Thursday 10 July 2014

A Doodly Twosome

Hello all!  Alison (butterfly) here again, this time with a pair of tags which are not quite in my usual vein - though they are in some of my favourite colours!


I used the new Alphabet Soup by Neil Walker as my starting point.  I clear embossed the background onto a tag.


Then I sprayed lots of lovely Dylusions colour onto it, and dried it with a heat tool.  I love the squiggly doodly lettering.


The next step was to cut Umbrella Man with the Sizzix die (did I dream it, or did I read that he's been discontinued?  In any case, he's still available here at Artistic Stamper for now).


I hadn't really planned on making two tags, but as soon as I'd cut him, I realised I had the makings of a 'positive' and a 'negative' version.


For the backgrounds, I just blended on various Distress Ink colours from grass to sky and gave both tags a good old spritz and flick with some water.


The words are all from the fabulous Journalling Words #5 set.  I stamped them onto another inky tag I had lying around on the desk, in a combination of Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers, and clear embossed the result.


I cut them and inked the edges and mounted them on padded tape for a little pop of dimension.


I altered a couple of Muse Tokens with Distress Paint, then sanded back to the metal underneath.


As soon as I saw the silvery detailing, I wanted to echo it on the rest of the tags.


So I used some silver gilding wax to edge the words and the tags themselves.


I ended up adding quite a lot of silvery sheen to the embossed Alphabet Soup too because I really liked the look of it.


A couple of twirls of metal wire finish off the tags at the top.  It's just some more of the rescued wires from some spiral bound notebooks that were being thrown away... 'waste not, want not', as they say!


And that's pretty much that... I hope you like my doodly tags.


Thanks so much for stopping by - I always love to hear what you think.


Oh, and we'd also love it if you came along to play in our July challenge By the Seaside - can't wait to see your creations.  See you again soon.

Ingredients used

Artistic Stamper Stamps:  Neil Walker Alphabet Soup, Journalling Words #5
Sizzix Umbrella Man die
Dylusions Sprays - Polished Jade, After Midnight, Cut Grass
Distress Inks - Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Gathered Twigs
Versamark Ink Pad
Clear Embossing Powder
Idea-ology Muse Tokens
Distress Paints - Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass
Manila Tags
Foam Pads
From my stash - gilding wax (but these are similar) and wire from a spiral bound notebook

35 comments:

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Is that really a scribbly alphabet in that background? I think it looks more like icing on a pastry... next you'll be reading the tea leaves. And I'd be shocked (and scared and scarred) to learn that Umbrella Man is being discontinued. He's my man! Scrumptious colors in your tags. I can see how you ended up "having" to make two of them. It only makes perfect sense. I love hearing that your twisted wire is leftover from spiral bound notebooks--brilliant!

Salla said...

Very cool! I like how you used both the positive and negative of the die cuts. The background stamp is great for this clear-emboss-then-spray technique, and I love the colours too!

Rupa Swaminathan said...

Brilliant use of the positive and negative of the die cut! The colors have a cool effect just perfect for the umbrella man. The rescued twisted wire gets full marks here, love it!

Marci said...

Love these tags! Yummy colors and never tire of umbrella man. The muse tokens are beautifully done, the background, too.

Helen said...

What a fabulous pair of tags, love the positive-negative coupling. Umbrella man is one of my all time favourites. The alphabet soup stamp is fantastic, not sure how I'd missed seeing that, may have to go shopping right now!!

Brenda Brown said...

Beautiful, I love the positive and negative designs xx

Jane said...

That effect is brilliant and to use the negative too is inspired. Thanks for sharing, these are great tags x

Cestina said...

Oh clever....

Am pleased to note that the live traffic feed has now located me in Vodnany, rather than Sobeslav which is somewhere beyond Heli. One day Bavorov perhaps!
xx

Deborah said...

Love the positive/negative!

Unknown said...

Clever use of the positive and negative imagery with fab colours and composition. Love these! Chris xxx

craftytrog said...

A fabulous pair Alison! xxx

rachel said...

a cool pair of tags Alison - brilliant makes - love them both xx

massofhair said...

A fabulous pair of doodly tags, the silver really makes them stand out for me.

Fantastic and inspiring as always:-) xxx

Dorthe said...

Love your embossed doodling,
and use of positive negative man!
Wonderful Alison.
Hugs.

Nan G said...

Love how you've used the new scribbly stamp! Two fantastic tags.

Inkypinkycraft said...

really great use of the alphabet soup stamp! great colours and makes x

Shilpa Nagaonkar said...

Beautiful background, Alison!! Love the tag !

Cocofolies said...

Just really gorgeous and very clever, I love both the 'positive' and 'negative' tags!! Wonderful background stamp (which I have too, so really should give it its first stamping!!!) and colours too.. Coco x

Redanne said...

Such a clever idea to make a positive and negative and they both look fantastic! I think you are right about Umbrella Man and Tim's wonderful clock has face been discontinued too..... Anne xx

Julie Lee said...

Loving this positive/negative pair of tags, Alison! How imaginatively you've used them. These colours are so fresh they evoke that wonderful moment after the rain, when the leaves are still dripping and everything looks kind of crisp and green. I've never got round to buying 'Umbrella Man', although I've so often admired him on people's work. He looks perfect here! It is a pity when popular images are discontinued. Julie Ann xxx

sally said...

Love your positive/negative tags :-) I hope they are NOT retiring the Brolly Man as I really like him - at least I DO have him as a die & 2 size of clear stamp so he'll never retire from my house!

Sally

Terry said...

Love these tags, Alison! Wonderful positive and negative effect and the scribbles are awesome!

Annie said...

Wonderful tags Alison. The squiggles look amazing on your background and such fabulous colours. Great stamp set

Hugs Annie x

Juliz Design Post said...

What a great idea with having a positive and negative design and as always stunning work.
Julie x

Lys said...

A new journey with the umbrella man... Here I love the fabulous blend of colours, and the different textures. Beautiful idea!

Almo said...

I can see why you were destined to make two tags here Alison it would have been such a waste not to use that lovely negative. This alphabet soup stamp is now on my wish list and I love your matching coloured muse token. Mo x

Jenny Marples said...

Beautiful tags here Alison. Loving that alphabet soup. Jenny x

Sid said...

Very gorgeous pair of tags !!

www.deeadamsart.blogspot.co.uk said...

Clever use of the alphabet stamp really love these two tags. Dee x

cathylynn said...

Double delicious tags! Great colors and I love the squiggles.
Fantastic job!!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Paper Profusion said...

Clever design indeed! Arent they the perfect matching pair! Stunningly stamped inked layered etc. Nicola x

Jools Robertson said...

Fab! Love the colours and the ombré negative is amazing

Jools x

Astrid Maclean said...

Brilliant pair of tags Alison and they look so good together! Fab colours and love the positive and negative effect on them!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful tags!

Kezzy said...

Wow truly awesome tags, so colourful, stunning :-) Kezzy xxx