Sunday, May 18, 2014

Crafty Individuals Sponsor Spotlight II

Hello all, Alison here with another Sponsor Spotlight celebrating this month's generous sponsors, Crafty Individuals.


I had a lovely time playing with the beautiful Wild Flowers and Butterflies stamp...


... and the gorgeous Dancing Dragonflies masks.


This wasn't at all what I had in my head when I started, but I do quite like where it ended up.


And I'm giving you two views straight away since this is one of those makes where the lighting is all... now you see them, now you don't!


I started with an inky background with plenty of splattery texture, graduating in my usual way from greens to blues, earth to sky.


I stamped the lovely Wild Flowers in Olive Archival ink along the foot of the tag.


Then I used the masks as a stamp too.  I daubed various colours of Luminarte Silks onto the masks and then pressed them down onto my tag.


(The bonus is that I also have a really cool bit of leftover card where I did the daubing!)


The Silks have loads of shimmer to them, so there was already a fair amount of dragonfly iridescence, but I wanted more!


Specifically, I wanted the whole of the dragonfly wings to shimmer, not just the outlines, so I played with washes of pale Shimmerz colours and with diluted Liquid Pearls used as a paint...


... until I had the iridescent look I was after for my dragonflies.  You can really see that the wings are "coloured in", and are different from the background behind, but they remain translucent.  And then when the sun hits them at the right angle... bingo!


I added an Idea-ology Word Band in the centre of the meadow grasses, altered with the same Silks paints.  And I mounted the whole tag onto a Prima pre-printed tag from one of their Tag Pads, and trimmed it to fit.


There was a happy accident with the topping... this gauzy ribbon did something really weird with the Silks.  I promise there was nothing approaching purple in the shades I used, they were all blues and greens, but look what I got - pretty perfect for the dragonfly look, I suppose.


So those are my shimmering dragonflies for you. 


I hope you like them darting and dazzling in the summer sky...


... above the meadow grasses, gently waving in the breeze.  That ought to awaken the soul, no?


If that's inspired you, then come and play along in Linda's Love Those Leftovers challenge this month.  You could be in with a chance of winning a wonderful prize package from Crafty Individuals, and we'd love to see you there.

See you soon!
Alison x

34 comments:

  1. So pretty, Alison - the dragonflies are fabulous, and the ribbon looks perfectly shimmery!

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  2. Oh I do love this Alison! You really have captured that delicacy and iridescence so beautifully here. A wonderful tag. Jenny x

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  3. Wow I love your tag. The colours look amazing all shimmering. Reminds me of long hot hazy summer days laying on grass with life buzzing around. Xx

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  4. I love the shimmer and gauziness on your tag. Magical.

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  5. Beautiful. Thanks for your explanation Anneke.

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  6. Gorgeous tag Alison, Love the texture & the shimmer is beautiful...Have a happy week ahead.. Hugs May x x

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  7. Gorgeous tag Alison, love how you used those wild flowers and the dragonflies look amazing the way they shimmer in the light!

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  8. This totally evokes dragon flies for me! It reminds me of a walk I once did over the fields to Ellen Terry's Smallhythe Place on a hot summer's day filled with dragon flies, nodding grasses and blue skies. To then see her amazing beetle wing Lady Macbeth dress was perfect! The colours, the textures and the ethereal quality of this lovely tag reminds me of that day. I love your art, Alison: it always takes me back to Nature and beautiful memories! Julie Ann xxx

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  9. Beautiful tag, Alison. Love the dragonflies.

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  10. A wonderful tag, with the wild flowers stamp, and those beautiful shimmering dragonflies, dear Alison.
    xo,-Dorthe

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  11. Stunning dragonflies, would love to have wings like that... :-) xxx

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  12. Dragonflies never looked better Alison, I love this tag!!! xx

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  13. Such a lovely tag, Alison!! I love the photos that you took, highlighting those shimmery wings! Their wings really do look like that in the sunshine :) Although, when they fly too closely to me, I do duck and run--I love dragonflies, but they still kinda freak me out in real life :) My soul is awakened! XOXO-Shari

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  14. A shimmering beauty, butterfly!

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  15. Love those shimmery dragonflies and thanks for the tutorial on how you created them .

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  16. How lovely, Alison!
    Love your dragonflies' wings! So brilliantly and cleverly done!
    Claudia x

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  17. Soo pretty Alison. I love CI products. Nicola x

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  18. Hi Alison, you have captured your dragonflies beautifully. This has a real magical feel to it.
    Julie x

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  19. Unbelievable, magical, gorgeous, spectacular, I looooooooooove it, thanks for sharing, it's superb..

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  20. WOW! Alison, This is just So Breathtakingly Beautiful that was My Immediate Reaction when I First saw It. I have always been Inspired by You but this time extra Tips and Trick as well. I would not have ever thought to use Masks as Stamps, and I have been Hoarding LOTS of the Shimmers Paint for Over a Year now, not really knowing what to do with them that is certainly going to Change after seeing The Beauty YOU Created on this Amazing Tag. Just STUNNING.
    As a side Note, How does One TURN OFF The Word Verification. I Too Despise It, but was Unaware that it can be Turned Off?

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  21. A gorgeous tag in your wonderful style! Love the way you have 'stamped' with the dragonfly masks , such a clear impression! Lovely, lovely work Alison xx

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  22. Stunning as always Alison and such a clever use of the Silks. Chris xxx

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  23. Brilliant! AlisonI Amazing the shimmering dragonflies, and the beautiful field colours. Thank you for the great tutorial xx

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  24. what a beautiful tag Alison, just love the colours. love francesca

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  25. Such a gorgeous tag, Alison. The colors and textures are amazing :)

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  26. Wonderful! Real dragonflies would envy the shimmer! Chrisx

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  27. What a beautiful tag Alison, I love the colour use and the special effect on the dragonflies, you really are a very talented lady , I love the colours and the image a lot!!

    Greetings
    Maria

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  28. Simply gorgeous tag, you've caught the iridescent effect of the dragonflies perfectly, love it.

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  29. Wow truly stunning tag, I love the way you have done the dragonflies, the shimmer is gorgeous. I still get in awe of when using shimmer how moving the card makes the whole thing change. I have just bought some silks, they are amazing. I initially decided on them after seeing one of my favorite You Tube artists who I follow (Rach0113). I lurrrrve the ribbon, definitely must try thst lol. :-) Kezzy xxx

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  30. The ghost effect you achieved on your tag is stunning Alison.

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  31. So beautiful, you have captured the stunning beauty of these amazing creatures
    Such splendid shimmering colours and watery effects

    Jools x

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  32. Love this tag by Alison, it's just fabulous as all her creative works, and I love the dragonflies on this one!! Hugs, Coco x

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