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...

Thursday 19 March 2020

It's Patina Time!







Hello all!  I hope you are staying safe and well wherever you are. 

I'm so glad you enjoyed some spring sunlight on my Spring Greens pages with me.  There will be some more springtime creating along soon, I've no doubt. 

But I'm in a different mode today with this textural tag full of crackle and weathered patina effects.

I'll try to keep the words to a minimum, though there will as usual be plenty of pictures.

I was originally thinking of creating more of a partner piece to the Full of Bright Hopes tag, with maybe a Paper Doll or two involved.








I hadn't intended to go down this metal-heavy, patina'd look... but some already patina'd metal embellishments hanging around on the craft desk had other ideas!













The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is inviting us to indulge in some Stencil Fun, which gave me an excellent excuse to try out this glorious new Prima Gothic font stencil.














I thought it would be fun to apply some crackle paste through it - this is the Ranger Opaque version - because I always have fun with crackle!
















I added some random smears around the edges with the palette knife.
















Once it was all nice and dry and cracked, I gave it some spritzes of Distress Spray - Vintage Photo and Rusty Hinge mainly, with a touch of Pumice Stone somewhere under there.














For contrast, I flicked and smooshed some Distress Oxides - Broken China, Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio at this point.

Then, of course, I needed to figure out what to put over the top of it all.












This clock was one I used to experiment with the wonderful VerDay patina paints when I first got them about five years ago. 

I'm not sure whether it ever made its way on to a project which later got dismantled or whether it's never made an appearance at all... 









... but it's been sitting in my bits and bobs bowl on my craft table forever.

When I reached for it and put it against the crackled font, I knew I was on to something.












The large cog was in the bits and bobs bowl, patina-ready - I think done with Fresco paints way back when.  Again, I'm not sure whether it came off a dismantled early project or whether it just never got used.













I did do some present-day patina altering of a couple of other cogs, and added splotches of the same new colours to the already-done ones to make sure everything toned in nicely. 

 Mostly I used Distress Paints.













Broken China, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron all played a part.

Some stayed unaltered to match the background.












I also created some extra spatter with those colours onto the background to keep everything nice and harmonious.













The Word Band got the same Distress Paint treatment, and the final touch with all the embellishments was to sand back a bit in places to reveal the gleam of metal again.












I found a great way to use up the leftover smooshes of paint on the craft mat... I rolled this bit of chain in them so that it would end up with a nice weathered patina too, ready to take its place at the top of the tag.














The whole thing is mounted on some thick scrap cardboard for extra sturdiness to bear the weight of all that distressed metal...















... as well as all that chunky crackle!

So that's your lot.  I hope you like it.  I certainly had lots of fun making it.










There's endless delight for me in creating weathered, crackled, distressed, aged and antiqued effects.  The quote at the foot of the post today is probably a decent crack at trying to understand why they appeal to me so much.


And it's nice to have some bolder colour in action for a change too.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I'll be round for some (non-infectious) visiting soon, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.  Take care, stay safe, and virtual hugs to all.

Monuments are anchors in time. Epochs pass, weather erodes, people lose interest. This cannot be helped. But patina itself is worth appreciating. Patina is the value that age puts on an object. It’s what makes an antique antique. It is experience, maturity, the soft sheen of time. Patina wasn’t present at the spanking-new creation. It comes from a life lived.
John Yemma

I'd like to play along with the Stencil Fun over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge
At the More Mixed Media Challenge it's still Anything Goes with an Optional Twist of Green

31 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful tag, love all the details. And I want one of those stencils, it's gorgeous. Stay well and safe! Hugs, Valerie

My name is Erika. said...

I like how the ta has so much texture and those green patina bits are so cool. They really stand out.Very cool tag Alison. And stay healthy too please! Hugs-Erika

Helen said...

I am working from home now and hoping to be more productive than my first day yesterday! Gorgeous tag, love the texture and that texture is fabulous. Stay safe!!

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Beautiful patina's against those rich leathery browns, I could live in a world where everything was coated in this colour scheme!! To see this up close it would keep me entertained for many an hour.
Please take care now Alison Hugs Tracey xx

craftytrog said...

Fantastic Alison! Can't beat a bit of patina!
Keep safe and well,
Alison xx

Christine said...

Beautiful piece of work! Love all the past and present all done with a bit of crackle... super.

Aimeslee Winans said...

Love the contrast of light and dark grunge! Hope you are well! xox

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, such a beautiful tag! The crackle stenciled background that you created is amazing and the patina items are gorgeous - I love it 😁. Wishing you a happy Friday and weekend! Stay safe and healthy! Hugs, Jo x

Lagene said...

WONDERFUL aged, cracked, patinad tag!

froebelsternchen said...

This is AMAZING Alison!
Stay safe and healthy my friend!
Hugs, Susi

Marci said...

I love the blue green patina. I have been thinking about that gothic stencil, you showed it off well.

Redanne said...

Oh wow Alison, the patina colour against the wonderfully rich brown tones and those gorgeous crackles is superb. I am in love with that stencil too. A stunning tag! Stay safe and well. Anne xx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Loving the tag, gorgeous texture and detail. Take care and have a lovely creative weekend, Angela xxx

Mac Mable said...

What a wonderful and textural background with great crackle, splats and stencilling. The colours of the whole tag look amazing and love the heavy metal pieces and their patina colours. A stunner of a tag Alison x.
I loved the 'words'/sentiment at the end of your post too x.
Stay well and safe....x.

Chrissy said...

Great texutres and crackle Alison..love the antique aged colours and dimension, really fabulous..stay safe, our numbers in NZ are climbing now, time to get nervous as our first one the bay has been found..

Luv CHRISSYxx

Christine Alexander said...

Wow Alison, what an incredible mix of colours, I love all the texture with the crackle paste and the patinas on the metallic elements. still love that stencil :)

Craftyfield said...

Verdigris (coppper patina) is my favourite patina effect! I have given several house décor items the treatment… I love the crackle too, it's a rather delicious Steampun-ky tag, Alison. Good luck for the rest, we are many in that particular boat, but better make good use of that time rather than worrying. xx

experiments in paper said...

Scrumptious textural tag in a different hue of your blue/green/brown love.... your tag background is so enticing; it reminds me of a lovely piece of German chocolate cake, of all things, lol! Those wonderful shades of brown and cream, I suppose, and not the fact that I am eating lunch! The addition of those beautiful patina clocks and gears, (and that chain!!) just brings the whole mix together - lovely. And not least, I adore your quote.... I see my grey hair and softening wrinkled face as a sort of patina now, which is comforting - and a very nice feeling, so thank you! xxx Lynn

Margaret Mifsud said...

This is absolutely stunning Alison! Looove the crackle and the colours are simply amazing! The patina on the clocks and gears is so realistic and I love how you smooshed the edges of the tag too .. looks fabulous! Stay safe and well! hugs xx

Cocofolies said...

I also love this fabulous crackled, distressed, vintage and with beautiful splatches of patina colors tag!!! It's great to look at the results you got using only PA paints... I have in my stash several Ranger Patina tiny bottles giving such vivid colors on metal, but it seems that paints can produce the same... really realistic. Good to know!
I also love this stencil, a beautiful one! And your word of course, just perfect :)
Take care and well, happy Sunday dear Alison. xx

Mrs.B said...

Fabulous tag Alison, I do love the crackle with that gorgeous stencil - one for the wish list!
You created a fabulous patina effect on the cogs, looks so realistic.
Off for a catch up now.
Avril xx

Sue said...

Love this with a capital L! What a fabulous stencil, I think I may need one of these, and of course the crackle is wonderful. Your patina pieces really pop against the background. I also have the Ver Dey paints, but I was always too impatient for the painting and spraying, and painting... Hope you are keeping well, take care, and stay safe, Sue x

Ina G said...

Another amazing project Allison. always so much detail and so much to look at and admire. Love the rustic look here. You so inspire me. Thanks.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I have to believe metal items hanging around your craft desk are far nicer than anything I have on mine. I love the raised stencil work. I need that Gothic stencil. It is so beautiful. What got me was the crackle you used in conjunction with it. I also LOVE the clock and cogs and how well they went with the rest of the tag. I also love how you weathered the chain you used so the tag could be hung. Overall, this is an absolutely incredible tag and incredibly well made.

Neet said...

You can never be too heavy metal for me. I adore this tag. The colours on it are fantastic and you have used that stencil again - ooh, I want one more than ever now. Just love how you used it on here and the colours you used in the spritzing work so well.
Love the flicks of patina which marry in with the cogs and whether newly done or old ones they look great together. Wonderful again, keep us going in these otherwise gloomy times please.
Take care and do stay safe and well
Hugs, Neet xx

nwilliams6 said...

I love this! Your patinas are perfect and one day I am going to figure out how to do this. Wow.

sarascloset said...

Yum! Love that crackle along with the patina, Alison! Such wonderful colors and texture on this tag!

Fliss said...

I'm so enjoying my post catch up Alison and the patina effects and textures here are really stunning!
Fliss xx

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

LOVE this and Pinned! I've not seen this stencil, but the green patina metal pieces are the star of the show! Gorgeous!

Dorthe said...

Wow , this is truly stunning , with the crackle and the tones you cereated . I love that stencil , and you used it so beautiful, and also together with all this beauty, are sending us the reminder, to live in the moment , - also now . Hugs to you, xxxx

sally said...

Oh wow! I covet this big time!!! It’s fabulous:-D


Sally xx