Darkroom Door Stencil Blog Hop

Hi folks!

I'm excited to be part of a blog hop showcasing the new stencils from Darkroom Door. I have a couple of projects to share that I made using the Small Blossom Stencil:

First up is an art journal page I created:

It shows the Small Blossom stencil (in white crackle paste) over the blossom image from the Bold Blossoms Rubber Stamp Set (stamped in black).

I also added some detail around the edges with the new Crackle Texture stamp, some spatters and drips with India Ink, and some doodling with a black Fude Ball pen.

Here's a close up:

 My next project is a card:

Here's how I made it:

1 Stamp the new Gazette Texture stamp onto a 9 x 13.8 cm piece of white cardstock using Archival Jet Black ink.

2 Mix some Prima White Crackle Texture Paste with Distress Evergreen Bough reinker and apply this through the Small Blossom stencil with a palette knife. Allow to dry - you will see it begin to crack as it dries.

3 Stamp randomly around the edges with the new Crackle Texture stamp using Archival Aquamarine ink. Mix a little Evergreen Bough reinker with water and spatter and drip this over the piece.
 

4 When this is dry, sponge some Evergreen Bough ink around the edges.

5 Stamp the round tag from the Tags Rubber Stamp Set using Aquamarine ink, then stamp the words from the Orchids Rubber Stamp Set over it using black ink. Punch a hole in the top and tie it to the card front using twine.

6 Mount this onto a 10 x 14.3 cm piece of black cardstock, then onto a folded white card. Stamp the Weathered Stripes Background stamp onto white card using black in, and tuck a little scrap of this to the right of the card front. Apply tiny dots of Stickles around the blossom for extra sparkle.

Now it's time for a giveaway!

Be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment. Five lucky winners will will receive 3 stencils of their choice! Winners will be drawn from comments left across all the blogs, so be sure to leave a comment on each blog for more chances to win! Comments received before midnight Friday 4th August are eligible to be in the draw. Winners will be announced Monday 7th August on the Darkroom Door blog and Facebook page.

Hop along to the other blogs here:
Darkroom Door: http://www.darkroomdoor.com/Blog
Belinda Spencer: http://happyscrapspace.blogspot.com
Autumn Clark: http://sewpaperpaint.blogspot.com
Godelieve Tijskens: http://stampingmathilda.blogspot.com
Anneke De Clerck: http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.com
Robyn Wood: http://purplesalt.net


Good luck everyone!

The Art of Well Being

For our blog hop this month, the team at Gel Press® are indulging in a little introspection and asking how art helps maintain or improve our well being.

For me, the main attraction of art besides the colour and sense of accomplishment is the social aspect. It's a way for me to connect and interact with like-minded people in a safe, nurturing environment.

I feel fortunate to teach classes at my local craft shop. This gives me ample opportunity to interact with crafty people when they come along to learn a new technique or about a new product. I also get a huge sense of accomplishment when I finish planning the class, and then an added bonus at the end when I finish delivering the class and I see happy smiling people who are proud of their efforts.

This is an art journal page I taught recently:

We created a few sheets of fabulous arty paper with a Gel Press® gelatin plate, then die cut them with the teacup die. Elements of the designs were outlined with white gel pen, which really helped unify the very different papers. The alphabet stamps are by Darkroom Door.

 I loved that everyone's teacups all looked so wonderfully diverse, even though we all started with the same tools and materials.

One of the ladies had also booked her daughter in, and as she happens to be one of my daughter's classmates, it gave me an opportunity to include my daughter as well. Here is her design (that she chose to pop on a canvas to hang on a wall):

I love how art brings people together. It binds people across generations and great distances. It keeps me sane and functional.

To find about how art helps the well being of the other members of the design team, hop along and read following the list here:

Ann

Cindi

Cynthia

Elena

Kathy

Keri

Kitti

Jen

Sandee

Teresa < you are here now

Gel Press

Back to Basics with Gel Press®

We're heading back to basics with this Gel Press® blog hop. I had a look around the house to see what I could use to create patterns and textures with my plate.
 
Starting with my 8 x 10 Gel Press plate, some black paint and a brayer:

  

The results of my experiments are wonderfully interesting! I decided to use black paint so that the effects would show up well on white paper. I spread black paint onto the Gel Press® plate, pressed the item onto the plate and pulled the print. Here we go:

Here's what bubble wrap looks like:

 

And giant bubble wrap:

I went into the garden and found a nice Cycad leaf. It's relatively flat and quite sturdy:

Then I pressed the end of a cardboard roll into the paint to create a pattern of interlocking circles:

Next I found some hard plastic packaging:

And some softer plastic packaging (from some delicious donuts):

Then I found some thick sturdy Christmas trim. I pressed it onto the paint on the plate, pulled a print, then removed the trim and pulled another print:

And here is some thick twine. The print on the left is the result of pulling a print with the twine in place, and the print on the right is the ghost print when the twine was removed (it reminds me of pictures I've seen of Ebola virus!):

Lastly I scrunched up a plastic shopping bag and pressed it repeatedly into the paint on the plate:

I had myself quite a collection of black and white prints in just a short time.  They're fine to use as they are, but I went ahead and pulled out my colour sprays. Once these dry, I will use them as backgrounds for cards and perhaps even some art journaling:

Thanks for looking! I hope you've enjoyed my ideas. The design team has some awesome back to basic ideas for you to check out. Here's the list:

GelPress

Ann

Cindi

Cyndi

Elena

Kathy

Keri

Kitti

Lea

Sandee

Teresa

 

Thanks again for dropping in today!