Cry Me A River

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here with a hanging icon to share with you today.  It all started because I wanted to play with my new Croco Crackling Colour, and ended up taking on a musical twist... singing the blues again!

I guess my Our Creative Corner challenge to use a song title or lyrics has infected me more than I'd realised!  Part way through, the project just started to take on the flavour of the brilliant Cry Me A River (sung by the extraordinary Julie London in the link I've given you).

I began by smearing the Croco Crackling onto opposite corners of the hanging board with a palette knife.  Mine's white to start with, though it also comes in gold.  I left it overnight to crackle, though I don't think it needed that long - but I had several other things on the go at the same time, so there was plenty to be getting on with.

I love the chunky crackle effect - I put it on quite thickly to get this, and I didn't intentionally create that river flowing down the centre, but that's what it turned into once it was blue!

Once it was completely dry, I added various colours of Distress Stains, all shades of blue, over the top, blending with an occasional spritz of water as I went.

The woman is one of my favourites from the Faces No.2 stamp plate.  She's stamped in a combination of Cobalt, Cornflower Blue and Hydrangea Archival inks, and inked with at touch of Faded Jeans Distress Ink, so as to tone in with the Distress Stains.

I mounted her over some swirls of white water (otherwise known as cheesecloth), frothing as it charges downriver.

And the chains of grief still surround her, echoing the path of the river of tears (those would be Idea-ology Lace Chains of grief).

The Idea-ology Enamelled Tag is adorned with some Tim Holtz rub-ons.  The eye was a must, and some of the damask flourishes seemed to work well with the whole look of the piece.

And the words...

... the pay-off line of the refrain...

... always with me the words!

Everything pours over the edges, of course - you know me! - so the swirling waters continue in three dimensions.

So that's me for today - singing the blues (though that's not necessarily a sign that I'm unhappy - I have an ex-boyfriend who used to complain that I sang sad songs when I was happy and when I was blue, so how was he supposed to tell?  What can I say?  I like sad songs!).  I hope you like it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Don't forget, there's still almost a week to join in with our Embossing and Texture challenge here at The Artistic Stamper - hope to see you there!

Ingredients used:

Artistic Stamper stamps: Faces #2

Papier Mâché Icon

Croco Crackling Colour in White

Distress Stains: Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Broken China

Idea-ology: Enamelled Tag, Lace Chains from my stash

Archival Inks: Cornflower Blue, Cobalt, Hydrangea

Distress Inks: Faded Jeans