The Winner!.. and the winner of Hels' ATC too!

I firstly have to say a BIG thank you to all our followers and new readers of my blog and our wonderful Creative Team blog ( such amazing artwork!)  but most of all for being there! Without you the blog just remains in hyperspace, lonely and unloved! lol. I had so many comments and I know you all wanted to the win the candy, but there can only be one winner! I threw all the comments and the followers into Mr Random .org, and generated a number, and then went through the followers and comments, and the fact that you had posted it on your sidebar, jumbled them up and here is the WINNER!!

CHARITYCRAFTER!!!

 

Congratulations!! . Please email me your snail mail addy , so I can get your candy to you! Commiserations to everyone who didn't win, but never fear I will be back with more candy soon!
Hels has chosen the winner of her ATC ( she is currently languishing in bed nursing the flu! ..(get well soon Hun) so she has chosen the winner of the ATC as

Kat

Congratulations! Please email Hels to clain your ATC!

Have a very creative day, I am off in my truck to Leamington Spa for another show- Artisan and if you are coming by please say hi!!

Jennie

Winged Globus Illuminatus

My journal is very much a place to PLaY, and I've really been enjoying playing with my Artistic Stamper stamps as guest designer this month, so it was only fitting to share a journal page with you as my last piece.

As soon as I saw the new Inspiration Light Bulbs I knew I wanted to add wings to them, and today the 'Winged Globus Illuminatus' was born :)   The moth wings from Insects and Butterflie 1 are the perfect size for the light bulbs :)

I also loved the idea of using the blank light bulb as a bird cage.  This came about because as I was working on my light bulbs, I had my free as a bird set of stamps near by!  I used the loop from the top of the cage to form a loop for my light bulbs, and stamped the birds after stamping the blank light bulb.

I painted the background using emulsion paint, masking some areas with Tim Holtz' cogs mask, and adding stamped elements with my Rusty Hinge distress ink pad and the wonderful cogs background alongside elements from Tick Tock.

Overstamping the blank light bulb with the cogs background and lace background gave me two more patterned lightbulbs for my imaginary creatures.

I think there's more to play with with this story of winged light bulbs fluttering through the air, and strange creatures using their discarded shells to keep tiny birds in.  And that's the fun of journaling, coming up with stories as you play.

Thankyou Jennie and Hels for inviting me to play this month, now I'm off to order some of those new stamps just released :)

Totally Textured... Featuring The Sunday Stamper

Morning!

A quickie post to let you know that over on my Ink On My Fingers blog I am hosting my Sunday Stamper challenge and this week Jennie has very kindly offered to sponsor it.





The deets for the theme and prize etc are all HERE... to join in you can also click to follow this blog and leave a comment to let us know you have done that.. or if you are already a follower and fancy a challenge, please leave a link and comment over on the Sunday Stamper post :O))




The prize is a set of the brand new SteamPunk stamps... here's a pic of what you could win! Thanks for looking...

Hels x

Come Up & See Us...

...It'll make us smile... aha, did you see what I did there huh? I sort of tried to be clever and use that song title by Steve Thingy and Cockney Wotsit ROFL

Anyways... a quickie post to remind you that today is the first day of The Big Stamping & Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace and we have our stand there (Stands 49 & 50). Jennie will be demo-ing Melt Pot and a coooool (or hot in this case!) new technique and I will be sitting waffling and doing Make & Takes... it'd be FAB to see you.



And just another little reminder... we have a special on this time... well, we normally do have some special on but this time it is a free gift... the brooches that have been made by me and Jennie will be there... 25 each day, one is gold - that gets a goody bag chock full of...erm... goodies LOL The rose brooches are pressies to the first 25 peeps who spend £25 on any stock from the stand... and will be given out randomly, no one knows where the gold ones are cos they are all jumbled up now! Pot luck it is then!
I am very excited about the show... as I usually am... and hope I get chance to see you and have a chinwag! TTFN

Hels x

Steaming Punky...

....Cor blimey I have been nearly bursting at the seams keeping these FAB new stamps quiet... but today is the day that they are launced... hurrah and thrice!! Click HERE to see all the new ones in their finery... and here is a little frame I altered using some Tissue Tape, Metal and Alcohol Inks...



The big flower was stamped onto metal, refined and aged and then turned into a fivepetal flower... I then made a rose using metal and the small flower to sit in the middle with a leaf behind it. The butterfly is made from Dijon metal .. isn't that just a GORGEOUS stamp!!! And... check out the ickle snail... soooo cute!




So... we are at Ally Pally this weekend... Jennie is demoing and I am doing Make & Takes... so if you fancy a little play with some inks and Grungepaper, do pop by to Stand 49 & 50 - it will be grand to see you! And... as a special Jennie and I have been really busy making some brooches for giveaways... basically, on both days...the first 25 peeps to spend £25 (on anything at all on the stand) will receive one of the brooches we have made... and as a special extra... on each day there is a gold rose in with the others... so if you get the gold one, you will receive a Goody Bag stuffed full of delish stash... all from Jennie and you know how generous she is with her giveaways!



Those there are my brooches and these below are made by Jennie... all I will say is that I have very very very sorely fingers after all that stitching ROFL...



Anyways... hope to see you at the show... and thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Freddie Strongman... By Hels Sheridan

Morning Peeps... just a little quickie post from me today - first of all... I made an ATC the other day using a sketch from The Compendium of Curiosities... and some Tim Holtz stash. The backing papers are from the Retro Grunge stack and I used the strongman from The Big Top set - I know I have said this before but... doesn't he look like Freddie Mercury!





The letters are Grungeboard and coloured with Distress Ink and then overstamped with another Tim stamp to add some text. The backing paper was covered with Rock Candy Cracklepaint and I added some Idea-ology - a Type Charm, Jump Ring and Mini Safety Pin and a bit of Film Strip. Freddie Strongman was coloured with Tattered Rose Distress Ink which is a fab flesh tone colour. I personalised this ATC with a Type Charm as it was for a friend... however... I have another here, just waiting for an initial ;O))... so, if you would like to own it, please just leave me a comment and I will pick a name at random next Wednesday, September 29th '10. Thanks for looking... have a fab day ... and hope to see you this weekend! TTFN

Hels x

It's the witching hour!

I love witches, mainly because I have always maintained that I am one! You can take that anyway you like...:))))) I have to say like most people in this country Halloween is not big. We don't celebrate it nearly as much as in the USA, so when Tim brought out his new Alterations dies, I have to say I wasn't really sure. But I have played with some of them, and now it is the witches turn! Please excuse the very quick nature of this piece, time is of an essence for me at the moment, as we have Ally Pally, the Big Stamp & Scrapbook show at the weekend, so I am busy tweeking the stamps, packing boxes, and doing behind the scenes secretive stuff! Just wishing that there were more hours in the day!!
So I took the witch and die cut her with some quite thick chipboard, and dipped her in utee! The chipboard doesn't have a lot of water content, but where there is some the utee bubbles. I quite like this effect. I did the same with the accompanying bat ( you get him too in the die set), and brushed gold Perfect Pearls on his wings.

The broomstick was also dusted with PP, and I sprayed it liberally with water to get the droplets effect. The base is a small canvas board was sprayed with Crafty Notions Mica sprays, and allowed to dry.

The background fits so neatly into this month's challenge, which is Rainbows. there is still lots of time to enter!  

Finally for those of you don't know Minxy has been in hospital and Hun we wish you a speedy recovery .. get well soon and take it easy!

Have a very Creative day!

Jennie

Art is Nature Notebook

Hello again,

I always like to have a notebook by my side, don't you? Otherwise, where would we write down our Stash Wishlist! I also think that if you decorate them yourself, they make useful little gifts for crafty buddies.

When I spotted this acrylic covered notepad in my local pound store, it immediately made me think of the possibilities with alcohol inks. I've been a bit techniquey today because I thought I would experiment and see how it would work if I stamped my design with StazOn on one side, and then used alcohol inks on the other, and then bleached out the alcohol ink on the leaves, and filled them back in with colour. You could use either Cut 'N Dry Nibs dipped in Alcohol Ink Blending Solution to remove the colour, or one of the Ranger Fillable Pens, then put the colour back in by using green alcohol ink to accent the leaves, using the same method. Using the reverse of the acrylic means you don't have to worry about the StazOn bleeding. This particular notebook had a blank first page, and then lined pages, so if you wanted you could have a double layered design, with some decoration on the front page, showing through the stamped and alcohol inked acrylic cover.

I decided not to use any 3d embellishment because my notebooks take quite a bashing, on my craft table and in my handbag, so I wanted it to be resilient. I added metal photo corners partly to reinforce it, but also to slightly 'frame' my design.

What you will need:-

Art is Nature stamp set
Alcohol Inks Sunset Orange, Red Pepper, Sunshine Yellow, Watermelon, Shell Pink, Lettuce
Alcohol Ink Pen or Cut 'N Dry Nibs
Alcohol Ink Blending Solution, felts, and Applicator Tool
StazOn Jet Black
Fibres

A6 Acrylic Cover Notebook
Metal Photo Corners

How to do it:-

1. Open out the cover and apply the alcohol inks to the reverse: add a couple of drops each of the Orange, Red Pepper, Yellow, Watermelon, and Pink, so that they are not touching each other on the felt applicator pad. Dab, moving the direction of the tool around as you go. Then add a couple of drops of the blending solution to the tool and do the same again. I kept checking by closing the book again so I could see the colours reflected against the white background, until I was happy with the intensity of the colours, so you may want to apply more. Apply colour to the back cover in the same way. I've shown a picture here of the back cover with alcohol inks on and I also took the cover off and popped it through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, which is another thing you could experiment with!

2. Stamp a selection of the Art is Nature stamps on the front of the acrylic cover as shown, using the Black StazOn.

3. Turn the cover over again so the alcohol inked side is facing you, and use the re-fillable pen filled with blending solution to bleach out the colour of the leaves. Have a piece of scrap paper or tissue by your side and keep cleaning off the tip.

4. Use another re-fillable pen filled with Lettuce to add the colour of the leaves back in.

5. To finish, add metal photo corners and fibres, as shown.

I hope you like this little project. It was a bit of an experiment for me and I felt these bold and striking stamps worked really well. I think it would also work well though, with many of Jennie's other stamps, as I found it was easier than I thought to remove the colour and add it back in to create detail.

Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for looking!

Lucy

Such Organisation! by Sarah Anderson

For a long time I've wanted to personalise my filofax. I've just got a new, smaller one, and although the red cover reflects my personality, I was determined to make it more 'me' inside too.

I resisted the use of the sewing machine as that would have made for a lumpy surface for writing on, and went for simple collages. I love the combination of white and cream so limited myself to this palette. I may add some colourful inserts at a later date though.

I adore this bird cage from the 'Free as a Bird' plate, it's so Victorian, and a great size! I combined it with images from the Ephemera 1 plate, which I note is on offer at the minute - and it has a British post card image [Something tells me 'post card' may be a popular image to use in the near future!]

I love how the numbers from the tape measure image look inside the clock face. There's a postmark in there too! I just masked the outside of the clock and stamped the images in the middle.

The 'post card' image seemed rather appropriate for the first of my address dividers! The butterflies and dragonfly feature on the 'Insects' plate.

My filofax is starting to come together, and certainly reflects some of the images I love :)

My Favourite Season by Tina Barnett

Hi Everyone!! It's Tina here xx

I am back with another stamp from Mabel Lucie Attwell. Isn't she cute! She is available HERE.

I have made my card using The Book of Trix embossing board. I just thought this beautiful stamp would work so well, and I wanted to show you that you could get out your boards and use them to compliment your stamps.

I have used Promarkers to colour the stamp. The plain card stock works well with the beautiful paper by K & Co.

The message is from DCWV and reads "Ginger and cinnamon fill the air, A patchwork of leaves lay everywhere, Cold clean mornings and indigo dawn, Crystal frost on the emerald lawn, Golden apple cider and delicious pumpkin pie, These are the things I love at Autumn time!"

I have used some foam tape to raise the pages of the book and used flowers to embellish the piece.

I hope this card has inspired you. I would love to here if it has!

Thank you for looking and please go check out The Artistic Stamp Store for the wonderful Mabel Lucie Attwell Stamps and more!

Bye for now! Tina xx

A Box Of Wishes... By Hels Sheridan

Morning Peeps... I have been getting very messy with Viva Terra and Ferro, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint... some of the bestest background stamps in the world *said in a Jeremy Clarkson voice LOL*...ever! Oh and some other bits and bobs... UTEE, collage, Rock Candy, found bits from my stash... tis all here in this little recessed frame box... *BTW, if the words are blue it means that these are linky's to the website where you can buy the stash :O))*




I love these shadow boxes and have altered several so far but this one was extra special as it was for my pal Lori in America... we did an art exchange and I wanted to make something a bit special... instead she got this ROFL.. only joking... she has received it now and I know she loves it... that is a bonus for a start. Anyways... I started by coating the box frame with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso - just a thin layer applied with Cut & Dry foam does the trick. Once dried, I used a spatula and popped a layer of Viva Terra Sahara on in patches... I wetted background stamps (list to follow of ones used) using a Rub It, Scrub It pad... then stamped into the Terra. I then used a heat gun to dry the Terra... this makes it bubble and go warty... love this stuff! Next I used some Ferro, applying this with a spatula and using the background stamps and Rub It, Scrub It again.. the good thing about this pad is that it cleans off the texture paste from your stamps too... *and - little tip... inky fingers? Pop a smidge of handwash onto the pad, wet it, rub fingertips on it... removes the inky bits.. well, most of them LOL* Anyways... I had left blank patches on the frame on purpose... because once I had painted the whole lot with Claudine's Traditional Tan paint, allowed it to dry etc, then added some Sable Brown, then a bit of Charcoal Black to add definition, I splodged a very generous layer of Rock Candy Crackle onto the plain bits. Once this had crackled, I used my very expensive applicator tool (otherwise known as my finger LOL) to add some Viva Inka Gold... in gold colour... this stuff... has to be one of the bestest products ever... I have used it delicately (or as delicately as you will get from me) to apply smudges of colour... but you can also emboss card in a Texture Fade (or suchlike) and then apply it over the top so the embossed raised bits get coloured... cool huh?




The inside of the box had had the sides painted with Trad Tan... and I added a little piece of paper from the Lost & Found stack (out of stock at the mo but back in soon) and then covered a mini canvas with an old bookpage and added colour to this. The little L is from my stash, as is the little Monopoly doggy... he came from a travel set I got in a pound shop... for... erm... a pound ROFL I heated up some UTEE in my Melt Pot, a lashing of clear and two little puddles of gold... then once it was melted, I inked the coggy stamp with clear embossing ink, poured the UTEE over it in a swirly motion, this means that the UTEE has like an agate look to it... I let this cool and then broke the UTEE into bits and added some gold and black to it to define the cogs. The little heart was made using a mould I had made with Mold n Pour... the other little hearts were made by pouring UTEE in a swirly motion again onto a craft sheet and then popping cookie cutters into the still molten UTEE. Finally, the little embellie in the recess... is a clock stamped onto Gold Nugget TSS Metal... scootched around the edges and I have a cookie cutter which is almost the right size... so I popped a bit of clear emb. ink around the rim to act as a release, set this over the metal piece, then poured the UTEE into the cookie cutter... not too much otherwise it would be too thick... *bit like me LOL* To embellish, I added Idea-ololgy - the Ornate Plate has an Adage Ticket in it, which was then filled with Rock Candy Cracklepaint.




So there you go... how I made it... do you like it? Oh and yes, the list of background stamps... I have to say... the Cogs and Sequin Waste are my faves but .. then I love the Punk Plaid... and the Dotty one is a must have too! Thanks for looking... have a goodly day... TTFN

Hels x

It's time to celebrate!-edited

Today isa double whammy here on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog, as it is my own personal blogaversary, but also we have over 200 followers in just over a month. To say I am chuffed is an understatement! I am absolutely ecstatic, because I am guessing you love the gorgeous artwork being created here!
So to celebrate I am GIVING AWAY over £100 worth of goodies, including Tim's Compendium of Curiosities, a wooden bird to alter, a Sizzix Alteration, lots of Artistic Stamper stamps, Kling-On, a mini suitcase from my own stash,that is impossible to get anymore,grungepaper and some idea-ology.
Who knows I may even throw in more ( some of the new Sizzix dies are winging their way to me for delivery on Monday!*wink*). Actually if we have more than 100 comments I will add a new die.

So... to WIN this all you have to do is make a comment below, add the candy to your sidebar if you wish, make a comment on my blog too,  and become a follower of both blogs. My! that means you have FIVE whopping chances to win!! That is good odds in my book!! lol. I will post all around the world too! The blog candy finishes in two weeks, and I will choose the winner or could that be winners *wink* on Monday 27th September.
I need to get some sleep as I am making a mess with melt art at Pickleberry Papercrafts later today, and hoping to have some fun too!
edited-- to add this wonderful Alterations embossing folder, as we now have more than 100 comments.. make it 200 and I will add more!!!

Happy Creativity and good luck!
Jennie ( the Boss, so I am told..lol)

So Many Toys, So Little Time... By Tina Barnett

Hello,

I made this card using a Mabel Lucie Attwell Design, available HERE . The name of this little boy is Jolly Day Out. The image is coloured using Pro-markers.



I have used Nestabilities to make the shape of the card, but instead of mounting the top card which holds the image to match the edge I have raised it a little to give a different shape.

This image is wonderful for shading, the car can be coloured in so many ways, I have chosen blue, but it shouts out for so many different shades.

The image is edged in liquid pearls. The card edges have been edged using acrylic paint.

I have then added some ribbon and a quote, along with some buttons and just a touch of bling!


This is one of many stunning images by Mabel Lucie Attwell available HERE. Thanks for looking.

Tina

Bamboo Bling! By Nicky Cresswell

Hello my lovelies I'm back.. Did you miss me??

Wow september is just whizzing by isn't it.. soon be christmas!!!

So with that in mind i though i'd share an easy little gift idea... All you need are 5 bamboo tiles, some mica power paints, some glossy accents, a fun selection of stamps.. for this project i used the smallest birds from the 2 new birdie plates Birds of A Feather & Free as A Bird . 10 pretty beads {i've used round swarovski crystals} and 2 lengths of thin clear elastic.

Start by colouring your tiles with the mica paints.. {the mica comes in powder form but can be mixed with water to create lush glimmery paints} I have chosen to work with a rainbow colour scheme to fit in with this months 'RAINBOW' challenge of which details can be found HERE 

Once your painted tiles are dry, stamp you selected images how you wish.

I used black stazon ink, and i highlighted with an inkssential white pen.

Before you proceed make sure your inked images and the white highlighting is completely dry.

Right so now all your tiles are bone dry.. you can give each one a protective coat of glossy accents, I have only given a coat to the fronts of the tiles where i stamped. {the back side i just rubbed/buffed the excess paint off so just a hint of colour was left} But you can coat this side too if you wish.

All thats left to do once your glossy accents is dry is to thread all your tiles together.

Add a spacer bead between each tile as you thread the elastic through and once you have both ends tie tightly.. left over right - right over left knot {i'm sure there is a tec name for that knot but i don't know it lol}

{a good tip when using elastic is to stretch it first, this stops it from becoming all loose later on}

And there you have it, A nice hand crafted gift for family or friends.

***

Before i go i just have time to announce the winners of my ATC giveaway draw..

{Winners selected by random.org} 

Steampunk ATC goes to 9. Piddawinkle

1st Punk ATC goes to 15. Shazza

2nd Punk ATC goes to 18. Sid

Thank you to everyone who entered and took time to leave comments, they truly are appreciated xx

Can the winners please mail me there snail mails {my e'mail can be found on MY BLOG}

Right thats your lot from me today 

But do come back again tomorrow as we have a brand new creative team member joining us...

Getting To Know... Hels

Morning Peeps... another interview with the Team... today it is my turn... so I am sitting with two hats on today, the first hat is the Jeremy Paxman styleee one *a serious interviewer hat* and the other one is my own air brain hat LOL So, without further ado... Here's my Q &A :O))

AS Introduce yourself, what are your interests, likes/dislikes etc?
My name is Hels Sheridan and I am married to Grim and we have a furbaby, AlfieCat, who wraps us around his little paw. I used to be a Train Driver but was medically retired nearly two years ago after a bad car accident left me with a serious back injury. Since then I have been trying to cope with the changes in my life and thank heavens I do crafting - it has kept me sane! My interests are varied... I love anything crafty, vintage, distressed and slightly battered about. I love to read - always having my nose in a book when I was a kid has kind of moved into adulthood and I will read anything... so long as it isn't horror - I am a big scaredy cat and can't watch horror films either LOL I love nature and flowers and used to do a lot of gardening but the old war wound stops me doing as much as I would like. My favourite food is chinese and I hate peppers... come near me with one and I will literally run a mile, the smell, look and taste of them... yak!




AS What or Who inspires you?

Oooh, that is an easy one... there are so many people that have inspired me over the years but the two who make me want to go and make something are... *you will never guess this one ROFL* Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi. I love Tim's unique style, his ideas, his products... and Wendy, well I just love her style... and her stamps LOL Thing is, I could start a list now of talented crafters and still be here in three hours, tapping away and adding names... I guess I find a lot of inspiration from just hopping around blogs and seeing other peoples work.



AS How do you make a piece of art... what is the process?

Ah, now that one is difficult... I am a bit of a perfectionist and I usually start off with a blank piece of paper and sit in my Room of Stash and look at stash I have... and then sketch out how I want the finished piece to look. If the stamping is wonky it either goes in the bin or I try and cover it up with something. I very rarely just sit and play and make stuff... I find that I get fuddled and nothing works... so if I am making something and it doesn't turn out how I wanted it to... in the bin it goes!



AS If your Mojo goes on holiday, what do you do?

Erm... this happens every so often and I get really miffed because it is like I can feel an idea on the tip of my tongue, yet it is locked away... so I generally have a tidy up and put stuff away, then I look through my stash and if I am really bad, I will look at magazines for idea's.




AS What is your favourite technique?

Cor, it is hard to just pick one out... I love using Distress Inks and splooshing them with water... I love using my Melt Pot and making a mess with UTEE and Beeswax... oh and I love distressing stuff so it looks older than it really is... I can't answer with just one technique... how bad is that when I wrote the questions! ROFL




AS If you were on a Desert Island and you could only take 5 items of stash with you, what would you take?

First of all, I am classing "items" to be anything... so I would take Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi, Ranger Industries, Advantus Corp and Stampers Anonymous... SORTED! Five things... and I would have a never ending supply of stash I love... and if I lost the old Mojo, I could have a class with Tim and Wendy LOL


So, there you have it, a peek inside my addled brain... hope you enjoyed the interview and thanks for looking!

Hels x