Through the arched window

In this post I'd like to share with you one of the classes I have taught the last 2 weekends here in England and in the Netherlands. It's a mini book with niches and decorated pages, loaded with fun techniques with Distress Inks and Sprays. The actual book is 13 pages long, here is a sample of a few of those for you to enjoy.

This project is based on a submission we received from Linda Baldock , one of the very talented Aussies on our DT. She is an EP (Embossing Powder) nutter, and has inspired me to dig out mine and start playing with them some mroe - great for texture, or that hint of magpie glint that I always need to have somewhere on a project.

Linda has the ability to use EP and create texture so deep and structured that I am gobsmacked every time I sneak a look at her blog. She must use truckloads of the stuff...every week! But it's divine, and I'm sure in real life it must all look so much more amazing than the pics can show. You must check out her blog.

The 'arches' project, in this version, is in blues and browns, in general the blue pages have doorways with the door cut out, and the brown pages have doorways stamped (sometimes) but the rule of thumb was that brown pages were not cut out. The pages alternate blue, brown, and the substrates vary and repeat between card, calico, metal, transparency. The book grew to 12 pages for the full day class version.

The backgrounds are done with a variety of distress ink techniques combined with water, mica powders and re-inkers. I have used both plain ink sprayed with various depths of hue (reinker in a mini mister with water), and the same laced with perfect pearls. We also used glimmer mists, because there is tons of colour and mica powder options which my magpie- sparkly- girl side of me just can't refuse to use! More is more sometimes - right? Why use one sparkly spray when you could use 5! LOL We repeat stamped from Urban Snapshots the gorgeous doorways from Arched Apertures (USAA2, USAA3)

The left page is walnut ink spray background, over-stamped in Walnut stain. Decorated with a gessoed AB page stamped in Jet Black (Mini #35) . The lampost (USAA2) was stamped and embossed onto blue metal, then cut out, textured with metal tools from behind and glued down. The eyelet with the flowers holds the swing door with the bingo number on it (seen on the front cover picture above). The right hand page is calico sprayed with broken china, then the arch is stamped in Jet Black Archival ink. Secured the calico to card, and then the arch was trimmed out with a scalpel or scissors.


The arch was stamped in Broken China on the left. so how do you line up the arches on both side of the same piece of card? Answer: stamp through the hole.
TIP: We trimmed out the stamped arch on the calico side, then placed the stamp ink side up on the table. Using the calico doorway- hole as a guide lower the card down onto the stamp while looking through the hole to get perfect alignment.
Along the left page, the lace stamp from Ink/Dog: Buttons 2 was stamped on transparency film, then dried and painted with Gold Acrylic dabber from the reverse. Nice border, and an easy pattern to match.
The page on the right started with Claudine Hellmuth's Peeled paper technique. Apply gel medium to the card, press an AB page into the gel, burnish, then pull the paper away to leave some of the ink transferred, but also some softer edges of AB remain. Now gesso over the top, dry, and then spritz generously with vintage photo distress spray. Dry the puddle with a heat tool to get the stain effect. Nice.
The page turner is a tab made from Cream Ten Seconds Studio metal, embossed and sprayed with Patina glimmer mist. The glimmer mist will puddle in the recesses and dry permanently on this metal. A touch of Jet black archival ink highlights the pattern.


The brown left page is glimmer mist straight onto a semi-gessoed page. Glimmer mists puddle like flecks on gesso when dry whereas distress inks seem to leave larger stains. I like both! On the right we have the large frame (USAA3) stamped on transparency, and under that is aluminium embossed with the Ten Seconds diamond pattern and alcohol inked with Stream and Terracotta ink. I like the way it glints through the transparency - magpie style-y!

But it is nice how the tranparency looks good over the gesso/ glimmer background too.
I put black card behing the metal page to support it and sprayed with glimmer mists that had pale mica pigments in them to reflect back some light. The top-hatted dude is from Ink/Dog: MON2.
The Poet tags are stamped onto blue metal and I used eyelets on the tags. The frame to the right was inked with a few Distress Inks: Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo, Broken China and Faded Jeans. Then the niche cut out.
Through the niche you can see the embossed metal page which was painted with some new paints available from LB Crafts, the cool thing about these paints is they don't scratch off metal, you mix your own colour of pigment into the 'carrier/ base', and then you can also add in gel type substance to turn the paint pearlescent/ metallic, and they have cool waxes that you can rub over the top to catch highlights. Watch their website or call them for more information about this product.

I also created a paint from Vintage photo re-inker mixed into the base to apply to the metal ...you can see the sample her in the middle of the right page....hmmm muchos experimentation to be had with this product!


Wishing you a great weekend! We have the kids off school for the next week, so I am hoping for warmer weather so we can get the pool out and start praying for a great summer. Well it can't be worse than last year can it? I think Summer was on a Wednesday last year here in England!

Leandra