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June 2008

Artist Trading Cards

Hi everyone!

I thought I'd share with you a set of 3 artist trading cards that I completed for the Tarisota June gallery. They feature Darkroom Door Venetian Filmstrips and Venetian Wordstrips.

Rachel_34194 Other supplies:
Collections Paper
Collections Chipboard Houses
Delish Designs Stamps
Black & White Trims

To create:
* Trim black cardstock to 3.5" x 2.5" to create the ATC backs. Attach Collections paper on the front.
* I've inked up the chipboard houses with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and stamped the edge of the label stamps over the top. The Venetian Filmstrip images were cut to fit under the chipboard. Attach to the ATC.
* Trim words from the Venetian Wordstrip and mount onto black cardstock. Attach to ATC where desired.
* Add trims to complete!


Rachel_34182 Rachel_34184 Rachel_34185 

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Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

Rachel

Video: Darkroom Door at SIA

Here's a little clip of us showing you through the Darkroom Door booth at the Scrapbooking Industry Australia trade show in April...

Guest Artist: Sue McGettigan Part 3

Here we are! The grand finale of Sue's projects...

Travel Journal

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Materials:
Darkroom Door Stamps:  Venetian Vol 1, Venetian Vol 2, Journal
Darkroom Door Paper:  Esplori, Meadow
Darkroom Door Montage: Venetian
Additional materials: Ranger Distress Inks, fiber, brads, eyelets, brown paper grocery bag, envelope, glassine envelope, assorted 'found' papers - grid stamping paper, children's school paper, recycled maps.

Sue says: This is the little journal that could! It's made from a mixture of new and recycled materials, it's small enough to fit in a backpack and tough enough to survive the journey. It would make a nice gift for someone who's going on a trip or would just be fun for an armchair traveler to doodle in. The envelopes in the front and back of the journal can hold ticket stubs, souvenirs and gleaned goodies found along the way. I made it with just one signature of papers, but you could add another two or three for a larger journal to cover a longer trip. The long fiber wrap around closure means you can add more found materials along the way and still be able to secure the journal. The handle is the original handle of the grocery bag, and the cover of the book is the side panel of the bag. I like the way the Venetian map can be lined up easily to make a brickwork style background paper.

Inside Cover & Title page:

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What a fabulous journal! Thanks so much Sue for being our Guest Artist this week! Your ideas have made me want to travel to Venice again! Or anywhere for that matter :) I love how you have used the Journal stamps to create two very different styles - one vintage for the journal, and bright tags for the presents! Thanks again for all of the inspiration!

Guest Artist: Sue McGettigan Part 2

Here are some more projects from Sue...

SueMcG_05  Tags

Materials:
* Darkroom Door Stamps: Journal, Venetian Vol 1

Stamp the Journal block onto white cardstock with coloured ink. Sponge using the same coloured ink. Attach to corresponding coloured tag, stamp the top of the tag with the Venetian scroll. Add ribbon. Attach a blue flower to the bottom. Stamp the Venetian postmark and punch out with a circle punch. Attach to the inside of the flower to complete.
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Travel Notebook:

SueMcG_06 Materials:
* Darkroom Door Stamps:  Venetian Vol 1 and Vol 2
* Darkroom Door Paper: Ti Amo, Meadow
* Ranger Distress Inks
* Purchased notepad

This little notepad has three sections to keep track of lots of lists, ideas and details.  It can be tucked into the travel journal or carried separately in a pocket, ready for random inspiration.  Just take the spiral off a purchased notebook, cover with Ti Amo paper, stamp with elements from Venetian Vol. 1 and 2, stamping the inside of the cover too.  The main Venice image is sponged with several different layers of ink to look like sunset / sunrise, super quick and easy to do.  Put the sprial back on after punching holes and bend the ends down to secure.  Add the stamped tabs to make dividers in the book.

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So... tomorrow is the grand finale of Sue's projects... and it's a big one! Here's a sneak peek. Make sure you drop by tomorrow to see the whole project!

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Guest Artist: Sue McGettigan

Sue_Photo Name: Sue McGettigan

Zodiac Sign:
Aries

Lives:
Sunny Southern California, but I'm a proud West Australian :)

Known For:
Creative addictions! Artistic obsessions! Reckless use of punctuation! Excessive blog surfing! A sense of fun, and love of family. Some of my stamping projects have been featured in Stamper's Sampler (Stampington), Paper Crafts - Stamp-It! Cards, Creating Keepsakes, and Rubber Stamper Magazine, and online designer features and articles. Not Known For: Love of housework ...

Blog, website or gallery:
Wandering Star - http://ozzigirl.blogspot.com

Loves to:
Travel, write, read, make art, take photos, spend time with family and friends, listen to music, explore, enjoy life.

Loves to create:
Anything inky. I love to try new techniques and materials, and challenge myself creatively. I like 3-D projects and altering found items, recycling and repurposing to make something new out of something old. I like creating paper and textile arts, mixed media and even metalwork.

Favourite Darkroom Door product:
I'm loving it all! The Venetian collection feeds my travel fetish, I love the versatility of the stamps and the way the paper products work with ink (photobooth, montage, everything!)

Have you ever been in a darkroom?
Not a REAL darkroom (flashbacks to a dark room and 'truth or dare' here :) - I always wanted to learn how to work in a darkroom ... someday.

Let’s say you’re invited to come into our darkroom for a day. What would you bring with you?
  Some undeveloped film from my trusty ancient Olympus camera, a sense of adventure, willingness to learn, and a notebook.

Are you afraid of the dark?
Not really, I like the way being in the dark heightens other senses like hearing, smell and touch.  I like the sense of calm and cool in the dark, it's restful.  If I do get spooked though, I don't like to have my back to the darkness :)

Button Fairies:

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Materials:
Darkroom Door Stamps: Map from Venetian Vol. 2 for wing background on green/orange fairy
Darkroom Door Photobooth: Ladies
Additional materials:  buttons, wire, beads, Ranger Distress Inks, Tattered Angel Glimmer Mists, Prima flowers.

Sue says: These little button fairies are so much fun to make, and the Photobooth Ladies make great fairies!  Choose your Photobooth image and trim out the background, use inks, pens or paints to add color.  For the green fairy I stamped the map from Venetian Vol. 2, then stamped the wings over that image, trimmed to wing shape.  Sponge on inks to add color to the wings.  Punch two holes close together in the center of the wings to thread the wire through, make a loop in the wire then add buttons and beads, finishing with a bead and round-nosed jewelry pliers to make a coil.  If you don't want the loop to hang your fairies you can omit it.  Adhere the Photobooth image and a flower behind the top button and there you have your button fairy!  For the pink fairy I stamped the wings on a thesaurus page, any printed page will work, then sprayed with Glimmer Mists for a fairy-like glow.  Hope you have fun making Photobooth fairies!

House #1:

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Materials:
Darkroom Door Stamps: Venetian Vol 2, Full Bloom Vol 1
Darkroom Door Paper: San Marco, Ti Amo, Rialto
Darkroom Door Photobooth: Ladies

House #2:

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Materials:
Darkroom Door Stamps: Full Bloom Vol 2, Venetian Vol 2
Darkroom Door Paper: Ti Amo, Rialto
Darkroom Door Photobooth: Ladies
Darkroom Door Filmstrip: Blank

Sue Says: These little houses are so much fun to make, I could just imagine the Photobooth folks looking out of them.  Start out by cutting a piece of cardstock or chipboard to a rectangle in the size you want - both of these houses are 4" x 6".  Then measure the midpoint at the top of the rectangle and trim off triangles to shape the roof.  Cut Darkroom Door papers to fit, I love the way stripes cut from Rialto paper can build the eaves of the roof and the windowframe.  Before adhering the paper to your cardstock background, stamp images to give the house more detail - flowers for the garden, architectural elements like the Venetian border, the large flower looks like a Victorian sun element under the roof pitch (on the sundial house).  Frame the Photobooth images using paper strips or a Filmstrip frame.  Assemble the items onto the cardstock base, adding items like brads, buttons, diecuts, hardware, lace, etc. to embellish your house.  There's no end to the variations you can come up with!

Sue has made a bunch of fabulous creations... so check back tomorrow to see more of her work!

Worldwide Stamping Week has begun!

Doors_2 It's Worldwide Stamping Week on 2peas! And our Doors challenge has begun!

Click here to find out all the info on Worldwide Stamping Week and how you can participate.

Click here to find out about the Doors challenge... which is sponsored by Darkroom Door! There are 2 stamp sets up for grabs, and if you own this Doors set, I hope you'll share a creation or two to be in the Bonus Draw!

I'll be back later in the week to share more projects using door stamps... until then, we'll have a Guest Artist dropping in soon, so check back tomorrow for some fabulous inspiration!

Darkroom Door Demo's this Saturday...

CraftQuilt_sydney08 The Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair is on this week in Sydney! This Saturday 14th June I will be there demonstrating a variety of techniques using Darkroom Door stamps and products! Here are the full details:

Date: Saturday 14th June
Time: 10am-12noon
Booth: All About Scrapbooks (Papercraft section)

Hope to see you there!

Tarisota Gallery

This month I am honoured to be Guest Designer over on at Tarisota! Their June kit includes some Darkroom Door products such as the Accordion Book, Venetian Filmstrips, Blank Filmstrips, Wildflower stamps and more...

Here is one of the cards I created using the Blank Filmstrips and Wildflower stamps, along with a Heidi Swap mirror heart and Collections transparency:
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Check out the rest of the gallery here

Darkroom Door Newsletters

The latest issue of our wholesale and consumer newsletters were emailed out this week. If you're signed up and didn't receive your newsletter, please email us with your current details so we can ensure they are correct.

If you've not signed up for the newsletter, you can do so here.

Hope you're all having a crafty weekend! If you're dropping by the Australasian Scrapbook Convention in Brisbane this weekend, drop by the All About Scrapbooks booth! They were stocked up with Darkroom Door product - so well worth a visit :)

Guest Artist: Linda Cain Part 3

Here is our final piece from Linda Cain...

Venetian ATC:

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Materials:

* Darkroom Door Montage: Venetian
* Darkroom Door Stamps: Doors
* Darkroom Door Paper: San Marco, Ti Amo

Linda says: This wonderful little piece was almost complete before I started! The Venetian collage papers worked great when cutout for this ATC. Ti Amo and San Marco papers for the background and the key stamp and hinge from the Doors collection pulled it together. I layered up the word and added 2 silver coin studs and it's done!

We'd like to say a huge thank you to Linda for being our guest artist this week! Your artwork is very inspirational - and we especially love seeing the 3D art that you have created!! Thanks so much for sharing your talents with us all!