Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.
It is hard for me to share an upbeat blog post when the world is in turmoil and my heart goes out to the people affected by war. I am at a loss for words. As I took in the reality of what was happening in Ukraine I turned to my art as therapy. Art and creativity help me through pain both physical and mental.
I’ve linked all supplies with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

tattered chic botanical distressed tag

When I get a new supply I like to work out whether it plays well with others. There’s always great excitement when a new Distress colour is released, see below, and I wanted to put it through it’s paces and see how it fitted into my colour palette.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

new distress colour – saltwater taffy

Firstly, can we just celebrate such a fabulous name! Saltwater Taffy brings to me memories of seaside trips, rock pooling, sandy hair and salty skin with a sweet treat on the way home. And as for the colour, it is a beautiful coral pink which very much fits into my colour wheelhouse. Grab your selections from the whole range here!

I’m just watching Tim Holtz reveal the new colour live on YouTube – check it out here. Tim always goes right into all about the new colour, how the colour compares to other in the Distress line and the Distress line properties as a whole. The sessions are packed with information.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

I took two Tim Holtz tags and experimented with a mix of Saltwater Taffy, Speckled Egg and Rusty Hinge Spray Stains. I spritzed the tags and then dipped them into the stains. With one tag, I went for a lighter, softer look and with the other  I went much richer and with depth of colour.

The colours played so nicely together! The Speckled Egg and Rusty Hinge combined to create lovely shades of green in places and the Saltwater Taffy added a wamth to all and took the colour range from the orange of Rusty Hinge to a much more coral colour.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

I reserved the lighter tag to be the base and then die cut the Chinese Lantern Stem dies from the more colourful tag. Chinese Lantern flowers are supposed to symbolise protection and with the events of the world weighing heavy on my mind I thought the idea of protection particularly appropriate. To add depth and dimension, I pushed some of the die cut pieces into Versamark ink and then sprinkled Saltwater Taffy Embossing Glaze over the top. I kept dipping into the glaze and reheating until I had lovely, glossy areas on parts of the die cuts.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

Here you can see the light catching those glossy areas.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

In other areas I rubbed Ranger Multi Medium Matte and dunked into Rock Candy Distress Glitter for my favourite way of adding more texture and a subtle sparkle.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

Here you can see just the hints of glaze on the lantern and the sparkle on the leaf. 

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

I loved the look of the Saltwater Taffy Embossing Glaze so much that I splattered a little water in places and sprinkled the glaze on top, quickly heat setting it in place. It adds a lovely organic splash of colour to the background.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

For the sentiment, I took a greeting from the Well Wishes set and white heat embossed it onto a scrap of the left overs.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

I trimmed it out and added it with foam tape over the edge of the tag. I tore the end of the strip and emphasised the torn edge by rubbing Frayed Burlap over the end.

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

Here you can see everything coming together. The background tag has stitching for extra interet and a piece of torn off the darker tag and attached to the edge. I rubbed Waltnut  Stain and Black Soot Distress Oxides over this piece annd over the corner of the base tag in the top left. I’m always looking as to how I can add some dark areas for contrast. I also softened the edges of the tag with Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide. I splattered of course with white gouache and also combined some of the gouache with Speckled Egg Spray Stain to give a more opaque blue splatter in places. 

Tattered chic botanical distressed tag using the beautiful new Distress colour, Saltwater Taffy. Handmade tag by Debby Hughes.

    I dug around in my ribbon scraps and found a piece of white lacy trim along with a pink wool and toffee coloured cord. I looped a piece of the lacy trim though the tag hole and then tied with the other two. I embellished with a few matte gold sequins held in place with Gina K Connect glue

    All people affected by war and the horrific scenes I see unfolding. You, you are on my heart. 

    Well that’s me for today. Catch up soon.

    supplies

    You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.

    * Saltwater Taffy Distress Colour
    [ SSS ]
    * Tim Holtz Saltwater Taffy Distress...
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    * Tim Holtz Saltwater Taffy Distress...
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    * SSS CHINESE LANTERN STEM Wafer Dies
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    * CZ Design Clear Stamps WELL WISHES
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    * Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain...
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    Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain RUSTY...
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    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad...
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    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad...
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    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad...
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    Tim Holtz Distress MIXED MEDIA...
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    Tim Holtz Distress Glitter CLEAR ROCK...
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    Lucy's Cards
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    White Gouache
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    Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD
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    SSS White Embossing Powder
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    * SSS Blending Brushes
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    misti at Simon Says STAMP!
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    Tim Holtz Tonic GLASS MEDIA MAT
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    Dahle Self-Healing Cutting 9x12 Mat
    [ SSS ]
    Tim Holtz Tonic GUILLOTINE
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    METAL EDGE ACRYLIC RULER
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    Crafter's Companion CRAFT KNIFE
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    T SQUARE RULER
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    Scor-Pal Mini Scoring Board
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    SSS SMALL TEFLON BONE FOLDER
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    * Tim Holtz MINI SNIPS Scissors
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    Fiskars SPRING-ASSIST SCISSORS Micro-tip
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    TWEEZERS
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    3M DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE
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    Gina K Designs CONNECT GLUE
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    Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun
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    Ranger ANTI STATIC POUCH
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    SSS Embossing Powder Storage
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    Crafter's Companion GEMINI JUNIOR...
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