NEW {2015} PaperArtsy Products: Eclectica - Darcy Wilkinson

Hi everyone, Darcy Wilkinson here to introduce my newest stamps. 

First up, it's the introductory video from Leandra...

Tonight I'm going to show you a few samples I have made with the new stamps, and I have a couple of other people who have joined me to show you their ideas too, more of that later.

First, here is an explanation of how I came up with these designs, the story behind them...

I have always loved pattern and texture, whenever I am out and about  I can be found taking photos of rusty metal railings, the gaps in the ironwork or bridges, windows, walls...When it comes to nature, my first love is trees. I am fascinated by the texture of bark, and the patterns in tree rings. 

Just look at these stunning rings and especially the cracks spiralling outwards.

I was never very good at science at school, but I clearly remember looking through microscopes at the cells in plants. I found them beautiful, and plant microscopy has attracted me ever since. How can nature be this clever, this creative?

In museums and art galleries I am drawn to the ancient rocks and minerals, the striations formed over time are quite mesmerizing.

So these were my starting point, circles, spirals, repeating patterns, but how to fit those into something that somewhat resembles a flower?... well maybe a flower from outer space! i sat and doodled shapes, patterns, and real flowers. One image leads to another, happy accidents happen...

Emails and texts start to fly back and forth, not all images make the cut... you will be happy to know something with a freaky eye in it did not make it through lol Before I knew it they were done, and then the wait begins... till they arrive at my house like this. 

It is always so weird, exciting, surreal to see them transformed into rubber. I stroke them for a while before allowing them to get inky. 

So here they are...

The A5 stamp sets...

My son thinks the border on the right looks like Celtic runes ( he is an archaeologist) , he thinks the next set should be inspired by ancient history?

EDY11

In this set, my favourite part is the stem on the largest flower, an odd choice you might think... but when I look at it I see not just a flower stem, but a border, or  a frame, It is super skinny so it can be bent on your acrylic block to make beautiful curves... I have even used it to make letters. 

EDY12

I just love the starry background stamp on this one, use it for dandelion clocks, texture, or small flower heads like daisies.. stamp in white or yellow and they become stars. The stamp at the top (rings with dashes) was inspired by the Van Gogh painting 'Starry night' I love his brushstrokes and use of markmaking. The phrase is one I made up years ago, it has stuck with me and I am so pleased to see it on a stamp. 

EDY13

This plate has a definite spikey feel to it, the arrow shaped leaf, the chevrons, spikey grasses and the alien spikes on the flower head. My favourite stamp has to be the leaf, depending on the colour used, it can be a leaf or petals... if you extend the stem then it becomes a small tree. 

EDY14

These are the minis, and you will definitely see the tree rings represented here. Along with Alfie the owl and Wilbur the Chicken King. I just love EM11, these can be kept as a group, or cut the heads and use them as flower centres or buttons. I am really looking forward to using EM13 for all kinds of journalling spots. 

So lets see what can be made with these...

Project One: Drawers by Darcy using EDY11, EDY12,EDY13 and EM09

I started with a set of wooden drawers, and as I was using some translucent paints I gave the drawers a coat of gesso first. This solid white base enables the colour of the translucent paints to be bright and true.  On the bottom half I used, Guacamole, Tinned Peas and Hyde Park.. on the top I used Beach Hut and Inky Pool.

Using coordinating Archival ink, I stamped the small background stamps from EDY11 and EDY13 onto white tissue paper, and used this to line the drawers. 

This is one of my favourite techniques when using fiddly stamps, or stamps with small areas that need colouring. I colour my substrate first, in this case tissue paper. it means you can add a pattern with stencils and then stamp over that. I added extra shading with Fibralo pens, these are translucent and allow the colour and pattern from underneath to show through. 

I used this technique to stamp the border from EDY13. 

I used the same technique on tissue to create the mushroom from EM09 for the side of the drawers. .

I used almost all of the flower heads to create the pediment. First I painted some smoothy card in greens, yellows, oranges and blues then went crazy stamping the flowers and leaves. I also stamped the text from EDY11. The text was glued on hinged card to the top of the drawers and all the flowers and leaves piled up around it. 

Project Two: Tea Cup by Darcy using EDY13, EDY14, EM13, and EM14

I first made the cup and saucer by applying papier mache over a real china cup and saucer. It was then painted and crackled before being decorated with the leaf stamp from EDY14. ( Stamped onto tissue and then glued to the cup and saucer)

This could be  a lovely gift, for a birthday or Mother's Day.. especially when filled. I made this tag using the flower from EDY13 and Alfie the Owl from EM14. The corrugated card adds great texture over the brayered background. 

I also added  this little pouch made from painted tissue paper. Inside is a teabag, you could also include chocolates or a wrapped cookie for a really sweet gift. The journalling stamp from EM13 works perfectly here. 

As a finishing touch I added the bottom part of the double bird house from EM15, this is hanging from the cup handle. 

Project Three: Duct Tape Bag by Darcy using EDY12, EDY14 and EM15. 

What do you get if you combine 2 rolls of duct tape, a piece of broken jewellery and some paint.stencils.stamps?... well a bag of course!

I made the basic bag first, entirely from duct tape. This is incredibly shiny tape, so I added 2 coats of matte medium, and then added Fresco paints. 

I brayered more paints, added some stencilling (Seth Apter stencils), more paint and then I stamped the notepaper from EM13 and the text from all 4 of my large plates. I also masked off the centre of the 'Van gogh' stamp and just stamped the dashed outer rings. 

Then on more duct tape I stamped the large flower head  and leaf from EDY12 , and on a separate piece the leaf from EDY14. The base colours are Fresco paints, topped with liquid pearls and a white posca pen. 

Here is the finished bag, I am super excited by this. I think it's really cool, and it will be my summer bag this year... As it is a 'designer' bag it needed a little tag, so that is make from, yes you guessed it, more duct tape and stamped with EM15. 

Project Four: Big Haired Mermaid by Darcy using EDY11, EDY12, EDY13,EDY14

A launch wouldn't be the same without a 'big-haired' girl, this time our girl is a mermaid called Miss. Selena. 

I began by blending lots of the brand new limited edition paints using the black side of cut n dry foam. over this I added a little stencilling. 

Then I stamped the grasses from EDY12 and EDY14 to complete the background. I blocked in the mermaid again with new limited edition paints. The hair is Banana and Tangerine Twist, the tail is Caribbean Sea and Jade. 

Here you can see I have blended out 3 areas of paint. I like blending into wet paint with a contrasting colour, you have to do this quickly as Fresco paints do dry quickly. once dry I stamped the leaves and the pebbles. 

Here she is all finished, lots of layers and bright pops of colour. Do you see those strings of pearls in her hair? they are the pearls from the side of the heart on EM16.... I love to use bits of stamps. 

Starting next week on my own blog, I will be showing step by step instructions for all my projects shown here tonight, do pop by as there will be lots of posts and lots of photos. 

So, onto my guests for this evening, 3 wonderful  ladies who have added their fantastic ideas to the design melting pot. 

First up is Penny Nuttall her projects are always bright,bold and quirky. Here is what she had to say.

"Darcy's wonderful organic stamp sets put me in mind of a Victorian 'cabinet of curiosities', a collection of jars and slides in a display case of imagination. I don't normally work to a theme but......I can't stop!"

Specimen Jar 1

In this curious cabinet are images from stamp set EDY13, stamped in Archival ink on Smoothy card and painted with Fresco Finish Acrylics (Tinned peas, Pumpkin soup, Autumn Fire, Beach hut, Inky Pool and Orchid). I cut out the dome stand and background frame in Kraft card and painted and stamped in Brown Shed (my new fave colour...for this week!) and played around with the words.

Specimen Jar 2

The second collection of microscopic marvels is from EDY12. The dome is sponged round the edges with Beach Hut to give some glassy depth.I love layers (never quite manage flat!). Watch out for these microscope slides on a future PaperArtsy blog post.

Specimen Jar 3

I really enjoyed layering up all these elements, and again playing with the available text to create new phrases. The crisp white corrugate is a great contrast to the kraft card.

Specimen Jar 4

So much fun to be had colouring in all the shapes, done here with Fresco paints, but you could also use Fibralo pens.

My second guest this evening is Alison Bomber, a regular on the PaperArtsy blog, Alison is known for her layers and often vintage tones, so seeing her work with this colour scheme is so exciting. Her samples really pop!

"I can't resist book pages at the moment, and I loved the contrast between the old-fashioned text and Darcy's fabulous quirky images, so I really played on that..." 

Nature's Blossoms

This piece is created with EDY11.  You have bare book pages, and kraft card and then a hit of really glossy colour.  Lots of careful stamp positioning for this one - and it was perfect, but then I glued the panel down a millimetre out of place - grrrr!!  Love how the Gloss Glaze gleams in the sunshine though.

Wise Owl

This adorable little chap is one of Darcy's new minis - EM14 - and I've paired him with the words from EDY14.  I love how the translucent paint lets the book text shine through, and again there's a good coat of Gloss Glaze to catch the sun. I stamped in black and clear embossed the images, which makes painting them lots easier!

Spikey Flowers

This jumbo tag is made with EDY14, plus the quote from EDY11, all stamped in black archival.  The painted ones and the words were also clear-embossed for glossy definition, but the eggs on the kraft card were left "naked" to intensify the matte kraft look. I love those spiky flowers, and the stamp which could be a leaf or could be a tiny tree - it's doing duty as a leaf for me here, added to the stem of the large flower.

Envelope Trio

This trio of ATCs has a quirky twist - they're stamped and painted on little cash envelopes.  I did this with last year's release, I remember - in my brain the offbeat envelope ATC somehow fits with the offbeat look of the images from Darcy's crazy imagination! The stamps are a combination of EDY11, EDY14 and mini EM11.  Still working the glossy colour against the "naked" kraft and book pages, with some more colourful book pages providing the background.

Illuminated Jar

Well, my candle obsession continues...  I couldn't resist creating a 3D version of some of my samples, so I grabbed a helpfully just-emptied mayonnaise jar (it had to be a tall jar for these long elegant flower stems) and stamps from EDY11 and EDY14. 

Some of the stamping went a bit wonky, but I'm embracing quirky imperfection, and rather than a close-up (though there are some of those over at Words and Pictures of course), I'm giving you one shot of it in the light - apparently opaque - and then one shot illuminated from within, which is when the magic really happens!

My next guest tonight is Anneke De Clerck, I just love Anneke's style, crisp, fresh and modern. Tonight, as ever, she has some wonderful ideas for you.

Patchwork card

For the background I painted coffee filters and punched squares out of the filters. I made a layered flower with the same paper. I covered the white buttons with washi tape.

Splattered Flower

I started by making a background with Grunge Paste, Gesso, Guacamole, Tinned Peas and Snowflake.  I also used a circle stencil (TCW) Stamped and painted the image in white to make it pop off the background. Added a few embellishments and some contrasting orange squares.

Mixed-Media Card

For this card I made a background with my gelli plate and Fresco paints. I used stencils from Tim Holtz and TCW. Stamped and layered the flowers on top, and added a word embellishment and some black details to the edges.

Blossom Tag

I coloured the flowers with Orchid, Spanish Mulberry, Pumpkin Soup and Autumn Fire. Did the sponging in the background with paint and a JOFY stencil (PS007). Adding some stitching details, and the words. 

Striped Chicken

I made strips out of painted coffee filters. The bird and leaves were stamped on old book paper.On the background I used a JOFY stencil (PS007)

Next up this evening I would like to welcome Miriam Grazier. Her samples, I think you will agree are just wow! bright and zingy and her enthusiasm for the stamps shines through. 

This is what Miriam had to say when she first saw the stamps. 

"When I first saw Darcy's new stamp sets I loved the possibilities that I could see.  I used them as flowers on my projects but thought they could be used as individual petals, teardrops, and even hearts.  I loved the steampunk look of them and all of the individual stamps and borders.  The one thing that grabbed me was the versatility of the sets as all of the sets work so well together - and as soon as I saw the new paints - it just screamed at me and I couldn't wait to get creating!"

Background 

I added tissue papers and borders to a blank journal page then painted over them in various colours from Lin Brown's new Limited Edition paints. 

Top Layers

I then added lots of stamped images in ink, paint and pencil until I was happy with the page. I love the  images and textures and just how the colour pops!

Card

The background for the card was painted in the same way as the journal.  I then stamped the leaves and coloured them in pencil, and further stamped images in paint. The main image was stamped onto a painted label then mounted onto foam pads and onto the card background. I love this quote....actually I have a thing for collecting quote stamps!  This was stamped in Archival.

Lastly, Leandra received this journal page from Lin Brown via email yesterday...she's been having a sneaky play with my stamps too! So its lovely to share this with you !

Didn't all mu assistants do an amazing job!!! I am beyond thrilled that they were on 'my team' this evening. A huge bearhug thankyou to each of them, for their inspirational projects. 

If you want to catch me teaching a class, then contact your local PaperArtsy stockist and encourage them to get in touch with me. I am situated in Middlesborough, so North of England is my area.

Otherwise, my blog is Art and Sole . and my Twitter is Darcy _UK_

I don't do a lot on Facebook but my stamps do have a page of their own. Darcy UK Eclectica  and I attempt to keep up with Pinterest

I really hope you are going to enjoy using these stamps this year, and I look forward to seeing all of your creations. 

Darcy x

Don't forget, Shiny Stuff was the PaperArtsy blog theme for the 2 weeks prior to the New Product launches. We have held the challenge open until Sunday night, Feb 8th. Link your art here.