Tag Inspired by Helen Allen

 

 I watch a lot of videos about crafting and using different techniques and one of the people that inspires me is Helen Allen. Helen follows the Guru that is Tim Holtz. Tim produces a tag every month for each year i.e. Twelve Tags of 2015 and Helen makes her own slant on these.  I have had a go at making one myself as I was so inspired by Helen's April tag. I used mount board at the base, which was great as it's very sturdy!  The iris stamp is one of Sheena Douglass' great creations and I love it.  I used Tim Holtz distress inkpads and Wink Of Stella before putting on a topcoat of Glossy Accents.

Here are a few closeups - I do hope you can see that lovely shimmer from the Wink of Stella!

Thank you for stopping by, I do hope you have gained some inspiration!

Mixed Media Mirror

I have wanted to do a mixed media piece for a long time and when I saw a very plain pine mirror at the carboot - for 50p I just had to have it!  I knew it had to have a crackle effect base, so that's where I started!  Painted the base coat a lovely dark pink, acrylic paint, then applied a coat of crackle medium specially designed for use with acrylic paint.  Waiting for this to dry sufficiently is always a problem as I am so impatient! Once dry (about 30 mins) I then applied another coat of acrylic paint, this time in cream.  This part is always great as you can see the paint crackle before your very eyes!!  I then gave the whole thing a couple of days to settle down and harden before I did a little light sanding all over just to roughen the finish a bit.  In retrospect I think I prefer the finish you get just using ordinary household emulsion paint and pva glue for the crackle as you get a smoother matt finish.  Then it was on to the exciting stuff - I used Sheena Douglass ivy stamp for the leaves, then hand painted them with Pebeo Acrylic paints.  After that it was simply a matter of applying a little extra decoration here and there, so I tore strips of some papers I already had, inked the edges with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar and the middles with Antique Linen as they were just too white!  Applied with a little watered down pva glue for a good smooth finish.  After that it was just a large flower to be added  and a few butterflies and there you have it - finished!

I had so much fun doing this, and it doesn't look too bad for a 50p bootsale mirror!

I hope you enjoy looking at this as much as I enjoyed decorating it!