Shabby Chic a la Morocco

I love a good challenge and Tim's tag for April was just that. Not using a die cutter means working the hard way but it forces me to think outside the box and makes for more original artwork. I always try to incorporate whatever technique he highlights but make a point to put my own spin on it.

This tag went through many transformations (thank goodness for gesso, the great cover-up) and I'd be hard pressed to say exactly how it was made. But the ingredients were corrugated cardstock, a modified stencil (courtesy of Lowes), an Exacto knife, various tissue tapes, acrylic paint, Distress inks, sand paper and a fine-tipped marker. My flower was made using a technique from Clare Buswell and the leaves were cut from watercolor paper.

I really enjoy Tim's monthly feature and had so much fun working on this tag. I am grateful for his inspiration as well as the opportunity to link up and I always look forward to seeing what others will make. Thanks for stopping by!

Sing Spring

I live in the desert and we have two seasons, hot and not hot and I miss Spring (and green). So I made this tag to honor the season and I'm linking it to the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

The background began with an image transfer of a page from a magazine then I stamped on a butterfly (Martha Stewart) and some lace (Anna Griffin). I added a strip of Melange tissue wrap to the side and bottom and cut out a piece of a flower from the same magazine page and pasted it near the top.

I used acrylic paint to fill-in the butterfly wings and bring out some of the colors of the flowers then distressed the edges with ink.

Emily Carr

It's been too long between posts and I have no excuse. I got distracted and when I looked at the time over 20 days had past!

I made this tag to link up with the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp. The theme is transparent so I used an acrylic medium transfer technique because it has a "see-through" quality.

First, I printed an image (Emily) on a page from the French Industrial Paper Stash and cut it into the shape of a tag. Then I printed a separate image (flowers) and used acrylic medium to transfer it to the tag. I used an Anna Griffin stamp to fill in a blank spot near the bottom. I used a bit of blue acrylic paint to push back the flowers near her head and a touch of white paint to bring out the ruffles of her dress.

All it takes is a visit to two of my favorite places for inspiration and I get my muse back. Thanks Berengia and Aputsiaq!