I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Saturday 25 March 2017

Encore - You don't bring me flowers...

Encore Posts
Projects which made their first appearances elsewhere for Design Team duties or Guest Designer opportunities, but which only had a sneak peek here, are being gathered together in the pages of my virtual scrapbook.  I'm calling them "Encore" posts and they're formatted differently (all the way down the centre), so you can spot them easily.
Please don't feel that you have to comment all over again!

Hello all!  I'm back with one of my Encore posts.  They'll be bobbing up now and then when life is too busy or too complicated for regular projects and posting.  I've still got watercolour experiments to share, but just haven't got time to write the posts at the moment, so an Encore it is.

This one was for the Artistic Stamper and it's from almost exactly three years ago... 23rd March, 2014.  Funnily enough, I've just recently been playing with some moulds again, so it seems like the right time to post this particular project.  Here's what I wrote back then...
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Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here again, with a musically-inspired hanging for you today.  (Click on the photos for close-ups if you'd like to see more.)


This happens to me a lot... a phrase or song lyric will go round and round in my head until I'm pretty much forced to allow it to play along.  If you want to listen while you look, You Don't Bring Me Flowers is the song that invaded this creation!


I know this song was triggered by the new toy I was playing with to create the stone urn on this piece... there's something very melancholy about old stone planters in my head, and that dictated how this piece took shape.


Jennie has just added these fabulous Katy Sue Designs silicone moulds to The Artistic Stamper shelves.  There are some really lovely and intricate moulds - and I thought this little trio might have dollshouse potential as well as crafty applications.

UPDATE I'm afraid The Artistic Stamper doesn't stock these any longer, but they do have other moulds to play with here.


I had meant to use some air-drying clay, but when push came to shove I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to dry, so instead I melted some beeswax in a tart tin, using my heat tool, and poured that into the moulds.


I sealed it with multi-medium, and then painted it with various colours, including the marvellous Stone Fresco.  The little mulberry paper flowers are from my stash.


Regulars will know that when I need melancholy, I usually reach for the Gibson Girls, and this woman was perfect for my purposes.


I stamped her in Potting Soil Archival onto some Distress Watercolour Cardstock, and then used a mask to allow me to ink and stamp around her.


I stencilled around her using the new Tim Holtz Doily mask, and stamped with my favourite Calligraphy Mat, but lots of the layers have almost disappeared under the final spritzing of Perfect Pearls Mist in Pearl.


Worth it for the shimmer - though it's hard to capture in a photo.


The book page ivy strands had been sitting around on my desk for ages (created for this art journal page at the beginning of February, but then that needed something darker).


Despite the layer of beeswax covering them, they're pretty fragile, so it's a miracle they've survived this long!


The watercolour panel is layered up over some distressed book pages...


... with some die-cut paper lace tucked under the edges.


Another crack at that shimmer here... with lace and book page and corrugated card and all!


The words are stamped on another piece of watercolour cardstock...


... torn...


... and inked around the edges.


And I used gesso and some Picket Fence Crackle Paint on the corrugated background to create a shabby chic look.


I rather like all the layers of distressed elements, and the masking of the main image which I think really makes her pop.


A couple of eyelets and some pale twine, and it's ready for hanging.


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So another blast from the past for you - delivered as close to its third birthday as possible!  I hope I'll be sharing some of my more-recent mould-making with you soon, but first I'm supposed to try to make some dollshouse dolls for the Tudor Tavern... it's been empty long enough.  I haven't decided exactly how to go about it yet, so that will be taking up most of my time and creative energy over the next few weeks.  I'll keep you posted if I have any success, but in the meantime, happy crafting all!

You don't say you need me
And you don't sing me love songs
You don't bring me flowers anymore
From You Don't Bring Me Flowers by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman & Neil Diamond

18 comments:

chrissie said...

What a great re post and a beautiful hanging. I just love the little molds and I am off to see what is on offer as my daughter wants to know what to buy me for Mother's Day-with Amazon Prime I could get them by tomorrow lol.

The words you have chosen today are so sad. The song always touched me somewhere deep down and still does. Maybe from a past life :0(

Have a great weekend

Love Chrissie xx

Redanne said...

Definitely worth a second viewing Alison, I just love how you made the little planter look like stone! I hope all goes well with the dolls for the Tudor Tavern and I look forward to seeing them. Have a lovely weekend. Anne xx

hazel said...

An amazing project Alison - I love it lots.
xxx Hazel.

Meggymay said...

For sure this is a good a read as it was the first time. Its a lovely post. a beautiful project and that song is now singing in my head.
Yvonne xx

froebelsternchen said...

An amazing project - worth to see a second time!
Happy weekend Alison!

Dorthe said...

So beautiful to see again, the lovely sepia tones, and the heartbroken girl, not getting flowers any more :-) Love you found it in your head ,- and created the text in stamps - also the moulded urne looks great Alison, and wonderful with all the texture on top of the white corrugated cardboard !!
Hugs, Dorthe

suzyb said...

I really love your work. This piece is really amazing. I look at it again and again, so detailed and the wee urn, amazing. It looks like cement. Great job Alison. Keep it coming!

Hazel Agnew said...

Loving the ivy and the book pages. Wonderful sepia tones. Definitely an Alison Bomber production! Xx 😊

Mrs.B said...

Lovely to see this again, I remember those little planters and thinking what a wonderful stone effect you achieved. Haven't played with my moulds for a while, think you might just have rekindled my interest.
Have a lovely weekend.
Avril xx

Kirsten said...

I remember this well, it is still just as beautiful.

Brenda Brown said...

A fabulous encore project with wonderful elements and techniques xxx

Lynne Moncrieff said...

Beautiful!
You perfectly captured the song in this creation and you do know, this melody will be swirling in my head for days on end now :)
Wishes
Lynne

pearshapedcrafting said...

This must have been one I missed while at the caravan(and nearly missed again!) This looks so perfect using the shades you did - I am sure your lady looks even sadder that way! Truly beautiful…and of course I am humming the tune! Hugs, Chrisx

maria's knutselplezier said...

Fantastic!!! I love this!!

Greetings
Maria

Jackie PN said...

Oh Alison!
I DO love this piece! xx

sarascloset said...

Well, it looks as if Blogger has gobbled my comment! I missed this one first time around, I think, so it's as good as new for me! Love that "concrete" planter! And, now I can't get that tune out of my head! Hugs!

Julia said...

I love this one. It is so melancholy and beautiful. x

Barbara said...

what incredible technique! the stone effect is .... wow! amazing project! Barbara