Demo Day

On Sunday I was at Doncaster Dome, demoing with PaperArtsy. It was a fab day as always, seeing the PaperArtsy team and chatting with customers including some of the #PAtwits.

It was freezing when I first arrived, about 8.15am, so my first stop was the cafe to grab a cup of tea to warm up. I then had a walk around the show, chatting with people as they were still unpacking and setting up. I desperately needed a new heat gun, mine had died. So I was pleased to see that Jayne at Stamposaurus had heat guns on her stand. I also grabbed some Distress crayons from her to see what all the fuss is about. 

So then back to the PaperArtsy stand and we got started, it soon warmed up and by lunchtime it was like a heatwave. Lots of great demos with people leaving happy. 

Sorry no photos of people, I just didn't get chance, but here are the samples that I made. This one is a Crackle Glaze background, with stencilled and stamped Grunge paste and stamping over the top. I have backed it onto black card as that really makes it pop. 

This one started as an image transfer using Satin glaze, once that was done I built up the background on a 6x6 greyboard, using stencilling, stamping and tinted grunge paste.

Next a couple of little tags, the left one was blending techniques and stencil bumping. The smaller tag started with leftover grunge paste, and was finished off with Crayola Slick Stix. 

This last one was a blended and brayered background, tinted grunge paste stencilling, topped with Ranger crazing glaze. Once that dried I added stamping, cut out stamped flowers, and some Distress crayons through a stencil.

Here is the crazing glaze detail, I was really impressed with this glaze.

So I managed to cover loads of techniques, hopefully everyone that stopped by saw something interesting. 

Darcy x

Demo Tag #6.

Here is the last of the tags that I made to take along to the Stitches show. I tried to make each one quite different, using lots of techniques that could be shown to anyone that wanted to see them. Quite a few people took photos of them, so hopefully they gave those shop owners some ideas.

For this tag I began by painting a chequerboard of Tangerine Twist and Blueberry.

I then added a layer of crackle glaze, followed by a layer of Snowflake .I then rubbed back with a babywipe to achieve a more distressed look.

Next I used the delicate script stamp from ESN15 to cover the tag.

I painted some regular smoothy with Caribbean Sea, then flicked on some Blueberry.. and on this I stamped the stem and flower head and leaf from EDY14.

On more regular smoothy I stamped the chevron border, this was then cut out.

I stamped the text over Tangerine Twist and mounted this onto Blueberry.

The chevrons were also painted with Blueberry and Tangerine Twist. These were then mounted onto Kraft card.

The leaves stem and flower head were all cut out and attached to the tag. The leaves also have small dots of Tangerine Twist added with the wood end of a paint brush.

I stamped with the background stars from EDY13 all over the tag, then filled each one with a dot of Caribbean Sea.

The text is mounted onto a piece of corrugated card.. always remember to tear your edges, don’t cut them.

Here is the finished tag, I really like this one and did another very similar while at the show.

Again some great techniques here.. using crackle glaze, distressing, creating dots, using corrugate card as a contrast.

Darcy x

Demo Tag #5

Here is Demo tag #5.  This one started with a coat of Purple Rain, while this was still wet I dragged some Tangerine Twist through it. This creates a very delicate blending.

Next I stencilled some Orchid over the tag through a circle stencil. A mixture of solid circles and some patchy circles. I then bumped the stencil and did the same with Snowflake, again some circles solid and some patchy.

I mixed some Grunge Paste with Purple Rain and spread this around the top,bottom and one side. I then splattered Blueberry over the Grunge Paste. 

I love this.

Next I used the border from EDY13 and pressed it into the still wet Grunge Paste. I really like how some of the splattered paint is taken down into the stamping.

I added Treasure Gold over the Grunge Paste and once dry this was polished. The Treasure Gold also catches on the dried drips. If you feel the dips ,where the stamp has gone down, are too pale then add a thin wash of a darker colour, leave for a few seconds and then wipe away from the Treasure gold.

I stamped the text onto regular smoothy  and mounted this on more regular smoothy that has been painted with China.

As a focal point I added the flowers from EDY12. The heads are blended with Glass Blue, China and Blue Oyster, with a small dot of Orchid in the centre.

Again more techniques, tinting grunge paste, stamping into grunge paste, stencil bumping..

Back tomorrow with the final demo tag, then we’ll be back to launch samples.

Darcy x

Demo Tag #4

Here is tag #4, this started with stamping the background stamp from EDY11 all over the heavy smoothy using Snowflake.

I then spritzed the tag with water before adding Jade all over the tag. This was left for just a few seconds and then wiped off. The Snowflake acts as a resist, and shows through the top colour. I then painted a border with Little Black Dress.

I painted some regular smoothy with Bougainvillea then stamped the stem from EDY12, I cut out 6 of those. I also stamped the stem again onto Jade, and the head twice, once onto Bougainvillea and once on white.

I added the pink stems all around the black border, and layered up the flower heads.


I love how Lin Brown’s new paint pops against the black,


I painted more Bougainvillea and stamped the text from ELb15, this was layered onto black card.


and attached over the stem..


All done, I really like this one..

This stem is proving to be so useful.

Techniques for you to try on this one would be the Snowflake resist and using a flower stem as a border.

Darcy x

Demo Tag #3

Morning, here is the 3rd of the tags that I took to Stitches. This one is quite different for me, I don’t usually do vintage, but wanted to try it out with this tag.

I started by glueing book text to a piece of smoothy and once dry I added French Roast which was quickly wiped off just leaving a stain behind. Then I did the same with Buff, dried the tag and added more Buff and finally drybrushed with a little Snowflake.

You can just see the text from the book pages peeking through.

I die cut 4 small tags and painted them with Buff. I then stamped on them using images from my collection and some from ESN15, using Tree Branch, Orange Blossom and Potting Soil Archival inks.

I stamped the flower heads from EDY11 onto painted heavy smoothy and also painted a small button, I later decided this was too small and painted a slightly larger one.

Here you can see I attached the 5 flower heads together with the button centre. On another tag I painted cotton tape and stamped over it, this was just wrapped around the tag. I added the triangle leaf and some lace to the 3rd tag, and small rectangles stamped with the border from EDY11 onto the 4th small tag.

Finally I mounted the small tags into more book pages pieces and then glued them all to the backing piece.

I think they work pretty well and shows that my quirky,weird,alien flowers can work in a vintage setting too.

Techniques here are.. using a vintage palette, layering images in the background using different but similar shades of ink, using book text, painting on tape and buttons. 
Darcy x

Demo Tag # 2

hi everyone, here is another sample that I took to Stitches. 

I began by brayering Guacamole, Tinned Peas and Hyde Park over some heavy smoothy. 

I then stamped the background leaves from EDY12 with Snowflake. Remember when using a background stamp to turn it around and stamp in different directions to get good coverage and stop it looking too uniform. 

I painted some Green Olives and Guacamole onto some heavy smoothy and then stamped the leaf from EDY11. Over some London Bus I stamped the microbial image from EDY13. 

I also stamped 3 of each image onto the tag. 

I then cut out my stamped leaves and glued them onto the tag, 

I filled in the oval shapes completely with Little Black Dress. 

I cut apart the images stamped onto red, filled in the spots and attached them to the tag. 

Voila! ladybirds... ok so they have too many legs lol but they are cute. 

I die cut some more smoothy and stamped my text then mounted this onto card painted with Hyde Park. 

Using EM11 i made a little flower centre to put over the leaves in the top corner. 

Try looking at your stamps in a different way, what new shapes can you create?

Techniques here, Stamping in white on a background, using a stamp in a totally different way by cutting it apart, layering cut out shapes over stamped shapes. 

Darcy x

Demo Tag #1

As promised, over the next few days , I will show you the tags that I made and took along to the Craft,Hobby and Stitch show. These were on display in front of me on the demo desk  for people to see and take photos. I like having samples that people  can handle and examine details up close.

Tag #1.

I began by blending Glass Blue and Wisteria using the black side of cut n dry foam onto a piece of heavy smoothy. 

I added each colour 2-3 times, blending in a circular motion, until I reached a good combination that I liked. I then brayered a little Blue Oyster over the whole piece. 

Next I mixed some Grunge Paste with Smurf this was used with a stencil over the tag.. leaving gaps here and there. 

Next I added a tiny amount of water to a spray bottle then just a drop of Blueberry. I gave it a really good shake and then sprayed the paint over the tag. 

Then I dripped some watery Blueberry and Prawn down the tag.

Next I painted regular smoothy with Blueberry and Prawn. On the Blueberry I stamped the microbial type stamp just with black archival, on the Prawn I stamped and embossed with WOW Primary Ebony.

I curved the stem from the large flower on EDY 13, if you do this on a flexi block it will stay in place. I stamped onto smoothy twice, leaving a gap between. I then filled the gap with Prawn before stamping the text. 

I painted some smoothy with Jade, stamped the triangle leaf and extended the stem on some. I also stamped and coloured the buds from EDY14 and mounted those onto white to create a border.

However it looked too cluttered and just didn't gel properly, so I started stripping it back till I just had these 3 trees left. 

The microbial images were layered up and the top one curled in.

...and then I changed my mind about the trees and shifted them to the opposite side.. Finally i was happy with the more minimal look. 

Lastly I flicked some watery Snowflake over the tag being careful to avoid the Prawn area. 

I am really happy with it now, taking the more prominent images off made it look much more cohesive and allowed the fabulous grunge paste texture to be seen. I especially love the background, and the flicks of white pop really well. I think this could be a great background for a wintery scene. 

The curved stem makes a great border that could be used in lots of situations, and curling a layer of a repeated image is a cool way to add dimension. 

Lots of techniques here.

Blending, tinting grunge paste, stencilling with grunge paste, spraying, dripping, bending stamps, extending stems, layering and curling images.. 

Feel free to explore these ideas more in your projects. 

Darcy x