A Secret Wish by Dot (Dot's Dabbles)

It is such a huge thrill to be asked to be a guest designer for The Artistic Stamper this month.

Thank you Jennie for such a great opportunity!

I had to think about it long and hard of course (like, for 2 seconds)

said yes, 

then panicked! 

My first piece is Spring inspired. 

I always seem to make things from the centre and then work back...

This is how it all ended up.

When I saw this gorgeous girl stamp I knew that I was going to use her on this.

And I wanted to just let her shine somehow.

The background is created with Wendy Vecchi forget-me-not and watering can re-inkers

 using her technique from CHA 2014.

The stamp is from the "Childhood Dreams" set and is stamped using Versafine onyx black ink.

The edges are distressed and matted onto black cardstock.

The leaves are done in the same style using forget-me-not and fern green re-inkers.

The stamped leaves are from the "Leaves" set and cut out and edged with black ink.

The butterflies were stamped onto some left-over inked card 

from the main image and cut out.

The stamps are from the "Insects and Butterflies" set 

and are cut out and bent in the middle so that the wings sit up. 

I just thought I would show the background before and after pics...

It started out with some torn book pages and grunge paste

and ended with more grunge paste, a little stencilling and hessian.

Then the whole lot was gesso-ed over and brayer-ed with Fresco Finish Paint.

I really wanted to keep it rustic and still have areas of white.

This is my favourite textured piece.

The other background was made in the same way...with a little experimenting...

The colouring was done with the re-inkers and alcohol rub...

I really like how it has creeped into the cracks and crevices and captured the texture.

Other off-cuts were placed into the corners to give it balance.

This is the main panel completed and assembled.

To finish off I mounted everything onto corrugated cardboard that had been painted black and highlighted with some gold, added some hessian and placed it onto a black canvas.

Then I went over the road, gathered some twigs...and made a rustic frame to set everything off.
I wasn't too sure about this in the beginning,
but I really like how the twigs form a frame and brings the depth out of the other pieces.
Those of you who know my work, I'm not really an embellishment type of gal
- so the twig frame was a nice compromise.

It was fun to play with grunge paste and colour...and to dabble and experiment...


Enjoy!

The Artistic Stamper Stamps ~

- Childhood Dreams

- Leaves

- Insects and Butterflies

Other items ~

- Archival Inks - forget-me-not, fern green and watering can (and re-inkers), jet black

- Alcohol Ink - gold

- Versafine - onyx black, 

- Dylusion Sprays - lemon zest & pure sunshine

- Paper- Specialty Paper, black cardstock, cardboard, book pages, tissue paper

- Grunge paste, Crackle texture paste.

- Fresco Finish Paint - lake wanaka

- Gesso - white & black

- Stencils - TCW Mini Gothic Romance, Grunge Hearts

- Hessian

- Twigs

- Canvas