Paperbark, Australian Animals and Darkroom Door

I've had the most wonderful time playing with Darkroom Door's new Australian Animals Vol. 2 stamp set, along with some paperbark taken from the paperbark tree in my front yard.  It's the first time I've experimented with paperbark and the texture is quite remarkable.  Although the bark is quite fragile, I was really pleased with the way I was able to stamp and stitch with it.

The Dress...

I layered some pieces of paperbark together onto white textured card to create the skirt and bodice of the dress.  I then stamped the kangaroo onto another small section of paperbark and stitched it in place.  The straps of the dress were formed from black cotton thread and gunmetal coloured beads.  I made a knot between each bead and stitched the strap into place on the card.  

The rest of the embellishing was kept simple... I layered the dress onto textured cream card, added a zigzag stitch down the right side with black thread, affixed the postage stamp and then stamped the word  'Sydney' from Darkroom Door's Sydney Vol. 1 stamp set to the lower lefthand corner with Brilliance Lightning Black ink.  A quick swipe of the edges of the card with Lightning black ink and this project was complete!

A close-up of the stamped paperbark... the texture is awesome!

How much can a koala bear?  Aren't they just one of the cutest animals on earth!

Once again I went for a little wander in the garden... I was actually looking for gum leaves, but they were way too big, so I was very pleased to find these leaves and nuts on my Dad's bottlebrush tree.  They're just the perfect size for this project!

I stamped the koala, also found in Darkroom Door's Australian Animals Vol. 2 set, onto white textured card with Onxy black VersaFine ink.  The lower edge of the card had been punched with a doily pattern.  I mounted this onto a piece of kraft card along with some paperbark and stitched it in place with straight and zigzag stitches.  Next, I added the leaves, twigs and nuts (stitching some of the twigs in place).  Final embellishments:  another piece of paperbark stapled to the top left corner and the word 'hugs' from Darkroom Door's Simply Circles rubber stamp set (which was stamped on white card with Brilliance Lightning Black ink).  Finally a quick swipe of black and lightning black ink around the edges of the card added finishing touch!

Darkroom Door products I have used for these projects: