It's A Wrap....

... oh ho ho, I do love a nice play on words you know... it appeals to my inner literature demon...  The "wrap" I am waffling on about is the Gallerie Wrap canvas kit that I have been playing with for this months Snazzy DT.  Here's a taster pic of the piece I made... and HERE is the link to the Snazzy blog so you can see the piece in full.  Whilst there, you will also love to see all the gorgeous creations that my talented teamies have been making this month too... seriously, Gillian had her swoonworthy canvas as a "blogworthy" mention from the one and only Duke of Distress, Tim... among Lesley's creations is a beautiful textured piece with a classy colour scheme, one of Nicky's creations made a total breathtaking WOW with colour (not to mention my fave 490 stamps) and Astrid made some seriously tactile mixed media lushness...   so, a word of warning... you may needs a cuppa and a packet of HobNobs with you when you visit :O)

In other news... Grim's toe is beginning to get back to normal, at one point last week it resembled a mouldy olive (I am sure he will lurve me for reporting that!) and he is back to work today (booohooo, it has been soooo nice having him to myself)  But!  I am awarding myself "a day off" today.  Apart from the usual pushing of the hoover about and catching up on the ironing, I know plenty of you will be saying "poor Hels... having ironing to do..." when in actual fact.... I love ironing!  I know, I am weird, I do love to have a big pile of crumpled clothes and spend a while pressing them and then they are all neat and smooth again... only to be creased and crumpled when they are rammed into my over-stuffed wardrobe that is full of... erm, ahem, ahhhh.... stash. It is getting bad you know, I now have about 10" of hanging space (for short things, the boxes at the bottom of wardrobe are now piling up) and I really need to sort it out... I shall do that... erm... another day though!  I am planning to have a day or two this week doing arty stuff in preparation for my next batch of classes so I needs a day off to get the old Mojo revved up and raring to go.  He has currentlly beggared off on his holidays so I am hoping to tempt him back to do some new stuff....   Anyways, I digress... going off at a tangent as usual.  What I was saying is today is a day off from worky stuff and you never know, after the ironing and the stuffing of clothes into the store cupboard that masquerades as a wardrobe, I may just sneak into the Room of Stash and do some inking, take old Mojo by surprise!   Right, I shall away... as ever, thanks for looking!  Have a goodly day!  TTFN

Hels x

Sunday Stamper - Week 258 - All Those Years Ago

Goooodly Morning stampers and a very happy Sunday to you all.  Thank you muchly for all the fabby entries for last weeks' challenge... I am still on my way around to visit you all, I will be with you soon!   This week the theme is directly linked to one of my all time fave songs by George Harrison.  Here's a linky to YouTube so you can hear it for yourselves.  So, the theme is... VINTAGE/OLD.   To join in is simples; make a little something, it can be anything you fancy.  Add in the theme and some stamping and then pop back here to leave me a link to the place you are showing your entry.  If you haven't got a blog/web-photo hosty thing you can also join in via Facebook or by email.  The theme will remain open until 21:00 Saturday 25th May 2013.

My entry this week is a tag, using my fave old ink pads; Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain,  to colour the base of it.  I used the spritz and flick method to add some water blobs to the base and then used Frayed Burlap to overstamp my fave old script stamp (Letters To Santa CMS052 Tim  Holtz Collection)  Another old stamp was used to add the flourish (another fabby Tim stamp) this time stamped using Black Archival as I wanted this to pop more.

I wanted a nice vintagey look to the tag so I kept it pretty simple with the embellishing (well, I tried lol)  The flower is one of the new Susan's Garden Sizzix dies, this one is the Peony and I am deffo collecting these dies, I LOVE the flowers they make!  They are all individual petals glued together (good old Cosmic Shimmer glue) The old Ornate Frame is actually not that old (being as I use so many of them, I buy them all the time) but it is one of the first Idea-ology things to be released, so it is a bit old.  I used Alpha Parts to make my word... and yep, it is WISH again (I still have another 6 months of the year of the wish word...) and I popped on one of the new Wishbones (Idea-ology)  I just punched a hole thru the top of it and then added it to the ickle Ring Fastener (Idea-ology)  I bunged a bit of frayed hessian underneath the flower just to tie the tag to the flower... and voila, finished.

Thank you all for  your efforts in identifying the plant I asked about yesterday.  Pat Taylor went the extra mile and searched through her RHS books... and Ruth told me it is actually the Dwarf Bow Bells Rhododendron, which makes sense as it is a shrub and the whole of Portmeirion is ablaze with colour from Azalea's and the Rhododendrons are all budding there.  I do love an Azalea and I did have one that was amazing, sadly I had to leave it when we moved house but now our garden is beginning to look more normal (hey, it only took three years!) so I might have to buy myself one of these little shrubs.   Anyways... I am back in the real world and I now have inky fingers... and I will be back with my Snazzy DT tomorrow.   What you got planned for today?  I am going to spend a little time in the Room of Stashly Goodies, I have a project I have sketched and I want to turn it into the real thing! I shall away now... thanks for looking, have a grand day!  TTFN

Hels x

Rwy'n caru Cymru

...oh yesh, indeedily, I LOVE WALES!!!  We are back from our adventures and I have a *ahem* few more piccies to show you... starting with this one.  Which is one of the reasons I wanted to go to North Wales.  To find my ancestors.  My Grandma was born in North Wales and I remember the stories she used to tell me when I was little, I was incredibly lucky to have a Gran that spoilt me utterly with her time - there was no need for toys and presents when I was with her - she spent so much time talking with me, telling me useful stuff and sharing her wealth of knowledge about flora and fauna that to me, that was all I needed.  How I wish that I could tell her about our travels but to be honest, I think she already knows.  For you see, this strange thing happened.....

We set out bright and early to find Port Dinorwic, this is where she was born.  I had, in my minds eye, a picture of what it would look like and I figured that if I could find the chapel where she played organ, I would be able to find a cemetery.  Well, off we went into the hills and couldn't find it!  The Sat Nav was no help, it wasn't even recognising the place we were looking for.  There we were, driving along, I was feeling a bit dejected when I spied a local chap walking along.  Never being one for being shy, I hailed him and asked where we needed to be going.  He firstly told us that it isn't called Port Dinorwic anymore (hence the Sat Nav being crabby) it is, in fact, called Y Felinheli.  Thank you Mr Welsh Man, you have been a great help.  Off we went and found Y Felinheli and found a chapel.  But.  It had no cemetery!  Well, at least I had been to where she had grown up, that was good enough.  So off we set to the Menai Bridge.  And we took a wrong turn out of the village and I saw a sign saying "Cemetery".   I got a bit excited and we decided that we would go and have a looksee.  Well, I was a smidge downcast when I saw the amount of graves in the cemetery.  I decided to give myself 30 minutes to see if I could find anything.  I came across a few graves bearing the family name but not theirs.  It was about 28 minutes into my quest and I said, out loud, "Grandma, help me please, I want to find them."   What happened next has me both slightly spooked and incredibly comforted.  Something in my head told me to turn around and ignore the line of graves right in front of me and walk to the next line... and, yes, this is the God's honest truth, there it was.  Their grave.  I know some might say it is just a mighty coincidence.... but I don't believe it was.  In a graveyard with hundreds of graves, only two minutes left to find it... and me asking Gran to help... there it was.  I have myself a little emotional here but also very happy to have found such an amazing thing.   Also on the grave was an address, so off we went to have a look!   I saw the very house my Gran grew up in, like I said... an amazing experience.

The next day dawned ever so bright and early for we were away to the top of Mt Snowdon.   Oh yesh, we were off a-hiking.  Well, actually, that is a fib, we went on the train up to the summit.  We got an "early bird" trip which was a bit of a daft thing to do because overnight, it had snowed up there... oh yesh, snow on Snowdon!  The little train chugged its way right up to the top of the mountain, blimey, that train is a strong one because that is one heck of a climb.  When we got to the top, this was the spectacular view we were greeted with!  Hahahaa, it is typical of a Grim and Hels' Trip that the weather plays up... this time it was the snow and mist...

The awesome and spectacular view of.... erm.... mist!!!

After our descent back to terra firma, we went on a little steam train around the lake in Llanberis and I was too excited to see all the woodland that surrounds the lake to take many pics... Grim got this one of me though... I was being a big kid again and slurping a Slush Puppie....

We headed off to Port Meirion in the afternoon... oh wow!! This place is awesome and here are some pics of it.... and also, there's a piccie of a plant that I LOVE!  But I don't know what it is... so if any of you know..... please help.

Check out this little guy, all around the village are statues, hidden away or in plain sight...

All is not what you see....

Not a real ship at all!

What is this plant???  I LOVE it!!! 

My dream house

more rocks....

All the houses/buildings in the village of Portmeirion are painted in beautiful colours

yes, even more rocks... they are gorgeous tho...

The chessboard from The Prisoner TV show isn't there anymore....

how cool is this!!! King Grim!  The crown was actually a-top a spire on a fancy building, I just got Grim to stand in the right position.....

Topping up on my dragon addiction

 When we left Port Meirion, we drove back the long way around so we could see more sights and scenery... how could anyone fail to be moved by this stunning vista?

Lake Gwynedd... this is the most beautiful place

Breath-taking...

And there you have it!  Our adventures in Wales are over now but will always be there as a wonderful memory... I just want to go back... now!   Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

It's Crackle Time...

....ohlalalaaaa... I am a lucky lass indeedily you know.  I am fortunate to be part of the 2013 Darkroom Door DT and this month sees the release of some fabby new stamps.  I have been given the new Crackle background to play work with and I came up with a mixed media canvas design.    To see the new stamps that have just been released, CLICK HERE and also, do take a mo to pop over to see the artwork from my talented teamies who have been busy making eye candy for us all to see... HERE.

The canvas is an 8" square, coloured with Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints, using my fave Traditional Tan for the base and then using Sable Brown mixed with Traditional Tan to make an in-betweeny colour and then the Sable Brown on its own for the darker colour on the top layer.  I used the scraped paint technique to apply the paints, I loves this technique and it goes perfectly with the new Crackle stamp.

To add the stamping to the canvas, I first got a Kleenex tissue and de-plyed it so it was a single layer.  The crackle was stamped using Jet Black Archival Ink and zapped with a heat tool to dry the ink off.  I then tore pieces of the image and applied it to the canvas using Glue & Seal Matte to collage over it.  The reason I use a cosmetic tissue is that when it is torn on the edges, the Glue & Seal kind of melts it into the canvas so it doesn't just look like it has been plonked on there.

I set about adding some texture, using a Claudine Hellmuth stencil and some 490 Embossing Paste (black) and once this had dried I went right over the top of the whole canvas with more Glue & Seal to provide a nice waterproof coverage to it.  Out came the old Stabilo All pencil to add some shading to th textured parts and once I had blended this part, I painted my two-tone edges - yep, I am a smidge addicted but hey, there's nowt wrong with being addicted to paint right?

I added a pile of flowers (coloured with Dylusions sprays and Cosmic Shimmer spray) and then set about embellishing the canvas.  The large metal butterfly is actually a Graphic 45 embellishment, I simply jazzed him up by stamping the crackle background over him using the Black Archival Ink and then heat setting it - remember, you needs to heat set Archival Ink as it is oil based... but totally waterproof when set... perfect!   The word is actually one of the new Sizzix Alterations Stacked Words dies from Tim Holtz... the whole word is ARTIST but I only wanted the ART bit so I snipped into it and then used Treasure Gold to color the black card it was cut from.   I also added Treasure Gold (liberally lol) to the rest of the embellies and textured bits.   The finishing touch is the little orange butterfly which is also a Darkroom Door stamp - he is from the Wings set.  And there you have it... one finished mixed media canvas... and pretty simples to create at that :o))

I shall away now as I am scheduling this post ahead of our trip away and I have packing to do... feels weird talking about something that hasn't happened yet as if it already has... confoosed?  Me too lol   Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Anturiaethau yng Cymru...

...ah yes, thank you Mr Google for your amazing translation skills... todays post title in Welsh means... Adventures in Wales... which is exactly what Grim and I have been up to!   As promised, more photo's of our trip.  Yesterday we set off bright and early  to explore the beautiful countryside that surrounds Llanberis.  We kept stopping off and leaping out of the car to take photo's... here are a few (again, 'scuse the lack of photographic skills... never a strong point of mine!)  I will try to keep the waffle to a minimum (hahahaa... who am I kidding?)

View of Llanberis - you can see our hotel from here!

Awww.... too cute not to get a piccie of...

I have a thing about flora and fauna... and check this out... aren't they just beautiful?

Gotta love springtime...

And following on from my pics of the rocks at Betsw-Y-Coed, here is a stunning hunk of Welsh slate... another fabby background stamp methinks...

Rocky... erm... 2 *groans*

And the last pic for today... the internet here is sooooo slow and it is getting late... here's a piccie of the name of the town with the incredibly long name... isn't it fab!!!  And of course, it is a railway station sign... gotta get the railway in there somewhere right?

Speaking of the railway... we have booked onto the Snowdon Mountain Railway first thing in the morning so I best get a wiggle on and get myself to bed.... I shall blog more pics tomorrow if the internet will allow!   Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Cyfarchion....

...from Wales!   Hey, did you know that I am actually part Welsh?  My beautiful Gran was born and bred in North Wales... and how I wish I had actually listened to her when she spoke in her mother tongue to me... if only I could speak this amazing language!  Anyways... if you hadn't guessed, cyfarchion means greetings!   I know, I sound dead clever... actually Mr Googles helped me!  Rather than do a load of waffling (as is my wont) I thought I would just pop some piccies on of our experiences so far and do a "caption" for each... and here goes with our first stop on our trip, Llangollen.... **edit, after writing up the post... erm... I waffled... a bit... lol **

Taken from the bridge over looking the River Dee

And of course, a trip for us wouldn't be a proper trip without finding a railway... and a steam train...

I wish I could take credit for this fab pic but alas, it wasn't me... Grim is an expert photographer

Continuing on our journey, we arrived at Swallow Falls, Betws-y-Coed. This is truly stunning and sooooo noisy, very soothing at the same time though.

Swallow Falls... natural beauty.

As ever, I am easily distracted and saw this rock... this would make a faaaaab background stamp... whatch finks?

Rocking it....

Indiginous to this area blooms the Snowdon Lily... I tried and tried to get a close up photo of this beauty... I will try again as they are pretty much growing all over... or maybe I shall just ask Grim to do it lol

In the middle... there it is...

Grim has this cool gadget that is a tripod for the camera but it has articulated legs (bit like mine haha) and he strapped it to the railings so we could pose a-front of the Falls....

Awwwww.....

And, as ever, why have sensible photo's when silly ones are much funnier... I seem to have adopted a "Beckham pout" for some reason... and Grim, well he looks like he is picking his teeth lol

Goofing about....

And finally, a piccie of the scenery just before we got to Llanberis, which is where we are staying... in a lovely hotel that has a real, live, proper parrot in the bar.   He is called George and he can sing and whistle and chatter away and now he knows how to say .... "ay-up George"  teehee... I am going to try and get a photo of him later when I don't need to use the flash, I don't want to upset him!

More of these pics to follow!

Right, I shall away... I am fair pogged as we just ate a delicious dinner of gammon (with proper real chips no less) and it is time to get some sleepz... Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Circa 2007...

...I have been a-rummaging in the old Room of Stashly Goodies (like the new name? Bit better than the boring Room of Stash....)  Anyways... I was rummaging last night, looking for a bag of found metal stuff that I have hoarded for yonks... and I found something I made on April 15th... 2007!!!  I know... SIX years ago!  Before I had a blog... which means that there is a fair chance this has never seen the light of yonder t'internet.  So I thought, being as I have nothing else ready to blog, I would show you my first forays into the World of Distress.  And here it is:

My very first exploding box... I won't point out that the lid is mahoosively too big for the boxy bit... maths has never been my strong point, as Miss Egar, my Maths teacher would concur, she spent a very long year of lunch breaks giving me the benefit of her mathly cleverness... I am sure that she was probably thinking "dear God, what did I do to deserve this child..."  Anyways... maths, measuring and all that stuff ain't going on in my old brain, hence we had an overlarge lid.  I made up the measurements as I went along, see, planning and preparations aren't a strong point either lol   

So.  A chance phone call from my friend Andrea, who said "here, guess what?  Guess who is coming to Puffin Crafts to demo!"   And I said "go on, who...." And she said "Tim Holtz"   After which, there was several minutes of squealing and breathless excitement.  Well, the day arrived and our "gang" all headed to old Londinium to see the Maestro at work.  It was February 2007 and I had just discovered rubber stamping and all things Distress.  After standing, all agog, at the marvelous things that Tim was doing with Distress Inks and his new cling mounted stamps (yes, it was that long ago... some of the sets I used on this box are from the first release and bear in mind the number of sets is now in excess of 100... and the words were all woodies)  Anyways... I bought myself a few Distress Ink pads... and started my obsession collection.  At the time there were only 24 colours in the range too!  And I can still name them all... but I shalln't cos that would be waaaay too boring for you (although it would be impressive being as I have trouble remembering my own name these days)  In fact, I can name all 48 now and I know what the colours are too... teehee...

I know this creation is pretty simples but you have to remember I was a beginner... and I was still driving trains full time too so this was just a hobby and sometimes, if I had long shifts, I would go a week without getting inky fingers!  Imagine!   And I remember the Sunday afternoon I made it too... I was soooo chuffed with my creation that I took it work with me the next day and was showing it off and I kept looking at it... because all of a sudden my crafty world had changed, forever and for the better.

Anyways, forgive me for my little trip down Memory Lane... and just pray I never find my scrapbooks (oh yesh, I used to scrapbook like a demon... I have very lots of them... somewhere... maybe in the loft... or in that safe place I keep forgetting about lol)   I shall away now... for today we are setting off for a little break in North Wales and I needs to get some sleep (it is gone midnight now... ) and we have an early start so we don't end up getting caught in traffic.   Thanks for all your lovely comments about poor old Grim's toe.   The bruising has really come out now... it resembles a big old mouldy black grape... as does the toe next to it.  I was going to get a photo of it and share it with you but then I remembered that you could well be eating your Weetabix as you read this and I don't want to be responsible for stomachs being turned.  And with that delightful thought, I shall bid you a very goodly day!  Thanks for looking (and indulging an old dear a spot of reminiscing)  TTFN

Hels x