Zestful Vibe - Darkroom Door

Oh how I've longed to visit Luna Park since I was a little girl!  Well, I may have never been there, but getting to play around with Darkroom Door's Sydney Vol 1 stamp set and the 'Luna Park' stamp in particular, has been a lot of fun!

There's quite a bit of layering in this first postcard.  I started with a page of text from a vintage book and layered it with gesso, the Polka Dot background stamp (lime and orange ink), more gesso and then inked up a star stencil randomly with lime ink.  I mounted my work onto a postcard sized card and stitched a grass like pattern with lime thread along the bottom left edge of the postcard.

Next I inked up the Luna Park stamp with VersaFine orange ink and stamped it on white paper, smudging the edges of the image with apricot ink and affixed it to the postcard.  I stencilled six more of the large stars onto white paper with lime ink and stamped these with various text found in the Sydney Vol 1 stamp set.  Four were stitched into place on the postcard and the remaining two were set aside to create the beaded embellishment.    

The word 'Sydney' was created by randomly inking Alphabet background stamp with orange and red ink and stamping it onto white paper.  The required letters were then cut out and stitched into place.

The small dot accents were created by inking up Candi dots with apricot, orange or lime ink and then they were stamped with sections of text or images found in the Sydney Vol 1 stamp set.  'Fun' is found in the Simply Circles stamp set.

The small heart circle from Simply Circles stamp set was also used to create the beaded embellishment.  Scraps of silk and ribbon were added to complete this hanging  postcard.

This second postcard began in a similar manner.  I gessoed some vintage text (one edge folder over), stamped Polka Dot background stamp with lime ink, added another layer of gesso and finally stamped the Postal 3 Up frame with black ink.  Next I created a mask using scrap paper and the Postal 3 Up frame stamp, so I could add a layer of lime ink to the centre of each frame.

Two of the buildings from Sydney Vol 1 were stamped onto white paper with black ink, trimmed to size and layered onto two sections of the frame.

I made the 'Sydney' oval label by stamping 'The Rocks' twice using lime ink.  I cut out the first image, then I swiped over the entire surface with lime ink and added the 'Sydney' stamp to the centre of it.  Next,  I cut away the outside and centre of the second image, layered it on top of the first one and stitched it into place.

The 'Sydney Definition' was stamped in orange ink along the folded panel and stitched into place.  A section from Sydney Vol 2 filmstrip was added to the third frame.  More dot accents were created using the same method as the first postcard.  A scrap of silk was stitched into place and the hanging embellishment added to complete the postcard - the heart circle can be found in the Simply Circles stamp set.

The Darkroom Door products I have used for these projects are:

Sydney Vol 1 stamp set
Sydney Vol 2 filmstrip
Simply Circles stamp set
Postal 3 Up frame
Polka Dot background
Alphabet background

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: