Feeling Distressed.......Part I

Hello,

The Tag Swap that I run each month has a fab theme this month which is to make tags that are as shabby and distressed as possible.

I love getting inky and messy and this was a perfect opportunity for me to really get stuck into the grungey style of crafting that I love.

Tag 1 - Front

I started out with a smooth Manila tag that was just begging to be altered! First, I "broke" the tag. Basically, this means using your thumb and forefinger to make an indentation in the middle of the tag. This slackens the tension of the card so it can be crumpled more easily. I then crumpled the tag up so it was nice and creased and swiped an Old Paper Distress Inkpad over the top of it. The ink stuck to the creases in the card, which is what I was wanting and then I spritzed the tag with water so the ink bled into the card a little bit. I dried the tag with my heatgun for speed. I then used Frayed Burlap Distress ink and repeated this process but this time I only touched the tag randomly, so I ended up with a lighter and darker shade on the creases. I used Cut & Dry foam to add a little more of the Frayed Burlap ink to the rest of the tag.

I wanted to have a "mouldy" effect on the tag...like it had been sitting in the attic for years and years. I had a brainwave!! I took my Vintage Photo Distress Re-Inker and popped a little drop of ink onto an acrylic block. I then took a fine paint brush and picked up some of the ink on the bristles. Then, I hit the paintbrush against my index finger, holding it over the tag as I did this. Wow, my tags developed freckles.....er, and so did I and the surface of my desk and a few bits went onto the wall too...but hey, this is art :O)) I spritzed the tag again as I wanted to get the "freckles" to smudge a little and again dried with my heatgun. Am not sure if this is a new technique or not but it is fun and I got the effect I wanted too!


Once the tag base was prepared, I used Antique Linen Crackle Paint and painted this onto one of the corners of the tag. I set this aside to dry for an hour or so and then got to work with the distressing and stamping.

To distress this tag, I sanded it, filed it and then set fire to it....well, I actually held my lighter against a torn edge and just singed it.

The stamps are all by Stampers Anon and from the Tim Holtz collection; I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Black StaZon and Olive Green StaZon for the stamping.




Tag 1 - Back

The back of the tag was prepared in exactly the same way as the front. I used the same colours and the stamping is kept simple too. :O)) I did add a few more "freckles" to the back just to see what they looked like if they were more concentrated. I added my name using Olive Green StaZon and those ickle StudioG alpha's that I love!



Thanks for looking

Hels x