Jewelweed

A late entry to Simon's Monday blog challenge, this "J" inspired tag pays tribute to another medicinal plant called Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) whose clear liquid, found in the stems, is a useful tonic for mosquito bites, bee stings and exposure to poison ivy.

There are lots of layers in this tag and it has everything to do with changing my mind (a lot) trying many different effects and essentially just making it up as I went along.

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The leaves and bee with shield were gel medium transfers. There's washi tape in both corners on the left side and I also used a Heidi Swapp script stamp.

Distress inks, gesso, gel pens and acrylic paint also played a substantial role in the process along with plenty of sand paper and gel hand-sanitizer which make great erasers! And it all started on a base of text from a book.

I really enjoy working in mixed-media and collage because mistakes are easily remedied and experimentation is such a big part of the fun. Sometimes, I'll create an effect and have no idea how it happened and could never repeat it again, now matter how hard I tried.

I can't help but thank Tim Holtz (and others) for the distress revolution because intentional imperfection is a great fall-back when things don't go just right.

Joe-Pye Weed

Eupatorium purpureum, commonly known as Joe-Pye Weed, was named after a native American who used it to treat fevers in the 17th century.

Attracted by the interesting name, it's no coincidence that I created this tag for the Monday blog challenge at SSS. This week's theme is the letter J.

Made with an image transfer of text taken from a vintage botanical guide and a variety of distress inks and acrylic paint, the background was stamped with cursive text (Heidi Swapp) and a fussy-cut image of a Joe-Pye specimen was applied.

This is a very beneficial plant and attracts lots of butterflies. Left to dry in the garden over the winter, it's seed will nourish birds. Its gets tall and will spread (hence the "weed" designation) but what a splendid plant for an old-fashioned garden!

Wallflowers

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wall·flow·er

[wawl-flou-er], noun

1. a person who, because of shyness, unpopularity, or lack of a partner, remains at the side at a party or dance.

2. any of several related plants of the genera Cheiranthus and Erysimum.

3. paper designed by Tim Holtz

This tag was made from a book page background covered with an image transfer of a "found relative" and greenery cut from the Wallflower paper stash, embellished with flowers from scrapbook paper and tinted with acrylic paints.