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...

Tuesday 12 May 2020

Wonderful Women




Hello all.  I hope you're all doing okay.  I'm delighted to be putting in an appearance over at Try It On Tuesday today for their brand new challenge theme Lovely Ladies.

I've created another tag using dried lavender stems.  It features not only a fabulously feisty suffragette (she is in my head anyway), but also the colours of the suffragette movement - green, white and violet - Give Women the Vote.

And the quote is from one of my own sets, and has words of wisdom from another wonderful woman, Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth century nun, mystic, reformer and respected author and theologian.

Short of being royalty or an actual Lady (that is to say an aristocratic one), the church was one of the only places a sixteenth century woman could achieve real power and influence.

So altogether the tag is pretty keen to celebrate wonderful women from all centuries.











I've nothing much in the way of process photos today, I'm afraid.

For some reason I seem to have forgotten to take any after this very early shot of the Tim Holtz paper I stuck on to my tag, with its wash of gesso softening and warming the colour.













But there are plenty of close-ups so that you can see what's going on.

There's half of a Tando chipboard clock tucked away in there, crackled with DecoArt chalk paints.















The Rubber Dance Weed Love tendrils are winding their way around the edges, stamped in Olive Archival.
















And some cheesecloth (I think it's actually some of Tim's Mummy Cloth) torn to tatters adds soft texture and movement.














There are those lavender stems of course - altered with a touch of Fresco paint in Lavender and Forget-me-not again.  (Check out The flowers appear on the earth for full details on that process.)











And here's that wonderful woman, full of spirit and strength, ready to fight for what she believes in.















There's a tiny hint of Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide tinting her dress in places - just a little echo of the purple tones of the lavender itself.















The butterfly was actually a fairly last-minute addition - he's one of the Tim Holtz Entomology insects, embossed in Primary Bark by Wow and cut with the corresponding Thinlits die.











There seem to be a lot of butterflies perched for take-off on my projects at the moment... some pretty obvious subtext there for anyone who knows about my (currently delayed) house move (though to be honest I've only just worked it out myself!).











I'm very happy with my dimensional sentiment!

I wanted to allow space for the lavender stems and the Paper Doll, mounted on padded tape, so I took a cue from what I did with the crackled picket fence on the previous lavender tag... introduced a curve.











It's embossed in Vanilla White over a combination of Lawn and Beanstalk Fresco paints.

I always include at least one quote by a woman on my word collections - that's really important to me.










It's fastened in place with a couple of Idea-ology fasteners, and the same paint colours form a frame around the edge.

It was originally plain kraft card (as you can see if you look closely at the quote), but I decided I needed some more prominent greens going on.












I think I may even have used them on the stems of the lavender too, to freshen them up!














At the top, there's a metal compass - this woman knows exactly where she is going on her journey - and some fine twine looped several times to create a topping with energy and movement.










I hope you like my tag celebrating wonderful women and that you'll be inspired to join in with the Lovely Ladies theme over at Try It On Tuesday.  Of course, there's lots more inspiration from the fabulous team there to enjoy too.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Stay safe, stay well everyone, and I'll see you again soon.

Well-behaved women seldom make history.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

What would men be without women?  Scarce, sir... mighty scarce.
Mark Twain


30 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful tag, very elegant, love the textures. Have fun as guest DT! Hugs, Valerie

Meggymay said...

Alison thank you for being our Guest Designer for this theme at TioT's, your tag is inspirational. There is so much to look at with all the additions and dimension you created.
She looks a strong lady with a little attitude perhaps because she stands with her hands on her hips. Its a super quote stamp as well.
Stay safe.
Yvonne xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Great to see you at TIOT as our Guest Designer Alison, and what a fabulous tag this is! Your lady certainly looks although she knows exactly what she wants and how she's going to go about it! The colours and textures are wonderful - love how you are using the lavender once again! I do hope your move can take place before too long! Hugs, Chrisx

Helen said...

So glad you are our Guest Designer at Try it on Tuesday!!! What a gorgeous mixed media tag you have shared with us! ! LOVE all your elements!!! Thanks and have a great time!! ((HUGS)) Helen

My name is Erika. said...

Beautiful tag Alison and you are the perfect person to host this challenge. Isn't it scary how women had such little say back in those "olden" times? And even the church was run by men who could still silence women. Anyhow, enough of that. Thanks for being our hostess this challenge. Hugs-Erika

Let's Art Journal said...

Such a beautiful tag! The background with all the layers is gorgeous and I love how you tinted then ladies dress with the lavender oxide - perfect 😁. Thanks so much for the inspiration and for joining us as Guest Designer at Try it on Tuesday! I hope you're having a lovely week! Take care! Hugs, Jo x

Mrs.B said...

A beautiful tag Alison, and a wonderful idea of using the suffragette colours with this lady, who definitely looks as if she won't take any nonsense.
Thank you for being our Guest Designer for this theme and for such an inspiring tag.
Avril xx

Hazel Agnew said...

I know a wonderful woman who has continued to inspire and encourage me for a few years now. And she has also coaxed me out of my hibernation and empowered me to make an entry on my blog and link it to the challenge!
I had to look up how to copy and paste it had been that long. Last June in fact.
Needless to say Alison I love your ensemble....Here’s to wonderful women everywhere! Xx ��

Dorthe said...

A very beautiful tag, with the strong woman , looking me straight intyo my eyes . Love you shaded her dress with lilac tones , and the way you made the sentiment piece, dimensional looks wonderful Alison. Also so lovely with the soft green color , playing well with the lavender . Hugs, Dorthe

Joan said...

Fabulous tag Avril, lovely colours and texture

Lovely to have you as guest designer on TIOT

Joan x

Helen said...

what a beautiful tag, Alison! So much to look at.. I must dig out my white embossing powder!

Caty said...

Your tag is Wonderful Alison !! The background is really amazing with those fabulous layers, and every embellishments you have added, great woman!
Have a nice afternoon, stay safe
and big hugs, Caty

craftytrog said...

I love this beauty Alison! xx

Chrissy said...

Fabulous vintage style tag Alison,lovely details and textures and I love the butterfly..

Luv CHRISSYxx

Sue said...

What a fabulous tag Alison, I didn't know about the suffrage colours - how interesting! We really owe so much to these strong women. Take care and have a very happy week, Sue xx

suzyb said...

Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Love the tag Alison, love your work, always have. This tag is so full of little details. Love the butterfly too, nice last minute detail.
Stay well and safe and stay creative. You are an inspiration to us all.

froebelsternchen said...

Such a beautiful tag Alison! Gorgeous!
Big hugs,

Susi

Lagene said...

Awesome tag, I always love all your layers of images, dolor, testure & ephemera!

Craftyfield said...

Love the back story you have in mind for her... A beautiful tag, Alison. x

Redanne said...

Such a lovely way to celebrate wonderful women Alison. The doll certainly does have a feisty look to her and blending the colour on her dress makes her fit in perfectly with the gorgeous lavender - it must smell divine! Your quote is just perfect too.

Much like you, we are laying low, the North West has been badly affected by the virus and we are certainly not in any hurry to come out of lock down. Stay safe and well. Anne xx

Christine Alexander said...

Thank you for honouring women over the centuries with such a beautiful tag.

Margaret Mifsud said...

This is wonderful Alison! What a fabulous way to celebrate wonderful women .. your lady certainly looks like the feisty suffragette you imagine her to be. Love the textural background and all the amazing details especially the addition of the little lavender twig. Love that!!
Hope you are staying safe. We are doing so well here in Sth Aus that our restrictions are getting relaxed a bit but hubby and I are still keeping close to home. Will still be a long time before things are back to normal I think. Take care and stay safe. hugs xx

Amanda said...

What a fabulous tribute, love this tag
Love
Amanda x

Monika Gulyas said...

Exquisite!!! xx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Beautiful tag, love it. Hugs, Angela xxx

Marjut said...

So glad to see you at Tiot as a guest designer. Fantastic mixed media tag. I like this very much. Have a nice weekend and take care!

nwilliams6 said...

Fabulous tag. Gorgeous dried flowers and textures.

I love that the same lady ended up on the page I did as well. Funny story - my page was originally going to have her turned into Elphaba and have some flying monkeys. Turning her face green and adding a black hat would have been easy, but the flying monkeys presented a problem as I ran out of printer ink. So she ended up with only a flower, a butterly, and a friend. I am still going to do the green version - maybe today.

What I love about your work is the little bits of texture and the fact that there really does seem to be an underlying story in your creations. I know that is super important, and I think I really need to think more about my creations before I do them. Thanks for the inspiration as always.

Neet said...

A great tribute, a great tag, so powerful in so many ways. I had not noticed the lilac hue on her dress but I think that is partly duke to the monitor - when on a full screen view I can see it much better. Love all the little Alison touches, especially the lavender and how you have echoed those colours throughout the tag ending with those lovely words. A sure winner in my book.
Hugs, Neet xx

Patty O'Malley said...

Beautiful tag, Alison! Love the touch of lavender!

WendyK said...

A fabulous vintage type tag. Love the subject and the soft tones. The texture is also gorgeous.