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Monday 15 April 2013

Drip, drip, drop...





Hello all!  After the epic Faerie post (thank you all so much for your heart-warming feedback), we've something a little simpler...


If you're anything like me, that post title will now have you singing the next line (either out loud or in your head)... "little April showers", and that's what I'm here with today!


In fact, we're all about the songs today.  In our family we play a game we call Song Connections: it's basically Word Association (a.k.a Tennis Elbow Foot Ball Match) except you do it with songs.


So, someone starts with a song, and the next person has to sing a song which they connect to it - maybe sharing words or themes, maybe sung by the same person, or from the same musical.


You can be challenged if nobody else can see the connection, but mostly it's just a chance to sing some songs - the ones we like get much longer "airtime" before the next person leaps in with their connection.








So, when I saw the Rogue Redhead challenge theme April Showers, the first thing my brain did was sing Drip, Drip, Drop Little April Showers to itself (not for very long, as (a) I don't like the song much, and (b) unusually for me, I don't know many of the lyrics).

And then there's Simon Says Stamp playing April Showers or Spring Flowers, and the Stampotique Designers Challenge April Showers Bring May Flowers, and my mind hopped on to Flowers in the Rain.

And that's the genesis of this tag...








Lots of lovely DI blending for the background, and then I had great fun dripping water down the tag with a pipette... like that game racing raindrops down a windowpane.






Then a bit of TH spritz and flick for extra splatter.








All the stamping is done with various Tim Holtz stamps from the little sets - spot my hedgerow plant obsession surfacing yet again.














Umbrella Man was an early passion of mine, right back when I discovered Tim Holtz and die-cutting and all this malarkey.  











I've written before about how I think you never forget your first love and I'm happy to say Umbrella Man is back in my life.  You saw him recently in my rainbow of colour, A Thousand Splendid Quotes, and he's here again today.













I clear embossed a PaperArtsy stamp with lots of watery bubbles onto some white card, and then blended lots of blue DIs onto it.  A bit more spritzing and flicking (though not so visible here) and then I cut out Umbrella Man as well as handcutting some additional raindrops.












The sentiment is stamped with the little Hero Arts alphabet, inked so that there's sky at the top and grass at the bottom, and then lots of padded tape to stick things down, and we're there.




Oh, paper ribbon at the top - opened out to make a little fluffy cloud of a bow, and then we're there!

We've had a day of glorious sunshine today, so it seems a little churlish to be going on about April Showers... but there you go!  

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll see you again soon, whether here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland. Have a great week!




And the final song connection takes me to an old favourite (terrible trouble finding a version that I even halfway like - much better sung yourself than listened to anyway).  This is the final verse:

I'll sing you twelve, o
Green grow the rushes, o
What are your twelve, o?
Twelve for the twelve Apostles
Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven,
Ten for the ten commandments,
Nine for the nine bright shiners,
Eight for the April Rainers,  - this line would be the connection for anyone minded to challenge me!
Seven for the seven stars in the sky,
Six for the six proud walkers,
Five for the symbols at your door,
Four for the Gospel makers,
Three, three, the rivals,
Two, two, the lily-white boys,
Clothèd all in green, Ho Ho,
One is one and all alone
And evermore shall be so.

Feel free to keep playing Song Connections amongst yourselves!

I'd like to enter this in the following:
Stampotique Designers Challenge playing April Showers Bring May Flowers
Rogue Redhead playing April Showers
And at Simon Says Stamp the challenge is April Showers or Spring Flowers - will a bit of both do?
Anything But A Card have just launched their new challenge - you'll never guess: April Showers...  

Talk about it never rains but it pours!!

67 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great Tag!!
th effect with the pipette is wonderful, and I love the colours!
Have a nice week,
siljan

barbarayaya62 said...

Stunning! Love the man and the colors you've used! BArbarayaya

Chris said...

It's gorgeous Alison and I love the April showers theme and the gorgeous colours and drip page in your background. The technique on umbrella man looks wonderful too. Is all fresh and lovely, a really wonderful tag! Chris xx

Claudia N. said...

What a lovely idea for a tag, Alison,

and soooo very well done! LOVE IT!

Hugs,
Claudia x

Helen said...

I love your tag, the bubbles are fabulous, and I am a sucker for Umbrella Man too... Flowers in the Rain - first song played on Radio One I believe... pop trivia... only bit I know. Have a great day singing songs to yourself.

Netty said...

that song is a new one on me Alison. Loving your April showers tag, fab colour choice. Hugs Annette x

Monique said...

Love your tag, beautiful colours. I adore the flower stamps you used at the bottom of your tag. They are gorgeous. Happy singing =)

Deborah said...

I love how every piece links in to the theme - the stamped sentiments with grass and sky is a brilliant idea. Fab!

Ginger said...

stunning background and I love your bubbles.x

Inkypinkycraft said...

Love the background and what a great new look for mr rain man! Hugstrace x

Francesca said...

Great tag , with fab colours, has really works well. Francesca

Rita said...

What a fabulous tag Alison. So very unique too. Hugs Rita xx

Terry said...

So much drippy fun, Alison! I love that background and Mr. Umbrella Man with the bubbles1 Too Cool! Enjoy the week! Hugs!

Julia said...

A beautiful tag. I really like that dropped background, you have inspired me to go give that a try. Thank you!

Redanne said...

The bubbles are wonderful on Umbrella Man and I love the raindrops too. A stunning tag Alison. I love the idea of the singing game, the only problem is that I could clear a room in 30 seconds with my singing voice......... Hugs, Anne x

ria gall said...

Hi Alison
What a great tag I love the bubble stamp you have used on your man. This really does sing out April showers.
Ria

chrissie said...

Terrific tag and doesn't the umbrella man look great in his patterned outfit

Love Chrissie xx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

What a playful tag Alison...PIN:-)
Great background with the dripping/ So nice how you stamped the man with umbrella and the waterdrops...great colours, great result.

kind regards, Alie :-)

froebelsternchen said...

amazing artwork Alison.. I love the umbrella man and this is one of the best takes on him in my mind!
xxx

Susi

Anonymous said...

Amazing colours! Stunning tag. Thanks for joining the Stampotique DC

Dorthe said...

Love the background with the dripping drops :-) love the hedgerow plants- and the most wonderful bright green and blue colours used.
Lovely and even sunshiny, and not wet and grey !!
xo, Dorthe

Anonymous said...

Fabulous tag Alison ! Love the watery theme and you are right, I am now singing the song ! Sue C x

Janny Jager said...

Great tag Alison with a beautiful background.
Love it.
Greetings Janny

catherine said...

This looks fantastic Alison and such a great choice of colours too.
x catherine

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

...your tag is amazing Alison, love the pipette idea the results are pretty cool, umbrella man is very stiking, superb detail allround...love the whole theme...Melxx :)

Jenny Marples said...

Love your tag Alison. Great dripping effect and the overstamping works perfectly. And how great that the challenges have all aligned well for you! Hugs, Jenny x

pearshapedcrafting said...

Rain, rain, rain, Beautiful Rain! Love this Alison, the drippy, flowery background, your raindrops - fantastic!
Chrisxx

Reflective Art Studio said...

Oh how I love your sentiment and then those drips got under my skin. Stunning work. Thank you so much for playing in Stampotique Designer's Challenge this week.
Hope to see you again soon.
Sarinda

Sue said...

love this Alison, especially how you've used the pipette to make the little water runs, brilliant idea xx

Unknown said...

Fab colors and design Alison. The singing game sounds like fun and your tag is terrific!

Shelby said...

What a great family game! Love how you've done up this tag and I especially love how you've done the bubbles and the umbrella man...looks so cool

Shelby

Unknown said...

Beautiful! A great take on our old umbrella man [g]. Chris xxx

Lucy Edmondson said...

This is absolutely gorgeous, Alison! Crikey, though, I am not eating with your family if you have to sing for your supper. You would not want to hear me!

Lucy x

craftytrog said...

Lovely drips & drops Alison, gorgeous tag! xx

mark gould said...

I love the rain drops and the water runs. And he really is the perfect die cut for the theme x

Unknown said...

absolutely lovely, such a lot of good ideas.
Hugs
Hilary

Nan G said...

Fabulous tag, Alison. Love the way the streaks show through the stamping. And cutting umbrella man from the bubbles....so cool!

Anonymous said...

Superb! Love all the great effects that bring out the feeling of water! Thanks for playing the April Showers Rebel Challenge on RRD!

The House of Bears said...

Oh this is FAB. We love your drips and your drops, and your pipette rain..... We have the TH umbrella man, I think we've only used him once but you're really inspiring us here,

Sandy said...

Alison your tag is very pretty - I really like the patterns you have used together. Very, very petty with the blues and the greens and that umbrella man is perfect. I don't need to describe it to you - you know what you did! I just want you to know how much I like it!!
Sandy

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Such a beautiful tag, love the color combination and all the raindrops.

Naomi said...

Absolutely fabulous tag. Thanks for all your inspiration.

Annie said...

Great tag Alison :-) love the colours and fab background techniques.....brilliant colours and raindrops. Umbrella Man looks great too. I was thinking of Gene Kelly or Sacha Distel who sang about rain.

Crafty hugs

Annie x

Jennie Atkinson said...

Catching up at long last! Your posts always make me smile and that's before I see your piece! Fantastic tag and I really love that background, super colours and I love the drips. Yes alot of April Showers around at the moment - even here!

Hettie said...

This is wonderful Alison. Love all the little effects you have undertaken here. Your Umbrella Man is great!
Hugs
xx

Dianne said...

Imagine that I was singing in the rain today, " it's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood ", I was getting a lot of frowns from the seniors at swimming LOL. You must know I'm a rain baby so I'm loving this post. The colors are so yummy, loooove the dripps, if you noticed I have the drops on my blog and my home page :):). You put my favorite hedgerow on it aahh. I feel your umbrella man " is a friend of mine" :):). I know why you love him.. Love the water bubbles and your sentiments, you made my day with this wonderful post thanks my dear. Have a great day..

Kelly said...

This is also so beautiful, love the colors and drips.
Hugs Kelly

Melissa Bove said...

Wow! What a gorgeous tag!! Love how you made the background!! Stunning!!

Thank you very much for joining us this week at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog!

Hugs...
Melissa

Kjersti said...

Love this beautiful tag Alison, fabulous colours and love how you made raindrops in the ink! Hugs xx

Brenda Brown said...

Perfect watery colours and techniques for this gorgeous tag. Live the bubble effect on umbrella man.
Hugs {brenda} x0x

Anke said...

WOW WOW WOW absolutely stunning, I love the colours and the raindrops.

Hugs
Anke

Anonymous said...

Wonderful drippy background and those fabulous raindrops.
Wishes
Lynne
P.S. Plenty of rain today.

Kay Wallace said...

Just popped over from Stampotique to check out the detail in your challenge submission--and there is a lot of it! Great step-by-step of your process! Bravo!

Marjie Kemper said...

Oh my goodness, what a totally STUNNING background! And I love how you've done Umbrella Man, too. He's fab with that awesome pattern!

Valerie H. Marshall said...

Gorgeous, Alison! Love the background how-to - nice effect! Thank you for joining us for the Stampotique Designer's Challenge!
Val :)

http://blog.timetocreate.com.au/ said...

I love your obsession with hedgerow wildings Alison. They add a lovely ethereal quality. I am so glad you have been singing in the rain and creating such lovliness. Thank you for joining in at Anything But A Card this challenge.

Sam & Poppy said...

This is simply beautiful. Thanks so much for joining in with us at Stampotique again this week.

Krisha said...

Hi Alison, We play a song game very much like yours, love it.
Your tag is a great sample of the Rogue Readhead Designs challenge: April Showers. Thanks for playing along in this challenge. Now I'm siging Dancing in the Rain....LOL

Vicki said...

Super tag! Very creative and I love the colors. Thanks for playing along with the RRD April Shower Challenge.

Margaret said...

Gorgeous tag! I love umbrella man and how you placed the words! Seems we were both inspired to use blue and green this time (mine will post on Sunday)!!
Your song game sounds like so much fun! My husband, my nephew, and I are music junkies and this is right up our alley!

Julia S-W said...

I really love the way you've created your background Alison - lots of beautiful techniques combined with wonderful 'watery' colours. Umbrella man looks most appropriate with his water drop makeover too! I love to see your hedgerow stamps so don't apologise please.
So glad you found time to join us at Anything But A Card for this challenge (I know how busy you've been with various things lately!).
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Juliaxx

MJ's Kraze said...

Great job. I love the rain drops and the colors. Thanks for playing along at ABAC.

Kasia said...

Beautiful 'rainy' tag :) Love the colors and this cute umbrella man :)

Debi said...

Alison, another wow tag, love the rain texture - but I especially love the sentiment, Thanks for playing the April Showers Rebel Challenge on RRD! Debi x

Kezzy said...

Wowser so loving the tag, the background is awesome and the umbrella man is amazing with all the bubbles. Happy Crafting :-) Kezzy xxx

Cathy L. Calamas said...

"I´m singin´ in the rain
Just singin´ in the rain,
What a glorious feeling,
And I´m happy again.
I´m laughing at clouds
So dark, up above,
The sun´s in my heart
And I´m ready for love."

I never remember lyrics either so I had to google this from Gene Kelly.;)
Saw this beautiful tag linked up over at RRD and I had to stop by. Your tag makes me feel glorious!!
Love, love the umbrella man!

Electra said...

This is gorgeous! I love everything about it!