Fun with Helmar & Faber-Castell

This week the Helmar DT created projects utilizing all the fabulous Faber-Castell Products, here are my 2 projects:

Here is my 1st Helmar Design Team project to share with you and I'm really excited because it was created using canvas fabric. I wanted you to see how well these products work not only on paper but also fabric. The first thing I did was use HELMAR's Fray Stoppa to reduce the fray on the fabric. LOVE THIS STUFF!

Once dry you can remove any stray strands and be insured that it won't fray anymore. This is how Helmar's Fray-Stoppa looks after it's completely dry...that is a selling point for me that it totally disappears on this fabric. I would suggest that you try this on a sample of any fabric you use to make sure that it is color-fast.

Here is the finished Canvas Corp Canvas Tag using 4 different Faber-Castell products...Gelatos, Pitt Pastel Pencils, Pitt Artisit Pen & Art Grip Aquarelle Pencils.

I used the Gelatos on the small canvas piece that was pre-printed with the frog scene {Basic Grey}.

The Prima Resist Border and handmade leaf was colored with the Art Grip Aquarelles.

The Studio Calico Wood Butterflies were colored with the Pitt Pastel Pencils. 

I traced a border with a Pitt Artist Pen in Black {S}.

The border and frog canvas were attached to the Canvas Corp Tag with HELMAR'S Fabric Glue. After completing the canvas tag I felt like it needed a 2nd leaf so I created another...both leaves were attached at the top only, with Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, so they would float above the frog. The wood butterflies were also attached with Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. I just love this tag and it reminds me of a favorite fairtytale from my chilhood, Thumbelina.

Here is a close-up of the bottom of the tag:

And here is my 2nd project for our FUN with HELMAR and Faber-Castell week. I was in the mood to do something fun & funky after spending all week getting projects ready for CHA. I started with Dylusions Cling Stamps by the most fabulous Dyan Reaveley. After creating my stamped image I then grabbed all differenct colors of the Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen's and got to work. Her funky hair utilized all my favorite colors and I also added them to her incredibly long eyelashes. With adding some Glossy Accents to her lips and eyelashes she was ready to be attached to a Ranger Craft Tag, size #8 in Manilla, that had been painted with various blue and green Faber-Castell GELATOS & misted with water. To create depth I distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs {I love this shade}. I decided that one tag wasn't enough so I created a second to match and again stamped the leaves using Dylusions Stamps and colored the leaves with 2 shades of green with a PITT Artist Stampers BIG BRUSH.
The pleated ribbon was created by using a natural color canvas ribbon from Canvas Corp and the same shades of GELATOS used on the tags. Not sure how this would work I was pleasantly surprised at how well the ribbon took the color when I added a misting of water and started finger painting...for real! Aren't the colors fabulous on the fabric ribbon...great to now that you can match your ribbon to your background using the same Faber-Castell products. Some 7Gypsie Washi tape and the project is complete.


Where does HELMAR come in...all paper was adhered together with Professional Acid Free Glue...my metal beetles attached with Liquid Scrap Dots...the ribbon trim attached with 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Isn't she just so fun & funky?

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have enjoyed our Fun with Faber-Castell Week...I know I have.

Letter Love 101, Helmar, Dylusions & Faber-Castell = Art Journal Love

I have always been fascinated by typography so when the incredible Joanne Sharpe announced her online class,LETTER LOVE 101, I was one of the 1st to sign up. Now that the class has come to the end I can say it was one of the most informational and fun classes.I can also say that I really have had the opportunity to work with, in my humble opinion, one of the Helmar adhesives that doesn't get showcased as much as it should! Here is a link to a great chart explaining the different qualities and also videos demoing this product. HELMAR Professional ACID FREE Glue, with a neutral pH, dries clear and creates a FLEXIBLE bond. This is not the 1st time that I have used this PAPER to PAPER adhesive, designed for book binding, but it is the 1st time that I had the opportunity to use it on heavy 130 lb.watercolor paper and also used to adhere manilla tags to 130 lb.watercolor paper.  I highly suggest all mixed media artists consider using this in art journals along with all other paper arts.

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Let me show you several different ways that I used the Professional ACID FREE GLUE in my journals created for the Letter Love 101 class.

This is the cover of a handmade journal I made to hold several final projects. I used Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Paper, 130 lb. weight, to create the handpainted pages. After putting it together I wanted to label the front cover. This is some heavy paper and this would be the test to see if this adhesive worked as well as it had on regular weight cardstock.

The trick I discovered is to help the process along with a brayer and allow to sit overnight. That is where the magic happens...the bond becomes complete and you have what looks like 1 paper instead of 2 papers. Another fact that I've discovered is that it doesn't allow colors to bleed together...that in itself is a major selling point!

I wish you could see it close-up, since I have a torn edge you

can't really get the idea of the bond...it doesn't lift or curl.

Here is another example that I created so you could get a look at different weights of papers using this adhesive. This book I'm working in is the Strathmore Visual Journal/Mixed Media and the papers are 90 lb. weight. I've learned that sometimes it is better to glue 2 pages together to create strength so that is how I started off. I know it is hard to see but the painted pages are not the least bit wrinkled, in fact you would never know that they are 2 pages thick. I wanted to try a different weight so I adhered a manilla tag created using the new stamps from DYLUSIONS, designed by Dyan Reaveley for Ranger Ink & Stampers Anonymous. The tag alone consists of 3 different layers so with my adhesive I applied a thin coat, attached the tag and smoothed it with my brayer.

Here are the journal pages still in process but you will see again how incredible this adhesive works. No lifting away or curling of the edges!

I'm going to sound like a broken record but HELMAR Professional ACID FREE Glue needs to be in your glue arsenal. I highly recommend it!

I want to give a HUGE shout out to FABER-CASTELL, USA for the absolutely phenomenal  Pitt Artist Pen & Big Brush series. All hand journaling was done with these india ink pens in various sizes. It has become my pen of choice for art journals!

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions I would be more than glad to answer them. 

Art Journal, Helmar & Faber-Castell

Greetings!!! Is everyone surviving the holiday rush?
I just finished taking 30 Days in Your Journal with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer...it finished up Nov. 30th and I was so sad. I really did journal every day and posted it on Flickr. What was I going to do? I was on a roll ...but Julie came to the rescue with an idea of 25 Days Until Christmas journaling prompts.

So with my trusty HELMAR Adhesives and the awesome Faber Castell products I set to work. I'm pleased to share with you what I've created up to today...the 18th of Dec. 

Cover Page: What is interesting about this page was I used a catalog cover but I did not use a Helmar adhesive to adhere it to my page...I know as I hang my head in shame. You can see that the cover did not adhere flat, it wrinkled here and there...lesson learn...ONLY USE HELMAR!


Days 1-5: I found these great cookie pictures in the Dec. 2011 edition of Food Network Magazine and just knew I had to use them...this time I adhered these pictures with HELMAR Decoupage and Craft Paste. The difference...no buckling! The journaling was completed with my trusty Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen.

Days 6-10: More catalog pictures adhered the correct waay with Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste and journaling done with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen.

Days 11-18: On this page I knew I was running out of time and energy but I didn't want to give up. I searched through my stash and found these great journaling circles...I've had them for awhile and I can't tell you who made them. This time I pulled out the Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens in great colors to complete the journalling. 






I hope you enjoyed my journal pages. By using the best products from HELMAR and Faber-Castell it makes the ability to create so easy.