TAG TUESDAY SEED HEADS

For This week’s tag, I have used some more of my rusty tie-dye fabric.  This piece seemed to echo the wispy umbrella-like frame of a cow parsley or hogweed seed head.   

 As I wanted to keep this naturally beautiful pattern, I have just embroidered a simple seed head in gold.

  

Till next week, bye for now,

Jane xx

TAG TUESDAY - RUST

I started my RUST tags a few weeks ago when I did some tie-dyeing with some rusty old screws, nuts and bolts from the shed. 

 

I wrapped little bundles of rusty bits in calico and secured with rubber bands.  I soaked the bundle in vinegar for 24 hours and then left it in the greenhouse for a week.  It smelled disgusting!

 

After I had removed the rubber bands and washed and ironed the calico I began to look closely at the resulting marks to see if there were any interesting pictures in the rust.  To start with, as Halloween is coming up,  I was looking for monsters, were-wolves and gargoyles.  I wasn’t expecting to find roses and diamonds! 

My first tag started like this: This rusty image is just how it came out of the tied bundle, it has not been touched up in any way to look more like a rosebud. 

I used the rest of the rusty calico to make leaves and 2 3D roses.  The rose stem is a dried leaf stem.

For my second tag I found a diamond solitaire etched into the rust.  I added a ring of gold wire and some more rusty leaves.

Even the waste fabric from the leaves is beautiful.  

 Who said romance is dead?!

 I also found cobwebs and spooks in my rusty images, but I’m keeping those for Halloween!

Bye for now,

Jane xx

TAG TUESDAY - RAINY DAY

Rainy Day

Well, it’s definitely a rainy day in Bournemouth today!! As I made this week’s tag I was thinking of my two lovely daughters and the time we went to Oxford Street in June, a couple of years ago, for some shopping.     It was hot and humid and the girls were wearing flip flops and Summer clothes.  Suddenly, while we were in-between shops, the heavens opened and we were caught in a really heavy thunder storm.  Rosie had a big yellow umbrella and together the two teenagers danced arm in arm up Oxford Street,  singing and dancing in the rain.   It was all I could do to keep up with the yellow umbrella!  They really brightened up London that day, putting a smile on the faces of shoppers coming the other way!!

I started my rainy day tag by making some tag size silk paper with silk throwsters,  colour – 'storm clouds'.  

 To this I stitched on some antique glass bugle beads and other clear beads and sequins using Madeira 'Rainbow' metallic thread.   

I tried to keep the beads all going the same direction whilst at the same time keeping the threads on the back vertical.

Next I wrote on some vellum with black ink: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass,   it’s about learning to Dance in the Rain”.  This was then trimmed to tag size.  The tags are joined together with a silver satin ribbon.

 

Take Care, and bye for now,

Jane xx

TAG TUESDAY - AUTUMN LEAVES

Hello my fellow taggers!  I got a bit carried away this week with the Autumn leaves theme – I have made a tag tree with a total of 13 Autumn leaf tags!

Most have been inspired by chance finds, gifts, or experiments!  It has taken me all afternoon and evening to photograph them. I will start with my favourite tags:

Yesterday Paul and Bailey brought me back some amazing red and green leaves from their walk through the Arboretum . . . I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them

I pressed them overnight and wrote on them this morning.  I had been thinking of the song “Forever Autumn” firstly because it has been on the radio a lot, but also because the lyrics go so well with this theme; the first couple of lines go perfectly with my End of British Summer-Time Tag last week:

 “The summer sun is fading as the year grows old,

And darker days are drawing near,”   and . . .

Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,

“Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away,”

I had been doing some calligraphy for another project, so I wrote these words straight onto the leaves with a Berol Itallic marker pen.  It was not the ideal writing surface, and I wanted to use gold, but the result was not too bad – it’ll be interesting to see how the writing changes as the leaves dry.  I have pressed some more leaves so will try this experiment again on properly pressed leaves (maybe next year!).

For this tag I used two leaves that I pressed last year, they are stuck onto some of my tie-dye fabric and outlined with tiny beads, (86 I think) all sewn on by hand.  I embossed the stiffened fabric first and made tiny stitches so it looks just as neat on the back!  You can just make out the outline of 2 leaves in tiny metallic stitches.

The next tag is made completely from scraps from previous experiments which were still on my table!   I wrote the words “Wisdom is in the trees” two weeks ago while making my owl tag – I was just testing my gold pen!.

 

 
On the back I was testing the glitter paint and drew a leaf.  There are other scribbles and marks too!  The oak leaves were a gift from Paul and Bailey last week.  I had a thick sediment of gold ink at the bottom of my water pot so used it to paint the leaves and acorns.  My scrap of fabric didn’t quite fit all round the tag,  so I filled the gap with a scrap of red.  The “October” was made with my new calendar die set which arrived yesterday!

This tag is made from the waste of the October die cut.  The letters are covered with skeleton leaves from my stash.

These tags are made with the same method, this time I have stuck pressed leaves behind.  They look really effective when held against the light but it doesn’t work in a photo.

These leaves are painted onto silk, cut out and stuck to brown paper (which I then painted with glitter)

I hope I haven’t bored you with this extra long post!  I would love to know which is your favourite.  I really appreciate all your kind comments.  

Enjoy rustling through the leaves, acorns and conkers this week!

Bye for now.

Jane xx

TAG TUESDAY - CLOCKS

This week, with the wind and rain, and the evenings beginning to draw in, it seems like autumn is here already.  Although it is still a few weeks away, I have based my tag on the end of British Summer-time, when the clocks go back an hour.

I have used the same autumnal tie-dyed fabric as last week to cover the front and back of my tag. Next I embossed it with a Union Jack.   I picked out the crosses and triangles with glitter paint to make the design a bit clearer and add a bit of sparkle.

I used gold glitter for the summer side of the tag and embellished it with golden daisies and sequins; the time on the clock face is set at 6 o’clock because at the moment we can still be blessed with sunshine at that time of day if the weather is favourable.

On the top of the tag there is a corner from my diary showing the date that the clocks go back. I have written “End of British Summer Time” in gold.  The tag is finished with a simple gold tie.

The other side of the tag is embellished with autumnal leaves and darker tones. The Union Jack is painted with brown glitter. The time on the clock face is set at 5 o’clock, because after the clocks go back it will be dark by that time of day, whatever the weather.

Bye for now,

Jane xx