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...

Friday 10 August 2012

Secret Garden

Hello all!  I'm making time again, out of a busy schedule, to create and share a tag with you (yes, it's just one tag)... I think I'd go mad if I focused only on the wedding stuff!!  And I really, really wanted to find time to enter the House of Bears' inaugural challenge based on the Secret Garden (they're all going to be literary-related themes, gorgeous idea).  And given I'm learning and experimenting all the time, I didn't want to miss Simon Says Stamp and Show this week trying out different ways to Paint it Up.  (Both deadlines coincide with the wedding day!!)  So here's my (two-faced) tag for today:


The front                               
The back

I guess that like much of my recent work it's coming from the thing that's taking most of my time and effort at present - my brother's wedding preparations. 

I'm at that scary stage: full of doubt that we'll pull off the wedding transformation, and full of hope that we'll end up with a magical garden of a wedding venue.

And those two feelings are on opposite sides of this tag.








On the wall side, the background started with a coat of gesso (rubbed in well to get the chipboard texture coming through) and then I built up layers of stamping using the Tattered Angels Architectural set in Coffee and Sepia Archival.  

I stamped a few times with acrylic paints on the stamp, quite thickly to get some texture (as I've done before), and also with some bronze pigment ink onto which I swept some copper Perfect Pearls powder.  

I brushed over some areas with a bit of gesso again, and then edged it with the dark brown acrylic, quite dry on the brush so as to get the brush strokes visible.



The gorgeous, fine metal mesh comes from the fabulous Linda Coughlin's Funkie Junkie Boutique, and came wrapped in the corrugated card (which got a rough coat of sand acrylic just on the raised edges) - genius packaging going straight into action, and giving a lovely grungy bit of texture to the tag.







I stamped the words on some scrap paper where I'd been wiping my brushes and blending tools, also adding some textural stamping, using another of the Tattered Angels stamps, to match the mesh.


As you 'leap over the wall' - or turn it over! - pretty much everything changes... I wanted a complete and surprising contrast.










The background started with a coat of muted green acrylic, mixed with white.  I then put in some almost dry brush strokes of gesso all the way down and, once dry, added a coat of Rock Candy (clear) crackle paint, thicker in some places, non-existent in others.  I left it to 'do its thing' while I went off to do some more wedding chores...


On my return I blended in some Peeled Paint and Forest Moss to bring out the crackles, and edged the whole thing with the Forest Moss too.  



The papers are from K&Co and from Prima's Botanical, each given a coat of watered-down gesso to whitewash the colours.  I cut them to tag size and then ripped, rolled and edged them with Bundled Sage and Forest Moss, to create the framing dimensionality.

The words are stamped onto the 'whitewashed' K&Co paper using Aged Mahogany.  Rather than full strength, I used the second stamping, so that I got a paler cherry to match the roses in the paper.

Also in my Funkie Junkie parcel were a couple of lovely freebies, these corrugated die-cut butterflies amongst them, so they were put straight to use as well.  




I gave them a coat of Shell Pink with a Paint Dabber, then softened it with some Vintage Lace Fresco Paint from PaperArtsy.  




Using a paintbrush I stippled on some Aged Mahogany Distress Ink from the pad, and finished with a spritz of Perfect Pearls Mist in Pearl for that lovely sheen.





I had to work out something to act as my tag string which wouldn't look out of place on either side, so in the end I decided to keep it pretty simple.  The ivory raffia picks up the creamy colours in the tag on both sides, and you can't go wrong with a bit of neutral twine!


Thanks so much for stopping by today... I'm so grateful for your feedback and support.  Your lovely comments make my day!  I love Craftyblogland!!

I'm entering this in the following:
The House of Bears challenge, The Secret Garden
Simon Says Stamp and Show who would like us to Paint It Up
The Sunday Share over at Frilly and Funkie, having used my lovely new mesh, freebie extras and the packaging bits from the Funkie Junkie boutique
The Inspired by Stamping challenge - though they'll only be interested in one side of the tag! - with their lovely inspiration photo, Garden theme, and a request to use Pink, Green and Creams
And I'm joining the Bloggers Challenge bloghop again - hosted by Lisa Somerville - adding some Texture this week

If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden.
from The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

34 comments:

Chrissy said...

It amazes me how your mind works at times Alison, as this is so deep and creative...what a fabulous tag, really stirring, and romantic.
Fabulous imagination, and by looking at your work desk down below, you have been incredibly busy.It is going to be a fantastic wedding with you at the deoration helm, cannot wait to see the piccies.

Luv CHRISSYxx

mark gould said...

beautiful, i really like the look and feel of the wall side, although i love the layers on the other side. great idea doing a double sided tag.
I could never do that, its hard enough keeping the main side clean lol

Patti P. said...

How beautiful. I love the mesh and how you used the piece you were wiping your brushes on, such a dramatic and thought provoking creation.

...the yorkshire fox... said...

...Alison your posts never cease to amaze me...so much work and so much detail, incredible...loVe what you have done here and the contrasting sides to your Tag, stunning stunning work and so inspiring...Mel :)

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

What a great way to show your feelings in these two tags...moody, even the colors show the difference.
Great artwork Alison...

greetings, Alie :-)

Unknown said...

Oh my Alison, love your tag! I'm a huge fan of The Secret Garden and painting is just plain fun. So off I go to see if there's still time to play along. Thanks for taking the time to share your creativity and these fabulous challenges. The sentiment you made is absolutely perfect.
Hugs

House of Bears said...

Wow, thank you so much for playing along. We're so pleased to have some entrants into our inaugural challenge.

Your work is stunning, we love the idea of the double sided effect, and the way the wall invites you to jump over and see what might be on the other side, and the way everything starts to come to life.

What a fab entry. :)

catherine said...

These are fantastic tags Alison and as always very creative with the techniques you use. Hope you have a good weekend
x catherine

Janny Jager said...

Very very beautyful tags Alison.
Love them.

Greetings Janny

Cath Davidson said...

This is beautiful, it's a great challenge isn't it. :)

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Fabulous tag, love the texture from the paint, corrugated card and mesh. Lovely contrast to the reverse side, love it. Thanks so much for joining in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. Tracy x

Sandra said...

Stunning tag Alison! Love that you've used both sides! And the paint jobs look amazing! My copy of the secret garden is really worn! Read it from cover to cover a million times! Hmmm, I should look it up again... Good luck with the last finishing touches of your brothers wedding! Thank you so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. Hugs, Sandra

Basement Stamper said...

Fabulous creation, love all the texture you have created on this. Thanks for joining us at Blogger's Challenge this week.

Candy C said...

Alison, I really love your tags. They are awesome. I love your background on each...so different. The tag talking about doubt is darker, more like something you'd expect to see when thinking about "doubt". Then the other tag is so light, airy and definitely more uplifting. Love both of them! All of the colors, textures and patterns are so interesting. Love the butterflies and the almost ruffly torn and layered papers of the "dreams" tag. I also love how you added the bits of the more harsh wire mesh behind the words of the "doubt" tag. Very nicely done! Thanks for sharing your art with us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. <3 Candy

chrissie said...

Brilliant tag--would never have thought of decorating both sides and they are both 'A' sides for sure.

Love Chrissie xx

Anna-Karin said...

Such a great idea for a tag! LOVE that you decorated both sides, and the sentiment is wonderful. Fabulous textures! Enjoy the wedding! Thank you for joining us again this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show!!

emma mitchell said...

Oh wow I love your beautiful tags , such fab detail and techniques.
Hugs Emma xx

Claudia N. said...

And again you melted wonderful deep thoughts and reflections into a wonderful deep piece of artwork, Alison!

I so love your sentiments behind your creations, because they bring life into every tiny piece of cardstock and paper you use!

This is paper poetry at it's best.

Hugs from Salzkammergut,

die amelie xx

Sarah said...

What a beautifully executed concept!

Cestina said...

Banish all doubt butterfly! It looks stunning - a veritable magical garden of dreams....

Can't wait to see the photos - though they cannot possibly convey the reality of the glorious transformation.

I'm bursting with pride at your achievement (mothers are allowed to burst with pride ;-))

coconut said...

Very lovely and romantic tag, with a nice set of words... Good luck !!

Lisa Somerville said...

Lovely tag, love all the added texture and distressing!

Thanks for playing along with the Bloggers Challenge!

Chris said...

Hi Alison, just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.ca/

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Talk about brilliant, wow! Your double sided Secret Garden tag sure is a brilliant approach to the theme. Such lovely surfaces and layers on this project - it truly is a small work of art! And I always love seeing what my customers are doing with the products, and the freebies, they get from my boutique! The rusty mesh and the corrugated cardboard are terrific here! Amazing work as always. Thanks so much for joining in with our Sunday Share linky party over at Frilly and Funkie!

Hugs,
Linda

Asia King (aka Joanna K) said...

What a gorgeous tag and so much yummy texture! I looooove it! xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Alison. Another fab post. Super tags. Love them.
Regards Florence x

Deb Hickman said...

What a beautiful tag, great quote, both sides are just gorgeous. Thank you for joining us this week at IBSIC. Deb xxx

Colleen Dietrich said...

Oh, I just LOVE the symbolism of this tag! It's wonderful! Thank you so much for playing with us at IBSIC.

Marjie Kemper said...

T is for Texture, girlfriend... and you know how to creat it! Love this, front and back!

Terry said...

Double sided fabulousness! So beautiful are both sides and I just love all the texture! Congratulations for the winning the Sunday Share!

Susan said...

The 2 sided tag is outstanding. Simply love it.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous tags! I love all the colors so much! Thanks for playing at IBSIC! Hugs, Joanna

Ellie Knol said...

I just LOVE your background !

Kezzy said...

Stunning, just love the way your mind works and both sides of the tags are amazing. :-) Kerry xxx