...it is such a versatile stamp to use for texture on backgrounds. The other half of the top half...*or if I was a mathematically minded bod, I would have said quarter!!!* was covered with Terra, which was stamped into with a dotty background and the sequin stamp again...then once this was dried, assisted by the heat gun, I painted it white, then used more Precious Metals to colour this in to match.



I added an Idea-ology frame, again aged with black paint, then silver paint over the top...the sentiment is a new Studio 490 stamp...and I added the large heart, stamped onto silver metal and refined to give it texture, adding Grungeboard swirls behind....and then finishing off with a 3d metal rose, stamped onto Peacock TSS metal, swirled freehand and black paint again and then popped together using silicone glue.




Thanks for looking...has everyone been watching the Ranger legends on QVC? How fab to see Suze, Claudine and Tim on the telly :O)) *and I have to admit, I may have made a little order LOL*

Hels x

On Terra Firma....A Brief Stop From The Magic Carpet

...Actually, technically speaking, so to speak, I am on Terra Firma...but my head is away high up in the clouds...or at least I have to admit that when this piece started out it was supposed to be for the Play Date Cafe challenge which is HERE...but once I got cracking on it the colours I was supposed to be using got covered up with loads of browns and blues and then I added Terra, stamped into it...then went a bit bonkers with the gold paint....erm...so it isn't an entry after all ROFL This is another entry for the OWOH giveaway...I am just so blown away with the amount of comments I have had on the original post that I wanted to add this one it to say THANK YOU for all your lovely comments....




This piece started life as an 8" square canvas which is a cheapy one from The Works...and has a shallow side, which is excellent for flipping over and using as a shadow frame, the recess is just the right depth. I prepped the canvas back with Gesso...a couple of layers which then made the excess canvas curl up, so off that was chopped and then I layered some Terra over the whole of the frame...and whilst this was still relatively wet, I stamped into it with a diamond background and a script stamp. This looked ok but a tad boring...so on went the Trad Tan paint ... ah, yes, I have a confession...I am now on my 10th pot of this and I think I should take out shares in Ranger...I seem to be keeping them afloat with my Trad Tan paint purchases LOL




Once the Trad Tan was dry, I used some blue and then some Sable paint (more of Claudine Hellmuths amazing range) Still a bit boring...so I used some Croco paint and slapped on a few patches of this....think it was the Bronze colour...but to be honest, by the time I had finished faffing with the paint, it kind of got covered a bit.




Still not happy with the frame I hit on the idea of using Gold Ferro...now, if you haven't used it...you must...it is so versatile and has a great texture that is just perfect for stamping into...again, using the diamond pattern...just remember, when stamping into Terra or Ferro so scrub your stamp before it goes in and as soon as it comes out...otherwise it sticks like .. er...stuff to a blanket (note how ladylike I am being today)




Finally I was happy with the frame... so I got the old Melt Pot out and heated up some Beeswax....readied some tissues and napkins and made a collage...using sections of the printed tissues/napkins...cutting out the birdies...and remembering to leave their tails on this time ... and then used some of the plain layers of tissue to stamp onto...using the same ones as used for the frame...and also a cute ickle birdy by Crafty Individuals. I used Timber Brown StaZon for the stamping...blimey, this pad is soooo dry...new one needed immediately I reckon!




The finishing bits were popping some gold Precious Metal paint over the frame, toning in all the colours to a blend I was happy with...and then I added a couple of shapes I made using Fimo and a Push Mold...and added some Micro Beads and pearls...and lastly, the obligatory mini bottle...where would my art be without Trad Tan and mini bottles eh?




Thanks for looking...have a great day and....if you haven't already seen the OWOH posts and giveaways please scroll on down to see what I am entering for the swaps...cheers!

Hels x