Moroccan Tiles Background stamp from Darkroom Door

A simply divine background stamp from Darkroom Door's latest release - this one is called Moroccan Tiles. I used it to create this card:

As soon as I saw it, I though of a vintage tin tile roof. I embossed the image with silver embossing powder, then covered the entire background with Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Spray. Once dry, I spattered some water droplets over the top and let the Distress Oxide to its thing and give me lovely variations in colour:

I stamped and embossed in silver the words from the Follow your Heart Quote stamp, then fussy cut them and adhered them onto the background next to a cluster of cream flowers.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out the rest of this awesome release at Darkroom Door.

Made for You Small Stamp by Darkroom Door

 Darkroom Door's latest release includes four new Small Stamps. These are well-priced, super handy little sets of words, and this one is called Made for You. While I know this will come in handy for the back of cards and projects, I thought I'd extend it's use to create some faux metal gift tags:

I grabbed some thick kraft cardstock, and stamped the Made for You stamp and embossed with silver embossing powder.

I then applied some cheap silver paint over the top, added an eyelet and sponged a little brown Distress Ink over the top to give a worn, rusted look:

I used some ball chain to attach one of the tags to a gift:

Thanks for stopping by!

Word Labels Stamp Set from Darkroom Door

 Now this is a useful stamp set! Word Labels are just that - labels with words on them. Simples!

The very first thing I did was stamp the whole thing onto mixed media cardstock, then cut each one out during a boring Teams meeting for work. I now have a lovely dish with words that are ready to roll when I get the crafting urge:

Here are a couple of projects I completed with some of the words from my dish:

I created an alcohol ink background on a piece of acetate, then attached that to a piece of cream card that had the World Map Background Stamp on it. I chose the word 'journey' on this card that is going to a friend who is about to embark on some travel. A little orange thread and some gold pearls to complete:

The next project is a tag using some of my stash of tea bag paper and tea-stained fabrics:

I started by stamping the new Small Vintage Label Eclectic Stamp to frame the focal point, then stamped Messy Mesh in a couple of spots.

Layers of fabric and tea bag underneath a Swiss stamp I bought from a grab bag on Etsy (love vintage postage stamps!).

I then added some Word Labels and some stitching with orange thread. This tag can be adhered to the front of a card, but I think it will adorn a vintage frame on my craft room wall.

Thanks for looking, and don't forget to visit Darkroom Door to see the rest of this wonderful release!

Lattice Background Stamp from Darkroom Door

 Darkroom Door have an exciting new release happening, and it includes a beautiful new background stamp I used to make this card:

I stamped the Lattice background onto some sturdy multi media cardstock (torn from an art journal). I then ran a white crayon over the lattice pattern to protect it from the next layer of ink:

Some spattering of ink, and a few flowers from the Fine Flowers stamp set, and a couple of words from the Word Labels set, and card almost done.

I added some gauze dyed with spray ink and some sparkly diamantes to complete the card.

Thanks for looking! 

Snow Globe Christmas Card

Hello again!

Here's a card I made with the new Snow Globe stamp from Darkroom Door:

The window gave me an opportunity to create a shaker card and use some of my sequin collection.  Here's a close up:

The reindeer and most of the stamps in the background inside the snow globe come from the Christmas Reindeer stamp set.

It was so easy to cut a window from this stamp, I can see myself creating a few more shaker cards in the near future. I'm not limited to Christmas themed cards - I'm thinking a terrarium or fishtank might be cute......

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Hello Wild Things!

Has it really been over a year since I last gave this blog some love???

For those who don't know, I returned to work full time a couple of years ago, so crafting has definitely fallen by the wayside. 

And then I ran into Rachel from Darkoom Door at a craft show (because crafting and shopping for craft supplies are two separate hobbies), who told me about her upcoming release, and well......it got me crafting again!

This is a card I made using the new Cheetah Texture Stamp:

I stamped it in black to create a background, then again in pink over the image of the vintage car to add some wild detail to the white space.

The car and words are from the Classic Cars Vol 1 set, and the hearts were made with the Arty Hearts Collage stamp and coordinating stencil. I also added some ink splats in pink to the background from the Paint Splats stamp set, and some marks using the Crossed Off Abstract stamp.

I will have some more samples using other awesome products from this release. In the meantime, check it out for yourself on the Darkroom Door website.

Smile Stencil by Darkroom Door

 Another handy stencil from Darkroom Door's new release - the Medium Smile Stencil has all sorts of words to lift the spirits and put a smile on your face.

Here are a couple of cards I created with the stencil:

After creating a couple of watercolour backgrounds using Distress Oxide inks and a couple of Abstract stamps (02 and 06), I spread some Decofoil Transfer Gel through the stencil, then adhered some holographic foil to it with a laminating machine. The effect is spectacular!

I added a couple of embellishments to the card fronts using a butterfly from the Spread Your Wings Stamp Set, the Stars Stamp Set and the Simply Circles Stamp Set.

Thanks for stopping by today!

TALL Flowers Stencil by Darkroom Door

 The new release from Darkroom Door contains a number of gorgeous stencils. Here is the Tall Flowers stencil on an art journal page I created:

Using a gel plate, I created a background using a number of blue acrylic colours. I then cleaned the gel plate, placed the stencil down, and added pink, yellow and burgundy paints through the flower outlines, then printed the flowers onto the blue background. When the paint dried, I replaced the stencil and added some paint to the tips of the flowers, then sprinkled embossing powder to these areas. The embossing powders give a nice opaque coat of colour over the acrylics.

I sponged some paint through the small Wildflowers Stencil, then sprinkled some purple embossing powder onto the tops of the flowers to highlight them, and then grabbed some gel pens and outlined the different elements of the page in different colours.

I stamped the sentiment from the Botanical Script Stamp Set onto cream paper, mounted this onto some boxboard, then trimmed it out into strips. I inked these with brown ink to help them look aged, then adhered them to the page. I added some bright orange stitching around the border with my sewing machine.

One of the things I love about Darkroom Door stencils is that the mask is included in the pack, and that opens up so many more exciting possibilities!

Thanks for looking!

Enchanted Doors Postcard by Darkroom Door

 Another set in the new Postcards range by Darkroom Door is Enchanted Doors. There are 6 captivating images of doors from far away places.

I decided to create a journal page with one of these images:

I created the background using the large Brick Wall stencil and some texture paste, then painted over this with grey acrylic paint. I then dry brushed some white paint over the top, and stamped images from the Gothic Arches Stamp Set.

I backed the door image with pages from an old book and some cotton gauze, then added some subtle text (French Script Texture stamp) and the coffee cup stain (Coffee Stain Eclectic stamp).

I finished the page off with a wax seal stamped with a postmark from the Montmartre Stamp Set. I simply created a puddle of hot wax, then pressed the stamp into it after inking it with Versamark ink. I then rubbed some gilding wax over it to bring out the detail.

Thanks for looking!

Darkroom Door's Journal Lines stencil

 Among Darkroom Door's latest release are a couple of stencils dedicated to journaling. I used the Journal Lines stencil to add some journaling to the front of a couple of cards. 

The backgrounds for both of these cards were created with Darkroom Door stencils and a gel plate; the small Wildflower Stencil for the card above, and the large Circles Stencil for the card below:

I stamped the birds on the orange circle card, then placed the Journal Lines stencil over the piece. I used a pencil to trace lines onto the background:

then wrote the words (happy birthday to you, over and over) using a permanent marker. I then erased the pencil lines:

I look forward to using this stencil in my art journal, in my planner, and even on envelopes!

Thanks for looking!

Large Honeycomb Stencil from Darkroom Door

 I had a play with Darkroom Door's new Honeycomb stencil and created a set of bee-themed cards:

You can see the stencil at the bottom right of the photo. Not only does it have the hexagon grid, it also has some solid hexagons, which helps create some interesting blank spaces within the pattern.

I mixed some Fossilized Amber Distress Ink reinker with some texture paste to make it yellow, and spread it in patches over the stencil onto a sheet of white card. When the texture paste dried, I cut the sheet up into pieces that would fit the front of a C6 card.

I stamped the Postcards Texture stamp with Distress Oxide ink, then used the sentiment and bees from the Buzzing Bees Stamp Set with some black ink. I then stitched a partial border with black thread before adhering to some coordinating patterned paper then onto a card:

This was a fun afternoon project - a set of cards to gift to someone I know who loves bees and the colour yellow.

Thanks for dropping in!

Viva la Flora Postcards from Darkroom Door

I was very excited to see a new product by Darkroom Door that features Rachel Greig's beautiful floral  photographic images. The new Darkroom Door Postcards contain 6 images per pack, and are printed on a nice thick card that will withstand some pretty punishing mixed media techniques.

I have used a postcard from the Viva la Flora pack as a card front, adding some machine stitching and some embossing:

The postcards made excellent sturdy bases, and the images are just wonderful. I went really bright with my colours which stand out brilliantly on the black and white:

The sentiments are from the Warm Wishes stamp set, and the backgrounds are Abstract 06 and the Daisy Delight Background stamp.

I'm even tempted to decorate the front of one of the postcards and send it through the mail! 

Thanks for looking - have an arty day!

Darkroom Door Small Lavender Stencil

I adore stencils! They are so versatile and can be used with any number of media.

The new Small Lavender Stencil from Darkroom Door is no exception. Here's a card I made using a sponge and some Distress Oxide colours:

I used a round blending tool to apply Bundled Sage through the whole stencil, then used a Detail Blending Tool to apply first Shaded Lilac then Wilted Violet ink to the blooms.

In the background (before the stencilling) I stamped the Gazette Background stamp then the Coffee Stain Eclectic stamp using very pale Old Paper Distress Ink:

The sentiment comes from the Warm Wishes stamp set, and the frame is one of the Lots of Labels stamps.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Darkroom Door Number Jumble Stencil

Hiya! Hope everyone is well in isolation.

I made some time to play with the new Number Jumble Stencil from Darkroom Door this week.

Here's what I made:

This is texture paste through the stencil, then various washes with watercolour made with Distress Ink. I stamped the French Script Texture stamp with Archival Violet ink, the sentiment is from the Thank You Sentiment Stamp and the frame is one of the  Lots of Labels stamps. Here's a close up of the background:

This next card has a very bright acrylic paint background, made by scraping a small amount of paint across the cardstock with a credit card. I coloured some texture paste with purple acrylic paint before applying it to the background through the stencil:

I finished the card off with the Happy Quote stamp and some neon orange stitching:

For this next card, I created a sponged background with Distress Oxide inks, then applied embossing paste through the Number Jumble stencil and sprinkled some Lime Tinsel embossing powder and heating to melt it. The quote on vellum is the A Thousand Miles Quote stamp.

 Lastly, I sponged some Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink onto the centre of some cardstock, then sponged quite heavily with the same ink through the stencil:

The sentiment is one of the stamps from the Simply Circles stamp set, surrounded by a round label from the Lots of Labels stamp set.

Thanks for looking!

Darkroom Door Cascading Stars Stencil

I had a play with the new Cascading Stars Stencil from Darkroom Door  - love that it has the smaller stars as well as the big one at the bottom.

For this first card, I sponged some Dylusions paints onto a kraft card. To fill the background a little more, I lifted the stencil off, dried the paint, then put the stencil back onto the background in a different position to give me more stars. The word is from the Whimsical Words stamp set:

For this second card, I sponged some Distress Ink through the stencil over a watercolour background The stamps on the card are from the Home Sweet Home stamp set: 

 And for this last card, I sponged some Distress Oxide ink through the giant star (it spanned the width of the card!), and with the stencil in place, stamped the Starry Night Background stamp with the same ink. The rest of the stars came from the Stars stamp set, and the words from the Dream Big Sentiment stamp. A little silver paint spatter completes the card:

Here's a tip: spray the back of the stencil with a little low tack spray adhesive (you might be able to find some 'stencil spray'). This will stop it moving around while you are working through it.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Number Medley by Darkroom Door

The second I laid eyes on the Number Medley stamp set from Darkroom Door, I knew needed it!

I make lots of masculine cards and am always on the lookout for interesting images to add to backgrounds, and this stamp set fits the bill nicely.

I wanted to see if this set could also be used for feminine and gender neutral cards, and the answer is a resounding YES!

I've used it on this thank you card to create a collage of numbers in the background:

I used a mixture of the thin, handwritten ledger with the more bold number run and the big round number 8 to give the big bold Daisy Eclectic stamp somewhere to sit:

I then added some matching ribbon and a sentiment from the Simply Circles stamp set, and finished it off with a sprinkle of enamel dots:

Sending lots of crafty love to everyone around the world who is doing the responsible thing and staying home while the COVID-19 storm passes. I hope this card has added a little sunshine to your day!

Open Sea by Darkroom Door

Well hello!

I grabbed a few moments to create a couple of cards using the new Open Sea Quote stamp from Darkroom Door.

This first one is stamped onto vellum with StazOn ink, and incorporates the Fishing Net Background stamp with some images from the Sail Away stamp set.

Of course, being a sea-themed quote, I couldn't resist making one with blue colours:

I created a background using Couture Creations Alcohol Inks on Yupo paper, then stamped on the reverse with StazOn ink. The result is reminiscent of swirly ocean and dreamy white clouds:

Thanks for stopping by!