First, sorry I'm a little late in the day (here on the east coast) posting. Dr. Mom had to put in an appearance. Last evening while I was still out my son called and said he wasn't feeling well. When I got home I found my (22yo) baby shivering and trying to get warm under his thick comforter and while he had a low grade temp, it didn't seem too bad so I got him another blanket and went to bed myself. This morning he actually got up, showered and dressed in his scrubs, ready to go to school--he's doing med lab tech training but he mentioned he was feeling a bit dizzy and unsure of himself. Since Thursdays are hospital days I told him to go back to bed. He agreed, figuring he probably shouldn't try to do any blood draws or testing in his condition. Food poisoning? Intestinal bug? Who knows. I went into Dr. Mom mode and decided a pot of chicken noodle soup would give him some nutrition and warm him up. So I jumped into making that soup, putting me behind on everything else. In hindsight, I'd do the same exact thing. My "babies" don't often need Dr. Mom anymore so when they do, I'm always ready to serve.
So, on to the tags portion of cards & tags day. What I like about making tags is: 1) It's like playing. Pull out stuff, try stuff, discard stuff. 2) It's an opportunity to try new techniques or play with techniques you love. 3) I can use up bits and pieces from a variety of sets. The more stuff I use up, the more new stuff I can buy. 4) They can function as an embellishment/element on a layout. 5) They can be put on card fronts or used as a card itself. 6) They are versatile and fun to create, layers and layers of goodness on a little 3x6" "canvas." 7) I can go all multi-media on them.
Here are my tags for today:
My Time. I started with one of my all time favorite products, the 6x6" paper pad. I loved this arrow print and thought I'd add a cork arrow until I decided I needed to add a whole bunch of cork arrows. Then I jazzed up some of the arrows by layering under and over them. I inked everything, of course, and finished up with some dyed seam binding from my stash. Teresa Collins Memorabilia paper and chip mustache, Echo Park Reflections paper, Studio Calico arrows and veneer stars, Fancy Pants Collecting Moments ticket, domino, paper scrap, Sn@p 24/Seven stickers,Tim Holtz Distress paint and Distress ink.
Simply amazing moments. I used the other half of the Teresa Collins Memorabilia paper as a jumping off point here. Once again I layered and played with techniques and pulled out bits and pieces of left-overs to make this tag. I think it will look great on a layout. In addition to the TC paper I used the Studio Calico hexagon stencil with Distress Ink, MME Chalk Studio frame and washi tape, Fancy Pants Collecting Moments flower and ticket, and Sn@p 24/Seven stickers and chip. The twine and metal telephone were from my stash. I had to use it here. It makes me smile.
As I was making tags I was also thinking ahead. Every year our Women's Ministries takes the leaders of all our various ministries out to brunch. We're going on our 7th? year. I usually make an invitation to send to all the leaders. Hand-made of course. A light bulb went off in my head and I thought why not make the invite a tag? I usually keep the invite pretty simple, hence the above. I'll print out the invite specifics and adhere them on the back and pop these babies into check sized envelopes and either pass them out in church as I see folks or mail them. Even though there is a flower on the front of each, they're pretty flat. Again, I started with a trusty 6x6 paper pad--Echo Park's Reflections Fall. I won't recreate each tag exactly but with that pad I can mix and match the papers to create 20 invites. The yellow polka-dot strip on these tags is from the Fancy Pants Collecting Moments 6x6 pad. The scrap was sitting on my table and matched perfectly. The grey bracket tab was punched from American Crafts cardstock. I don't remember exactly which paper pack it was in, it too is a scrap. The washi tapes and ribbon are from my stash. The flowers are from Pebbles. I will "assembly-line" these invites, making two of each pattern.
Then another "ah-ha!" moment hit. Since I was appointed co-coordinator of our Women's Ministries I have made a little something for the ladies as a favor/gift for the brunch. Last year I made my own infused vanilla and bottled it up and made some cinnamon sugar roasted almonds and bagged them up. I already know what I'm making for the ladies this year, it's a secret. But what about a little gift tag to jazz up the favor? Back to that 6x6 pad, scraps, washi, flowers, and twine. A couple of punches later I had a quick little gift tag. These could easily be made using any scraps for Christmas gifts, birthdays, anytime you need a little gift tag. And they will coordinate with the invites.
Not bad for a morning's work. I have my invite designed and a gift tag design all ready for the brunch. I have a couple of great tags to use on scrapbook layouts in the future. I felt enormously accomplished for the couple of hours I spent making these earlier this week. I'll use up that whole 6x6 pad and have an excuse to replace it with another from a different line. And I've used up some bits and pieces from other collections and lines so I can justify that order that just arrived yesterday. lol
Why do you like to make tags? What are your favorite tag making supplies?
Jenn
