Captured

Here's my take on Darkroom Door's theme for their ATC exchange for June, 'Landscape'.

Would you believe that I began by layering this ATC base with Squeezed Lemonade Distress Paint and gesso!  There's also a number of stamping mishaps hidden in the depths of the layers of this piece.  I just kept adding gesso and playing with colour until I found a pleasing solution.  Along the way, this also created a lot of texture in the paint, which I'm happy to say left a more 'painterly' effect when I stamped the tree images from Darkroom Door's Tree Line photo stamp.  I added a light layer of Torn Text background stamp and embellished the photo stamp with a section of the Film frame stamp, as well as some images from the Photography stamp set.

If you'd like to join in the ATC exchange fun then pop over here for more details!

Darkroom Door supplies:

Tree Line Photo Stamp

Torn Text Background Stamp

Film Frame Stamp

Photography Stamp Set

Sweet!

'Pink and Orange' is the theme for this month's ATC exchange over at Darkroom Door.  It's always a thrill to receive the exchanged ATC's and see how others have explored the theme! If you'd like to play along with us, then pop over here for the details.

I've combined two of my favourite images from Darkroom Door's Tropical Fruit stamp set, as well as their Torn Text background stamp which is hiding away there in the background!

Darkroom Door supplies:

Tropical Fruit Stamp Set

Torn Text Background Stamp

Distress Paint - Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon and Cracked Pistachio

Strings of Hope

February's ATC swap theme over at Darkroom Door in February was 'Tied Up With Strings'.

I had a wonderful time playing with DRD's 'Carved Pods' and their 'Coffee Stain' eclectic stamp, along with ink, paint and textiles to create this ATC.  The canvas was given to me by my dear friend Jhodi, who had buried it in her backyard for a while to 'age' it.  It was just perfect for this project and I feel pretty inspired to buy some canvas and bury it too!

Poppa and Poppy

Recently, I've been working on my family tree, searching for long lost ancestors.  It's been a thrilling experience, every time I link another member to it, I feel a sense of connectedness to the past and I can't help wondering who this person was, what life was like for them - their joys, sorrows and challenges and whether or not I've inherited a thing or two from them!

I've also been reminiscing about my Poppa and his beloved youngest sister, Poppy!  We once took a family trip with Poppa to visit her and I can still recall the joy it was for them to reunite face to face.

So I thought I'd dedicate this little ATC to Aunty Poppy and my precious Poppa!

I've created it using Darkroom Door's 'French Script' texture stamp and 'Poppies' rubber stamp set 

1.  The main images were created using the 'brushless watercolour technique'.  Colour 'poppy stems' using Distress Markers (Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn), lightly spay water mist over the image and stamp onto ATC (watercolour paper)

2.  Colour 'Small Poppy' using Distress Markers (Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves), once again, spray with water mist and stamp onto ATC.  Using an Aquash brush, colour the poppy using the ink from stamped image and by scribbling the same colour pens onto an acrylic block, pick-up the colour with the Aquash brush to add depth of colour to the poppy.  Add a touch of purple to the poppy stems too and heat set.

3.  Colour just the flower section of 'Small Poppy' with the Wilted Violet Distress marker and stamp directly over the image to add finer details to the flower.

4.  Scribble 'Old Paper' Distress ink onto acrylic block, pick colour up with Aquash brush and colour around the images to give an aged appearance. 

5.  Once dry, stamp 'French Script' using dark brown ink and the word 'Hugs' with black ink.  Swipe edges of ATC with dark brown ink.

6.  Embellish with cross stitches and lace.

Darkroom Door products used:

Stamps:  Poppies rubber stamp set and French Script texture stamp

Distress Pens:  Old Paper, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves

Aquash Brush - fine

Summer Breeze...

Happy New Year and welcome to 2016!

Those of us living in the southern hemisphere may well be thankful for a cool summer sea breeze on those steamy hot days!  We haven't had too many yet, but I'm always thankful for the blessing of a cool breeze.

Darkroom Door is once again hosting an ATC exchange throughout the year - yay!  I know I've said it plenty of times before, but it is always a thrill to receive an ATC exchange in the mail.  If you'd like to participate this year, visit here for all the details or contact me and I'd be happy to explain more about ATC's with you.

Summer Lovin' is the theme for January and the above is my ATC inspired by the lyrics from Seals & Crofts, 'Summer Breeze'.

May the new year bring you much love, joy, peace and a cool summer breeze whenever you may need it!

Blessings xx

Fragile Life

All A Flutter

'Wooden' is October's theme for Darkroom Door's ATC swap.  

The wooden butterflies were my starting point for this project.  The lovely brushless watercolour technique has been used when stamping the butterflies from Darkroom Door's 'Butterflies' stamp set.  I find this technique works best on smooth watercolour paper.

Because I was replicating this work a number of times, I positioned all the butterflies stamps in place on a blank ATC in a composition I liked and then used an extra large acrylic block to keep them all in place at once.  This made the stamping of 12 ATC's so much quicker!  

Once the stamping was completed I affixed the wooden butterfly in place, adding hand stitching and velvet ribbon.  To complete this work I flicked Distress 'antiqued bronze' spray stain over the work (covering the wooden butterfly with a scrap of card) and added the word 'flutter' found in Darkroom Door's Wildflowers Vol. 1 stamp set. 

NB:  If you're flicking spray stain around, be sure to screw the spray mechanism back in place when you've finished, so unlike me, you don't flood your work space with gorgeous antiqued bronze liquid - what a waste!!!!

Stitched Up!

September's ATC swap theme over at Darkroom Door is, 'Stitched Up!'

As you may well know I do love to add stitching to my work, so it was terrific fun making this set of ATC's!  The floral fabric and carved leaves were my starting point which lead me to decide upon this colour palette.  I'm still very much an experimenter when it comes to stamping on fabric and I was quite pleased with the end result.  

There's still plenty of time to participate in this month's swap so head over here to find out all the details.  It's always a delight to receive an amazing collection of ATC's from other artists, so I highly recommend having a go!

Darkroom Door products used:

Stamp set - Carved Leaves Vol 2

Texture stamp - French Script

Recycle It!

The Darkroom Door ATC swap for June was Recycle It!

There's a whole lot of recycling going on in this ATC.  The kraft card base is courtesy of Book Depository packaging, all stamped images are on old book pages, a manila folder and a lotto game piece, as well as a scrap of vintage fabric.

Darkroom Door products used:

Stamp sets - Home Sweet Home, Carved Leaves Vol 1,  Wings and Tags

Other supplies:

Vintage fabrics and paper flowers

Yellow & Grey

'Yellow & Grey' was the theme for Darkroom Door's ATC swap in May.

My Granny and Poppa had a caravan and I loved it whenever we were able to spend time in it.  I'd love to have a caravan for an art studio.  Imagine being able to hitch it up to the back of the car and take off to any given destination with all the essential supplies in tow!

Darkroom Door products used:

Stamp Set - Carved Caravans

Background Stamp - Mesh

Montage - Love Letters

Other supplies:

Flower pot punch, paper flower, gold staples and rhinestone

Let's Dance

Photo credit - Rachel Greig

It was all about 'Quote Stamps' during the April ATC swap at Darkroom Door.

I love the way this quote reminds me to dance through the tough times!

I decided to make this ATC a little interactive in that you had to open it up to see the quote and my quirky little dancer.  I had fun creating the umbrella's from the Carved Flower stamp set too!

Photo credit - Rachel Greig

I've stenciled and stamped the background of this set of ATC's.

Darkroom Door products used:

Quote Stamp:  Dance

Stamp Sets:  Brush Strokes, Carved Flowers, Simply Circles, Melody

Photobooth:  Ladies

Wildflower

March's theme for Darkroom Door's ATC swap was 'Watercolour'.

I used one of my favourite techniques to create this ATC - brushless watercolour.  One of the best tips I can give when using this technique is to use good quality watercolour paper.  It makes such a difference to the result.  I used a smooth watercolour paper for this project.

There's a number of layers of thin brown paper in the background.  The images were stamped on torn watercolour paper with Adirondack inks/water and then embellished with lace, machine stitching, rhinestones and a punched heart.

Darkroom Door products used:

Stamp Sets:  Friendship Flowers and Montmartre

Texture Stamp:  French Script

Beneath

February's ATC for Darkroom Door Swap - 'Neapolitan'

Darkroom Door products used:

Stamp Sets - Under The Sea, Seashells, Seaside Vol 2

Background Stamp - Circles

Other Embellishments

Lace, sequins, rhinestones, beads, tulle, beads, velvet ribbon

Summer Garden

January's Darkroom Door ATC Swap sample

'Summer Garden'

The theme was 'Eclectic Stamps' and I decided to work with 'Coffee Stain', using it as a frame for one of Darkroom Door's gorgeous flower stamps.

Darkroom Door products used:

Eclectic Stamp - Coffee Stain

Texture Stamps - Scratches, Weathered Stripes

Stamp Sets - Friendship Flowers, Wings, Butterflies

Distress Ink - Mini Pads

Flair

July's theme for Darkroom Door's ATC swap is 'Texture Stamps'.

The vintage floral fabric was my initial source of inspiration, along with the gorgeous Darkroom Door 'Buttons' texture stamp.

I inked the texture stamp using three mini Distress Ink pads (squeezed lemonade, spiced marmalade and wild honey) and stamped it onto dotted paper.

Then it was a matter of creating the collage using images from Darkroom Door's stamp sets, 'Little Ladies' and 'Dressmaker'.

Embellishments:  vintage floral fabric, tulle, machine and hand stitching, snap fasteners and a button

There's still time to join in the fun and participate in this month's swap.  For further details visit Darkroom Door here.

Miniature Travels - Darkroom Door

'Voyage of Love'

Darkroom Door's latest inchie stamp set 'Travel Inchies' is fabulous fun!  I enjoy working with tiny, miniature sized things, so this set of travel inspired inches has brought much inspiration (and an even greater desire to adventure up to the northern hemisphere again one day!).

This first ATC includes some layering of vintage atlas papers and a lovely washi tape to create the background.  I stamped the inchies on white paper and created the tea stained look with Ranger's Old Paper Distress Marker and an Aquash brush.  I stamped the compass inchie onto a wooden button too.  The photograph is from Darkroom Door's London montage collage sheet, cut to an inchie size.  I embellished this piece with airmail twine, an English postage stamp, words for Darkroom Door's Prague Vol 2 Wordstrip and also cut the flag from an USA postage stamp.

'Explorer'

This next ATC has been created for Darkroom Door's Anything Goes ATC swap for September, so if you participate, you might find one of these in your new collection of ATC's!

Once again I've used a page from a vintage atlas to create the background and painted a layer of Pearl White paint over it.  I stamped the London Bridge directly onto the ATC and added a piece of vintage paper to it. The other inches were stamped onto various papers and a jigsaw piece.  I used some other Darkroom Door stamp sets to further embellish this piece:  London Vol 2, Steampunk, Photography and Montmarte.  To complete this piece, I added another word from Darkroom Door's Prague Vol 2 wordstrip, an English vintage postage stamp, hand stitching, a staple, small tag and some airmail twine.

If you've never worked with inchies before, this stamp set is a great starting point, especially if you have travel adventures to scrapbook!  

I'll be back soon with some more Darkroom Door goodness!

A Moment of Time - Darkroom Door

Here's an ATC I've created using some of Darkroom Door's new Sydney paper products combined with their Photography stamp set.

I layered some vintage numerical table paper onto an ATC sized card and roughly covered it with gesso.  When dry, I stamped the quote from the photography stamp set onto the left hand side of the ATC with black ink and stamped the filmstrip edge with Brilliance pearlescent gamma green ink on the right hand edge.

Next I layered some silk fabric scraps and a section of the Sydney Vol 2 filmstrip, stitching the image into place with orange thread and stamepd the word 'proof' with gamma green ink onto the image.  I then sewed a section of the Sydney wordstrip onto the ATC and added additional stitching around the edges of the card to complete it.

Darkroom Door products I have used for this project:

Photography stamp set (Essentials 3)

Sydney Vol 2 filmstrip

Sydney wordstrip

Bright Blossoms - Darkroom Door

Darkroom Door has released many gorgeous new products this past week.  The 'Bright Blossoms' Collection is stunning and I've had a lovely time playing with some of the 'Bright Blossoms' paper products to create these two ATC's.

The images are beautiful and I decided to keep the composition of each ATC quite simple, so as to enhance the floral images from 'Bright Blossoms Montage'.  

I sprayed the white textured card with Glimmer Mist (Jingle Bells).  When dry I added a thick layer of gesso around the edge of the ATC and did the same with the floral image.  I also swiped gesso randomly on both pieces.

I layered glassine paper (painted randomly with gesso), vintage lace and a section of 'Bright Blossoms' wordstrip onto the ATC.  I stitched each end of the wordstrip in place and then sewed a pearl button to complete the ATC.

When making this second ATC, I sprayed white textured card with Chalkboard Glimmer Mist (Astrids), added a little Versa Magic ink (Pretty Petunia) to add depth of colour and then dabbed a small amount of gesso onto it.  I also swiped gesso around the edge of floral image and set aside to dry.

I layered the floral image, a section of 'Bright Blossoms' wordstrip and glassine paper (painted randomly with gesso).  Finally I stitched lace and pearl button to complete the ATC.

The Darkroom Door products I used for this project:

Bright Blossoms Montage

Bright Blossoms Wordstrip

Evidence Of Life

'Evidence of Life' ATC

Here's another ATC design I created when participating in a Darkroom Door ATC exchange a while back.  I used one of my favourite stamp sets, 'Photography' and the 'Tree Line' photo stamp to make them.  It's a little hard to see in this scan, but there is a real twig stitched into the lower film strip and a few layers of stamping in the background.

Life... a precious gift... 

Sweethearts

'Sweethearts' ATC

I participated in Darkroom Door's 'Love Letters' ATC exchange and you can see the other participants ATC's here.

I used a number of Darkroom Door products and a bit of layering to create my ATC's.  

Stamps:  Champs Elysée stamp set and Floral background

Collage Image:  Love Letters Montage

I really enjoyed making these ATC's, even the fiddly sewn love heart!  And it's always exciting to receive ATC's from other artists too!  

Have you ever participated in a Darkroom Door ATC exchange?  If not, why not give it a go!  The themes and additional information can be found at Darkroom Door's blog.