Paris, Paris, Paris

Can anyone truthfully say they can be tired of Paris?  I know I certainly can't.  Therefore I'm once again joining Wendy who is hosting Tag Tuesday this fortnight with her theme Paris.  I thought I would provide a few step-out photos of how I created my Parisian tag.

I began with a purchased tag (for a change), a pallet knife, and gesso.

After removing the string, I applied a thick layer of some very runny gesso.   I was hoping for something a little older, but had to use what I had on hand.

After allowing the gesso to partially dry naturally, I used a heat gun to provide the texture I was hoping for.  If you want paint or gesso to bubble and crack, wait a few minutes for a very slight skin to form on at least part of the paint or gesso, then apply the heat gun.  This is basically what I was going for because it reminded me of the walls of some of the houses I've seen in French photos.

Using my fingers, I colored the tag with a blue pan pastel.  I chose blue because it is one of the colors of the French flag. 

I had wanted to use some Paris inspired washi tape ever since I won some beautiful gifts from Gaby.  The gifts were wrapped in beautiful paper and washi tape. 

I printed and fussy cut this flower filled shoe that I colored using water-soluble red and white crayons gifted me by Cindy last Christmas.   I know you're going to ask why I am using so much pink in my art, even though it is one of my least favorite colors.  The answer is, as I'm slowly cleaning my office, I found a ream (500 sheets) of pink printer/copier paper.  So the color pink is here to stay.


Materials used to create this piece include gesso, pan pastel, washi tape, variegated thread, and a fussy cut design I had stored on my computer.

Of  course, I also wanted to once again join Yvonne of Meggy's Way who is hosting Art Journal Journey this month with her chosen theme of Colo(u)r in my World.

My world today is quite colorful, but once again, points to Paris.

Starting with the right side, I have more washi tape, also gifted me by Cindy. I sewed more pink across the back of both pages, which will not sit side by side once it's added to my scrappy journal.  The quote:

I love Paris in the springtime.
I love Paris in the fall.

 Obviously, it was written by an American, because autumn is the preferred word for "fall" by many in other countries, as it is with me, too.  Although Ella Fitzgerald and many other famous artists sang it first, including Charlie Parker, apparently Frank Sinatra put the song, written by Cole Porter and published in 1953, on the map.  It was a song from the movie Can-Can and on the album Come Fly With Me.

More of Cindy's wonderful gifted washi tape was added to the bottom of the right page.

For the left side, I included

April in Paris,
Oh how I love thee

Written in 1932 by Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg for the musical Walk a Little Faster, Count Basie and Sammy Davis Jr. were the most popular artists to record it.

I couldn't stop there, though.  I added even more washi tape I received at Christmas from Cindy.

For this spread, I began with patterned scrapbook paper, added pink printer paper, computer generated lyrics on orange printer/copier paper from two Paris inspired songs, washi tape, and a computer generated copy of a French ledger sheet I colored using red pan pastel.

Please follow these links to Tag Tuesday and Art Journal Journey (or click the visual links on my right sidebar).  And thank you for your thoughtful visit today as we once again visit Paris.