I'm back!

Well, I'm back! The computer had to go away for a week to be cleaned up by the end of which the hard drive started clunking and had to be replaced - mad panic this end to see if we still had all the discs to reinstall everything! No MSN for a week - my daughter nearly lost the plot! At least now it actually works - no more swearing at it because it was so slow! (Do you think I hurt its feelings?!!)
I've been busy working on some stuff for Craft Stamper so can't show you that, so I'll just wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and NEW YEAR!
Helen

Computer down!

I've got no computer at the mo as it's in the shop being cleaned! It had been on a go slow for ages and then decided enough was enough and gave up altogether. Definitely a case of the winter virus bug - or in our case millions of bugs!
Am at the library typing this and have only 2 mins. left so better go.
Hopefully back soon!
Helen

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou...

I seem to have had a very busy few days this week, lots of designing, projects etc. but also needed to make two special thankyou cards.
The first one uses the Basic Grey Bird of Paradise again:/> The border is from the Elusive Images Damask Backgrounds set and the rough line border is from Prima Build a Frame set. It's layered up onto K&Co papers.
The second card I thought I was going to have trouble with and actually I like it the best!
The main image is from PaperArtsy - I wanted something with a link to Wales - and then the border is Prima again. The patterned background paper was pink and white originally, but I just sponged on some yellow ink to tone in with the main image. (It was one of those papers that I bought because I liked it then have never used because it didn't 'go' with anything! It only just occurred to me that I could add colour to it myself!!!)
On the subject of thankyous, I thought I'd just say thankyou to all of you who read my blog and to those who are kind enough to leave a comment. Also, thankyou to those who have given me an award. They are much appreciated - I just haven't worked out how to put them up yet!!

Enjoy!

Helen

18 Marilyn Monroes?

You got all the stamps for the last post except the feathery bits which actually came from here! I cut the stem leaves off the two flower stamps at the top - it was just lucky that they curved different ways!

Here's the latest card I've made, this time for my niece's 18th birthday:Again this uses the Time to Stamp Glamour Girls plate and I've layered it onto K&Co paper. The date uses Fancy Pants Calendar stamps and the corners are Prima. I've coloured them in with coloured pencils. The little candle is from the Stampendous Fifteen Candles set. In actual fact I made the card double sided so that I could have 18 Marilyns with 18 candles! Of course the card was so big it didn't fit any envelope, but then my cards often don't! If I had the time I'd do really fancy envelopes as well, but I'm usually very last minute.

Enjoy!

Helen

What a Hoot...

I love this owl stamp from Elusive Images. I 've made four different cards with the owl as the focal point and created backgrounds in different ways.
This first card is a traditional brown and I've punched out the eyes and layered onto brown paper to give a more 'googly' effect. The circles round the edge are the eyes stamped repeatedly and the background paper is a download from Glenda's blog:
This turquoise and orange card used Patina and Peach Delight Glimmer Mists (two of my favourite colours!) I've overstamped a piece of Graphicus Guild paper with the Damask Background stamp and added scrolls from the Ruby Tuesday plate.Which plate do you think the moon came from?
This card has the owl sitting in a hole in a tree. I've stamped the owl onto glossy white card and coloured him with dye inks, layered onto a piece of Artylicious paper. The hole is stamped with branches from the Design a Tree plate and the feathery trim is from ... guess where? This last card goes back to more neutral colours with a feather or two added for fun! This time the feathery trim appears again, as feathers! See if you can find the stamp I used to create the bark effect on the tree - it's on an unmounted plate again.

Have fun!

Helen

All stamps and papers from Elusive Images.

A Fairy Tail!

I've called this 'a Fairy Tail' as I realised when I'd finished that that's exactly what it looked like! One of the leaves was unfortunately placed, but I thought never mind it's good for a laugh!
It 's also very easy to make and uses some of the new Elusive Images stamps that are going to be on tomorrow's show on Ideal World at 2pm.
Stamp the fairy in black on glossy cardstock, mask and then stamp the plants and flowers in the background:
Add some colour using dye based inkpads.Colour in some of the flowers and edge the panel in the darker red ink:
Layer up onto card:Easy, but effective! You could also use this idea to make a bookmark, which I did think of but I'd run out of time!

Cheers!

Helen

A touch of glamour!

This is a card I made for my niece's birthday - Happy Birthday, Mari! - she's going to be 14:

It uses the Marilyn Monroe image from Time to Stamp Glamour Girls. I used these in October's Craft Stamper and enjoyed using them so much I got them out again! The frame stamps are from Prima Build a Frame and Sassafras Lass and the paper is K&Co.
I also used my fastenator which I've had for ages and am ashamed to say I hardly ever use - I hadn't realised the staples would be so wide! However I might use it more now as it's occurred to me I can stamp on the staples themselves! (Bit slow there!)I do need practice getting the staples in the right place though - it was very hit and miss.

Cheers

Helen

Christmas is coming....

Far too soon if you ask me!
However if you're wondering why I've been a bit quiet, it's because I've been making Christmas cards, lots of them, nearly 70 in fact! With that many to make they have to be quick and easy. Sometimes they work out well, sometimes they don't! I'll never forget the year I stuck some red berries on all tied up with ribbon, stood the cards up and they all fell off! I wasn't feeling very Christmassy by the end!
Anyway this year nothing should fall off hopefully. I've gone for red, green and gold - I've even embossed which I always swear I'll never do as I always think it takes longer.
On the first two photos, I've used some trees from Elusive Images which emboss wonderfully and a really elaborate swirl from Stamp Attack. The green background trees are stamped over the Paperartsy Christmas text (really useful stamp):
On the next cards, I used some vintage Santa images that I cut out of a Papermania pad:
My favourite santas are the bottom two - I don't think the colours work as well in the first two (whether it's the blue santa or the chimney, I'm not sure), but I used them anyway as inspiration was running out and desperation setting in!!!! I used up nearly every piece of red, green or mixed paper I had to create the backgrounds.The 'Be Merry!' stamp is Elusive Images again - I find myself using this again and again, it just seems to fit.
Well that's the cards made, the next thing will be writing them, but I think I'll put that off for now!

Cheers!

Helen

Blog Candy!!!

Just a quick note: Craft Stamper has set up a blog and has got some blog candy to give away, so scoot on over to the blog and leave a comment on the post for Tuesday 4th November. You never know, you might win! There are also some lovely Christmas cards that Katy's made to have a look at.
Cheers
Helen

The big day.

Well, the great day has arrived. Katie is now 13 and she loved her card - she saved it to last to open. I meant to put up a picture of the bag charms I made, but I forgot to photograph them and she tied them all onto her bag. I'll have to see if I can get a pic later.
They've all trekked off to Thorpe Park Fright Night and the weather is AWFUL!!!!!! I don't know how long they'll last.
They're staying at my son's uni flat tonight which is freezing as they haven't put the heating on as they're trying to save money - I think the girls might have something to say about that!
This is a quick photo of a card I made for my niece - she loves singing:and in full: The bird stamp is from Elusive Images, the extra flourishes are Basic Grey and the edging is Autumn Leaves.

Cheers!

Helen

Halloween high jinks

I've been having a great time this weekend making a birthday card for my youngest daughter who's going to be 13! I bought some Halloween Cherry Pie Art stamps from Scrapz and have been dying to use them as I love all the ghoulish stuff and the swirly designs. She's off to Fright Night at Thorpe Park with her older brother and sister on Saturday so I thought I'd get her in the mood!I die cut the house and stuck some orange paper behind it and then really went town with the background. The swirls are Basic Grey Flourish Edges coloured in (just out of interest, does anyone else find these don't work very well with Stazon? they sort of 'stick'.) Then all the other stamps are Cherry Pie. The gravestones are great because they're quite a grey stamp and so appear to be in the background. there's also a cat and a mouse if you lok carefully. The blue and orange papers are from Kaisercraft Esperance collection - I've used this set of papers so much - and the sun comes from Cosmo Cricket Get Happy .Inside I went a bit mad:The tombstones are die cut again as is the web (that took about three goes!) Then I wanted the skeletons to hang so suspended them on some chain!I got so carried away I decorated the top layer as well:I'm not sure where we'll write our names, but never mind! Here's a flat view of the whole inside: Now I'm off to make some Stampbord Skeletons for bag charms!

Cheers!

Helen

A Fairy Happy Birthday!

I'm sorry I haven't blogged this week but I seem to have been very busy. I've had my mum staying for a few days. We went to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton on Saturday - absolutely fantastic! I'm sure they've extended the tour as last time I went about 5 years ago, it only took about half an hour.
Talking of my mum, I've been making a card for her birthday and decided to play around with the fairy stamps from Elusive Images-there's going to be a C & C TV show with these on 16 November. I started by stamping the fairies in a row onto glossy white card: and then added a background using the Wild Meadow themeplate, masking off just the wings:Then I added colour using just three dye inkpads, red, yellow and blue. Usually I try to keep the colours fairly separate so as not to muddy them, but this time, I got a bit carried away and kept on adding more and more and discovered it produces really rich colours (a happy accident):I then added a little colour to the wings because they were too white:and finished the card off by layering onto a piece of Scrapperdashery paper - (I used 'If', part of the poetry range, lovely double-sided sheets of 12 x 12, with various colours, watermarks and quotes from poems, Shakespeareplays etc. the colours seem to coordinate with the Adirondack Earthtones range of inkpads.)Then I stamped round the edge of the panel with one of the Autumn Leaves 'On the Edge' stamps:Now I've just got to do the inside!

Cheers!

Helen

Blog Candy alert!!!

Get yourself over to the Elusive Images Design Team blog as there is a major Blog Candy giveaway.It's really easy - all you have to do is leave a comment on the prizes. You've got 'til this Friday 17 October.

Good Luck!

Helen

Ready to Go

Well, in the end I chose the plain blue paper - well, not quite plain blue as it has green and white in it:I stamped around the edge with a harlequin border from the Prima Paris set and the card ended up like this:Then I thought I'd add some detail to the insert just to finish it off:

Et voila! Ready to go!

Helen

Birthday Greetings

Just as a while back I was making the photo montage for my brother (all finished now and rolled up ready to travel), I've also been making him a birthday card.
I chose a Tim Holtz stamp - Boy with Dog (not that we had dogs as children - we used to pick up stray cats and give them very un-pc names from what I remember!). I used Adirondack Denim and Lettuce inkpads to add the colour and then stamped the extra numbers using the Art Warehouse Limited Edition Big Numbers stamps: I added a frame with one of the Prima Build a Frame sets then I dug out some Hambly rub-ons in white and used these to add extra details. These rub-ons are really good - they just fall off the sheet, not like some that should perhaps be called rub-throughs as that's what happens to the paper when you try to use them!After that I had to decide how to layer it up. I knew I wanted to use scrapbook paper as that adds another dimension, but oh the choice! Eventually I narrowed it down to Kaisercraft, about 3 different double - sided sheets, Summer Breeze, Sea Spray, Sand Dune. See what you think!



I'll show you next time how I finished it!

Helen

Tree time again!

I promised I'd post a couple more tree cards - well these are the last two! This one uses Scrapbook paper again - actually not the colours I'd originally thought of at all, but just what seemed to work! I really like black/white papers at the moment, and this one's from My Mind's Eye:It's double sided, so I've used the other side to make a strip across the top and bottom of the card. I've also rubbed it with the same inkpad I used to stamp the trees as the dots were a bit too white. The shiny baubles are stickers from Paperchase that I picked up one time I was there and have used a lot. I added the red piece of ribbon to tie in with the red baubles.

Materials:
Stamps used:Elusive Images Madonna and Trees, Angel and Trees
My Mind's Eye paper - Our Son collection

This next card was a bit of a happy accident!The pink tree on its own didn't have enough 'oomph' so I stamped the exact same but smaller tree in black in the middle.The background layers are all sprayed with the Moulin Rouge Glimmer Mists and then overstamped with various of the tree stamps sideways on (make great backgrounds!) You can see some of the layers in this close-up:
Materials :
Stamps used: Elusive Images Madonna and Trees, Angel and Trees, Christmas Reflections, Christmas Foliage
Glimmer Mists - Moulin Rouge set

Enjoy!

Helen

Winter Trees

Now that the new Winter Glimmer Create and Craft show has been recorded and the new Elusive Images Christmas stamps have been revealed, I can post some of the samples I've been working on.
This card used several of the trees, the berry sprig and some text:It's easy to make but effective:
Step by Step:

1. Colour some white glossy card with bright coloured dye inkpads, overlapping the ink to make more colours. I tend to use a yellow or light green for the focal point.
2. Stamp the text all over the background using the same colours:
3. Stamp the solid trees in black and the finer spiral tree behind:
4. Add the Berry Sprig round the edges to make a frame. Add dotted highlights with a white pen:
5. Edge the panel with the dye inkpads, layer onto a piece of light green card and then a top fold black card. And here it is again:

Materials used:
Elusive Images Christmas stamps
Glossy white cardstock
Adirondack dye inkpads - Lettuce, Cranberry, Denim
Ranger Inkssentials white pen

Personally, I love the trees on these two plates (Madonna and Trees, Angel and Trees)because you can achieve so many different looks with them. This next card almost has a retro feel to it:I just stamped and cut out the trees and added the background. I added a dot of colour to the stars with a cotton bud.

In the next sample, I used scrapbook paper to create a ready made background. This is My Mind's Eye paper and the beauty of it is that it's double sided, so I stamped the tree on the other coordinating side. I layered all the paper up and over stamped with silver embossing tinsel to pull it all together:
Look out for some more samples over the next few days!

Helen

Season of mellow fruitfulness

Well, as it's the first day of October tomorrow, Autumn's well and truly here. This reminded me of a project I made a while back for an Autumn issue of Craft Stamper. I particularly enjoyed it as it used real Autumn colours - yellows, oranges and browns.
Here's a view of it closed: and then open at just the first two tags:I sprayed the manila tags with some of the Adirondack ColorWash inks which are really intense, and then stamped them in a rich brown with some Invoke Arts ATC background stamps (Traditional ATC backgrounds)- lovely arch shapes. For the tags inside, I used Oxford Impressions Field Notes plate for the main images. (I buy both these makes of stamps from LB Crafts )The idea was to work from yellow, to orangey red to slightly decaying colours so that by the last two tags the pears are speckly and brown and the flower is losing its petals and looking ragged: Here's a couple of pictures of it standing up:
The word AUTUMN was stamped with See D's Ransom Alphabet and the Autumn quote was printed out on the computer using a font called Rubberstamp, which I thought was particularly apt! I added some hessian for texture.

Enjoy!

Helen