Rachel Greig

Ornamental Paris Card - Sizzix & Darkroom Door

Hi everyone! Today I'd like to share a card using the Ornamental Movers and Shapers die with grungeboard and Darkroom Door stamps:

I love that you can cut thick pieces of grungeboard, chipboard, fabric and lots of other materials using this die.

 Here's how I made the card:

Arc De Triomphe
1. Fold a 210mm x 150mm piece of dark brown cardstock in half to form a horizontally opening card.
2. Die cut Grungeboard with Tim Holtz 'Ornamental' die. Sponge with Forest Moss and Stormy Sky Distress Ink. Stamp French Script Background Stamp over the top with Archival Jet Black inkpad.
3. Punch a hole on the left and right sides of the grungeboard using a Crop A Dile. Thread black ribbon through both holes.
4. Adhere Grungeboard to card using foam tape. Finish wrapping the ribbon around the inside of the card and tie on the right hand side of the card as shown.
5. Stamp Arc de Triomphe from the DDRS050 Champs Elysee stamp set onto Fawn Cardstock with Jet Black ink. Trim and sponge edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Adhere to left side of grungeboard.
6. Stamp the little flower from the same set onto Fawn cardstock using Sepia ink three times. Trim around each flower and sponge the edges. Adhere to the grungeboard.
7. Stamp ‘Paris’ from the ‘Cafe de Paris’ stamp from the Champs Elysee stamp set using Jet Black ink. Distress the edges with a paper distresser and adhere to the grungeboard with foam adhesive. 

I hope you enjoyed today's inspiration!

Have a great weekend!

Rachel

Sizzix & Darkroom Door

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be joining the Sizzix UK blog each fortnight to share ideas on how Sizzix dies and embossing folders can be combined with Darkroom Door rubber stamps and paper products! I've been using Sizzix dies for over 10 years now and continue to love them! Back in 2001 I started a monthly crop night called 'Midnight Madness' where a group of crafters would get together in a local community hall to craft away and chat into the night. I always brought along a red Sizzix die cut machine (remember those?) for everyone to use on the night. I've now progressed to the Big Shot machine and enjoy finding new ways to combine the dies and folders with Darkroom Door stamps. So I'm looking forward to sharing ideas with you using the both of them together!

One of my favourite dies is Styled Labels 656642. There's two different labels on this die, both perfect size for card making! Many of Darkroom Door's quote stamps fit perfectly into this die, so naturally I tend to use this one a lot. Today I have two cards to share showing how I stamp quotes onto the die...

Instructions:
1. Stamp 'Splatter Background DDBS009' onto folded blue card using Archival Sepia ink pad. Sponge around the edges of the card using the Sepia ink pad with an ink blending tool.
2. Cut the Styled Label from grungeboard. Stamp the quote from 'Artist DDRS027' stamp set onto the label using Archival Jet Black ink pad. Sponge around the edges of the grungeboard using Walnut Stain Distress Ink.
3. Pierce a hole at the top and bottom of the label using an awl and insert two decorative brads.
4. Adhere grungeboard to front of card using foam adhesive to complete!

Here's a second card using the same die:

Instructions:
1. Stamp 'Mesh Background DDBS016' onto folded cream card using Archival Sepia ink pad. Lightly sponge around the edges of the card using the same ink with an ink blending tool.
2. Tear a strip of kraft glassine paper and sew onto the bottom of the card using a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine. Crumple up the edges of the paper to give it more texture.
3. Trim an image from the 'Wilderness Montage DDMN006' and ink around the edges with Archival Sepia ink. Adhere to left side of card as shown.
4. Cut the Styled Label from grungeboard. Stamp quote from 'Vintage Automobiles DDRS033' stamp set onto the label using Archival Sepia ink pad. Sponge the edges of the grungeboard lightly with Sepia ink using an ink blending tool.
5. Pierce a hole at the left and right sides of the label using an awl and insert two decorative brads.
6. Adhere grungeboard to the card using foam adhesive to complete!

Hope you've enjoyed these cards and ideas! Now it's over to you... I'd love to hear your feedback on what Sizzix dies you love! Please let me know in the comments!

I'll look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachel

Sydney Paper Crafts Festival Workshops

I'm excited to be teaching some workshops next week at the Sydney Paper Crafts Festival on April 5-7, 2013. Here's the details on the classes with the details on how you can book in:

Viva La Shimmy Canvas!

Join me to create two different home decor canvases - one for the girls and one for the guys! I will share stamping techniques using a variety of mediums to add shimmer and style to your projects. You’ll use a range of products including the new Viva Decor 3D Stamping Paint and Glitter Paste, Darkroom Door rubber stamps and stencils, Ranger inks and  Idea-ology trinkets. You'll learn mixed media techniques that can be applied to your scrapbooking, card making and any other paper crafts. In class you will have the use of many different coloured paints so you can tailor your canvas to your own colour tastes.

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Distress Paint Tag Mini Books!


Create two different Tag Mini Books using a variety of products including Tim Holtz Distress Paints and Distress Inks, Darkroom Door rubber stamps, old book pages, Idea-ology trinkets and embellishments. I will share hints and tips on using the new Distress Paints along with ideas on rubber stamping to create beautiful multi page cards and books from mega-sized tags! The techniques you learn in class can be applied to your scrapbooking, mixed media and any other paper crafts. In class you will have the use of many different coloured Distress Paints so you can tailor your books to your own colour tastes.

For information on class times and prices, click here.

To book or for further information, please contact Rachel on 02 4388 4595 or by email: info@darkroomdoor.com

Click here for more information on the Sydney Paper Crafts Festival.

Hope to see you there!

Photo A Day 2013 - February

I'm a little late in blogging my Photo A Day pictures from February! Better late than never though... so here they are:

I did a bit of travelling again in Feb and ended up in the UK and Germany. It's always nice to include some photos from my travels! I love how this project also captures the pure every day stuff that happens around here... eating Milo, playing the piano, baking and working. I love it when the kids are in some of the shots too!

I'll continue to upload my montly wrap here on the blog, but if you want to see my photos on the day I shoot them, follow my Instagram feed here.

Stitches Trade Show 2013

Recently I went over to the UK to demo and teach at the UK's largest craft trade show, the Craft, Hobby & Stitch Show, commonly called 'Stitches'. This trip was a quick one for me, I had a lot going on back in Australia so I had to scoot over to the UK and back pretty quickly (well, as quick as you can when you're travelling half way across the globe!) I did manage one day in London before the show to get over the jetlag. Enough time to visit the British Musuem and see A Chorus Line at the Palladium Theatre.

It was my first visit to the British Museum. What an amazing place! You would need weeks to see everything that is on display. It is so vast and the exhibits are so detailed and hands on. They have staff talking about different displays throughout the exhibits and you can touch and feel some of the items. I really enjoyed the coin and money section, reading about the history of how coins and banknotes began in this world! My other favourite was the Egyptian section with the mummies. They have xrays of the remains inside and go into a lot of detail of how it was all done. Really, I could have spent days here.

Soon enough I was in Birmingham for the Stitches show and was happy to see our Personal Impressions family again. PI are the UK distributors for Darkroom Door. It's always fun to be with them during the show working on their booth. I demonstrated our new Darkroom Door stamps and taught classes to the store owners. Lindsay Mason and Dyan Reaveley were also demonstrating on the booth. Jayne from PI jumped in for a photo too - it's always great to catch up with these lovely ladies!!

Lindsay and Dy released new stamp designs and products at the show too - Lindsay has released new stamps in her Doo Lally Pip range and Dy has released new stamps, stencils and sprays in her Dylusions line with Ranger. Lindsay and I combined some of our stamps to create a cute tag - the suitcase is from the Darkroom Door 'Nomad' stamp set, and Lindsay's cute character is from the Doo Lally Pip 'Piffy on a Rockcake' stamp set! Don't you love the name!!! Here's some photos of the tag and our displays on the booth:

Lindsay filmed a quick video of our demo table and the Personal Impressions booth one morning before the show opened for the day... check it out here!

During the show I also got to meet up with a few more friends... Leandra and Jo Firth-Young from PaperArtsy (awesome new stamps and their displays are always amazing!!); Hels Sheridan (DarkroomDoor Creative Team member who LOVES Cheery Ripes so I brought over a few for her to enjoy!!) and Paula Pascual who had a fantastic display at the show with her new Sizzix dies!

As always, it was a great few days and it all went by way too quickly. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Personal Impressions booth to watch our demo's or to see the new stamps - I hope it inspired you!

Photo A Day 2013 - January Wrap Up

This year I've decided to participate in a Photo A Day project. Being a photographer, I generally take photos most days anyway, so I knew it wasn't going to be that much extra effort to do something like this. But... taking photos and actually uploading them and organising them are two entirely different things! I knew for this project to work (for me) it had to be:

1. Quick - I want to take the picture, upload it and be done with it. I have decided to use my iPhone for all of my Photo A Day photos and Instagram to share them. Follow me on Instagram here.

2. Photos of my life, not my work. No masterpiece photographs here! No dilly dallying getting the lighting right, the composition right... just shoot what you think and hey presto... done!

3. Challenging - while I want it to be quick, I also don't mind a challenge. So I chose to use the prompts from Fat Mum Slim. Chantelle creates a list each month of words or phrases to prompt that days photo. Some are obscure, some straight forward. You can interpet the theme any way you choose.

Here's my photos from January 2013:

This month I took two trips - one to USA for a trade show and the other was a family holiday to the Gold Coast. I have two Jan 10th photos because I had that day twice. Once on the plane to LA, then as I gained that day again when I landed, I shot another version of the photo (the theme was 'One O'clock'). Other happenings from this month: kids started back at school, summer was hot, I was on the Jay Leno show for around 3 seconds, I wrote fan mail (and received one reply!) and Ethan is almost as tall as his cousin Jasmine.

My thoughts on the Photo A Day process so far... I like having the promt because it focuses you on one thing. After all you only need ONE photo a day for this. So even though on some days I have better photos or more appropriate photos that show what I did that day, I like the restriction. Plus it makes me think a little beyond what I would normally shoot for that day. I like the challenge.

I'll continue to upload my montly wrap here on the blog, but if you want to see my photos on the day I shoot them, follow my Instagram feed here.

Are you doing a Photo A Day this year? I'd love to hear what you're doing for it, please leave a comment and link us up to your blog or where I can take a look at your pictures!

Garden Inchies Box & Pendant - Craft Stamper Magazine

A few months ago Craft Stamper Magazine featured the Darkroom Door Garden Inchies stamp set in their Stampers Challenge section in their June 2012 issue. I contributed two projects to the article. One was a decorated box:

The box is one of those paper mache boxes found at Spotlight or general craft stores. I sponged it over with Inka Gold Lava Green and added some highlights on the edges with Copper Inka Gold.

The metal corners were also highlighted with Copper Inka Gold to bring out the detail.

The Garden Inchies were stamped onto a background I created using alcohol inks. So easy and fun to do!

I also created a pendant using a couple of Scrabble tiles. Just stamped the Inchies onto the back using Staz On ink, then coloured in with Adirondack Pigment pens. Cover with a sealer such as Mod Podge and let it dry. Add the clasp once it's all dry.

For more information on these projects and to see what the other artists created, check out a back issue of the magazine!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Rachel

Darkroom Door 2013 Creative Team

Darkroom Door just announced a new Creative Team for 2013! The following ladies will be sharing lots of new ideas and projects throughout the year over on the Darkroom Door Blog!

Anna-Karin Evaldsson - South Africa
Belinda Spencer - Australia
Connie Mercer - USA
Godelieve Tijskens - Belgium
Hels Sheridan - UK
Liesbeth Fidder - Netherlands
Marjie Kemper - USA
Melissa Phillips - USA
Rachel Greig - Australia
Sephi Kemp - Australia
Susie Campbell - Australia
Suzanne Czosek - USA
Teresa Abajo - Australia

I'm so honoured and excited to be working with these artists this year! It's going to be a very creative and inspiring year ahead!

Sydney New Years Eve Fireworks 2012

Happy New Year! We spent our new years eve in Sydney to see the fireworks, something we haven't done for a few years. 15 years infact if my memory serves me correctly! Boy how time flies! In the past we've seen the fireworks from all different vantage points - Mrs Macquaries Point for the front on view of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Circular Quay for a closer viewpoint, but this time we went to Kirribilli, right next to Luna Park. We managed to get a spot right on the water in full view of the whole city. We had a very close up angle of the Harbour Bridge and could see along the east and west sides of the harbour, meaning we could basically see almost every firework that was about to be let off.

At 8.30pm they do a 'test', just a couple of fireworks to make sure everything is ok and obviously to get the crowd all pumped up. The bridge was oozing red, making it look like it was on fire.

As you can see, the sun was just setting in the background. The 9pm fireworks were great - mainly to give the kids something to see if they cannot stay for the midnight mayhem! Kirribilli was a great spot to be, it's all sectioned off as a no-alcohol zone, so it's civilised and fun for families and anyone just wanting to have a great night. The crowd was getting larger as midnight drew near and the atmosphere was buzzing.

Finally the big countdown happened and we were literally IN the fireworks!

There were fireworks everywhere! Above us, beside us, in front of us. We were surrounded and loved every minute of it!

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was shooting out lots of crackers! Seeing it side on was amazing!

It was crazy! And fun! One of my most favourite parts of the Sydney fireworks is the waterfall they do off the Harbour Bridge right at the end. It's so soft and dreamlike. Tonight didn't disappoint...

What a great way to bring in 2013! Here's what the bridge looked like from Mrs Macquaries Point:
(photo courtesy Sydney Opera House Facebook Page)

Totally spectacular! While I would have loved to have been there too, nothing was like being in amongst the washing machine of fireworks that we experienced. It was incredible!

Here's to a new year - wishing you all the very best for 2013!

Happy New Year!

As we say goodbye to another year and welcome in 2013, I'd just like to thank all my blog readers for all of your comments, friendship and support throughout the year! I hope that 2013 brings you happiness, laughter, lots of adventure and many good times ahead!

- Rachel