Red And Green Should Never Be Seen...

This started off as my St Patrick's Day inspired project but as I thought more about Spring and how everything was turning green, this little rhyme popped into my head.  So I decided that this should be my inspiration instead:

Red and green should never be seen 

except upon a fairy queen

There are a few different versions of this, including "Irish Queen" instead of "Fairy Queen" but it was always fairy queen for us and here she is, my fairy queen...

I used this very large tag base because I wanted lots of room for this. I am also using Fresco chalk paints again, some of my own stamps and a few different mediums, so here we go...

My camera failed me and I don't have some of the process photos which included gesso, Tim Holtz tissue paper, texture paste through a stencil, crackle paste and these first layers of Fresco paint.

I did some stamping to the background using my own handmade stamps (see the white spirals) and then added some white splatter for good measure.  And so it was time to plan the Fairy Queen.  I started playing with all these chipboard pieces and took a quick snap so I wouldn't forget where I wanted everything to go. I am using the Flight of Fancy Butterfly Girl D132A, Blooming Flourish D22P, Acorn Border Set C10E, Leaves from Mushroom Shape Set D102B, and later, the Stackable Labels D35H.  I manipulated these foliage pieces into the shapes I wanted so that they became a crown for her head and a garland for her neck.

 
Gesso everything and leave to dry.

It was then time to start painting my fairy queen, remembering the rhyme about red and green, so her hair had to be flaming red! I painted her using Paperartsy Fresco Chalk Paints.

I gave her a green dress and some hand drawn features using first a pencil, then paint, and pink butterflies in her hair.

I really wanted to put the little red and green rhyme on the tag but even with this large tag, I didn't feel there was enough room for it to look right and not be squished.  I found some of these skeleton leaves in a drawer, painted them with Chartreuse paint and Metallic Glaze, and used them as a background for all the foliage around her.

I added some more foliage and then painted it using Frescos with metallic glaze mixed in and then cut one of the Blooming Flourish pieces into two, so I could use it on the other side of her face, to balance things up.

I thought she needed to be grounded so I added a lollipop stick to ground her. I inked it up with Ground Espresso Archival ink.

I used these little mini bookplates, painted them up and attached them, and because I couldn't fit the red and green rhyme, I used these Finnabair stickers to convey Queenie's fairy message to let yourself look for the magic.  I'm sure you will find it if you look hard enough!

 Oh and one final touch was to add these little Prima crystals as a necklace as I thought her neck was looking a bit bare and she is a Queen after all!

I hope you like my St Patrick's Day/Spring/Fairy Rhyme inspired red and green tag.  Please let me know in the comments!


Elle
Empire Of The Cat

 PROJECT RECIPE:

GSL Cuts - Tag Set Super X Model: D92C  , Stackable Labels D35H, Blooming Flourish D22P, Acorn Border Set C10E, Flight of Fancy Butterfly Girl D132A, Leaves from Mushroom Shape Set D102B,
Paperartsy - Fresco Chalk Paints, various
Decoart - White Gesso, Crackle Paste, Texture Paste
Tim Holtz - Ground Espresso Archival Ink, Collage Medium, tissue paper, stencil
Finnabair - word stickers
Prima - crystals
From Stash:  lollipop stick, my handmade stamps,