Tea, Coffee, Art Journalling?
Posted: February 28, 2023 Filed under: 6"x 6" journal, Art Journal, Background Stamps, coffee time, Cup of tea, Darkroom Door, Dies, Gazette, Penny Black, Script, Time, What's in your cup, World Map | Tags: Art Journal, Darkroom Door stamps, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks 2 Comments
Today I am posting a few pages from last year’s Art Journal Adventure workshops. I taught seven different ‘episodes’ last year and one month the theme was coffee and tea. I did a few pages before the sessions and then created a different page during each class. I don’t like replicating the same spread in my art journal so each one had a different colour scheme and style.
Even though I am more of a herbal tea drinker than a coffee drinker I ended up creating three coffee themed pages and two tea themed. You can see the first coffee themed page here. As you can see from the three spreads featured here I use a variety of techniques, papers and elements in my pages. The common technique on these pages is a watercolour background and the common element is the chipboard cups. Both the coffee themed pages feature photos from an old coffee themed diary. In both cases I took my colour scheme from the photo and added browns.
This tea themed page could also be called ‘these are a few of my favourite teas!’ I used packaging from boxes and sachets, embossed the teacups to match and add snippets from old books and magazines.
These pages show how I gather elements and papers from here, there and everywhere when creating a page. I used inks, embossing powders and glazes, stamps and stencils for these pages but I also used an old diary, packaging, pages from a vintage recipe book, and old teabags!
I almost didn’t finish this last spread but once I had stamped then glazed the cute chipboard cups I knew I had to finish. Now I want a mug with vintage newsprint on it!
Art Journal Adventure for 2023 kicks off this week. There is still space in the Friday class and the Monday class. We will be creating with semi- transparent papers.
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Blossom Birthday
Posted: February 7, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, blossom stencil, Darkroom Door, grafix, Stencils | Tags: craft roulette, Darkroom Door stamps, Darkroom Door stencils, grafix, grafix craft plastic, Ranger Alcohol Ink 4 Comments
Yes, I have more alcohol in projects! Like gel printing, alcohol inks are quite addictive. When you work with them on plastic film (such as grafix craft plastic or yupo) you can keep changing the design with the addition of more ink or isopropyl alcohol. You can also remove ink with isopropyl. Depending on the amount of staining from whichever colours you choose you can even get the plastic white again to start fresh. I think that is why there is always on more thing I want to try when experimenting with alcohol inks.
Last year I posted a video where I used a stencil to create a pattern on craft plastic with alcohol inks. I used a more open stencil that the one featured today but the process is similar. The Darkroom Door stencil ‘blossom’ has a lot of plastic surrounding the blossom cut out. When laid on the wet alcohol ink there is contact with most of the craft plastic panel and only a small area where the alcohol ink is drying in the air. This means you need way more patience as you let the ink dry under the stencil.
Not all my experiments with stencils work but I love the way this one ended up with distinct flowers and soft background. I finished the card with a sentiment from the DD ‘all occasions’ stamp set embossed in white on olive cardstock.
In other news I will be on Craft Roulette on Friday February 10 which is three days away! Craft Roulette is a live improv card making challenge on YouTube. I have no idea what kind of card I will be making, I only find out what the parameters are while I am on the show. Hope you can drop in a join the chat on Friday 7:10 pm EST
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Ransom Alphabet cards
Posted: December 14, 2022 Filed under: Brushed Christmas vol 1&2, Brutus Monroe, Darkroom Door, ransom alphabet | Tags: brutus monroe embossing powder, Darkroom Door stamps, WOW embossing powders 6 Comments
Darkroom Door recently released the ‘ransom alphabet’; it looks like letters cut from random newspapers or magazines. I decided not to cut my stamp into separate letters yet, so stamped it as one large stamp containing both alphabet, a few symbols and numbers 1-10. I embossed one sheet in gold powder and another in silver. I also stamped again on some small strips of cardstock to get the extra letters I needed to complete the greetings.
Both cards and alphabets are neenah solar white cardstock. I stamped a tree and star from the Darkroom Door ‘Brushed Christmas vol 1’ set then blended three greens over the card front using blending brushes. I spritzed water over the panel then blotted it with a paper towel to get a twinkly effect. A pearlized spray would have been even better but my workroom is upside down and inside out at present so locating the shimmer spray was asking too much!
I used the same process to create the ‘O Holy Night’ card but used a blue and a purple ink for the blended background. I wondered if the ransom alphabet was perhaps a bit too funsy for such a theme but then I remembered Mark 10:45, ‘the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I’m looking forward to putting this set to use in my art journal. I think it might be necessary to cut the rubber stamp into separate letters eventually but for now it is still one large stamp.
Darkroom Door has so much inspiration on their blog. They are currently featuring all the products from their new release one product at a time. So many styles, colour schemes and projects.
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Just one more chapter
Posted: December 2, 2022 Filed under: book spines, Darkroom Door, gel press | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, gel press, gel printing, grafix, Ranger Distress inks 7 Comments
Just one more bookish card? Of course not; there will always be more bookish cards, especially as Darkroom Door keeps creating more bookish stamps! Today’s card, which of course can be sent to a fellow reader on any occasion, features the new ‘reading’ sentiment strip as a background wallpaper and as the sentiment. Darkroom Door has a range of sentiment strips each containing 9-10 sentiments. I could cut them up into individual stamps but I have kept them all as strips so I can stamp them all at once if I want to. I did so on today’s card to create a background in rusty hinge distress ink on watercolour paper. I painted water over the top of the stamping to blur it but you can still read most of the bookish mantras.
I also used the DD stamp ‘book spines’ to create my line up of books. I stamped it on three different gel prints and embossed each one in a different metallic ink. I cut up all the prints then rearranged the books to have green, blue, yellow and brown books across the shelf. Even though I chose random gel prints I love the way the texture of plastic lids and packaging has become aged leather on the book spines.
After attaching my books to the background I stamped just one phrase from the sentiment strip by masking above and below the words then added it to the card. A little shading along the top of the books give a bit of dimension.
This turned out to be the perfect card for today because I have been part of the Coptic Challenge at ‘The Handmade Book Club‘ this week. Today is the last day of instruction which covers sewing the book together. When I have completed my book I will post it on the blog. It is the second time I have participated in the five day challenge; both experiences have been very enjoyable and the instruction is fabulous.
So, read one more chapter and have a great weekend.
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Can’t wait to see you
Posted: November 9, 2022 Filed under: clocks, Correspondence, Darkroom Door, pocket watch | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Ranger Distress inks 4 Comments
Time to show off a new Darkroom Door beauty today. Darkroom Door’s latest release is now available and I chose the ‘clocks’ texture stamp for a vintage style card. Darkroom Door is always coming out with fresh new ideas and sometimes expand older themes and collections. The clocks are also available as a full background stamp. Having a smaller texture stamp featuring clocks is going to be wonderful for journal pages. I paired it with another DD stamp, pocket watch.
I used the texture stamp to fill my background by stamping it four times on a hot pressed watercolour panel. The panel was splattered with masking fluid because that is the mode I am in right now. I inked the clock stamp with a mix of yellow and browns initially, spritzed on the stamp and blended after stamping on the paper. I added the blue and rust a second time round because I needed more contrast.
I used the same mix of colours to fill and surround the embossed pocket watch and also embossed a partial sentiment from the ‘long distance’ sentiment set. When I had trimmed and arranged the two layers I decided to add a bit of script over the top using a stamp from the DD correspondence set. I enjoyed working with these images and colours so much you might see them expanded to fill a journal page.
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Maple Leaves
Posted: October 20, 2022 Filed under: Darkroom Door, maple leaves | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Ranger Distress inks 6 Comments
The colours around here are beautiful this year. Everywhere I go I see the gorgeous leaves that glow when the sun hits them and contrast with the wet tree trunks when it rains. This year’s colours seem to be some of the best I’ve seen but I think we say that every year.
This stunning stamp is from Darkroom Door and it is called ‘maple leaves’. I have two large maples in my yard so there are plenty of leaves to pick up but it is worth it for the weeks of splendor.
To create this card I put the stamp in a positioner to allow multiple pressings on the hot pressed watercolour paper. I randomly applied four different distress inks, gave the stamp a spritz of water then stamped. After one impression I could see where the stamp had no ink so I corrected and, bit by bit, made sure the whole leafy background was stamped.
I blended the inks with a paintbrush and water but didn’t blend every scrap of leaf. I used a light hand so as to make colour blend into colour but still leave the texture detail showing through here and there. Thanksgiving has come and gone here in Canada but there are autumn birthdays coming up so I used a stamp from the DD happy birthday set, stamped in vintage photo archival ink.
Hope the colours are beautiful out your window.
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Collage behind Hibiscus and Bluebird
Posted: September 8, 2022 Filed under: Art Journal, Darkroom Door, Gazette, Penny Black, vintage postcard | Tags: Art Journal, collage, Darkroom Door stamps, Penny Black stamps 4 Comments
One of my favourite techniques when art journaling is to create a collage background from gel prints, patterned papers, stamping, stencilled texture and paint. Sometimes I know what focal elements I will add over the top, other times I wait to be inspired by the completed collage.
When creating this collage spread in the 6″x 6″ art journal I used gel prints and patterned papers in neutral tones: pale green, beige and browns. I did some stamping with Darkroom Door and Penny Black stamps on kraft paper and over the top of the collage. The focal point is an image from the front of a greeting card. As is sometimes the case, the back of the card featured a smaller version of the same art. I used both on my pages along with some handmade printed paper from a friend. I was very happy with the way the colours worked together and was happy to save and use a card sent by a dear friend. ( I cut the artist’s name from the card and added it to my page.)
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It’s all about the sky
Posted: August 18, 2022 Filed under: Darkroom Door, Wildflowers Vol 1 | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Ranger Distress inks 6 Comments
I recently returned to a favourite technique for a couple of card classes. We made a bunch of watercolour backgrounds ready to be turned into cards. This background is one of my favourites. I love the blends and the hint of a sun-kissed hill which just happened as I swiped my watercolour paper panel through smooshed ink.
The pale splats are from splattering water onto a distress ink background then dabbing it up with paper towels. The silhouette flowers are once again from the beautiful darkroom door set, wildflowers vol 1. Often I would use a larger panel or even cover the whole card front. I created this background on a larger panel but trimmed it down to use the best part. That’s why I usually work on watercolour panels larger than I need. By the way we have seen some beautiful skies lately, hope you are catching some too.
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Gardens on gel prints
Posted: August 2, 2022 Filed under: Darkroom Door, fine flowers vol 2, gel press, mesh, Nature Walk, Wildflowers Vol 2 | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, gel press, gel printing 7 Comments
Another gel print post? Yes indeed, and no apologies. If you have tried gel printing you will know it is a little addictive. Today’s post features cards stamped with Darkroom Door flowers. Some are stamped on clean up sheets, others on gel prints. A clean up sheet is thick drawing paper I keep at the right of my gel plate for rolling excess ink off my brayer. As you can see in the panels above and below I can end up with some very colourful sheets.
I stamped flowers from the DD set’ ‘fine flowers vol 2” and the ‘mesh’ texture stamp in Ciao Bella Oceania ink. The ink is a pigment ink which stamps beautifully on gel prints and dries quickly so I don’t end up smudging it.
This deep red background is also a clean up panel. I am always excited to see landscapes or skies appear in an abstract print or clean up sheet. Those two strips of white added a hint of clouds to a very bold sunset! I stamped the silhouette flowers from the DD set, wildflowers vol 2.
The last two cards are made from gel printed panels not clean up sheets but are very distressed. The print I pulled and cut up to make a couple of garden cards include plenty of distressed texture from a printing session including a little bit of text.
There was some blue in the print so I chose a co-ordinating ink to add the large grassy stamp from the DD ‘nature walk’ set. I’ve said it before it is a favourite set which I reach for again and again. I think I used versafine clair paradise ink.
I was crafting with a friend when I made these two cards and she had a tiny butterfly punch so the card below features a few co-ordinating butterflies. I haven’t seen many butterflies in my garden this year but there have been plenty of bees in the day and fireflies at night.
None of these cards have sentiments on them at this stage, I like to have blank cards on hand to use for any occasion. Thanks for dropping by today; I know it’s been quiet around here lately. I plan to be back soon with more projects and inspiration.
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Off to School journal page
Posted: July 15, 2022 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Darkroom Door, Mixed Media, scratches, tickets | Tags: Art Journal, Darkroom Door stamps, Mixed Media 15 Comments
Some of you might recognise the artwork on this journal page. I have saved calendars, magazines, greeting cards and diaries over the years and now that I am creating collages and journal page spreads they are coming into their own. Quite a few years back I saw a calendar featuring covers from Good Housekeeping magazines of the 1920’s and 30’s. I thought the covers were delightful and bought two of the calendars. I enjoyed it during the year then tucked it away for future inspiration.
The calendar images are larger than the 6″x 6″ pages in the journals I am currently using so I chose a painting where I could cut out components and create a smaller scene. I cut the two children and the dog and glued them onto a collaged and painted background. I used floral paper mainly around the edges, blue paint for the background. The fence and cobble stone path were created with texture paste through a stencil. I used a few different Darkroom Door stamps to add vintage details across the page.
I did have to do more fussy cutting than I usually care to but these sweet images were worth it. Once they were glued down I used a black marker to go round the edges of the cut outs and immediately smudged the ink with my fingers or a damp brush. It’s a technique I have seen Vicky Papaioannou do many times on her journal pages. I used a white gel pen to add highlights, another trick from Vicky.
If you want to see what the original artwork by Vernon Thomas, just search good housekeeping magazine with the date I have added to the bottom left corner of my page.
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Heather Telford 