TAG TUESDAY

birds

2012-03-09T21:31:00.000Z

I missed the last two weeks as I was not well and also PC crashed and was away for ages being repaired.

This week's theme is out of my comfort zone, time was going on and I didn't know what to do.

Then this morning a lovely book came by post - 'scandinavian needlecraft' by

Clare Youngs.

Ideas! As TAST challenge this week is Running Stitch I combined both challenges with these little felt birds.

The top one will be added to my narrow TAST Sampler,

the one at the bottom will be backed with card, have a ribbon added and it will be a tag.

As they say "Two birds killed with one stone"!

And an enjoyable afternoon's stitching as well - things are looking up! Connie.

2012-03-09T14:41:00.002Z

Birds

This week I have used the words from a Psalm, I think it may be 91, but I can't remember. It says ' and he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust'. I was quite happy to use my typewriter for the text, but my brother in his usual way, convinced me that was too easy, and that i should not only use my own writing, but make a quill pen too!Not so easy when it needed to be very small SO, after much trial and error, and ink everywhere (which I discovered didn't wash off) I present my bird tag!

birds

2012-03-09T07:47:00.002Z

Spring is in the Air!

We've had a mild winter here in Chicago and I feel hopeful that Spring is not far away! Once again, I had fun with this challenge. I went a few different ways but ended up with a couple of tags that I like. I just wish that they had photographed better. :(

The first one is a grouping of fun birds in spring colors. Instead of wings, I attached a few flowers that I assembled. I was going to put them all in one tag (and attach them to a key ring through the eyes which I hole punched) but they were too cute to hide. So, since it's late, I just hung them on a cotton branch I had here in the house. The other tag is a bit more sophisticated. I took a picture of birds and drew over it with markers to intensify the colors. Then I mixed different colors of glitter and glued it onto the birds a little bit at a time to keep the glitter colors separate. This was detailed work and a bit time consuming but I really liked the way it turned out. I cut the glittered birds out and attached them to a branch that I glued onto a tag that I had distressed . Actually the birds are mounted to the tag with foam tape to appear like they are sitting on the branch. This gives the tag a lot of nice dimension. I hope that this is the last week I will be so late in posting. Wishing you all a week that is full of the beauty of nature and lots of creativity.

Best, Mary Ann

** Thank you for your kind comments.. hoping to get a chance to comment of all of the unbelievable work that you all have posted. What a delight to see so much talent and creativity!

Birds

2012-03-09T03:22:00.000Z

I am so excited to be contributing to the Tag Tuesday Blog for the first time. Carolyn invited me to join this week, and the timing is perfect because I love birds, and have quite a collection of bird related stamps. We have many bird feeders set up in our yard, and always have a pair of bluebirds nesting in our bird boxes.

I inked the background of my tag with Distress Inks, and used a little bird stamp that reminds me of my bluebirds. The bird was painted in with Twinkling H2Os on a separate piece of cardstock, and then cut out. The tag was misted with Perfect Pearls, and I also painted the cherry branch flowers with the Twinks. I gave the open flowers a little dab of gold paint for some extra shimmer.

I'm looking forward to creating with your themes, and getting lots of inspiration from all the talented artists on this blog.

Barb

Bird Giveaway

2012-03-09T00:26:00.006Z

This tag is one that went awry in many ways which I will not point out to you. It's a piece that was ambitious and did not work though taught me many valuable lessons in construction, working with this paper I love, and in painting. So it took me many hours to complete and I am so 'done' looking at it that I'm going to give it away. I thought it would be fun to just pull a name out of a hat from the comments section on this post. If you want to leave a comment but don't want to put your name into the hat, just mention it in your comments. The giveaway is open to the Tag Tuesday team and players on the sidebar only, in keeping with the spirit of our lovely group. I hope that Carolyn won't mind a giveaway. My tag is a swallow with a wee sprite hitching a ride to some unknown destination. He is wrapped in gold bullion.

Here is a close up of the bird with sprite under construction with only one thing wrong. I decided to snap a shot before I continued in case I wrecked this tag completely.

Here you can see the size compared to one thin dime (Canadian money), as well as my bounty of gold bullion. It's all coiled tight and so you just pull it out between your fingers and it unravels into a thin lovely piece of wire.

Here's the finished tag in situ. I'd wanted it to be able to stand on its' own with a counterweight to balance but my design was so drastic that even a weight wouldn't do the trick. For the photo I held it in place. It would have been really fantastic if it had worked. Even so, the tag is useable, and I learned how to make this type of tag. In future I will probably try again.

I enjoy this group very very much. Thank you Carolyn for your vision and work. Hello to my fellow mates! *smiles* Norma

p.s. I'll draw from the hat early Tuesday of next week.

Birds

2012-03-08T12:28:00.001Z

We have a little garden with a lot of birds and I am impressed by their beauty.
I choose a bird as well for the poetry tag and I just put it here again.

Greetings from Switzerland, Andrea

Birds

2012-03-08T11:09:00.000Z

A lovely subject this week, I think, and so nice with spring around the corner hopefully. Here's my little birdie on a nest with eggs. The heart shaped tag is covered with scraps of text and sheet music, then painted with light blue acrylic paint. The edges were distress inked and then the images affixed, together with a couple of lovely spotted feathers, a little paper flower, scrap of old lace and raffia tie.

As usual, there are so many beautiful tags on this site - well done ladies!

birds

2012-03-07T22:01:00.001Z

when i was a little girl, every weekend my father would take us to our beach house on the coast of chile just so we could wake up at the crack of dawn to go bird watching. his favorites were pelicans although at home we settled for a parrot named clotilde. so my love of birds began at a very early age.

i never became an ornithologist like my father but developed my own personal love of birds through poetry and art. as a matter of fact, my favorite quote is from a poem by pablo neruda and i have used it repeatedly over the years in many of my creations and even at the heading of my ebay listings years ago.

i had purchased this quite expensive enameled button of a bird quite a while ago and didn't know what to use it for until carolyn's challenge. since it is so dainty, i opted for a fabric tag. it is rather long and skinny and i love how it turned out with all the different fabric elements i found for it.

here it is in its entirety

....and here is an old picture of me at the beach house observing clotilde as we often took her out of her cage to converse with.

i hope i haven't bored you with my story, but i'm passionate about birds.

Birds

2012-03-07T19:03:00.004Z

I had lots of fun making this tag, I got to use some of the stuff I collect on walks in the woods when DS3 and I are out geocaching.

Here is my BIRDS tag -

Now I am off to admire a few more fabulous BIRDS tags.

Toodlepip xxx

Birds

2012-03-07T18:56:00.003Z

Hi Ladies, here comes my tag for this week.
I can say, I had a lot of fun making this tag, but not enough time.
Played with paper, fabric, feathers and stamp.

That´s the result .... a little crazy bird :o)

Have a nice week and take care

Birds

2012-03-07T01:42:00.001Z

Two little tags-- a double tag? -- featuring birdie and her eggs.
Chirp!

BIRDS 'TWO FOR JOY'

2012-03-06T23:21:00.000Z

This tagwas inspired by a found magpie feather. At first glance magpies appear to have black and white plumage, but whenseen close-up their black feathers take on a more colourful huewith a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers.

On oneside of the tag I have written ‘2 for joy’ and stuck the feather next toit. I like the way it goes over the sideof the tag.

I used purply-blue pearlescent paint for the writing, and dark iridescent buglebeads as a trim.

Magpies have a reputation for stealing bright andshiny things, so I have trimmed the tag with an old silver earring and asparkly diamante.

There is also a smaller tag with a photo of two magpies on it.

According to an old superstition the number of magpies you see determines if you will have bad luck or not.There are many different versions, so I chose this version to write on on the other sideof the main tag:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret, never to be told,

Eight for a wish,

Nine for a kiss,

Ten for a big surprise.

I’m a bitdisappointed with the photos because none of them have really picked up the beautiful electricblue of the feather; it looks much better in real life. Also now that I've been handling the feather so much, now it looks a bit scruffy! But at least I had the Joy of seeing it at its best. Thank you to all of you who have left such lovely comments on my tags, they are much appreciated.

Wishing you all a lovely week

Jane xx

Birds

2012-03-06T23:14:00.000Z

Well, um, er, I'm not totally happy with this effort; I thought it would turn out different-- neater... Anyway, the picture and text is from an old craft magazine. I added the red embroidery floss to kind of emulate string art. I fully intended to trim the ends of the floss used as borders but decided I liked it as is. So here-- take it or leave it!! Love the other bird tags posted so far! Such talent out there! Until next week... stay well and happy!

birds

2012-03-06T20:47:00.003Z

still with the challenge . This is a record for me but am enjoying it so much and proud to be alongside the other artists here

Sara :0)

Birds

2012-03-06T19:23:00.002Z

Looking forward to the dawn chorus, always such a wonderful time of year!

This week's double sided tag is a collage of recycled cards, paper and fabric

all machine stitched together, with a little ric rac tie. Hanging from a branch

in my garden. Such fun.

Many thanks for kind comments and encouragement,

I love looking at all the contributions and marvel each week at the ingenuity.

Very best wishes, Valerie R.

BIRDS

2012-03-06T17:54:00.000Z

I was inspired by the birds nesting in the trees outside my window....

....getting ready for Spring

-oOo-

I decided to raid my scraps box of 'odds and ends'

and I've gone a little collage crazy...

I used a manilla tag for the base...

then added...

...collage scraps, lace, bingo card, cheesecloth, paperclip. postage stamp, german scrap and a cute little nest and eggs embellishment.

...all distressed with distressing inks and a paper distresser.

I thought I would take advantage of a lovely sunny afternoon

...and photograph this weeks tag outside in the garden.

-oOo-

I am soooo enjoying this creative challenge,

not only making the tags each week,

(which keeps the mojo ticking over)

but there is also sooooo much inspirational work to peek at!!

Thanks for Peeking at mine!

Jan x

FEED ME MUM ........

2012-03-06T16:30:00.000Z

The Doodly Bird family took advantage of the warm weather

and damp soil and went foraging for worms.

You can see some more Doodly Birds on my blog.

Very noisy creatures they are, who enjoy fluffing up their feathers in the sunshine.

Last weeks BOOK challenge was excellent with some really complex tags.

(lovely backdrop Carolyn this week)

Birds

2012-03-06T15:17:00.000Z

Hi everyone!

It is a sunny day here in Berkshire, but we did have some snow at the weekend!

Great Book tags last week. I only had chance to comment on one of them, but I did

enjoy them all.

For this week's theme of Birds, I immediately thought of the stencils my mum bought for me when I was about 9. I remember going into the art shop with her to choose them. Little did I think I would still be playing with them so many years later!

Keeping my tags simple, I stencilled using Koh-i-Nor watercolour paints on Indian paper, giving a blurry effect as the paint bled into the paper a little. There are five different birds. I am not sure which birds they are meant to be, so made up my own colours.

I photographed them on an old biology book, which I found at a summer fair.

Birds

2012-03-06T13:46:00.000Z

It is such a beautiful day here in Wiltshire. The sun is out and I have an afternoon off work! Plus it is Tuesday, which is now because of this blog becoming one of my favourite days of the week! I had great fun making this tag, I hope you enjoy it.

I have included a close up so that you can spot the little cuckoo! The tag is very dimensional. First I covered a manilla tag in some lovely nature paper I had and whitewashed over it with picket fence dabber. Then I coloured two die cut branches with dark brown ink and made the birds nest out of raffia and different fluffy yarns. I put soft ends of feathers inside and cut out the eggs and the little stowaway. The bird is a mount board shape covered in music paper and real feathers layered for wings. The sentiment is stamped on frayed hessian and mounted on to dark brown bannana paper that is roughly torn. This is going to be a wonderful week as the entries already are truly beautiful. Thank you all so much for your lovely comments last week. Enjoy the sun if you have it! xx

Birds

2012-03-06T12:41:00.002Z

My tag this week just had to include an Owl, we have an Owl in our garden, I don;t mean a wild owl, he is quite tame and lives in a large aviary. We took him on when a friends son went to Uni and couldn't look after him anymore. He's very beautiful and 'talks' alot!!

I have used a painted tag, added some fabrics and lace,some machine stitching and hand stitching. I had some little owl charms and also used a handmade bead and a wooden bead and some real owl feathers courtesy of 'Bo' . I added some interesting ribbony bits for a tassel. I stamped the words'wise old owl' on a scrap of tea stained fabric.

There he is, 'Bo'

Birds; Try, try again...

2012-03-06T12:30:00.000Z

Tag # 1
The Firebird
I tried something very complicated and was not really happy with the result. I painted a tag black and then overlaid it with a picture of a toe shoe painted bright crimson red. Next, I created my own version of the firebird, cutting it out of felt and embroidering it metallic threads, bright colored floss and regular thread. Unfortunately, he just was not stunning enough against the slipper, so I carefully attached tiny little crystals to embellish the needlework. Those brightened it up but made it hard to photograph. I decided to try again...

Tag #2
Unhappy with the complex Firebird, I went very simple on this tag. I was sitting and thinking and my gaze fell on a lovely piece of high rag content paper overprinted with a musical score. Aha! SONGBIRDS! it was a clever idea that fell a bit flat... pun intended. I decided to try again...

Tag # 3
This was the third bird tag I made and the one I like the best. I used acrylic paints to mottle the tag a lovely sky blue. I used markers to draw an intricate jumble of leaves along the left side. The last step was cutting a very tiny hummingbird from black construction paper and then coloring it the colors of a ruby throated hummingbird, the ones we have every year in our back yard. I used thick mounting tape to make him stand up from the tag. This one is my favorite.

BIRDS

2012-03-06T11:14:00.000Z

Birds houses, birds holding banners, ribbons, threads etc, and collections of bits and bobs for nests are all themes that have been occurring in my work for many years. This tag is a return to an older piece of work purely because it has been a very hectic week and I didn't really have a lot of time to give it.

She has been collecting 'beautiful things' for her nest, just like most of us collect 'beautiful things' for our nests!!!

Well done to everyone for yet another week of beautiful and inspiring tags, and a big thank you for the lovely comments. Can't wait to see this weeks tags.

Birds

2012-03-06T10:56:00.001Z

For this weeks tag, I started of by adhering a vintage music to my tag. (It was a song about the sea). When this was dry I applied a paper napkin on top. This was then coated with a layer of Dorlands wax medium. I then spent quite a bit of time auditioning embellishment's to find the right one. Everything just made it too fussy, so ended up with three tiny sea-shells. The words 'fly' came about because of the book 'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull'. I shredded some sari silk to resemble seaweed to finish my tag.
I am soooo enjoying this challenge, not only making the tags, but being inspired by every ones work.

Song Sparrow

2012-03-06T10:14:00.002Z

Missed the last couple of weeks but really wanted to participate on the Bird theme. This was not what I had in mind when I started (is it ever?).

But I'm happy with it anyway. Wanted to have lots of colour. A combination of paper and fabric sewn down.

I'm happy to say I found everything in my cupboards and drawers to pull this together - including a cereal box I used as my base.

I have a couple of old Bird Guides that have lovely pictures - and letter cards. Scrap fabric from projects long ago... Enjoy!

BIRDS

2012-03-06T10:05:00.000Z

I cut this little bird house from a sizzix die, ( I love this die) I use it a lot, I took the pic outside but it was a little windy so I hope the pic is not to blurry! I wish to thank you all for the lovely comments last week, I really enjoyed seeing all your fabulous work, Happy Tuesday, Hugs May x x x

Birds

2012-03-06T08:33:00.002Z

I was going to use some of my Henley photos but found an old Daily Mail children's annual in a charity shop with lots of pages on birds and their nests.
This is what I ended up making:

I covered a 7 gypsies "naked pocket" with Martha Stewart papers, then fussy cut the chaffinch from another sheet. The title came from the annual.
I stamped the tag with a TH bird in sepia then pasted on a chaffinch and its' nest (the back of the tag features a song thrush but no stamping). Finished off with some Maya Road ribbon.

I am constantly amazed by the variety and skill of the tags people make - so inspiring.

Tag Tuesday - birds nest

2012-03-06T07:00:00.000Z

This weeks theme was quite an appropriate one for the south of Sweden where I live. Here the birds have started to sing their very special spring songs and also started on building nests. So I had to make a birds nest of course. I also made use of my collection of bird feathers. Yes I collect that too....

Have a nice Tuesday
Jeanette

Three Little Birds

2012-03-06T06:00:00.000Z

As soon as I read that the tag theme was birds, I got the Bob Marley song about the three little birds in my head, so here they are, pitched up by my doorstep, telling me not to worry 'bout a thing! I used coloured pencils and felt tips to colour the birds, which I wanted sketchy looking, inspired by Tracy Emin's bird prints. while they aren't as sketchy as I wanted I'm pretty pleased with them and enjoyed making their feet really big, as I love seeing coots and moorhens with their huge feet! I edged the tag with ribbon and ric-rac braiding so it's bright and cheerful.

Books - Origami

2012-03-05T20:44:00.002Z

I don't know where the last two weeks went and even for this week's Tag Tuesday I just made it in time

(phew)

The book is folded in Origami tradition, the pages stamped with the words fun, play, joy and hugs. I added a closure to the book using a small velcro dot, some ribbon and a cute book owl. To turn it into a tag of a bit of a different kind I added some ribbon along the inside of the book spine.

Thank you to everybody for all the beautiful inspiration, Petra.

2012-03-05T19:37:00.005Z

Books

This is the tag from The Demeter, the ship which brought Count Dracula to Whitby. Soory to be so late ladies, but I've had a very busy week!

books

2012-03-05T19:10:00.006Z

Sorry for the late post. I was busy recovering from the work of putting on a retreat. Restful for some but not for those of us who work it... any way. on to Books!

I find that I am looking for ways to improve myself, so I read a lot of "How To" books. Coming off of my Retreat, I felt very uplifted. So, I took the gist of what I learned and put it in my own "How To" book. I took an old book that I had purchased for only $3.00 and went to work. I had fun altering everything from the cover, to the pages and even the bookmarks that I stuck in. On the inside "Title Page" I put a little pocket to hold my "Tag Tuesday" tag. On the "Fame" page, I had fun using pictures from the Oscars and a torn picture to hide my little "No" tag. The bookmark for the "wealth " page was fun to make using burlap and stamps. On the beauty page, I made "Mirrors" with foil and made my own butterflies (except for the wooden one which I painted) . I think that the rest of the pages speak for themselves. This was fun. I wish I had had more time ... maybe this week?

Wishing you all a wonderfully creative week! Best, Mary Ann

BOOKS

2012-03-03T05:12:00.003Z

'BOOKS'

Here is my tag for the TAG theme "Books".

I have made my tags into a book. On the back of each tag I have left it blank, so that I can add photos to them. The lined fronts will be where I journal about the photos added. As the saying on the front says. This will be somewhere to keep a record of my nature journies. I have used all stampin up products for this tag.

Warm Hugs

Your Friend

Elizabeth xx

Bookmark

2012-03-02T12:21:00.000Z

My tag this week is a bookmark

made out of the spine of a vintage

French-English Dictionary,

which was already in a sorry state of repair.

It was a challenge for me to keep this flat

and to not add bumpy embellishments,

so I added texture with the gold mesh.

A bonus point will be awarded

for the first person to tell me what

'ma signet' means

(I had to look it up!).

Thank you for looking

and for any comments left

but please do not feel that

it is necessary to leave a comment :o)

XXX

Tag Tuesday...Books...pic overload...:)

2012-03-02T07:20:00.001Z

There are lots of things i shouldve been doing today on my day off [i have every second friday and sat off and go to work sun afternoon], cleaning, purging, making stuff for the market, working on the quilt.... however i was feeling a bit flat after a long week.........stocktake at work :( and just wanted to make something...

i had so many ideas to be crafting that my brain was going into overload and i thought id better just focus on one :) do you get like that when you havent made anything for a while? ......i was awake at 5.30 thinking about all the projects i wanted to make and the housework didnt stand a chance :)

so thought id spend a couple of hours....yeah yeah ! and make my tag for Tag Tuesday....... i found this tag on the floor while doing a little bit of tidying up and thought what a geat book cover it would make.

so i pulled it apart, gessoed it and covered it in wet teabgs still with lots of tea leaves on them....i was too impatient to wait for them to dry.

i used some paper napkins, gesso and stamping for the inside as well as an 'ode to the tea bag' with the tag off the tea bag collaged inside the cover...

i had some tea bags drying to use for the pages...... absolutely beautiful colors they were from the blackcurrent tea. [ive not used any paint except gesso.] i love dying with colored teas now, id never thought about till i took Caroles class....

i then collaged bits off flowery napkins , some script text and my typo birdie stamps.....use these all time too...perfect for little things....

i used matt medium and the pages are quite leathery. i also love the way the stamps show thru to the back layer...

i then zigzagged the pages together and stitched them into the book.... i had intended to add some writing but i just like looking at it, so its teeny-tiny-tag-picture book....

I have been having a big catch up this week , loving the tags you are all making and thanks for leaving such lovely comments too...

Books

2012-03-01T20:01:00.003Z

Well thought I would share a little Exhibition that a few of us from

Contemporary Craft Group

have put together

for

Essex Book Festival

this is one of my favourite little books I have made

essexgirl speaks

book art

Books

2012-03-01T14:44:00.004Z

I have been reading books since I was 5 years old and my grandmother introduced me to the sweetest little "Pixie" books. Not a day goes by without me reading. So you can imagine that picking a favourite book is almost impossible.

Having said that, there is a series of books which I read again and again, every summer when we are in France for a few months. That series is called Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. I absolutely adore this series of 12 fantasy books, their fine characters and the incredibly detailed world they live in. I had been so looking forward to the TV series made from the books, sadly, it really didn't live up to the books, I watched one episode and then gave up before it spoilt it all for me.

In the end it wasn't difficult at all to pick my favourite, I guess, I just had to go with the Sword of Truth books. The main image is from 'Faith of the Fallen", the dragon is Scarlet, friend to the main character Richard. Top and bottom of the tag images of all twelve books in the series
and the tag is framed on two sides by the Sword of Truth -

If you like fantasy books, you will love these!

Toodlepip xxx

Book Tag

2012-03-01T07:10:00.000Z

A book I always have love very much is MOMO written by Michael Ende, so it was this book I used as inspiration for this week's tag, Michael Ende has also written The Neverending Story, a book I also love very much.

I KNOW I AM A GROWN UP, BUT....

2012-02-29T22:50:00.000Z

I can't resist the CHARLIE & LOLA stories.

So I got a bit of white card, some wrapping paper,

a couple of pieces of coloured card and

you guessed it my faithful BLACK FINE LINER PEN.

Then drew Charlie & Lola and added a sticker out of my book.


Charlie & Lola and those pesky Doodly Birds

And to prove I do have some grown up books

LOVELY TAGS LAST WEEK.

2012-02-29T20:28:00.003Z

Because of my love for books, it is hard to pick any one favourite. Even as a child, I loved so many. Books have always been an escape to me. I have travelled to many places with a book. I love to collect antique books, and have been amassing quite a collection. I also try to find books of my youth, and have been successful with that as well. ( I look very hard!) I chose Little Women as a basis for my tag. I actually found the version I had read as a young girl. It is the 1955 hardcover edition by Whitman Publishing. I loved the story, and it has been a favourite for a long time.
I used a library pocket and card from a thrift shop book, and decorated it with vintage wallpaper and a copied page from Little Women. On the card, I changed the book title and author to read Little Women, Louisa May Alcott. There were a couple of signatures on it, and I added the March sisters names to it as well as fictitious class numbers. I added a single girl, coloured and glittered. To me she represents Beth, who was so sweet and delicate. The outside pocket has 3 girls from a costume book (not sure of title) to represent Amy, Meg and Jo and I coloured them in as well as added a hint of sparkle. I also used Tim Holtz distres ink in old paper, to give it a more vintage feel. I added a ribbon from my stash to make a tag. I hope you enjoy it, as I had fun making it!

Hugs,
Ivy

Books

2012-02-29T20:18:00.005Z

Not a specific book in mind but a little swivelling book in my tag. Comprising of words - on painted muslin pages......

Sara

2012-02-29T18:54:00.002Z

Books -- I couldn't live without them.
For this challenge, my tag is a bookmark.

Books

2012-02-29T18:15:00.001Z

My tag this week shows my Kindle

which contains lots and lots of my favourite books all in a tiny space.

All my images were downloaded, cut out and held together with a fancy brad. No embellishments, to represent the simple way the books are presented on the device.

I'm very new to this way of reading, and I'm not completely sold on the idea. I really do miss holding a 'proper' book in my hand, but it's a very convenient way of making sure I've got enough to read on holiday.

Books

2012-02-29T16:49:00.001Z

Its amazing seeing the huge variety of tags being made for Tag Tuesday. I love to look at them all - its such a shame it's not possible time wise to comment on every single one.

I had fun making this tag. I love to use actual tags from clothes my family or I have bought. If they come home with something new .... after I have admired it (!) I have to ask 'What's the tag like?'

This one is actually made from a gorgeous striped material, from a pair of jeans I got at the weekend from The White Stuff. Their labels are as nice as their clothes!

The image was from a book, I inked around the edges for a bit of definition, and then stuck it onto a strip of text from another book that I had stuck on the tag. I added a vintage travel ticket at the bottom to give her a bit of height and then added a piece of lace and some pretty rub ons.

I tore the title 'Golden Days' from the book and coloured around the edges. I added eyelets for the ribbon and continued them around the tag for balance. Done.

I'm thinking of using the tag on a card for my mumx

I love all the new spring themes Carolyn has choosen..... I'm thinking greens, yellows, pinks and blues :)

Books

2012-02-29T13:07:00.000Z

SCROLL

The title this week really got me thinking - my favourite book - usually the one I'm reading at the time..... but so many more besides; too numerous to even begin to list. Then I started to think about books, the joy they bring into our lives; sizes, quality, hard or paperback, the dust covers, the print face, photographs, drawings - this led me to worry about the latest craze. E-books - I would so hate it if future generations lost the 'feel and handle' of a real book. I then thought about the origins of recording the written word; stone tablets, papyrus and scrolls. Therefore my tribute to books is my scroll - card stock of oriental letters, distressed by burning, painted vilene and beads from a belt found in a charity shop with the 'plastic leather' thongs. Being able to read is a gift and I admire all the special people that help those with dyslexia and other difficulties, to achieve this goal. Read, read, read.

Books

2012-02-29T01:57:00.000Z

I thought someone might choose Gone With The Wind then decided it might as well be me. My tag is a sampling of the many different book jackets that have been used since its publication in 1936. "After all tomorrow is another day" is the last line of the novel. And, yes, the tag is resting on an open copy of GWTW. By the way, if you've never read it, do yourself a favor and get a copy! February has been fun... on to March!! See you next week.

Books: Wuthering Heights

2012-02-29T01:35:00.001Z

I couldn't say "Wuthering Heights" is one of my favourite books . However, Emily Bronte's novel had a powerful impact on me when I was teenager, and I often felt rather haunted by the thought of Catherine's and Heathcliff's ghosts restlessly wandering the moors. When I saw this image in the Sunday newspaper (from an advertisement for a Sydney Ballet Company performance), I immediately thought of the doomed lovers from Wuthering Heights and it became the basis for this week's tag. I attached the newspaper piece to the painted tag with gel medium and then stamped and wrote over the top, cut out and pasted a branch from black card,and then added sari silk waste and tulle.
Congratulations to all - the tags so far this week are stunning.

Books: Once Upon A Time...

2012-02-28T23:10:00.004Z

I love to read. Books have always been the things that tether me to earth and at the same time, the things that have allowed me to escape the world when it's too much to bear. I am away from home this week, so I had to use my limited drawing skills to create my tag. The theme is fairy tales because those are usually the first books we read or have read to us. In my tag, you can greet many old friends, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Frog Prince, The Ugly Duckling, Little Red Riding Hood, The Yellow Brick Road to Oz, the flag from the Jolly Roger, Fairy Godmother, The Three Little Pigs, The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe and many more.
Thanks,
Martha

Books.

2012-02-28T22:55:00.001Z

Such a hard decision- I was an avid reader as child, and every Tuesday my family would go to our local library to get enough books to keep us busy until the following week. I read everything written by Enid Blyton I reckon and I loved all Milly Molly Mandy stories. In the end I settled for Milly Molly Mandy.
I was sorely tempted to colour my picture, but as my books were in black and white I decided against it and went for the vintage look.

Cigarette paper book

2012-02-28T21:34:00.005Z

When I was about 9 years old I started collecting bibles. I had a whole shelf of them. I'd get them from the donation bin at the church in my neighborhood. I was shameless, taking them by the armful. I tried reading them. Many times. I just never got the hang of the language. But I'd carry them around (one at a time, depending), and smell them, and handle them, opening the pages and gently stroking the paper. I'd drink the beauty of them in, noticing the gold edging when the book was closed, and especially admiring the carved wooden cover on one of them. I'd marvel at how the edges of the leather cover on another of them curved around on all sides so that the pages within were protected. Sometimes I'd just let the big bible(s) rest on top of my chest as I lay in bed. I liked the feel of the weight of them. I did all of that and then read Pippi Longstocking and Nancy Drew.
I still enjoy the paper and materials that bibles are constructed of. I use the paper often in my work. I'm always careful not to be obvious about my materials in case someone is offended. But for this little project, I used a page from a bible and didn't try to hide it in any way. I wanted to celebrate the beauty of the paper. Here's a view of the finished book. It lays in my 61 year old hand to give you an idea of the size. It is a little book made of cigarette paper pages.

I made the paper rope from a sheet of paper from a bible from Indonesia somewhere. It'll be fastened together with cowrie shells from Hawaii. The cover paper is handmade Japanese. The book has two cigarette paper pages. One has a quote from the bible and the other is an indian ink sketch of a bird that has been watercolored and kissed with gold.

Here is the completed book opened. I liked how the bird can be seen through the quote. The inside front and back cover is a sheet from the bible. I had no thought about what the text says. This is meant to be an art piece and folk can take from it what they will.
Once I completed the book and wrapped it with the paper rope fastened with cowrie shells, I applied a dot of glue to hold it tight. If someone wants to look inside they will have to destroy the piece in a sense. Not everything is easy.

I'll attach the book by hooking through the paper rope wrapping.
Namaste friends, Norma, xo

BOOKS

2012-02-28T19:13:00.001Z

A TINY BOOK OF LOVE

For this week’s tag I have made a tiny tag book.

The inside is made from one long strip of paintedwatercolour paper, folded concertina fashion to make the pages of my tiny book(it measures 8 x 7cm).

The cover is made from green felt embellished withribbon, lace, scraps of fabric, and rows of machine stitching and couchedthreads.

Continuing on my Daisy obsession of previous weeks,I have stitched on rows of daisy cord . The book is fastened with a loop of embroidery thread around a vintagedaisy button and made use of my daisy paper punch.

On the 4 pages inside the book I have printed a fewspecial phrases about love and life. (authors unknown).

To Love andBe Loved is

The GreatestJoy on earth.

Infinite Love is the only Truth

Everythingelse is Illusion.

You are aSpiritual Being

having aHuman Experience.

Somewherealong the line, we forgot

how Divineand Special we are.

I have cut out daisies on the printed inserts sothat the background colour shows through.

The tag is finished off with yellow thread andribbon, gold beads, a butterfly charm and a flower bead.

I’m glad I had a bit of a thing for daisies duringFebruary, but I’m pleased to see the new themes for March. I love Spring; it’s my favourite season.

Lots of love

Jane xx

books

2012-02-28T17:12:00.003Z

As I love reading this was a tricky choice for me, but this week's tag is based on WWI

as there are so many wonderful books, plays and films on the subject which I love.

I just want to mention Goodby to All That by Robert Graves; A Deafening by Frances Itani; Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks; A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry and the excellent Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker for novels. Plays: Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff, WarHorse by Michael Morpurgo and Oh What a Lovely War.

I have embroidered a Book Mark this week with a recycled poppy from a tablecloth, and other

emblems of the war such as a cross, barbed wire, date and significant words.

Many thanks for lovely comments, so enjoying all the contributions every week,

very best wishes, Valerie R.

Books

2012-02-28T15:44:00.002Z

I went through my mixed media stash and found an old distressed falling apart French dictionary bought from a Boot sale.
-oOo-
I removed the spine to alter....

and here is my 'Book' tag offering for this weeks theme....

I've used....

the book spine as my tag base, French dictonary text (tearing out the words Livre - french for book),

....sweet image of a boy reading a book,

french postcard image,coffee foil, lace, pen nib. eiffel tower charm, butterfly scraps, rik-rak and distress inks.

I'm having so much fun each week with tag tuesday, So many inspiring artists with many inspiring tags to see each week!

Thanks for Peeking!

Jan x

Books

2012-02-28T13:38:00.000Z

So many books, so little time, this was such a challenge as I am a complete bookaholic! In the end I have chosen one of my favourite novels by Salley Vickers for my tag this week. 'Miss Garnet's Angel' is the story of Julia Garnet, a retired school teacher, who goes to Venice after the death of her friend and companion. I love Venice, such beauty at every turn.!

The tag is cut out of glossy cardstock and the Basillica was stamped first. Then I covered the whole tag with gold and orange alcohol ink. Then I wiped the image clear and then applied a piece of translucent orange paper with a heart torn out on top. The scene of Venice and the Italian stamp at the top were then stamped on top of the gold. The angel was a composite of a Christmas card I received last year and the beautiful wings have been waiting for just such a project! I stood Raphael (for he is the angel in the story) on top of a style stone which I coloured to blend. The words are found towards the end of the book when Miss Garnet sees her friend walking across a bridge and then glimpses her angel in the shadows -

'..... looking into his eyes she beheld myriads of infinite whirlpools pulling her towards the end of time.'

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and for such beautiful work, it is so inspiring to be part of this!

Books

2012-02-28T13:29:00.000Z

Hi Everyone, it's Tuesday again!

Jane in Berkshire here.

The book I chose for this week's tag is an old knitting book Knitting For All Illustrated.

It is a 1940s book, with lots of home-made knits to produce. I like the photos and the pen sketches in this book, as well as the knitting patterns. My favourite patterns are the ones for underclothing and nightwear! I am glad those days are long gone, and we no longer have to make these items for ourselves!

I made a concertina book for my tag, and photographed it on some knitwear. Sorry there are lots of photos, but there are 4 pages and 2 covers.

For the front and back I used an old tissue box, which is decorated with beautiful knitwear, and I have been dying to use it for something! I added collage and some letter stickers.

For the pages I took some Indian papers, rubbed them with Inktense pencil for texture, and collaged illustrations from the knitting book, tables of contents, pictures of knitting and wool. I coloured in the photos and sketches of finished jumpers. I joined the pages together with sticky ribbons.

Of course, because this is a favourite book of mine, I couldn't cut it up, so made copies of it!

I really enjoyed making this book tag! I love knitting, but mostly make scarves or small things with textured yarns, and don't attempt anything too ambitious as I hate having unfinished projects on the go.

Last week's poetry and prose tags were brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all your interpretations, and also enjoyed the lines of verse and the language of the prose.
A good theme, Carolyn!Everyone put a lot of work into it.

BOOKS

2012-02-28T12:32:00.001Z

For this weeks challenge I chose two books with the same theme - Japan.

The first book being 'The Samurai's Garden' by one of my favourite authors Gail Tsukiyama and the second book being 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden.

The above tags represent 'The Samurai's Garden'. I embossed blossom on to velvet, sewed beads in a swirly pattern to represent the raking of sand in a Japanese garden, and partially cut and folded blossom on a tag covered in Japanese text.

These tags represent 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and I used two lovely Japanese stamps I had in my stash. The purple bamboo is threaded through an embossed velvet coin and the green bamboo is thinly cut from paint sample cards, and threaded through a charm.

If you are interested there is more information on my blog about how I made them and embossing on velvet.

Thank you to everyone who left lovely comments last week, I try and visit everyone if I can but time doesn't always allow - however, I am overwhelmed each week at how beautiful and original the tags are.

Books

2012-02-28T09:35:00.000Z

I chose one of my favourite childhood (pre-teen) books, "Pied Piper" by Nevil Shute. I've lost track of how many times I've read it. It's set in France in WW2 so I've used a map of Western Europe in 1940 as background, a pic of the front cover and a Stuka as the next layer (all found on the internet). I've added some TH tape and a token then overstamped with a TH stamp and and some TJ Designs stamps from the "Journey to France" collection. Finished off with an old postage stamp and some tricolore ribbon.

Book of Kells Tag

2012-02-28T08:44:00.004Z

Hi Everyone, I chose the Book of Kells as inspiration for the lettering and decoration for my 'Book' theme this week.
I used tea and distress ink to age the torn paper pages and tag. For the illuminated letters (which spell out Tag Tuesday) I used black and gold Uni Posca markers and Derwent inktense for colour. I added a piece of plaited string to finish. It was great fun to do and I'm very pleased with the end result. Full set of photos on my Blog page

Books

2012-02-28T08:37:00.000Z

When I saw that this week's theme was books I just knew I had to choose my all time favourite book fom childhood-Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies. The books bring back so many happy memories for me- times spent looking at the pictures with my mother and grandmother. I still love the illustrations and I have kept my books which have been shared with younger members of the family.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments from last week. Your tags have all been brilliant!

Books

2012-02-28T07:00:00.000Z

I have always read a lot. I was a book worm in my youth and teens and my dad used to drive my sister and me to the library because we used to borrow so many books that we had a hard time carrying them home. In times in my childhood I was quite lonely and bullied at school. The books became an escapism but in a good way. A world where I could be what I wanted and everything was possible.

I still read a lot but nowadays mostly during weekends and vacations. That is due to the fact that ones I get my hands on a really good book I can’t stop reading until it’s finished. Last time I staggered up in the morning to set out for work after just a three hour sleep I decided that this had to stop. I am too old for staying up all night reading…..

See you all next week!

Jeanette

Books

2012-02-28T06:30:00.000Z

Books and tags suggested just one thing to me - a favourite in our household - 'A Bear Called Paddington' by Michael Bond. If you don't know the story, Paddington is a bear of great character, who arrives at Paddington Station, as a stowaway from Darkest Peru. He's carrying a suitcase and is wearing a hat with an inherited collection of stains, and a label saying 'Please look after this bear. Thank you.' The Brown family take Paddington home and there are many books telling of his adventures. He loves to try out new things, and is often is trouble but usually manages to come out the other end unharmed! His favourite thing is marmalade sandwiches, and he likes marmalade with chunks. So my tag has two sides, one with the message 'Please look after this bear. Thank you.' (couldn't have anything else really!) The other side has a marmalade jar label , made in Publisher and printed out, and picture of Paddington which I got free in a book with a craft magazine, and some marmalade chunks, which I made from red craft foam and PVA glue with watercolour paint added. The marmalade is a little too red, but I'm very pleased with the end result, which is being displayed with the numerous Paddington soft toys that we have! I'm hoping Paddington would approve otherwise I might be on the end of one of his hard stares!

The back of Paddington's label, written by Aunt Lucy before he stowed away to England from Darkest Peru

The front of my label, I'm afraid we had some trouble with our chunks!

Poetry~Haiku

2012-02-28T00:48:00.000Z

Haiku by Issa

I love haiku. My tag is made from beautiful papers and bits given to me by my friends. The paper comes from my long time friend, Rita. The rose petals are from my dear friend Steffi in Germany. The book is one of my treasured belongings from my adventurous friend, Rebecca. What more is there to say... the haiku says it all.
Beth

BOOKS

2012-02-28T00:06:00.000Z

My Choice this week for Books, is Little Women, This is one of my favorite books, I remember I was 12 years old when I got this book for Christmas and I have loved it ever since! the movie is fab also which I still watch today, I cut the dress form for this tag from Tim Holtz sewing die and for the dress using the same die cut just the torso, I used a old book for the dress and sprayed with glimmer mist added a some lace, glass button, flowers and some bling and lots & lots of pink!! "quote is from the book" I am so looking foward to see all your wonderful creations this week, and thank you all for the kind comments I received last week x x x Hugs May x x x

Poetry and Prose

2012-02-27T20:51:00.000Z

Just in time....

The poem is from Rainer Maria Rilke: Der Panther.

He wrote it 1902 in Paris, Jardin des Plantes.

I wrote the first part with the sewing machine on lutradur.

I found a translation here.

The Panther

His gaze, going past those bars, has got so misted
with tiredness, it can take in nothing more.
He feels as though a thousand bars existed,
and no more world beyond them than before.

Those supply powerful paddings, turning there
in tiniest of circles, well might be
the dance of forces round a center where
some mighty will stands paralyticly.

Just now and then the pupils' noiseless shutter
is lifted. - Then an image will indart,
down through the limbs' intensive stillness flutter,
and end its being in the heart.

[Rainer Maria Rilke]

Poetry

2012-02-27T13:33:00.000Z

After a long break on tag thuesday I am back with my absolute favorite poem since I am a teenager (some years ago...):
I went to the wood by Walden Thoreau.
This is a special tag. It is like a card and I can put it into the envelope.
I love it to be back here!
I will post it on my blog as well on Friday, when I have my friday art session.
Love and light and wood and birds
Andrea

Poems

2012-02-27T01:53:00.003Z

I have made a replica of a piece that I did for the poetry in stitches challenge that I did back in 2008 if my memory serves me correctly.

The backing fabric is made from some felted knitting that I made, then I have embroidered on the Dandelion flower & seed head. The leaves are both paper & stumpwork embroidered. This tag will become the book mark for the poetry in stitches book.

The poem that I choose was called "Dandelion-Nature's Sundial"

Warm Hugs

Your Friend

Elizabeth xx

Poetry with a tune!

2012-02-26T18:07:00.000Z

Ok, I did a song

for the Poetry and Prose theme,

which I guess you could say is

poetry with a tune attached!

'You Are My Sunshine'

the song by

Oliver Hood and Jimmie Davis

has a personal and sentimental

connection for me.

I used to sing it to both my children,

when I was pregnant with them

and when they were little.

I even wrote the words around the

top of their playroom walls!

The cute image of the little

photobooth girl is from Artchix.

Thank you for looking.

I really enjoy looking at all the

wonderful and varied tags being

produced by everyone, they're amazing!

Poetry and Prose

2012-02-25T17:23:00.004Z

My poem for this week's challenge is called "To the Dandelion" by James Russell Lowell. I found it in a beautiful 1952 "My Poetry Book an anthology of Modern Verse for Boys and Girls by Huffard, Carlisle and Ferris. It is a wonderful book with beautiful illustrations and a really nice selection of poetry. I have a lilli of the valley stamp that I thought of when I came across it and hence a tag was born!

It is a very long poem, but I just used the first few lines to help illustrate my tag:

"Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way,

Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,

First pledge of blihesome May,

Which children pluck, and full of pride, uphold,

High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they

An Eldorado in the grass have found,"

I used water colour paper as my base, and coloured the image with watercolour pencils and blended with water, added sparkle with glamour dust and stickles, punched border from handmade gold paper and added gold ribbon to capture the idea of gold and a yellow flower and leaf ribbon (all from my stash) to illustrate a dandelion.

I enjoyed this challenge and I just am blown away by all the talented artists that appear on this blog...it is a true pleasure to be a part of this!!
Hugs,
Ivy

poetry

2012-02-25T08:47:00.001Z

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry Thoroeau

i had to wait until everybody was asleep to get to work on this week's tag. being that i love poetry and writing so much and that i really wanted tocontribute, i took my time to think which piece i wanted to use.

just a simple pre-raphaelite image took me there. i worked on it for a few hours, coloring it and altering it from its original to make it mine and used another program to add the text. once printed, i mounted it on a background tag in subtle blues, and added the vintage lace and ribbon.

this is what i started out with:

this is what i ended up with

Poetry

2012-02-25T08:42:00.000Z

I have chosen this poem by Emily Bronte- I like it for its simplicity.

The Sun Has Set

The sun has set, and the long grass now
Waves dreamily in the evening wind;
And the wild bird has flown from that old gray stone
In some warm nook a couch to find.

In all the lonely landscape round
I see no light and hear no sound,
Except the wind that far away
Come sighing o'er the healthy sea.

I have kept the tag simple too. I coloured the background with ink and stamped grasses and plants with black. It is finished with organza ribbons.
I haven't had time to comment on the tags individually but they have been so inspiring this week. I can't wait for next week!

Poetry

2012-02-25T05:46:00.002Z

This week's challenge has been especially interesting. For a while now, I've been thinking about and making things with wings.I didn't have any wing themed poems in mind, so I did a search and came up with this little gem.

The card is embossed, rubbed with Distress inks, and the wings are photocopied and distress sparkle added, ans well as pearls.The picture of the man came from a scrapbooking magazine.

Roots and Wings Poem

If I had two wishes, I know what they would be
I'd wish for Roots to cling to, and wings to set me free;
Roots of inner values, like rings within a tree,and Wings of Independence to seek my destiny.
Roots to hold forever, to keep me safe and strong,
To let me know you love me, when I've done something wrong;
To show me by example, and help me learn to choose,
To take those actions every day, to win instead of lose.
Just be there when I need you, to tell me it's all right,
To face my fear of falling when I test my wings in flight;
Don't make my life too easy, it's better if I try,
And fail and get back up myself, so I can learn to fly.
If I had two wishes, and two were all I had,
And they could just be granted, by my Mum and Dad;
I wouldn't ask for money or any store-bought things.
The greatest gifts I'd ask for are simply Roots and Wings.
by Denis Waitley

IN MY OWN WORDS

2012-02-24T19:04:00.001Z

These words are pinned on the inspiration wall in my studio.

They are phrases that, for me, say it all.

I needed all the inspiration I could get this week

to clear out my studio ready for new flooring.

If you have looked at my blog, you will see what a task this is.

Or if you have your own workspace you will know what I mean.

There are some beautiful and poignant tags this week.

POETRY

2012-02-24T18:56:00.003Z

Last week I noticed the first daisies of the year to be in bloom. Maybespring has sprung. So, continuing withmy daisy creations, two of my tags this week are based on the poem ‘Daisies’ bythe 19^th century poet, John Clare:

Daisies, ye flowers of lowly birth,
Embroiderers of the carpet earth,
That stud the velvet sod;
Open to spring's refreshing air,
In sweetest smiling bloom declare
Your Maker, and my God!

Being a lover of bothtextiles and wild flowers I love the idea of daisies embroidering the earth. The words also go well with my Heart ofDaisies from earlier in the month. I was hoping to make another heart with realdaisies, but there are still not enough daisies for that!

The first daisy tag is afolded one, with the inside of the tag worked on watercolour paper. I started by painting a few blades of grassand daisy heads, I then folded the paper and embroidered one half – using daisystitch to make one large daisy. I usedgold beads for the central disc.

On the other half Iattached a copy of the poem printed onto vellum, so that the painted grassshows through.

On the outside of thetag I made a cover to hide the back of the stitching, I used paper with tinydaisies on it. On the front I put‘Daisies by John Clare’ and on the back I put a snippet of information aboutthe poet. The whole tag is dotted liberallywith tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of green and yellowthreads.

Aftermaking the paper tag, I wanted to make a fabric based tag with daisies embroideredonto velvet as in the poem. I started bypainting some grass onto velvet. Then Iembroidered some grass using long stitch, then a couple of tiny daisies usingdaisy stitch again, with a single gold bead for the central disc.

On the back of the tag I stuck some ‘grass effect’paper and a copy of the poem.

I have trimmed the topand bottom with white lace. The firsttwo lines of the poem have been printed onto vellum and stuck onto thelace. Again the whole tag is dottedliberally with tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of whiteribbon.

The third tag iscompletely thanks to serendipity. I waslooking for some scrap paper and came across a small photocopy of somecalligraphy I did 22 years ago! All Idid to make it into a tag was trim the corners, make a hole and attach the ribbon. I madethe original calligraphy picture in 1990 for my Mum and Dad. It is written using watercolours rather thanink. I achieved the variegated effect bydipping the pen in different shades of green every few letters. The words are spaced so they form acircle. I’ve painted spring foliage andflowers in the corners to make a square.

The poem is ‘Far Away’by Helen Steiner-Rice:

The days grow shorteras the year rolls towards its end.

Too soon it seems the light grows fainter and thenights descend.

Brief the journey ofthe sun. December days are drear

But they bring us tothe morning of another year.

At this point upon theroad the heart is strangely stirred

For far away we hearthe singing of an April bird.

With brighter hope andlighter step, we tread the wintry hills

Having caught upon thewind the breath of Daffodils.

The words fit so wellwith this time of year I couldn’t resist making it into a tag! Shame I didn’t find this scrap of paper lastweek, I could have saved myself a lot of work!

I’d love to know whichof the three you think is best, please let me know.

Thank you to all of youfor sharing your lovely tags, and a special thank you tothose who have madelovely comments on mine, it is much appreciated.

Have a lovely week andenjoy the early Spring

Love Jane xx

Poetry

2012-02-23T20:57:00.004Z

My most favourite poem ever is by Mervyn Peake and I just had to use it for this week's challenge. The tag is very plain really, because I didn't want to overshadow the beautiful poem. I just picked two words, which are kind of central to the emotions in this poem, the leveret and the trees, and used these images to emellish the tag with. Other than that, its just handmade paper for the background, a tiny bit of green velvet ric rac and a wisp of gauze.

Just in case you can't read it properly in the photograph, here it is again -

And I thought you beside me

How rare and how desperate

And your eyes were wet

And your face as still

As the body of a leveret

On a tranced hill

But my thought belied me

And you were not there

But only the trees that shook

Only a storm that broke

Through the dark air

Toodlepip xxx

2012-02-23T10:51:00.000Z

poetry

This week I decided to make a glass tag. I had some decals left over from another project, and thought I'd have a go at putting some between glass. They were then fired, and this is the result.
I have submitted two photographs 'cos I couldn't decide which one was easier to read!

PS The words are my own!

Poetry and Prose : It takes courage

2012-02-23T02:55:00.000Z

This week again, I have rushed to make a tag on time... This distressed tag looks as though its had a difficult journey just like Dorothy ( from the Wizrd of Oz) and as this poem suggests.

On Growing Up
by Diane Paquin
It takes courage to face the threatening storm, to go on though pouring rain and bolting flashes which make you want to run and hide till the rainbows appear once more....
It takes courage to reach for the stars , to climb the eternal stairs that penetrate the darkest hours of night and never lose sight of those tiny lights when speeding meteors throw you off your ladder.
It takes courage to dig deep into the earth to see the crawling bugs that destroy, or maybe find a mushrooming bud digging till the core is reached where the root of all experiences can .
It takes courage to stay on the road that leads to somewhere, not to be tempted by roadside whispers that speak of sweet fantasties - an in reality are not- or to be drawn by the fragrant flower, only to find its scent is poison. ...
It takes courage, courage to grow up.

The tag was made by covering a painted background with a paper napkin using gel medium and then stamping and writing over the top. Image from scrap booking paper and scraps of sari ribbon and handpainted fabric.

Apologies - I have been so short of time to comment on the wonderful tags from last week, but want to congratulate all on such beautiful work.

Poetry

2012-02-22T22:49:00.005Z

I'm sorry my photo isn't the best-poor indoor light and poor camera! You can click on the image for a better look. Anyway, the face stamp is from Hampton Art Stamps (I colored her with chalks), and the Picasso quote is a stamp from Dawn Houser for Inkadinkadoo. I found the background paper in my scrap box, and the heart is from a little punch I have. I sprayed Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist on the tag, but it doesn't show up in the photo--and the seam binding at the top is vintage, with a brad from Making Memories to complete it all.

Poetry and Prose

2012-02-22T17:38:00.000Z

This week was a challenge -- time, inspiration, February listlessness... all conspired against me. Still, I came up with this, featuring some favourite lines from e.e. cummings' prose poetry.

"Twice I have lived forever in a smile."

Poetry and Prose

2012-02-22T15:40:00.001Z

My tag this week is made with inspiration from a poetry by Barry A. Lanier. I love roses and I love poetry.

poetry

2012-02-22T12:13:00.002Z

I used my sewing machine as a writing tool, stitching this fragment-poem of my own.

tins of buttons

so many loose thread histories

sorting the past

by colour

The words first appeared in a zine of poems and drawings titled 'quiet lives', published way back in 2009. (I'm currently working on a new poetry zine and I have a poetry notebook you might like to read, if you visit my blog you'll find it).

Stitched on naturally dyed cotton with vintage buttons, on a brown card tag.

Poetry

2012-02-22T12:09:00.004Z

I'm getting a little concerned at how much I'm enjoying this 'non-stitching' tag making! ;-)

This is my offering for this week - a poem by
Leo Marks - which I've requested be read at my funeral.

It is a gold skeleton leaf mounted onto a piece of painted craft vilene, a butterfly from a magazine - such a short, beautiful life
and the verse. It's computer printed, with gold ink around the torn edges - a little dodgy in places; arthritic hands have trouble staying steady. Just need to add a tie but at present I'm still undecided.

I'm loving all the wonderful entries every week and count myself lucky to be in the company of such talented people.
xx Gilli xx

Prose

2012-02-22T10:06:00.000Z

Prose tag, quote from Henry David Thoreau

Here's my tag for this week. I used a quote from Henry David Thoreau that I found on the internet, while I was looking for inspirational quotes for a vision board. This little lady is dreaming big dreams, and imagining an exciting life, before she leaps confidently into action! I wanted a paler pallete, and a softness to this tag so I drew the image in pencil, went over with a black pen. (I love drawing with pen!) Then I coloured it with watercolour pencils, which I left dry. I'm pleased with the shading, and with the face.
Just wondering how long everyone spends on their tags? They are so detailed, creative and intricate! As I'm fitting this in with a part time art course, and a part time web design course I give myself an evening to make the tag, and that's it!

poetry

2012-02-22T03:28:00.003Z

"A Birdie With A Yellow Bill"

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I was blessed to have a mother who read to me. Growing up some of my fondest memories and one of the only things I can clearly recall from my childhood is my Mom reading me Poems from "A Child's Book of Garden Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson. A favorite that I can still recite is:

A birdie with a yellow bill

hopped upon my window sill

cocked his shining eye and said,

"Ain't you shamed you sleepy-head?"

So, while I have been more than crunched for time this week as I prepare for our church's women's retreat. I made a window frame from cardboard , added a "window" cut out of a hard plastic box, painted the frame with distressed paint, added a twig and a "birdie with a yellow bill" and stamped "Aint You Shamed?" on the distressed background. On the back I printed out the poem, stamped it with distressed ink, and attached a yellow bird that I outlined with distressed stain and attached with foam tape to help it stand out.

I hope you enjoy this little tag. Wishing you all a wonderfully creative week!

Best Wishes!

Mary Ann

Poetry

2012-02-22T01:51:00.000Z

Great tags again this week, ladies! I wrote this poem last month so it was fresh in my mind. Printed on a computer printer and simply glued to a craft paper covered tag. I made the Labrador rubber stamp years ago; it actually is the silhouette my old Lab. Keep up the good work everyone!

Poetry: Not Your Basic Hearts and Flowers

2012-02-21T22:30:00.007Z

Perhaps it is because we have been focused on hearts and flowers for several weeks...
Perhaps it is because I have not been feeling well this week and my mood was dark...
Perhaps it is because this truly is my favorite poem...
For your consideration, I present -
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.
The poem is written in its entirety on the distressed walls and the hand painted portrait of Virginia Clemm Poe hangs as Lenore. The quaint and curious book of forgotten lore lies abandoned on his secretary as the bust of Pallas Athena watches from above the open chamber door. Feel the eerie dominance of the Raven as he qouth, "Nevermore."

Poetry

2012-02-21T22:02:00.000Z

This week I was going to use Warning, by Jenny Joseph, but I see that already two of you have beaten me to it. So naturally, I chose Purple (not my own verse but I don't know where I got it). I made my tag using card offcuts from another project. The tag was painted with acrylics and inks and sprayed with cosmic shimmer mist. I painted the offcuts with various different purple mediums such as Derwent inktense, nail varnish, and acrylic paint. I also added a bit of shot silk and purple satin ribbon. As purple is my signature colour, I added a purple fingerprint.

Have a great and groovy (purple) week y'all.
Gigha x

Poetry.

2012-02-21T21:16:00.000Z

Warning by Jenny Joseph..

This is one of my all time favourite poems.
General tag covered with purple sparkly mesh, a photo of one of the red hat ladies, and lots of red lace roses in lieu of a hat, and a variety of adornments that would complement my lovely outfit!!
When I am old I shall wear purple......

Poetry

2012-02-21T19:56:00.000Z

I knew this would be a wonderful week, and I think the tags so far are awesome! The problem I had was choosing which to use as I love poetry from Chaucer to Cope and Wordsworth to Patten. In the end I selected this, one of my favourite of so many that the Bard wrote. How I love Shakespeare, what a genius! This comes from Love's Labour's Lost, Act 1V, Sc.111 and seems in keeping with my tags for this month.

When Love speaks

The voice of all the gods

Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony.

I embossed a tag with script writing and distress inked it to age. Then I photocopied a title page of Williams poems and backed it with black crinkled paper and aged the edges. the stamp I kept deliberately scuffed and then added a tattered banner at the bottom with the words cut out.The hardest challenge was the translucent hearts which were a devil to punch out, but I hoped they looked like heart shaped ink blots.

I shall now go and enjoy your lovely poetry, such a treat. x

Poetry and Prose

2012-02-21T19:23:00.005Z

hej hej

Well I have managed to be well within the time frame this week and feeling a whole lot happier with the topic ;0)

My tag has a 'swivel' centre and contains the lines from Leonard Cohens song ''bird on the wire'' - described as a cross between an anthem and a prayer , I love this song.

''Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free.''

Tag is made of wood , painted with watercolours and stitched with wire.

Fabulous poems and lines this week - beautiful.

Sara

Tea Bag paper little book tag

2012-02-21T18:08:00.006Z

I've been smitten by the little used tea bag paper books that I've been making lately. One used tea bag (or even unused but I like the texture of the tea stains from the used bag) gives a book with a front and back cover, and 4 pages inside. This week my tag is a little book although I have yet to decide how to attach it. I think this would be a great tag on a gift for someone who adores tea. Here is the front cover.

I'm showing only 3 shots here for brevity. Here is an inside spread (middle) showing the poem from a children's book (author unknown) which I wrote using india ink and a mapping pen, as well as a gel transfer image of a robin.

Robin has a wee friend. He is a little pip of a thing.

I'm enjoying seeing everyone's tags very much! Are we having fun or what? *smiles* Norma

poetry

2012-02-21T18:08:00.005Z

This week's double sided tag on poetry, one side a few words from a favourite poem and the

other a few words from a poem I wrote a week after losing my mother to Alzheimer's.

Raymond Carver's Late Fragment is a very short poem but very moving and poignant:

...to feel myself beloved on earth. My poem about my mum: ...a creative monotony which

become repeated acts of love. All hand embroidered with a few sequins and beads.

Many thanks for kind comments, hugely enjoyable challenge. Looking forward to seeing

all this week's literary gems, very best wishes, Valerie R

Poetry

2012-02-21T16:44:00.002Z

Hello to all you Tag Tuesday people! Jane in cold, grey Berkshire here!

For this week's tag I chose a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, called
As Kingfishers Catch Fire.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;

Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,

Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

I say móre: the just man justices;

Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;

Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is —

Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,

Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his

To the Father through the features of men's faces.

Hopkins was an English poet, born in Essex in 1844. I studied his poetry for A Level

English (rather a long time ago in 1977!)It was famous for its unusual rhythms and beauty of language in describing nature, which ,as a Jesuit priest, he used to glorify God.

I always loved the language of this poem, and wanted to create a tag depicting how kingfishers "catch fire".

For my tag I used pelmet vilene, which I coloured with water soluble crayons and Inktense blocks.Then I machined over with various coloured threads, including some with shimmer. I added more shimmer with nail varnish .The kingfisher was put in place and ribbon and text added.

Prose

2012-02-21T16:39:00.001Z

essexgirl speaks

february

you

I have a new block daily calendar in my studio that i am very much in love with at the moment so i have cut and sewn "february" on my tag - hope this passes as 'prose'

Poetry

2012-02-21T13:12:00.000Z

A double tag for the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph.
The top tag has images/transparency from Crafty Individuals and an old postage stamp.
The bottom tag has the poem printed out.
I love this...the first line reads..."When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.."

Poetry

2012-02-21T12:32:00.012Z

I don't have a favourite poem,
...but this one does hold a special place in my heart
My father sadly passed away on Valentine's day (11 years ago)
and a dear friend sent me this comforting poem...

'Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

‘Mary Elizabeth Frye’

So, on the anniversary of my fathers passing...These comforting words inspired me to make this weeks tag....
-oOo-

I chose the chipboard tag, because of its shape, painted the background with shades of grey, stamped and embossed the flowers and angel (Andy Skinner stamps) coloured the Angel with promarkers, added the R.I.P. (alpha stamps) words (computer printed words), seam binding, a cross charm I found in my craft stash, vintage rule and a little paper rose.

Poem on back of Tag

Thanks for Peeking!

Jan x

Tag tuesday. Poetry and Prose...

2012-02-21T10:37:00.004Z

Practising my white space this week....:) something I'm not good at!! Any way i found this tag with the spilt watercolors and added some ink spray and the tiny lily of the valley paper flowers that i found at work today. computer font is eightfifteen.

i have also been re reading The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and this is one my favorite quotes from them and she has so many.........its hard to describe her books but they are so multi layered and rollicking good fun with lots of romance, drama and history.

i have discovered reading again lately, its like a good movie where you can just escape for a little while...

As its still Valentines month i thought what could be more appropriate than a Scottish wedding vow that the two main characters use when they are married.....

Ye are blood of my blood, and bone of my bone,

I give you my body that we two might be one.

i give you my spirit till all our life shall be done....

[Diana Gabaldon]

Poetry.

2012-02-21T10:09:00.001Z

I have been looking at superstitions relating to birds the last two weeks.

The poem 'Auguries of Innocence' by William Blake, contains the quote I have used on my tag.

'A Robin Redbreast in a cage

Puts all of Heaven in a rage'

To create my angry sky, I sprayed the tag with Brusho in Prussian Blue and purple before sprinkling on dishwasher salt. The cage and bird was cut on my Big Shot using a Tim Holtz die. Velum tags stamped and brads for embellishments.