3 September 2012

Like a Phoenix...

Hello all and a huge welcome to my new followers. I am so glad to have all my followers with me for the journey which has taken another step with this project. All will become clear, but I will warn you now that this is a long post (one of the challenges requires step by steps for resist techniques). So here's the completed tag, and you can choose whether you want to find out more.


This is being entered into a number of challenges;
Our Creative Corner - Resisting Challenge (resist with description and wings)
Dragons Dream Tag It On - Art For Art's Sake (handmade background/character with a twist)
Anything But A Card - Anything Goes (a brand new challenge with amazing entries/DT)
Now for the 'how to' and the first resist technique for the background.


Emboss black card and carefully apply Glue n Seal to the raised parts (I used a piece of Cut n Dry).


When dry, apply pigment ink over the whole tag, then wipe over with a cloth/tissue paper to remove the ink on the raised areas.


Finally edge the tag with pigment ink (I found ones with a shine to them worked best).
Now for the second resist technique - it's shorter!


Use white acrylic paint as a medium to stamp onto seam binding and allow to dry.


Apply Distress Ink, spray with water and then dab gently with a tissue to remove ink from stamped areas.
OK, resist descriptions over (hopefully clearly enough, but if you have any questions just leave me a comment and I will always get back to you). Now to the phoenix/journey element...


The Dragons Dream team asked for a quirky character. This is my effort (I know, not very quirky but my stamp collection seems to include almost no human forms! Need to rectify that at some stage).
Phoenix lady is made from three different stamps - the head/arms/top from Indigo Blu, the dress, cogs and hat from one Kanban set and the wings from another. I am particularly pleased with the wings (just realised, one more technique shot, but it's a cracker!)


Whilst working away yesterday morning Barbara Gray (a crafting goddess) was on the box describing how she combines different colours of  bondable angel fibres to create a graduated effect - this is a technique she was shown by another superstar, Maria Simms. Well I took it one stage further; the tropical peach colour wasn't really working for me so, once stamped with Black Archival ink I coloured it from the back with drops of Alcohol Ink to get the effect required. Go carefully with this as it spreads quickly and needs some time to dry, but as a consequence you can use your finger to move the colour where needed.


Final picture (promise!!) This is the journey bit. When I began to make cards a lot of them had stamped (digi or otherwise) images on which were coloured with Promarkers and sometimes decoupaged. I've missed doing that recently having moved into mixed media in a big way, but felt simple decoupage just didn't look good enough for this project. Hence the stamped/coloured skirt has been cut to allow for small shredded pieces of net to be inserted, adding far more texture and interest. Hurrah, a way to add dimension to flat images that I can feel proud of again :)) Bit of a phoenix from the ashes moment!

Congratulations to everyone who's made it to the end. Hope you've picked up some ideas along the way. Thanks also to all those who sent their congrats for my win with Tim's August tag. That was a confidence boost or what! and I'm still doing a happy dance about it :D Time to disappear and wish you all a good week ahead. Hugs, Buttons x

38 comments:

  1. Wow, wow, wow!! So love this tag Buttons! Being a technique junkie too, I am completely blown away by what you've done here and I have learnt so much - I'm going to try out loads of these. I love the way you've combined stamp images; adore the wings and the stamped ribbon but the part that brings this all together for me is the skirt!!! The colouring adds depth and net gives texture and movement and takes the work onto a whole new level. Ok, adoration over and now I'll calm down!
    Thanks so much for raising the bar all the way at ABAC for the first challenge.
    Hugs,
    Juliaxxxxx

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  2. Great piece of art and tutorial there! Have you spent your winnings yet? took me all of five minutes to spend it four times over! (mostly on Tim goodies of course!). Still dancing too...

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  3. Oh wow from me too Buttons, this really is an exceptional piece of work. I thought I recognised the skirt but it looks so much better with the fabric in it. Love the way you did the ribbon and the resist on the tag but all together it really has the big wow factor. I learned so much that I am off to try the techniques, especially the wings. Fabulous job! Crafty hugs, Anne x

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  4. I love all the resist techniques! Your Phoenix is an amazing piece of art! Thank you so much for joining us over at Anything but a Card!

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  5. Hi Buttons, you've done it again with another amazing tag! Congratulations on your win - very well deserved! Vicky x

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  6. Wow - I'm so glad I followed this through to the end because there are some brilliant techniques described here.Thanks!

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  7. Oh Wow, this is an amazing card. Those wings are fabulous! I just love what you have done here, so creative! Thank you for joining us this week at Our Creative Corner for our resist technique with a twist challenge.

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  8. So creative and beautiful. Never would have thought of the acrylic on ribbon resist technique - nice! My favorite is the the skirt of her dress though - it looks really amazing. Nicely done.

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  9. Great tag buttons I love the mixture of stamps youve used. Thanks for sharing at Dragons Dream TIO. Elizabeth x

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  10. So many techniques and experimentation on this one - and so beautiful too. Embellishing the skirt was inspired!

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  11. Lovely tag and nice clear descriptions...I feel inspired to try some of them out!

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  12. Hi Buttons, WOW, the colours the techniques and those wings, such a stunning tag.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  13. The dress and wings are amazing, Buttons. What a gorgeous tag!

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  14. Wow, I love those wings, they are awesome, and totally loving the resist techniques, beautiful tag x

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  15. What a great techniques on this tag Buttons...and the result is so gorgeous,,,a very unique tag, Top!!

    greetings, ALie :-)

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  16. I love that fibre, I used to have some but not done for years and HAVE to have some more now :)

    Beautiful artwork.

    Cath x

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  17. Wow !! this is amazing Buttons. Loving the techniques but I do agree that the skirt is FABULOUS !!! best of luck in the challenges with this stunning piece x

    CongrATS ARE IN ORDER TOO RE tIM'S tAGS FOR aUGUST....YOU MUST BE SO THRILLED. sPECIAL HUG FROM ME XX

    My hols are now over and I am back to work tomorrow boo hoo !!

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  18. OMG! You are amazing! Love it, love it, love it! Hugs from NZ.

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  19. Fantastic tag and love, love, love all the photos, keep em coming. It's great to see work in progress and then the finished product - TFS

    Sam xxx

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  20. Wow, how cool, such a fantastic tag. Thanks for dreaming with us at TIO this fortnight.

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  21. Fabulous tag Buttons, I adore all the textures.. great tutorial.. thanks for dreaming with us at TIO... Hugs May x x x x x x

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  22. Absolute genius tag, and a fascinating post to read as well. Great resist how-tos, and your ribbon is to die for! Top techniques, and that skirt takes it to a whole other level, as you rightly say... WOWOWOW! Oh, and congratulations on your Sunday Share win over at F&F - have fun shopping!
    Alison x

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  23. I keep feeling the need to reach through my monitor and touch this! The texture is amazing and your resist tutorial was wonderful! LOVE the extra work on the skirt!! Fantastic piece!

    Thanks so much for joining us at Anything But a Card Challenges

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  24. Wow, how completely gorgeous! I just love all the texture and depth of colour, and how the wings and the ribbon make her look as though she has a halo - well, maybe a fallen halo? :) Gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing with us this week at Our Creative Corner.
    Chris

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  25. This is stunning. What you did with the skirt is pure genius- it looks like flowing fabric and balances out the wings so perfectly! So much fabulous texture here!!

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  26. Okay I could look at this forever....just gorgeous! So much intricate detail and beauty...love everything about it! Thanks so much for joining us at Anything But a Card!

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  27. Holy moly! You have created a gorgeously beautiful lady. I'm super impressed and just LOVE it! All the techniques and the fantastic little steps. You have really done a wonderful job with this challenge. I have to admi that I didn't think of trying the resist technique with ribbon.
    Thank you for joining us this week at OCC. I really do hope we see more of your work soon!
    Hugs, Sharon w

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  28. That's just BEAUTIFUL!!! Thanks for added a little tutorial about the technique you used...how awesome! Thanks for joining us at ABAC :) :)

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  29. Hi there Buttons just found your post and had a study of all the techniques now not sure about angle hair do you use just normal glue.. guess will have to Google that one day thanks so much for sharing such a super treat! Shaz in oz.x

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  30. Hi Buttons,
    WOW this is a fabulous tag, the IB lady looks fab with that dress, and what a dress with the addition of the net!
    Love the techniques you have used.
    Avril xx

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  31. Well holy WOW...I commend you with a virtual standing ovation! You just blew me away with that resist technique on the ribbon. My mind is still spinning. Your creation is just out of the box incredible and a textural treat for my eyes. Nicely done and thank you so much for taking part in our challenge at Our Creative Corner. A truly inspiring post. :)
    hugs,
    Lisa xx

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  32. DOH!! Forgot to mention also that those wings are GLORIOUS!!! :)

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  33. What a fabulous tutorial! I love this tag...so sultry and so full of texture! The feathery dress is fabulous and so is this image, but those wings are ROCKING AWESOME!!! WOW! The blog looks great too!

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  34. Your technique on this tag or should I say techniques Buttons are fabulous. I love it all! Texture , coour and design all combine together to make my creative spirit sing. Thank you for joining in the Anything But a Card Challenge.

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  35. This whole tag is a work of art. The textured skirt has totally grabbed my attention, but the angel hair wings are amazing too. Hats off to you, Buttons!

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  36. Simply stunning! Love the texture. Thanks for joining us at ABAC!

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  37. Absolutely FABULOUS!! Thanks for sharing your fantastic steampunk angel with everyone at ABAC! I will be back to try out all of these layers upon layers of techniques - starting with the angelina fibers. Looking forward to seeing more of your work : )

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  38. I would love to subscribe to your blog, too. Please consider adding the widget to sunscribe via email :)

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Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comments - they are really appreciated and will be published when moderated. Jenny xxx

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