Red and the letter 'D'

Hello again from Magpieheaven! Today it's time to dream with the Dragons. This fortnight our lovely teamie, May has chosen our theme and it's to use red and the letter 'D' - on a tag, of course! As always we would like you to include at least one real stamped image too. Please take a look at some of the team's fabulous inspiration here. I often use a Jumbo Manila tag for the TIO project; but this time I thought I would make my own tag from some corrugated cardboard packaging. Some of my followers and friends will remember that I had lots of fun playing with a cardboard folder recently. I just love the texture that you can create with this humble material.

I love to combine brayering and Treasure Gold because both of these help to create depth. This time I also stencilled on my tag, using a Prima Flourish stencil and some Sapphire Treasure Gold. I cut my tag with my Tim Holtz die and brayered it with layers of Marlin, Inky Pool, Cherry and London Bus PaperArtsy Fresco paints. I used the Sara Nauman script stamp in Chalk and then brayered over it in Inky Pool, which is translucent and allows the white to glimmer through. I also stamped some script in Cobalt blue Wendy Vecchi Archival ink so that the tag would give the impression of many layers.

I chose one Artistic Stampers' Gibson Girls as my focal image, stamping her onto tissue and fixing her with Satin Glaze. I think the Gibson Girl images are beautifully drawn. I love the profile on this one. Because I didn't want the effect of a head 'floating' in space on my tag, I gave her the suggestion of a body and added a little gold Frantage. Often Charles Gibson's supremely self-possessed young women appear to be the epitome of fun-loving confidence; but he seems to have captured this fashionable young socialite in a moment of reflection.

What does a Gibson Girl dream of? Does she lock those dreams away in her heart? She cannot be aware that a European War is on the horizon and events in lands far away from her will have undreamed of implications for women - everywhere. There is such beautiful innocence in the Gibson Girls that I am reminded of a poem by Thomas Gray. It's about schoolboys at play yet I think it applies to all innocent youth really:

The thoughtless day, the easy night,

The spirits pure, the slumbers light... 
I do hope that your dreams will inspire you to join with the Dragons this fortnight and link up your tags here. Have a great week full of the joys of creativity!