Happy Monday, Crafty Friends!
And Happy 4th of July!
My dear friend, Paige, had her big 50th birthday this weekend. The girls and I are getting together in a few days to celebrate, and in the mean time, I’ve been working on her card. It’s a tag and a card, all rolled into one, made with some of my favorite Sizzix Tim Holtz dies. And today I wanted to share it with you.
I think my most well-loved Sizzix die has got to be this Tag & Bookplates die by Tim Holtz. It’s just the perfect size for art tags or gift tags, or even card tags, like I’ve made here. This will work great for hanging on Paige’s gift bag. And what I like is that this tag opens up with plenty of room for a note on the inside.
I keep gravitating back to this Barista collection by BasicGrey. Love the color combo so much, and since Paige is a neutral-lover like me, I think she will like it, too. I pieced several prints for the background of the tag, and die cut one of Tim’s new doily dies from patterned paper, as well. And then topped them all with a few of Tim’s new Wildflowers, water-colored to match.
Here’s a quick tutorial, if you’d like to learn more.
Begin by die cutting one whole tag and one partial tag from patterned paper. I die cut the hole re-inforcer, included on the die, as well. When die cutting with Bigz dies like this, simply sandwich the die and paper between two standard cutting pads before running through your die cutting machine.
Next, die cut the new Doily #2 Thinlits die from contrasting patterned paper. Here it is after going through my machine, and you can see how intricate this cut is. Instead of trying to poke all those little pieces out one by one, here’s a good tip.
Place the die and stuck paper down onto the Sizzix Foam Pad, and roll over the back with the Die Brush. The paper will pop right out of the die, and the brush will remove all the little inner pieces, too.
Adhere the partial tag onto the bottom of the whole tag, trimming off any excess, as necessary. Add the doily to the center, cutting off the outside edges. Lightly ink over the edges of the tag and doily with brown Distress Ink and an ink blending tool. Add a thin strip of paper over the seam where the two paper edges meet, and tie a ribbon around the middle of the tag.
Die cut a variety of Wildflower Thinlits from watercolor paper. I used three pieces for my tag.
Watercolor the flowers using Distress Inks mixed with water and a wet paintbrush. I pulled colors from my patterned papers for my flowers. Pumice Stone and Black Soot for stems, and Mustard Seed and Wild Honey for the flowers.
Add die cut flowers and sentiment sticker to the left side of the tag, popping up a few areas with foam tape for dimension. Apply clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the flower heads.
To create the card opening, die cut another whole tag from matching paper. Using a bone folder or scoring tool, score across the top of the tag. Fold the top flap back and forth a couple of times to loosen the hinge. Apply adhesive to the top flap, and adhere the two tags together.
Now your tag opens like a card, with lots of space for messages and notes.
It’s overcast and rainy here today, so not a great day for picnics and fireworks. I hope that whatever you are doing today, it’s filled with bright, sunny skies. And from my holiday house to yours…
Happy Independence Day!!
The supplies I’ve used are linked and/or listed below:
BasicGrey Barista Collection: Patterned Paper, Cardstock Sticker, Embellishment Kit
Audrey Pettit Designs 