A fantasy 12 x 12.

Hi all,

Recently i have been working on something for Jennie at The Artistic Stamper. She will be at the Make-It craft show at Farnborough, Hants from 20th - 22nd Feb, and i was asked to make something for the stand.

I was asked to do something with one of my fairy doors i make. I haven't made any for a while so this was a great opportunity to dust off the chisel and set about something special for the show. After sitting in my craft room for days on end wondering what to make, i came up with this 12 x 12 layout.

I am quite chuffed with the end result, at first i was doubtful whether something so "blocky" as a wooden door would suit a paper craft layout, but this actually fits quite well with the fantasy theme.

At first i went with a very plain background 12 x 12 paper, but then i came across this one from the DCWV "Once Upon A Time collection". All I've ever done with that collection was stroked it lol, so it was a pleasure to use it on this LO.

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The door itself was kind of a new experiment for me, in that i usually spend a long process getting the finish right with paints and varnish. However here i used a thin coat of Picket White Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint for the finish, and what a result! I am so pleased with how this turned out, just as you'd imagine an old weathered painted door to look.

Another first for me was the fact that this door can open! :)

A single brass hinge covered with ultra fine glitter, allows the door to swing open, revealing a hidden world behind it....

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The view behind the door was made by covering a backing paper from the Crafty Individual "Trees" range, with ultra thick embossing enamel (UTEE), then i sealed some pine branch punch leaves under another layer of UTEE. The effect looks real magical in real life, you could almost get away with thinking it was underwater.

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Now until this project, i have to confess to having been an absolute oaf at embossing! However i recently purchased an anti-static pad which appears to have made a major difference. On this layout, i really wanted to use one of the any of Jennie's Calligraphic background mats, and as you can see, it worked beautifully with embossed gold against the background layer of greeny-blue distress ink. I also edged the whole 12 x 12 with embossed gold. The embossing isn't perfect, but i'm still a learner so go easy. :)

Another product that totally sold itself to me whilst using it, was the Tim Holtz masks. I used a couple of pieces from the "Time works" sheet. I blended distress ink over the masks so that it was similar to the 12 x 12 paper, i think it turned out pretty well and i really enjoyed using these.

I thought the Once Upon A "Time" wording fitted nicely with the clock piece....

What else is there....ah yes.....a little tag made from black stamp board and embossed with one of Jennie's stamps, backed with a crackle glazed stamped paper.

Finaly, i have to mention the door plaque. The name of Jennie's challenge blog and another one of her stamps. Anyone who has seen my doors before, knows they are hand carved, and this plaque was no exception. I think it goes with the door nicely.

So i just wanted to say a big thank you to Jennie and Hel's for asking me to do this, it opened my eyes to a few techniques that i have been wanting to try for a while now, as well as trying out new products.

Talking of which, here are the products i used from Jennie's shop, all which can be found here...

Various rubber stamps, including background mats, flourishes and word stamps....

Calligraphic mat 3 for the gold embossed background.

"Object d' Art" stamp for door plaque.

"ART" stamp for the embossed tag.

Flourish swirl stamp (part of) for around the door.

Flourish swirl stamp for embossing on page.

"Diamonds" texture mat for "ART" tag backing.

Chipboard tag for embossed "ART" tag.

Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint (Picket Fence - white).

Various colours of Distress Ink applied with the blending tool and foam pads.

Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE).

Gold Embossing Powder

Tim Holtz Ideaology "Timeworks" masks.

Crackle Accents. for back of "ART" tag.

Crafty Individual backing paper "Trees".

Thank you for taking a look.....hope you like it. :)