/* */ Beulah Bee

October 18, 2015

Memento Mori


I can't recall how I recently came across this image but it resonated with me because, at the time, my back was killing me from overdoing it during a new yoga class. And I suppose, given it's almost Halloween, I thought it would be fun to alter it somehow while channeling my inner pain.

I was curious about the symbolism so I Googled the text and discovered that it's Latin for a phrase in the Bible (Romans 5:12) and is an example of Memento Mori (a medieval Latin theory) which in art, is artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality.

As I worked to cut-out the image I admired the skill of the illustrator and wondered what he may have created if modern materials (that we take for granted) were available to him. Perhaps the Dark Ages wouldn't have been so dark but still there's much beauty in just using pen and ink.

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It was pasted on to scrapbook paper and tinted a bit to provide some contrast. To bring out the holiday theme I used black Stickles.

My back is now much improved and I will keep this image in my head as a reminder not to over do it in future exercise classes!

I'm linking to Our Creative Corner where this month's challenge is Halloween Horror.

October 14, 2015

Mums


My entry for Simon's Monday blog challenge this week features a Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamp and watercolors.



I began by stamping the mums on watercolor paper with clear ink then used clear powder to emboss them.

Next I dropped in juicy yellow and orange watercolor, let it dry and then used a damp tissue to wipe it off the embossed lines.

I drew the likes of a basket and handle with my very handy Perfect Pearls pen, embossed with clear powder and filled them in with a brownish mix of watercolor.

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I used polka-dot washi tape to fill-in the basket around the flowers by pressing the tape down then cutting around the edges. A sharp blade and gentle pressure does the trick and prevents cutting into the background.

Then I masked the basket, flowers and handles so I could stamp the upper part of the tag with text (Heidi Swapp) using archival ink and tinted it with blue-green and magenta watercolor.

Final embellishments included hand-written text using a Gelly Roll pen, tacking on a bow and distressing the edges of the tag with walnut ink.


This becomes Tag Number 136 which I'll add to my collection at manilaguerilla.blogspot.com. But who's counting?

October 08, 2015

Tricksters


My take on Tim's tag #10 for 2015 includes a found relative photo from the Occasions set and features children in some pretty terrific Halloween costumes.

The photo's orientation is landscape so it was cut in half and layered to fit on my tag.

The creepy castle was cut from a page in Tim's Destinations paper stash and the moon behind trees is a scrapbook page found at a garage sale (maker unknown).

I trimmed it with green, purple and black Stickles and the letters were cut from Tim's big chit-chat stickers.

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As near as I can tell, there are 13 children in this photo and starting with the back-row (from left to right) there's a ghost, a kid with a mask that has Mickey Mouse type ears, a fancy lady, a cat, a witch, a colonel, a skeleton, a pumpkin ghoul, a scarecrow, a nurse, Little Bo Peep, and a couple of clowns.

What a priceless moment in time and what fun they must have had!