Top Talent For 'Return Of The Challenge'

It's time for another Top Talent post here and I'm delighted to introduce you to the wonderful work of our worthy winner from the 'Return of the Challenge':

Jessica from Two Mad Dahlias

(don't you just love the name of Jessica's blog??!!)

Before I share Jessica's gorgeous project with you, let's find out a little more about this creative lady:

Where do you live? I live in Arizona just outside of Phoenix.  I have been here for just over 12 years. I was born and raised in Massachusetts.

What makes you smile? Lots of things make me smile- my daughter, my husband, my four goofy cats, internet memes-I am pretty easy to please!

What is your favourite style of crafting? I love crafting in all forms.  I love working with paper and being able to manipulate it with paint, ink, glue, texture paste, gel mediums, gesso, sprays, you name it and I will slap it on a piece of paper. I like to add a bit of vintage flair to all of my work by using old ephemera, beads, and knick knacks.

Name one product you couldn't live without and tell us why.  Paper.  Lots of paper.  I love paper.  I am a terrible cutter(don't ever ask me to cut a straight line) and that's a huge reason why I don't sew.  I love that I can use ripped paper, crooked paper, and tiny bits of paper to make something lovely.

What's the last stamp set you bought? I just bought the Tim Holtz Winged Things set and I used it for my project below.

Paint or ink? Or Both? Why? Both.  Layering adds so much depth to any work.  Ink and paint can make different types of layers and I love how they look separately and how they work together.

So many of Jessica's answers resonate with me that I feel as if I know her already - right down to the purchase of Jessica's latest set of stamps, one of my favourite very favourite sets, 'Winged Things' by Mr Holtz!! So totally agree with Jessica about using ink and paint to create layers and depth.

Here's Jessica's beautiful project with THAT little girl stamp that I love so much:

I am so excited my Mermaids were chosen as the winner for the Return of the Challenge.  Today I have made a multi layered canvas tag.

I started by using my gelli plate, stencils, and acrylic paint to make my background.

My focal image is from the Tim Holtz Winged Things stamp set.  The little fairy is colored using Distress Inks and Crayons.

 I made the flowers and branches using a tissue paper and collage medium technique.

I hope you enjoy my tag as much as I enjoyed making it!

Jessica, I absolutely love how you've layered this beautiful tag using so many techniques which I adore! You had me with the stamp set you used but then followed up with a Gelli print background and flowers - right up my street!! Thank you so much for sharing your art with us today and we do hope you will play along with us again. For further details showing how Jessica made this delightful piece of art, please click here to visit her blog.

If you haven't joined in with this month's challenge yet, there's still time and you can find all the details and inspiration from the DT by clicking here.

We have another Top Talent to bring you next month so don't forget to pop back on June 22nd and see the work of another talented creative.

Thanks so much for joining myself and the team today.