A Patriotic Tag It Tuesday :)

Hello Friends :)

I know I said I would try to update my blog more often...but I guess the operative word so far was TRY. But here begins my new effort! Summer is winding down and all the travel and guests are mostly done...time to get caught up with all the artsy ideas I have floating around in my head :) As those of you know who follow along here...I love to participate in linky parties that my blogging friends host, and today is no exception. It is 'Tag it Tuesday' over at Cards and More by Sheri.!  Each month Sheri announces a theme for the month and then hosts a linky party on her blog on the 3rd Tuesday. For those who enjoy swapping what they have made she also has a G+ community called Altered Tag Swap. It is good fun and I suggest everyone join right in :) The theme for July is 'Patriotic' and as I am American (or as my kid says 'Murican') that means Red White and Blue, stars and stripes, and Miss Liberty standing tall for freedom. So here is my tag...


Most everyone who does altered tags starts with common shipping tags from the office store. They come in several sizes and are made from 'manila' heavy weight stock. Well I just never have gotten around to buying any of those..so I use my stack of manila folders that were being thrown away. I cut them into the most commonly used size which is 3" X 7" and go from there. This time I didn't want my tag to be that yellowy 'manila' color...so I started out by covering it with white gesso. You can see the difference!


Next I wanted to preserve some white stripes on my tag so I used a fat stripe stencil and some 3D Gloss Gel by Prima. I applied the gel with a palette knife and then removed the stencil and let it dry. You can see the stripes are the shiny bits and the dull bits are where just the gesso was left.


Now for some red stripes. I used some Gelatos by Faber Castell and applied the darkest color on the left and moved to the lightest on the right. Then I blended the colors using my finger. I touched my finger to a baby wipe to make it slightly damp for blending. Then I used the baby wipe to remove excess color from the white stripe area.


Because Gelatos are water reactive and never dry water proof..you can do a ghost stencil effect with them. I used a punchinella type stencil by Crafters Workshop. It has a strip of star shaped holes. I laid that over my tag and then used my trusty baby wipe to remove some of the Gelato color. This leaves some white stars on my red stripes.


For my next layer I added some lovely drippage. I love to do this to add more color and texture. I used 3 colors of Liquitex Acrylic Ink. These inks are nice to use for dripping because they have droppers inside the lid. I started at the top left corner and dropped a bit of color on..then tapped the tag on my desk to make the drips run down. This is so much fun..if a bit messy. Don't forget to shake up the bottles real well as the pigment settles to the bottom and you just get clear drips if you don't. 


When my drippage was all nice and dry...I brought back out my star punchinella stencil and some light modeling paste. I applied the paste with a palette knife over the drippy area to add more white stars.


Now for my main image...Miss Liberty. I used a graphite pencil to draw her on a scrap of mixed media paper. This paper is lighter then a cardstock but still holds up fairly well to wet media.


Next I colored her using my Caran d'Ache Neocolor II water soluble crayons.I didn't have the perfect greenish patina color..so I scribbled a light teal and a olive color together on some scrap deli paper and then mixed them with my waterbrush. I then used the waterbrush to paint on my color.


Next I cut out my girl and applied her to my tag using liquid matte medium. What I did not know was that Liquitex Acrylic Inks are water reactive, I assumed (assume makes a ass of u and me) that because they are 'acrylic' that they would dry permanent. As you can see in my photo..that is a big NOPE. But, never panic...just keep on going! I was able to fix up my color by using a big of white acrylic paint mixed in with my two crayon colors. Then I went over the lines using my black Posca paint pen for more definition.


I really wanted Miss Liberty to have some shine so went over her with a clear Wink of Stella brush pen by ZIG for some sparkle and shimmer. I LOVE this pen!


My final touches were to add three gold star brads on the left edge of my tag. Then I matterd it with some blue cardstock. I added some ribbons to the top. Then I tied on some little dangley tags in red and blue that say 'stars' and 'stripes' just for fun.


I hope you enjoyed my Patriotic Tag project. Please leave me a comment if you did :)
Head on over to Cards and More by Sheri to check out other blogger's patriotic altered tags. Or better yet..join the linky party with YOUR tag :)
<3 Shel

Comments

  1. Love it! Man, I wish I could draw stuff. Great job, and great save on those reactive inks.

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    1. Thanks :) It was fun to make the tag..and who knew about those inks!

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  2. You always create something Devine every time you get into your studio! ! Gorgeous, just gorgeous tag, Shel !!

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  3. Fabulous tag, Shel - love the way you've used your red/white/blue without it being hackneyed. Your Liberty is tremendous.

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    1. Thank you Win :) All I can do these days is draw faces..lol..I blame Tamara Leporte and her classes!

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  4. I love your patriotic tag, Shel! Your Miss Liberty is O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G!

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