Inspired by a Book ~ Gandalf

Hi there! Members of Rick St. Dennis' EDT were invited to guest design at the C.R.A.F.T. challenge which he is sponsoring this week. The theme is Inspired by a Book and knowing how much I love books, how could I resist? I chose to play with Rick's Gandalf Wizard image which can be found in Rick's Zibbet shop.

Gandalf, from Lord of the Rings, is such a wonderful character and I have a great fondness for wizards. I coloured Gandalf with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut him. He was matted in black cardstock and popped up on foam tape. Who knows what problems he was solving while he awaited his background tag.

I had searched for a Gandalf quote from the book and when I saw this one, I knew what would be the first background layer: map designer paper. Next I tore some scraps of blue paper (sky/water) and layered them across the tag  along with some vintage text ( reference to books). These scraps of blue and text were edged and scuffed with Vintage Photo Distress ink to age them and then outlined with a Sepia Micron once they were adhered to the background. Pattern was applied with gesso through the TCW Texturized Stencil and with Coffee Archival ink through another pattern of the same stencil.

A generous coat of both Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks were added to the tag edges to frame the tag. Idea-ology Remnant Rubs were chosen on the basis of words that fit with the sentiment and applied both to the background and to an enamel coated metal star. The sentiment was computer generated, matted in black, and popped up on foam tape. Two segments of a punched scallop border were added to the edges, as well as an Idea-ology pen nib,  a reference to the wizard's era but also to the written word (book). The topper is a length of grosgrain ribbon stapled to the back of the tag. The staples are covered with an Idea-ology Muse Token which says courageous.

Thanks for visiting today and thanks to the C.R.A.F.T challenge for letting me play along. Gandalf and I are so appreciative. When you get a minute, pop by the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog to see the other fabulous responses to this fun theme, Inspired By a Book. For more inspiration using Rick's fabulous images, fun challenges, and some wonderful sharing of projects and knowledge, come and visit:
our Facebook group
our Airless Chambers blog
our Rick St Dennis Gallerie
our Tuts and Comments blog

I am entering this tag in the following challenges:

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie