Fungi Poisoners

Happy All Hallows' Eve Eve all!  The night before Halloween, and we've been having a very eerie week here at Words and Pictures.  Even better, it's Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey - that extra Friday in a month where we all get to play however we want, as long as it's on a tag.  I'm here with some dangerous women, with far too much knowledge about the toxic properties of the fungi they've been gathering in the autumn woods...

They say that poison is a woman's weapon, and I think I'd probably be watching my step if anyone looked at me the way these two women are glaring!

I've been back at the autumn leaves too, experimenting with creating them on several different cardstocks to create even more tonal variations.  I was partly inspired by Tim Holtz's demo last Saturday where he was talking about the new cardstocks becoming available.

I don't have any of those, but I had a play with applying my ink on my usual manila tags, and on some unbranded white and kraft cardstocks.

You definitely get different tonal qualities, and Tim's also right (of course) that the kraft soaks up a lot more ink - though I do also have some which is slightly coated so works differently with the inks.

The backgrounds make me so happy - there's Speckled Egg in there along with some soft blues and greens in the first layer, and then I wanted to create a sort of rusted effect over the top.

Crackling Campfire and Vintage Photo together (mixing and matching Ink and Oxide formulations) make such an amazing rusty glow.  I really adore this effect - it won't be the last time you see it!

I'm so glad I rediscovered my love of Distress Inks when I was in CZ recently (because of having only a limited stash with me).  The ink splotches never fail to make me happy, even when I'm pretty stressed with everything going on... a bit of inky play will sort me out.  I'm making sure I leave myself some to play with until the very last minute of packing!!

But of course the main attractions here are the fungi and the fungi gatherers.

The Field Notes ephemera packs have become absolute necessities round here - and there are elements for spring, summer and autumn.  And the poison labels are some of the ones I hand-stamped the other day (see More Skull Distraction for those).

The fungi come in all shapes and sizes so amongst them I'm sure there are some highly toxic ones.  I always think it's a danger sign for food to be blue!!

And the women from the Ancestors Paper Dolls pack are brilliant.  I love it when a woman refuses to be smiley and happy and amenable just to suit others - there's a strength of character in that which really appeals to me.

These two really do not suffer fools gladly.  I'm not saying that one should immediately reach for the poison cabinet when surrounded by fools, but I can definitely see the temptation at times!

The words are from the Clippings stickers - found text is a wonderful thing, but it definitely helps if someone else has spent the time finding it for you.

I hear it's Paula Cheney who does most of that - grateful thanks, if so!  There always seems to be something that is just right to serve whatever story the Paper Dolls are telling me as I create.

I love where the white card peeks through - it looks as though that leaf is catching the light more than the others.  It's an effect I use quite often... not getting everything covered in ink.

The twiggy bits providing structure underneath were left over from my Rusty Tin by Candlelight altered jars.  It seemed a shame not to make use of them rather than throw them in the bin.

And that's pretty much your lot.  I hope you like this pair of tags... I love the combination of beauty and eerieness, of gorgeous glowing colour with an ominous undertow.  At first glance, you might think oh, how pretty - but then you look closer and realise that things are not as lovely as they might seem!

Do hop over to A Vintage Journey and see what my lovely fellow Creative Guides have been doing with their tags for Tag Friday.  It's always fun to see what happens on that tag-shaped creative space.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you are staying safe, well and creative in these tricky times.  Happy crafting all!

Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.
Ambrose Bierce

I think there's time to squeeze in a couple more tags for All Hallow's Eve over at Tag Tuesday

And at Country View Challenges they should fit in well for Halloween - Make A Scene

I've now got plenty of orange for the Anything Mixed Media with Optional Orange challenge over at  More Mixed Media

#newbloggersucks

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

Happy in her Heart

Hello all, and welcome.  I hope you are all doing okay.  My mojo is still up and down - both creatively and for anything much really.

I've been pouring my creative energy into the Zoom sessions with actors from around the globe, and really enjoying sharing the virtual voicework, but that seems to leave me without much space for other things.

However, I'll always make an exception for a Tag Friday over at A Vintage Journey.  There are no rules... just to use a tag and follow your heart, and I suspect that I'm not the only one of the Creative Guides for whom it's a favourite task.

On this occasion, my heart seems to have been ahead of the game colour-wise.  The photos of the background are dated 13th May, a whole week before the brand new Distress Colour was revealed, but somehow I seem to have tuned in to the Speckled Egg vibe a bit early.  There's no actual Speckled Egg involved here... though I do have some on order - irresistible!!










As you'll see, the colours changed from their original look as I was working on the tag... it wasn't really Speckled Eggy to start with, but it all faded to this beautiful shade by the end.













There are plenty of layers to this background, starting with some Fresco chalk paints and Crackle Glaze.  There's Lawn and Beanstalk as the underlayer - here already coated with the Crackle Glaze which has dried, hence the slight sheen.













I painted a combination of Snowflake and Hint of Mint over the top, allowing them to mix on the brush and the tag...













... and let the crackle magic happen.  Somehow, I just never tire of it, whether it's a top glaze crackle or one of these between-paint-layers types.  It's just so satisfying.










Over that I did some dipping and smooshing with various Distress Inks and Oxides in blues and greens.

Tough to say which now - Stormy Sky is in there, and Bundled Sage, but beyond that... your guess is as good as mine!  Maybe Old Paper?









As I mentioned, you can see that the individual colours are quite distinct at this point but as they dried fully later, they ended up in paler tones.















I added some clear embossing powder in places, randomly allowing it to cling to any ink which was still wet enough.













And the last main background layer was a bit of stamping - some Field Notes labels and numbers stamped in Watering Can Archival.
















I fell in love with this Paper Doll the moment I saw her, and I couldn't wait to give her a rope swing to sit on.














It's something I did a couple of years ago with one of my favourite tags - Secret Things  - and I was happy to have the chance to revisit the idea.













She's already got some flowers in the original photograph, but I decided to give her an even better bunch to hold - one of the Field Notes ephemera snippets.













There's lots more ephemera from the Field Notes packs layered up behind the girl...
















... along with some of the delicate wooden grasses by Scrapiniec.













You'll notice there are some butterflies dotted around... three, to be precise.  The rule of three is a good one in visual design as well as verbal rhetoric.













Two of them are in her sketchbook notes, and one is perched in all its delicate beauty, ready to take flight.  (As I usually do, I put a light coat of gesso on the reverse to give it a bit more presence.)













You can be sure she's taking good note of the magic of nature.  Clearly it makes her so happy that she imagines she can hear music as she gazes around her.














All the word stickers are from the Idea-ology Clippings - somehow the right words always seem to bob to the surface just as you need them.













I love that in places you can still get a glimpse of all the scrumptious inky painty crackly layers in the background.

And yes, we're now fully in Speckled Egg territory - that delightful ambivalence between blue and green with a touch of grey to keep things gently wistful.













The twine which provides the girl with her seat is echoed up at the top of the tag for a simple rustic finish.














Distressed edges and some white card behind to create a frame and we're done.















Just look how the embossing on this tag captures the light... and you know that makes me happy in my heart!

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I'm determined to repay some visits this coming weekend, and I'm looking forward to catching up with how you are all finding ways to be creative or simply stay sane at the moment.

One thing sure to inspire you would be a trip over to A Vintage Journey to see what the other Creative Guides have been making for their Tag Friday contributions. 

And if you've been making any tags this month, we'd love you to share them in our Tag Friday link party there too.

Stay safe, stay well, and I'll see you again soon, either here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.

Nature's music is never over; her silences are pauses, not conclusions.
Mary Webb






At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week, they are Going Around in Circles - they're subtle, but they're there... in the background stamping and echoed in the metal token
At Crafty Cardmakers they are looking for Butterflies
There's the tiniest delicate blush of pink on those flowers she's holding for the Anything Mixed Media Goes + Optional Pink theme at the More Mixed Media Challenge
At Tag Tuesday the theme is Animals - I'm never sure whether insects count as animals, but I'm sharing this trio of butterflies nonetheless