Decorated Tag

At our recent Saturday craft group meeting Sandra and Brenda brought along their collection of tags  which they had created by following the online Creative Chemistry 101 course by Tim Holtz.  It was inspiring to see the techniques they had covered and how they had put them to use on the tags.  Ink techniques is something I haven' t experimented much with and had, or did have, only one Tim Holtz ink pad and a few Glimmer Mists to play with but Sandra had brought along her stash and I started off making the tag which is the topper on this card.  

The tag was just an ordinary white luggage label I'd bought from Tesco so I'm not sure that the card quality was ideal but I'm happy with my first time results.  Three different colours of ink were used to colour the tag, which I can't remember the names of, before using Black Stazon ink to stamp the Inkadinkado Lady across the middle.  To add some sparkle I sprayed it with Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist.  I'd liked how the colours had worked and when I got home decided to finish off the tag.  On the top right and bottom left corners the Hero Arts Stamp Style is Eternal was stamped to continue the script from the Inkadinkado stamp plus I felt it complimented the image. In the other corners I decided to add some pattern as a contrast and sponged ink through a cardboard mask I'd made using a paper punch to make spots.  I now feel this is a step I could have missed out. 

The colours of ink I'd used were a good match to Stampin' up's Pool Party, Indigo Island and Old Olive colours so I used their inks, card and ribbon for the layers on the card, to ink edges, colour the tag string and to make embellishments.  The stamped flowers were made using the Hero Arts/Sizzix stamp and die set Antique Flowers and Butterflies with Indigo Island ink being stamped on to Pool Party card.  Extra flowers were stamped and decoupaged on to the card and tag.  I also cut extra backing layers in coloured card to matt and layer the stamped flowers on to.  The little flowers were made using a Tonic punch.  The other backing papers were a floral patterned card from Kanban and the Happy Birthday paper which was created on the computer.  Stitching and paper pricking on cards used to be two of my favourite techniques but as with most techniques you go through phases and then move on to something different.  I've recently come back to using stitching to create frames for toppers and this is what I've done with the Happy Birthday paper.

This week I decided I'd buy a few more distress inks to continue experimenting but couldn't decide which colours to choose.  Unfortunately I've also had a cold and I had one of those nights where you are a feverish and have a recurring dream or thought.  My recurring thought was what colours of Tim Holtz distress ink pads should I choose.  In the cooler light of day I chose stormy sky, tumbled glass, pine needles and peeled paint which have arrived this morning.  I already had chipped sapphire so I'm hoping these will work together. 

As well as bringing along her stash for the group to use Sandra had made a selection of tags for us to choose one from to keep.  This is the one I chose. The second picture shows the lovely sheen it has when you catch it in a certain light.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges
Crafty Ribbons Challenge 19 - Flowers
Crafts and Me Challenge 83 - Punches and Die Cuts
Paper shelter Challenge 63 - Anything Goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - May Flowers
Stampavie and more Challenge 167 - Monochrome
Sassy Cheryl's Challenge 114 - A Stitch in Time
Bunny Zoe's Craft Challenge 23 - Ribbon or Twine
The Cheerful Stamp Pad Challenge 42 - Tags
Hooked on Craft Challenge 20 - Flowers
The Cutie Pie Challenge 17 - Monochromatic
The Stamp Man Challenge - Your Favourite Technique
Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Hope you've made it to the end of the post today.  Thanks for reading

Liz xx