I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Saturday 25 April 2015

Spring Fungi






Hello all!  Squeezing in a very quick post and a tag I wasn't sure would fit in this month, but Saturday is play day, right?  And I had a play with Tim's fabulous April tag inspiration and came up with this...


I haven't many stamps which are for "colouring in", so the major departure from Tim's tag is the choice of image.  I used the Stampotique Giant Shroom, but other than that I followed Tim's instructions pretty much to the letter.


So there won't be much how-to-ing here - you'd do much better to hop over and see what the man himself has to say...















I started out with soft neutrals, keeping my fungi in gentle tones of brown, but it all seemed a bit autumnal and melancholy.  Instead, I switched to my springtime preference for vivid blues and greens - Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint and Mermaid Lagoon are all in the mix - creating some distinctly different fungi!













There's still plenty of Vintage Photo, Tea Dye and Old Paper involved in the colouring too... And Tumbled Glass in the background, along with the Pumice Stone shading suggested by Tim.






I don't have any of the Block lettering dies, so went with a double handwriting look for the words.

The blue-green "beautiful" is cut from some of the leftovers from my recent butterfly tag feast.












The advantage of having an obsession about a particular colour palette is that the leftovers from one project will often work beautifully with the next!













I don't have any of the little stars, but I picked out some pewter Idea-ology flowers and stained them with Mushroom Alcohol Ink.













Because of the positioning of the panel, I needed an extra flower up at the top by the ribbons too.









And the final cheat is that I haven't been anywhere near a sewing machine (I have a long and troubled history with them - it's better that we don't have contact these days!).

Following a tip from the fantastic Jenny of Pushing the Right Buttons on one of her TV demo slots lately, I used a tracing wheel (it's a sewing tool - if you Google it you'll get an image) to create the holes, and then joined them up with a fine marker.  From a distance you probably wouldn't know the difference.









Thanks for stopping by.  I'm aiming to be doing some hopping around (in between birthday celebrations - it was mine on Friday and it's my brother's on Sunday), so I'll see you out there somewhere.  Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
Eleanora Duse

I'd like to enter this as my April Tag in Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2015

P.S. There's still time to join in my little GIVEAWAY - if you'd like me to put your name in the hat, just pop along and say so!

56 comments:

Claire said...

So beautiful! Love that stamped image and you have coloured it perfectly. A lovely twist on Tim's tag Xx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Gorgeous use of the colours on this beautiful tag Alison!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Alie :-)

Jane said...

Just gorgeous, I love the colourway and the faux sewing is brilliant x

Fliss said...

A really beautiful tag Alison. Love the soft colours and the stitching detail.
Fliss xx

experiments in paper said...

Wonderful make, Alison - love your fungi images!! And as always your colors are dreamily beautiful.....very peaceful. Hope you had a great birthday!! Will miss your inventions for Artistic Stamper - I have learned a lot from your makes there! xx Lynn

Nikki Acton said...

Wonderful creation - love the stamps! I also struggled for a colouring in image .... not having the flowers. Belated birthday greetings to you too. Nikki xx

Helen said...

Happy Birthday for yesterday, and your 'Shroom tag looks fabulous!!

Jenny Marples said...

Happy Birthday for yesterday hun! Hope it was a great day and you took some time out for yourself. Just had to see this fantastic tag when it appeared on my reading list - seem to remember Cestina having a fondness for fungi? and I LOVE this version. Thank you for the shout out with the 'sewing' too! Glad it could come in useful (and you've done it so well!) Huge hugs, Jenny x

Amanda said...

Love your take on Tims tag using Stampotique shrooms, they work so well, love it!
Love
Amanda x

rachel said...

so very beautiful Alison - lovely mushroom image - not seen this one before - brilliant! Big hugs Rachel xx

Unknown said...

Gorgeous tag, Alison! I love that stamped image and the colours are superb.
~~julia~~

Julia Aston said...

Love your version of Tim's tag Alison! those mushrooms are really fun - love the colors you used on them! hugs, Julia xx

Shilpa Nagaonkar said...

Wow, love your take on this month's Tim's tag, Alison. It looks great!

sarascloset said...

Beautiful tag, Alison, and a favorite of mine this month. Great twist on the flowers! Ha! Ha! The mushrooms are gorgeous, and your coloring is just perfect! Such a pleasure to look at! Happy belated birthday!

Astrid Maclean said...

Love your adaption and great colouring. Wonderful tag and lovely you found some time to play!

Redanne said...

I don't think I have ever seen such beautiful fungi before, they are sensational Alison! The colours are wonderful and Jenny's tip certainly worked well, I thought the stitching was real - but it is so much easier the 'Jenny' way... Anne xx

Jennie Atkinson said...

Love it Alison! such a wonderful choice of image and gorgeous colouring. Glad you found some time to play in your busy schedule. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Jennie x

Shirley said...

You always come up with some amazing ideas and inspiration Alison. Another fabby tag.

Warm crafty hugs from Shirl x x x
ShirlsCards.

Evelyn Walter said...

Related Happy Birthday, dear Alison! Your tag is beautiful, I love your coloring and the sewing.
xxx Evelyn

Evelyn Walter said...

....belated of course :)

Inky and Quirky Designs said...

Beautiful tag Alison done once again so wonderfully in your signature colours :)
Happy belated birthday too,hope you had lots of cake
Big hugs
Donna xxxx

Willy said...

What a beautiful tag, love the combination of soft colors and craft!!

Cestina said...

Buttons is so right - fungi are a passion of mine. At last they take their true place in the canon of crafting! Amanita phalloides I think - the Deathcap - is almost what we have here. Perhaps a slightly variant version since the cap is more usually olive green. But a very beautiful, delicate variant. Who would have thought it was deadly? "All fungi are edible. Some only once"

Etsuko said...

Happy Birthday for yesterday. This is beautiful tag and the stamp is my one of favorites. xxx

Pamellia said...

Totally loving this amazing version of Tim's tag!! What a super fun stamp choice Alison, and I love that you use the cool colours instead of warms. Fabulous!! hugs :)

Julie Lee said...

I really need to do some comment catching up, as life has been very busy for various reasons! Anyway, this is such a beautiful tag! I love the colour palette and you're right - having a favourite colour palette means that left-overs shift over just perfectly to the next project! Fungi totally fascinate me! Coming upon a collection unexpectedly in a wood is always so magical - you can really understand the reason why they became associated with the world of fairy! Your tag too has an enchanting feel. I love it! xxx

Nan G said...

Well it turned out fabulous! I too have tenuous relationship with the sewing contraption.... Have a fantabulous weekend of celebrating!

Andrea Ockey Parr said...

These are BY FAR the most amazing mushrooms I have ever seen! That color palette took my breath away (in a good way) and I love how it conveyed those wonderful feelings of Spring, yet both the image and the color scheme were so unique and refreshing. You are always such an absolute visionary when it comes to your creations and I never cease to feel inspired and impressed when I swing through your blog!

S@ndy Diller said...

When I saw the title of the post I certainly didn't expect to see something so soft and lovely. Love your take on the tag. Have a great week, S@ndy xx

froebelsternchen said...

Just fantastic Alison.. I love the colors and hoe you layered it!

pearshapedcrafting said...

Wowser! I loVe these colours - the giant Shroom looks great! I just love the way you have done the faux stitching ( I think Tim will too!) Chrisx

Corrie Herriman said...

That is one fabulous interpretation of the April tag, Alison ! Well done !
Corrie x

Carol Q said...

Love this Alison. I thought I was having a rest from stamping but having seen these new TH words I'm not so sure lol

Chrissy said...

Fabulous tag Alison and you cannot go past mushrooms..love them...out of the field or on a tag..

luv CHRISSYxx

sally said...

I love that you've used a tracing wheel! I did too but hand stitched.....because I was too lazy to get my machine out.

Gorgeous fungi :-)

Sally

Meggymay said...

Fabulous tag, love the colour you chose for the giant mushrooms.
Yvonne xx

Jackie PN said...

So simple and yet so stunning!! The Shroom is one of my fav stamps- I love how you presented it Alison! xo
Hooray for Saturday play-day!

Marci said...

These are beautiful mushrooms! Hope your birthday was great!

Deborah said...

I'd forgotten about the tracing wheel tip - much less faff than getting the sewing machine out. There's a deceptive simpliticity to this tag, which I really like, Alison.

I hope your current work commitments don't impinge too much on your crafting - it's always a pleasure to see what you've created.

Unknown said...

I do love you obsession with this colour palette, it's one of my faves too! I love this take on tim's tag, those toadstools are so different to the other designs. x

massofhair said...

WOW Alison, loving the large Shroom from Stampotique as your focal image, love the colours you used as always (so glad you have this colour obsession lol) and i like all the little embellishments and techniques you have incorporated :-) xxx

Kay Wallace said...

What a great take on Tim's April challenge, Alison! I especially love that you switched out the flowers in favor of your beautiful fungi ala Stampotique. Delightful embellishments finish off your great tag, my friend!

Hettie said...

This is absolutely gorgeous Alison. Love that Shroom image and the colouring is great. Love the faux sewing too!
Hugs
xx

Mrs.B said...

A fabulous tag Alison, and a great take on the original. Love the colouring on the image. Your'tracing wheel' stitching looks fabulous'
Avril xx

Kirsten said...

A stunning tag, really beautiful.

JansArtyJunk said...

This is absolutely stunning Alison...this has to be my favourite take on Tim's tags....Your Giant Shrooms look fab!! :)

Juliz Design Post said...

Stunning take a Tim's Tag, love your choice of colour on your fungi and the faux stitching.
Julie x

scrappymo! said...

Oh my gosh...just love this gorgeous tag! The colours are my faves too. I love the soft and springy look of them. This is a beautiful time in the world. After the dark winters, the spring is such a time of rebird. Love to see the bulbs poking out of the ground and the early blooms are such a delight.

We are just building garden beds here at our new place...although the house is ten years old, they never put a back garden in...just a piece of mangy grass. It is a lot of work but your sentiment "beautiful world" is what we are trying to create.

Thanks for helping me recognize that fact!

Sue said...

Love this Alison, the bold colours fit so well with the more neutral tones xx

Unknown said...

Love that mushroom stamp Alison. A gorgeous interpretation of this months tag - love the colours x

craftytrog said...

Love those mushrooms Alison! x

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

The mushrooms ROCK!!! Love your original idea! Gorgeous take!

Unknown said...

I absolutely love this tag Alison. The mushrooms do ROCK! xx

Cocofolies said...

I adore this tag!!!!! I've just received this giant mushsroom by Stampotique, you offer us a very lovely colouring and way of using this wonderful stamp here... Great tag for Tim's challenge I think, very unique as usual! Thank you dear Alison. And I read that you are doing a Giveaway?? Off to read if it's still time to join... :) xxx

Mary Elizabeth said...

The funky fungi tag is such beautiful take on Tim's tag. The stamp really works well with the die cut on top of die cutout sentiment. I'm not a fan of mushrooms. But I love this tag!! -- ME

MakaArt said...

Really beautiful Tag! ;-) Maria