Change your life

Hello all, and thank you so much for your lovely comments on my Rusty Rustic Houses.  I'm here today with a considerably shorter post!

It's one of my favourite times of the month... a Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey.  I don't think I've missed one since the very beginning.

Today's tag is one of the first things I've made using the new (not so new by now) Speckled Egg Distress colour.  I knew from the moment I saw it that it would be a new favourite, and ordered it in several mediums immediately.

They've been sitting on my craft table waiting for me to have time to play.   But I was so very right about loving it... it's completely magical.















I started with some wrinkle-free distressing, smooshing and splotching with Speckled Egg Distress Ink and Distress Oxide, along with Pumice Stone and some accents of Ground Espresso.  Happy already!















Then I applied strips of tissue tape and design tape and smeared some crackle paste over (following Live the Dream Jennie's lovely technique, not for the first time!).  

Once it had crackled, I dribbled some Speckled Egg Spray Stain over and spritzed with water to let it travel into all the nooks and crannies.











Finally, I sealed it with some Ultra-Matte Varnish.  Dabbing it on loosens some of the crackle - it's not very keen to stay on the slippery design tape - but that gives you an even more brilliantly weathered look, and once it's sealed whatever is still there is staying there.













I added some stamping in Ground Espresso Archival - postmarks and numbers courtesy of the Field Notes stamp plate...













... and some tiny mushrooms from the Tiny Toadstools set.  They've had a little touch of Pumice Stone Oxide on their caps.












Over that, there's some simple collaging with Field Notes ephemera.  I'm in love with these fungi, and they tone in really well with the Pumice Stone and Ground Espresso notes in the background.

They were actually in the mix first, and then I decided to stamp the little fungi to go with them, rather than the other way around.













The soft-eyed young man in the Photobooth snapshot looks quietly confident of his ability to change his life.  He might need a little more flamboyance though!













That's the advice of the quote, in any case.   If you're going to change your life, start immediately and do it flamboyantly!

I borrowed the acetate idea from some of my samples for my latest stamp release at PaperArtsy, and the quote itself is from one of the newest sets, EAB19 Life & Living.








I stamped my quote in Archival on some acetate cut from hoarded packaging, and added Earthtone Pepper embossing powder by Wow.

As you heat it, you can also start to gently shape the acetate strip to fold around the edges of the tag.  Then on the back I use a bit of tape to fasten the flaps in place.





Once that's done, I hold the tag up in the air, face-down, and heat from below, letting the acetate fall into its most natural curve.  If it needs a bit of help, the other end of a slender paint brush usually does the job smoothing it out.

That way you have this beautiful sculptural curve lifting over the tag.  The words are easily read as you move the tag around (which I've tried to mimic with these three photos from different angles) but you can also see whatever is behind them.  It makes me really happy!






There are symbols of the readiness for taking flight, for change, for all things new.

The tiny dragonfly/damselfly, perched ready for take off...










... and the little blue butterfly are from the Field Notes Snippets (tiny versions of the ephemera - in fact some of the script panels may be from there too, rather than the full-size ones).


I hope you like my tag.  I do, and I'm not afraid to say so!!













Do hop over to A Vintage Journey to see what my fellow Creative Guides have been up to for Tag Friday - I promise you it's worth the trip!

There's also a Link Party there if you'd like to share any tags you've made at any point in the last month.

I'm pausing part way across Europe for a few days with friends - all carefully distanced - and hope to find time for the long-promised visiting.  It's all been a bit hectic with packing the car and trying to second-guess the news about border restrictions and possible closures.

But these few days en route are usually pretty peaceful before we set off again, so I hope to see you all soon.

Take care, stay safe and happy crafting all.

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.
Lao Tzu