a little bit rusty

It seems that most often when I am cleaning up my creative space, I generate ideas that scream to be worked. I have yet to understand if it's simply a diversion from the task of cleaning, or rather a flurry of thoughts generated from "seeing" so many beautiful supplies.  Regardless, this was the case last night, and it led to the creation of this tag.

I really and truly love working with the new Tim Holtz collage papers. They are thin enough to tear easily along a wet line, yet strong enough to stand out against a layer of watered down gesso. They're perfect for mixed media layering. The floral paper has such beautiful, finely detailed flowers. I used the cream colored roses section on my tag. I wanted the roses to "climb" the full height of the tag, so it took two sections of the roses layered to make it appear as one continuous piece. The best way to create the seamless edge is to use a water brush (or fine paintbrush with water) draw a line along where you want the edge, then pull the two sides apart and allow the wet edges to dry. 

[the following pictures show the technique using a different section of the collage paper]

Using a heavystock tag,  I coated the right side of the tag with distress collage medium and adhered the section of collage paper, then added a top layer of collage medium. Once that was dry, I applied texture paste through the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous mini brick stencil (Set 3), using a palette knife. I only added the paste through sections of the stencil along the left side of my tag, varying the edge that extended towards the middle. Once that section was somewhat dry, I moved the stencil down the tag and completed the brick pattern to the bottom. I set the tag aside to dry completely.

[the following pictures show the technique but with a different tag and larger scale stencil]

While the texture paste was drying, I created some "rusty" Ideaology heirloom roses. Using a paint brush, I first coated each rose with a layer of Finnabair brown rust paste. Then, I highlighted some areas of the roses with the rust colored paste, and next I added small spots of the gold paste. Once this was dry, I went back in with the brown and rust colored pastes to create the appearance I was looking for. I set these aside to dry. 

I created a "rusty" Ideaology trinket pin by coating the pin with embossing ink and sprinkling with Chunky Rust Baked Texture by Seth Apter/Emerald Creek. I heat set the powder and then added another layer of the powder and re-heated some areas. Once the metal had cooled, I painted small areas of the pin with brown rust paste. This was set aside to dry.

Using Distress Ink in fired brick and vintage photo, I lightly colored the "brick" portion of the tag. I was trying to create a neutral appearance, so I added each color in a very light layer with a blending foam, starting with fired brick and alternating with the vintage photo until I achieved the color I was hoping for. I also blended a little of the color over the brighter, open areas of the collage paper. The entire tag was inked around the edge with walnut stain Distress Ink. 

 

I wanted the rusty flowers to appear as f they were integral to the roses from the collage paper, so I adhered them in locations to look as if they were flowering from a stem. To complete the tag, I added an Ideaology quote token in the upper left portion of brick, and wrapped the center of the tag with beige seam binding ribbon from my stash. The "rusty" trinket pin was stuck through the knot and a fussy cut stamped bee (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous CMS328 Entomology) was attached to the pin with glossy accents. 

When I posted a picture of the top portion of this tag, I was asked by some followers if I would be doing a tutorial. This tag was created in the moment; I have done my best to recreate some of the steps, but I apologize for missing many "in-progress" photos. I hope that what I have put together is helpful to those that made the request.

 Thank you so much for stopping by the blog.

 I hope that you are inspired to create something beautiful.

~Ann 

Challenges I am entering this in:

Frilly and Funkie: Neutral Point of View

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #48: Rust