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...

Sunday 6 March 2016

Encore - To every season...

Encore Posts
While I'm away, there are some scheduled posts with new creations coming your way, but I'm also taking the chance to do some catching up here at Words and Pictures.   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!

This is a project from February 2014, when I was one of Darcy's wingmen for the PaperArtsy new releases that year.  This is one of the samples I created for display on the PaperArtsy show stands as well as on the PaperArtsy blog, and this is what I wrote back then...
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Hello all!  I'm here with a project using Darcy's fabulous new stamps.  They're not in my usual style, but I really had fun with this one!  I started out with just one tag in mind, but before I knew it there were four seasonal variations in front of me.


I started with crackled backgrounds: French Roast underneath, then a layer of Crackle Glaze and then Nougat over the top, with the Crackle Glaze doing its usual magic.  I stamped the trees in Potting Soil Archival and clear embossed them, so that they would hold their own whatever I put over the top.  I used one of the lovely borders to create my landscape so the trees had somewhere to sit.


I applied my sky (mainly done with washes of Ice Blue, Sky and a hint of Beach Hut in the mix in summer) and grass colours mainly with a natural sponge, blending darker colours over the lighter ones from the edges to create layers and depth.


In Spring, there's just a light sponging of Limelight and Hey Pesto for the new leaf growth, and there's just a touch of Nougat to highlight the tree blossom.  Adorable little spring buds are popping up around the foot of the tree.


In Summer, the flowers have bloomed beautifully - with Nougat and Beach Hut "petals", and the grasses are growing wild and free.


Up in the tree, the blossoms have given way to big bold leaves, now darkening with some added Hyde Park for that rich fertile green of summer.


Come Autumn and those same leaves are turning to Autumn Fire mingled with Hey Pesto, and there are glossy Cinnamon conkers in the tree (no idea what species this is!).  The mushrooms sprouting from between the tree roots have variations on the same colour tones, while the grasses are also on the turn.  I stamped the stems of the flowers upside down to get some extra grassy texture.


By Winter, everything else has faded away and the bare boughs of the tree are revealed in stark beauty against the wintry Antarctic sky.


The words are stamped on a strip cut from my first tag which hadn't had the tree embossed and so all went belly up when I tried to restamp the tree over the top and missed my mark.  Still, that gave me a lovely background for the sentiment on the finished project!


All mounted on corrugated cardboard (of course!), and some natural raffia toppings... 
and there you have it.
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I know we're hopping around a lot, rather than working through these Encores sequentially, but I've been really enjoying the process of excavating them from my Drafts folder.  (When I have something to post somewhere else, I now always create it here at Words and Pictures and copy it over, so that I have a record here.)  It's fun seeing projects which I'd pretty much forgotten about.  I hope you're enjoying a few trips down memory lane too - or brand new stuff if you're new to Words and Pictures!  Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'll see you again soon.

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
George Santayana

35 comments:

brenda said...

A really beautiful set of seasonal tags Alison.

Hope you have a good Sunday.

B x

Cocofolies said...

Hi Alison,
Taking the time to visit you this morning (I'm just so busy with my workshops schedule, sorry for the late commenting sometimes...), but I really missed seeing your fabulous makes always.
This one, I well remember it since it is among my favourite inspirational tags and boards forever!!!
I hope everything goes well for you. Happy Sunday!
Hugs Coco xx

chrissie said...

Wonderful to see this set again and the glorious corrugated background that shows them off so well.

Take care Alison and enjoy your time away

Love Chrissie xx

Sue Marrazzo Fine Art said...

AWESOME!

Barbara said...

Love this seasonal tag series! Barbara

Astrid Maclean said...

I must hae missed these the first time round, they look fantastic!

Helen said...

oh, I don't remember these at all, how odd - what a nice surprise.. love the 4 seasons tags!

Hazel Agnew said...

Looks even better the second time around! X

LauraVi said...

What a beautiful creation! Love the colours and the little details for each season, it's my first time I see it, thank you for posting it again!

maj. said...

They are so beautiful! What a great background, such a nice colors!!!

Lys said...

Fabulous tags, so well presented on the corrugated cardboard. I love the designs.

Marci said...

I remember these. I was impressed how you took one stamp and did the four seasons. I'm still impressed, they are just lovely!

Renee said...

I love these tags!

Matilde said...

These tags are magnificent!

Chrissy said...

FANTASTIC Alison..love these tags..

Luv CHRISSYxx

pearshapedcrafting said...

These are fabulous and I don't recall them at all! They certainly do look as though you had fun!! Hugs, Chrisx

Monika Gulyas said...

All fabulous!

Corrie Herriman said...

I remember liking it last time.... It is still as fabulous as it was then !
Corrie x

Terry said...

A wonderful collection of tags and they look fabulous against the corrugated cardboard background. Hope you are doing well! Hugs!

Meggymay said...

Another wonderful memory trip. hope you are enjoying your time away from home.
Yvonne xx

Cara said...

I love how you move through the seasons with each tag, adding extras to the original stamped image. Simply beautiful. I'm inspired!

Brenda Brown said...

Love how you've taken contemporary images and made them so 'you'. These are a delightful set of tags.
Hugs Brenda xxx

Annie said...

Wow!! I absolutely adore these tags Alison x love the fab crackles and beautiful stamping and colouring.....now on my wish list

Tfs and huge hugs
Annie x

craftytrog said...

A beautiful set Alison! Lovely to see them again! xxx

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, I love how you've displayed the seasons, what a stunning piece of art hun xx

Sue said...

Really lovely Alison, all the seasons put together xx

Paper Profusion said...

Beautiful project as always Alison. I hope that everything is going well and that you are able to fit in 'exploration' time in addition to work. Nicola x

Lauren Hatwell said...

Trees are just magical aren't they. I missed this lovely piece the first time round so it's really nice to get the chance to enjoy it now. Lx

Dr Sonia S V said...

WOW stunning work of art!! I am having a celebration on my blog...please do drop in when you can.Here is the link : 5 Million Page-views Celebration

Sandy said...

What a wonderful ides - wonky trees for different seasons. I think you would just burst if you could not be creative in the art world!
Sandy xx

Maggie said...

fabulous idea Alison and I love the PaperArtsy stamps "need" these lol!
MaggieH

Dorthe said...

So fun, and sweet tags , very playful, and wonderfully composed with the stamps, and paint, showing the 4 seasons , a lovely idea Alison.
Dorthe, xx

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I always love to see change of seasons art with the same image! Fabulous. Each one is wonderful!!!

Kay Wallace said...

I dub thee Queen of Crackle! No one can do it like you do it, Alison! Bravo! Bravo!

Diana Taylor said...

This set is so beautiful - each one so perfect for the season it represents - I love your use of crackle too.