Tuesday 25 September 2012

Trees. . . . . . .

I'm very keen on trees and would probably be a tree hugger if the weather allowed here in UK (and I wasn't so vertically challenged!)! I know it sounds daft but they can be so beautiful and of course, as the seasons change, their beauty changes and draws us in more. (My husband does the odd eye roll as I'm always pointing out trees when we're in the car and I think he's pretty bored with my obsession by now!).

The lovely ladies at Artful Times very kindly chose trees as their theme this time so I needed no mojo searching and had a lovely, inky play to produce this tag:


A white card tag was embossed in a tree folder. The tree was inked with walnut distress ink and the 'sky' was coloured with watercolour pencils. 

Some floral images were stamped and then embossed with distress powder to give that lovely textured look. The lace (another huge favourite) was cut from Tim's resist paper and double embossed with clear powder.

The letters were also cut from Tims resist paper and inked then embossed twice with clear powder. I love how the original resist on the paper still shows through the inking and embossing. Embossing twice seems to have made them darker thus lending an aged appearance which I rather like.

I used several watercolour pencil shades for the blue and blended lightly with a water-brush - I wanted it to work well against the brown and act as a lifting element - I hope you think it works. The little flowers ( I can't resist using them!) were also cut from Tim's resist but they look so different without the embossing and just the addition of inks and some have picket fence stain too. The little gems are really red and have been toned down with alcohol ink but some red is allowed to shine through for added effect.

The remaining white areas of the tag were lightly inked with walnut distress and stamped with script. Some water was spritzed and flicked to create a distressed finish.


Hope you like the tag and thank you so much to my new followers who have left such lovely comments - it's always nice to know that someone is looking!

Thank you too, to the lovely and hugely talented Ana who recently nominated me for a 'child's shoe' blog award: namely one which supports those with less than 200 followers in order to promote more visitors to their blog. Thank you for that Ana and I'll be in touch with you again about my possible nominations.

42 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous tree-tag Julia...you can hug this one!!! :-)
    I love the letters and all the great details...the colouring is so nice...Again a great project Julia!

    Hugs, Alie :-)

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  2. A fantastic piece of work Julia - so many different elements and the colours all work so well together. I love the way you have "framed" the tag.

    I can understand your love of trees. I do miss them here in Shetland, especially at this time of the year, although we do have some small ones growing in the garden now.

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  3. Hi Julia, This is fab, (I know I always say that, but I LOVE your tags) love the textures you have created with the embossing, and then a lovely soft background. I do like the lace die cut border.
    Avril xx

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  4. This is stunning Julia. Love the sepia tones and the textures from the embossing and your beautiful stamping are so eye catching.
    Hugs from Fliss, a fellow tree lover xx

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  5. Absolutely gorgeous Julia, a lot of work, and a brilliant result. I also love trees, and my brain went into sleep mode for this one. Too much choice I think.

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  6. This is really quite stunning. I love the splash of blue in the sky and think your work is very inspirational. Great stuff.
    Julia

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  7. Oh Julia! That's just so adorable!!!
    Love it, love it, love it!
    You want my address? :-D
    Hugs, Suzanne

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  8. Oww Julia love your tree tag :) lovely result with the die cut resist letters
    Thank you for hugging a tree for us at Artful Times
    Von ♥

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  9. It's not hard to see you are a huge fan of nature (well done again on your Frilly & Funkie win:) Love that you have kept a reduced colour palette for this one and let the textures do the talking, and my favourite - your lace border at the bottom. Hugs as ever, Buttons x

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  10. WOW this is gorgeous, I love it. Great tree but I love how you've done those fab letters with the text showing through.

    Thanks for playing along with one of your favourite themes at Artful Times this week.

    Sam xxx

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  11. Really beautiful tag, love it! Valerie

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  12. As a vertical challenged both in my height and phobias I just love your feet on the ground approach. the card is lovely wish i could see the real thing.

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  13. That really is a beautiful tree hug Julia, love the colours and design. Well done on your latest win too. Crafty hugs, Anne x

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  14. Julia, this tag is so beautiful! Brown and blue are always good 'companions' and yes it works very nice in your case:)

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  15. Another gorgeous tag Julia ! Love the earthtones & textures, awesome work again ! Take care, Shirleyx

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  16. Really loving your rustic tag, Julia.

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  17. Absolutely gorgeous!!! I love those letters they really finish the piece of perfectly. I am a keen tree person & I also love browns in all shades so the best words for me to use for this piece is delicious colours

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  18. Completely beautiful Julia - this may be my favourite work of yours so far... I completely love the silhouetted flower heads against that delicious text/spritzed background, and your embossed letters and lace are delicious. The beautiful watercolour sky peeping between the branches - heavenly! I love this tag so much...
    Alison x

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  19. And a big hurrah - just seen Frilly and Funkie!!
    Alison xx

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  20. Such a fantastic project, love all the details.

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  21. This is such a beautiful tag Julia, your techniques are fantastic and perfectly executed as always my lovely. The little splash of colour and the beautifully embossed letters really finish it off. You always explain what you have done so clearly too, thank-you for the inspiration.
    Huge hugs x x x x

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  22. Fabulous Julia. Love the earthy tones and that gorgeous blue sky. Beautiful stamping and texture. Love it! xx

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  23. Amazing tag ! I like it. Bravo !

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  24. Julia, this is very lovely! Love all the texture and elements and the lace trim on the bottom is a perfect finish!

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  25. Very beautiful tag.

    Love Chrissie xxx

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  26. Julia, I just love this tag and share your enthusiasm for trees. You've included a great mix of stamping, colour and texture and I just want to touch that lace trim - in fact the whole tag just begs to be touched. Elizabeth xx

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  27. Your tag is simply stunning Julia! So much loveliness! xx

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  28. Sorry am so latew, this is a beautiful piece Julia, simply beautiful..so many great things to look at and wonderful colours! Love this trace x
    Big hugs

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  29. Very very beautiful Julia.
    Love the colors and the details
    The letters you made are great

    Greetings Janny

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  30. wow, lovely tag Julia, the details are so important and you have a real eye for them! Just letting you know that you won a mini album from me, shoot me an e-mail with your address and I'll pop it in the mail! waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

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  31. Fabulous! The pop of blue sky with these browns and the letters...all wonderful!

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  32. Julia, this tag is awesome. Love the concept, colours and design.... beautiful!

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  33. This a fab tag, the trees, the words, I love this!

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  34. This is probably one of the most awesome tags I have ever seen! It took me a few moments to take it in and work out how you'd actually done it! Amazing :D
    (Btw, came across to thank you for being the only one to say I don't look 30 in my Year 30 LO lol)
    Love Kt x

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  35. I am most definitely a tree hugger Julia and your tag had my heart skipping a beat in a most lovely way. The detail is superb as is your shading and colouring. Yeah for trees - the lungs of the Earth. Oh and if you want a warmer climate where you can indulge your treehugging inclinations then come on over. We have a lot that would enjoy some meore Love!

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  36. Hi there Julia - love this tag. You have really gone to town on this challenge and all the work has paid off. Just love the Glossy Accented parts to it. Thank you so much for giving such precise and clear instructions on how you made it. Lots of brilliant ideas here.
    Hugs Neet xx

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  37. This is so gorgeous and love the textures - now you see I would love to be able to do this type of thing mine would just look dull and gloomy yours looks like a piece of art ! x

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  38. Gorgeous tag Julia, the detail is fabulous, Love it all... Hugs May x x x

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  39. Julia, the detail on your tag is amazing and gorgeous. I love the alphas and the distressing and the sweet little flowers!

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  40. Oh, Julia, this one's rocketed up to the top of my Fave Julia Creations list... what a fantastic composition! Your colors are stunning, and I just love the tiny flowers, letters, and big tree. Just pinned this beauty!

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  41. Hi Julia, congrats for being the runner up at Artful Times - very well deserved with this gorgeous creation :-)
    Hugs, Suzanne xxx

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Juliax