Double Glazing

Hello all and a very happy Easter to you, or happy Passover, or happy spring or whatever else you're celebrating.

And in the midst of such unsettling times, I do think it's important to find the release valves - moments of celebration, contemplation or creativity to sustain ourselves.

When we did our Creative Skypeing a couple of weeks ago, Brenda was using a really pretty colour palette.

That day I was fixating on my spring greens and blues (as you'll see from any recent post - and there are still more to come!), but a couple of days afterwards I found myself leaning towards that palette, and a couple of tags appeared on the craft table which weren't blue and green!

I'll share one today and the other in a couple of days' time, and then the normal service of spring greens will be resumed.












I've called this post Double Glazing because I was playing with a couple of Tim Holtz's new Distress Embossing Glazes, and I used two on one image... clearly "double glazing"!














The two tags started out together with a coat of gesso to lighten the yellowish manila tone.  On one I stencilled Embossing ink through this fabulous Baroque flourish and sprinkled on Weathered Wood Glaze powder to the central areas and then some Hickory Smoke around most of the rest.  (I'll talk about the other tag when I post that.)











I did a bit of dipping and smooshing with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and added in some purple shades as I went.














I think it's mostly Victorian Velvet and maybe Seedless Preserves put in an appearance.

You'll see there's some script stamping to add detail too.














Well, I liked that background rather a lot, so I looked for some fairly minimal embellishing to top it off without covering it up too much.
















I'm rarely without some Wildflower Stems on the craft table at present.














The lacy Crochet Thinlits seemed like a good match for the floral flourish look going on.

And I was particularly pleased when I tucked in the trimmed-off section to make a double layer for all that dimension.












A Photobooth photo nearly always does the trick for me as a focal point, and this young woman is a particular favourite.
















A touch of metal always makes me happy - this token with the lettering highlighted in Picket Fence Distress Crayon provides the only word on the tag, but it is an vital one.














I just love the sunlight shimmering on the translucent glossiness of the Glazes...













... and the mottling of that light sprinkling of Walnut Stain merging into the Weathered Wood.

Some tangled thread, a bit of inky edging, white spatter and some simple white twine to top things off and we're done.











I'm sorry not to have been visiting much in the last week.  I've been organising online voicework and breathing sessions with the actors I've worked with over the years, but now that those are up and running (across four time zones!), I'll be round to see you soon.

And I'll be back with tag two in a couple of days so that you can see where that background ended up.  But for now I'll leave you to enjoy Sunday in peace.

Stay safe, stay well, breathe deep - much love to all.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk