Dream in Layers and Circles

The challenge at the Sunday Stamper this week is to use the theme of 'Dreamer'. Hels Sheridan used the work of Finnabair as inspiration so I popped over to have a look for myself.  Wow! Such amazing inspiration can be found here and I know I'll be going back very often. I've tried to use some aspects of her style by using layers and elements although I don't own a very large number of these so decided to  make them from die cuts.

I like the way that Hels split her tag into two sections. I decided to add a lace die cut and hang it from the bottom of the tag as my interpretation of what she did. It was fiddly but I really like the effect as it adds another dimension. I've used the word 'Dream' on my tag and soft, dream like colours with a romantic bias to the content in order to fit Hels' theme.

At Simon Says Stamp And Show, the challenge is to show layering. I've chosen to layer flat and embossed die cuts, inks, shimmer sprays, acrylic paints, texture paste through a mask and various stamping.

At Try It On Tuesday, the challenge is to select a line from the bingo card and the twist is to add a butterfly. The line I have chosen is: brads; flower; die cut or punch. I've used brads in two of the flowers and made all the flowers from die cuts and the smaller ones from punched shapes. The required butterfly is there too!

The Stampalot Challenge is to show your crafty passion. I've used distress inks, shimmer sprays, stamping, flowers and glossy accents - all of which I love! The only one I left out was my beloved powder embossing because it didn't really fit this time. I added gold highlights with Rub and Buff gold leaf paste instead.

The challenge at The Artistic Stamper is circles. I've used gesso stamped circles to help build the background of my tag.

Here's what I made this time:

The main elements of the tag before construction.

This image was taken after the die cuts & canvas had been glued down, inks and shimmer spray had been applied and gesso painted over all the layers so far. At this stage I thought: YUK - IN THE BIN YOU GO! However, I recovered and refused to give in! So, from the above, to this:

The completed tag where colour has been spritzed and painted to create depth and interest.

Die cut flower coloured with dylusions sprays and distress ink. Stamped with a crackle image and chalky ink then layered over a similar flower. Seed beads attached with glossy accents. The tiny flower to the right was made the same way but has a gem for the centre and was a die punch.

TH lace die cut inked as before, stamped with script, gold leaf paste randomly applied and then lightly brushed with gesso. Lace then wired to the bottom of the tag. Die cut letters inked, stamped and gold paste as before then coated with glossy accents. Wired to lace so they dangle. I needed one more letter - perhaps I'll add an S at some point but that would mean undoing all the letters. . . . . 

Heart die cut embossed (same for the other heart), inked with dylusions, stamped with script (it's there, really it is!) and then acrylic metallic paint wash applied. Grooves and edges outlined with graphite stick. Small amount of gold paste smeared here and there.

Die cut cog treated as before with dylusions etc. Leaves applied through dylusions mask using texture paste. Painted with dylusions, acrylic and swiped with gold paste. The other leaves on the tag were created the same way. This is the first time I've used texture paste and I love it!

A snippet of the background showing dylusions and gesso colouring. The brown leaves (dylusion stamp image) were stamped onto tissue paper then applied. Gold acrylic was used to highlight the leaves. Script and crackle images were stamped lightly with various inks. Circles were stamped with gesso.

Die cut butterfly was coloured with dylusions then coated with crackle glaze to achieve aged look. The edges were enhanced with gold leaf paste. The shape was manipulated a little when almost dry to achieve a 3d look. Some walnut distress finished the look.

Die cut was inked, painted and gold leaf paste applied as before. Punched flower treated the same and a brad finishes the look. Small punched flowers were attached to the jute thread to add interest. 

The background can be clearly seen here with the circles and other stamping.  I really like the effect created by the graphite stick. I saw Andy Skinner use one on his aged metal finishes and wondered how it could be utilised in other ways - here's one! Thanks to the super talented Andy. (Er, not that he reads this blog of course but credit where credit's due!!).