Ventures we Remember at Dragons' Dream TIO

Hello and welcome to Magpieheaven. Once again the weeks have flown by here at the Magpies' Nest and it's time to 'dream with the Dragons'! This fortnight's recipe has been chosen by the lovely Sylvia and she would like us to include a feather, the letter 'V' and at least one stamped image on our tags. Those prompts really captured my imagination. What I created eventually had a nostalgic feel to it and suggested to me two friends, now old ladies, looking back fondly on their childhood adventures. For this reason, I should like to also link to The Artistic Stamper this month where the theme is 'Memories.'

We'd love you to link up your tags to the Dragons' Dream this fortnight too. Please check out the blog for all the wonderful interpretations The Design Team have come up with here.
I start at the beginning - with the background of my tag. I used a top layer of a napkin that's been in my stash for ages.

I fixed it with Satin Glaze by PaperArtsy and gave it a very thin wash of Stone Fresco. I liked the way the pansies took on the appearance of real pressed flowers.

My dear crafting friend, Etsuko sent me some wonderful paper all the way from Japan. I chose some that had a canvas texture. painted it with some Mermaid Fresco and then sprayed with half water, half Hey Pesto and edged it with some Chocolate pudding. I also aged my tag further by adding a border of Chocolate Pudding.

Next I took a Stencil Girl stencil of birds and added these here and there in Hey Pesto with just a tiny hint of Green Amber Treasure Gold for accent. My spray painted canvas paper reminded me of the delicate hue of birds' eggs so I stamped it with the text and images from the Birds of a Feather Artistic Outpost Plate and a single feather from a Lynne Perrella stamp Plate. I added tiny gingham leaves punched from some Robin's Nest paper. I chose Wendy Vecchi Potting Soil Archival ink for my text and little girls and Cobalt blue for the feather and curled and Treasure Golded the edges of the paper. I added a tiny fluttering bird painted blue and touched with Sapphire Treasure Gold. The glass nugget is magnifying the word 'Venture' on a French dictionary page.

What is the story of my two little 'Birds of a Feather'? As children they were inseparable and what their despairing families described as 'Venturesome'! They loved nothing better than to be out exploring the woods, wading into brooks and streams in search of minnows; peeping into birds' nests to spy the delicate speckled eggs, but never stealing them; catching a glimpse of their first bright blue Polyommatus Icarus butterfly and taking home tiny wild flowers to press, or feathers to wonder at. As I said, their parents despaired as they returned with muddy and torn petticoats and holes in their stockings and asked for microscopes for birthdays instead of dolls' prams! And then they grew up and the birds of a feather were inseparable no more. Each had to venture forth on her own. One went off to explore the Amazon rain forest and discover new species of flora and fauna. The other stayed home and became a famous ornithologist, illustrating her own books on British birds. Eventually they were reunited as old ladies with so many memories to share. 
Thank you so much for stopping by Magpieheaven today and reading all about the Birds of a Feather. I do hope you will create your own tags and link them to this fortnight's Dragons' Dream TIO Challenge. I can't wait to see what you come up with!