Wednesday 13 February 2013

Mardi Gras


Hello everyone and welcome to my new followers - I am so glad you have joined my craft journey!


       I currently am not really doing any craft work - I am busy planning a project that you will see in a few weeks time and I wanted to devote my time to that rather than try and cram lots of things in.

       A picture on 'Our Creative Corner' caught my eye though and I decided to make a tag. I didn't really have a plan at all about what to do, I wasn't even sure if what I would come up with would be good enough to enter into a challenge...but I adored the colours in the photo.........


    ......so with my mind full of yellow, pinks, blue and green and swirls galore I sat down, got a tag cut out and reached for the Distress inks.

      This was a really fun tag to make because I didn't know where it was going......




    I covered the tag with Wild Honey DI and also some smudges of Worn Lipstick DI. I then sprayed the tag with gold glimmer spray. I stamped a flourish stamp all over the tag with Tumbled Glass DI. I then stamped some script in archival black ink and where the script was I blended some extra Tumbled Glass ink.
























The flowers were coloured with Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick, Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord and had a faint dabbing of Walnut Stain around the edges (Wow that is a LOT of colours!) Each flower was given a spray of gold glimmer which I sprayed quite close to the flowers so they took a lot of glitter and also I wanted the spray to react with the distress inks giving a lovely mottled effect.























The flowers were attached to the tag with tiny gold brads.The leaves were blended with Peeled Paint and had Walnut stain smudged around the edges.

     Some very delicate die cut flourishes were covered with Seedless Preserves DI and after hunting around in the bits and bobs drawer I found a gold glitter twirl shape that fitted the gleaming gold tag. The tag was finished off by attaching some ribbon that had been dyed with Seedless Preserves DI.

     For me, the challenge photo really didn't inspire masks (I am not too keen on masks actually) I was far more focused on the colours, foliage and swirls and this is what inspired me....so although the challenge is called 'Party like it's Mardi Gras'....my tag doesn't really have a Mardi Gras theme, but it is really a tag based on what appealed to me in the photo.

      I had a bit of a strange reaction to the making of this tag...I loved making it as I don't usually use those colours - My happy comfort zone is my pale vintage palette but I have been wanting to experiment with new colours and techniques and so I found it was a lot of fun to be using this unfamiliar colour range. Then when I had finished it my first reaction was "Oh dear....that isn't good" and I think this is just an instinctive reaction to it not being my usual colour scheme so therefore I felt it had gone 'wrong'. I left the tag alone for several days and came back to it and it looked different to me - I was actually interested in it....it also helped that my daughter said she really loved it! ;o)

       





   There is my Mardi Gras tag! - I hope you liked it

     Thanks so much for reading my crafty ramblings.....I might pop up with another post soon but if not I really do hope you will come back to see my next project in about two weeks time.....





I am entering this into the following challenge -

Our Creative Corner  - Party like it's Madi Gras





   

9 comments:

  1. Hello Laura
    Why do we creative people react so negatively towards our own work! (I am guilty of this response also). I applaud you, for stepping out of your comfort zone, which can be vexing to say the least, but it is also necessary for us to shed the mantle of our usual style and think differently so that we learn what can work. You have passed the first hurdle by not thinking too much on your design and letting the colours take you wherever, this is also not easy to do as it would be in conflict to how you usually think, and I would suggest that is why your first impression was a negative one. By walking away and then coming back to the tag, is exactly what you do, as you then look at your piece of creativity objectively, and I am so glad you had a positive response the second time, as I love the Tag. It has a muted palette that is always appealing, it has movement, created by your flourishes that connect the whole design, and it has wonderful texture and dimension through your elements.
    So for me you have taken this Challenge and interpreted it wonderfully.
    Thank you so very much for joining us again this week at Our Creative Corner we are always thrilled to see your work.
    Smiles:)
    Sue

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  2. I think you have done an amazing job and interpreted the colour in a still soft and delicate fashion. I love the neutrals too but sometimes play with colour and always think..umm not sure I do colour, but you have definitely done a good colour job here and your daughter has taste , a beautiful tag!
    hugs trace x

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  3. absolutely oustanding! Fantastic colours, marvelous flower,flourish and background. Well done! I just love it!
    XOXO SanDee

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  4. Hi Laura, this is a fantastic take on the photo inspiration! Stop those self-doubts! Nicola x

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  5. Your tag is gorgeous Laura! You did a great job with the distress inks,and the glimmer spray. You created depth, texture and interest in each flower, and in the background. Great interpretation of the challenge. Thanks for playing along with us at Our Creative Corner this week!

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  6. Well, you need to rethink that whole I don't normally use this color palette thing. This is STUNNING! Just love what you did with the colors and those flowers. Fabulous creation! nise

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  7. I love these colours - cheerful yet subtle with it. Great stuff :-)
    xx

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  8. Das ist ein wunderschönes und sehr farbenprächtiges Tag!

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  9. Oh my gosh!! I LOVE IT! I think Sue's novel she left pretty much sums up every thing I was going to say..LOL. I love Sue, so I'm only kidding ;) BUT...reading your post, I can relate completely with your roller coaster of feelings. Often I create something that initially I say, "GAK!!" but a couple days later I'm "Ohh,Okay, that's pretty cool." What I really admire about your entry is that you did exactly what I wanted, interpreted. What you took away from the image was not the center focal point but the colors that all blended together and that's just perfect. It's especially nice when children compliment as well...always a wonderful perk! Your tag is sensational and this is the second time I've seen that fabulous color seedless preserves; which is GORGEOUS!
    I'm so happy you played in the Our Creative Corner challenge and I hope you'll join in again next week.
    Have a super weekend and I'll finish up my novel now. :)
    hugs,
    Lisa x

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