HAPPY HANDY HIPPO DAY - WEEK 15

Good morning everyone

Another week has come and gone .. .. where are these days and weeks whizzzing off to?!?!?

December always seems to be a month of trying to cram far too much in .. .. which I think is why January seems such a relaxed time .. .. prompting us to make all of those rash promises known as "New Year Resolutions".   I think I am going to give them a miss next year LOL!!!

I steered away from the Christmas images again this week for my Handy Hippo project because I simply "had" to use this lovely cling stamp.  This is going to be so useful for wedding anniversaries and wedding day makes .. .. but will also come into its own for "sending love on your birthday" cards, "sending lots of love to make you feel better soon" and of course those lovely soppy valentine projects that are only just around the corner.

I didn't actually put a sentiment on the front of this one as I thought I would then be able to use it for any of the above .. .. .. either by adding a sentiment later to the front or by simply letting my insert do all the talking!!

Below you can find the Handy Hippo magic button .. .. and if you click on it you can see all the lovely goodies I used to make this little creation. Everything I have used has been automatically added to a shopping basket and as always you can remove anything you do not need (or add anything else you can't resist).

I love the papers in this paper stack - such gorgeous colours.

This week you might have noticed that I have done a bit of silver embossing around the edge of my paper ... .. .. although the light isn't catching it too well for you to see the full effect.

I find this quite a therapeutic technique.  There is just something about watching the embossing powder turn to its finished shiny state that I love.

This is how I do mine .. .. ..

First of all I gently rub around the edge of
my paper or card with my Versamark Ink Pad
(which is like a clear glue pad and is brilliant for
embossing or creating a watermark effect
on your card if left to just dry)

Here you can "just about" see the ink
on the edges of my paper

Next sprinkle embossing powder over
the Versamark ink .. .. the powder sticks to the
ink.  If you feel the embossing is going to be a little
too heavy for your liking then you can simply brush
away any excess at this stage with a dry paint brush.

Next you emboss with your heat gun - but remember
the embossing will be hot for a short while .. .. ..
this is my favourite stage.  I love watching the powder
change (it doesn't take much to amuse me LOL!!)

Then here it is all finished.
If you have found that your card or paper is no
longer flat then simply heat from the opposite side
to straighten everything out again.
I usually emboss from the top and even everything
out by then heating from underneath.

If you feel the finished result isn't as
embossed as you would like it to be
then you can keep repeating the steps above until
you get your desired look.

So a big week of preparing for Christmas here in The House of Hearts.  There is still quite a bit to do before the magic day .. .. and I am determined to get ahead of the game this year. 

I hope all you want to do is going to plan.

Have a great week and I will see you next Monday.

Don't forget that Handy Hippo have started to do Promarkers in single colours now .. .. and at a brilliant price.  You can find them all here.

Love

and all the lovely friendly people at Handy Hippo