Tuesday 10 June 2014

Dappled and Drowsy

Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here from Words and Pictures, with another musically-inspired tag for you today.

Simon & Garfunkel fans may have already clocked the post title, and be humming along.  It's the 59th Bridge Street Song"I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep"... those were the words running through my head as I was playing with this one, with light and shade playing across the leaves.


I started from what was basically a mop-up tag.  There's definitely paint involved, and some Dylusions sprays.  It also has some texture from being pressed against another tag while all the paint and ink was wet on the surface.


Over that, I started clear-embossing some of Katy Leitch's lovely Leaves, stamped in Versamark and heat-embossed with some Clear Detail powder.


That glossiness captures the sunlight and makes it twinkle and reflect at you as you move the tag around.


I also stamped some of the smaller leaves in Olive and Leaf Green Archival inks, building up the layers... like lying beneath a tree and looking up through the layers of branches above you.


By this point, the song was in full flow (well, at least those couple of lines going round and round incessantly!)...


... so there was no difficulty in choosing the words to go on the tag.


The torn edges give a lovely textured surface for inking.


For the background layer, I added some ink and stains to a piece of watercolour paper, and stamped some more of the leaves in Archival ink of various colours.


And the torn edges again absorb the ink really well, so you get a lovely intense colour around the border.


A little bit of Distress Stain-dyed seam binding and some curly white twine keep things simple at the top.


And I did lots of splattering - most of it Dylusions, as far as I remember (taking the top out and splattering using the end of the spray attachment).


I was just having fun dappling and splattering by this point, so I wasn't really paying much attention!


Hope you're getting to enjoy a few drowsy afternoons in dappled sunlight...


Don't forget to come and play in our June challenge: we'd like you to Colour It Red.  And if you're thinking I'm not setting a very good example with all these greens, hop by Words and Pictures tomorrow for some redder inspiration - yup, even I've been tempted into the red zone!


Thanks so much for dropping in, and I'll see you again soon.

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper Stamps: Katy Leitch - Leaves
Dylusions Sprays - White Linen, Dirty Martini, Calypso Teal, Cut Grass, Vibrant Turquoise, Chopped Pesto
Archival Inks - Olive, Leaf Green, Aquamarine, Fern
Versamark Ink Pad
Wow Clear Gloss Superfine embossing powder
Manila Tag
Seam binding
From my stash: white twine, watercolour paper, Hero Arts alphabet stamps

27 comments:

Julie Lee said...

What a beautiful, dappled tag!I adore the spattery randomness of it! The colours are a gorgeous combo too! It's just so much fun allowing paints, inks and sprays to work their magic. I remember having to devise a dance routine to this song in school dance lessons - quite progressive for the days when I was at school! It was one of my favourite lessons so this sunny tag really chimed with me. Julie Ann xxx

scrappymo! said...

This is gorgeous! Love the mop up tag and the beauitful layer you created behind ut. The versamarked embossed leaves are amazing!

massofhair said...

Ooooh this is monochrome at it's best Alison, love the splats and the clear leaves. The dappled look brings lovely memories of looking into a stream which was under trees, such a lovely effect.

Don't know the song but the lyrics are fab:-) xxx

maria's knutselplezier said...

What a great tag , Alison great image and colours I love it!!!

Greetings
Maria

Helen said...

What a beautiful tag, Alison!! Great lyrics. Gorgeous colours.

Jenny Marples said...

Beautiful and very subtle Alison. I love those leaves in particular, especially the way they shine in the sun. Jenny x

rachel said...

beautiful colours and textures and oh those gorgeous words xx

Nan G said...

Gorgeous! Definitely gives one the feeling of dappled sunlight thru the leaves.

Redanne said...

Beautifully dappled Alison and I love the shimmery leaves and wonderful colours in the background. Anne x

pearshapedcrafting said...

A fabulous finale for your mop up tag - love how you emphasise the twinkling dappled look by mounting it onto the stamped water colour paper. Definitely dappled! Chrisx

Artyjen said...

Lovely tag.....you do know I am now playing that song round my head in a loop now?! lol
xoxo Sioux

May said...

Stunning mix of beautiful colours... Love the texture & fabulous leaves... yep me too singing the song.... Hugs May x x

Shilpa Nagaonkar said...

Beautiful tag, Alison. Clear embossing on green background looks so pretty.

Cocofolies said...

Wonderful glossiness and splatters on this very subtle tag Alison!! love the stamped leaves, and your background and wording around them is just fabulous. Coco xx

craftytrog said...

This is dreamy Alison xxx

Sandy said...

Definitely a very calming tag and perfectly delightful as a backdrop for the CD I am listening to right now ...IL VOLO. Really beautiful colors that makes such a gorgeous background. Your dappling is fantastic. I am not going to be around this summer but will pop by when I can - I definitely want to see the doll house makes.
Sandy xx

Astrid Maclean said...

Lovely mop up tag! Specially love the effect of the clear embossed leaves!

cathylynn said...

Love the clear embossing and the dappling and speckles. Looks like you had a great time with this tag. As always another fantastic job!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Anonymous said...

Oooh, so gorgeous!!! Love the colours.

Unknown said...

I lurve (as Dyan would say) those clear embossed leaves and the bg looks amazing. Don't you love how music affects us and it's the one thing that unites the whole brain. We use 100% of it when we listen to music, that's kinda cool I think. I did catch the title right away and thanks for sweet memories my friend. Your tag is fabulous, as always. xx

froebelsternchen said...

I love what you have made here!

www.deeadamsart.blogspot.co.uk said...

A really Lovely tag Alison, i like the colours and I think embossing is a lovely way to add extra dimension!

Dorthe said...

Oh, those embossed leaves are amazing, and again those light green colours ,that speaks so much of summer !!
Love the edges looking so great from the inking !! A beautiful ,beautiful tag, dear Alison

Etsuko said...

Amazing tag and textures and colours are beautiful.
I remembered the S & G's song and remembered young time, great! xx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Again lovely Alison...the white parts really fit in this tag
greetings, Alie :-)

Marjie Kemper said...

A real beauty - love the speckles, dapples and embossing!

Kezzy said...

Wow gorgeous tag, really love the splattering with dylusions and the leaves in the background are amazing. Kezzy:-) xxx