Darcy Wilkinson Project #3 Garden Party Part 1....

"Summer has arrived! Yes really, let's make the most of it while we can. Let's have a party.
First off we need invitations. I decided to go with a card that would stand up, and opted to make a 'spring' type card. There are lots of tutorials online that will give you measurements and folding lines".

I folded the basic card using Smoothy White Stamping Card, then made pieces to stick on.
I sprayed some Adirondack Inks onto a craft sheet, spritzed with water and dragged more Smoothy Card through the ink. I then added a Shimmerz spray. Once dry I stamped flowers from JOFY 10.

I used a mix of Treasure Gold and Brush Bath to colour in the flower heads.
I then sprayed some more card with ink and dabbed it with the "criss cross" stamp from JOFY 10, to add patterning into the ink. Once both these pieces were dry I attached them to the basic spring card.

Here you can see the back of the card, this is where I stamped the words Who,What,Where,When...

Then I took the butterfly stamp from JOFY 11, I stamped it once onto Smoothy Card, and then again onto a plain block stamp. Then I stamped the block onto the card. This gives me a mirror image. You must use really juicy ink for this method.

I cut both butterflies out and then pieced them together to make one whole butterfly.

I coloured the butterfly with Fresco Paint, and added it to the card with a dot of silicone glue.

The shimmer from the spray and the Treasure Gold is lovely, subtle but effective.

Next we need some name cards for the table, so that everyone knows where to sit. I just used leftovers from the invitation, and made these in just a couple of minutes.

Now lets decorate the garden with some bunting ... I cut some large triangles from Smoothy White Stamping Card.

I painted each one a different colour using Fresco Paints, then I used a ribbon slot punch to add holes along the top edges.

I added stencilling in a contrast colour, then finished each one with doodling in black and white .

Finally I thread them onto a length of ribbon.

 

Now we are getting somewhere and it is all looking fine. The table cloth is laid out, but being
England it can get a little breezy and we don't want the table cloth blowing away.
so... a quick trip to the beach to find some flattish stones.. first off give them a coat of Snowflake so that your top colours will be bright and true.

Sketch out some cute animals...if this scares you then copy one from a child's colouring book.

Start adding colour using Fresco Paints..it really is as simple as blocking in shapes. Once you are done add a coat of gloss medium to seal them and prevent the paint chipping off.

So now we can pop a lil stone animal at each corner of the table cloth and it won't blow away. 

What is a party without a gift to unwrap, I am sure it must be someone's birthday...

Take some regular brown parcel paper. Add some roundish splodges of paint, I did these free hand, there is no need for them to be perfect circles. Once the paint dries, add some flower stamps from the JOFY range.

Continue adding paint splodges and flower stamps, then fill in the gaps with text and leaves.

Every gift needs a gift tag right? Using a Kraft Tag as my base,I then put some Snowflake and water into a spray bottle and sprayed the tag .

I then used Mermaid and Beach Hut and the mini circles stamp from JOFY 9 to cover the tag, followed by a flower stamp from that set stamped in Black Archival Ink.

I then stamped other JOFY flowers onto Smoothy White Stamping Card and coloured them using Adirondack Inks.

   
They were then cut out and attached to the tag..

So now we have pretty paper and a tag to wrap up a gift..

Finally today, a little something fun for the table. I always think those white paper serviettes at picnics and parties are so boring, well lets make something fun to hide them away.
I started with this Wooden Birdhouse Substrate. Firstly I prised off the roof.

I then painted it with Irish Cream, followed by Baltic Blue.

I sanded back some of the blue , and then stamped words from JOFY 11 onto tissue paper. I glued these all around the bottom ledge.

I then stamped up lots of the flowers,leaves and butterfly from the JOFY range, and coloured them all in with Aquamarkers. Once I had a whole pile of them I arranged them all over the house. Here is the back, the flowers are added to corrugate card.

And the left side... you can see more clearly here where I rubbed back the blue to reveal the Irish Cream colour underneath.

The right side...here I added buttons to the flowers.

And finally the front. The paper serviettes are folded inside in a Z formation, so that when one is pulled out through the hole, the next one starts to come out ready.

It's looking grand so far, come back tomorrow to see the rest of the decorations.
In the meantime, why not get your children involved, perhaps painting stone pets or making
bunting. If you don't fancy using the birdhouse for a picnic you could fill it with tissues for the
bedroom. Make something bright and summery to celebrate our little bit of sunshine.

Leandra Says: FLIPPING 'ECK. I've lost track of the number of things you've made already. Loving the animal stones, the bug and the turtle were faves here! But also struck me that the smoothy card takes all the colours so beautifully, water-wet sprays, damp treasure gold, paint or markers, it copes with whatever you chuck at it! Finally, when i contacted you to do this gig, you said you were not really a stamper...but we've busted your butt! You know how to do mirror image stamping and EVERYTHING!!! The butterfly was brilliant! ..... what!! NO CAKES!!! sheesh!!

Gillian Says: I don't know where to start ... I love everything about this project Darcy. Your attention to detail is second to none. This is one party that I would love to attend. Bravo.