Friday 30 March 2012

TAG TUESDAY - EASTER EGGS


 
For my first tag this week, I doodled a small chicken coop  onto a manilla tag, and decorated it with daffodils.  There is a small hole for the door where you can see something is happening on the inside!. . . . .

 
















Inside the coop a tiny chick is hatching from a real egg whilst nestled on a bed of hay! The tag is trimmed with Easter ribbons.







For my second tag I used a photo of last year's Easter display. The Union Jack egg is marked with the date of the Royal wedding.   The photo is  mounted onto card with some Easter ribbon.
 







    

As you can see Bailey preferred the tag with the egg and chick!

  Jane xx
  

Tuesday 20 March 2012

TAG TUESDAY - GOOSEY




My tags this week are based on an Aesop's Fable.  
“One day a countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played upon him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found to his delight that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the same thing occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs.  As he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.
The main tag is a watercolour painting of the goose, and beside her on the ground is a single golden egg.  This is a real gold egg because it is finished with  9 ct gold leaf!
 
This photo shows ten golden egg tags, all finished with various gold embellishments.  Making these was my Mother’s Day activity with Laura,  my 22 year old daughter – it was the first time we’d done something crafty together for years because she has been away at University.  It was a lovely opportunity to play together, we had great fun!
I like all the eggs here in an egg box because they all reflect off each other. 
I am having so much fun this month, I love Easter and Springtime. 

Thank you for looking. More eggs next Tuesday.  Have a great week,
 
Love Jane xx

TAG TUESDAY - MAD MARCH


  Last week  the subject for Tag Tuesday was Mad March, Lots of March Hares everywhere.   Here  are mine among the Spring flowers in the garden:

This little tag is a watercolour painting copied from a tag I was given last Easter.  He is on an oval of watercolour paper and I will be hanging him on some Spring branches with some decorated eggs ready for Easter.
 Two tags this week because I wasn’t happy with my first attempt (on the left).  This  was made with felt, using covered buttons for the nose and cheeks, cotton whiskers and googly eyes.  Well it is ‘MAD MARCH’ and they don’t come much more mad than this chap!   I covered the tag with a country landscape view.
On the back of this tag I have printed a quote from Alice in Wonderland together with a picture of two boxing hares.
‘The Hare and Hound’ this is my Assistance Dog Bailey – a bit concerned with all these hares in her garden.

Thank you for looking,Have a great creative week, Jane xx

Tuesday 6 March 2012

TAG TUESDAY BIRDS

'TWO FOR JOY'


This tag was inspired by a found magpie feather.  At first glance magpies appear to have black and white plumage, but when seen close-up their black feathers take on a more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers.
On one side of the tag I have written ‘2 for joy’ and stuck the feather next to it.  I like the way it goes over the side of the tag. 
I used purply-blue pearlescent paint for the writing, and dark iridescent bugle beads as a trim.
Magpies have a reputation for stealing bright and shiny things, so I have trimmed the tag with an old silver earring and a sparkly diamante. 
  According to an old superstition  the number of magpies you see determines if you will have bad luck or not. There are many different versions, so I chose this version to write on on the other side of the main tag:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret, never to be told,
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a big surprise.
I’m a bit disappointed with the photos because none of them have really picked up the beautiful electric blue of the feather; it looks much better in real life. Also now that I've been handling the feather so much, now it looks a bit scruffy!  But at least I had the Joy of seeing it at its best.  Thank you to all of you who have left such lovely comments on my tags, they are much appreciated.
Wishing you all a lovely week
Jane xx

Thursday 1 March 2012

TAG TUESDAY BOOKS



For this week’s tag I have made a tiny tag book.
The inside is made from one long strip of painted watercolour paper, folded concertina fashion to make the pages of my tiny book (it measures   8 x 7cm).
The cover is made from green felt embellished with ribbon, lace, scraps of fabric, and rows of machine stitching and couched threads.
Continuing on my Daisy obsession of previous weeks, I have stitched on rows of daisy cord .  The book is fastened with a loop of embroidery thread around a vintage daisy button and made use of my daisy paper punch.
On the 4 pages inside the book I have printed a few special phrases about love and life. (authors unknown).
To Love and Be Loved is
The Greatest Joy on earth.

Infinite  Love is the only Truth
Everything else is Illusion.

You are a Spiritual Being
having a Human Experience.

Somewhere along the line, we forgot
how Divine and Special we are.

I have cut out daisies on the printed inserts so that the background colour shows through.
The tag is finished off with yellow thread and ribbon, gold beads, a butterfly charm and a flower bead.
I’m glad I had a bit of a thing for daisies during February, but I’m pleased to see the new themes for March.  I love Spring; it’s my favourite season.
Lots of love
Jane xx

TAG TUESDAY POETRY











Last week I noticed the first daisies of the year to be in bloom. Maybe spring has sprung.  So, continuing with my daisy creations, two of my tags this week are based on the poem ‘Daisies’ by the 19th century poet, John Clare:
Daisies, ye flowers of lowly birth,
Embroiderers of the carpet earth,
That stud the velvet sod;
Open to spring's refreshing air,
In sweetest smiling bloom declare
Your Maker, and my God!                    
Being a lover of both textiles and wild flowers I love the idea of daisies embroidering the earth.  The words also go well with my Heart of Daisies from earlier in the month. I was hoping to make another heart with real daisies, but there are still not enough daisies for that!
The first daisy tag is a folded one, with the inside of the tag worked on watercolour paper.  I started by painting a few blades of grass and daisy heads, I then folded the paper and embroidered one half – using daisy stitch to make one large daisy.  I used gold beads for the central disc. 
On the other half I attached a copy of the poem printed onto vellum, so that the painted grass shows through.
 
On the outside of the tag I made a cover to hide the back of the stitching, I used paper with tiny daisies on it.  On the front I put ‘Daisies by John Clare’ and on the back I put a snippet of information about the poet.  The whole tag is dotted liberally with tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of green and yellow threads.

After making this paper tag, I wanted to make a fabric based tag with daisies embroidered onto velvet as in the poem.  I started by painting some grass onto velvet.  Then I embroidered some grass using long stitch, then a couple of tiny daisies using daisy stitch again, with a single gold bead for the central disc.  On the back of the tag I stuck some ‘grass effect’ paper and a copy of the poem.
I have trimmed the top and bottom with white lace.  The first two lines of the poem have been printed onto vellum and stuck onto the lace.  Again the whole tag is dotted liberally with tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of white ribbon.

The third tag is completely thanks to serendipity.  I was looking for some scrap paper and came across a small photocopy of some calligraphy I did 22 years ago!  All I did to make it into a tag was trim the corners, make a hole and attach the ribbon.   I made the original calligraphy picture in 1990 for my Mum and Dad.  It is written using watercolours rather than ink.  I achieved the variegated effect by dipping the pen in different shades of green every few letters.  The words are spaced so they form a circle.  I’ve painted spring foliage and flowers in the corners to make a square.

The poem is ‘Far Away’ by Helen Steiner-Rice:            


The days grow shorter as the year rolls towards its end. 
Too soon  it seems the light grows fainter and the nights descend. 
Brief the journey of the sun.  December days are drear
But they bring us to the morning of another year.
At this point upon the road the heart is strangely stirred
For far away we hear the singing of an April bird. 
With brighter hope and lighter step, we tread the wintry hills
Having caught upon the wind the breath of Daffodils.
The words fit so well with this time of year I couldn’t resist making it into a tag!  Shame I didn’t find this scrap of paper last week, I could have saved myself a lot of work!
I’d love to know which of the three you think is best, please let me know.
Thank you to all of you for sharing your lovely tags, and a special thank you tothose who have made lovely comments on mine, it is much appreciated.
Have a lovely week and enjoy the early Spring