And The Winner Is...

Goodly Morning Stampers! Today is the day for drawing a winner for my latest ATC giveaway. I had a phenomenal 85 comments... thank you folks, that made me smile big! Here's a snippet piccie of the ATC...



So, I used Mr Random.org (and one I day I will learn how to get a picture of the thingy so you can see the numbers...) and the number chosen was #67... which belongs to a comment left by...


Barb Cady


Thanks once again for all your lovely comments... TTFN

Hels x

ATC Giveaway Time Again...

Morning Folks... tis time for my monthly ATC giveaway again... this month I have been focussing on those deeeelicious Crowded Attic papers again ... this time combining them with some lovely Distressy goodies too. To be in with a chance of winning this ATC, all you need to do is leave a comment for me here... the winner will be chosen at random and announced on Tuesday 12th April '11. And... if you leave a comment for me over on my blog, you will be entered twice! Simples (said in the Meerkat voice again lol)



The base of the ATC is mountboard so it is nice and sturdy. I layered an ATC size piece from the Crowded Attic stack and sanded the edges. I then loaded Rock Candy Cracklepaint over the top and set aside to dry. Whilst the drying was going on, I made a little 3d paper rose... there is a "how to" on my own blog HERE on how to do the flowers. So, the layers of the roses were spritzed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mists... which are my fave mists to use... they are really subtle but give a lovely sparkle to whatever they touch. The rose was made using the medium flower on the Flower Power set.



The little ticket was cut using Tim Holtz Ticket Alterations die and then coloured with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Stains.. spritzed with Heirloom Gold too... and then popped into an Idea-ology Memo Pin. The ickle butterflies are from the Papillon Set and were stamped onto Duralar and then cut out... zapped with the heatgun and curled... and then whilst still hot, spritzed with more Heirloom Gold... this gives a lovely shimmer to them.



Finally, the flower Trim at the bottom is from Idea-ology Trims set ... a few cut to length and dabbed with Antique Linen Distress Stains... then lightly dabbed with Vintage Photo Distress Stains. The ATC base was dry now, so I spritzed this with... yep, you guessed... more Heirloom Gold... and then bobbed a bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the edges... ta dah! That is all finished. Thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

April Challenge - Build It Up

Good Morning Stampers and welcome to a brand new monthly challenge here at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team. First of all a big thank you for all your entries last month... Jennie will be using Mr Random.Org to pick a winner which will be announced on Sunday 3rd April so please do check back to see if you have won! This month the challenge is called Build It Up which means that we want to see lots of LAYERS on your artwork. To join in with the challenge, all you need to do is make a piece of artwork - it can be anything that takes your fancy, add in the theme and some rubberstamping and then leave your link on the Frog Link below... oh and please do leave us a comment so I can hop on over to see your entry! As usual, there is a prize on offer for one randomly picked entrant. The prize this month is £15 worth of Artistic Stamper rubberstamps plus the KlingOn to mount them onto. The winner of the challenge will be announced on Tuesday May 4th 2011.We have a new Guest Designer this month, I would like to say a huge welcome to Kat Fullman to the team. I would also like to say a big thank you to Gerrie Johnnic for her lovely contributions for us during March. To see more of Kat and Gerrie's art, please just click on their names.
The team have been busy this month with their entries for the challenge... here are their interpretations for your inspirations...


Sioux

Sioux made light work of cutting this tag using her Vagabond machine and the Tag & Bookplate Alterations Die ... making an aperture in the tag for her cheeky nude lady. The dashing young chap is from the Collage Art set and the butler is from The Mens Plate #01

Minxy

Minxy went flower crazy and made her beautiful layered papier mache frame using Retro Grunge papers and flower stamps from Flower Power, Flower Blooms, Flower Fever and the open butterfly from the Tick Tock Butterflies set.

Alison

Alison mixed her media and combined paper, inks and metal for her striking card. She used the Time & Keys plate to make her fabulous metal embellished card, turning a clock into an individual petal and layering them up. Distress Inks were used to colour the card and the focal image is from the Dressmaking plate.



Hels

I got inky with some of the new Distress Stains, colouring my tag background by scribbling the Stains direct to the tag, spritzing with water then dipping into inkyness on the craft sheet. That was 2 layers for the base... adding a third by using a Blending Tool to add Distress Inks to the tag. Stamping was done using Distress Inks and Calligraphic Mat #4 and Dotty Background stamps. The flower is made from Grungepaper stamped with Flower Power, Flower Fever and Flower Blooms stamps, then these were layered again with more background stamps. A little bit of Idea-ology Trim dyed with Distress Stains was added to the base of the tag and finally a raised sentiment from the new Tim Holtz Stuff to Say stamp set.
All of the products used by the team are available from THE ARTISTIC STAMPER. Do pop back tomorrow to see Kat's first project for us... it is beautiful and you will love it!! Thanks for looking ... have a inkilicious month!Hels x

And... The Winner Is...

...goodly morning! Last week I made an ATC using the new Crowded Attic papers and Flower Power stamp set... and today is the day to pick the winner of this ATC. As ever I have used Mr Random.org to pick the number for me... and yes, I still cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the picture of it onto here... maybe one day I will get a bit computer savvy LOL





So... on my own blog I had 25 comments and here we had 33 comments, adding those together and using the numbers 1 - 58 to chose one... the Random.org spat out ... NUMBER 43 which just so happens to tally with a comment from....

JUDE

Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments and messages... I will be back later in the week with another little giveaway so do check back :O)) Thanks for looking... have a FAB weekend...

Hels x

Crowded Roses ATC Giveaway... By Hels Sheridan

Goodly Morning! Have you seen the new Crowded Attic papers yet? Wow, they are most delish indeedily and I am a lucky lass and managed to bag myself a stack the other day. I have a bit of the thing about butterflies and one of the favourite pages in the stack is the butterflies and moths page... which, hurrah and thrice, is also in the 6 x 6 version and... the little 2" square snips.. which are perfect to make medium sized roses using the Flower Power Set medium stamp.




I have made an ATC using all papers from the new stack, the ATC sized snips are fab for popping over some mountboard - I stuck it down using Claudine Hellmuth Multi Medium and then edged the piece with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I then used Antique Linen Distress Stain and splodged some dabs onto the ATC and quickly dried it with my HeatBuddy. I gave the whole piece a generous coat of Rock Candy Cracklepaint and set aside to dry and set to making the roses. Once the petal layers were cut out, I edged these with more Vintage Photo so there weren't any white cut lines left.




The sentiment is stamped onto more paper from the stack and edged with more Vintage Photo - the sentiment is from Tim's new collection of Stuff to Say stamps... the little moth was coloured with a waterbrush picking up Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. Finally, to make it blinging-tastic, I spritzed the whole lot with Pearl Perfect Pearls Mists. If you would like to own this ATC, please just leave me a comment here and I will add all the names to a hat and a winner will be chosen at random on Saturday 19th March... this ATC will also feature on my own blog too, so if you leave me a comment there too, you will be entered twice :O))

Thanks for looking... have a goodly day! TTFN

Hels x

March Challenge - Spring Has Sprung

Good Morning Stampers... a pinch and a punch as it is the first of the month... ooh and Happy St Davids Day to all our Welsh readers too! Today see's the launch of a brand new challenge theme... first of all though, I would just like to say a HUGE thank you to each and everyone who joined in with February's challenge... there was plenty of lurve out there I can say! Jennie will be announcing the winner of last month's challenge on Thursday, so please do check back :O)) This month the challenge is Spring. To join in with the challenge, all you need to do is make a piece of artwork - it can be anything that takes your fancy, add in the theme and some rubberstamping and then leave your link on the Frog Link below... oh and please do leave us a comment so I can hop on over to see your entry! As usual, there is a prize on offer for one randomly picked entrant. The prize this month is £15 worth of Artistic Stamper rubberstamps plus the KlingOn to mount them onto. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and announced on April 3rd '11.

We have a new Guest Designer joining us this month... I would like to welcome Gerrie Johnnic to the team! Also, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Sue Roddis for her amazing arty contributions to the team this month - to see more of Sue and Gerrie's art, just click on their names.

Here are the Creative Team's entries for your inspiration :O))

Minxy - went all green on us and recycled some packaging from Tim's Idea-ology (which is a fab idea for using acetate!), an old wooden frame, Distressed Stripes Background which was stamped onto Retro Grunge paperstack, the Birds of a Feather and Free as a Bird sets, Claudine Hellmuth Stickyback Canvas and Shrink Plastic.

Sioux used those mightily fine Studio 490 stamps to make a collage hanging piece which was cut using an Alterations On The Edge Ornate Die. The papers used are from the Lost & Found paperstack... and how clever, Sioux has circled the 21st - which is the first day of Spring :O)

Alison has made these beautiful earrings... using the Insects & Butterflies plate with some Shrink Plastic - I love these colours, sooo pretty and Springlike

Hels... I made a tag for my entry using Antique Linen Distress Stains to colour the base of the tag, then colouring over the top with Wild Honey and Crushed Olive - the Antique Linen underneath is then revealed with the spritz of water I sploshed over the top. The stamping is done with Forest Moss Distress Stain so it is smudgey and then Peeled Paint Distress Inkpad so the fronds are crisper. I used the Insects & Butterflies plate to add little butterflies. I added some little cloth flowers I handmade which were finished with Idea-ology Accoutrements. The title was made using the ChipBlock Alterations Die. Finally, the tag was edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink to close it in.



All of the goodies used on the artwork is available from The Artistic Stamper. Thanks for looking... have a lovely inky month! TTFN

Hels x

The Sunday Stamperama's

...well, I was trying to be clever there but not sure if it worked LOL Anyways, goodly morning to you all! Today is Stamperama at Stevenage and Jennie will be demo-ing UTEE with her marvellous Melt Pot and I will be demo-ing Beeswax with my magical Melt Pot. If you are going to be at Stevenage, please do pop by and see us on the Stand :O)




Today I am linking the Sunday Stamper in with my post here... I have made an ATC which is a giveaway both here and on my blog... the deets are HERE. All you have to do is simply leave me a comment on this post and I will enter your name into the draw. There is another way you can be entered too... if you hop over to my Sunday Stamper post and join in with the challenge, your name will be entered a further two times... so you will have three chances of winning not only my ATC but also some FAB candy kindly donated by Jennie - which is this FAB Time & Keys plate as well as the Kling On to mount the stamps onto.



Thanks for looking.. hope to see you today! TTFN

Hels x

Take Four... By Hels Sheridan

Goodly day to you all... I have been keeping to my New Year Resolution of making a few cards a week so I have a nice big pile of them when I need one... and this card is totally inspired by a beautiful one made by Tina a few weeks ago. To see that card, please click here :O))




So, have you seen those GORGEOUS little Mabel Lucie Attwell stamps that are exclusive to The Artistic Stamper? This one I have used here is called It's Raining. All the deets on the designs available are HERE. I can't possibly say which one is my favourite because I love them all... they are so versatile and can be used to make "cute and pretty" cards as well as more vintagey ones like the one I have made here. I used just four Distress Ink pads to colour the image and the card: Old Paper, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy. I wanted to make a sepia look to the card and these brown tones just work so well to do that.




The image was stamped with Coffee Archival ink and then coloured using a waterbrush to pick up the Distress Inks. The best way to do this is to squidge your inkpad onto a craft sheet or acrylic block and then pick up the ink onto your brush... one thing that is a no-no is picking up ink directly from the pad... this will ruin your pad! I blended the edge of the image with Old Paper and edged with Brushed Corduroy.




The little flowers are made by stamping Dotty Dot Stitchel Flowers in all three sizes onto paper, cutting out and then edging front and back with Brushed Corduroy. To find all the goodies on this card, please click on the links through the post :O)) Thanks for looking!! TTFN

Hels x

It's A Giveaway!!!

Good day to you all... it is time for another arty giveaway!! I have made a cute little ATC using some inks and stamps and a bit of embellishing for goodly measures. The base of the ATC is one of the fab ATC cards from Ranger. I glued this onto some mountboard as I wanted the whole ATC to be really sturdy as I knew I would end up bashing it and adding layers to it. The base card was coloured with Bundled Sage Distress Ink and I overstamped with an Artistic Stamper Script Stamp, using Bundled Sage again, I love this look of colour on colour, it really if effective to do a "faded" background. Next, I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink to blend around the edges. I cut another piece of mountboard for the sentiment... colouring this the same as the base and then adding a Tim Holtz mini sentiment in Ranger Black Archival ink. Over this I stamped the fly-away birds in Bundled Sage and then coated the whole piece with a generous layer of Rock Candy Cracklepaint.




I used another Tim Holtz Collection mini to add the fly-away birds using black ink - I just stamped these a couple of times so they are in perspective as they fly off the ATC. I used some garden jute to tie around the ATC, popping an Idea-ology birdy charm onto the knot of the jute and then adding Washers and Brads to the corners of the ATC... finally, I popped the crackled sentiment on some 3D foam and then assembled the ATC.



If you would like to own this ATC, please leave a comment here... all comments will be entered into Mr Random.Org and a number will be chosen at random on Saturday 15th January - I will also either email you or leave you a blog comment if you are the winner :O)) All of the lovely goodies used on this ATC are readily available from THE ARTISTIC STAMPER! Thanks for looking! Have a FAB day! TTFN

Hels x

Hels Tag of Christmas - #3

Goodly Morning... as promised, I am back with Hels' Tags of Christmas Tag #3 to giveaway... another one totally inspired by all those amazing ones by the Duke of Distress... oh and while I think about tags... did you know that Jennie is running a Tag Withdrawal competition??? Deets are all HERE and the linky-thingy is in the sidebar :O))



On with my tag and how I made it... it is up for grabs to one randomly chosen comment :O)) The winner will be announced on Thursday 30th December 2010. Anyways, how I made this... firstly, I smooshed Frayed Burlap DI onto the craft sheet and spritzed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearl Mists and dipped the tag into the inkyness, drying with a heatgun and re-dipping until I had the look I wanted. Next, I added a few drops of Fired Brick Re-Inker to a Mini Mister of water and lightly spritzed the tag. I popped a generous layer of Fired Brick Cracklepaint and allowed this to dry. Once dried, I stamped the music score in Walnut Stain DI and wiped off the excess from the Cracklepainted bit. (this is a nice look as the smudged DI goes into the crackles making it look a bit... erm... like me... old that is ROFL) I made a paper rosette using the Seasonal Paper Stash and the Rosette Alterations Die and popped an Idea-ology Crown into the centre. Behind the rosette is some mini tinsel from my own stash and... some dyed elasticated Idea-ology Trim - this was coloured with the Fired Brick Re-Inker mix and then dried on a radiator... drying with a heat gunmakes it shrivel up!!!



Along the bottom of the tag I added some of the flowery Trim, which had been coloured with the Fired Brick Re-Inker mist I had made. I popped a bit of tinsel behind this for a bit of extra bling. Next I made a little postcard using a Seasonal Sticker, mounted onto mountboard, sanded, edged with Walnut Stain and then stuck into a Memo Pin. The Facet at the top of the tag was stuck onto some Seasonal Stash paper using Glossy Accents and then fastened with a Jump Ring. Finally, I used some White UTEE on Grungeboard numbers, heating it til it bubbled and then adding smidges of Black Dabber to age it.




So, would you like to own this tag??? I hope you like it and... I just need to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has joined in with the monthly Challenge this month - WOWZERS we have had a seriously huge amount of entries so if I haven't got around to yours yet, please bear with, I am on my way LOL Thanks for looking and have a grand day! TTFN

Hels x

And The Winner Is...

...THANK YOU all for your lovely comments on the Tag Giveaway - I have added all the commenters names to my hat (ok, I asked Mr. Random.org to do it for me LOL) and the winner he has chosen is....


#19 - Rumtruffle


Here is the tag that will be winging its way to Rumtruffle.




I will be back on Monday morning with another Hels Tags of Christmas giveaway... so please do check back :O))

Thanks again!

Hels x

Hels' Tag Of Christmas... Number 2

Goodly morning and a very happy Sunday to you! If you have arrived from Ink On My Fingers, welcome and thanks for coming over... if you have arrived on your travels, welcome and thank you for visiting :O)) First of all... I need to announce the winner of the first Hels' Tag of Christmas... so, Mr. Random.org has cogitated and come up with...


#16 - Stampersue

Many thanks for all your lovely comments, muchly appreciated. On with today's offering... another Hels' Tag of Christmas... so inspired am I by a certain Sultan of Stamping, I have been playing with more Tissue Tape (wow, I lurve this stuff!!!) and ink and made another tag.




I started by sitting pleating Tissue Tape onto a piece of cardstock that was big enough to cover the Pine Tree Alterations die. I pleated the tape and overlapped each layer - starting at the bottom of the card and making my way upwards to the top... this way, the pleats stay stuck down by the layer above. Once the card was covered, I cut the Pine Tree out of it and then used Forest Moss Distress Ink to colour it. I then smothered the whole lot with Rock Candy Cracklepaint and once this had dried, I wrapped some raffia around the trunk.




I used Snowcap Dabber to add streaky patches to the top and bottom of the tag, these formed a resist and I wanted them to look a bit like icicles. I coloured the whole of the tag with Bundled Sage DI, added some Forest Moss, blending over with a Blending Tool and foam and then added script, stamping using Bundled Sage. Finally, I edged it all with Walnut Stain and then used a soft cloth that had been spritzed with water from a Mini Mister to remove the ink from the paint. I stamped a flourish in Snowcap Dabber and then the sentiment in black StaZon, adding white dots with a Ranger White Pen. Finally, I added some elastic trim from the Idea-ology Trimmings and a piece of gold tinsel (from my stash) Oh and the trim at the top is more Trimmings (ribbon this time) which was coloured with Bundled Sage DI and then a few baubles were added as a bit of extra bling.


To be in with a chance of winning the tag, all you need to do is leave a comment here for me and I will use Mr. Random.org again to draw out a number. The winner will be announced next Sunday, 19th December and I will post the tag out as soon as I get the addy deets thru, so all being well, you should have it before Christmas :O)) Anyways... that's it from me for the time being... thanks for looking... have a fabbilicous day! TTFN

Hels x

Hels' Tag Of Christmas... Number 1

Goodly morning peeps...Well, who is totally enthralled by those fabulous 12 Tags of Christmas by Tim Holtz?? I am!!! I love tags, I love inks, I love rubber and most of all... I love a good crafty session! For the last few years I have been doing the 12 Tags but also have make my own versions with different bits and bobs from the originals on them... and this year is no different. This tag here has several of the techniques we have seen so far this year and... I am giving it away to one randomly picked comment. So, if you would like to win this tag, please just leave me a comment on this post and I will ask Mr. Random.org to choose a winner on Sunday 12th December '10




I started off this tag by inking up a holly stamp *all stamps used are Tim Holtz Collection* with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress Ink and then wiping away patches where the berries are and popped a teensy droplet of Fired Brick Re-Inker... when I say teensy, I mean reeeeally teensy - just the touch of the end of the pippet will be enough as it is very concentrated. I stamped randomly on the edges of the tag and then embossed with clear powder. Next, I used Frayed Burlap DI and went right over the tag, working the ink with a Blending Tool and then adding a touch of Crushed Olive and then Forest Moss Distress Ink to the edges. I used a splash of water from a Mini Mister to add a bit of distress and then dried with a paper towel.




Next I used the music script stamp and stamped in Frayed Burlap DI... stamping Seasons Greetings in black StaZon, wrapping some jute around the tag... making a Tissue Tape rosette (my new addiction - all the deets on how to make this are on Tim's blog with a video too!) The centre of the rosette is an Acoutrement button and I also added Walnut Stain ink over the Tissue Tape (gently does it) just to tone it in. The little sentiment is actually a sticker from the Seasonal Stash Sticker book - this was popped onto card, sanded, Walnut Stained edges and then attached to a Memo Pin. And there you have it... a Hels' Tag of Christmas... I will try to make another which will be a giveaway for next week... I just need to figure out how to slow time down now so I can make my seven hundred and 23 Christmas cards LOL Thanks for looking... Oh and before I go... don't forget that the challenge here this month is Christmas ... so, if you are doing the 12 Tags you can link in with those... the deets are HERE. TTFN

Hels x

Bobby The Snowman By Hels Sheridan

Morning! Blimey, Winter came early last week didn't it??? I didn't get that much snow here but I know a lot of peeps were affected by it. One thing I always love to do is make a snowman... and seeing as I didn't have enough of the real white stuff to play, I improvised and used my Bobby Snow Stitchels design instead and made an Easel card.




Bobby was stamped in Black StaZon and then coloured with: Tumbled Glass, Vintage Photo, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Crushed Olive and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks - using a waterbrush to apply the colours to him.




I stamped some Stichels Holly Garland, coloured with Forest Moss Distress Ink and added some Fired Brick Distress Stickles to the berries and to Bobby's buttons and flower. The sentiment is a new one for 2010 - I am just loving that font! Thanks for looking... hope you have a good week!

Hels x

Bling & Baubles By Hels Sheridan

Oooh, I loooove Christmas, all the preparations, the decorations and the fact that I can add as much bling to artwork and get away with it LOL For this piece I have used the brand new Steampunk Bauble stamps - aren't they just F A B!!!




I started with some Gold Nuggest TSS metal - you can any colour you want to to match in with your festive colour theme, which was popped onto black card with Humungo Tape. I stamped the baubles with Black StaZon, giving it a quick zap with a heat gun to set the ink. Next I used a teflon tipped refining tool (TSS) and added little indents all around the cogs inside the baubles and then used a scootchy tool to make a nice edge for each one. These were then covered with Black Dabber, which was wiped off with paper towel whilst still wet - this just ages the metal nicely and the paint sits in the bits you have refined.




The base of the canvas was covered with Terra, which was stamped into using background stamps, heat dried to make it warty and then painted with Traditional Tan, A Dash of Red and Sable Brown Claudine Hellmuth paints. Once these were all dried, I used some Perfect Pearl mists - Heirloom Gold and Forever Red, spritzing and heating to dry them. These added a load of bling which doesn't really show in the pics. Finally, I used my favourite applicator tool (my index finger LOL) and popped some Inka Gold onto the bobbles on the canvas to highlight the contours. I added Idea-ology Ball Chain for the baubles to hang from and a Memo Pin and Charm Clip for the sentiment. Thanks for looking! TTFN

Hels x

An Old Favourite... By Hels Sheridan

Goodly morning! I am happy, happy, happy today because I have been playing with ink and card and getting thoroughly messy in the process. I have made a card - which was based on a tag - which as I'm sure I may have told you (like a gadzillion times) that I loooove tags.



Well, I decided to make a tag that was flat on top and didn't have a hole... which in effect means it is ... a card LOL So... starting out with a Non Stick Craft Sheet, I dabbed and squidged the following colours of Distress Inks onto it: Antique Linen, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy, making sure that the colours don't overlap each other. Next I used a Mini Mister with water in it to spritz over the DI's to make a "wash". The next stage is to take you piece of card and press it onto the inkyness, dry with a heat gun and then repeat the process until you are happy with the look. I have found over the years of doing this technique that if I dry a little bit of the inkyness up with the heatgun it goes into more concentrated droplets, which then transfer to the cardstock... giving it a dappled look, which I like :O))




Next, I edged the card with Brushed Corduroy - I do this so it "closes" the card in, so the inkyness on the card is the focal point - hope that makes sense :O)) I used my fave Tim Holtz Collection stamps to add images onto the background.. and then added the Brolly Man, which was stamped in Black Soot and embossed with Black Soot Distress Powder on Grungeboard. His brolly had a dollop of Glossy Accents popped onto the top of it so it looks like rainwater and the sunrise in front of him is where he is headed :O)) *ah, you ol' romantic Hels :O))* I then added a sentiment and an Idea-ology Key to finish. I hope you found the hints here helpful... thanks for looking... have a FAB weekend! TTFN

Hels x

November Monthly Challenge - Something Hidden

Morning Stampers and a pinch n a punch to you all :O)) Today is the first of the month, so that can mean only one thing... time for a brand new monthly challenge theme. Thank you to everyone who joined in with last months challenge... the winner of the candy will be announced by Jennie on Wednesday - drawn randomly by Mr. Random.org :O)) On with the theme for this months challenge... chosen by Tina, our Colouring Artist Extraordaire, the theme is SOMETHING HIDDEN. To join in, all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, tag, altered art - that is entirely up to you... include the theme and some rubberstamping. If you use Artistic Stamper stamps, your name will be entered into the draw twice... the prize is £15 worth of Artistic Stamper stamps of your choice, plus the KlingOn to mount them onto. Leave us a comment here and add your link (to be added shortly by the blog technician cos I am toooo thick to know how to do it ROFL) when you have entered ...oh and you can enter more than once... please just remember to use rubber stamping on your design.




So, for my entry I have used a little papier mache book - any kind of papier mache item will work with this technique though. I painted a layer of watered down Traditional Tan paint and dried it quickly with a heat gun. Then I added some Cloudy Blue Dabber - again watered down slightly and applied with a paint brush... and dried again - finally a stipple brush of Sable Brown paint... dragged over the surface to make it patchy... and then a dab of Copper Dabber... again dried immediately. I have found to my cost - leaving the painted surface to dry naturally warps and buckles the papier mache... and normal thickness paint bubbles too much under the heat - hence the watered down versions :O)) I made a little card insert for the inside... colouring with DI's and stamping with Tim Holtz collection stamps.




I made some Grungepaper roses using the large and medium flowers from the Flower Power sets, painted the Grungepaper with Copper Dabber and then assembled the large rose on the front of the book with a couple of Grungepaper Leaves, cut from the Tattered Leaves Alterations Die, embossed with a Texture Fade and then coloured with Crushed Olive and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks. I added some Idea-ology Baubles, Memo Pins & Book Plate for decoration and made a little mouse using Fimo - he has Idea-ology Ball & Chain for his tail... I think he is quite cute and mouses like being in a nice cosy cubby hole... so that's why he is hiding in the book :O)) Anyways... that is my entry... what are you going to make?? The idea's are endless; secret compartments, little flipflaps to open up to read a message, words hidden in sketches... go on, have some inky fun! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

The Hangman's Tree - By Hels Sheridan

Goodly Morning Peeps! Tis me, Hels, with yet more Hallowe'en stuff... I know, this year I have gone a bit Hallowe'en bonkers and today is no different... in fact... I have some "treat" news... yes, indeedily, the Spooky Pumpkins hanging ATC that was up for grabs last week now has a new owner. Using Random.org, I popped all the numbers into the mix, asked the nice man at Random.org to chose a number out for me... and the number picked is #11 - which belongs to the comment left by GINI. Please can you email me your deets and I will pop the ATC into the post for you :O))



So... today's spooktastic offering is made up from those divine Art Parts from Wendy Vecchi... now, I have spoken to Jennie about these here Art Parts... they are currently out of stock... however, if you give Jennie a call she will be able to take a pre-order over the phone - call 01795 531860. Right, business side of it done, I can wax lyrical about how I made this... well, what shall I call it? Erm... Art ...doesn't seem the right word to use... how about... hommage to all things spooky? LOL



I covered the Art Parts with papers from the Retro Grunge stack (I have to say... I LURVE this stack... mainly cos the papers are perfect for just covering stuff and not having to ink the whole lot... lazyness abounds aplenty LOL) Once the components were covered, I then went on to cut out a Picket Fence Alterations Die using Mountboard... this was coloured with Distress Inks and then curled and fashioned around the middle of the Art Part. Oh and I forgot to say... the Art Parts had a few of Tim Holtz's Hallowe'eny images stamped onto them too :O))



Next came the time consuming bit... I wanted some mini pumpkins... and haven't got any charms or embellies that would work... so I hit on the idea of making some... using Fimo! Now, Fimo and I have not had the best of relationships so imagine my delight when it moulded really well and turned into a pumpkin... never one to look Mr Ed in the chops, I decided to make a few more... and then got all ambitious and made some toadstools too. I have made some... Fly Agaric... there, aren't I clever knowing the proper name??? Not really, Mr Google helped me ROFL The skelingtons were a lovely RAK from Joanne and I knew as soon as I saw them that they were destined for the Art Parts piece that was in my head... so THANK YOU to Joanne... she is a sweety! Well, that's all folks... thank you for looking... have a grand weekend... TTFN

Hels x

PS - just remembered... if you fancy, you can click to receive an email newsletter from The Artistic Stamper... keeping you up to date with all the new arrivals and special offers too... the button is just over there on the sidebar :O))

Spooky Pumpkins...

Morning Peeps! Tis me again, back with another ATC to giveaway... this time it is a Hallowe'en themed one... using those luverly Tim Holtz Hallowe'en Mini's... I have to say, this is my first foray into the whole Hallowe'en thing this year and I am a total convert... I can see this skelington being used for things other than spooky too!



So, the base of the ATC was made with a piece of the Retro Grunge paper stack, coloured with Wild Honey and edged with Vintage Photo Distress Inks. The spider web was stamped with Brushed Corduroy and the bats and barbed wire with black StaZon. I stamped the skelington onto Grungepaper and cut him out and then once he was in place on the ATC, I added Glossy Accents to make him pop... however! The pics for some reason, are showing him to have a whiteish tinge to him... not sure why cos the GA is all dried... but I quite like it... it looks more... erm... lived in ROFL I have some beaded fringing in my stash which is white and pearly... so I made up a Mini Mister of Spiced Marmalade Re-Inker, mixed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls and water, soaked the fringe with this mix and then dried it. I added some wire to the top of the ATC to make it into a hangy thing.. well, you know me and my hangy things... love 'em ;o))



If you would like to own this ATC, pretty please leave me a comment here and I will pop all the comments into the Random.org thingy and a winner, chosen at random, will be announced next Saturday, 30th October '10. Oooh, and while I am on about all things winning... have you seen our monthly challenge? The theme this month, set by moi, is Layers... and you can win £15 worth of Artistic Stamper stamps and KlingOn to mount them onto if you join in... that is open until October 31st... so you still have a week to play :O)) All the deets for that are HERE. Hope you have a brill weekend and thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Poison Comes In Little Bottles...

...aha, just like precious things come in little packages... bit like me really LOL Anyways.. HELLO!!! I am back today with a double whammy for you... firstly... did you know that here on the Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog there is a monthly challenge??? You didn't??? Well, there is... and... this month the theme, set by yours truly, is to use LAYERS on your artwork **click the wordy to find the post :O))** The rules are simples... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art... just use some stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto... so... whatcha waiting for??? :O)) Actually, before you dash off to get creative... please let me introduce you to my latest tag creation...



Yes, I finally have succumbed to all things Hallowe'en and got myself a couple of sets of Tim Holtz Collection stamps... BTW, if you click on the blue words that will whisk you off to the exact page on the AS webby... so you can do a bit of shopping too... see, I am an enabler LOL The background of the tag is coloured with a mix of Distress Inks; Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Dusty Concord, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot around the edges... however, before I did the colouring bit I used a script stamp and a birdy stamp and some Pearl Dabber to make a resist effect. Once coloured the images really pop off the page... just simply wipe off the ink from the paint and voila, resisted!


The Skelington is stamped in Pearl Dabber and embossed with white embossing powder... then cut out.. he is on Grungepaper so he is quite supple.. if Skelingtons can be supple LOL The Poison is another Tim stamp - one of the Mini Hallowe'en... stamped, inked and popped onto a titchy bottle that has Espresso Alcohol Ink dropped into to make the ... poison!



I added some Fragment Charms... these are made by inking cardstock, stamping the image you want and then using Glossy Accents to stick the Fragment to the card... simply wait til dry, cut out, edge with a sanding block to smooth it down and then use Black Soot to finish the cut edges... these are hung from the tag by poking a hole thru and making a twist of wire and a Jump Ring. The Ticket is from the 100th Collection from Mr Holtz ...cut using the Ticket Alterations Die and this is attached to a Memo Pin. So.. my layers are the Fragments and the Skelington... and the little Calendar Page... also a Tim Mini Hallowe'en stamp. I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until October 31st and the winner is chosen by Random.org and announced the following week :O)) Thanks for looking... have a FAB weekend! TTFN

Hels x