Coming Up Roses

Darkroom Door's Rose eclectic stamp is exquisite!

I played around with the brushless watercolour technique and my favourite colour palette to create these roses.  I also worked on different ways to extend the length of the stem.

These are very pretty gift tags!

I think the eclectic rose stamp would be perfect for creating a Mother's Day card or tag too!

Darkroom Door supplies:

Rose Eclectic Stamp

Sheet Music Texture Stamp

Art De Fleur Vol. 1 Stamp Set

Chorus Stamp Set

Distress Mini Ink Pads 

Hi - New Darkroom Door Texture Stamp

 Darkroom Door has just released an amazing new collection of stamps this week.                              Go here to check them out!  

I received the 'Plaid' texture stamp in the mail last week and enjoyed creating this tag card with it over the weekend.

To begin with, I stamped the 'Plaid' texture stamp and five of the birds from the 'Carved Birds Vol 2' stamp set onto a plain white tag with red ink and swiped the edges of the tag with the same ink.  I coloured the eyes and feet of each bird with a black fine liner pen.  

Next I stamped the 'Chevron' background stamp onto a piece of white card with black ink, cut it to size and swiped the edges of that piece with black ink and mounted the tag onto it.  

Finally I embellished the card with two circles (heart and hi) from the 'Simply Circles' stamp set, added a few cross stitches, a piece of black ric-rac and black ribbon to complete the card.  

How simple is that?  I really love the county feel you get with the 'Plaid' texture stamp and it's a wonderful size to work with too!

Supplies Used:

Darkroom Door Texture Stamp Plaid

Darkroom Door Stamp Sets - Carved Birds Vol 2 and Simply Circles

Darkroom Door Background Stamp Chevron

Ink - Midnight Black and Red (VersaMagic)

White card and white luggage tag

Thread, ric-rac, ribbon and black pen

Oscar Wilde - Darkroom Door

Darkroom Door has a new collection of stamps, 'Quotes'.  This quote from Oscar Wilde, 'Sensational', inspires me to be a journal keeper... I've created the cover for what I thought could become a tag journal - the perfect size for travel!  

I've stamped the quote onto a piece of silk (and heat set the ink).  There's layers of canvas, fabrics, lace, washi tape and atlas paper affixed to the tag to create the background.  The collage was then completed with Darkroom Door stamped images, dried foliage, a pen nib, vintage postage stamps and a button (with compass image stamped upon it).

I used the following Darkroom Door stamp sets:  Travel Inchies, Correspondence and Montmarte

Now to go find something sensational to write about!

Edwardian Ladies - Darkroom Door

The Edwardian Ladies collage stamp by Darkroom Door is a delight to work with!  I stamped the image directly onto a white shipping tag with Versafine Onxy Black ink, heat set it and then coloured the image with Distress Makers and an Aquash brush to create a watercolour effect.  Then it was simply a matter of adding lovely layers of vintage paper, fabrics, lace, washi tape and some gorgeous velvet flowers.

Henry & Harriet - Darkroom Door

I've been having a great time with Henry & Harriet (a new Darkroom Door collage stamp) at my house this week!  I've had some TAP (transfer artist paper) by Lesley Riley tucked away for quite sometime and thought it was time to have a play with it.  I stamped Henry and Harriet onto a piece of TAP and then ironed it onto some sage green raw silk.  I was really impressed with how much detail was transferred.  The piece then evolved into a necklace as I stitched and added layers of fabric, lace, paper and found objects.

I was very blessed to be able to attend the Craft Fair in Perth a few weeks ago and some of the fabrics I purchased were wrapped around these lovely tags.  They are definitely worth recycling as they are really sturdy, but still able to be put through my sewing machine.  I roughly covered the tag with gesso and then set to work stamping and layering fabric, paper, found objects and stitching.

I think the Darkroom Door stamping sets, Love Letters Vol 1 and Vol 2 were the perfect compliment to Henry and Harriet, especially the sentiment... 'LOVE does not consist in gazing at each other, but looking together in the same direction.'

Grace - CJS39

I worked on Jamie Dougherty's tutorial (Creative Jumpstart No. 39) a few days ago and have completed three different backgrounds on tags.  I'm really enjoying working with paint and am beginning to feel a little more confident to play and have a go and let myself get more messy!  I've snatched a bit of early morning playtime (before I go to work) to collage the tag with the first technique.  I've used some of my new rubber from Artistic Outpost and a little image from Darkroom Door.  I really liked the results I got from this technique and can't wait to really get stuck into some art journalling in the near future.

Another big discovery for me, whilst participating in Creative Jumpstart,  has been finding how amazing Ranger's non-stick craft sheet actually is.  I've kept mine in a box for years... I've been more inclined to work from my cutting mat, but wow, it's so easy to clean up!  I love it!

Anyway, there's a little more journaling on this tag.  I've written about grace and a recent experience I've had of someone lovingly extending grace to me, when it was so undeserved.  How amazing and humbling is that?!

Home Sweet Home - CJS18

I loved learning the speckle/spackle? technique during Natalie Kalbach's 5th tutorial over at Creative Jumpstart No. 18.  I can see myself having a lot of fun making more of these kinds of backgrounds.  However, I really struggled to know what to do with this particular background once I'd made it (I think it was the colours that threw me), so I looked at it for days and days without finding any inspiration.

I was determined to do something with it today... I had a few disasters as I tried to get started.  I knew I didn't want to cover up the background too much, as I'm keeping the tags that I make as a reference for the future.  In the end, this is what I finished up with... I'm not even sure that I like it!  I've run out of time today to keep working on it, but I might look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow?  The most important thing in the end, is that I had a little creative fun this morning and that is a blessing!

Beaded Bliss! - CJS16

Anna Björklund left us with fun and fiddly challenges at Creative Jumpstart No. 16.  I now have seed beads everywhere and I've needed to develop my fine-motor skills (or I really do need glasses) to complete this tutorial - just in time for my return to school!

Time and a calm/relaxed state of mind was needed whilst working on these techniques, oh and good lighting too!  I had to improvise a little with this first piece, but was pleased with the end result.  The lovely vintage image is from October Afternoon.

I really love the effect of the strung out beads here.  The gorgeous image is from ARTchix Studio.  The words in both tags are from Collections.

This technique caused me a few problems, but I had a lesson to learn here - patience!  The vintage image is by Collections.

I totally love the end results of each of the techniques.  Thanks so much Anna for helping me to slow down and practice patience!  

A Splash Of Colour - CJS20

Janna Werner shared a fantastic Creative Jumpstart tutorial (no. 20) and I loved using her techniques to create the backgrounds seen on these tags.  I've added some simple collage to the tags, just to see how the backgrounds might look in artwork.

Here's another great stamp designed by Colette Copeland and produced by Stampington.  I really love this flower image!  It's fun to stitch too!

A scrap of silk and a few buttons add a simple point of interest to this tag.

It's all about Darkroom Door's Robot Collection on this tag!  Another very simple composition and a great tag for boys of all ages!

There's just a touch of stamping from Darkroom Door's Paris Collection.  The Eiffel Tower image is from Typo.

Let It Go! - CJS10

Nathalie Kalbach demonstrated a 3rd technique in Creative Jumpstart No 10.   It was a twist on a technique that I have used before and it was great to approach it from a slightly different angle.  I achieved mixed results and would like to try this again with different tools and cooler weather.  

 One of the really wonderful things I'm rediscovering through CJS, are some lovely products I've stashed away and forgotten about.  For instance, see that daisy stamp?  I don't think I've used it in the past 10 years, but I was thrilled to find it, as I thought it'd be the perfect image for this tag.

The journalling, unintentionally, got lost on this tag... in the end I needed to add layers to achieve a better balance.  Joel and I have recently been talking about forgiveness and how difficult it can be to forgive yourself of some mistakes you've made in the past.  You know, the ones that haunt you, the ones you can't quite let go of for a final time.  The ones where the damage has been done and there seems no possible way to repair it.  I have a few of those kind of mistakes, I guess we all do, and in the end, I've found it's best to try to 'let it go' and place all that anxiety into the hands of God, resting in His forgiveness and trusting that He will work all things for His glory.  And when that anxiety creeps back in again, you realise you've got to 'let it go' once more!

A Romantic Thing Or Two - CJS5

Sharon Laakkonen brought a whole pile of inspiration with her tutorial in Creative Jumpstart No. 5.

It was all about manila tags... which I too, love to use!

The collage image is from Darkroom Door's 'Love Letters' Collection.

This tag is a bit of an odd one out as far as the colour palette goes, but it is what it is.  This is where technique number 2 was taught.

Another touch of romance from Darkroom Door.  I dream of receiving a love letter or two one day!  (Yes, Joel does occasionally read my blog, so it's a BIG HINT).

I enjoyed the technique taught here, but once again I didn't have all the right products.  I made do with something else and I know in time the background will all crumble away, so it's great to have a photo of it before it all falls part!  I really like the technique and I plan to use another medium to see if I can get a longer lasting result!

Sharon threw in a bonus technique.  I loved her idea and I'm sure to use it again! 

Rock On - CJS6

Nathalie Kalbach demonstrates another interesting technique in her next tutorial - it's found at Creative Jumpstart No 6.  I didn't have the right kind of foam stamps to get a really good result when playing with this technique, but I did the best I could with what I had available to me.

I've simply layered some Darkroom Door 'Music Collection' goodies onto one of the tags and then added some brads and ribbon.  Very simple, but very masculine for the musical guy/s in your life.

Now I think it's time to hit the play button, turn up the volume and ROCK ON!!!!

There's also a reminder there for me to 'PLAY' too!  

Well who am I to argue with that?

Neon Yellow - CJS1

'Dream On!' for Joelly

This time I went back to Nathalie Kalbach's No. 1 Tutorial at Creative Jumpstart Summit 2013 and found I needed embossing powder for this technique.  Most of my embossing powder is very neutral in colour, but I did remember being sent some sample pots of Zing! way back when - the jars had never even been opened! You can imagine my delight (?) when I discovered that I had a jar of neon yellow, lavender, blue and black (with a glitter finish no less).  After I thought about this colour palette for a while (having tossed the blue aside) I had a little giggle to myself and set to play!

The story behind the inspiration to this piece goes something like this... I've realised in the past 4 years or so that I DO NOT LIKE neon yellow!!!  How did I come to this conclusion?  Well... whilst getting to know Joel, I discovered his great affinity for colour, especially neon colours!  He was the proud owner of neon yellow, neon green, neon orange and neon purple socks!!!!  Neon enough to blow your socks off I reckon!  Anyway, the neon yellow is the colour I detest the most, so you can imagine my pure delight when Joel threw his neon yellow singlet and socks in the fire on our honeymoon!  It must be love eh!!!  So this is just a little something Joel can tuck away from my sight and pull out whenever he feels the urge to purchase something else in neon yellow - he'll simply have to 'dream on'!

At Play - The Girls

'Thoughts on Why'

I have loved working with my stencils so much more after Julie's Creative Jumpstart tutorial.  It's great to once more put them to good use, my stencils have been very inactive, for like forever!

This time I added more collage layers:  stamping, textiles, buttons, stitching, scraps of paper

I'm also seeing more 'heartstrings' in my work - I'm wondering what that's all about!  I have been missing my mum, especially having been so unwell in recent times!  I can't help but wonder what kind of wisdom she would bestow upon her newly-wed daughter, but then again, deep down, I think I know the kinds of things she'd say.

'Girl At Home'

This one kind of looks like a house with the way the silk ribbon is sitting at the top of the tag.

I'm feeling more at home when working with stencils, which is fabulous.  But I'm also a girl that revels in lots of time spent at home - I just love it!

All stamped images are by Stampington (designed by Dina Wakley and Colette Copeland)!  I especially love the second girl image, designed by Colette Copeland.  Colette is one of my most favourite mixed media artists.  She's such an inspiration to me!

Creative Jumpstart 2013 - Balzer Designs

I'm 'at play' and it's getting messy!

I signed up to participate in Creative Jumpstart Summit 2013... a fantastic programme founded by Nathalie Kalbach from N*Studio to help creative types find inspiration (and get a creative kickstart) for the new year... and amazingly it's FREE!

You can find out more information and sign up here!  It's not too late, as the video tutorials will be available until the middle of the year!

So here it is, mid-January, and I thought it was about time to get stuck into Creative Jumpstart and I sure could do with a some inspiration, creatively speaking!  I'm looking forward to learning some new techniques and skills too!

'It's All About Playfulness'

This is my first attempt at working through a Creative Jumpstart tutorial.  This one was presented by Julie Fei Fan Balzer of Balzer Designs - CJS No 2. It was all about, 'Three Different Ways to Add Colour to Tags'.  This is also my first ever attempt at what I would call an art journalling style!  I can see myself really enjoying playing in a journal, up 'til now I wasn't convinced!  Yes, I think it's time to buy an art journal and have a play!

Here's my second tag 'I Love To Play', with just a touch of collage - an added strip of vintage paper.

These were so much fun, well after I got over getting very messy hands and not having complete control over the outcome!  They were also a great reminder to add layer, upon layer, upon layer until you're satisfied with the end result!

I'll be working on more of these for sure... perhaps you'll see some more tags tomorrow!

Live In The Moment - Grungy Monday 20

'Live In The Moment'

It's a 'Distress Stickles Party' over at Grungy Monday Challenge 20.  It's pretty hard to pick up the effect the Black Soot Distress Stickles has left on the scan of this tag, but I can assure you there's a dab of it here and there on the flowers at the bottom of the tag and a large dollop of it on the bird.

And here are more words speaking to my heart today...  'Live in the Moment'!  I have a crazy, busy few weeks heading my way, filled with lots of special people and exciting events. I've got quite a bit of packing and planning to do (you know, the boring stuff) and because there are a number of things all happening at once, I need to take to care to 'live in the moment' and not be too caught up with concerning myself with what is coming up next, or it will all be such a whirl-wind that I won't remember any of the extra special moments.

So today's beautiful moments that are heading my way are... spending time with my adorable nephew, catching up with a friend (who is leaving soon for a holiday to Europe - so excited for her!) and a singing rehersal with some awesome muso's for a concert in a couple of weeks time.  Oh and packing for two trips away in this coming week!!!

I hope too, that today, you may be able 'Live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering'.  I'll do the same and hang out the washing now, because that kind of moment isn't really worth remembering.

Life's Journey - Grungy Monday 18

'Life's Journey'

Grungy Monday 18 challenges it's participants this week to incorporate techniques from Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas...(Day 8).  I focused on two of the techniques, 'baking vellum' and 'water flicking'... both something I haven't tried quite like this before.  I couldn't find plain vellum at home (although I'm sure I have plenty somewhere), so I used a patterned one instead and it didn't seem to affect the result.

All stamp images are by Tim Holtz.  I stamped a map of Paris onto the vellum and coloured it with 'tattered rose' and 'milled lavender' ink.  I then continued working around this colour palette for the rest of the piece.

I'm thinking I might just use this tag then next time I get the oportunity to jump on a plane and visit a new part of the world!

Garden Fairy - Grungy Monday 17

'The Garden Fairy'

Hmmm, I could do with a long, extended visit from the 'Garden Fairy' at present!  Gardening is not my passion and it's a little obvious!  I'm so happy be able to participate in Grungy Monday 17, which this time uses Tim Holtz' technique 'Get Ready to Rock!'  I'm especially happy because it caused me to rip the seal off  and open my jar of Distress Rock Candy Crackle Paint, which had yet to see the light of day.  In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to even find it in my stash!  And now I'm wondering how I ever lived without it?!

I used a lovely Kaisercraft paper for the base of the tag, did a bit of layering with TH Papillon stamps, scattered a few sequins into the mix (affixing them with Stickles Rock Candy), stuck on strips of tissue tape and then covered it all with Rock Candy.  I love the vintage looking German scrap fairy and highlighted sections of the image with Distress Stickles Rock Candy.   The final touch was a gorgous Kaisercraft 'Sparklet! 

Designer - Sewing Notions

'Designer'

I totally love all the images used here and of course they are all from Oxford Impressions Sewing Notions plate.  The lace and button were an op-shop find from my last holiday... there was a great length of this lace tucked away with a whole lot of buttons - a delightful find! 

Threads - Grungy Monday 09

'Threads' by Sue Smith

Well I've literally left this to the last minute (or hour)... I've been sick in bed for two days... not the nicest way to spend a long weekend, so I'm hoping I can manage a little creative time today.  And Grungy Monday was on the top of the list of things to work on!

Anyway, Grungy Monday 09 is all about Tim Holtz' technique, often called 'Shabby Chic'.  The best thing about GM's challenges is that I'm trying new techniques on a regular basis - all good fun!  Being a total fan fo all things Shabby Chic, I'm sure glad I managed to participate in this challenge!

I skipped step one of the technique because I didn't have a pitch black paint dabber and have just used black card as Tim suggests as an alternative.  All stamped images are by Tim Holtz and the ruler is from a collage sheet by ARTchix Studios.