Hopeful Flowers

Hello all, and welcome to an unusually quiet Words and Pictures.

As January vanishes away, I'm dashing hither and yon - sometimes feels like ever-increasing circles - just about managing to be in the right place at the right time, but without much time left over for anything else.

And there's exciting craft news coming along in a week's time, so I'm saving some of my energy for that!  But I'm squeezing in a blogpost before setting off to Bath in about an hour's time.

As a result of all the busyness of life, the jumbo tag I'm sharing today is not a current make.  It was actually made some time back in the autumn and is finally making an appearance prompted by the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge who are playing Tag It this week, and the chance to add a touch of colour to these grey days for Stamps and Stencils' On the Bright Side theme.









This was one of those tags which unfolded over a number of weeks on the craft table.  I would get a couple of steps done, and then get stuck, leave it for a while to get on with something else, and eventually return to take a few more steps. 











It's not in quite my usual vein - though it does have many of my favourite things - so maybe that's why it was such a stop/start process.

I took plenty of photos along the way - just as well, or I'd have no idea any more how I made it! - so this post is all about the creative struggle to get it done.












So way back in September I started by putting texture paste through a fabulous Donna Downey stencil onto a jumbo tag which, as you can see, had already been through some aborted stages before being painted over with gesso to start again.














I added some additional texture mainly around the edges with the Tim Holtz Speckle stencil...













... and then set to with some colour.  I think I was using mainly DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics, but four months on I'm not entirely sure any longer.

As I dried the paint with the heat tool, I found the texture paste was bubbling underneath.  I really liked the effect, so I did it some more.













Next stage, a couple of weeks later, if I remember rightly, was to add some dollops of DecoArt One Step Crackle in and around the stencilled texture.













You may be able to see that I've glued the tag to some thick cardboard by this point - the sturdy support means the crackle can do its job without distorting the tag.  It also gives the whole thing a satisfying solidity.














Once that had dried and crackled (nice!) it sat around again for a while...







... until I took the heart-in-mouth decision to smother it in white Antiquing Cream.  You've seen this method in action in a couple of places since (the Mini Marvels and the Trailing Ivy) this was one of the most dramatic cover ups!

You apply it, let it dry, and then wipe it back with a damp cloth for a whole new effect.  It's a little scary to do...








... but totally worth it when you see the white crackle against the darker colours...















Then there was some more procrastinating when, having decided the flowers now needed a bit more presence, I was unable to decide how to achieve that.















I re-placed the stencil and applied DecoArt Crackle Paint through it.  I lost my nice bubbled texture, but I think it was the right decision.














Once it was dried and crackled I started adding some more colour with the Fluid Acrylics. 












Yellow is an almost-never colour for me, but I had been dabbling in daisies with my watercolour explorations at the time, so I guess that influenced this decision.

I couldn't quite decide how to handle the centres of the flowers.  On the one hand, I really didn't want to cover up some of the delicious crackle which was there.











On the other hand, they looked a bit weird with just empty space in the middles.  It was another waiting period while I debated what to do.














In the end I went with some Prima Art Stones...















... topped with a brushing of raw umber paint to give them a seedy look.














It was touch and go with the addition of the words too... the tag sat there for days as I added and removed the Quote Chips, trying to decide whether they belonged or not.












Finally, with some tangled thread in the mix, I glued them down.

Still not sure whether I should have left them out after all... but I guess they fit quite well with this whole drawn out indecisive creative process!












And I found myself using black - black! - to edge the tag.  It felt like it needed some strong definition, but it doesn't feel very "me".













After all that stressful decision-making, the topper is as simple as can be - just some garden twine to tie up the daisies.

You can probably tell I'm not entirely sure about this one.  I really don't know whether I like it or not.

I love the crackled daisies and the crackle in the background, but the finished look is a bit off to my eye.

Ah well!  One day this year I hope to finish the journal page I've also used this flower stencil in - that one is shaping up to be far more my kind of thing.  But it won't be until the end of April at the earliest now...

Yes, it's packing time again.  Words and Pictures is on the move again for the next few months.  Getting the balance of winter clothes and craft stash in the suitcase is going to be as tricky as ever!

I hope you're all in fine fettle, and I really hope to manage some blog visiting soon to find out what you've all been up to...  In the meantime, happy crafting all!

Where flowers bloom, so does hope.
Lady Bird Johnson



I'd like to share this in the Tag It theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge
With the unaccustomed pop of yellow, and some bright colours underneath all those layers too, I'd like to share this at Stamps and Stencils where they are looking for spring-themed projects On the Bright Side