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 28 September 2013

Feeling bluesy...





Hello everyone.  I'm sorry my visiting has been sluggish lately... it's all about moving house round here at the moment.  I'm so looking forward to the point when I'm free to play in Craftyblogland again!

I am managing to squeeze some crafting in - I think I'd go completely spare if I didn't.

Yesterday I came up with a sequence of sorting stuff, filling a box, five minutes crafting; sorting stuff, filling a box, five minutes crafting and so on, and in that way managed to get my Tim Holtz September tag done.

I had such fun playing with the stencils.  Regulars will know I rarely craft without a stencil in any case, so this month's inspiration from Tim was a joy to play with (although I did wreck two attempts by going one step too far before finally arriving at this one).












Because I'm getting to do very little freestyle crafting at the moment, I decided to allow myself my favourite colours for this tag: blues and browns - yay!!











But that's really my main departure from Tim's creation, so if you want the making-of details, I'm going to direct you over to the how-to post of the master himself.

In the meantime, I'm just going to share a few close-ups and colour details of my version, which made me very happy in between the box-packing.












Embossing paste stars giving lovely dimension and texture to the tag...













Love the Picket Fence Distress Paint resist effect (the horizontal stripes are the DP) against my Distress Stains of Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire.

I'm enjoying the Prima Chalk Edger in white at the moment too, so I used that with the rays stencil - moonbeams slanting across the sky anyone?









Layering up the stencils for depth, I did go as far as Black Soot...















... but then overlaid the stencil again and went over it with Vintage Photo.

The edging is Vintage Photo too, of course.











Vintage Photo on the Chitchat stickers too, along with a bit of Chipped Sapphire, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Marker around the outside.













I followed Tim's lead with the Papillon butterflies...















... adding some of the text from the same set.













Stencilling on the crinkle ribbon - very cool idea.













And a type charm: B for butterfly perhaps?  I would have done A for Alison, but the As are all black, and I wanted a white charm.













A couple more Idea-ology bits - a trinket pin and a pen nib, and we're done with a tag that I really enjoyed making.










Thank you, Tim, for yet another fabulous piece of inspiration.

Will do my best to hop around and catch up with some of you soon... and I should be back on proper form in a few weeks.  Happy Crafting all!

I'd like to enter this as my September tag for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013
And at Country View Crafts the challenge is to play with Layers - plenty of them here!

I love layers!
Alexander Wang






69 comments:

Helen said...

Love this tag, that shade of blue is gorgeous. Have a good weekend - hope you are settled soon and can craft away to your heart's content!!

Anke said...

WOW WOW WOW I love your Tag, absolutely stunning.

Hugs
Anke

May said...

Gorgeous work as always Alison, Love the blues & fabulous background...I hope life settles soon for you...Hugs May x x x

Unknown said...

Wooow wonderful tag

Brenda Brown said...

Fabulous layers and depth in the blues and browns Alison especially with the white too which had taken on a blue hue in the photos. Love this take on Tim's tag. Hope you are getting through the boxes now and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Enjoy the weekend.
hugs {brenda} x0x

Inkypinkycraft said...

A gorgeous tag Alison, hope things are beginning to get sorted, I am sure a tough and tiring time for you, take care x sorry have been missing, been a hugely busy week. hugs x

Unni A said...

I love blue! And I love your tag :)
hugs, Unni

Anonymous said...

Morning Alison, that is gorgeous. I love the combination of blues. My tag was 'only' the second attempt, I messed up the first one at the very end. Grr... :) Have a great weekend.

Astrid Maclean said...

So glad you managed to have some fun Alison between all that packing and sorting.... the result is wonderful and your joy with it all shines through! It's really beautiful and I love your moonbeams across the starry sky offset with my favourite butterflies. Gorgeous make and good luck with the next few weeks!!

Chrissy said...

Fabulous tag Alison..loving the blues and browns..love the texture of the stars and the 'B' charm...superb.

luv CHRISSYxx

Cestina said...

Lovely! And just think - this time in 3 weeks you can craft all day and I can go on sorting books, but into coherence instead of chaos!

Nil desperandum as our mutual relative would have said.
Woyaya!
xx

Hettie said...

Another beautiful piece Alison. This is one of my favourite TH stamp sets too - so useful and you have shown it off to a tee. Well done and look forward to seeing more of your work wen settled again at your new homehugs
Xx

froebelsternchen said...

oh wow .. this is just amazing ..an awesome tag dear Alison..and I love love love your rusty piece below too!

happy crafting - happy weekend

xxx
Susi

Candy C said...

Absolutely gorgeous tag. I always love what you create. The colors and contrast of this tag makes it so eye catching. I love the added texture of the embossing paste. You have so expertly used do many of Tim's new stencils! Love it all! Hugs, Candy

Claudia N. said...

I LOVE this tag, Alison!

Even better than Tim's (as it has too many colours on it for my liking). These are YOUR colours and you do them sooo well! The stencilling is awesome and you put those butterflies perfectly in place!!!

Awesome!!!

Hugs and all the best for a successful move!

Claudia xx

Asia King (aka Joanna K) said...

Absolutely gorgeous tag Alison, love the blues and the stenciled textures. Pure awesomeness! xxx

Shilpa Nagaonkar said...

Whoa! its beautiful, butterflies on blue layers, perfect layers :)

Von said...

Super colour ways ! just love it :)
Von ♥

Amanda said...

Beautiful interpretation and I love your use of your signature colour scheme, fabulous. Good luck with all your packing and looming house move.
Love
Amanda x

BJ said...

I just ADORE your BLUE version of this month's tag brilliant. BJ

Deborah said...

The stars on this tag look amazing and I love the blue. Now back to your packing! lol

Rita said...

What a Stunning Tag Alison. I love the blue hues. Good Luck with the move. Hugs Rita xxx

Julie Lee said...

I'm so glad you found time to craft in between the packing. We are helping my mum move house at the moment so I know what it's like, but it's just too miserable to be utterly craftless. I love your description of how you fitted this project in. It is just gorgeous! Well done you for just letting yourself go with your favourite colours; you deserve that indulgence! I love those TH butterflies - on the new list - birthday out of the way, on with Christmas!Good luck with everything! Julie Ann xx

Redanne said...

A wonderful take on Tim's tag Alison, so glad you found a few minutes here and there between the packing! Hugs, Anne x

Jennie Atkinson said...

Fabulous take on Mr T's tag. I love your colours and the background is just super. Glad you are finding time to craft - it must be difficult though. Will they be the last things to be packed ?!!!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Most perfectly done! Love this!

Mary Elizabeth said...

Alison -- congrats on finding a few moments to get this month's tag done :) If I know you, crafting this tag was a priority over packing and probably eating and sleeping. Well worth the time too! Wonderful tag!!! Seriously love the colors with the stenciling. Incredible job highlighting your focal image with the moonlight rays. Just gorgeous my friend!!! (Oh ... and the stenciled tag tie is awesome! Almost forgot to say that :) ) -- Mary Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

Fabulous tag Alison, I take my hat off to you for still finding time to craft among the turmoil of moving ! Sue C x

Yvonne Garner said...

I always learn so much from you Alison! Your tag is a masterpiece! Thanks for taking a moment to stop by my blog in the midst of all you are doing! Hugs, Yvonne

Clare Lloyd said...

Fabulous!

Ellie Knol said...

Hi Alison! Gorgeous again. I am clearing my studio, and filling a package for you at the moment, would you also like to have some beautiful paper napkins, or do you never use them?

Dorthe said...

Dear Alison- this is such lovely colours, the butterfly stamp so wonderful, and your creation, with the moon beams shining through it all, so amazing!!
I wish you a great time packing your old home up, and then unpacking to make a new ,exiting and beautiful place for you to live and feel happy.
Hugs,Dorthe

maj. said...

Totally stunning, such an amazing beautiful background!!!

maria's knutselplezier said...

What a great tag Alison, I really love the blue and white combination!!!

Greetings
Maria

Terry said...

You give new meaning to feeling blue! Alison, this is a totally captivating tag and I love all the shades of blue with the splash of brown! The stripes look light a burst of light! Hugs!

Kate Yetter said...

So much lovliness in that background! Awesome layers and colors. Lovely Alison!

Sandy said...

Beautiful Alison but I still cherish that rusty looking wall hanging with the farm. Now THAT was really wonderful!
Sandy

Mona Pendleton said...

Gorgeous as always Alison! Love the pretty color scheme and texture! Hope you feel better!

Nan G said...

Wonderful tag! What was 'wrong' 'off' with the others? Won't you share them too? Even if they're not finished. Well, this one is a beauty. Love all the stencil layers and the spare amount of stamping. And I just love the distress stains! Hmmm, me thinks it's time for stencils, stains and wood in froggy designs world. :)

Marci said...

A pleasure to look at. Moonbeams and starlight and blue sky. Reminds me of a song, Gershwin, Allman Brothers, ???? . Three more weeks,eh? Hope you can keep crafting and packing. Encouraging thoughts to you.

Kath Stewart said...

fabilicious...blue and brown one of my favourite colour combos...hugs kath xxx

Ozawa said...

Wow, amazing playing on the TH tag! It really gives me more inspiration as the original from Tim!

Chris said...

Fantastic tag Alison! Love your version and your special touches so much. Don't envy you all the packing, I know it's a nightmare but I hope the move goes will and I'm glad you're managing to fit in a little bit of crafting. Chris xx

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

Alison you have a wonderful gift of being able to take the lovely and turn it into something absoltuely wonderful. Colours sing and your design is so different. Keep on rewarding yourself it makes the monotonous achievable.

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Although you had hardly any time Alison, you succeeded in creating a great tag! It has the wow-factor!

Paper Profusion said...

Simply stunning Alison! Did you know you were very deservingly pinned by Tim http://www.pinterest.com/timholtz/12-tags-2013/ !!

I love your moonbeams - that stencil is en route to me as I have plans for beams too! (No Scottie involved!)

I don't envy you undergoing this move - hope it's as smooth as possible. Nicola x

barbarayaya62 said...

Alisan what a fantastic tag! I pinned it before to post a comment on your blog! Amazing, love color , all blue, beautiful !!!!BArbarayaya

Shirley said...

Such delicious stamping and layering of colours Alison. How the light blues fade into the darker shades is simply gorgeous Introducing the brown tones compliments the whole feel of the tag.

Crafty hugs from Shirl x x

Dianne said...

Brilliant work, in all that fluttering around, very nice you got so much satisfaction, love the colors you used, no wonder it got pinned :O), love the pin with your Butterfly B it's so kool another BRILLIANT take on the September tag, thanks for sharing, hope you get a wee bit of rest and a wonderful week..

Princess Judy Palmer said...

I love your tag with its depth and the variety of blues you put into it. It doesn't make me feel blue though! It makes me happy!

I'm impressed you can give yourself a 5 minute crafting break and do something with it. I have to stare blankly at my desk for at least 5 minutes before starting anything. Nope, I'm just not as disciplined as you!

Julia said...

Outstanding, love the blues. X

mark gould said...

im so sorry for my absence, looks like lots is going on both in and out of blog land. hope the move goes well, where abouts are you heading?
A great tag as usual, love the colours and that butterfly stamp is one of the classics for me. I think my fave part is the subtle sun burst and the stars xx hope the move goes smooth x

Inkypinkycraft said...

still love it ...just popping back to say ...thanks for joining us at Country View Crafts Challenge, hope to see you next month x trace x

craftytrog said...

I love your beautiful blue tag Alison!

sam21ski said...

WOW - gorgeous

Sam xxx

Cocofolies said...

Fabulous tag Alison !... I love how you combined these wonderful butterflies with the stars that pop and shine so beautifully !! If I had more time I'd love playing with you following all the 12 Tim's tags tutorials... Phew. You made my smile too with your 5 minutes crafty time here and there... haha, I's quite similar to my life, although i don't change home Lol ! :) Hugs, Coco xx

Sue said...

This is stunning Alison, I love your colour combo and it really does look like you tag is being hit by rays of sunlight! Good luck with the house move xx

Gio said...

It's beautiful Alison, and definitely blue and brown are your cup of tea. The combo that always remind me of you!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Such a wonderful take on Tim's tag, great color scheme.

Anonymous said...

So glad you are managing to find some crafting time as it is so important, I say even moreso at such times.
The colours are so pretty and the different images.
Wishes
Lynne

Anna-Karin said...

Beautiful tag Alison! Love the layers, stamps and colours. I missed the deadline on the September tag, my stencils are missing in the Bermuda triangle of missing postal parcels...and I waited for them until it was too late for the tag.

Victoria said...

Beautiful! I love the stars - they really lift the design.

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Totally fabulous Alison. I struggled a bit with all the layers, but you have done a terrific job. Love the color palette you worked with. Congratulations on making Tim Holtz's Pinterest board! He pinned something of mine yesterday too - amazing!

Hugs,
Linda

Margaret said...

I am so happy to see your blues and browns back in action!! This is such a beautiful tag and I love the raised texture from the stars. Hope things are more settled for you soon!

Marjie Kemper said...

What a beauty! Off to pin this gorgeous tag.

Sandra's Spot said...

Stunning and just love the colour combo. Hugs Sandra X

Kjersti said...

Love this, so beautiful!
Hugs:)

Kezzy said...

Wow wow wow absolutely gorgeous, the colours are stunning, I so love it when you do blues, I love blue but never tend to craft in blues as I never get it to work, mind you I still keep trying on the basis I still buy blue lol. Love all the layers and the moon beam is a fantastic effect along with the stars. Hope packing is going ok. Hugs Kezzy :-) xxxxxx

Kasia said...

Oh yes! It is so so beautiful! Love this tag :)