Marvellously Rusty

Hello all!  I'm very happy you enjoyed Going for a walk in the meadows.  Today we're heading in to a secret garden.

I'm delighted to be sharing a project as Guest Designer for the new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog (formerly Frilly and Funkie).

I was thrilled when my miniatures piece Around the Fireplace was selected as their winner last month, and so happy when I heard that the theme I'd be guesting on would be Marvellous Metallics, hosted by the brilliant Jenny of Pushing the Right Buttons.

My metallic preference generally leads me towards weathering and decay, so I've gone marvellously rusty with this tall tag.















I started with a tag from one of the Prima Tag Pads, 8 x 3.5inches, which comes printed with this lovely vintage script collage.

















Over that I layered a wash of gesso and applied some DecoArt Crackle Paint with a palette knife.
















From there, I simply did some dribbling and spritzing with Distress Sprays in Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage, allowing the ink to sink down into the cracks.














Later on, I did some dipping and splattering too, and stamped my favourite Rubber Dance weeds in Olive Archival.

I didn't really want to cover it up much after that...















... except to add some white splatter and some white paint around the edge, and some gesso'd tissue tape to anchor my embellishments into the tag.

It's a subtle softening of the look, but I rather like it so I wanted to show you the difference this stage made.








So, on to those embellishments...  I twisted some rusty wire into a rustic oval frame, just right for the Idea-ology girl to perch on.

She's from the Ancestors set, intended for Halloween, but I find her melancholy rather than creepy.









Anyway, she seemed about right as the girl hiding away in her secret garden...


















... a hidden place, a little decayed and run to seed.















To make sure I had plenty of "marvellous metallics" I picked out some metal cogs and gears and started to rust them up.













I smeared on some textured sand paste in places to provide the underlying texture...















... and then got busy with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in Quinacridone Gold and Payne's Grey to get the rusty colour tones I wanted.













I'm really happy with the results and it didn't take long at all.  It's a great way to lift some cheap metal embellishments onto a new mixed media level.














I couldn't resist adding some of my favourite dried flowers (Baby's Breath, I think somebody in the comments called them last time I used them?).
















The sprigs add a lovely delicate touch of dimension and echo the flowers the girl is clutching.














It's one of my own PaperArtsy quote stamps providing the words.  This one is a Charlotte Brontë quote from EAB07 Dreaming & Doing.













A scrap of lace and a twist of twine finish things off at the top of the tag and that's pretty much that.













Do check out the fabulous projects from the Design Team over at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog, and I hope you'll be inspired to play with some Marvellous Metallics too.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon.

If precious metals had been abundant, they would not have been precious.
Henry Hazlitt

A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.
James Stephens

I'd like to join in again with the Splatters and Splodges theme at Try It On Tuesday - I'm always splattering and splodging!
And at Tag Tuesday the new theme hosted by Joan is Summer Fun - what could be better than a peaceful afternoon in a summer's garden?