2BD43 Faery Tale Book Marks

[Click on the image above for a clearer picture of the words.]

For this week's Beyond Beyond lesson, Kim had us working with a pdf template from Creative Label Concepts.  I had no idea you could pull in a pdf as a layer in Photoshop Elelments and work it to your heart's content.  That tip right there was worth the price of the class!  I just always thought PhotoShop dealt with image files, not pdfs.   In all, I counted 19 PSE layers to develop these 3 tags/bookmarks.  It was more like 3 assignments instead of just 1, so I spent a lot of time with it.  I'm really feeling comfortable with PSE these days --thanks to Kim's classes. 

We started with the templates, isolated them onto their own layers, then added texture, text, and other elements with brushes, etc.   Kim's lesson had us making hang tags--I suppose that's a great thing for scrapbookers and people working with mixed media.  I don't actually have the capability to print in color at home, nor am I likely to add special tags to a gift, either.  Hence, this was a theoretical exercise for me. 

In Kim's example, she used the dome top tag template above.  I kept thinking it looked like a tombstone ...   Another person in the class elongated the templates (or maybe she chose another template altogether) to make bookmarks.  I really liked that idea, so I borrowed it. ;-)

As for the quotes, I'm always looking for a way to pull in my love of fairy tales and how important they are to our every day lives and how we cope.   I have a book of essays by academic Kay Stone : Some Day Your Witch Will Come.    The sentiment is a tongue-in-cheek play on "some day your prince will come."  That title essay talks about how necessary these wicked witches are to the stories and our psyches.  Encountering  a Witch can bring it's own gifts.  In my own life, I had to come to terms with my own witch before I could meet my prince charming.  The Witches push us to do things we wouldn't otherwise do, or think we'd be capable of.  I had some self-development work to do before I could be in a good relationship.  The Witch taught me to deal with my anger, to stand up for myself, to value myself.  You don't get that kind of encouragement in a plush comfortable setting at home with a "good mother" -- That's why those good mothers always die off.  The Witches give us that nudge to do what we think is impossible, to grow in ultimately positive ways that we may not otherwise choose.    Now, looking back with hindsight, I am grateful for my encounters with real-life witches--although, I couldn't say that at the time.   

For the Spiderweb tag/bookmark, I used Kim Klassen's Chalk Magic Texture for the background,  Ruthie Font, and a spiderweb brush.  The cob webs give the idea that someone has been waiting for quite some time for her witch to come ... 

The next quote from my all-time favorite witch, Baba Yaga : Consider the uses of adversity.    I suspect the sentiments and the skull will be all too dark and Gothic for my fellow 2B classmates.  Truth be known, the flower pics and inspirational quotes are not really my style.  For this tag/bookmark, I used another texture from 2 Lil Owls, though I'm not sure what collection it's from.  I also used a couple of brushes typical of old tombstones.  These are also very important symbols for Baba Yaga.  In the Baba Yaga stories, she has a fence made of skulls-and-bones surrounding her property (Remember that house that dances around on chicken legs?  That was Baba Yaga. :-).  Once Vasalisa has accomplished the impossible tasks BY set for her, the Baba gives her the creative fire in a skull torch which lights her way home.   You see-- some people DO survive their encounters with the witches--but only if they learn the lessons they have to teach.

Of course, I couldn't leave out my beloved Rumplestilskin (from ABC's Once Upon a Time), so he gets his own bookmark/tag, too.    For this bookmark, I used Texture 13 from 2 Lil Owls Fairy Tales Collection.   Aquiline Two Font and an image of a spinning wheel charm as his memorable detail.   I am starting to think he's one of the 3 Fates in Once Upon a Time's rendition.  That puts him in a whole new light, doesn't it?