Thursday 28 February 2013

The Good Old Days by Alison Bomber

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here for my final post as Guest Designer this month with The Artistic Stamper.

So, I promised you something simpler for my final piece (in the hope of writing a post shorter than War and Peace for once)... and I did make something simpler, but I ended up making it in two different versions!


I knew I wanted to work with the glorious Victorian advertising bills - they are so much fun: fantastically detailed in their wording, with brilliant cartoons.  They are simply wonderful pieces of print ephemera that rocket me back in time when I look at them.


So my first thought was that I wanted to stick them on a wall; a grimy, crumbling wall in a forgotten alleyway, with these three ancient posters still clinging on.  So I had to create a wall background... lots of ways to do that - you could use the Decorative Strip Die by Sizzix, or some texture paste through a stencil.  I used an embossing folder, Tim Holtz's Bricked Texture Fade on a large tag (running it through twice to emboss the whole thing).


Then I set about it with some inks - Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone, Black Soot and Aged Mahogany - until I had a suitably grungy look.  I used the Paper Distresser on the edges, and then ran the Black Soot DI pad around them to give it a good strong inky edging.


For the posters themselves, I did a bit of TH's wrinkle free distress technique using Old Paper and Antique Linen DIs - not too much ink, as I wanted age spots rather than a complete change of colour.  (I'd already done one version with darker inks, very beautiful, but once I'd stamped the images, they didn't really look like posters.)


So with this new, paler version, I stamped the three adverts in Black Archival, and then did lots of distressing - ripping, rolling, using the TH paper distresser, and adding Vintage Photo to some of the tears and creases.  It's one of my favourite things to be able to age a piece of paper like this!


Simple enough then to stick the bills on the wall (hope I don't get prosecuted), all in a row, and add some trimmings.  And you can read what you like about Victorian society into those trimmings: it's raffia, inky twine and some leather all tied up with a beautiful shiny satin black ribbon.


I was pretty pleased with that, but I still had those spare stamped images still sitting on my desk, stamped on the darker inky paper (two sets in fact, safety in numbers you know).  I started shuffling them around, thinking that they'd look pretty good in a slightly grungier version of the tag.


I grabbed some corrugated card, and added Distress Stains and thick Gesso to it randomly and roughly.  I created a background like this for a recent project and really liked it, so it was fun to resurrect it.  It creates a fantastically grungy, textural mess - no other word for it really.


I gave my three posters the distressing treatment again, and started positioning them on the tag.  They seemed to want to go in the other direction for this one, so I let them.


It was crying out for some metalwork, but I didn't want to go too smart, so I used some black alcohol ink to grunge up a key and some pen nibs from my stash, as well as an Idea-ology clock.


I particularly love how the clock looks, with the black face and the figures sanded back to reveal the gold underneath.


I've always sort of thought that I was born in the wrong century, and I'd love to go back in time and visit, but looking at these images did just make me wonder whether my historical glasses are a little rose-tinted... were they really the "good old days"?


So I added a little slogan at the bottom asking just that question... stamped in black on paper inked to match the advertisements.


Again, I added some varied trimmings: string, raffia and some black paper string to tie them together.  So there are my two variations on a theme using these fabulous little stamps, and I think I've brought it in under the 10,000 word mark!


I'd like to say a huge thank you to Jennie and Emma for having me here - I've had a ball; and thank you also to the rest of the DT and all of you for your fantastic support.  Happy Crafting!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Goose Grease, Phineas Pinchbeck and Squaretoes Continuous Lunch
Distress Inks: Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany, Pumice Stone, Black Soot
Distress Stains: Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Old Paper, Antique Linen
Ranger Archival: Black
Alcohol Inks: Pitch Black
Gesso
Idea-ology: Time Pieces, Game Spinners
Decorative Strip Die Brick Wall (as an alternative to Bricked Texture Fade)
Tim Holtz Paper Distresser
Manila Tags

29 comments:

Sarah said...

Both projects are fabulous but I can't get past the "Goose Grease". It really does exist...LOL!

chrissie said...

Fantastic tags with so much detail.Wonderful post telling how you made them.
Really love the rafia and string tie.

Best wishes Chrissie xx

Helen said...

Alison, both of these are fabulous I love the brick wall and can just imagine wandering along the alley reading these (assuming I was able to read then of course!) but the second version is equally fascinating. May have to get these stamps...!! it's been wonderful sharing your for Artistic Stamper!

Andrea Small said...

What lovely stamps! I can feel the whalebone tightening around me as I look at your wall :-) very atmospheric, very clever.

Jenny Marples said...

Fantastic tags which really set off those wonderful posters. What a great way to finish your term of office. Love what you've done. Hugs, Jenny x

Claudia N. said...

Again two brilliant tags with delicious texture and a lot of poetry in them!

die amelie x

Artyjen said...

I love the tags....both are just right...both fabby. ;)
xoxo Sioux

craftytrog said...

Fabulous grungy tags Alison! xx

Redanne said...

Hi Alison, they probably were the good old days if you were in the right class of society! Love both pieces but the brick wall really stands out for me and love those images! Hugs, Anne x

cathylynn said...

Thanks so much for sharing how you did these totally awesome tags. Wowzers they are both great.
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

gayle said...

Fab distressing, really like the idea of the posters on the wall!

Bonnie Irvine said...

Alison, these stamps are a hoot! What a fabulous way to showcase them. I love the texture of the brick and corrugated cardboard. It plays off the beautiful distressing of the posters. I've enjoyed your guest designer posts here.

Titbelsoeur, mixed-media addict said...

I love the way you used these awesome stamps !your 2 pieces are fabulous !!

Inkypinkycraft said...

Great makes, lovethe corrugated background
Hugs trace x

Nan G said...

Fab makes, Alison! Love the grungier one but the wall is pretty cool too!

Asia King (aka Joanna K) said...

Fabulous, fabulous make hon! The textures really make the images stand out and highlight them beautifully. Beautiful vintage creativity! xx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Fabulous Alison!

greetings, Alie :-)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful tags!!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous projects Alison ! Love, love, love all the distressing and the grungey wall is stunning ! Sue C x

Lucy Edmondson said...

Wonderful, Alison!

Lucy x

May said...

Fabulous tags Alison, Love all the wonderful textures & distressing... Brilliant work as always... Hugs May x x x

Annie said...

Fantastic tags Alison. Brilliant brick background and the stamps are superb. Definitely on my wish list x

Chris said...

Fantastic piece Alison and I agree about these wonderful stamps!

Amanda said...

Fabulous Alison I love the whole style of them.
Love
Amanda X

Brenda Brown said...

Just brilliant.
hugs {brenda} x0x

toni said...

Love those ancient looking pieces x

Astrid Maclean said...

Oops, I just realized I looked at this ages ago and then forgot to leave a comment.... Love this project,altogether, but my favourite bit is the wall, such great texture!!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Love the bricks and corrugated textures! Those images are fun too! Great make!

Geraldine said...

love both projects, great adverts and wonderful use of them.