Birds

When I was a kid, there weren't many horror movies compared to today and they were pretty harmless by comparison. But I'll never forget one that really scared me and gave my sister nightmares--it was The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock.

So I made this tag for Simon's Monday blog challenge where this week's theme is Monster Mash. I used Distress inks and two stamps by Tim Holtz (the large bird and filmstrip) and one by Penny Black (Winter Ledge). The house was an image transfer of the school building from the movie and I hand-lettered the text.

Memento Mori

I can't recall how I recently came across this image but it resonated with me because, at the time, my back was killing me from overdoing it during a new yoga class. And I suppose, given it's almost Halloween, I thought it would be fun to alter it somehow while channeling my inner pain.

I was curious about the symbolism so I Googled the text and discovered that it's Latin for a phrase in the Bible (Romans 5:12) and is an example of Memento Mori (a medieval Latin theory) which in art, is artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality.

As I worked to cut-out the image I admired the skill of the illustrator and wondered what he may have created if modern materials (that we take for granted) were available to him. Perhaps the Dark Ages wouldn't have been so dark but still there's much beauty in just using pen and ink.

Click to Enlarge

It was pasted on to scrapbook paper and tinted a bit to provide some contrast. To bring out the holiday theme I used black Stickles.

My back is now much improved and I will keep this image in my head as a reminder not to over do it in future exercise classes!

I'm linking to Our Creative Corner where this month's challenge is Halloween Horror.

Mums

My entry for Simon's Monday blog challenge this week features a Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamp and watercolors.

I began by stamping the mums on watercolor paper with clear ink then used clear powder to emboss them.

Next I dropped in juicy yellow and orange watercolor, let it dry and then used a damp tissue to wipe it off the embossed lines.

I drew the likes of a basket and handle with my very handy Perfect Pearls pen, embossed with clear powder and filled them in with a brownish mix of watercolor.

Click to Enlarge

I used polka-dot washi tape to fill-in the basket around the flowers by pressing the tape down then cutting around the edges. A sharp blade and gentle pressure does the trick and prevents cutting into the background.

Then I masked the basket, flowers and handles so I could stamp the upper part of the tag with text (Heidi Swapp) using archival ink and tinted it with blue-green and magenta watercolor.

Final embellishments included hand-written text using a Gelly Roll pen, tacking on a bow and distressing the edges of the tag with walnut ink.

This becomes Tag Number 136 which I'll add to my collection at manilaguerilla.blogspot.com. But who's counting?