A Fond Farewell

Hello all, it's Alison here from Words and Pictures.  I'm here today with a very fond farewell to the Country View Crafts Design Teams.  This will be my last post for both the Projects and Challenge blogs.  As most of you will know, work has taken me out of action in Craftyblogland lately, and - happily/sadly - the rest of the year is just as busy.

So I've reluctantly decided that I have to be sensible and free up some of my time by cutting back on DT work.  I've had the most wonderful time on the team here - and my thanks go to Susan, Chris and Brenda, as well as to all the fantastic designers I've served alongside here.  But I've a final project to share with you here - some journalling pages full of excitement about whatever life holds next.

I'm afraid I don't have very many making-of pictures as I got caught up in the doing... but there are a few guiding steps along the way.  I started with an old hardback book and a rough coat of gesso before stamping some of Tim Holtz's lovely watercolour hearts in Pumice Stone and Weathered Wood.  I inked the stamp and lightly spritzed with water before stamping, so you get a loose spontaneous look to the stamped image.

Then I gathered some cards from my much-loved Idea-ology Pocket Cards.  I don't use them for pockets, but there's such a variety of designs and in lots of different sizes that they are perfect for collaging.

Before sticking everything down, I roughed up the edges a bit, to give a more distressed look and add texture and dimension.

I selected my cards mainly based on colour tonality, but suddenly found I had these insistent question words dotted around, full of energy and on the look out for what's next...

Who?  What?  Where?

And there are some pieces from the Vellum Thrift Shop Ephemera Packs - both plain and vellum - too.

I did quite a lot of inky shading and painty splattering to add extra depth and extra life.

The butterflies are punched from another of the Pocket Cards, using Tim's butterfly punch - perched ready for take-off.

The woman is the wonderful Gloria Swanson - the brilliant silent film star who played an ageing silent film star, a grotesque version of herself, Norma Desmond, in Sunset Boulevard.  (One of the most famous exchanges from the film is my quote for today over at Words and Pictures, and there's a link to a clip of her in action - well worth a visit!)  You can see I used some doodled penwork to frame the picture.

And I added some of the tiny watercolour hearts, echoing the blue hearts in the background.  These are stamped in Versamark and embossed with Weathered White embossing powder...

I love the texture of this powder, so found myself trying to find more and more spots to fit them in as an accent.  See if you can spot them all!

I couldn't resist adding some metalwork...

And of course there had to be some Small Talk stickers, again full of anticipation for whatever is next - "life was meant for a great adventure. be fearless. follow your heart."

I hope you like this page spread, and although I'm very sad to be leaving the team, I think you can see there's also a positive energy about the change.

I know the team will go from strength to strength with our fantastic new members added to the mix, and I thank all of you for all your wonderful support and great feedback here.

I'll see you out there in Craftyblogland some time!

Thanks,

Alison x

Tim Holtz Cling Mounted Stamp Set - Watercolor	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Pocket Cards	Tim Holtz Distress ink pad - Pumice Stone	Tim Holtz Distress ink - Stormy sky	Tim Holtz Distress ink pad - Weathered wood
Rangers Antiquities Embossing Powder - Weathered White	Tim holtz - Idea-ology - muse tokens	Tim Holtz® Idea-ology� - Number Brads	Tim Holtz Idea-Ology - Thrift Shop Ephemera Pack	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vellum Ephemera - Thrift Shop
DecoArt Mixed Media - White Gesso	Tim Holtz Ideology Small Talk Sticker Book	Versamark Watermark stamp pad	Sizzix paper punch - Tim Holtz - small butterfly

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