Z is for

Well folks this is it, the last letter in my alpha tag series. We have reached the terminal and the bus has stopped, so its now safe for you to get off.  I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these posts and hope you have gained something from them. Probably 5 minutes relaxation whilst reading each one, but that's a start.

The final letter is, of course, 'Z' for which I have chosen 'Zenith'.  There are several ways to look at this word - pinnacle, comeback, period of success, glory days. I have certainly made a comeback with my blog; managing to post every day despite the best efforts of the techno gremlins etc. But the inference of Zenith is that you reach the highest point and then what? Is it downhill from then on, do you never raise to those dizzy heights again? 

I don't believe this to be so. Most of the time our lives run along a track which is sometimes bumpy, curves once in a while and then every so often becomes a helter skelter ride. Throughout it all there are various signposts along the way, and these are the ones we take lessons from.

I think, that as creative souls, we experience our own personal glory days, periods when our art just flows - our purple patch. Accept it for what it is and don't mourn it when it is not there, it will return.

My final tag is not my Zenith, this is in fact my 'Xanadu', this is how I imagine the place where I can rest from my weariness and find perspective in my life.

First I took some tissue paper and sprayed it with a selection of Dylusions Spray inks, drying between colours to avoid 'mud'. Just before it was totally dry I scrunched it up to form a crinkled effect and then left it to dry naturally.

I cut out the tag from a piece of grey board (I needed a base that would accept wet mediums without buckling). I then covered this with a thin layer of PVA glue (because I couldn't find my Glue 'n Seal!!) and attached the tissue paper to it, wrinkling it up slightly as I pressed it down. Again it was left to dry. 

Using the Joggles stencil Anicient Ruins I sponged with Turquoise acrylic paint and sprinkled very fine crystal glitter over it whilst still wet. More drying time!

I stamped the castle from the new stamp set Fantasy Castles onto a self adhesive label and coloured with Aquarelle pencils. 

The border at the bottom of the tag is a torn strip from the coloured tissue which I have attached using Ultra High Bond 12mm Tape. Finally I cut out the castle, peeled off the backing paper and stuck it in place, adding the shading around the image with black and grey pencils to give it dimension.

I think we can all say that life is a challenge and we must count ourselves lucky if most of our journey consists of just a few bumpy rides. But if you do find yourself on the helter skelter, hanging in there by your fingernails, remember your glory days and look out for more Zeniths on the horizon so that when they come again you can celebrate and cherish such heady times.

Well that's it, the end of this particular journey. I would like to thank all of you who have accompanied me and supported me with your wonderful comments, it has meant a great deal. Now all I have to do is plan another one...... where next?

PS If any of you are on Pinterest I have created a board to which I have pinned all 26 tags, so if you would like to see them in one place please click here

Y is for

Well this is the penultimate post in my alpha series and the bus has almost reached its destination, However, don't jump off just yet there are still a couple of letters to go.

We have arrived at 'Y' and I've got not just one, but two words for you - 'Yin and Yang'. This is part of Chinese philosophy in which Yin and Yang represent the two opposite principles in nature, that everything comes in pairs. For example the sun and the moon, male and female, cold and hot - you get the drift; and  that although they are opposites, they rely on eachother.  Basically Yin and Yang are all about balance, if one is stronger, then the other will be weaker.  Possibly the best way to illustrate this is with night and day. During the Winter the nights are longer, the days shorter, in Summer it is the reverse, but there are still only 24 hours in the day - they balance themselves out across this period.

This is how we would all like to live our lives - in balance. David (my OH) and I have a Yin and Yang relationship; most times its 50/50 but sometimes the scales move and then its a case of whoever needs to be stronger in a particular situation will take the lead and then the scales return to the 50/50 mark.

And our art is all about balance - juggling our creativity with everyday lives, understanding the light and shade in our masterpieces. Learning that for every one thing there is an opposite and exploring that opposite when we can.

Today's artwork again started life as an acrylic block background. You really can't beat doing a batch of these.

This one was created with Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Aged Mahogany Distress inks. I stamped it with a variety of stamps using Archival Deep Purple and Blue Violet.  

The butterfly from Tangled Garden was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on a self adhesive label and then coloured with Promarkers. I then covered the whole image with Diamond Stickles and cut it out when completely dry.

I coloured a piece of sisal ribbon with Archival Orange Blossom and attached with PVA glue and added an assortment of flowers in shades of orange and purple, together with pins etc, using a glue gun. I used black pearl stamens for the antennae and glued the butterfly in place (I did not remove the backing from the label on this occasion).

Here is a close up of the butterfly so you can see the colouring a little better. And I have angled it away from the light so that the sparkle from the Stickles doesn't obscure the image.

These colours are almost Yin and Yang, (the opposite colours on the colour wheel would be purple and yellow) but I still think they are in balance.

And that's how it is in our day to day lives, making adjustments where needed so that we can live in balance as closely as possible.

See you tomorrow with the last letter.