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 18 August 2020

Speckled Egg Combinations

Hello all!  Thank you so much for your lovely comments about my Speckled Egg speckled eggs tag.  I've been continuing to have a wonderful time playing with my Speckled Egg Distress Ink and Oxide, combining it with various other favourite colours to see what I get... and here's what happened, pretty much entirely unexpectedly!


Even though the colour palettes are quite different, I found myself creating something of a trio, particularly in the fact that each of them has one of my hovering quotes, stamped and embossed on acetate.







It may mean you can't quite make out all the words from a distance or on a photo, but up close as you hold them and move them around, it's perfectly easy to read them clearly.













What you gain is that you can still see the whole of the background and/or stamping underneath the acetate.















And in the sunlight, you also get the magical bonus of the shadow words being cast on the tag below.














So obviously all the smooshed backgrounds have Speckled Egg involved - these are Speckled Egg Combinations, after all - both Ink and Oxide formulations.  This one also has Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint and Stormy Sky in the mix.














Then there are some of my favourite Rubber Dance tendrils from the Weed Love stamp plate...















... and a cobweb, clear-embossed to glimmer with dew.














And I'm really pleased with my Queen Anne's Lace stem.  It's one of Tim Holtz's stamps, stamped in Olive Archival, but then I scattered some Vanilla White Wow embossing powder on the flower head.















It took some careful brushing with a very fine brush, but I managed to clear most of the stems in between the heads to get the lovely detailed finish.












And I have to say I'm rather in love with this method of adding a quote!  The quotes on all the tags are from my latest PaperArtsy collections - this one is from EAB18 Gardens & Growth.














The quote is by Frances Hodgson Burnett who wrote A Secret Garden.  There's something rather wild and secret about the garden in this tag, so that seems highly appropriate!















Next up a combination with Speckled Egg, Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge and a touch of Pumice Stone.  I love the vibrancy of this, with the chalky Speckled Egg Oxide adding that lovely weathered patina effect.  
















I don't seem to have any pictures of this one in its unfinished state, but it's pretty straightforward.














The TH compass is stamped and embossed in Emerald Creek's Turkish Bronze powder.













The metal cogs are altered with Distress Paint - Speckled Egg, with touches of Weathered Wood and Frayed Burlap - and then sanded back.  (I've only got a few DPs in my travelling stash, but I seem to have picked good ones... obviously Speckled Egg had to come!)
















There's a bit more background detail stamping, also embossed with the Turkish Bronze.  The golden glow against the rusty browns makes me happy.













And the quote, hovering on the acetate here is from EAB19 Life & Living, and again embossed in the Turkish Bronze.  I concede that with all that gilding catching the light I haven't got a photo where you can read the entire quote in one go...











... but I hope that you can see from the various photos from different angles that all the words are there, so when you hold the tag and rotate you get to see the whole of Ralph Waldo Emerson's idea: All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make, the better.











And finally the one which, as I was making it I was least certain about, and by the end is maybe my favourite.

With Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone and Stormy Sky mixed in with the Speckled Egg, the drama of light and dark is quite spectacular.  (The lights are just where the manila tag is bare or almost bare of ink.)













The stars are done with crackle paste through one of the Tim Holtz stencils.













They've had a little bit of watery ink dribbled over them to highlight the cracks, so they so have a touch of Speckled Egg blue about them.













Down in the bottom corner I stamped one part of the giant Glorious Garden stamp.  I love the weeds and stalks in this section, giving it a very wild look.  I used a wash of white paint to add some highlights to the petals of the larger flowers.














It's embossed with Wow Primary Bark to give it a bit more presence against the dark Ground Espresso background, so you also get that light-catching glimmer that I love.












And the quote is embossed in Bright White - Vincent van Gogh dreaming amongst the stars.














What with the quote (and its magical shadow) and the stars and the wild flowers and branches, it's all a bit Midsummer Night's Dream for me, this one.




















So there you have it... three tags I never meant to make!

I'm so thankful for the arrival of Speckled Egg - it really seems to have reignited my mojo.  I'm having such fun playing with it and trying it with different colour combinations.

























And then once you've got these lovely backgrounds, it seems wasteful not to take them on the journey towards completion.

My limited travelling stash is also forcing me back towards more stamping than I've been using lately, which is another boost to the mojo.



























I hope you enjoyed these because there are quite a few more tags on their way to you in the next days and weeks (as and when I get time to blog them!)... they are piling up on my craft table!

















I hope you're all well.  I've been spending more time at the craft table and less time online - which has to be a good thing - but I'll be round for another catching up session soon.  Stay safe and well - best to stay at the craft table if you can as infection rates rise again... what a good excuse!  Happy crafting all!

The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.
Marcus Aurelius

Colour is a power which directly influences the soul.
Wassily Kandinsky

28 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful tags, love the different colours and styles, and that they all go so well together. Have a great week, hugs, Valerie

Cathy said...

These colours look amazing, love all of these tags, beautiful work, Cathy x

kathyinozarks said...

Beautiful art

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Hi Alison, beautiful tags but I must say the colour combo of the last one with the stars is amazing and yes I love the shadowing too. Have a lovely creative week. Big hugs, Angela xXx

Mrs.B said...

Lovely tags Alison, but I do like the dramatic look of the last one.
Avril xx

Chrissy said...

They are stunning Alison, I struggle so much with my oxides,I think I use rubbish paper so I'm not getting the results I want, and then give up..I adore the tag with the stars, that one screams my name and the background is just wonderful..

Luv CHRISSYxx

My name is Erika. said...

These are cool. I especially love the stars in the sky. I have some Speckled egg but I still need to open it. Thanks for inspiring me to give it a try. Hugs-Erika

craftytrog said...

Beautiful effects, I love those hovering quotes Alison.
Alison x

Fonda said...

Gorgeous tags!

Patty O'Malley said...

What a beautiful trio, Alison! Love that Queen Anne's lace!

Mac Mable said...

Wonderful colour combinations Alison and tons of inspiration, thank you x. Extra loving the spiders web and the queen Anne's lace x.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Sorry it's taken me so long to visit. I was offline for nine days due to my internet. I love these tags, and must confess, the second two are my favorites. I love the compass rose and the gears, as well as the color palette. I love the stars because of the crackling you chose and your color choices. They are all great together and show off your new quotes stamps beautifully. Hope all is well and safe in your world, dear.

R's Rue said...

Beautiful.

Redanne said...

These are beautiful Alison, I love the fact that you didn't cover those wonderful backgrounds entirely and your hovering quotes look amazing, especially in the sunlight - so clever. Speckled Egg is so versatile and goes beautifully with so many other colours.... I wonder what the next colour will be?

The Instagram thing is puzzling, one day my browser said that Insta and FB were not secure sites and refused to allow access. After 3 days I finally found a solution, not the best but it will do until I can resolve the issue. Technology sucks sometimes! Anne xx

Sue said...

These tags are stunning Alison, and the one with the stars is my favourite too. I really like the quotes on acetate as you get to the the beautiful backgrounds, and I like the shadows too. Take care and have a very happy week, Sue xx

Christine Alexander said...

thanks for the wonderful colour combinations and stunning tags :)

Diana Taylor said...

Oh Alison, these are utterly beautiful - all so different but they just work together. I love your quotes too and the acetate is a fantastic and different way of adding them to the tags. Your work is always an inspiration.
Diana xx

Craftyfield said...

Glad you made those tags, they are fabulous Alison! My favourites are the rusty one and the bluish one with the famous RB Wild Love stamp! Keep'em coming... x

Amanda said...

A fabulous trio, love the acetate and that it makes the text float above your fabulous, as always, backgrounds.
Love
Amanda x

Let's Art Journal said...

Your speckled Egg tags look amazing! The colour combinations are so beautiful and I love the detail that you created - the Wow! embossing powder on the flower heads, the golden glow against the rusty browns and the crackle stars are stunning 😀. Thanks for the inspiration and wishing you a happy weekend! Take care! Hugs, Jo x

Paper Profusion said...

All are beautiful Alison, and snap its the starry one that draws me in the most. The light and dark contrasts look amazing. Really impressive trio, love how you have achieved such different vibes whilst continuing the speckled egg. Great photos and thank-you as always for sharing all the details. Nicola x

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

WOW, these are gorgeous, and love the quotes on acetate again. SE is made for brown I think. LOVE all the combinations and the scenes, and oh those star brights too.

Soma @ inkTorrents.com said...

Can't really pick a favourite, they are all amazingly gorgeous! I am sure they are even more beautiful in person.

-Soma

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

There's the magic again from that white embossing powder *sigh*.. all three magnificent each with their own individuality. I've said it before but speckled egg is a clever colour with just the right amount of opacity, saves on mixing.. Maybe Tim was listening to give us all what we wanted. I'd never be able to chose a favourite from this trio Alison, all stars in their own right.
Wishing you well and hope you have mastered the new blogger.
Hugs Tracey xx

Lagene said...

Fantastic tags!!!

Aimeslee Winans said...

Hallo Alison! Amazing effects from your products on all the gorgeous tags. Have safe travels and be well! XXO

Patty O'Malley said...

Wonderful tags, Alison!

Neet said...

When `I first saw all three tags together your favourite was also my favourite. But then ... I saw the Queen Anne's lace tag in more detail and fell in love with it, thinking the others could not match this one, surely. I loved the cobweb, the actual flower head - everything about it. This one took over as my number one.
That was until I saw the following tag which to me, looked as if it had a coating of Glossy Accents over the whole tag before embellishing. It shone so beautifully and the gold embossing was just perfectly placed. Loved the cog in Speckled Egg, who could fail to love that colour? So sorry, your favourite had been overtaken by the others.
But wait ... those stars in crackle were something else and once more I saw the atmospheric look of this tag taking over my mind. It has an ethereal look about it.
I give up - I cannot choose a favourite - they are all pretty spectacular.
Hugs Neet xx