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

Reflections of Art...

...cor blimey and thrice alive, how hot??? Don't get me wrong, I ain't moaning, it is nice to see a bit of blue sky for a change... but it is how fast we went from brrrr to phewwwww. Anyways, I am hoping there will be sunshine this weekend because I am on my travels up to the Land of the North and Dawn's shop for some classes.



Todays class is called Reflections of Art - I just realised, I didn't put the titles of the classes into my sidebar... doh! Anyways, this here is a sneak peek of the project that we will be making, lots of doings and inkings and all things vintage. I am having to do speed blogging again peeps cos I am away to my bed very soonly as I am up at stoopid o'clock and I still have to do battle with my barnet (my feathers hate damp weather, they frizz and my feathers hate warm weather, they ...erm... frizz!) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend... I will be back tomorrow with a new Sunday Stamper challenge - oh and... don't forget, you have til 21:00 today to add a comment and/or join in with last weeks challenge so you could be in with a chance of winning my little giveaway. Right... am offski... Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

PS... 1 space left on tomorrow mornings class and 2 on tomorrow afternoons class... just sayin ;o))

Getting Knotted...

...this month the Fantastic Ribbons team are all getting knotted, so, armed with some really coolio ribbons and lacey trims, I got knotted myself. I have made a card using some lush Basic Grey LBD papers and added some fancy knot embellies. Making the knots is simples, cut six lengths of chosen ribbons, lay them across each other in a starlike fashion, pick up the length that is across the middle and then knot them all together.... simples :O)) To see all the deets about the challenge, please CLICK HERE.



I am pretty rubbish at tying bows - I even spent a very lot of ££ on a crafty weekend once and the only thing I did learn was how to make a bow... and then promptly forgot. I know, I know, it is just like tying a shoelace but... I can never get my ribbons to behave and go in the direction I want them to, so... knots... for me, the perfect excuse!


Anyways... I can't stop and waffle as normal, as much as I would like to... I am knee deep in kits in preparation for this weekends workshops up at Dawn's shop... and a little birdy just told me that there are a couple of spaces on Sunday's classes; there are two classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and we will be making a little wooden blocky thing (fab description Hels!) and a little mini street using canvas, card and bookpages... oh and butterflies, always gotta have a butterfly somewhere! Right, I shall away... if you do fancy coming along to the classes, give Rifat a bell on 01254 356501. Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Off The Page...

...when is a page not a page? Aha, when it is turned into a little shelfy piece! I have another sample from Saturday's shows; using the same Art Part Book Pages as yesterdays post, just this time I have turned it on its side and added a little Scallop Trim to make a shelf for some goodies. The base of the Art Part was coloured with Black Soot DI and then sanded around the edges to make it a bit shabby... and then some Brushed Corduroy DI was blended over to add some aging.


The frame is the Rectangle Frame from the Sample Pack... coloured with Scattered Straw Stain and overstamped with Pale Ochre Archival... as was the inserty bit which is cardstock coloured with the same. The sentimet is from Love To Make Art and the flower is from Art Works. I used the co-ordinating Art Part bloom from Not Just Flowers for the base layer of the flower, colouring with Scattered Straw Stain, then stamping the same flower onto Grunge and colouring with Fired Brick DI... and finally a Clearly For Art flower to add some dimension. Check out the crochet style flower centre, that is one of the Embellish Your Art pieces... Ooooh, I LOVE those!!! The detailing is so fine and, I know I am repeating myself but... the quality is just brilliant.



I used a smidge of Vermillion Archival to colour the EYA piece to tone it into the design, it comes in a creamy colour so is perfect for altering using inks or sprays. The leaves are also from the Not Just Flowers set, coloured with Peeled Paint Stain and overstamped with that fabby swatch style background from Accents for Art. The ickle shelf is just asking to be filled up with trinkets so a few Lightbulbs and more EYA and that bottle and lily flower... aren't they just GORGOOOOOEOUS together!


Now, you know me, always one to waffle on about the weather... well, isn't it hot!!! The Room of Stash has been turned into a sauna thanks to the southfacing window and hot sunshine beaming in all day - don't get me wrong, I do love a nice sunny day... but I do love a nice cool Room of Stash... I have nabbed the tower fan and am currently sitting being wafted which is nice but it doesn't half blow the old papers and ribbons around. AlfieCat is not a lover of the heat, bless him... although I know some cats are; my old cat, Rosie, used to go and sit in the greenhouse and sweat gently in the boiling heat, she would be in there for hours and appear for her tea-teas all damp with bed-fur! Anyways... enough of me waffling about the weather, I am away to my bed now, our bedroom is nice and cool thanks to the best thing we ever purchased, namely an air-con unit that has more than paid for itself for the past 10 years. I hope, whatever you are up to, you are keeping nice and cool... Thanks for looking... have a lovely day! TTFN

Hels x

Inspired By...

...todays offering is totally inspired by the one and only Duchess of Distress, Wendy Vecchi. If you are new to all things Studio 490, allow me to point you in the direction of Wendy's blog so you can browse and be inspired yourselves. Did you know that Wendy has written 6 books already? I am a lucky lass and own them all and use them regularly to get inspiration and ideas. This piece today is a show sample from last weekend; made using the new Large Pages Art Parts, a Small Square Frame and a Scallop... along with some Grungepaper and Clearly For Art... oh and yes, a flower from the Not Just Flowers Art Parts set.


I won't go into great detail on how I made it because it is detailed in Wendy's Book #6 (available HERE) The papers I have used to cover the pages are my most treasured Jenni Bowlin papers, I LOVE LOVE LOVE these and every time I spot them in a shop, I whip them into my basket... they come in 12" and 4 x 4" - the ones I used are 12". I used Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear glue (THE best IMO) to pop the papers onto the pages and then inked the Art Part frame and scallop with Frayed Burlap and Black Soot Stains respectively. The floral Art Part is coloured with Fired Brick Stain and overstamped using the smaller flower from Accents for Art. There's a Grungepaper flower, which is the same flower stamped in Archival and coloured with Fired Brick DI. I then added a Clearly For Art (clear flavour) flower to the layer and then a goooorgeous Embellish Your Art button to the centre.



Speaking of Embellish Your Art.... have you got yours yet? I spent a happy hour squealing and bouncing about this morning because I was chosing which ones to bring onto the next shows on June 2nd... all I will say is that they are LUSH! Can you imagine? Standing over all these boxes of Embellish Your Art goodies, I had to drag meself away I can tell you lol


Oooh and... Grim let me play with his power tool this morning! No, that isn't a euphemism, it really is a power tool... tis a whirry saw thingy that looks mighty vicious. I have to admit that I was very tentative and kept my hands, arms, feet, legs and hair out of the way, knowing how much damage I can inflict upon myself with a pokey tool, I know how dangerous I could be. I was a right wuss though and only cut one piece of wood and then handed it back to Grim, he is much more capable than me! And why were we cutting wood? Ohhhh, you will have to wait til the weekend to find that out... Right... I gotta go, there's some sunshine out there and a little spot that I need to occupy along with my scissors and a pile of Grungey flowers that need cutting out.. Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Curiously Collaged...

...tis time for the Compendium of Curiosities II challenge... I LOVE this challenge!! I know, I say that every week but it is true! Invented and hosted by the ever lovely Linda Ledbetter, the challenge focuses each week on a different technique from the Duke of Distress himself, Tim Holtz. This week the challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie so there be prizes too! Check out all the deets HERE on how to join in.



This week I had heaps of fun with Tissue Wrap, another fave product :O)) All the deets etc on what goodies I used are HERE on The Stamp Attic blog. I used Juniper Dabber, this was the first ever Dabber colour I ever bought, I love it because it can change colour depending on what you put with it... if you add bluey tones it goes bluey and if you add greeny tones it goes more...erm... green! (well, in my eyes it does lol)


I am speed blogging today because I am still tackling that "to do" list and it seems to be ever growing! Yikes! Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Feeling a Little Hoarse Dear?

... Yes, that will be me then. Alas and alack, the dreams of all Luton Town fans were shattered yesterday afternoon... more of that in mo though! I thought I would start with something a lot nicer to think about. Namely, a sample or two that I made for my Saturday shows using the gorgeousness that is... Studio 490. The set I have used is the new European Art set, I LOVE the guy, the Eiffel Tower and the bottles... oh the bottles are just gooooooorgeous!


I thought I would quickly do a "how to" for each card and then, if you did have a little treat-yourself on Saturday, you will have a couple of ideas for starters: So, this card is my Altered Man; I love him cos he has that "whatcha looking' at?" expression. Actually, I think that he could be the Banker from Deal Or No Deal lol Anyways: Smoosh Picket Fence Distress Stain and a smidge of Black Soot Distress Stain onto the craft sheet. Spritz lightly with water and dip cardstock into the mix. Lift and dry with a heat tool. Re-dip to add blotches of depth, drying as you go. Use the Picket Fence DS to splat onto the cardstock. Dry with heat tool. Use Black Soot DS to splat slightly off centre of the white splats, creating another layer for depth. Ink the Eiffel Tower and stamp just the top onto a piece of cream cardstock, stamp the top of the Tower at slightly different levels for that random look. Stamp the Banker Guy onto card, cut out, blend a smidge of Brushed Corduroy lightly over his face and around the edges of the guy. Cut the top of his hat off. Stamp the sentiment twice, cut out just the word "altered" and edge with Black Soot DI. Leave the other sentiment whole and edge with Black Soot DI. Assemble card, layering onto black cardstock, pop the Banker Guy onto 3D foam and attach to the Eiffel Tower stamped piece. Attach the word onto the card so it is coming out of his hat. Attach the sentiment onto black card and stick to the base card.



The next card is the bottles - I love those bottles, they are just so pretty and the ickle crowns on top are so "in" at the moment with all things Queenly being hot property. The bottles were stamped onto Clearly For Art, clear flavour, using Jet Black Archival Ink. I heat set the ink, cut out the bottles, heated the Clearly For Art and then gently shaped the bottles so they are domed and... bottle shaped! I stamped them again and cut out and coloured the labels and the crowns using a waterbrush and some Stains, dried them off, whilst still a bit warm I shaped the card slightly so it bent over the bottles... then glued them together with some Cosmic Glue and popped them onto 3D foam with a few Memo Pins popping out of the tops of the crown. They are layered onto some simple blended cardstock, I didn't want anything too OTT for the background so the bottles really popped off the card.


I have just found out that my next two shows are on Saturday 2nd June at 4pm and 7pm... oooh, I can go and chose some lovely goodies to use now!!


Back to... the post title, no I haven't taken to cuddling shetland ponies, oh no, I have almost lost my voice, I sound like a cross between Phyllis Pearce from Corrie and Alan Carr... all gruff and squeaky at the same time... tis all because of yesterday and me yelling my chops off at the footy lol. The general feeling Chez Sheridan is, what can only be described as... deflated, gutted and basically chuffed off :O( Luton Town didn't win *sob* even though they had a storming start with a goal in the first couple of minutes. There was a second goal from York that was way offside but allowed *grrr*... and that was it. Game over. So, another year in the Conference :O( Anyways... it was nice to see the inside of Wembley again and hopefully next year it will be an automatic promotion and not a play off! Here's a piccie that Grim took on his clever camera, it does a panoramic thingywotsit, very clever! And also a piccie of us before the match...




Right.... I got a heap of things to do and I better get moving, I am about to make my entry for this weeks CCC2 challenge and I will be back tomorrow with that. As ever, thank you for looking... TTFN

Hels x