That Was My Boy

Sad, sad times--we must do better and I pray that we will. Hope is everything. How can we continue without it?

A Sideshow stamp, Clipping Stickers and various inks were used for this tag linked to Simon's Monday Challenge Blog. The theme this week is Grunge It Up.

According to Value

Value is defined as the relative lightness or darkness of a color. It is an important tool for the designer/artist, in the way that it defines form and creates spatial illusions. Contrast of value separates objects in space, while gradation of value suggests mass and contour of a contiguous surface. (Read more, here.)

Of all the things I learned in art classes, the concept of value has been the most significant and perhaps the most challenging to fully understand and implement. I work at it constantly and it can make a big difference when you get it right.

I thought I'd use this tag (my first for 2018), to explain some steps I took to adjust the values which you might find interesting or useful.

1. The lady's dress was bright orange and this warm, strong color was too dominant. To adjust the value, I tinted it with transparent blue (Tumbled Glass Distress Marker). Blue is the complimentary color to orange and when you mix compliments, they cancel each other out. So the bright orange now has a more muted value and settles better into the background.
2. The flowers were very neutral. I wanted them to stand-out more and appear closer (plus they needed some detail) so I tinted them with lines of pink, orange and turquoise gel pens (Gelly Roll Soufflé). Warm colors appear closer, cool colors recede.
3. The lady was grounded by using a dark tint under her feet (otherwise, she would appear to be floating). It's subtle, but you may also notice that the grey background is lighter near her feet than higher up. This is a way to create a sense of depth. Distance (like on the horizon of a landscape) is imitated with lighter, cooler colors.
4. And finally, most compositions are best when there is a mix of bright, dark and medium values. Here, it's the dark greys and black text combined with the bright white dots (extra-fine DecoColor paint pen). The remaining elements fall into the medium range.

If this information was helpful or interesting and you'd like to see similar posts in the future, let me know by leaving a comment.

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Time of Wonder

Back in the day, Christmas postage stamps were printed using an elaborate process without benefit of the digital equipment we take for granted today.

And, sadly, a beautiful series of stamps commemorating great religious works of art is not something I'd expect the post office to take on in this day and age.

Thankfully, we have postage stamp collectors (philatelists) who preserve this vintage art form like my Great Aunt Esther who saved the one I've used for the tag I share with you today.

It was mounted in a little box I made that was lined with old book paper and sits on top of Tim Holtz Ephemera and a page from his Tidings paper stash.

The holly, pine branches and calendar page were cut out of that same Ephemera collection. It's mounted on a red satin ribbon and embellished with Rock Candy Stickles and Glossy Accents.

I used Folk Art gold metallic paint (good stuff) to trim the tag, box and text edges. For the text, I originally chose a Clippings Sticker but botched it up so I made a new one using another relic from the past, a typewriter.

Well, as this is tag number eleven (and also my favorite), I've only got one more to go to complete the set. It will be an homage to Tim Holtz if there ever was one and I hope you'll tune in!

Abbreviations.

Abbreviations: Paper Dolls, backing paper from a Found Relative, Clippings Sticker, and text from a book pasted onto one manila tag.

Kept Her Word

I've been experimenting lately with image transfers over stenciled texture paste using large, solid designs so I thought it was time to try the technique over a more intricate stencil (Tim Holtz Floral).

I used one side of a page from Tim's Memoranda Paper Stash to cover the stencil and another page from the same collection was used for the tag's background.

The little miss is also an image transfer, Remnant Rubs were used to cover the red-bordered labels and a Clippings Sticker became the sentiment.

I consider my experiment a success although it was a little harder and more time-consuming but doable just the same.

And, because this is Not a Card, I'm linking it to Simon's Monday Challenge Blog where the theme this week is to make anything but. Two entries in one week will double my chances of winning and I'm itching to buy some Christmas goodies. Wish me luck!

One of Many

A walk on the dark side (Simon's Monday challenge for this week) prompted a tag made from Tim Holtz ephemera and a Clippings Sticker.

Why one of many? Well, let's see:

1. One of many tags that I make.
2. One of many from the popular technique of attaching butterfly wings to something.
3. One of many bones in our bodies.
4. One of many letters in the alphabet.
5. One of many flowers in our garden.
6. One of many elements in the periodic tables.
7. One of many who perished this week by the hands of a mad man.
8. One of many prayers said for an end to this insanity.

Fortune Teller

I'm so delighted to be a Guest Designer this month at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and if this is your first visit here--hello and welcome!

Our challenge this week is to use red, white and/or blue and features products by Sizzix. I used the Tim Holtz Texture Fade called Roses to create the background for this tag.

After embossing an old book page, I swiped Red Brick Distress Ink on the raised parts. It looked pretty good but I wanted to experiment.

So I spritzed the page with a healthy dose of water (which moved the color into the background) and let it dry. It was still okay but when I turned the page over I got really excited about how the backside looked and that became the background I used for this tag.

To add a little variety of color, I lightly swiped white paint over some of the raised parts.

Next came the oval, cut from a vintage postcard. It needed a border so I hand-stitched around the edge using dark gray embroidery floss then repeated the stitching along the tag edges. I smudged a tiny bit of charcoal pencil around the oval to give it some depth.

The little miss is an Idea-ology Paper Doll dressed up with Lace Trimmings and more stitching (this time using thick white thread). To get the lace to hold it's shape after gathering, I coated it with watered down white glue and let it dry before using Glossy Accents to attach it to the bottom of her skirt.

The original vest was dark gray but I wanted to make it red so I lightly scratched into the surface with an X-Acto Knife which gave me a lighter surface to tint.

The photo above shows how I pre-punched holes with a pin tool to make hand-stitching the scarf a little easier. I didn't have blue thread so I used white and just tinted it to match the skirt.

The scarf inspired me to use a Clippings Stickers text from Idea-ology.
A black star (traced from an image) was placed near her feet.
Tiny stitches were sewn on her vest.
I made a shadow beneath her with charcoal pencil.
Black Soot and Walnut Stain Distress inks were rubbed here and there.

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I really hope you'll join us for this week's challenge because I want to see what inspires you!

And when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog you'll have a chance to win a $50 voucher at the Simon Says Stamp store!

Here's a list of the products I used for this challenge

which can be ordered from Simon:

Tim Holtz Sizzix ROSES Texture Fades Embossing Folder	Sizzix Big Shot	Idea-ology Paper Dolls	Idea-ology Clippings Stickers	Tim Holtz Idea-ology LACE Trimmings TH93216
Tim Holtz Distress Fired Brick Red Ink Pad	Walnut Stain - Distress Ink	Black soot - Distress ink	Coats Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements Craft Thread in Neutrals	Glossy Accents

Happiness

Ah, the merry, merry month of May...

The high temp today in my neck of the woods was 104°F.  A bit warmer than normal, to be sure, but pleasant just the same as May means the crowds are thinning out and the pace is beginning to slow--a precursor of the quiet peace that comes with the heat.

My tag was made to celebrate the great outdoors which is the theme this week for the Monday challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp.

It was an opportunity to use a new Tim Holtz stencil called Floral which I fell in love with after seeing Paula Cheney's Instagram post and was the inspiration for the colors I used.

Rather than use a monoprint technique as she did, I opted to use texture medium over a text background then sanded it down before tinting with Distress inks. The medium helped to resist the ink and retain the stencil pattern.

The moths were cut from a discontinued Tim Holtz paper stash called Kraft Resist which I tinted with Distress markers and a white gel pen. The text is from the new Idea-ology Clippings stickers.

I didn't use machine stitching for the accents because the texture medium just didn't want to feed through smoothly. So, I opted for my backup method which is a good technique for those who don't have a machine.

I use a piece of cardboard placed under the tag and punch holes for my hand stitching with a "pin tool." It's a leftover from my days making pottery but I think it would be easy enough to find a substitute to punch the tiny holes needed. Pre-punching makes the stitching so much easier and it's a curiously pleasant task!

It's also a great method when accuracy is a must as I have more control punching than I do keeping my foot steady on the sewing machine pedal. A simple backstitch is all it takes to complete it.

No Reminders

Good to be back posting and SO grateful that more time is trickling in to spend crafting. Being away for awhile, it felt curiously awkward to start in again (some of my paints had even begun to dry).

I used this week's theme (Things With Wings) from the Monday challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp as inspiration for my tag.

I collaged two photos (a butterfly and a ballerina) on a background made with paper from the Idea-ology Etcetera stash.

I've used the butterfly before (see here), it's called a Luna Moth and I just love it's long, drippy wing span. I added a phrase from the Idea-ology Clippings Stickers which describes perfectly how I've been feeling lately.

I enhanced the values with colored pencils and Distress ink.

I'm also sending a Happy Birthday (No. 3) wish to A Vintage Journey where they are celebrating "Tag Friday" with a special gift and link-up.

Sweet Love

I used an image transfer on a page from the Memoranda paper stash (Tim Holtz), a torn strip of vintage book paper (that included the margin), polka dot scrapbook paper and some paper trimmings to complete this tag (including text from Idea-ology Clipping Stickers).

To keep the background from showing through the transfer, I used white paint behind it (like I did here). A little Tumbled Glass distress stain along with a charcoal pencil and distress markers added more definition to the image.

I'm linking up with Simon's Monday challenge blog--the theme this week is "Use Your Favorite Tool."

I gave this some real consideration while working on my tag, reflecting about each tool as I used it. There are many gadgets I just couldn't do without (like my tweezers, water brush, or glue stick) but in the end, my favorite is:

(drum roll, please)

the X-acto Knife! My scissors are dusty--I always reach for my knife to make straight cuts and most particularly, for fussy-cutting (a favorite past-time). The flowers on this tag are an example of that.

▬ ♦ ▬ ♦ ▬ ♦ ▬ ♦ ▬ ♦ ▬

My schedule for crafting has been really limited lately and I've haven't posted as often as I usually do. But I want to extend a welcome to the new followers I received by way of Tim's post on the Creativation show this year and also thank those of you who've been with me for awhile.

I'll be back as soon as I can, I've got some new ideas up my sleeve and can't wait to get them down on paper and share them with you!