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...

Saturday 3 October 2020

Gothic Text

Hello all, and a happy weekend to you, or as one would say in Czech, "Hezký víkend!"  I'm here with a quick post (I hope... #newbloggersucks) to share another pair of the tags I made while I was over in the Czech Republic trying to make sure all the building work would be done so that all the packing I'm now doing over here will have somewhere to go.  Confused?  Not as much as me, I guarantee!  Anyway, here are the tags...

I've called the post "Gothic Text" because not only is there gorgeous crackled Gothic text texture in the background, but there's also a Gothic font on the book page scraps which form part of the collaging.  That's what made me decide to share these now, so that I can play along with Sandie's Book Print theme at Tag Tuesday.




I had a lovely time wrinkle-free distressing, smooshing and dripping and splashing inks to create the backgrounds.







Again, Speckled Egg is the catalyst here, and it pairs so beautifully with some of my favourite rusty browns, Vintage Photo and Rusty Hinge.  




I think there might be some Broken China too, and it's all in a combination of Distress Inks and Oxides.

This isn't Tim's new stencil, but a recent one of Finnabair's in similar style, which I'd already snapped up a few months ago.  Irresistible when you love text as much as I do.







There's some collaging with Idea-ology film strip, ephemera and a Muse Token, rusted with paint (no alcohol inks in the travelling stash).






And a couple of brilliant Photobooth snapshots provide the real focal point that all the collaging is building up to.






I'm very happy with my crackled Gothic script on the one tag...










... and the printed stencil marks which you can find if you look closely on the other.









You also have to look quite closely to spot the book page fragments, but I promise they're there... in fact they were the first part of the collaging to take their place.












And I'm very taken with the clock sticker from the Tim Holtz Halloween Sticker Book (only I think it may be from last Halloween's edition, not the new one.


















In any case, I like it so much I didn't want to waste any, so I cut it in half to use a bit on each tag!











I hope you like these.  I know it's pretty rare for me to use orange unless it's for autumn leaves, but if I think of it as rust, that helps me get over it!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you again on Monday with a very special post.  Hezký víkend and happy crafting all!

Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form.
Robert Bringhurst

Every page should explode, either because of its staggering absurdity, the enthusiasm of its principles, or its typography.
Tristan Tzara

I'd like to share this pair of tags at Tag Tuesday for the Book Print theme there

#newbloggersucks  
Okay - does anybody else get the thing where you're adjusting the position of a photo and it randomly hops to the top of the post with a broken bit of text attached to it and now all messed up in alignment so that you have no choice but to remove the photo, delete and re-paste the text where it ought to be and start all over again uploading the photo?

Also, I apologise again for the appearance of my posts these days.  They're not as I would like them but #newbloggersucks.  And of course it takes nearly twice as long to get a result which I hate.  It's a bit soul-destroying when I used to enjoy this so much.

My thanks to all those trying to offer work-arounds and solutions.  I will try to explore everything in time, but I'm a little preoccupied with trying to move country at present, so #newbloggersucks hit at just the wrong time.

31 comments:

Christine Alexander said...

back in April/May you used this stencil-you sent me on a trip to my local store. It took them a few months to get the stencil but now I have it. I love the effect with crackle paste and have just pulled mine out and spread a little past one it :)
thanks for the wonderful inspiration.

Valerie-Jael said...

I LOVE your beautiful tags, I adore them, and I am so happy you have linked them to Tag Tuesday, much appreciated. I can imagine you have a lot on your plate just now with packing and moving and new blogger, sounds like too much. I haven't had too many glitches up til now with new blogger, I used it right from the start and have got well used to it now. Have a great weekend, 'Schönes Wochenende' hugs, Valerie

Aimeslee Winans said...

Alison, your posts look fine, really. After looking around at what everyone else along my path is doing, I'm seeing that the best-looking posts are not trying to put their photos anywhere but between paragraphs. I know you like to put your text beside your photo but that's going to take research and practice. Hate to see you constantly irritated by it. Meanwhile, your tags are lovely. That is a bright rust. Perhaps with the muted speckled egg, that's why. Happy to see anything from you, so keep posting when you can! XXO

craftytrog said...

I love the colour combinations on this pair of beauties Alison! Orange and blue are always a favourite :-)
Good luck with the packing,
Alison xx

Words and Pictures said...

Thank you, Aimeslee... I’ll shut up about it soon! I’m a fighter, and I’m not good at yielding. Have a lovely weekend.

Words and Pictures said...

Vielen Dank xx

Christine said...

Love the tags!
I am with you all the way with regard #newbloggersucks. Same problems here, same mental attitude so gave in and stopped blogging. I am running on old laptop so looking to buy a new one in the hope that Windows10 is more compatable.
Good luck with the more, hope all your boxes arrive safely.

Sandra Wright. said...

Oh my...I am in love with your tags..they are so grungey,rustic, just gorgeous.Loving the colour palette and of course the book print.
Thank you for joining in with my theme at Tag Tuesday xx

Nancy Wethington said...

Beautiful! Love those backgrounds.

Lys said...

Don't worry about arranging your post elements. Really it doesn't mind beside the beauty of your creations. I love when you use unused colours for you, even when you need to dress them with more familiar clothes...!

My name is Erika. said...

I bought this gothic text stencil also. I love it. Something about different styles of creating letter is fascinating, and I must admit, I have horrible hand control unless I write with thick things like Sharpie of little children's pencils. Not anything wrong with me hands just something I haven't been able to do all my life. I do like your rusty effect and details on your tags. They looks super Alison. Hoping moving is coming along well. Hugs-Erika

Chelsea said...

Oh, my Dear. We are sisters at heart - I also am not a fan of orange! Unless it is autumn. Then I use it all the time!! Hahaha!
Your tags are lovely as always.

Lagene said...

Awesome tags, I love all the colors, layers and texture.

Chrissy said...

I love the blues and browns combos Alison..I think my mistake is, I put too much on at once and then have no where to go..love the texture of the paste and then all the added details..great tags.

Luv CHRISSYxx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I don't know how, but I'm still on Legacy. However, even Legacy is acting up on me, and it takes me FOREVER to write a post now. I say ALL OF BLOGGER SUCKS.

Your two tags are incredible. I adore the texture and the beautiful gothic feel you got. What a really incredible stencil. And of course, the two tags work so well together. They are like sister and brother tags, right down to the 1/2 butterfly each.

Redanne said...

Yup #bloggerdefinitelysucks! I don't have the same issues you do but my photographs do end up all over the place and it takes ages to do even a simple post.... sigh. I do hope you get your issues sorted sooner rather than later.

The combo of colours on your tags is so beautiful and the crackled stencilling adds such beautiful texture. I love that you mirrored the collage elements. I am a great lover of orange so the more the better (well it is difficult to do Halloween without it), it adds a lot of warmth to the tags in my humble opinion. Hope the packing is going reasonably well. Keep safe and well. Anne xx

Neet said...

Love all those colours of Distress you have used, in fact Rusty Hinge is one of my favourites and now you have made me think of combining it with Speckled Egg. Gorgeous background enhanced with that stencil which I agree, is utterly scrumptious.
Two beautiful tags but then you always do make beautiful tags.
Hugs, Neet xx

Amanda said...

Love every layer, every collage item and of course the crackle gothic text, brilliant. The new blogger lulls you in to a false level of security, you think you’ve sussed it and then it all seems to change, I have a new mantra now It will not be defeated”
Love
Amanda x

Craftyfield said...

Re blogger, Alison, I wonder if you got my previous comment (maybe in spam?), as I gave you the link for the old blogger. It won't be around for ever but for right now it may help you. As to the photo placement in the new blogger… I think I also said that in my previous comment, it's a matter of additional HTML formatting, which I need to delete in order to keep text and photos in the same "block".
Anyhoo… your tags are gorgeous and that rust against the speckled blue makes me happy! And the textures… x

Words and Pictures said...

Hi Christine - how interesting, Blogger seems to have managed to lose that comment with a helpful suggestion! I will definitely take a look in the HTML when I write my next post (today).

It was letting me revert to Legacy until very recently, but that disappeared about a week or ten days ago. I know some people are still accessing it. But given it will vanish, I guess I should make a push to try to come to terms with the mess of the new one. And that HTML suggestion is great, thank you. Shows how distracted my brain is that I didn't think of trying that!
Alison x

Cocofolies said...

Another set of fabulous tags Alison!
I love your gorgeous crackled Gothic text texture in the background of course, but also some beautiful details put with care like your scrap of gothic book page, these wonderful rusted token, and your gorgeous butterfly collage... wow.
Hugs and happy sunday, Corinne xxx

Patty O'Malley said...

Awesome tags, Alison!

Karen said...

Terrific tags ~ the combination of color, metal, and texture are beautiful. Enjoy the week ahead!

pinky said...

Oh my goodness, these are super gorgeous! Beautiful colours and textures. Thanks for joining us at Tag Tuesday xx

Annie said...

Two fabulous textured tags Alison and I love the colur combo as well as the beautiful layouts you have chosen xx Good luck with the packing xx It will all be worth if when you get there xx

Huge hugs
Annie xx

Wilma Simmons (Empress Wu Designs) said...

Beautiful fags - lovely colour palette

Sue said...

These are really lovely Alison, that gothic text stencil is wonderful! I still hate new blogger too, it randomly changes the size of my text! All is well in preview but when the post goes live it's all over the place arghhhh. Take care, Sue xx

Let's Art Journal said...

Wonderful tags! The textured backgrounds and layers of ephemera look so beautiful - perfect 😀. Take care and happy packing! Hugs, Jo x

Mac Mable said...

The colours are wonderful and love the speckled egg with the browns and orange/rust and browns x. The text stencilling looks amazing too and so are both of your tags Alison x.

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Oh those backgrounds, the texture makes me want to touch them. LOVE the colors and pops of orange on the ephemera. Gorgeous!

Empire of the Cat said...

Hi Alison, you could try switching to code view before adding the photos? Elle xx