Front Cover for Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge

Now that the end of Karen Telfer's tag challenge is in sight, the last tag is tomorrow. I decided I needed to create a front and back cover for my book ring of 2023 tags.  This is what I made.

I've used a design very similar to one I made recently, but this time there isn't a stag but instead I created a line of text in matching ink and printed it out, cut it to size and then use a gold gel pen to decorate around the Stampin' Up "Merry Patterns" sentiment, stamped in Versafine Clair "Chianti" dark red ink.

Day 23 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" Challenge.

 

Well it has been a bit of a marathon, but I am now up to date with my tags, ready for the final one tomorrow.

The main image is part of a Woodware stamp called "Poinsettia Corner - JGS360", which I have heat embossed using Wow! Rich gold embossing powder on the tag, but also on two small pieces of card.

I used the same Wow! embossing powder to stamp and heat set the sentiment, which is part of the Simon Says Stamp set called "Tiny Words - Christmas".

I coloured the stamped poinsettia images using Distress Oxide Inks, the colours I used are:  Peeled Paint and Rustic Wilderness for the leaves and Festive Berries and Candied Apple for the petals.

I fussy cut the two flowers on the small pieces of card.  I used foam pads on the underside of the petals and wet glue in the middle.  Once in postion I added some Ranger "Glossy Accents" to the very middle of the flower and dropped some tiny bronze coloured beads into it.

I mounted the card on to a piece of green card then coloured the berries using a red Posca Pen and a white gel pen for highlights.

Day 22 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" Challenge

 

This is my Day 22 tag of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

For the tag, I have used the candles, fir branch and the sentiment from the Stampin' Up stamp set called "Merry Patterns".

I stamped the candles and sentiment in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink, stamping the fir branch in Versafine Clair "Rain Forest" green ink.

I coloured the background with two shades of Distress Oxide Inks, using "Antique Linen" for the inner area, edging with "Festive Berries" Distress Oxide Ink.

Masking off the candles, I used Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink with the Funky Fossil Designs "Vintage Script" stamp, stamped in second generation stamping.

I coloured the candles with a paint brush using "Festive Berries" Distress Oxide Ink and yellow and orange Posca Pens for the flame.

I grounded the candles by painting a shadow using "Weathered Wood" Distress Oxide Ink and added berries to the fir branch using a red Posca Pen.  Finally, mounting the tag on to a piece of grey card.

Day 21 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge

I'm still playing catch up with my tags after a few days away, but I am getting there! This is my Day 21 tag of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

I've used a plain white tag, covering the surface in "Antique Linen" Distress Oxide Ink and then edging the tag with "Festive Berries" Distress Oxide Ink.

I lay a Funky Fossil Designs stencil over the top of the tag, securing it in position with a piece of low tack tape.  I then used four shades of Ranger Archival Inks through the stencil.  The colours that I used are:  Watering Can, Plum, Library Green and Red Geranium.

At the base of the tag, I stamped the "Yuletide Greetings" sentiment, which is part of the Simon Says Stamp set called "Tiny Words - Christmas".  Finally, I mounted the tag on to a piece of pinkish coloured card.

Day 20 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" Challenge

 

This is my Day 20 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

On a plain white tag, I used Versafine Clair "Glamorous" pink ink to stamp the Funky Fossil Designs "Fa La La" stamp.  I used the same ink to edge the tag too.

I used a selection of colours of Paper Artsy Fresco Finish "Chalk Arcylic" paints to paint the squares and rectangles to create the impression of gifts.  I used gel and Poscal Pens to decorated the gift shapes and then mounted the tag on to a piece of purple card.

A Two Day Canal Art and Sign Writing Course with Andy Russell and Phil Speight

 

I have long had an interest in canal art, both the history of it and the design aspect. Back in August of this year, we attended a charity auction, one of the lots was a two day Master Class with Phil Speight and Andy Russell to learn the basics of sign writing and canal art.  Hubby was the successful bidder and said it was my Christmas/Birthday present.  I was thrilled.

The course was held this weekend at the workshop at Overwater Marina, in Cheshire.  There were around fifteen of us on the course, a real mix of ages, abilities and reason for being there.  The first day we did sign writing, lead by Andy Russell. The second day we learnt the basics of the traditional roses.

I loved every minute of the course and am quite happy with what I have achieved.  There are aspects that I struggled with, I've never worked in that medium of paint.  I'm more used to water colours, inks and acrylic paints not these smelly ones that appeared to "go off" quite quickly.

The word "Talwrn" is the name of the village that I live in, the board is about one and half metres wide.

Now I am back home, I need to practice what I have learnt.  I have a large galvanised old fashioned looking watering can that I want to paint, but I will leave it until I am better at the craft.

Day 19 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

I'm playing catch up on my tags again as I was away at the weekend attending a course.  I'll share with you what I was up to in my next post.

This is my Day 19 tag of "Karen Telfer's 24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

For my tag, I used two Lavinia Stamps the "Mystic Swirl" and "Christmas Charms", stamped in Wow! clear embossing ink, coated in Wow! Rich Gold Embossing Powder and then heat set.

I then created the background colour using two shades of Distress Oxide Inks:  "Twisted Citron" and "Lucky Clover".  I deliberately kept the darker ink away from the hanging star, to give the impression that the star is shining light. I rubbed over the heat embossing with a cloth to remove any ink that was over it.

Next, I used a fan shaped paint brush, dipped in water and tapping the brush over the surface of the tag, creating tiny droplets, I then blotted the water, which left a lovely bleached splattered look.

I used the same technique with metalic gold paint to add tiny gold flecks across the surface of the tag.

Finally, I mounted the tag on to a piece of red card and outlined the inner tag with a metalic gold pen.