Sunday 17 January 2016

Oh So Blue. . . . . . .

Hi everyone. I have vowed to blog more regularly - as time allows - and today sees the start of that goal.

I saw a challenge at Stamps & Stencils which is all about the colour blue and I really fancied having a go. I have a soft spot for this challenge blog as I was on the original DT line up so it would be lovely to continue my contact with them.

Here's what I made in fairly quick time. Quite unusual for me as I usually take ages to finish!


As blue as I could get the tag without using solid blue!



I started by stamping the background with a large collage style background stamp. Some focal areas were then stencilled with embossing ink and finished with clear embossing powder. After this the whole tag was coloured using distress ink in one shade. The areas which were embossed remain white and bring the eye to the stamping below.


This image shows one of the embossed circles. Liquid pearls were added to some stars and a white pen to others. In the right hand corner you can see some stencilling done with the same distress ink colour used for the background.

A piece of card is coloured using DecoArt Misters in two shades of blue plus white. To mix the colours, the wet paint is misted with water and left to dry. A piece is torn off to fit the tag.

The torn edges are finished with some acrylic glaze in an autumnal shade to give definition. Spots are made using a white pen.

Sections of a die cut are coloured with the same acrylic glaze and applied to the torn card section in the top corner. The small brown dot is some liquid peals in a chocolate shade.

This die cut piece is applied at the bottom of the tag to give balance.

The letters are die cut from scrap packaging for extra thickness. They are coloured with the same acrylic misters as before but heavier with the white shade and lots of spritzed water is added. I love how the bird's head is picked out in the clear embossed circle.

The acrylic glaze is used to stamp with a plastic lid to add depth to the background. More white pen and liquid pearls can be seen.

Some tiny spots are stamped in Archival ink.

A home-made clay button is painted with DecoArt Media Line acrylics in prussian blue. The raised areas on the clay are brushed lightly with the same acrylic glaze used previously.

Detail Image. 

The top of the tag is finished with some rusty wire twisted around a paintbrush.

Hope you like my tag which was fun to make with no real plan in my head at the start! 

I'd also like to enter my tag in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog: Stencil It - stencil used to add embossing ink in circular shape
Anything But Cute Mixed Media Blog: Ring Out The Old, Bring In The New - used ColourArte Silks   Acrylic Glaze and Ranger Liquid Pearls both Christmas gifts.

16 comments:

  1. Gorgeous,that blue really zings
    Hugs
    Donna xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gorgeous work, in my favorite color! I love the way you created the top of the tag with looped wire!
    Thank you so much for joining our Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New challenge at Anything But Cute!
    Hugs

    Samra DT
    Paper Talk with Samra

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a beautiful blue tag Julia, I just love the layering and those white embossed circles really do stand out beautifully. The little clay button is gorgeous in the prussian blue with the glaze on top - I can see that I 'need' some of that glaze now....

    Thank you so much for joining in our Ring out the Old, Bring in the New challenge at Anything But Cute. Hugs, Anne DT xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fantastic blue tag and so many wonderful techniques that I am so happy you shared so I could learn. I love that the rusty wire, the clay button and the die cut are a different colour to allow the blue to pop. Thanks for coming back to join us at Stamps and Stencils.
    Hugs!
    Cec

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fabulous tag and that cobalt blue is a great colour, really shows up and loving your rusty wire xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. You had me at Blue, hehehe! This is a fantabulous tag with so much detail. Wowzers. Your layers and depth to the design show perfectly. Awesome sauce design and the PP and die are spectacular! I can see why you were on the DT. :)

    Thanks for joining in our "Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New" challenge at Anything But Cute. Hugz. ~Niki DT

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fabulous Julia, what a super tag! So cleverly put together and I just love those blue tones! Stunning work!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such pretty hues of blue! I especially love the letters. Thank you so much for playing with us over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog this week :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Julia, fabulous color :), design, and innovative techniques on your tag, make great use of those new Christmas gifts! Wow, I love your many ways of adding depth to this! Gorgeous and creative! Thank you for joining our Ring Out the Old, Bring in the new challenge at Anything But Cute. Hugs! Sara Emily DT

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is stunning Julia! I love all the blues with just a splash of white and the rusted metal bits. Love that button, wow! Fabulous technique with the emboss resist layered on top of stamping, I will be using that little tidbit for sure! Thank you so much for joining us at Anything But Cute for our 'Bring in the New' challenge! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. So glad you are playing along, Julia! You are sorely missed at S&S!!! Hugs, Autumn

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Julia - I love your work - its a beautiful piece for this theme and so good of you to join us too! So from one of the new girls thanks for joining us at stamps and stencils this month! Hugs rachel x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Absolutely stunning blue tag with so many wonderful techniques, Julia! Simply awesome!
    Thank you so much for joining in our Oh, So Blue challenge at Stamps and Stencils! Branka DTx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Fabulous tag Julia, glad you found time to join us for this challenge ! Sue C x

    ReplyDelete

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