Helmar Creative Team

Glitter Champagne DIY

Hi! It's Bridget here and today I want to share with you something I have wanted to try for a while. Have you ever given someone a bottle of champagne as a gift, but you cant afford those expensive bottles?  With this technique people won't care what is in the bottle, because the bottle itself is so awesome! These make great gifts and can also bling up a drinks table.  

 

Here is what I used:

Helmar Super Tac glue

A champagne bottle 

Helmar crystal kote fixative

Helmar crystal kote Gloss Varnish

Helmar gemstone glue

washi tape

glitter

 

I suggest setting up a area outside for this project because now matter how careful you are the glitter goes everywhere.  First tape off any area you don't want glitter to cover with your washi tape.  I just wanted the top free of glitter but if you want the label showing tape that off too.

Working in sections paint on Helmar super tac glue, then sprinkle on your glitter.  I  had a plastic plate underneath to catch the glitter so I could re use it. I decided I wanted a second coat of glitter  so once finished  I lightly spray with Helmars fixative, I find this binds the glitter together ready for the next coat.  Once dry I painted on more Helmars super tac glue and more glitter. Then I removed the washi tape. After this has dried lightly spray a few coats of Helmars crystal kote gloss varnish, this insures the glitter stays sparkly and wont fall off when in the fridge. 

I decided to add a little extra bling, so added some gemstones around the neck of the bottle using Helmars gemstone glue.

Lastly I added a tag, I kept it simple with a black tag some washi and some alphas. Here is my completed bottle of bubbles.

 I hope you give this project a try, it makes a great gift.  Thanks for stopping by, Happy crafting.

Christmas in July

Hello Crafters! Jean here and welcome to Christmas in July. 

I have a cool project for you today - a mixed media snowman wall hanging! It is a fun and easy project!

I grabbed a scrap piece of mdf, burlap, paint, twine, flannel and my favorite adhesive -  Helmar Tacky Craft Glue!

 

 

Using the Tacky Craft Glue I adhered the burlap to the wood. This glue dries clear with a flexible bond. 

 

 

Once the glue was dry, I started painting my snowman. It is a very simple design. 

 

I finished the plaque by adding a hanger of twine. Attached to that is a flannel tie and a bell. Here is a close up. 

Isn't he cute! Perfect for hanging just about anywhere! Your kids could even help make this!

 

Thank you for joining me! Be sure to visit Helmar for all of your adhesive needs! 

 

 

Sympathy Card with Susan

 Hello, again! How is everyone in the crafting world? I hope you're taking time to feed your crafty spirit! One thing I love to do is find new uses for my favorite products. I find it so exciting to use my supplies in unexpected ways. Today I want to share with you a new technique using Craft and Hobby PVA Glue.  Unfortunately sympathy cards are one of those items that we often find we need, but may not have on hand. I try to keep a couple already made for when they are needed. <3 Though I did use this technique on a sympathy card, it would work well on practically any themed card or project.

I've been wanting to play more with my water colors and decided to try a new resist method using my Craft and Hobby PVA Glue. This glue is water based and cleans up easily - so I knew my stencil would be safe and easily cleaned - and dries clear and flexible. Sounds like the perfect supply to try this technique!

I grabbed some watercolor paper and a stencil and used a foam brush to pounce the PVA glue onto the stencil and background.

After I had covered it with a somewhat generous coat of PVA glue, I removed the stencil. The glue washed off my plastic stencil easily with no residue. The glue dries fairly quickly, so I already had spots on my paper that were less shiny as they dried. I'm rather impatient and so I grabbed my heat gun and finished drying the glue completely. Alternatively, you can let it dry over night or just let it sit while you clean up your stencil or do another task.

Then came the fun part - adding color! I chose two colors of blue and did a basic wash on the stenciled area. Then I layered more blue in spots. I wanted even more color and vibrancy, so I added a bit of purple. (side note: I often shy away from blue and purple as a color combination, but every time I use them together, I LOVE it! I'm trying to use them together more!) I did hit it with my heat gun as needed to dry the layers and stop the colors from blending too much or moving farther than I wanted. When I was satisfied with the way my watercolor looked, I took a barely damp paper towel and rubbed it over the stenciled area. This removed any residual paint from the top of the areas that were covered with the PVA glue and made the stenciled resist area really pop! (I wish I had a photo before I rubbed it - the before and after was quite impressive!)

I trimmed down my stenciled watercolor and mounted it to my card base with 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Then I used a scrap of my watercolor paper that I had used to test colors and stamped my sentiment. I trimmed that down and set it aside. I grabbed some silver thread and made a simple messy nest to sandwich between my sentiment and card background. I used ScrapDots on the back of the sentiment strip to give it a bit of dimension and it also held the thread in place. The silver thread gives a bit of interest without too much sparkle. I tend to keep my sympathy cards more subdued and this resist technique gives a beautiful effect without being overly showy.

I encourage you to give this technique a try! I can't wait to do it again myself! I also want to try it on a scrapbook page, maybe as a layer in the background. Have you ever used a supply in an unexpected way? Share your tips and comments below, we'd love to hear from you!

Helmar Creative Team Call Out October - March 2017!

Helmar Creative Team Call 2017-2018

Helmar is a recognized market leader of adhesives, aerosol and chemical products. We are looking for new creative team members to promote our amazing Craft & Hobby products. If you’d like to be a part of one of the most creative and easy going design teams out there, while showcasing Helmar products and your talent, this call is for you!!!

We are looking for dedicated creative design team members who work well with deadlines and guidelines.            
Positions on the Helmar Creative Team are for a 6 month term beginning October 1st, 2017.

As a member of the Helmar Creative Team you will…

1. Receive a generous amount of Helmar products
2. The possibility of a selection of products from our generous Preferred Partners throughout your term.

Now what does it take to be a part of the Helmar Team? Here are your responsibilities:

1. 1-2 projects per month consisting of posts on the Helmar blog, your personal blog, sharing on Facebook and other social media platforms.
2. Keeping your personal blog and Facebook page up to date and linking and promoting Helmar products at every opportunity.

If you are interested in being part of the Helmar Creative team, please email the following information to [email protected]

• Name, address, daytime/evening phone number and email address.
• Short biography.
• Links to your online galleries, blogs, Facebook and other social media platforms.
• List other teams you are now on or have previously been on.
• A brief paragraph explaining what special attributes you will be bringing to the Helmar Creative Team.
• Two examples that will best showcase your work. Please ensure file sizes are not overly large or small, nothing over 1mb. Examples could be your Papercrafts, altered art, mixed media, craft projects, kid’s projects, home décor, etc.) Make sure to list any special techniques you’ve used using adhesives.

Please submit your application to [email protected] by Monday 15^th August 2017.

No late submissions will be accepted.

 The new Helmar Design Team will be announced by the 29th of August, 2017

** At this time we are only accepting applications from Australia and United States.

Acrylic painting using the 'blowing technique' with Sarah Rosse

Hello Helmar fans, Sarah here with you today to share my lastest love - acrylic pouring, or some may refer to this painting as 'flow art'.  There are many clips on the internet to show you what this art form is all about, but today I want to share with you the 'blowing technique' to create a painting of your own using some fantastic Helmar products.

For this project you will need the following;

Helmar Tacky Craft Glue.. I have also used the Helmar Professional Woodworking Glue or Hobby & Craft PVA glue for this type of painting before also.

Helmar H400 Silicone Spray

Canvas - I used a 25x30cm one for this project

Acrylic paints - I used white, turquoise, gold metallic and purple

Plastic disposable cups / popsicle sticks

A straw

Baby wipes (for wiping your hands) / Paper towel / Large tray for setting up canvas over

Helmar Crystal Kote Gloss Varnish

Step 1:  Pour your paint into a disposable cup, then add in some of the Tacky Craft Glue - a 50/50 mix of paint and glue should do it.  Mix very well with a popsicle stick. Add a small amount of water and stir until you get a smooth, runny consistency until it easily slides off the popsicle stick.

Step 2: Add approx 5 squirts of the Helmar silicon spray in to each colour, except the white. Stir lightly.

Step 3: Set up your canvas area - I have my canvas sitting on four plastic upturned cups over a large aluminium tray. I bought this from a discount store (it is actually a BBQ tray), but it great as it catches all the drips

Step 4: Pour your white paint on to the canvas. You can spread the paint out with a popsicle stick or tilt it around to evenly spread the paint.  This white layer will serve as your basis.

Step 5: Pour your coloured paint mix on to the canvas - try to keep this close to the centre as you will blowing the paint out towards to edges

Step 6: Using a straw blow the paint from the centre to the outsides of the canvas.  Keep blowing in what direction you wish until you are happy with the paint spread and patterning. You may tilt the canvas if you wish to move the paint around.

Step 7: Using a popsicle stick, tidy up the edges.  I dip the popsicle stick in to the paint that has dripped into the tray to cover the sides.

Step 8: This is an optional step - if you have a butane torch (I use a stove ignition flame) you can run this over the painting. This helps to pop any air bubbles and brings the silicone to the surface to create cells.  Put the painting somewhere flat and level to dry.  In the climate where I live, it can take 3-4 days for a painting to fully dry.  Once dry, spray Helmar Crystal Kote gloss varnish to seal the painting.  Follow the instructions on the can to ensure the varnish dries appropriately.

Here is the finished painting (apologies for the darkness of the photo)

When I mixed the paint for this project I had some left over.  I wanted to achieve the look of some more negative space within the painting so gave it another shot on a smaller canvas following the steps above and really liked the outcome.  I controlled the paint more when I blew through the straw, so it left some plain white spaces.  The finished piece is at the very top of this post.  Here are some close ups of the finished painting...

   

Thanks for joining us here on the Helmar blog, I hope you enjoyed this project and will give it a go.  I cant wait to see what you create!

 

   


 

Decorating a photo frame

HI Everyone!  Its Bridget here again.  Recently I moved house and as I took down my photo wall I decided the frames were outdated and were not coming to the new house with us. Unfortunately as I was taking the photos out of the frames some were stuck to the glass and I could not remove them. Instead of throwing out the photo I decided I would decorate it and that is what I want to show you today.

Here is the finished project.

The items I used for this project are:

Helmar super Tac glue

Helmar Decoupage and craft paste

Texture paste

Colorblast colour paste

Stamps and ink

watercolor 

Embellishments 

To begin with I decided to print of the song lyrics to "somewhere over the rainbow". It is a song I used to sing to my children to get them to sleep. Then I roughly ripped it up and using the Helmar Decoupage and craft paste stuck the song lyrics to the frame.

Then to add texture I stamped all over the frame with ink and I also with a stencil added texture paste.

I then painted the frame with watercolor.  Then using Colorblast  color paste I added more swirls with a stencil and painted some wood veneer pink. Then added embellishments using Helmar Super-Tac glue, because it grabs extra fast and dries clear.

 Once again here is the completed project.

This was such a fun project to do and I am glad I will have this photo on display again. Thanks for stopping by. Happy crafting.

Home Decor item - wth Lisa

Hi there, Lisa here today - to share a Home Decor piece I have created.

My thinking behind this piece was to create something pretty that I can put on the wall in my home office. I have so many pretty scrapbooking items that I hoard - what better way to keep them & be able to look at them! I have seen similar things done on a scrapbook page - whilst looking at Pinterest.

Not only is this a quick & easy home decor item - it would also make a great gift.

What You will need :

A Canvas or frame (I used an 8x8 square canvas)

Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Ephemera, Buttons, Puffy Stickers, Sequins, enamel dots, Wood Veneer (any mix that you like)

**********

I chose some of the bits & pieces I wanted to use in my design and put them in a dish on my work space. I wasn't limiting myself to this selection - but find it helps as a starting point. 

I decided on a square canvas with a heart shape as I like the balance & symmetry look. You can mix it up and go with what is pleasing to you.

I drew the heart by hand. A good trick is to draw half the heart on a folded piece of paper - then cut out that half & open it up to reveal the complete shape. Just insure you have the centre of the shape on the closed fold.

I centered the heart on the canvas. I very lightly made some marks very roughly tracing the shape on to the canvas. I just marked it intervals - enough to see the shape. I planned to cover as much of the pencil markings with my embellishments as possible. I found using a baby wipe very gently removed any excess rather than an eraser. You may choose to use Gesso to prep your canvas (I didn't).

I placed all the pieces in the shape of the heart & played around with it until I was happy. Once I was ready to start gluing pieces down I started with the larger paper ephemera pieces that form that help to form the shape of the heart. (pictured)

I stuck down the enamel dots & sequins last. These were the finishing pieces to ensure balance of placement.

I decided on the Helmar 450 Quick Dry as my choice of adhesive as I had so many different materials to stick down as opposed to all being paper. I also wanted a fairly quick drying & long lasting stick.

I hope you have enjoyed my project share today & that you will have a go at creating something similar. 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candy Dish | Krisy Podolak

Hi Loyal Helmar followers!

Today I am sharing a project I made with the  idea of Home Decor that developed into a project for my recent class that I taught at the Brisbane Scrapbooking Expo. I find when I do a class I love the little extras, you know sweets on the table, added things in your kit, heaps of extra layouts to "borrow" ideas from.  So, with this in mind I knew I wanted to have some bowls of sweets on the table.  But how could I make them a way to display/create a talking point about my Sponsors "Colour Blast Australia" and "Helmar Worldwide" that helped me out with creating some awesome kits!?  Here's what I did....

 

I used Helmar Fabric stiffener to create some bowls and then used Colour Blast Colour Paste to add some colour.  I wanted something pretty rustic and that would catch people's imaginations.  There was a lot of discussion around Helmar products because of these bowls and the kits so I was really happy.

Here is how you can make your own:

What you will need:

Some Fabric (I used left over squares of some beige fabric that wasn't quite hession but was thick in weave)

Helmar Fabric Stiffener and Draping Fluid

Paints or in my Case Colour Blast Colour Paste

Helmar Crystal Kote  in Gloss

 

The Process:

Pour out some Helmar Fabric Stiffener & Draping Fluid into a disposable container.  Something like a chinese container would be ideal but I only had plastic cups.

You can use a tupperware container or something similar that can be washed, it does clean up with warm water by the way...I was being lazy.  Pour out enough to cover the fabric.  Remember that the fabric will absorb a bit of the liquid.

Dunk your fabric into the Fabric Stiffener.  Make sure it is completely covered.

 I will admit my fabric was a little dry when I drapped it and the only thing that happened was my bowls weren't as stiff and rock solid as I would have liked.  They still did the job.  Once your fabric is covered drape the squares of fabric over glass containers.  I need to note my squares were just kinda squares, nothing was measured nor were the edges cut neat.

When drapping, I put a piece of glad wrap over the top to help the removal process but it was honestly more hassle. .If your worried about the fabric sticking, lube up your containers with a bit of Helmar Silicone Spray or even cooking oil but be sparing as this may affect the way the colour stick later.   I also tried the Fabric Stiffener on some bubble wrap to see if it would harden the same way even if the material didn't absorb the fluid.  Result was that it didn't work. Well, it kinda did but it didn't hold shape at all.  Then all you need to do it arrange the fabric in a drape you are happy with a leave to dry.  I left mine in the sun and then on a shelf inside for a few days to make sure it was completely dry.

Once the stiffener is dry, you are good to decorate your bowls how you please.  I used Colour Blast Colour Paste which is a shiny texture paste.  I just painted it on with a paint brush.  

Once the paste was dry, I used Helmar Crystal Kote in  gloss to seal it.  

Done.

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you make something inspired by this post, please share it and tag me, I would love to see it.

Krisy xx

Happy Happy Birthday Card by Rachel Lowe:

I believe there is nothing more thoughtful than a handmade card!

Today I have  a handmade birthday card with a pineapple being my feature (I adore pineapples by the way, they are so happy!).

Firstly I found a template on line of a pineapple that I liked (there are so many free online). I raided my stash and found a lovely yellow paper with tropical flowers on it and a stunning blue which I decided to use instead of a traditional green for my leaves.

After cutting out my pineapple from the yellow paper I then machine sewed at diagonals to create the effect of the outside of the pineapple.

I then added little sewing at the base of the pineapple top for texture. I then used scrap glue dots to attach my blue paper pineapple top to create a 3D effect.

To create a contrast background I have used watercolour paints and using pink adding more water to dilute as I painted/brushed down the page.

You can use any font or material for your word 'happy' and then again inside my card 'happy birthday'. Or you could stamp a happy birthday greeting.

With the colour combo of yellow pink and blue is one of my favourites! You could choose your own favourite colour combo.

You can easily make this card at home and to me that is always the great thing about making cards is you can dive into your stash.

I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive on the rest of my card at adhere!

Here are some close up process photos for you:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the two products I used from Helmar:

 

450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots
 

 Thank you for stopping by today and see you next time!

 

 

 

Doodle Glue Flowers

Hi all Vicki-Ann here today with a project for you. I needed to re-stash my cards as they were getting rather low.

I like to have a few on hand for quick gift giving and for thank-you notes.

For this project you will need.

• Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste
• A fineline applicator 
• Card stock
• Watercolour paper
• Paper trimmer or scissors
• Dylusions ink spray

So today I am using the Helmar Decoupage and craft paste. I filled a Fineline applicator bottle with the Helmar Decoupage and craft paste as I wanted to do some doodling with it. So after filling my bottle, I grabbed a piece of watercolour paper. Then using the fine line applicator bottle, I doodled flowers, leaves and added some spots. It worked really well and was really easy to use. I liked that it gave me such fine lines of glue. 

I then left it to dry and sprayed the paper randomly with Dylusions ink spray blotting any excess.

I made 3 different cards and have a few more yet that I can make but these are the 3 sizes I made so far. 14x10.5 cm 10x10.5cm and an ATC 9x6.5cm.

I backed the watercolour paper with black cardstock and then I placed it on white cardstock.

This was a quick and fun project to do and I know I will be making more.