Helmar Design Team

Pure Magic!

Helloooooo Helmar friends!!  Can you believe this is the last day of August and tomorrow starts September?!  Wow, where did the summer go?  My daughter will be starting kindergarten this year and I sure am going to miss her and then again I'm not, LOL!  To remind me of the sweet days though I have this layout to share of my daughter when she was about two and playing with her Auntie 'Chelle who is just pure magic to her little niece!!  The other thing that is magical about this layout is of course the one and only Helmar Scrap Dots and Helmar's Crackle Medium Step 1 and Step 2. The papers I used are by Best Creations.

The cool thing about Helmar Scrap Dots is that it allows you to adhere things on an angle.  That is what I did with my little flying birdie diecut.  It gives the best dimension doesn't it!

 

 

Helmar Scrap Dots are also very helpful in adding dimension to die cut letters that may be on the more delicate side or if you don't want to cut up your Helmar Zap Dots.

 

 

Above is a close up on the chipboard buttons that I first covered in patterned paper and then used Helmar Crackle Medium Step 1 and Step 2.  The darling little gems around the center picture are from Robin's Nest and are called Dew Drops.  Those were adhered with Helmar's Gemstone Glue.

 

I hope you enjoyed my layout!  It's now one of my favorites =)

May you all have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!!

 

Carole Stirrat

Helmar USA Inc, Design Team Member

Halloween Luminaries - LIVE Ustream

Halloween is right around the corner and it happens to be my favorite holiday.  So when I saw some raw wood containers I knew I had to alter them.  Last Monday, August 29th I was LIVE on Helmar Ustream and that was the perfect opportunity!  Thank you all for joining me.  It was a ton of fun and I wanted to share the finished Luminaries. 

 
 
They started as just plain wood bins that I altered into these easy luminaries.  I do suggest since they are wood and we are using paper that you use electric tea lights vs open flames.  Not a good idea!

If you missed the LIVE show you can watch it HERE : 

I want to thank all who join us every Monday LIVE on Ustream!  I feel very free to create with you guys and I love when I get stumped someone tosses out a great idea. It really is a highlight of my work and my job creatively!  Stay tuned for the September LIVE Ustream Schedule to be posted soon!

 

Tracy Weinzapfel
President, Helmar USA, Inc.

Treasures from those past

I might love my Helmar Crackle - 450 Quick Dry and Liquid Scrapdots, but I always make sure I have my Acid free glue on hand for my chipboard Off the Page projects, and this one was no exception.

Unfortunately I never got to meet my mum's parents as they passed away before I was born.  So when my mum gave me a couple of their things about 10 years ago I have treasured them ever since.  I have never had anywhere really special to put them, and well didn't really even have a good photo of them. When I saw the chipboard window box from Scrapware, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I started out creating layers of paper on the chipboard to give it an aged vintage look.  After covering the box in one sheet of paper, I then started creating the layers.  I did this by tearing strips and aging them with some ink prior to sticking them down with my Helmar Acid Free glue.  I just love how strong this glue is for this type of application.  I also added a piece of acetate to the underside of the lid to create the 'window' of the box.  

For the feature piece on the top of the box, I first strengthened the paper by adhereing some thicker cardstock to the back using my Helmar Acid free glue.  I then added the photo to the top with some Helmar Premium craft glue.  I love that this glue doesn't buckle my photo when it is stuck down.  I then added some large blobs of Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to the back and gently placed it on the lid.

I then simply embellished the box with a prima bling and lace flourish.  I then added some flowers and butterflies using my Helmar Liquid scrapdots for strength and height.

I now have a beautiful window box to put those special items so dear to my heart that features a photo of my Grandparents that I never got to meet.  

I hope this inspires you to take your acid free to create something speical just as dear to your heart as this one is to mine.  

Happy Creating

Beck Beattie

Helmar USA Inc. Design Team Member

An early boo to you!

 
 
 
Helllo there!  Sooo I know it is only August...but Halloween is right around the corner and I reallllllllllllllly needed to know what my beloved Helmar 2 step crackle medium would do with black.  LOVE the outcome....along with some brown show polish and cream paint to settle in the cracks.. it gave a neat old world look that I will be doing again and again.  I also used my Helmar Premium craft Glue for all my little bits and bobs and some fun Zap Dots for some demension.   The sweet paper you see is the fun Lilybee Happily Lost villa paper which works well for halloween.  Lilybee sent us gorgeous papers to work with!  Well that is it for me today!  Hope you are inspired to create a little boo for Halloween.  Thanks, cherry

Helmar tackles old plates, jello molds and wooden spools with a breeze!!!!

Hi Helmar fans~I'm so excited to bring you my project~it's a little bit funky, a little bit shabby and little bit rock'n roll ~ you'll see what I  mean!  So lets get to glueing~ 

 
no.1 ~ is showing how Helmar can rock'n roll with the best of them!! In my humble opinion 450 Quick Dry is the star quaterback for Helmar~just say'n!!

no.2 & 3 ~ cover your spool and glue it to the small plate.

no.4 ~ cut a circle out of the fabric you are going to use for the pin cushion~about 1/2" bigger than the jello mold {what I used}.  Using Helmar 450 Quick Dry glue one side down to the jello mold, let it take hold a few minutes, then do the opposite side, then one end ~ then stuff with Poly-Fil and glue end down. 

no.5~glue all pieces together to make your three tier pretty.

no. 6~I added felt flowers, ribbon and pearl stick pins ~ just makes my heart beat fast!!

 
First one~

 
Second one~

 

I hope you enjoyed this and let me know if you agree with me about the quaterback comment~have a wonderful day, use your Helmar glue and be crafty~see ya soon!! By: C. Mercer

 

A little country charm

I was asked by a friend to make a guest book for her friends' country cottage. I expect that it will be well handled during it's lifetime so I needed to be confident that it will durable and long lasting. Naturally I feel completely confident becasue of my Helmar adhesives. 

For this project I used a combination of Helmar Quick Fix  Adhesive Tape Runner and Helmar Professional Acid free glue. I used the tape runner to adhere the main sheets of patterned paper because that stuff is unbelievably strong. This was especially important on the inside as I folded the corners to keep it neat. Most other adhesives that I have used in the past could not cope with that kind of thickness. 

For everything else I used the Acid free glue, so I could control exactly how much I used. This was important becasue of the tiny delicate pieces of the chipboard. The last thing I wanted was to have dried glue coming out of the side of the frame. This adhesive held everything else from the delicate doily to the large dimensional flowers. 

I feel very happy knowing that this will not fall apart after just a couple of uses. 

Cheers

Alicia Barry

Helmar USA/Australia Design Team Member

Altering the Glue Daddy Caddy!

I just love to sit down to a fresh piece of wood that I am free to alter in anyway that I see fit :)  I ordered my Glue Daddy Caddy Deluxe as soon as they were available on etsy....why?  Because I had my Helmar glues propped upside down all over my scrap table in everything imaginable....quite the sight now that I think about it, and I should have taken a picture of that, lol!!

I took a step by step approach and  posted it on facebook about a month ago but I thought I would share here too for those that missed it.  So this is what I started with: (you can find yours HERE on etsy)

and let me tell you.....this is the perfect home for your Helmar glues!!!  I love the deluxe one for the little side pockets which are perfect for my Helmar Liquid ScrapDots and Adhesive Runners.  I decided I wanted to give it a shabby vintage look so I painted all of the edges a purty turquoise color:

my thought was to paint the edges a color and then paint the whole thing white so that I could sand through the white and have the turquoise show through on the edges:

I love the color combination of white, turquoise and black so I decided upon some papers from Lilybee Design - This & That, one of Helmar's preferred partners.  I applied a thin coat of Helmar Acid Free glue to the papers (after I measured and cut the pieces to fit the caddy) and smoothed them onto the caddy.  The good thing about the Acid Free Glue is that it doesnt warp the papers so it is perfect for an application like this:

Glue Central.....good one huh?  LOL!!!  To further along my vintage look I thought that using my Helmar Crackle Medium would be the perfect touch, rubbing with some ink to help the cracks show up:

And now that the base/background is in place its time to decorate/embellish!!!  I wanted some bling on my caddy because I am a bling queen so I added a string of pearls around the top edge....using my Helmar 450 Quick Dry:

and for the top I decided upon some diamond shape dew drops from another Helmar preferred partner, Robin's Nest, and the perfect adhesive for them is Helmar Gemstone Glue:

I wanted the embellishments to be as protected as possible because I know this is going to get alot of use so I gave the whole caddy a protective coating of Helmar Acrylic Sealer.  The final touch was to add some paper roses with the perfect contrasting color of yellow:

And the perfect adhesive for applying these babies to the caddy is Helmar Liquid ScrapDots!!!

And now may I present my Altered Glue Daddy Caddy Deluxe:

Well I have thouroughly enjoyed my Saturday morning sharing with you and I hope that you have a GREAT weekend.....and stay safe!

Julie Walton, Helmar Design Team Member

http://seejuliescrap.blogspot.com/

Making New Friends...

Like many of the Helmar Design Team members, I am guilty of having a favourite glue, and often forgetting to utilise the other products to their full potential. My dilemma - how to overcome this bias and favouritism? Easy - I set myself a challenge - use anything EXCEPT my favourite glue (which is, of course, Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive). Surprisingly, it was easier than I thought. (-: And I found two new friends in the process - Helmar Acid Free Glue and Helmar Premium Craft Glue.

 
The Acid Free Glue dries clear, but takes a little longer to dry than the other glues and adhesives. This makes it good for decorating with glitter - it allows you enough time to get the glitter on before it sets. And we all know how much I LOVE sparkly things, lol!

 
The Premium Craft Glue dries clear too, but is especially practical for use with fabric materials and semi-opaque products. It dries quickly, but doesn't show through. There are no visible "marks".

  

So both products came in extra handy for this layout that I created for the Helmar August Sketch Challenge. And I was able to prove to myself that I could make new friends in the process...(-:

 
Here, you can see where I have glittered the title using the Helmar Acid Free Glue. I simply painted the chipboard words white, coated them with Acid Free Glue, and sprinkled glitter over the top. It has dried evenly, hasn't bubbled, dried clear, and has not yellowed. How good is that? And once it is dry, the glitter does not move or come off - even better!!! There's nothing that annoys me more than glitter that flakes off products and ends up all through my house and albums - blah!

 
In this close-up, you can see that I have used quite a few pieces of material in different shapes. It is  semi-opaque, so it is quite easy to see anything that is placed underneath the fabric. But what you can't see, is any visible marks from the Premium Craft Glue that I used to adhere the material to the layout. Oh...and yeah...it also works for buttons. Check them out - you can't see the Craft Glue underneath them either. That's an added bonus!!!

So thank-you for dropping by today, and meeting my two new friends - Helmar Acid Free Glue and Helmar Premium Craft Glue. Maybe they can become your new friends too?

Julianne McKenna-De Lumen

Design Team Member for Helmar USA/Australia.

Last Days of SUMMER Blog Hop!

Helmar USA, Inc. is proud to be participating in the Last Days of SUMMER Blog Hop! 

Thank you PSA Essentials for asking us to be a part of this fun weekend...and thank you to Really Reasonable Ribbon for sending folks over to our blog!  Let's get this show started!

Today I wanted to share some quick and easy cards I created on water color paper only that are inspired by my inspiration journal.  What a better way to show the versatility of our products from just a white piece of paper to a finished card using my favorite Helmar Products!

THINKING OF YOU CARD   

 
Helmar Products featured:  Crackle Step 1 & 2, 450 Quick Dry and Decoupage & Craft Paste

The Crackle is so much fun to play with!

THANK YOU CARD

 
Helmar Products featured:  450 Quick Dry and Liquid Scrap Dots

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARD

 
Helmar Products featured:  Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots and Textured Effects

Helmar makes an adhesive and art medium to meet just about every crafting need so you can create your own cards right down to the backgrounds! 

 
 
Do you know what I love the best?...stamping the back of my handmade cards with my Tracy Weinzapfel Studios custom handmade stamps by PSA Essentials!  I love that stamp!

 
Don't Forget to Visit ALL 11 BLOG!  Here is a list to make it easy:

• Discount CardStock -  http://www.discountcardstock.com/blog/
• Scor-Pal - http://scor-pal.blogspot.com/
• Flower Soft  - http://flower-softinc.blogspot.com/
• Want 2 Scrap - http://want2scrapco.blogspot.com/
• Urban Lily through Urban Swank:  http://urbanswank.blogspot.com/
• Really Reasonable Ribbon - www.reasonableribbon.blogspot.com/     
• Helmar - http://helmarusa.typepad.com/blog/
• Purple Onion Design - http://www.purpleoniondesigns.typepad.com/
• Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker - http://nikkisdoghouse.blogspot.com/   
• The Twinery - http://www.thetwineryblog.com/
• PSA Essentials  - www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com  

AND to be entered to win the GRAND PRIZE (over $300 worth of products!) remember to leave a comment on each of the 11 blogs participating!!!  The winner will be picked on 8/29/11 so make sure to leave those comments!  In addition to that GRAND PRIZE we want to personally thank you for stopping by and WELCOME all our new Fans HERE! 

Also, please make sure to "LIKE" us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HelmarUSA and leave a comment on our WALL. We will also select a random winner to win this Prize:

 

 

 
You must be a Helmar Fan and comment for a chance to win!  That is all you need to do.

So in these LAST Few weeks of summer we want to THANK YOU for joining us.  Now you will head over to:

Purple Onion Design's Blog:  http://www.purpleoniondesigns.typepad.com/ 

Enjoy the rest of your SUMMER!

 
Tracy Weinzapfel
President, Helmar USA, Inc.

...a real GEM of a dimensional!

Hey, Helmar peeps!

Jessica here today and I'm back with what I think is my first non-3D project since I've been designing for Helmar!  It's funny, I am primarily a cardmaker and have recently gotten into art journaling, but most of the time I do some kind of 3D project when I visit our DT blog.

Today I have a card featuring Helmar Gemstone glue, and one of my all-time favorite go-to products, Helmar Zap Dots.  I very seldom make a card without Zap Dots these days- I just love the simple dimension and depth they add to a greeting card without making it over-bulky and difficult to mail.

I began by using a stamp from Unity Stamp Company, one of our preferred partners.   I cut out my papers and began to layer them, creating a nice dimensional effect.

When I was done with layering my papers the way I wanted, I added flowers, and glued down some cute Dew Drops from Robin's Nest to add a bit of color and bling to my project.

Here is a close up of the flower and you can see from the final product, the Gemstone glue dries completely clear!  I also used it to adhere the flowers to the card on the larger flower and used another black, square 1/4 " Zap Dot to attach the smaller, cream colored flower.

I had to include the above picture just to show what the gue will look like before it dries.  Don't let this discourage you from trying Gemstone glue- I can assure you that the glue will dry TOTALLY clear!  Gemstone glue is a FANTASTIC, strong glue that is so economical too for gluing tons of rhinestones, dew drops, pearls, even plastic buttons!  I use mine a ton, and a little goes a long way-it's the best!

Thanks so much for letting me hang with you today, and here's one more picture of the final product so you can see how everything dries clear:

You can check out additional info on my blog- I'd love for you to stop by! Have a wonderful Thursday!

xoxo,
jessica :)