12 Tags of 2014 - October

Hi everyone

Just a quick post to show you my latest tag.  I always love Tim's October tag because it is always deliciously spooky!

Of course that was the perfect excuse to do likewise!!!

I didn't' have many of the items Tim used this month but luckily for me I had the perfect chipboard elements from Tando!  Check out my video to see all the techniques that went into the creation of this tag.  I used my distress inks, distress paints and delusions sprays on this one!!!

I had a brainwave right at the end of the video and added a hot glue web onto the legs of the spider!  Genius!………...she says with a devilish cackle!!! ;-)

We are thinking of going to watch a scary movie a the cinema on Halloween …..if you like to join in with the spooky fun then I wish you a spooktacular Halloween.

If it not your thing I wish you a quiet night in where nothing goes bump!

Don't forget to pop along to Tim's blog (click on this link) to see what spooky creativity he has sparked with this month's tag…..is it really three years of this challenge almost?

Until my next post thank you for popping by X

Rubber Dance Stamps go Vintage!

Hi Everyone

I am posting this in the middle of the night as I am a bit wide awake - not sure why but as You Tube has informed me my video has finished uploading I thought I would post as I know there are some of you out there who are awake just like me!

So today's tutorial is all about creating a vintage look.

I used two stamps from the brand new Da Vinci stamp set (DAV1-L) as sentiment from the Think Again stamp set (SET2-M) and a pair of butterfly wings from the Collage Elements 1 set (BK1 7G) all available from Rubber Dance so please pop along to see how many other lovely images make up each set of stamps.

The video tutorial shows you exactly how I achieved this look and I love how the cameo turned out and I will definitely be using my ribbons to make frilled frames in the future!  Of course I also show you how to make a matching inner too.

Check out those lovely hydrangeas in the background!  They are pale pink and green in the Summer.  Just look at the lovely range of Autumnal colour they have now!

Cutting Guide:

Navy Blue Card Base 11 1/2" x 8" scored at 5 3/4" or 29cm x 20cm scored at 14.5 cm
Yellow topper and inner (Cut 2) 5 5/8" x 7 7/8" or 14cm x 19.5m

….and here is the tutorial.

Hope you enjoy the video and find lots of hints and tips on how to create a pretty card with a vintage look.

Before I go I will just take a moment to remind you about the Crafty Academy Awards.  If you click on this link you will find out the four categories I have been nominated in and how you can vote (hopefully for me!!!!)  The voting closes on 31st October so if you like my work then I would love to have your support and your vote.  All you have to do is email Betty and let her know that you are voting for me, Helen Allen.  I am nominated for Best Steampunk, Best Cards, Best Mixed Media and Best Tutorials!  I am so happy to be nominated so I would love it if you could vote for me in any or all of the categories.

See you again soon with some more creativity and thank you for popping by X

PS off to mop the kitchen floor on my way to bed - night night x

Helen

Exciting News!

….Coming to an ETSY shop near you very soon!

My first ever chipboard kit!

Soooooo excited!  A big thank you to Margaret of Scrapbook Magic for putting me on to Di at Tando and a big thank you to Di for getting all the chipboard ready!

I had great fun designing the toppers and kitting this up so now I just need to work out prices and different rates of postage and my first ever kit will be on sale alongside my online workshop which shows you how to make this……..

or this…….

which opens up to reveal this!!!!

The first kits will be used by my class on Wednesday down there in the lovely Cornwall at Scrapbook Magic….it is a shame they have to open the packs as they look so cute!!!!  Tee Hee.  There are still a couple of places left so if you are in the area please follow the link and book your seat!  I am really looking forward to meeting everyone and having some fun putting this project together with the fabulous Graphic 45 Couture collection.  I will share the sample with you on my return.

Just a gentle reminder about voting for me in the Crafty Academy Awards!

I am nominated in four categories:

The Best Steam Punk
The Best Cards
The Best Mixed Media
The Best Tutorials

I would love it if you could show your support and take a minute to vote for me.  Just email Betty at crimsonandcream6@aol.com Let her know you are voting for me, Helen Allen, and of course which categories - All of them, one of them, two of them or three of them!!!!

Voting closes on 31st October.  Every vote counts!  Do I sound like a politician????  Probably not because I say what I mean and you can believe me when I say I really appreciate your support!

Thank you for popping by

Hugs

Helen
X

Rubber Dance Design Team Tutorial Sneak Peek!

Hi everyone

Hope you are all set to enjoy a crafty weekend!  Just a quick post to let you know I am featuring on the Rubber Dance Blog today with a video tutorial to show you how I turned one card design into another!

I used stamps from the brand new Da Vinci stamp set which I know you are going to love as much as I do.

For those of you hopping by from my You Tube channel looking for the cutting guide for these cards, welcome to my blog!  Hope you have fun looking around here on your way to Rubber Dance ;-)

Click on this link to visit the Rubber Dance Blog to see my latest video tutorial and to see what everyone else on the Design Team have been making too!  Lots of lovely creativity going on over there as well as that October colour challenge to play along with!  There are stamps to be won so don't miss out!

I am off to have some breakfast and then I think I have a sample to make for my workshop in Scrapbook Magic!  I have some exciting new kits to make up ……..but more of that later ;-)

Enjoy your visit to Rubber Dance and have a fab weekend.  Thank you for popping by X

I've been Nominated!!!

Hi Everyone

Just popping in to share some exciting news.  Lisa, one of my lovely subscribers has nominated me in four categories for this year's Crafty Academy Awards hosted by the lovely Betty, a fellow You Tuber.

I was thrilled and delighted as I do work hard to make the kind of videos that I hope inspire you all to get creative and I particularly try really hard to make my videos watchable and to give you all the information you need to create your own projects or to introduce you to new techniques you might not have tried before or indeed dust of an old technique or two!

You may not have heard of the Crafty Academy Awards (I hadn't!) as this is only the second year they have been held. If you want to watch a couple of information videos on what the categories are and who else is nominated that you might like to vote for here is the link to the Hostess, Betty's information video to get you started.

There are a couple of videos on her channel letting you know who the sponsors are and of course what the categories are and who has been nominated.  You will find my name, Helen Allen, under:

The Best Steampunk

The Best Cards

The Best Mixed Media

The Best Tutorials

I would of course love it if you like my work enough to vote for me!!!!  Here is how to do it:

Click on this link and email Betty to let her know which categories you are voting for and of course who you are voting for!

Betty also accepts votes through private messages on her Facebook and You Tube accounts which she explains in her videos but I thought the email was the easiest hence the link here on my blog!

Time for a little trip down memory lane whilst I recap on the categories I have been nominated for!  I have been nominated in The Best Steampunk Category.  I have to confess I was a little surprised by this nomination and then I looked through my tutorials and found these projects:

Do you remember this tag video where I showed you how to use packaging to capture time bugs and butterflies???

Then there was this video for a tag with flying steampunk clocks and a fab embossed metal technique.

Maybe I have dabbled in the Steampunk style more than I realised ;-) !!!

The next category you can vote for me in is The Best Cards.  I had quite a few tutorials to pick from for this category.  My card tutorials have expanded a lot since I was lucky enough to join the Rubber Dance design team!

I remember being excited to share this slider card tutorial with you as it was a new card fold to me too!

Then it wasn't long before I tried to make a double slider card and of course I had to share it with you too.  This was a very involved tutorial with lots of details and of course that lovely Graphic 45 paper!!

This video tutorial was my first one a part of the Rubber Dance Design team.  I had great fun showing you that splattered background.  My cream wall still bares the scars ;-)

I do like to show you different techniques and this tutorial was a master class in masking!

The next category I am nominated in is one of my very favourite things to do and that is The Best Mixed Media category.  I started out with my Art Journal Page videos.

At the beginning of the year I shared this page and it has been my most watched video to date!  I loved how the video came together and it made this one a fun one to watch for anyone….even a non crafter.  Over 7700 views at the last count!  I did love making this page so I am thrilled it was a hit!

What about this for a mixed media extravaganza!!!  I love this as it reminds me of happy times playing with my dolls house!  The video was full of hints and tips from decorating the tree with beads and sequins to creating this fabulous frosty finish that was perfect for this lovely Christmas home decor piece.

This is one of my more recent Mixed Media videos and I really tried to aim this tutorial at encouraging newbies!  I tried to break down everything into simple processes so that they were easy to achieve and of course to limit what I used in the way of craft supplies so you didn't need to take out a bank loan in order to try this canvas for yourself!

My latest Mixed Media tutorials are all about taking an old book and doing interesting things with it to enable you to document the things that are important to you…..or in this case me!!!

Phew!!!! Actually looking back at my work like this and I can't believe how many tutorials I have actually shared on You Tube!  There are over 150 including those that make up the workshops I sell in my ETSY shop.  So finally and probably the one I am happiest about being nominated for:

The Best Tutorials!!!!

That is it from me except to say voting closes on October 31st so I hope you can spare a minute to email Betty and vote as it is a great way to show your support of all of the crafting You Tubers out there making tutorials to share the creativity here in our virtual crafting world!!!  I for one am grateful for all your support in subscribing to my channel and for all the lovely comments that spur me on to share more tutorials!  I have made lots of lovely crafting friends since I started blogging and then you tubing and love sharing my virtual classroom with you all.

Oh and a big hug and a kiss to Lisa for nominating me it really means a lot to me no matter the outcome of the vote.

Wishing you all a craft filled weekend and thank you for popping by X

Put a little Colour into Your Life!

Hi Everyone

Today I am sharing two card ideas both featuring colour!  They were inspired by two sentiment stamps from the Rubber Dance Something Wonderful stamp set (SEW1-M) which is full of inspiring words for you to use on your cards and journals.

On with the photo tutorial!  I know, it is unusual for me not to be bringing a video!

I made two cards using two sentiments but the process is the same for both……so starting with the cutting guide.  I worked on a smooth white card stock (I know it looks cream in the picture!!!) and cut an 8" x 8" card base which I scored and folded in half at the 4" mark.  I cut two further pieces of card that measured 7 1/4" x 3 1/4" and 7" x 3" and finally a strip of card measuring 8" x 1/4".  This makes one card so I cut a second set for card number 2!

Working on the 7" x 3" piece of card stock which will become the card toppers I stamped my sentiment at the bottom of the card.  The top is stamped with Cobalt Archival Ink and the bottom with Salty Ocean distress ink.

Working on the Crayon sentiment first I wanted to create a rainbow of feathers using the fabulous feather stamp from the Vintage Birds stamp set (B2-L) again from Rubber Dance.  I stamped a red feather on the left and a violet feather on the right and a green one in the middle using my Distress Inks.   Don't forget to clean your stamp in between colours!

I stamped my feather stamp onto a Post-it note to make a couple of masks.  Make sure part of your image is over the sticky area of the Post-it as this is what holds your mask in place.  I pulled 3 sheets off the Post-it pad and cut them out together so I had 3 masks in total.

I used the masks to enable me to fill in the other feathers to complete my rainbow of feathers across the card.  You can see there is not much of an overlap so you could probably omit the masking if you wanted too.

Working on my second sentiment I wanted to create a row of feathers in a peacock tail colour pallet as you can see from the Distress Inks in this photo.

This time I didn't have a set number of feathers to fit on my card to I just started on the left hand side and stamped feathers right the way across to the right masking and changing colours as I went along.

The toppers are complete so moving on to the mat for the toppers.  I used my Distress Inks to colour a strip around the edges of the mat and right across the  1/4" strip.  Make sure you colour a deep enough border so that you cannot see any white card once the topper is in place.

One rainbow topper almost complete…..

and one in shades of peacock tail feathers.  Just use your Distress Inks as a paint.  Swipe a little of each colour onto your craft mat or a non porous surface and then use a little water and a paint brush to paint the little blocks of colour.

I stamped the sentiments for a second time inside each of my card bases as well as two feathers in the bottom right hand corner.

I then attached the coloured strips to the bottom edge of each card.  You can used double sided tape or PVA glue for this.

I attached each topper to its rainbow mat using double sided tape and then they were attached to the card front using foam pads to create a little lift.  If you want to keep things flat if you are intending to mail your card just use double sided tape again if you prefer.

Here are the finished cards out in the Autumn sunshine!  I hope you like them they definitely brought a little colour into my life today and I had fun creating my rainbow cards!  They are easy to make and those lovely sentiments are a great way to let someone know you care.

Off to work on my next video.  I think I am going a little bit vintage next using my brand new set of Rubber Dance stamps!  If you want to get your hands on the lovely sentiments I used for today's cards, and there are many more on this lovely set, then please follow this link to see what is on offer!

Don't forget our October Challenge is running until the end of the month.  Why not click on this link and come and join us for some stamping fun!

See you again soon and thank you for popping by X

The Pyramid Mini Workshop comes to Cornwall!

Hi Everyone

Just thought I would let you know I will be teaching the Pyramid Mini at Scrapbook Magic in Cornwall on Wednesday 29th October.  I am so excited to be doing this and am really looking forward to crafting with Margaret and her workshop ladies!

If you happen to read my blog and are in the vicinity and fancy coming along then there are a couple of places left but you need to be quick as they are going fast!

Here is what we will be making:

This one was made using Graphic 45's very pretty Ladies Diary Papers but we will be making ours using the new Couture collection.  I will be working on the sample next week!

For those of you that do not know the Pyramid Mini houses a mini album…….

……..and the pyramid opens up to reveal a surprise within!

I am going to share this on my Facebook and Google+ pages so if you in the neighbourhood and are reading this and want to make this fab project for yourself then please follow this link to book your place and come and join Margaret and I at Scrapbook Magic in Mullion, Cornwall.  Margaret has a fab shop full of wonderful crafting goodies and a view to die for!  I am so excited to be invited to do this and am really looking forward to meeting everyone on Wednesday 29th October from 10am - 4pm and lunch and refreshments are included as well as all the materials!

If you can't make it but still want to make this project then alternatively you can purchase the workshop from my left hand side bar or follow this link to find out what other workshops are available from my ETSY shop!  All my workshops come with full video instructions as well as comprehensive written and photo instructions too.

Alternatively if you live in the Derby/Nottingham area I am teaching a card class on Friday evening (10 October) at Elvaston Village Hall.  We will be making 2 cards and the class runs from 7pm until 9pm.  Click on my email on my right hand side bar if you want to book a spot!  It would be fab to have you join us for some Christmas inky fun!

Hope you are all having a fun week and thank you for popping by X

Rubber Dance October Colour Challenge

Hi Everyone

Last month saw our very first colour challenge over at Rubber Dance and it was wonderful to see everyone joining in.  That Autumnal colour pallet certainly inspired some wonderful creations.

This month the lovely Katy set us the challenge to use Very vintage, old world tones of brown and sepia.  I have been wanting to make a video tutorial of a mini album of some kind for a while now and this turned out to be the perfect opportunity to do that.  We are off to Cornwall for a break in October so I decided to create a Travel Journal to take with me so I am super organised!

I had the perfect stamps for this project and I used images from the Travel (TR1-L) and the Collage Elements 1 (BK1-7G) to decorate my journal covers as well as some of the pages in the journal.

So as well as decorating the cover with my stamps I also made different interactive pages to slot in between plain pages.  There is a pdf available with the measurements of the whole journal if after watching the video you decide you want to make this journal for yourself.  So just email me and let me know and I will send it out to you - my email link is on the right hand sidebar.

This page style has a flap to allow extra space for photos or journaling…..Oh and a cute Compass Stamp!

This one is a pocket page with room to tuck in tickets and receipts to remind you of your travels.

This time it is a pocket page with a photo or journalling tag inside.

Vertical pocket on both sides to allow you to tuck in extra photos or leaflets.

and finally this page has a double photo mat tucked into a pocket so lots of room for more photos and journalling of your travels.

Here is the link to the video tutorial where I show you step by step how to make a journal like this for your next holiday or simply to record a special event in you life!  Hope you like it.

If you want to check out what else is on those stamp sheets that I used and I only used a fraction of what is on them then please follow this link over to Rubber Dance.

I hope I have given you some inspiration for this months Challenge and that you follow this link to check out all the other projects that the Design Team have been busy working on.  I know you can rock this challenge so I look forward to seeing what you create.  Don't forget there is a prize for one lucky participant so get out all your Vintage Brown inks, paints, papers and stamps and get creating!

Until next time…….thank you for popping by X