June 11, 2014

Seeing Red!

Hello all, Alison here, and delighted to be back with the first of my new monthly posts here at Artistic Outpost.  I thought I should mark the occasion with something dramatic - and also a dramatically different colour palette for me!
I know they've got butterflies all over, but by the time these tags were finished, I couldn't help thinking of the children's chant as I was making this...
Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home!
Your house is on fire and your children all gone.
The fiery colours are Distress Stains and Inks, applied using Tim Holtz's wrinkle-free distress technique.  When I do this technique, there's always excess ink on the mat, so I make sure I have a couple of tags available to use it up.
More often than not, I end up with a matching pair, therefore - one in full intense colour...
... and the other usually a little more delicate in hue.
The fabulously detailed house is from the SteamPunk plate.  I guess it's officially a station - but it's such a lovely building, I'll use it anywhere!
And the beautiful butterfly is from the Flower Market set.  All the stamping is done in either Plum or Sienna Archival inks, or in a combination of the two, blended onto the stamp.
I've used some of the Sizzix Butterfly Frenzy butterflies, cut out of book pages and inked, to add dimension.
At this point, I was thinking quite cosy thoughts, so I added the word Home, from (you guessed it) the Home plate.
It wasn't until I stepped back and looked at the completed tags that I realised how fiery they looked, and that's when the ominous refrain took over!  So I added the extra words using one of my little alphabets...
A little Distress-dyed (charred?) ribbon and some frayed twine finishes things off at the top, and we're all done.
I'd love to know what you make of my foray into the red end of the colour palette!  Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll see you again next month.

Designer: Alison Bomber
Words and Pictures


21 comments:

froebelsternchen said...

Gorgeous tags are these Alison! Amazing!

Lisa Minckler said...

You give each color on the color wheel their rightful compliments, Alison. It's wonderful to see a departure from your norms. The tags are so fiery and yet comforting all the same. Gorgeous works and of course the magnitude of flutterbys is fabulous!!

Redanne said...

I absolutely love your foray into the red side of the colour wheel Alison. Both tags ooze warmth and comnfort. The building reminds me of the train station of my youth (yes - many moons ago!) and the butterflies are all just delightful. You should use red more often.... just saying... Anne xx

Rita said...

Fabulous tags Alison. Love all those fluttering butterflies too. Hugs Rita xxx

massofhair said...

Definitely fiery red Tags, the book page butterflies add a touch of calm with their manilla colour. Good to see bright monotone colours on one of your Tags:-) xxx

Fliss said...

These are so beautiful Alison. Love the gorgeous background you created for your fluttering butterflies.
Fliss xx

Jennie Atkinson said...

Wow! what fabulous colours - the mix is just stunning. Wonderful stamping (as always) and all those gorgeous butterflies. Fabulous! Jennie x

Kay Wallace said...

I am a big fan of color, Alison, and often use a monochromatic theme in my artwork, so your tags today definitely appeal to me! Well done on those "wordy" butterflies!

Dorthe said...

I have alwayes loved that colour combination of a certain pinkish and the hot yellow/orange, and you mixed them so beautiful, Alison.
Love the added butterflyes landing on the tag as much as the gorgeous stamped ones!!
xox, Dorthe

S@ndy Diller said...

What a fun way to create, starting with the chant. I love where you have gone with it. Just beautiful!

cathylynn said...

Love these tags! Gorgeous warm colors and amazing stamping! Another fabulous job!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Helen said...

Gorgeous tags, Alison - even if you think the colour is outside your comfort zone. I love them!!

Lys said...

A warm colour makes shine these tags. The opposition between the station basement and the delicate butterflies flight is perfect!

rachel said...

love this Alison - the fly away home sentiment is wonderful and those butterflies from the die are brilliant - great composition - love it xx

Brenda Brown said...

Beautiful colours and mix of stamps, a great design Alison xx

Anonymous said...

The hot colours work an absolute treat and I love the fluttering butterflies and also that house is a stand-out stamp.
Lovely to see you working with a different colour palette, it suits you.
Wishes
Lynne

Sandy said...

Sp pretty Sugar - my favorite part? The little butterflies - so sweet and readable!
Sandy xx

Cocofolies said...

Both tags are really fantastic, great job!!! Coco x

Terry said...

Fiery gorgeous! Love the red tones so perfect for hot fun in the summertime! Both tags are amazing! Hugs!

Annie said...

Amazing design and layout Alison. The butterflies really complement this make adding their dimension to a wonderful project.

TFS
Annie x

Kezzy said...

Wow Alison totally loving the fiery red and orange, stunning :-) Kezzy xxx