Goose Grease Tag by Alison Hall

Hello Stampers! I have a large inky tag to share with you today.

Here's what I used...

Manila Tag - Size 10

Old Book Paper

Claudine Hellmuth Matt Medium

Fresco Finish Paint - Snowflake

Ranger Archival Ink - Cobalt, Watering Can, Potting Soil

Stamps - Goose Grease, Katy Leitch Numerical Plate A5, Ephemera Plate 1

Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo

PaperArtsy White Smoothy Card

Crunchy Waxed Kraft Paper

Gleam Gilding Wax Set 8 - Metallic 2

Ideaology Long Fasteners, Mini Gear, & Pen Nib

White Rayon Seam Binding

Distress Stains - Vintage Photo
Glossy Accents

Blending Foam

Distress Tool

Sequin Waste

Paper Tape Measure (from a Christmas Cracker!)

And, here's what I did...

1. I used matt medium to glue some scraps of book paper to the tag, then realised that the matt medium resists ink! So, I added a thin coat of Fresco Snowflake paint.

2. I used blending foam to apply Cobalt Archival ink to the tag, sponged some of the ink through sequin waste, then stamped images from the Numerical & Ephemera Plates, using Cobalt, Watering Can & Potting Soil Archival inks.

3. I used blending foam to darken the edges of the tag with the Cobalt, then distressed the edges & applied Vintage Photo Distress ink.

4. I stamped Goose Grease & the words from Ephemera Plate 1 onto white smoothy card. I inked Goose Grease with Antique Linen Distress ink, cut him out, distressed the edges, then inked them with Vintage Photo. 

5. I cut out the words, distressed the edges, then inked with Vintage Photo Distress.

6. I tore a piece of crunchy wax kraft paper, crumpled it up, inked the edges & applied coppery gilding wax. I attached Goose Grease to the wax paper & tag with long fasteners, adding a mini gear & a pen nib.

7. I glued the words to the tag, then added the paper tape measure to the bottom with long fasteners.

8. Finally, I coloured some seam binding with Vintage Photo Distress Stain, crumpled it up, inked the creases with Potting Soil Archival, added some gilding wax, then threaded it through the top of my tag.
9. Oops...nearly forgot to say, I also added some glossy accents to the Prof's glasses!

If you click on the photos, you may just see the book paper texture in the background. 

I hope you like my tag. I really love the gorgeous colour of the Cobalt background against the kraft paper. 

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xxx

Dance Tag by Alison

Hello Stampers! I have a little painty tag to share with you today.

Here's what I used...

The Artistic Stamper Sioux Jenneys Stamps - Dance A5

The Artistic Stamper Stamps - Borders A6

Dylusions Stamps - Say What You Mean

Manila Tag size 8

White Smoothy Card

Fresco Finish Paint - Bora Bora, London Bus & Snowflake

Uniball Signo White Pen

White Rayon Seam Binding

Jet Black Archival Ink

Glossy Accents

Jump Ring

Brayer

Heat Gun

Charm

And this is how I made my tag...

I gave my tag a base coat of Snowflake Fresco paint, using a brayer. I brayered on some Bora Bora, dried with a heat gun, applied some London Bus, drying again, then finished with a little Snowflake to tone down the colours.

I stamped the larger dots from the Borders set along the bottom edge with archival ink. I inked up just a small part of the tiny dot border, & stamped my background. I used the white pen to highlight some of the tiny dots, then edged the tag with archival ink.

I stamped the dancer onto white card, coloured her with watered down London Bus Fresco, cut her out & glued her to the tag with glossy accents.

I stamped the Dylusions phrase onto white card, cut it out & used glossy accents to glue it to the tag.

I coloured some seam binding with watered down London Bus Fresco, tied it to the top of my tag, then finished with a jump ring and charm.

Thanks for dropping by,

Alison xxx

Les Fleurs

Hi all, Alison (butterfly) here, with a pair of tags for you today.  It will come as no surprise to regulars that they use Katy Fox's beautiful botanical stamps... I seem to be obsessed with them!  (Remember, you can click on the photos if you need a closer look.)

So I started with a couple of plain manila tags, and inked them up with Tim's wrinkle-free distress technique and some spritzing and flicking.  I layered in some stencilling, rays and letters with Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

Then I added some background stamping with the Artistic Stamper Large Random Dots.  They're stamped in Picket Fence Distress Paint, and then I used a white pen to add a little dimensional shading.  I also stamped the Sequin Waste in Peacock Feathers - which you can see in a later photo.

The main stamp for the first tag is from Encyclopaedia Botanica, from Katy's first release.

And the second tag uses the large flower from Botanical 2.  On each of them, I've used a very light wash of Mermaid Fresco paint to just highlight the flower heads a little.

 

The adorable little Les Fleurs label is also from that second set.

It's simply stamped on card in Black Archival and then torn and inked, and positioned to complement the flower stamping.

Regulars at Words and Pictures will see that I've created some new glass pebbles for this project.  Rather than sticking my glass pebbles onto book pages, as I've done previously, this time I created some musical embellishments!

I spritzed some colour onto some card (Dylusions and Perfect Pearls Mists), and then stamped the Music Background over the top in Jet Black Archival.  

Then you just glue on the pebbles (the sort you use to fill vases and so on) using gel medium - I use gloss, but I think any would do - wait until dry and then cut around the pebbles.  I do love how they catch the light!

I've also been having another little play with the beeswax (loved my first go on some journalling pages also using Artistic Stamper stamps and stencils).  I painted melted beeswax onto some book pages, and tore and inked them.  

You get a lovely translucence from the beeswax, and I really like the look of ancient parchment that it gives the paper.

As you can see, I also added some Idea-ology cogs and gears - somehow the composition just needed them - and then I simply couldn't resist the urge to mount the tags onto corrugated cardboard (another obsession).

This time it's had a rough coat of a couple of paint colours that complemented the tags, and then a good bit of inking with Gathered Twigs around the roughened edges.  (And here's that Sequin Waste stamping - such a cool background texture stamp!)

A little bit of crinkle ribbon, dyed with Distress Stains and Paints - the paints give it that lovely opaque look - and tied with paper string to top the whole thing off.

You can probably tell from these tags that I'm longing for Spring.  

Again, I caught one of those odd pockets of sunshine to take some of these photos, but I hope you are all keeping safe and dry in these storms in the UK, and not too cold in the US, and generally happy, safe and sound wherever you are in the world.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and if you've been using Distress products then come and play along in this month's challenge here at The Artistic Stamper where that's all you need to do: Use Distress.  Hope to see you there!

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Katy Fox - Encyclopaedia Botanica and Botanical #2; Backgrounds - Music Background, Large Random Dots, Sequin Waste
Tim Holtz Layering Stencils
Melt Art Natural Beeswax
Distress Inks - Broken China, Vintage Photo, Peacock Feathers
Distress Paints - Picket Fence
Distress Stains - Peeled Paint, Broken China
Archival Inks - Jet Black, Sepia
Fresco Paints - Mermaid
Dylusions - Dirty Martini, Cut Grass
Perfect Pearls Mists - Turquoise
Inkssentials White Pen
Idea-ology Findings - Sprocket Gears
From my stash: book pages, corrugated cardboard, Idea-ology paper string

Falling Leaves

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here, and like many of the team I've been having a wonderful time with Katy Fox's fabulous new leaf stamps.  I've been having fun playing with gesso, inks, clear embossing and fussy-cutting (well... not so much fun with fussy-cutting - I'd be lying if I said it was my favourite thing to do!).

The background was a by-product of me doing some stencilling with the Roman Letters onto another tag with gesso.  I had this tag nearby and flipped the stencil straight over onto it to get a reverse print of the Letters here.

The gesso partly acts as a resist, but - being gesso - also takes some of the colour when you ink over it, as I then did.

I think there's Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade and maybe a couple of others in the mix here.  (Sorry - this was made in the middle of house-moving so I've only a hazy recollection of what I actually did!)

I blended the same colours onto a piece of Manila cardstock, and then stamped the leaves in various combinations of Archival Ink - Sienna, Olive, Fern Green and Sepia - using two or three ink colours on each stamp.

I clear embossed the stampings as I went, using the Wow Superfine powder.  And then the cutting...  The embossing gives you a bit more sturdiness on the very fine areas, like the stalks, so it's quite helpful when you're cutting.

I seem to have added some Grunge Paste to create some "earth" at the foot of the tag, patting it on with the palette knife for extra texture, and inking it along with the rest of the tag.

One leaf had the privilege of being home to the Camus quote which is also on the stamp plate - it's a lovely font, I think.  It's stamped in Potting Soil Archival ink.

I arranged the leaves around the tag, and then mounted them using padded tape, sometimes a couple of layers of it, to get different heights above the background.

I like the glossy leaves against the chalky background of the gesso.

A very simple, natural tag topping of some raffia tied with twine, and my autumnal tag is done.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  The October Alter Something Challenge still has a few days to run here at The Artistic Stamper, so do come and play... and I'll see you again in November.

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper Stamps:  Katy Fox, Leaves
Crafter's Workshop: Roman Letters stencil
Distress Inks: Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge
Archival Inks: Olive, Fern Green, Sepia, Sienna, Potting Soil
Grunge Paste
Wow Embossing Powders: Superfine Clear Gloss
Gesso
Manila tags
Manila paper

"Thinking of you...." Tag By Zuzu.

 

Hello... Zuzu here:
Well as I got my first ever die cutting machine (BigShot) at the beginning of this month, I HAD to do something that involved cutting out with my one and only die (so far). So I have made a tag that features a large flower and leaves.

Firstly I inked a large buff tag using distress stains and inks. I used Antique linen, vintage photo, peeled paint and worn lipstick. I applied the ink randomly using a blending tool. then i stamped on the Katy Fox  "postcard" stamp in black archival ink. next i used the new  Leaf background stamp. I used peeled paint distress ink and stamped over the full tag.

I cut out my "Tattered floral" flowers out of card and used the large broad petalled flower. I inked them with worn lipstick, fired brick and vintage photo . I cut out four of them, cutting sections out of the inner layers to make them easier to fold in to a cone shape... Tim Holtz has a tutorial on his blog that shows you what to do (his example is with a different die cut but the principal is the same.) you can find his step by step HERE.  once it was assembled i sprayed over it with Heirloom Gold perfect pearls mist. I also cut out some leaves (Astrid was visiting and had brought lots of dies for me to try out) and inked them.

Next i inked some plain card using worn lipstick, fired brick and vintage photo on enough card to stamp out my words "Thinking of you" and to make a backing mat for the main image... and I also inked a piece of card with just a light touch of peeled paint and vintage photo to print out my collage lady stamp... I used my paper distresser tool on all the edges (including the tag), then assembled all the pieces. The ribbon is a bit of calico i ripped off and inked with "pesto" alcohol ink. you dont need much if you add it to a touch of blending solution in a saucer and dip the fabric in to it till it soaks it up.
See you in a couple of weeks. 
Z x

I am creating

Hello all, it's Alison (butterfly) here, with a hanging to share.  I've used some of the brand new Journalling Words stamps on this one.  If you haven't seen Jennie's fabulous new releases, check them out here... and don't forget there's a brand new line of Artistic Stamper masks too!

Back to the hanging... this was one of those makes where I just sat down and let it flow.  It was made in 5 minute segments, over several days, in between sorting and packing boxes, but oh my word, those minutes were lovely!  And I even like the finished piece too!

Because of the five-minute-flow-process, and the fact that my brain is really elsewhere at present, I'm afraid I haven't got any 'making-of' photos, but I'll show you some details and let you know approximately what I got up to as we go.

I started with the tag, doing a Distress Paint and Distress Stain combination with the wrinkle-free distress technique.  You get lovely swirls of combined opacity and translucence - solid paint colours and glowing inks - and all in my favourite blues and greens.  I then used some Broken China and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks to ink over the top, and then spritz and flicked with water to add extra texture to the layers of colour.

Next step was some Picket Fence Distress Paint applied through one of the new Tim Holtz stencils.  (I started the hanging before the new Artistic Stamper releases were out or I could have used one those new masks!)

And I then stamped the lovely Tim Holtz meadow grasses in Cornflower Blue Archival (one of the new Wendy Vecchi colours).

I used Fresco paints to add some extra detailing to the flower heads, starting with Snowflake and adding South Pacific for some turquoise colour.  Then I added some even finer detailing using the Inkssentials white pen.  I love how they've ended up.

I stamped the Tim Holtz bird in Wendy Vecchi's Potting Soil, and used the white pen again to add highlights to the image.

The final step with the tag was to add some texture stamping, for which I used the TH Postcard stamp and one of my favourite Pink Paislee music advertisement stamps from my stash.

Next, it was on to the background and what else but corrugated cardboard?  I started with a good coat of white paint, and then added Grunge Paste through the same Cargo Letters stencil as on the tag.

I blended some Mowed Lawn and Broken China Distress Ink over them, and then added some texture stamping using the fabulous Artistic Stamper Mini Dots and Sequin Waste.

I used Distress Stains and a water brush to add some 'watercolour' inky detailing in the grooves of the cardboard - really love this!

I added some Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs, matching the Postcard to the Postcard stamp on the tag...

...and generally "keeping an eye" on things.  I didn't want the Remnant Rubs to be quite as vibrantly black as they were, so I put a light wash of white paint over them, as well as inking them to blend in with their surroundings.

I was delighted to find that I could get these flourish transfers (sorry, that's what we used to call them when I was little) down into the grooves of the corrugated card too!

The words are stamped onto another tag that I'd done some wrinkle-free distress technique on - again with the combination of paints and stains.

The big create is embossed in Bright White over Versamark ink.

The new stamps - I am creating - are stamped in the Cornflower Blue Archival and then clear embossed.

I never tire of how the light catches on the glossy embossing - I love embossing my words!

So, a bit of Paper Distresser action around all my spare edges, and some torn, inked edges in other places and, of course, some Distress Stain dyed seam binding (but of course) and we're done.

Can't tell you how much joy creating this provided in the midst of chaos and turmoil all around.  I hope it gives you just as much pleasure to look at!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Do come and play along in our Alter Something challenge this month,  We'd love to see you there... but for now, I'll just wish you happy crafting, and go and get on with some more box-shifting.  At least the end is in sight now... only a week to go, and then we have to be done, like it or not!!

Ingredients used:

Artistic Stamper Stamps: Journalling Words 2 and Journalling Words 5, Mini Polka Dot, Sequin Waste Open Size
Various Tim Holtz stamps by Stampers Anonymous
Cargo Layering Stencil
Grunge Paste
Distress Paints
Distress Stains
Distress Inks
Idea-ology Remnant Rubs
Fresco Finish Paints
Inkssentials White Pen
Seam Binding