my Crafty Corner

Cards and other handicrafts made by Jean Straw

Monday 22 October 2012

U and V Alphatags

 Another month has passed so quick and it is time to show my tags for the Chocolate Baroque Alphatag Swap. We are nearing the end of our year long task and almost every one who started is still in, but with some very difficult letters all together at the end it doesn't get any easier to come up with ideas. Both of mine have a vintage feel to them this time which I didn't really plan but I struggled with finding stamps to match my ideas.

U is for Undergarments

For this one I covered my tag with some very pale pink backing paper from a Papermania pad and inked around the edge with Victorian Velvet distress ink.The background image is a crafty Individuals stamp, stamped straight onto the tag and coloured with pencils.The back dress form and the front stand were also stamped onto the tag,and the front dress
                                                form and all the corsets were stamped onto spare card and coloured with
 pencils and then cut out. I used an off cut from the backing paper to make a kind of pelmet at the top of the tag. I stamped the piece with a texture stamp and Victorian Velvet ink and used more of the same ink to shade around the edge. I used an edge punch to make a fancy edge along the bottom and then fixed it above the sign.I fixed a length of lace down each side tied with tiny ribbon bows to represent curtains and then fixed all the corsets in place, and added some little roses and a bit of ribbon for embellishment.The stamps are from Crafty Individuals and Chocolate Baroque, and all the main stamping was done with Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

V is for Victorian Valentine.

I took my inspiration for this one from the backing paper which is from crafty Individuals shades of Summer pad. It is full of lovely romantic images of roses and birds in pretty colours. I chose this one because I liked the birds and thought they looked just right for carrying a valentine greeting.The paper is 6x6 so wasn't quite long enough to cover the tag, so I found some matching braid and stuck it to the top to cover the gap and then added another piece at the bottom.I inked all the edges with Broken China distress ink. The large heart is a Chocolate Baroque stamp and was stamped onto the tag with Verasfine Majestic Blue which was really a bit too dark so I embossed it with WOW white pearl EP to tone it down a bit and also to give a nice lustre, which doesn't  really show in the photo. The top bird was cut out from the piece of paper left over from covering the tag and fixed using foam pads.The two tiny hearts are part of another CB stamp and were stamped onto spare card and embossed in the same way as the large one. I cut them out and fixed them to look as if the birds were carrying them as well as the flowers. I used a blue ink pad to add some colour to the roses from my stash and a little blue stickles  glitter and fixed them together with a piece of  lace to the bottom corner. The words were printed onto Saffmat using the computer, and some blue gems added for decoration.

Thank you for looking, your comments a re much appreciated.










5 comments:

  1. Well done Jean. You are almost at the end now. That was a very clever idea for the letter 'U'. And the Valentine one is so pretty. I have all those paper pads but I don't look at them often enough. I must refresh my memory of what's on them. Certainly that one was just perfect for your tag. Kate x

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  2. The detail on both of these is lovely & I love all the small additions creating both dimension & interest. The blue one is really Victorian with those birds & your lace. The addition of those hearts is lovely & the braid really works well to extend the paper (must remember that trick). The lace curtains held back by the ribbons in the Underwear (brilliant idea) gives a super lingeric (??) atmosphere & I just love the way you coloured the images so delicately.
    Paula (PEP)

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  3. Gorgeous tags, they look so feminine, love those beautiful details as well.
    Yvonne

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  4. gorgeous tags Jean, love your ideas - especially for U (bet no-one else thought of that one!) They are both very pretty tags, and I love all the details, they must have taken you ages

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  5. Hi Jean, these are so very pretty and feminine. "Undergarments" was a brilliant choice, and I do like how you've made it into a little shop window. Your Victorian Valentine is gorgeous, and such lovely soft colours - I'm off to google Saffmat, as I'm not sure what that is (I'll probably want some though, lol).

    Take care

    Maria xxxxx

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