Simplify, simplify

Hello all, hope you're all having a lovely week.  We're taking a break from dollshouse renovation to go and see Jurassic Park in Czech (!!) tomorrow afternoon.

I love the film, and can pretty much recite it word for word, so it should be good for my language learning (they dub rather than subtitle things here)!

Since many of you are asking - thank you for your interest - I will share some dollshouse transformation photos very soon, I promise...

In the meantime, I wanted to share this tag with you, a little breath of spring using one of my favourite Artistic Outpost stamp sets, Old Grist Mill.

I find this set so beautiful and calming.  It's full of nostalgia and the fresh air of the great outdoors - I'm sure I breathe more deeply when I create with it!

It's a jumbo sized tag - the lovely Linda Coughlin included a couple of freebies in my last order from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, so I had to press them straight into service!








I used Distress Paints for the background, mottling them by dabbing with kitchen towel before they dried, and then added some stamping with the leaf image from the set.

It's done in Sap Green Archival so it's very subtle - but I like that.







I stamped the mill itself in Olive Archival, and added a couple of darker leafy bits around the edges, as well as one full olive leaf to the lower part of the tag.

I wanted to use the delicious Floral Frames embossing folder, but of course it doesn't reach the full length of a jumbo tag... I could have cheated and done another pass with the folder a different way up, but I decided I'd rather break it up a little...

I cut the tag to the length of the embossing folder, and embossed the upper half - perfect.


That left me with a two-part tag, so I sent the lower segment through the BigShot with the folder too - and did some inking to highlight all the embossing.  Yup, happy with that.

But hey, three is better than two, right?  So I added a third segment cut from some of the delicious white corrugated card also available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

That was obviously where the sentiment needed to go: Simplify. Simplify.  What could be simpler than that?

A spring tag needs some flowers.  I've added some white ones with a touch of Tattered Rose, as well as some already rosy ones.













The larger white ones were part of a lovely blog candy I won ages ago (wow, in January, I think it must have been) from lovely Danielle Renee - they're by Recollections.











I used some of the gloriously delicate twine which wrapped up my little parcels when I was lucky enough to win another candy, some delicious goodies from the wonderful Kasia of Papierowy Wymiar.  Love this stuff... going to have to source some, ready for when it runs out!!

Both Danielle and Kasia do lovely work, and their blogs are well worth a visit.









Having added the roses, I decided to create some rosy ribbon to top off the tag, and tied it
together with another bit of the delicate twine.

The final touch was some Rock Candy crackle paint added roughly around the edges of the tag, for some extra texture - I never tire of the magic of watching this stuff transform from a gloopy syrup to glistening crackle!













The sun has finally come out in the last couple of days here in the Czech Republic (not when I needed to take the photos - bah!), and I have my fingers firmly crossed that it will continue - though I have to say, I didn't really pack for warmer weather, clothes-wise... I was concentrating on the crafty-stash packing!



Hope the sun is coming out for you wherever you are.  Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by - I love having your company on the journey.

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life.
John Burroughs

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.
Plato

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.  When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Lao Tzu

I'd like to enter this in the following:
At Live and Love Crafts the April Challenge is a Bingo card (love these), and I'm playing straight down the middle: Cheesecloth, Vintage, Flowers
At A Heck of a Challenge they would like us to Just Add Water - hope my water mill qualifies... there is a millpond in front of it!
At Simon Says Stamp the challenge is April Showers or Spring Flowers
At Divas By Design they are also looking for Flowers
With the corrugated card and the jumbo tag from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, I'd like to enter this in the Sunday Share over at Frilly and Funkie