Grammar & Gold Alphatag

The third of my Alphatags (the letter "G") for March's Baroque Guild swap is a long way from the greens, grasses & gratitude I started out with.

Having exhausted all my ideas with the above - none of which I was happy with - I kept coming back to the word grammar. It's not suprising for my husband has a passion for ancient greek & also architecture both of which involve grammar of one kind or another, plus I have several books by Owen Jones concerning the grammar of ornament.......... One thing led to another & my tag became an expression of various aspects of grammar, including plainchant musical notation, using a number of Chocolate Baroque stamps.

front of tag 

close-up of upper section 

close-up of lower section

close-up showing texture of hammered gold cardstock
used for mounting dictionary definition 

back of tag 

close-up showing paper piercing of theme panel
& inking of the various cardstock edges

The various images were stamped in Vintage Sepia, Rich Cocoa & Vintage Photo using the masking technique & inserting portions of the musical stamp to create edges for the various elements. The different sections were sponged with an assortment of Distress Inks & the bottom left gated arch dabbed with water to create the appearance of aged papers. Encore Gold was used for edging cardstock & the dictionary definition was cut out of an old dictionary which had been destined for a skip.

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA4SP0365 Echoes of Italy (gated arch), UA6GW0350 Mini Scripts (texts), UA5SP0363 Musical Fanfare (music) & UA4SP0371 Texture Fragments (ornamental stonework).
Inks Encore Gold; Memento Rich Cocoa; VersaFine Vintage Sepia; Antique Linen, Old Paper, Pumice Stone, Scattered Straw & Vintage Photo Distress Inks.
Marker Staedtler Triplus Fineliner.
Cardstock White, cream & hammered gold from stash.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.
Punch Woodware (scalloped squares).
The brads are from stash & the distressed seam binding was a gift.

22/3 ETA
The seam binding was distressed by Bev Rochester as in her tutorial HERE.

Fluttering Fritillary Flourish Alphatag

I have based the second of my three Alphatags for March's Baroque Guild swap upon the Fritillary butterfly. It is not that easy for a non-specialist like myself to identify the species of butterfly in any particular stamp but I did try to select a stamp from amongst the Chocolate Baroque butterflies which seemed to approximate the Fritillary's markings & wing shape. Their colouration tends toward the red-orange-yellow section of the colour wheel & I coloured my two butterflies accordingly using artistic licence so as to produce 'Fritillary-type' butterflies.

front of tag 

close-up of larger butterfly showing shaped wings
& sparkle of glittered body 

close-up showing smaller butterfly & background 

back of tag showing tone
on tone stamping

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

In the last two photos the dark cardstock is a very deep chocolate brown with VersaFine Vintage Sepia stamped flourishes & the lighter cardstock is a pale cream.

The background was created by lightly sponging Antique Linen Distress Ink in repeated layers using a mask for selected areas & layers. The image was stamped twice so that the butterflies only could be cut out, coloured a second time & then shaped prior to attaching to the whole image. The back is my usual tone on tone stamping using a co-ordinating stamp from the same set.

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UA5SP0357 Butterfly Flourish Swirls.
Inks VersaFine Vintage Sepia (butterflies & flourishes); Antique Linen (sponged background) & Tea Dye (inking various cardstock edges) Distress Inks.
Colouring Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor; Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Gold Ice).
Marker Staedtler Triplus Fineliner.
Cardstock White & assorted colours in various finishes from stash.
Mask Tim Holtz idea-ology - Floret.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.
Punch Woodware (scalloped squares).
The gems are Anita's & the cord is from an old embroidery kit.

Ethereal Enchantment Alphatag

This is the first of my three Alphatags to be submitted for the Baroque Guild Swap this month. The full title is "Ethereal Enchantment with an Elegantly Embossed Emerald Elf" but that was a bit of a mouthful for my blog post heading let alone writing it to fit onto my theme panel.

front of tag

angled photo to show
sparkle of snowflakes 

close-up of elf showing dimension of her
double embossed body & dress

back of tag showing
tone on tone stamping

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

The scene was created by heat embossing the trees & butterflies with clear embossing powder, likewise the elf (but using a green embossing powder & embossing the body plus dress a second time so as to give them greater definition & depth of colour) prior to sponging the background with the various Distress Inks. The clear embossing was then ironed off & the snowflakes stamped & heat embossed (this time using a sparkly transparent powder) whilst being very careful to avoid flattening the embossing of my elf through overheating. A few flattened elves now reside in the bin but I certainly practised my sponging techniques in the process.

The back was decorated by simply repeat stamping the tree image using the Emboss Stamp Pad & allowing it to dry giving a tone on tone effect.

Recipe
Stamps Chocolate Baroque UDLSP0227 Dragonfly Faeries (elf & folded wings butterfly), UDLSP0226 Gossamer Wings (extended wings butterfly), UA5SP0252 Tall Trees (trees) & UA6SP0267 Winter Wonderland (snowflake).
Inks  Antique Linen, Bundled Sage, Old Paper & Shabby Shutters Distress Inks (sponged background); Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy for inking various cardstock edges; Emboss Tinted Embossing Stamp Pad with Stampendous Embossing Powders (Detail Clear - trees & butterflies, Emerald Green - elf & Stardust - snowflakes).
Markers VersaMarker Watermark Pen. Staedtler Triplus Fineliner.
Cardstock White & assorted greens in various finishes from stash.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.
Punch Woodware (scalloped rectangle).
The ribbon is from stash.

Challenges Entered
Allsorts Week 144 - Spread your Wings
Flutterby Wednesday 192 - Open but must include a butterfly, fairy or angel
Simon Says........ ANYTHING GOES!
Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - March: Springtime