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Friday 8 November 2019

A time and a place

Hello all!  Sorry it all went quiet again there for a week or so - life, you know!  Thank you for all your amazing comments about Sunrise, Sunset - I'm glad it made you as happy as it did me.  I'm back with a couple of quick shots of extra happiness for this weekend.  These happy tags are samples from my latest stamp launch with PaperArtsy in September, and use quotes from EAB14 The Happiness Edition.  I'll share one today and one on Sunday, all being well.


For the background here, I've been doing my watery brayering technique again and, as you can probably see, this one was done at a stage where the water was really the main ingredient on the craft mat, with just a hint of paint.  But still the Aquamarine, Sky Blue and Cheesecake colours create some lovely effects I think.









This lovely girl from Hot Picks 1008 popped straight into my head when I was thinking about stamps to use with the Happiness quotes.  Could there be a more joyful, contented expression on anyone's face?













And I've always loved the fact that within the collage around the girl, there's a tiny echo of one of my all-time favourite PaperArtsy stamps, these wonderful grassy stems from HP1005.  (I used it in one of my first ever projects as a designer for PaperArtsy, back in 2013!)











For the quote itself, I used a paintbrush to create an ombre of Aquamarine, Sky Blue and a touch of Lawn, and I embossed some Wow Vanilla White over an Archival stamping.













As I've mentioned before, I find that stamping with Archival gives me a finer imprint than an embossing ink, which is great for a detailed stamp.  You do have to be a little quicker about getting the powder onto the ink, but it's perfectly do-able.













Most of the rest of the stamping is done in Olive Archival, always a favourite of mine.  But for the girl I also added some Watering Can to part of the stamp for a slight ombre effect there too.






I sponged on some Lawn followed by Olive Archival around the edges to draw the eye inwards, mounted the tag on some white card for a nice framing border and some simple white twine finishes things off.


There... a nice short post for you.  I'll be back on Sunday with some more happy grasses, so I'll hope to see you then, but either way I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.
Joseph Addison

I'd like to share this over at Tag Tuesday where Michele's theme this fortnight is Seeds and Plants.

23 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful tag, love the colours, the happy face and the lovely quote. And thanks so much for joining us at Tag Tuesday, much appreciated. Your little prize is packed, I will fight my way into the post-office tomorrow to send it off to the not-so-united kingdom! Hugs, Valerie

Monika Gulyas said...

Beautiful tag, Alison!!! And I love this quote!!! xx

Dorthe said...

It is a beautiful tag Alison,
the sweet girl the lovely grasses, the quote so right and so beautiful too, in your embossing - also the colors, are wintery coldish to see, and fits perfectly to the now, here . Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs, Dorthe

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I focused on how the grassy stems were echoed in the collage of the girl. You couldn't have picked a better combination. This is a simply stunning tag, Alison.

Craftyfield said...

I love both of these stamps! Beautiful ours and great quote too, Alison!

Amanda said...

Loved these when I first saw and lovely to see them again. Just ordered all 3 sets couldn’t resist any longer lol
Love
Amanda x

Helen said...

what gorgeous colours! a really pretty tag

Let's Art Journal said...

Beautiful tag! The colour and pretty images give it quite a retro feel and I love how the flower seed heads are repeated throughout the tag - perfect 😁. Yes, the happy face matches the quote wonderfully too. Wishing you a lovely weekend! Hugs, Jo x

Meggymay said...

A beautiful tag and a wonderful quote, lovely restful colours as well.
Yvonne xx

My name is Erika. said...

Fabulous tag Alison. You really made good use of those stamped images. And Nice green. I need some green in my life now since all the colors are gone from the world around me. Hugs-Erika

ginag said...

You just fill my cup with such outward gratitude, Alison. I love your art and playful humerous descriptions to follow along with. Your quotes, especially at the end of each blog always get read over and over. You are my keeper of all quotes!

Redanne said...

The image of the girl is so wonderful, she looks so happy and the quote just suits her so perfectly. I love the gentleness of the grasses too. This is really lovely Alison. Anne xx

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

LOVE that quote and the greens are so wonderful and soft...a beauty!

Michele said...

gorgeous tag and wonderful quote! thanks for linking to tag tuesday! xo

Fliss said...

Absolutely gorgeous tag Alison, such lovely calm and serene colours and many congratulations on your new stamp quotes which I managed to miss.
Fliss xx

Mac Mable said...

Wonderful quote and a wonderful tag. Such beautiful colour tones and the stamping looks fabulous x.

Patty O'Malley said...

Awesome tag, Alison!

pearshapedcrafting said...

Definitely a happy tag Alison! Lovely colours and two great quotes in the same post! Hugs, Chrisx

craftytrog said...

A beautiful tag Alison! Wonderful image and quote.
Happy new week,
Alison xx

Sue said...

This is so beautiful Alison, and these really are words to live by. I need to get myself out of my 'saving for best' mentality, 'cos 'best' should always be now! Thank you so much for the Sunrise Sunset link, I now need to see the whole musical! Have a very happy week, Sue xx

Margaret said...

Gorgeous! Your background looks amazing and the technique sounds like a fun way to experiment with colors. Another amazing tag!!

sarascloset said...

It looks like I've got plenty of inspiration to catch up on, so I'll start here, and perhaps I might get to see everything before I have to dash off to work. Lovely colors on this, and she does indeed look joyful! I love your quote in white embossing! A stunning happy tag!

Mary Elizabeth said...

I really like this quote and yes ... the stamps on this tag truly evoke the feeling behind the quote. Marvelous. ME