How to write a letter...

Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here with a romantic tag for you.  I've loved the Jean-Jacques Rousseau quote about how to write a love letter for years, so I was delighted when it appeared amongst the new Tim Holtz releases.  And who else but the Gibson Girls could possibly fit so well with those words?!

I started by adding Grunge Paste to a large tag through the Tim Holtz doily stencil.

Once that was dry, I painted over the whole tag and texture with gesso.

I hadn't at that point planned what I'd be stamping, so it was pure luck that the two women and the quote all fitted (just!) between the textured areas!

I have some Gibson Girls masks ready cut (from the very first time I used them) and stored with the stamp set so I grabbed those and my go-to stencil at the moment, the TH Latticework.  In the first image, she seems to be struggling slightly to free her mind to just write... maybe she's falling out of love?

I used Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks.  Because they're going over gesso, all the colours end up quite muted, but that was fine for me with this tag.  In this second image, I think she's just reading a love letter she's received, and is pausing to let the thoughts sink in... good or bad news?

I added postage accents using Carte Postale by Katy Leitch (formerly Katy Fox).  There are the stamps and postmarks...

... stamped in Cobalt Archival and mounted on padded tape.

And the lovely Carte Postale stamp itself...

... as well as these fabulous postal ephemera labels.

I altered an Idea-ology Muse Token with some paint and White Fire Treasure Gold.

And then there's the quote itself, in such delicate handwriting.

And I've got some blotches from Katy Leitch's Messy Art, stamped in Pumice Stone.  Ink blots, or perhaps tear drops?

There's a shimmer of White Fire across the doily texture and on the edges of all the embellishments.

I couldn't do a tag all about letter-writing without adding a couple of pen nibs, also gilded with the White Fire.

And the whole thing is topped off with some very feminine lacy ribbon tied with delicate twine.

I don't know.... I must have been having a girly day!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Do come and play along with this month's challenge In the Garden.  We'd love to see you there.  Happy Crafting all!

Ingredients:
Artistic Stamper stamps:  The Gibson Girls Plate #1; Katy Leitch sets - Carte Postale, Messy Art
Stampers Anonymous stamps: Random Quotes
Distress Inks: Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Pumice Stone
Archival Inks: Coffee, Cobalt
Tim Holtz Layering Stencils: Doily
Idea-ology Muse Token
Grunge Paste
Gesso
Twine
Size #10 Manila Tag
From my stash: Treasure Gold, lacy ribbon