Duo of Dragonflies' Digitalis Delight Alphatag

I was beginning to despair over a devilishly difficult "D" Alphatag for the Baroque Guild Swap. My dandelion doily was too distressed & dull so I abandoned that & after deciding that the diamante Damask was resembling a disaster I tried decorated diamonds which most certainly didn't fall into a decorative category. I'd abandoned some delightful digitalis (foxgloves) which were also proving dull but as I was  rapidly running out of time since I need to post the tags to arrive by the 23rd I tried adding some dragonflies & decided that would work. Deliberating over my title I realised that I had a duo of dragonflies - finally my "D" Alphatag was done & dusted. 

front of tag

close-up showing paper pierced scallops plus
 sparkle & shine of heat embossed dragonflies

close-up showing sparkly throats of coloured digitalis

back of tag

close-up showing paper pierced scallops &
 inked edges of theme panel

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0375 Honey Bee (digitalis flowers), UA5SP0347 Doodle Butterfly (large dragonfly) & UA5SP0346 Doodle Birds (small dragonfly).
Inks Memories Dye Black (digitalis flowers); Emboss Tinted Embossing Stamp Pad with Stampendous Rainbow Crystal Embossing Powder (dragonflies); Black Soot Distress Ink for inking various cardstock edges.
Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Memento Tuxedo Black Dual Marker.
Cardstock White, black & pink from stash.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.
Punches Woodware (scalloped circle & scalloped square).
The ribbon is from stash.

Challenges Entered
Allsorts Week 142 - Anything Goes
Simon Says.........Tag It!
Stampalot February Challenge - In the Garden (we have loads of dragonflies in our garden during the summer & although we have no foxgloves as yet they are a common garden flower or sometimes even a weed)

Colourful Collage of Crowned Chevrons Alphatag

This was somewhat of an  adventure but I had so many ideas for my “C” Alphatag (Baroque Guild Swap) that I decided to combine several  into my approximation of a ‘collage.’ I cannot begin to describe the excitement of seeing  this idea using techniques from my first two MCC stamping courses actually “work” in front of my eyes.

front of tag

close-up showing details of masked elements
& heat embossed crown

close-up showing sparkle of embellished
heat embossed crown 

back of tag

close-up showing texture & sheen of
heat embossed chevron pattern

close-up showing details & paper
piercing of theme panel

The chevron background was stamped & heat embossed with clear embossing powder & the tag then initially inked with a rainbow of Nick Bantock inks. The letter masks were then positioned & another layer of inks applied in the masked areas.  After taking the masks off I carefully ironed the whole tag to remove the clear embossing powder & finally stamped & heat embossed the crowns in black. 

Thinking about the back I thought I’d continue the “C” theme with black & white for Contrast  using the chevron background again & heat embossing with clear pearly embossing powder to achieve a tone on tone effect. I was grinning when I selected  the black & white Checked ribbon from my box but, by the time it dawned on me that I’d used Crystal gems to embellish my large crown, I was beginning to wonder whether variations of “C” were pursuing me.

Recipe

Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0371 Texture Fragments (Chevron background), UDLSP0205  Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh (large crown) & UA5SP0316 Royal Fleur de Lys (small crowns).

Inks Chartreuse Leaf, Chrome Yellow, Damson Plum, Prussian Blue, Rose Madder, & Vermillion Lacquer Nick Bantock Inks (background);  Emboss Tinted Embossing Stamp Pad with Stampendous  Embossing Powders (Detail Black - crowns, Detail Clear - chevrons on front, Satin Pearl - chevrons on back); Black Soot Distress Ink for inking various cardstock edges.

Colouring White Pentel K118 Hybrid Gel Grip Pen.

Cardstock White & assorted blacks in various finishes from stash.

Masks Tim Holtz idea-ology - Ransom.

Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.

Punch Woodware (scalloped rectangle).

The gems are Anita’s & the ribbon is from stash.

Challenges Entered

Allsorts Week 141 - Free & Easy February

Totally Papercrafts 103 - It's A Rainbow

MCC Colouring 101 Wk 4 - Negative Space & More Fantasy Colouring

Links: Previous Post i, Previous Post ii, Glenda Waterworth, My Creative Classroom (MCC)

from my sketchbook

It is about 5 months since I posted my last piece of work for the Colouring Course but I am determined to complete it & have been chipping away at the assignments whilst working on projects with deadlines.

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth; 

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with a dry paper stump.

 Stamp Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0304 Christmas Decorations;

Inks Memento (Danube Blue, Paris Dusk, Bahama Blue & Summer Sky);

Cardstock Southfield Bright White 160gsm;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

 Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Black Soot Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.

Golden Dragon Scales 

Digital Image Glenda Waterworth;

Cardstock WH Smith 220gsm edged with Black Soot Distress Ink;

Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor.

Cobblestones

Fluttering Floral Frenzy with Virginia's View

front of card 

close-up to show sparkle & detail of  flowerhead 

close-up showing sparkle of inked & shaped
dragonfly & butterfly plus shimmer of grey-blue cardstock 

close-up showing paper piercing & texture of
die-cut mounting frame 

inside of card

close-up of message panel showing
texture of die-cut frame

close-up showing paper piercing of corner
& shimmer of grey-blue cardstock

This came together as a result of 3 challenges & my wish to use one of the Penny Black stamps I found in this year's Sales. The colour combination is from Virginia's View Photo Inspiration at Lily Pad Cards  & the flowerhead fitted perfectly with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week. I'd not decided about anything else but when Make My Monday's Challenge was posted it made sense to let some butterflies & dragonflies have a feeding frenzy upon the flowerheads.

Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 3820K a touch.
Inks Memories Dye Black (image); Aged Mahogany & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks (inking some cardstock edges).
Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor (flower petals); Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll Pen (centre of flowerhead); Stickles Glitter Glue (Orange Peel); Copic Multi Liner Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of colours in various textures & finishes from stash.
Dies & Punches Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprightly Sprockets, Woodware (butterflies & dragonfly, circle), EK Success (corner).

Challenges Entered
Make My Monday 34 - Nature: Butterflies & Dragonflies
Penny Black Saturday Challenge 186 - Floral Frenzy
Virginia's View Challenge 1 - Photo Inspiration

Aged Autumn Alphatag AGAIN!

My apologies to those of you who have already seen this & commented on it - I accidentally deleted my A Alphatag post whilst uploading B.

My aim with registering to participate in the Baroque Guild Alphatag Swap during this year is to consolidate the various stamping & colouring techniques that I have learnt & to use my large collection of Chocolate Baroque (formerly Elusive Images) stamps. The idea is to produce 2 or 3 tags each month progressing so that we have completed the alphabet by the end of the year. The one stipulation for each tag, apart from basing a theme of our choice on the specified letter of the alphabet, is mostly to use items produced by or available from Chocolate Baroque.

Often learning by trial & error I can take several days to finish a project - several weeks when I then delete my blog post! I had all but completed this tag when I burnt it trying to heat emboss the tag edges to fix my skeleton leaves in place. Using Glossy Accents was visible to the eye but smearing Stickles Glitter Glue over the leaves solved that & I trimmed the edges of the leaves to the edge of the tag using non-stick sharp scissors.

I often associate 'autumn of life' with ageing & so 'Aged Autumn' seemed to me a fitting title for my project as well as using the two aptly named Antique Linen & Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

front of tag 

close-up showing stamped & inked edges plus
punched leaf embellishment

angled view to show sparkle of glittered
leaves plus dimensional texture of
 heat embossed tree 

close-up showing detail of skeleton leaves &
pile of 'fallen' leaves at trunk's base 

back of tag

close-up showing tone on tone stamping & paper
pierced scallops of theme panel

Recipe

Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0252 Tall Trees & UDLSP0305 Nature's Peace.

Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Penny Copper Embossing Powder; Antique Linen, Vintage Photo & Wild Honey Distress Inks; Staedtler Triplus Fineliner.

Colouring Cinnamon Stickles Glitter Glue.

Cardstock An assortment of white & browns from stash.

Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.

Punches Woodware (scalloped squares & small leaves).

The skeleton leaves, gems & ribbon are from stash.

In my deleted post I'd mentioned that I am staying with Google's Blogger for my blogging platform as it proved the most versatile of those I tried. Also, the results of my Blog Following Preferences Poll (3 opting for Google Friend Connect, 13 Blogger's Follow Button & no one for Twitter, email or RSS) confirms my choice.

Blushing Bloom Alphatag

I often use dark colours such as black or brown & consider a white gel pen essential equipment espcially as I have a tendency to also use dark colours for my personal message panels. A pet hate of mine is "blobby" writing or unpredictable flow & I find the Inkssentials White Opaque Pen has too broad a point for my writing. I thought I had found the perfect pen with the Pergamano brand but find it is too translucent for use on cardstock. Since I came across Kathy Racoosin & her technique of white accenting using a White Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen I have looked out for that, but it is not readily available in the UK. Finally, only last week, I found a White Pentel K118 Hybrid Gel Grip Pen at my local Craft Shop & it suits me perfectly.

Another "essential" item I recently found is the Memento Black Dual Marker (available here) which is ideal for filling in any imperfectly stamped line & can be used when colouring with either alcohol markers or a water based medium (it is reliably waterfast when heat set).

That was somewhat of a long-winded introduction to my absolute delight at being able to use both the black & white pens to accentuate the stamped grid pattern in the centre of my flower on the second of my Baroque Guild Alphatags. In addition I found that with some judicious positioning part of the large heat embossed swirl appeared as if it were the flowerhead's stem & leaves.

front of tag

close-up showing flowerhead's
stem & leaves plus small
black flower sequins 

close-up to show grid pattern, shine of heat
embossed flourish & sparkle of black
Moondust cardstock used for tag base 

back of tag

close-up showing tone on tone stamping &
paper piercing of theme panel

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0297 Fresh Blooms & UA4SP0358 Nature Swirls.
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (flowerhead), Emboss Tinted Embossing Stamp Pad with Stampendous Detail Black Embossing Powder (heat embossed swirls), Black Soot (tone on tone swirls & inking some black cardstock edges) & Spun Sugar (inking pink cardstock edges) Distress Inks.
Colouring Copic Ciao & Sketch Markers, Copic Multi Liner, Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, Memento Tuxedo Black Dual Marker, White Pentel K118 Hybrid Gel Grip Pen.
Cardstock An assortment of white, pink & blacks in various finishes from stash.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.

Punch Woodware (scalloped squares).
The ribbon & flower sequins are from stash.

Challenge Entered
Simon Says Stamp & Show Anything But a Card!

My Favourite Five Cards of 2011

Following on from my previous post I am joining in with Debby's Favourite Five Cards of 2011. Debby has in fact picked her Top Ten but she's keeping the challenge submissions to Favourite Five for this year. 

see HERE 

see HERE

see HERE

see HERE

see HERE

As we approach the coming year

Let us fill our hearts with cheer.

And if you're reading this blog

I expect you'll be all agog,

And very busy thinking

What you'll next be inking.

WITH MY VERY BEST WISHES FOR 2012