May update - Fit the Second...

As well as May's ATC's I've also done my offering for May's Tag swap too. Now I'm really pleased with these because it's the first time in ages I've actually stamped an image and then coloured it in (thought I'd better seeing as how I'd bought a big pack of Promarkers especially to colour the stamps I'd used lol...)

Right... off we go. The Birthstone for May is Emerald. Many believe that Emeralds have mystical qualities and in days gone by emeralds were prescribed for soothing of the eyes. It is believed that the colour of the emerald is very soothing.

The theme for May is therefore any mystical or fantasy images that you wish - think fairies, wizard, green man, unicorns, enchanted forests etc. Your tags must also include the colour green somewhere - either in the background or embellishments and the twist this month - your tag must also include an eye or something eye related.

Now I don't usually buy stamps that need a lot of detailed colouring in because I'm not very good at it, but this set of clear Papermania fairy stamps (Midnight Fairytale) looked so nice I couldn't resist them... the stamps themselves are coloured in which gives you ideas straight away on what to do with them (handy 'cos I don't have a lot of imagination when it comes to colouring and shading lol...)
 

The watercolour-effect background is done by swiping Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters distress ink pads across a heat sheet and spritzing with water, then dragging the cardstock thru it and drying it a couple of times - so simple but so effective. Why on earth don't I do more of this - its so easy but looks so good! The fairy is stamped in black Memories and coloured with pastel Promarkers... didn't want to use harsh colours to give her a faint and ethereal impression. She is coloured - honest! just looks very faint in the picture, slightly better in real life lol...
 
The 'Believe' word is actually part of a Christmas set, but fits in well with the general theme methinks, the border of flowers just looked right, and to fill the gap in the middle I stamped a Kaisercraft music stave - shame it's not come out very well in the pic but it's in Tumbled Glass distress ink so blending in nicely. And the eye twist? look at the top of the tag, in the sky and clouds... there's a pair of eyes (courtesy of a cover stamp off Craft Stamper some months back...)
 
Hope the recipients like these - I've certainly enjoyed doing them this month!