Christmas on a Tag.......or five!!

Hi there,

Following on from my enthusiasm for the tags that Tim Holtz is showing each day on his Blog, I have thoroughly been bitten by the bug and have made five tags this evening. I have made them double sided, so I have actually made 10 but they are together on a bookring and there are five in total.

I used several different techniques to achieve the results and I also "lifted" some of the ideas that Tim has been showcasing ... told you I am a copycat :O)) I started out with some plain cream cardstock and cut 10 tags shapes so they were ready to be altered.


Tag 1 Front




I used a messy method to get the background colour on this tag. First of all, I stamped the mistletoe stamp in clear ink up the side of the tag and then clear embossed it. This prepared the tag to have a "resist" pattern on it. I swiped Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress inks onto a craft mat. I then spritzed the inks with Perfect Pearls mixed in water. This created a lovely inky mess which I then dipped the tag into. I let the inks soak into the tag a bit and then used my heat gun to dry the ink. I repeated the process so I had achieved a depth of colour. Once the inks were how I wanted them to be, I just wiped over the stamped image to make it clearer and then finished my main focal stamping. I also added a torn piece of paper and a chipboard letter to the tag for a bit of embellishment. The Junior Dymo came out of storage again to make the words on the tag.

Tag 1 - Back


I used the same method and colours for this tag. Instead of the mistletoe, I used a Merry Christmas stamp for the "resist" technique. The main image is from PaperArtsy...I love this Santa, he is so jolly :O))


Tag 2 - Front


For this tag, I painted the top half of it (roughly) with Frayed Burlap Cracklepaint. I painted it quite thinly as I wanted a more delicate look. Once the paint was dry, I used my finger to smudge Gold Dabber over the painted area, this just defined the crackles and blended them in a bit more. The backgound was achieved by swiping a Peeled Paint Distress pad over the tag and then spritzing with PP in water. I then used Pesto, Lettuce and Oregano Alcohol inks on glossy card, mixed with a little Gold Mixative. Once I had achieved the desired colour, I stamped the Collage using Sepia Versafine ink. Finally, I used a holly stamp with the Sepia pad onto the crackled area.

Tag 2 - Back


For this tag, I used a larger piece of glossy card that was coloured with the alcohol inks. I stamped the little girl image and then the yew branch on the corners to tie the design together. The background of the tag was achieved the same way as previously.


Tag 3 - Front


For this one, I painted Faded Jeans Crackle Paint on the top section of the tag. Once this was dry and crackled, I used my finger to smudge Pearl Dabber over it, this made it a bit paler and also added a shimmer. For the background on the rest of the tag, I used the same method as Tag 1 but used Faded Jeans and Broken China to get the right colour. I used my new Snowman stamp with Faded Jeans Distress ink on the lower half of the tag and embossed this with clear embossing powder. To cover the join between the paint and then ink, I tore a piece of paper and then inked the edges to blend it in. The snowflake brad and the Dymo word finish the tag.


Tag 3 - Back




I used the same technique as my earlier tag that I "copied" from Tims Blog. The only thing I haven't done is add the ribbon to the end of the tag...cos it is too fiddly!! :O)) I added a few snowflake brads and dotted Stickles onto them to make them all sparkly.

My Internet is on a go slow this evening and I have been booted off a couple of times, so I shall add the last two tags on tomorrow....thanks for looking...and hope you come back to see the rest!! :O))

Hels x