A Kaliedoscope of Butterflies...

...did you know that a "kaliedoscope" is actually the collective noun for a group of butterflies?  I am a mine of useful information you know ;O))   Anyways.  I am back today with another project I have made using the Screen Sensation.  Actually, this is the very first thing I made and I am rather fond of it... I love the verdigris effect I achieved by simply mixing a few inks on the screen as the squeegee pulled them over.

This is a shadowbox that I had kicking around and decided to use my prints in it.  I printed the Bespattered screen onto cardstock using a mixture of Harbour Blue and White ink combined with a smidge of Copper ink.   Once dried, I then popped the Antique Script screen into the Screen Sensation and printed the script in black ink.  It makes for a pretty cool background, doesn't it?

I then printed the Kaliedoscope screen using the same verdigris colours... dotting the different colours along the top of the screen before printing means a more random print so the butterflies all look sooo pretty.

The butterflies were cut out, edged with black ink to make them pop.  I stamped a word and then assembled the whole thing together... oh and the shadowbox?  Coloured with the Black ink I used for the script print... it is such a lovely smooth ink and permanent once dried, it seemed fitting to use the inks for everything I did.

Please do excuse the naff photography... my break away from blogging did not, in any way, improve my photographic prowess! 

That's all from me for today... have a grand day and thanks for looking!  TTFN

Hels x

Carte Blanche for Blossoms & Bookpages!

Goodly afternoon!  Ooh I love it when a plan comes together!  It isn't often that I think of a project and actually make it so it looks like it did in my head.  This project started out in my head looking like... well, exactly like the finished article!  Unusual for me, I usually just slap stuff anywhere and faff around for hours trying to get things to look right.  Over on the Creative Carte Blanche blog, I chose the theme for July, Blossoms & Bookpages.  I chose the theme because I wanted to make this project... and being of slatternly persuasion, it is oft the case I will not end up making something because other things get in the way.  Perfect excuse to get my fingers inky and make something for the living room too.

I bought an old copy of Hans Christian Anderson's childrens stories a few months ago from a charity booksale... it cost me the princely sum of 50p.  One of the stories is Thumbelina.... I have a bit of an addition to fuchsias... well, actually, a lot of an addiction (I have 79 different varieties now *see, told ya, addicted*) and it just so happens there is a new fuchsia called Thumbelina.  I also have the Heartfelt Creations Fuchsia Dies... so... put them together and you get this project!

The shadowbox is from The Range and is 8" x 8", I smidged a wee bit of black paint onto the bare wood, sanded it back and then blended Ground Espresso DI over the surface to get this nice aged look. 

The fuchsias were made by sticking the bookpages onto card, die cutting the shapes and inking with Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet DI's to get the colours and then assembling the blooms.  The stems of the flowers are thin strips of bookpage/cardstock inked with Peeled Paint and the branches were made (very fiddly-diddly) by twisting bookpages around wire then inking with the green ink plus a smidge of Frayed Burlap.  The base inside is more bookpages, collages, knocked back with Antique Linen and Bundled Sage Distress Paint, splattered with Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage Distress Spray and then gently inked with more Ground Espresso to bring the whole design together.

I decided against adding any embellies (I know, what???) and wordage as I want the blooms to really stand out, it is simple but so pretty I didn't want to take away any limelight from those fuchsias.  Anyways... that's it really... I spent ages making this... the blooms are pretty easy to put together but it was the placement of them and the wrapping of the wire and making sure that it looked exactly like it did in my head...  Thanks for looking, have a grand weekend!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 332 - Sharp Dressed Man

Goooodly Morning Stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all!  Thank you for your grand entries for last weeks wishy challenge.   The theme this week is SEWING & STITCHES.  You can interpret the challenge how you like: make something out of fabric, add faux or real stitches, use diecuts...  the choice, it be yours!  To join in with the challenge is simples: make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme AND some stamping *this is THE important bit guys, please remember your rubberstamps!*  and then hop back here, leave me a comment with a link to the place you are showing your entry and I can come see you.   If you haven't got a blog, you can join in via Facebook (just tag me name) or by emailing a small res.pic to me.  The challenge will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 15th November 2014 - yes this one is a "two-weeker". 

My entry this week is my class sample for my Patchwork Sewing Room class that I taught yesterday at Daisy's Jewels in Coventry.  The base is a Candy Box Crafts mdf frame.... this has been altered to within an inch of its life to make it look like it has been around for yonks (I love doing this to new wooden things, making them look positively ancient!)

The patchwork is cardstock, coloured with Distress Ink and a selection of Studio 490 and Kaisercraft stamps adorn the patches.  Checkout Tim's dressform... this was diecut from a gorgeous faux suede paper that Daisy's sell... backed onto mountboard for sturdiness! 

As you will have noticed, this is a two week challenge this time... I am still not feeling 100% and next week I am going to be a busy gal - demoing at the NEC for Craft Obsessions on Thursday and Friday and then I am teaching at a the Craftstation on Saturday for their first Dabble Day... so it is time for the Sunday Stamper to have a little breather!  I better get a wiggle on, I am back at Daisy's today teaching the lovely ladies all about the Melting Pot... tis going to be fun!   Thanks for looking, have a great day!  TTFN

Hels x

Curiously Tinted...

Gooooodly Morning to all you lovely Compendium-ers!  Today sees the start of a brand new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.  To see all the details on how to join in with the challenge, CLICK HERE.  Also, if you pop across to Linda's blog, you will see all gorgeous creations that my talented teamies on the Curiosity Crew have made... well worth taking a cuppa and a packet of Digestives :O)    The challenge is sponsored by the Funky Junkie Boutique this time... so you will have a chance of winning a very generous Gift Certificate to spend there.  As ever, Tim & Mario have very kindly donated goodies for an extra prize... which will be awarded to the "Curiosity Crew's Choice"... so you have two chances of winning fabby prizes!  If you haven't got your Compendium book just yet, you can order a signed copy directly from the man himself... HERE.  And... Linda has also done a FAQ page for you.. HERE it is... all the info you will need is listed there.   This week we are turning to Page 41 of the book and playing with Distress Photo Tinting.  Now, as usual with the Compendium Challenge neither I nor the Curiosity Crew will be posting the technique instructions and participants must not do so either. We all want to encourage people to buy Tim's awesome book; giving away the instructions wouldn’t be fair to him. Linda will have no choice but to un-link any entries that don’t follow this rule. 

My entry this week isn't a tag!  The main reason for this - as actually it did start life as a tag - is because once I had the photo tinted, it was just too special to bung on a tag which would then be hanging with a load of other tags.  And what makes the photo so special?  Well, allow me to introduce you to my Grandma!  This photo was taken on 26th June 1929, making her 16 years old at the time.   Another special reason is it would have been her 102nd birthday yesterday.  So this little shadow box is in memory of my wonderful Grandma who taught me so much about life, the natural world and how to make a complete mess of every available surface in her flat making Christmas cards using glitter, a dab of Gloy glue and cotton wool.

As detailed in the book, I did the technique on the photo and then mounted it onto black cardstock, scuffing the edges of the photo to make them a bit shabby to give the photo a bit of age.   The shadow box was painted with a mix of Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Paints, sanded back and then inked with Vintage Photo to add a bit of a distressy feel to it.  The insert is a piece of Wallflower Vellum, popped onto cardstock to give it a plain background and then I used my good old harlequin stamp to add a few diamonds to the background.

Next came the embellishmentising:  when I was little, Gran and I used to go for walks along the Leeds/Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, both of which ran close to where she lived.  We always came home with a jam jar of tadpoles, a bunch of wild flowers or pockets full of acorns and conkers, depending on the season.  One particularly chilly day, it must have been late March/early April, we arrived back home with that pink cheeked look one can only get whilst walking in the cold air.  To our dismay, we saw two baby blue tits had fallen from a nest that was a-top of an out building and were on the path outside Gran's bedroom window.  Never one for ignoring such things, Gran quickly looked for the Mummy bird and she was no where to be seen.  I remember her saying that these little babies would "perish of the cold" if we didn't do something, so she bustled off and found a shoebox, filled it with and old towel, some cotton wool and some leaves and after donning a pair of gloves, she lifted up the babies and popped them into the box.  She said it was important not to touch their feathers as Mummy might come back and she would smell us on them.  After a few hours, the babies were still alone and Mummy bird was no where to be seen so in came the shoebox and so began a late night vigil... a vigil that lasted weeks!  And sure enough, as soon as those little babies were big enough and strong enough to fly, off they went.  And back they came... daily!  Oh yes, the little birds came back daily to dine on fresh lamb fat (off the chops, cooked of course!), bacon rinds (fried just for them!) and morsels of her rather delish cakes and pastries.  My Gran was a character - she was a one in a million special lady who gave me such a good grounding, she was a sage, wise old owl who knew a fair few curses in her native Welsh tongue - a few of which were directed at me when I was being cheeky or naughty but my lasting memory of my Gran is her laugh, we used to laugh 'til tears ran down our faces... so this little piece of art is for her...