Tuesday 20 March 2012

Mother's Day Tag - a photo frame tag + a cautionary tale

Evening Everyone

As I write this it's early evening, still light and bright and very spring like here in the west coast of Scotland ... I hope you are all enjoying equally pleasant weather wherever you are.

Apologies for not posting for a couple of days. I've been around but been busy with all sorts of stuff, some of which I can't show you at the moment.

However, I can show you this tag now that my niece, Louise, has received it.

As it was Louise's first Mother's Day I wanted to create something that she would keep and could use over the years. I've incorporated a frame into this tag which consists of a panel of decorated card overlaid with the die-cut fairy ... I have Jude to thank for the fairy, it was included in the candy I won from her some time ago.

The photo tucks into the decorated panel and behind the fairy's head. Louise can change the photo as Arihanna grows. Here's a close up of the fairy detail.

As you can see I've used my favourite flower stamp, Penny Black's Aspire, and clear embossing powder before inking her with Tim Holtz DI, Victorian Velvet.  The stars are sparkling with Stickles, Fruit Punch from my stash ... it's one of those colours that, like a magpie, I just had to have only to find I rarely matches anything I'm working on.

The design paper, from S.E.I., Chocolat Papillon, is an just a single one that I picked up on a visit to a craft store sometime last year ... I now wish I'd bought two sheets of it because it is so beautiful. Here you can see the reverse side.


Apologies for the quality of this shot, but I think you can see that it has lots of pink butterflies on a chocolate brown background. There's more stamping with Aspire and Victorian Velvet too.


Teeny Alphas by Glitz spell out the word 'mother'. The pearl trim, frilled velvet trim and large rose are out of my birthday kit from Funky Farm Scrapbook Barn. The roses decorating the top are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the pink heart-shaped doily ... well, only half of the doily ... was from Poppy's Cabin. All the other embellishments are from my stash.

I've never used proper shipping/luggage labels to make tags, simply because I've never found a size I like. I don't like my tags to be too flimsy either, I like a good bit of weighty strength in them because of all the embellishments I have a tendency to add.  I've figured out my own template, made out of cardboard, which has served me well since I started crafting. For this tag I drew round the template and then cut the base out of thin cardboard, from a cereal box, painted it with white gesso and then covered both sides with the patterned paper. All the edges are inked with the Victorian Velvet DI.

That's my share for you today - I hope you like it as much as Louise does. She has some lovely photos of Arihanna taken just after she was born and the blanket she is wrapped in is a perfect match for the tag ... how serendipitous is that :))

A cautionary tale:
I mentioned in an earlier post that my two youngest grandchildren are not very well - they have a nasty virus which has really made the children very poorly. Now my baby great-granddaughter, Rhian, has it too, made worse because her ears are affected too. She took ill at the weekend when the doctor's clinic was closed so her mother, Jenny, phoned the NHS line for advice. After much questioning she was advised to go to the chemist and get some Calpol to treat Rhian's high temperature and see the doctor Monday morning. Jenny went straight to Asda, to the chemist there, to buy the Calpol as advised and, the point of this story, they refused to sell it to her because she is under 25 years of age!!!!

Jenny's troubles were not over by then, Monday morning came and nobody was answering the phone at the doctor's - they were all on a training day! Jenny finally decided she would take Rhian to the hospital where she did get seen by a doctor and she is now on appropriate medication and is on the mend.

I'm still stunned that the chemist refused to let her have the Calpol for her poorly baby ... if she is old enough at 20 to be a mother, I would have thought she would be considered old enough to buy a commonplace medication for her baby.

Rant over! Thanks for staying to read this far :)

I wish you all a good evening, I'll be in the craft room beavering away but hope to see many of you tomorrow for WOYWW.

Happy Crafting.

11 comments:

Hazel said...

I was just about to comment on the utterly gorgeous tag when I stopped to read about your granddaughter - that just doesn't seem right at all that a young mother can't buy the meds for her baby - I'm shocked. x

505whimsygirl said...

Hi Elizabeth,

That tag is precious! I really like the idea of incorporating a pocket for a photo - very clever!

That's terrible about Jenny being turned away from getting the medication she directed to give her baby. We have weird laws here too, based on age. Can't drink until you're 21 but you can go to war at 18. Nope, doesn't make sense!

Hugs,
Kay

PS I hope all three are feeling better real soon!

Little K Smith said...

This is gorgeous Elizabeth, gorgeous colours and such a lovely idea too :)
I can't believe they wouldn't sell Calpol to your granddaughter! Don't know what the world is coming to! Get Well Wishes to your grandchildren and great-grandchild, hope they're all better very soon :)
Kelly.x

SandeeNC said...

Like every one else I am saddened to hear about the medication hoopla, just pitiful. On a lighter note, that tag you made is stunning! Loving that fairy too, so sweet! waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

Jules said...

Hi Elizabeth

What a stunning tag .. .. and a great keepsake to remember a special Mothering Sunday by.

So much details on one small tag!! Gorgeous!!

I hope that those poorly children are feeling much better now.

I can't believe that chemist!! A young woman old enough to have children but not old enough to buy them medication. How silly!!!

Love Jules xx

Jackie said...

Asda were wrong to refuse the Calpol on age grounds. There is a legal restriction on the number(2)of such items they can buy, not on the age of the buyer as long as they are not young children. I would be writing to Asda head office with a formal complaint!
Your tag is wonderful :o)
Jackie xx

CraftygasheadZo said...

Such a gorgeous tag. I can't believe Asda refused Calpol! That's unbelievable, I agree if you're old enough to be a mother then surely you're old enough to buy the medication your baby needs! Mad. Zo xx

coops said...

beautiful tag eleizabeth.such pretty colours and stunning precious photo.
to not sell calpol to a mother with a sick baby is disgusting, i think i would be complaining to the chemist.

xx coops xx

Jacqui Chimes said...

This tag is beautiful

Di said...

Fabulous tag! It's truly beautiful.

Then my blood boiled about your grand daughter not being able to buy Calpol - I honestly think you have to be barking mad to make a lot of the laws in this rapidly declining country of ours.

Di
xx

Neet said...

Beautiful tag but what a cautionary tale at the end. Ridiculous - there seems to be no sense at all in that.

Neet xx