Helmar Creative Team

Pen & Ink Canvas

These canvas were done on 10"x 14"canvas.

I used tracing paper to achieve the pattern & then traced it lightly onto the canvas. I then used Pigma Pens in varying sizs to achieve the pen work. To stop the pen from bleeding when I painted, I used Helmar Matt Varnish to set it & left it to dry.

I then grabbed out my water based oils & used very small amounts working from the bottom upwards so it became lighter at the top.

A tip that I learned ages ago if you make a mistake with the paint, use Windex on a cotton bud to remove the paint & start again.

Once the look that I wanted was achieved, I used the Helmar Matt Varnish to set the whole piece. 

I will leave it for about a week before I frame it. Only because the weather here is weird at the moment & it has been humid.

I hope you like them.

Cheers

Spooky But Sweet Ghosts

Hi, I'm Helen and this is my very first blog post! 

I am an avid lover of Halloween (all year round!) so you can expect some (mainly) spooky/gothic creations from me every month.

My first tutorial is going to be a simple one and can be done easily within a day, including dry time.

Tools/Supplies:

• Cheesecloth
• Cardboard tubes of differing length - from paper towel, toilet paper, or wrapping paper
• Round objects for the head mould - foam balls, ping pong balls, or Christmas baubles
• Sticky tape, or preferably masking tape
• Plastic/cling wrap
• Wire, pipe cleaners, or freezer bag ties
• Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA Glue
• Bowl, scissors, Sharpie/permanent marker
• Optional: LED tea lights, battery operated string lights

Process:

Start by sticking on the head and arms (if using) onto your tube. Then drape over some cling wrap - so that the cheesecloth is easy to remove once dry and you can re-use your armatures. I ended up changing my heads to slightly larger ones before I added the cling wrap.

Mix up equal parts of water and the Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA glue in a bowl. Cut out a circle (doesn't have to be perfect) from the cheesecloth to cover the armature. Soak the cheesecloth round in the PVA mixture and lightly squeeze out the excess liquid.

Make sure your work area is protected from the glue. Stretch open the wet cloth and drape over the armature. Then just keep adjusting the folds till you are happy with the shape.

Let dry overnight. Remove the armature. Use a Sharpie to draw on the eyes, or you can glue on black paper or felt eyes if you prefer. I love that they look like they are floating!

Optional: To make the ghosts come alive you can add fairy lights or an LED tea light.

Now to get back to baking and Halloween decorating! See you next month!

Halloween Tags

Firstly let me introduce myself, my name is Merrilyn Mez for short. I live in the beautiful Riverina area of NSW, with my husband, dog, cats, horses, alpaca & chooks. 

Now down to business. My Halloween tags are made from card stock that I cut to the size I needed.

The patterned paper on the first tag is from my stash, just tear a piece off, ink the edges & grab the Helmar 450 & glue down on the left edge. Then make a pocket for the bottom of the tag out of the back of the paper. I used #450 glue on both sides & along the very bottom edge, I also used tiny staples to add texture. For the tags I actually used recycled clothing tags & covered with the patterned paper. Ink the edges of the tags, add some ribbon & set aside. I stenciled the white background of the tag using a cobweb stencil & Tim Holtz Villainous Potion distress oxide.

I found some stickers that suited the theme, one was stuck flat the other onto box board & then Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to build up a 3D image. I also had a Tim Holtz Broom that I used the Helmar 450 to glue down & tucked it behind the tags in the pocket.
The second tag background is done with Villainous Potion Distress Oxide With Lavinia Elements Violet Chalk with Lavinia stamps. There is a hint of stenciling behind everything for some depth. I then added stars using the Helmar 450 glue. Plus a little Clear Kindy glitz on the bubbles.

Hope you like them.

Steampunk Heart

 For this months blog post I created a Steampunk Heart

I was given the heart and told see what you can do with this lol

Straight away, my mind went to Steampunk! 

I used the 450 Quick Dry Adhesive because the heart is upright I needed the glue to adhere the embellishments quickly and this is definitely the best for this.

It is also strong enough to hold metal and not too harsh on the paper fussy cut pieces that I added.

After embellishing I added some gold leaf around ten finished off with some white flowers (if you know me no project is complete without some flowers).

Thank you for visiting and make sure to check out the rest of the blog for some fantastic inspiration from the rest of the Design Team xx