Go Green!

Hello

Really sorry I went awol over the last couple of weeks but thank you for your patience  - it is appreciated as are all the visits you make n all the lovely comments you leave me for my creativity ! You always make me smile!


So what have i been up to ..... Well after enjoying making Tim's tag for Feb 2015 I decided to make a few more tags as its something I haven't done much of in the past .

Here's the first one which is kinda apt with me going MIA ! 

Yet again I set out with no real plan or design other than knowing I wanted to use 'Green' so I could join in with one or two of the challenges that are up n running at the mo .

So out came the distress paints, stencils , stamps n waxes n play (uh um, I mean creativity ) began .

I applied mowed lawn, forest moss, peeled paint , crushed olive n bundled sage distress paints on to my craft mat , spritz them with water to activate the water-reactive properties of the paint and then swiped the tag through the paints to cover . I then quickly spritz the painted tag with water to make the paints react and blend more. After heat drying I repeated the process using just a couple of the paint colours this time n adding tarnished brass into the mix . It was great seeing how that reacted when spritzed with water  - kinda looked like it was 'fizzing'!

Once completely dry, the background I had created reminded me of 'army' colours which conjured up happy memories I have of the many years I spent wearing those ever so comfy army trousers n Doc Martin Boots ( the height of fashion back then hahaha) so that swayed the direction my tag was going to take n it would also give me the opportunity to use one of my fave stamps too!

I stenciled onto the tag randomly using Tim Holtz Cargo stencil, Gathered Twigs n Walnut stain distress inks.
I then did a bit of light stamping using coffee archival (stamped off first onto paper) a number stamp n an arrow stamp I had in my stash .
Time for a bit of grunge next (as I was into the whole 'Grunge' thing too back in my heyday lol ) After mixing some texture paste with vintage photo distress reinker I applied it to the tag working it through Tim Holtz burlap stencil in a rugged kinda way. Once dry I finger touched the stenciling and caught the edges of the tag with gilding wax ! A quick spritz of walnut stain distress spray helped finish off the background .

Using my combat boot stamp by Deep Red  I stamped the boots using Coffee archival, cut them out n worked some walnut stain distress ink to give deeper colour in areas of shadow- this helped give the boots more perspective . I made a dark brown shadow out of card as this I thought would give the boots more dimension when mounted on the tag .

Finally the tag was brought together by adhering all the elements - the shadow, the boots n a rusty old flange to create a surround to the tag hole ! 

  Some jute was wound round the tag a few times n then tied in the centre with a muse token to embellish ! More jute was cut to length n double backed through the rusty washer  to create a hanger !  

Though I had no idea where I was going with this tag from the onset I  enjoyed creating it especially recalling all those happy memories of my younger years n knowing how lucky I am now to be able to reflect on them with fondness.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by n hope to be back later with my second tag . Would be lovely to see you then.

                                                          I would like to enter this tag into the following challenges

       SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge: Just a hint of clover…

Art with Heart Challenge March “Go Green”