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...

Friday 3 January 2020

Parchment and Pressed Flowers

Hello all, and a very happy 2020 to you... a whole new decade to play in!  I hope it brings you joy, good health and, of course, plenty of creative time and inspiration.  I kicked off the year with a look back at my 2019 crafting journey, and now I'm moving forward, hosting the new challenge theme over at A Vintage Journey but this also involves a bit of backwards time travel.  I've called it We're All Getting Older!

I don't mean to depress you!  What I'm really looking for is projects and techniques where you make something new look older... we're after distressing, weathering, ageing and antiquing.  You can achieve your effects however you want - with inks, paints, mixed media products or good old tea and coffee.  The Vintage Journey Creative Guides have been creating plenty of aged and weathered inspiration for you, so do check it all out but, before you go, here's what I've been up to.


I'll be sharing the how-to details over at A Vintage Journey in a couple of weeks' time so for now I'll just be sharing some close up pictures and the storytelling behind my tag trio.






I wanted to create a look of old parchment, weathered and torn over the years...
















... with that mottled look that very old paper often gets, especially when exposed to moisture... perhaps some tears?















Yes, I think probably tears (though they may have been happy tears).  These are old love letters, with vintage script hovering in and out of view, the ink faded by time.















The pieces of parchment have been preserved and pored over in later years.
















I think maybe they were pressed between the pages of a book, along with these flower stems...












... fragile mementoes of spring and summer days long ago.















Though the colours are faded, they still have a delicate beauty.

















And how do I know that the weathered script forms the love letters of a long-ago romance?















Well, I have the evidence of the sentiments at the foot of the tags, recording it all... the unexpected beginning of new love...













... the feverish intensity at the height of the affair...














... and the yearning memory of intimacy when perhaps it is all over.  

(They're all from my PaperArtsy Love Edition quote set, of course.)













And in terms of evidence, you have the vintage pen nibs which wrote the words too...














You can understand how someone might want to tie these parchments together with fine twine and keep them for always.













That's all from me for today.  If you'd like to know more about how this weathered parchment was created, you can find out in a couple of weeks' time over at A Vintage Journey when I share the making-of details.














But for now, I hope these tags have provided some inspiration for you to go and start making something new look old.  There are so many possibilities with all the Distress products, or weathered crackle, or rusting, or paint effects...  I hope you have lots of fun with getting older!














If you're after some more ideas before you get going, do check out the amazing inspiration from my fellow Creative Guides.  They've all been getting older too!

As always, we're looking forward to seeing what you create, and we'll be selecting a few chosen Pinworthies at the end of the challenge to display on our Vintage Journey Pinterest boards.








Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope I'll see you somewhere further down the road over at A Vintage Journey where We're All Getting Older!

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
Madeleine l'Engle

I prefer the rather old and battered, things with character, to the brand new.
Rick Allen

Old has character that’s been built up over time. It’s the scrapes and the dents, it’s the wear and tear of use and of service.
Larry G. Maguire

I'd like to play along at Country View Challenges where the first challenge theme of the year is Love

31 comments:

Helen said...

What a great theme, Alison! your tags look so beautiful.

Monika Gulyas said...

The same quality and beauty with a little bit more distressing!!! I love these as I love your earlier creations, dear Alison!!! Happy new year, all the best in 2020!!! xx

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful tags, all so beautifully aged and decorated. Have a great day! Hugs, Valerie

Annie said...

Beautifully aged but delicate tags Alison x I love the edges and layers of ink/stamping x The words on your stamps are the perfect addition too xx
Looking forward to viewing the step by step xx

Happy New Year xx

Annie xx

My name is Erika. said...

Getting older is ok as long as you stay healthy and don't lose some ability...it does bring wisdom after all. And these tags are gorgeous and show us your gained wisdom, but not that you are getting older at all Alison. I don't mean that. Beautiful work. Hugs-Erika

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, what beautiful tags and they seem all the more special with the story you have woven around them! I was enchanted by you words of old parchment, script from love letters and pressed flowers - what beauty you portray 😁. Of course your Love Edition stamp set quotes are the perfect addition too! I can't wait to see the techniques that you used to create them later this month! Happy January! Hugs, Jo x

Dorthe said...

Alison , they are so very beautiful, so from another time, and I love them. The parchment story, and how to, will be read by me, whenever it is out , and I will have to try creating it . This is so lovely, the story and everything , and brings me in a wonderful mood of fragile beauty, the big love and wishes to hear more .
Happy New Year dear Alison- xoxo

Chrissy said...

Fabulous weathered and aged tags Alison..love the added nib, great quotes and of course I love the flowers..Happy New Year..

Luv CHRISSYxx

Sue said...

These are absolutely beautiful tags Alsion, and I love them even more with their back story. Have a very happy weekend, Sue xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

You may have noticed I didn’t stop by to visit earlier. The reason is quite simple. Wednesday evening, just as I was saying good-bye to my dear friends SC and ND who dropped by to wish me a happy new year, my electricity went out. When I looked outside and saw the neighbors across the street, whose lights NEVER go out when mine do were also out, I knew it wasn’t a blown transformer. My friends decided to stay to see what the problem was. Not more than three or four minutes later, we heard sirens, not just police, but fire, too. We knew it sounded close, so we walked in the direction of the sirens. It was quite dark, but my friends had their cell phone lights to guide them. Two blocks west and one block south we saw that someone in a big truck had hit a light pole so hard, it knocked it over and stretched the wire so hard iy broke. That shut the electricity off in the area on one side, while the other side was draped over someone’s house and was zapping live sparks on the ground in the road.

At first we thought it was a drunk driver, but after the ambulance arrived, we saw the man either had a heart attack or possibly a seizure. As the electric company was arriving, they told the crowd it would be at least a day before we would get our power back. Instead of staying home in the freezing cold and dark, my friend SC, who lives in another town, invited me to her home. I am just now getting home. Even though she has an I-Pad, I don’t know the password that gets me onto blogger (which is stored on my computer only). Granted, the electricity is now on (I’m not sure how long it’s been on), but it’s freezing here. Thanks for understanding my late arrival, Alison.

Your tags are incredibly beautiful and the way you presented the "evidence" was both clever and charming. Stunning work and words as always, dear.

Craftyfield said...

Perfectly aged and distressed tags... and beautiful as usual, Alison! It makes me chuckle to see the Rubber Dance wild flowers and the Tim Holtz stems die-cuts as I own and favour both!

Patty O'Malley said...

You make the most wonderful tags, Alison! Looking forward to your tutorial. Happy New Year! Thank you for your kind message. I appreciate it.

Astrid Maclean said...

3 beautiful tags Alison, beautifully aged and of course the romantic story behind them only adds to the appeal... The flowers are a wonderful finishing touch, and I love that soft blue together with the vintage brown tones!

Nikki Acton said...

I hope to retain the elegance and beauty with age that you have achieved here!! Gorgeous as always - wonderful colour xxx

Mac Mable said...

Great story telling and what delicate and delightful distress tags. The 'love' theme is perfect and so are your tags.....So very beaufiul x.

Redanne said...

You have aged those tags beautifully Alison and I always love your story telling. Perfection in my eyes and I would certainly want to keep those tags joined together... Anne xx

Deb said...

Absolutely gorgeous and aged to perfection Alison, can't wait to see your tutorial over at A Vintage Journey in a couple of weeks. Happy New Year to you and yours, Deb xo

craftytrog said...

Beautiful tag art Alison xx

Cocofolies said...

Happy New Year!!!! Wishing you all the very best for 2020 Alison. Beautiful trio of art tags, to kick off! Cannot wait to see more of your stunnig, always wonderful creations this coming year. Hugs and love, Corinne xx

Mrs.B said...

Three beautiful tags Alison, gorgeous details and aged to perfection!
Love the soft blues of the flowers against the vintage browns.
Avril xx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Great tags Alison. I love your choice of colours they have such a lovely vintage feel to them. Great choice of sentiments too. Sending hugs, Angela xXx

Corrie Herriman said...

Absolutely stunning ! Thank you so much for playing in our January Challenge over at Country View Challenges ! Corrie xxx

Neet said...

You certainly created the look of parchment with your trio of tags. I love the colours you chose to use on them and the little bits of ephemera are just perfect, as always. I never cease to be amazed at all the little touches you use, something so simple as tying the string in a bow adds the perfect element to a tag that only you can do.
Hugs, Neet xx

Jane said...

Such beautiful love tags Alison. Their texture and colours are gorgeous. They're perfect for our love challenge over at country view. Thanks so much for joining in with the fun. Hugs xxx

Julia Aston said...

What beautiful tags and a lovely story to go along with them Alison! Wonderful aged edges and faded stamping behind the lovely pressed blooms - and your love sentiments are perfect on them! xx

Mac Mable said...

Popping bac to say...
Wonderful inspiration and creations Alison. Thank you for the step by steps and so glad the planks got an outing x. Absolutely fabulous tags and thank you x.

Ina G said...

Missed commenting here when you first made these tags Alison and have just been over to see the details on how you made them. Loved the story line and could be so true. Amazing results you have achieved with the 'aged look'. So many elements to them and all blends together beautifully.

aussie aNNie said...

Stunning work of art, following you again, somehow it showed I wasn't.xx

Let's Art Journal said...

These are stunning! I so loved seeing the close up shots and all the amazing detail that you created 😀. Those tears and delicate stamping on the backgrounds look so beautiful - I love them! Such wonderful inspiration, thank you! Happy and creative wishes! Hugs, Jo x

Mary Elizabeth said...

By the way ... love the challenge theme at AVJ :) -- ME

sarascloset said...

I cheated and read the tutorial over at AVJ before coming here. What wonderfully aged tags and I'm loving those soft colors and wispy weeds. This was a great challenge, and I'm so sad I couldn't play along. After all I feel like I AM getting older! Hugs!