Helmar Creative Team

Lunar New Year Fine Motor Skill Decorations

Hello Helmar fans, Raelene with you Today.

As a family we like to explore various cultural, awareness and themed days. One of the things I love about doing this is making decorations with my boys, it is a fun way to bring in some fine motor skill activities and sensory activities to our week.
In February one of the days we like to explore is Lunar New Year, unfortunately there is no Lunar New Year activities where we live so we usually decorate in a small way, learn about the Lunar Calendar and we have dinner either at our local Chinese restaurant or we get take away from them.

This year we decided to make a tissue paper Cherry Blossom Tree.
You will need
Branch/es that suit the look you want.
Pink tissue paper or serviettes
Helmar Super-Tac Glue
Helmar Premium Craft Glue
If gluing 2 branches together like I did some scrap cardboard to reinforce the joint.

Start by preparing your tree, if you need to glue 2 branches together do so now. I used HelmarPremium Craft Glue as it is what I had on hand but I think Helmar Super Strenght PVA WoodGlue would be better. I used scraps of cardboard to reinforce the join, it blends in fine and you can only tell if you look up close.   I found a V in the big branch to sort of jam the other branch in and glued it there and then glued my reinforcement pieces over it.

As I was using some pink serviettes left over from E’s Fortnite party we were able to cut 4 circles at a time by leaving the serviette folded in quarter. Using a small bowl and marker I traced a circle on each serviette, then E set about cutting them out, giving his fingers some exercise 😉

Initially we were careful with our scrunching and shaping, starting by scrunching each layer and then unravelling, then layering a couple of layers together, pinching in the middle and scrunching into a flower shape. 
You could just scrunch up the flowers into a ball but I thought this might give E better fine motor exercises.

When gluing the flowers to the branches I put the glue sort of inside the flower and then sort of found a nob on the branch to put the flower over getting a good hold.  Others I just glued straight on.  As you glue the flowers sort of use the glue to get the scrunches to hold together.

For smaller flowers use scraps of your serviette and just scrunch them up into a ball and glue on.

Next we made our paper lanterns.
You will need 
A4 red paper
Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA

Very simple. We just cut some A4 red paper in half, the boys cut slits in all the pieces and then glued them together with Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA, adding a handle with paper scraps. Once dry we simply threaded them onto our Christmas lights and hung them on the window where our tree is living.

Next we made some paper firecrackers.
You will need 

A4 red paper
3mm red ribbon
Gold tape
Helmar Premium Craft Glue
Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA

We cut the red A4 paper into 2.5 x 3 inch pieces, then cut 3 inch pieces of gold washi (2 per firecracker), then cut 7inch long pieces of red ribbon (1 per each pair of firecrackers) and 1 10inch piece of red ribbon.
The washi wasn’t sticking well as it was old so we glued it on with HelmarCraft and Hobby PVA.

Then E rolled each piece around something round to get it to curve.

Time for assembly.
Using Helmar Premium Craft Glue adhere 1 end of the ribbon inside the red paper, then add some glue to one side of the roll and glue the ends together to form a roll.

Glue the other end of the ribbon to the inside of another piece and form the roll. 

Once all your pairs are done you can start tying them together.
I started by tying a knot in the ribbon of my first pair, then I snipped one side of the ribbon near the know. I tied this end around the ribbon of the next pair. I repeated this until the end.

All done, now to hand it near my tree and lantern

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate this day of love, I created a new piece of decor. This was a fun project making use of an old frame, some scrapbook papers and assorted embellishments. 

I stared with an variety of papers, ribbons and my Helmar  Tacky Craft Glue. 

I painted the frame red and began working on my heart flowers. I cut a strip of green paper and rolled it around a straw. After applying the Tacky Craft Glue, I applied a bit of pressure until the paper held. I added a bead of glue around the heart and then glued two back to back over a flattened straw. I made a total of 5 flowers. I cut leaves and applied those to the front of each flower. 

Once I had all of my flowers made, I ran a bead of glue along the inside bottom edge of the frame. I positioned each flower on that ledge and propped it up to dry.

Once the flowers were securely adhered, I began to decorate and add embellishments. I did end up grabbing my Helmar 450 to create the cluster. 

Here is the completed piece...

I love the way it came together and had fun pulling out different trims and buttons from my stash. 

 

Thank you for joining me and I want to wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are inspired to get out your supplies and create something similar! 

Be sure to follow Helmar on  Facebook. 

"Spilling My Heart" Valentine Card

Hi crafty friends! Its that time of year when "love is in the air"  and there are many individuals that are in love or want to be in love that believe purchasing the biggest, most fanciest card at the store is the way to express how you feel. As for me, I like things to be simple because I don't believe that less is more. I think a person can say a lot , express a lot with just a few words. This is my reason for making this Valentine card... simple and not too many embellishments. If some of you have seen some of my other work, I love layers of paper, lace, flowers , etc. This card was made super easy. I have lately been trying to put to use my die cut machine & dies. I'm still in the learning process of working with them so here is what I have come up with! I hope you all like it!

I began by cutting my white card stock 5x7 or A7.  I had some left over design paper from Authentique from a mini album I made last year. These I would use to die cut my mason jar and cutting the design on the jar. I used some red textured card stock for the lid. I hadn't used this thin die so had a little bit of a hard time with it but decided to go ahead and use it as it was. I will have plenty of time to play around with it as it can be used a variety of ways. 

 

I had some colored vellum that I cut to fit behind the design on the jar. I wanted to also use some stamps I had in my stash. I used the Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Fired Brick. I stamped the tiny adorable postage hearts on the tiny tags as well as using it to stamp some small hearts "falling out" from the jar. I then began adhering everything to my white card base. For this I used the Helmar Premium Craft Glue for all the adhering. I loved using this because it is great for see thru items such as the vellum sentiment that I used. I used it to adhere this super adorable heart ribbon that I received from a crafty friend on a swap. Before adhering the mason jar I wrapped some red/white twine I had in my stash. For the tiny tags, I had to cut a small gap for the tags to be able to hang from the twine. 

                     

I hope that you like what I have come up with. I have planned on trying to use my steel dies and thin dies more often. Even if it is a way to  use up some of my left over scrap paper. I have also planned on making more cards this month and using some of the stamps I have in my stash that I rarely use as well. 

Well my beautiful crafty friends, I thank you for reading my post today and as always I hope you also check out the rest of the designers work on this blog. Their work is amazing and all of the ideas that they share with you on how to use all of the products that Helmar makes!!  May you all have a Happy Valentines Day and spread the love!! ~Hugs~ Jeanne

   

Lucky Ducks- Mixed Media by Tamiko

Hey Hey good people, Tamiko here!  At the start of every year for the last three or fours years I have given myself creative goals. What are creative goals for me?  Well, for me that would include an area of concentration for my visual art; if I have chosen any teachers/classes/books to use for reference; and the time I have decided to give the process.  I've come to the conclusion I am a lover of color, paper and glue!  Have these things and you can almost promise my dedication to creating something awesome.  I have completely fallen in love with the images and teaching styles of Danielle Donaldson.  She is a mixed media artist with high concentration on the use of watercolors (sounds like me!! or at least where I wanna be). In one of her online classes called Inspire, she teaches you not to be afraid of colors and to let strange combinations create beautiful things and I'd like to add, beautiful things create their own stories (smile). So today's project was inspired by the DUCKS, LOVE and a Danielle Donaldson's compass! Check them out below.

 

Items needed:

Helmar Super Tac Eva Glue

Helmar Crystal Kote Fixative (optional)

Watercolor paper

Watercolors

Brushes

pencil

hand heart punch

scissors

patterned paper scraps

glitter

In Danielle Donaldson Inspire course, she teaches us how to appreciate and create from the colors within.  How not to be afraid of putting things together and making beautiful imagery that tells stories. First I made a compass.  A compass helps in choosing directions. In this case this compass will tell us the colors we may want to use for this project. I have a containers with scrap papers circles and hearts (something else I learned to do with papers tee hee) what we do is take a few pieces and form concentric circles, its ok to overlap, but they don't have to.  You also want to pick papers/circles that are not so matchy matchy. That personal part reminds me to be organic in my selections. Now if you have taken Danielle's course, she may pull out a sewing machine and tracing papers  and voila!  As a maker I reserve the right here to use my creative license and make a few tweeks. I knew I wanted to use some watercolor paper scrappings also.  As a matter of fact the same paper I use to adhere my concentric circles to was previously used as create heart confetti I knew I wanted to include in this project! I took the circles and I added drops of Helmar's Super Tacky Glue.  That glue is sturdy and flexible and adhere quite fast to my water colored background paper.  I did that with each circular layer and my heart for the center piece.  I love how eclectic it looks...

 

I pulled colors from the compass to make a color palette.. I am using Daniel Smith watercolors and I matching as close as possible to the colors that jump out most to me, from the compass. I painted my image and then decided to add those confetti hearts I had punched, to go in the air and water.  Not only does it add depth because of the small color variations, it will also add a dimensional texture. Used Helmar's Super Tacky Glue again. I used it because of it fluidity, fast tack and it dries immensely clear!! 

 

As with many things I do.. I add a little sparkle whenever I can.  I used Helmar's Super Tacky Glue!  Its no wrong way to use it.  I like it better than tacky glues because it really does dry fast and clear.  I can use it directly from the bottle or I can put it in a fineliner dispenser bottle with an 18g or 20g needle tip!!   Here are some close ups!!

 

The next step is optional. If I wanted to add some line work with some more pens.  I could have easily sprayed a few quick coats of some Helmars Crystal Kote Fixative and allowed a few moments to dry between each layer, then did some fine line details with more pens and pencils.  I hope this post encourages you to branch out and look up Danielle Donaldson or any other teachers you would  like to learn from.  Dont forget while you are researching head over to the Helmar's USA site and check out additional information about our products!!

Postcard Swap...

Hi all Vicki-Ann here. I am an Australian Art swap member on Facebook and this time we are swapping postcards. The theme was to recycle Christmas wrapping paper on our postcards and write a quote or some inspiration for the coming year on it. 

What you will need for this project...

• Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste
• Helmar Premium Craft Glue
• Assorted bits of paper. ( I have a box that I throw these in for projects.)

• Card or thin cardboard. (You could use thin cereal box cardboard.) 
• Scissors
• Paper cutter
• Christmas Paper
• Typewriter
• Coffee stained papers

I cut my card to postcard size.  I received some lovely hand stamped Christmas paper that I thought was perfect for this project, that I had saved. Using the Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste, I covered my card with my Christmas paper smoothing out any bubbles.

Next I decided what I wanted to go on top for the next layer. So digging through the box I decided that the sunflower was perfect. I tore some of my Nana's copied recipe and a bit of bird from some  paper. 

I always place the pieces on top before gluing and take a photo so I can look back when gluing. 

So starting with the recipe piece of paper that is the bottom layer.

I glued using the Helmar Premium Craft glue. Gluing and adding my layers. 

I coffee stained some copy paper and typed some quotes. Inked around the edges with vintage photo distress ink and added them to the postcards using the Helmar Premium Craft Glue. I posted these off last week, I hope my swap partners like them. I made a small one for me to add into a book I want to make with all bits and pieces in it. 

Lavender Photo Folio Card

Hi crafty friends!! I hope you all are doing well and I hope that 2019 so far is treating you well. As for me, aside from spending lots of time with my grandbaby, I have come up with many projects that I intend on creating this year. I am inspired by crafty friends, by Pinterest, and Youtube as well as other social media sites. For example, this project was inspired by a crafty lady on YouTube that I frequently watch. Her tutorials are so easy to follow. I hope that you will go check out her YouTube channel. With that said , here is one of the projects that I created using one of her tutorials. They are very easy to follow so I hope you will check out her channel!! 

So here is my Photo Folio Card. I used the Prima Lavender 6x6 paper pad and cut outs, & sticker. What's wonderful about this photo folio card that measures 4 x 5 1/4 ,  is that it can easily be mailed to that special someone in an A2 envelope.

 

                
                        


 On this project I used Helmar Craft Hobby PVA Glue               

   My experience has been that I try not to add too much or too thick on whatever surface that I am adhering. This prevents it from getting too wet and wrinkling your papers or your paper tearing. I do this with most of the wet glues. 

 

 

If you follow the tutorial to this project, please keep in mind that the tutorial was for the base of this folio. Aside from following it, you need to adhere your design paper in between some of the steps.  

I also love using the Tim Holtz Distress Inks on some of my projects for this one I used one of my favorite ones " Vintage Photo" . I didn't use any sort of embellishment, I did however use one of the thick stickers from the Lavender collection. Also you can use a brad to make your front pocket so it looks like a clasp envelope, as you will see in the tutorial. But I chose to use a piece of velcro instead. As a final step I cut out some of the sentiments from one of the 6x6 sheets as well as some of the journaling cards from the collection as well. 

 

 

 

                                    


 Well my crafty friends, I know this is short and sweet but I was having problems for a couple of days now on this blog site so I do hope you get to view this post! I wanted to post photos of the steps that I did but I do hope you take a look at the video tutorial and make one for someone special. I will be making a few more and sending them off to some crafty friends. Till next time!! Thank you for checking out my post for Jan. and I look forward to sharing with you all what I'll be creating in Feburary!! ~Hugs~ Jeanne 

Positively Nerdy by Tamiko

Hey folks Happy New Year, Tamiko here! Let me be first to acknowledge that I'm a bit of a nerd. Too uncool to be in anyone's spotlight, but not so nerdy that I have limited edition box set on Dr. Who or any other Sci-Fi related stuffage (please don't take me super serious or feel insulted, you SCI FI box collectors ::smiles and winks::) Let's check out my project.

 

Supplies used:

• Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste
• Helmar Premium Craft Glue
• Watercolor paper
• Watercolor paint
• Monoprinted paper
• 5X7 Canvas 
• Paint brushes
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Black pen
• Canvas fabric bits
• Kneaded eraser

 

I began with first sketching my nerdy male image.  I thought of the old movie Revenge of the Nerds and I giggled the entire time.  I really loved that movie, I'm sure you can get it on Netflix, DVD rentals or Redbox or even Google Movies.  I drew my male image on watercolor paper and gently rolled my eraser lightly, there dissolving some of the hard lines.

 

After I drew my image I painted him with watercolors and made some glasses to prop on top.  While those items dried, I was thinking of my friend Tiffany from SouthernGirlDesigns and she always says #useitupfillitup2 . What she means is stop buying all the extras and use up what you have! So i pulled out monoprints I made and grabbed one and adhered it to 5x7 canvas board with Helmar's Decoupage and Craft Paste. When you get it, it comes a little chunky because it is designed to hold thicker papers by default, like the cardstock I used.  If you were using thinner paper you could easily just pour a little out in a old jar and add some water by the 1/2 teaspoonfuls till you got the consistency needed. I also use a stiff brush or a foam brush to apply it, you can use your fingers if you wanted to really put ya hands in your work.. ::smile::

 

Once my images were done drying I fussy cut them out and I stuck'em down to the monoprinted background prepared above using Helmar's Premium Craft Glue.  I just love that stuff, it adheres fast yet remains flexible when needed on dried items.  That means you don't have to just use it on flat surfaces!  Below I show How i used the glue on the male image, the glasses and the quote that I hand lettered on some canvas fabric bits. 

 

I did some mark making with some graphite pencils and some permanent pen. I doodled some formulas that I uses for basic math calculations.  Had to include E= mc squared ::giggles:: that's nerdy humor (If you got it yayy, if you didn't.. awww) ::winks:: Here below is just a small close up of the fussy cut images, lettering and embroidary twine I felt obligated to use (just for a lil pop of color).  Thank you guys so much for following my project today!  Don't forget to #useitupfillitup2 over on instagram and and stick it all down and hold it in it's proper place with Helmar USA!!

Native Bee and Bug Hotel.

Hi all Vicki-Ann here today and My husband and I have made a bug, native bee hotel for our vegetable garden. This was such a fun project!

What you will need for this project...

• Helmar Super Strength PVA Wood Glue
• Wood, 4 pieces to make a square and one big enough to back it
• Metal for roof
• Tin snips
• Drill, drill bits 
• Nails 
• Screws
• Pen
• Ruler 
• Bracket
• Bamboo
• Hacksaw, angle grinder
• Chain or rope for hanging

First I gathered all my pieces of wood. I have a heap of off cuts from a friend who builds stair cases. So I just looked through my pile of bits and selected them. 4 smaller pieces to make a square and one big enough to back them on.

 

 

I then marked where I wanted the holes drilled on the 4 pieces and the backing board.

 

 

  My husband drilled the holes for me. 

 

 

I then ran a line of the Helmar Super Strength PVA Wood Glue along the inside edges. We then nailed the 4 pieces together forming a square. 

We attached the square to the backing board with a bracket screwed to the inside. The bracket is covered with all the pieces of bamboo that we cut to fit with a hacksaw and an angle grinder. Cutting all the bamboo to size was the longest part to do. We used 2 different sized bamboo.

 

 

We had a bit of scrap metal so we decided to bend and nail that over the top to give it a bit more protection from the weather. I painted some chain with a hook, black. I recycled this from a hanging planter to attach through the holes at the top. 

You could just tie some rope through the holes and knot it. 

 

 

 So the recommended place to hang this is under the eaves or the shade of a tree. It still needs to get some morning sun though. I wonder how long it will be before we get some bees and bugs making a home in here. It will be fun to watch and see how long it takes for them to find it.  Bees do such a wonderful job pollinating my vegetable garden if we can help them in any way, I think it is worth doing.   

Let's Get Organized

Does your desk look like this? Tools that you need scattered about? You have to hunt to find things? 

 

I have a way to  get us organized which is a good goal for the New Year!

 

Let me show you how to make a beautiful desk organizer! I bet you have all of the supplies on hand! 

Start by grabbing paper towel or toilet paper rolls, cereal boxes, toothpaste boxes whatever boxes you have. The fun part is you can choose the shapes, sizes and arrangement. 

The adhesive I chose for this project is Helmar Tiger Grip Glue. This strong all purpose glue is perfect for this organizer.  

First I cut the boxes and tube to various heights. I applied a coat of white paint to the edges. I lined them up in different arrangements until I got the one I liked. 

Get out some of that pretty pattern paper and use the Tiger Glue to cover all sides of the boxes and the tubes. It adheres quickly so this takes no time at all. I finished off the top of each piece by gluing on a ribbon. 

After that, it is on to assembling the organizer. I cut a square piece of heavy duty cardboard and covered that with pattern paper as well. Once I had the arrangement I liked, I used the Tiger Glue to secure each piece to the base. I personalized it with some flowers as well. 

Here is my finished desk organizer. 

Now everything is just where I need it! This will really help me when I work on my projects! The fun part is they can be personalized with different papers or embellishments for a girl's room, or a boy's or a kitchen desk. 

 

I hope you enjoyed my organizational project. If you need to get organized, give this a try! Be sure to share with us on Facebook. Don't forget the product link is in the right corner. This well help you find the adhesives you need for your projects. 

 

Thank you for visiting and I look forward to seeing you back here next month!

Magic by Suzanne Franin 28/12

Hey Everyone

 

This week on the Helmar Blog I've made a grunge/steampunk type frame for a friend who loves that style and loved this quote.

Make sure you check out the blog for lots of inspiration from the rest of the Design Team 

 

With the whole frame and embellishments I used the Helmar Premium Craft Glue as I have limited supplies at the moment where I am and I find this glue sticks everything from paper to metal.

 

 

 

So I started with an old timber frame and painted it with some Art Alchemy Impasto in Dark Chocolate with some sand mixed in then I randomly put some Finnabair Red Rust Paste over the frame.

I also did the same with the Memory Maze Chipboard pieces I used.

 

 

 

 

I used an acrylic Unicorn Head from Memory Maze with some white paper flowers.

 

 

I used a few pieces of paper clay which I covered with Art Alchemy Vintage Gold Wax with a stipple brush which gives a great coverage and gets into all the the little hard to reach places.

 

 

On the background of the frame I used Memory Maze Lots of Squares Stencil. 

I then used the Colour Blast Artist Inks in Calypso and Rust.

 

Next, I added some Memory Maze Chipboard Chicken Wire.

 

 

 

I used a few bits of metal and a little jar of Magic with a few glass cabochons which I placed randomly after I added some Vintage Gold Wax to the back of them. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will be back soon x