52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge - Week 17

This is a weekly challenge. I provide you with a prompt/theme each Sunday morning through out the year.  The challenge is very relaxed.  You can do as much or as little as you like.  You can create cards, tags, Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) or index cards, the choice is yours. You just go with what ever is in your head at the time.  You can stamp, get inky, use patterned papers, texture, embellish it is all down to you.

There is a dedicated private Facebook Group, with a lovely bunch of people who are already sharing their makes from previous challenges.  You can find the group by clicking this link.  I'd love you to join in.

The Crafting Niche 52 Week Mini Art Card/Tag Challenge 2024:

The prompt for Week 17 is "Use your initials"

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This is the tag that I have made for the Week 17.

I started by painting my tag with two shades of Distress Paint, using a mix of "Villainous Potion" and "Prize Ribbon" shades.  I set the tag aside to dry and then flattened it between a couple of books as it was curling.

I used assorted acrylic paints to paint the three main flowers and foliage in a folk art style.

I then die cut my initials "SCS" and glued into position.  

I filled in the background area by using Posca Pens to create smaller flowers, using pale blue, yellow, orange and white pens.

Canal / Folk Art hand painted card

You may recall, earlier in the month I went on a Canal Art / Signwriting Masterclass.  Since then I have had a little practice with the techniques I learnt, using the paint supplies I have in my craft stash.

This morning I couldn't sleep, so decided to get up and have a painting session making this card.  It is a far cry from Canal Art, I think I'd call it more "Folk Art Style".  I have a lot more practicing to do to get the brush to work in my favour, but I enjoyed the calming process of painting.

I used a selection of paints I already had, some with more success than others.  I mainly used Tim Holtz Distress Paints with some Paperartst chalk paints (which were less of a success, the white isn't solid enough, but lesson learnt).

For the sentiment, I used a stamp from a Lavinia Stamps set called "Heartfelt Verse" stamped in Versafine Clair "Glamorous" pink ink.

Copper Tape-A-Tag embossed using die cuts

I had another play with foil tape to make an embossed tag.

I purchased two widths of sticky backed copper foil tape from Amazon, deciding to use the wider one for this tag. 

I raided my box of dies, chosing a design which had solid areas which I thought would work well.  I cut two of the same die, I have no idea of who makes this design as the packaging parted company with the die some time ago!

I used a glue stick to stick the die cuts on to the tag base.

I then tore off three lengths of copper tape and scrunched up each one.  Roughly unfolding the scrunched tape and removing the paper backing, I lay it down the centre of the tag, I then did the same with the other two lengths, placing each side of the one already on the tag. I used a craft knife to cut off the surplus.

I have a Cricut tool, I don't know what it's called, but it's idea for smoothing over the surface of the tag, paying particular attention to the raised die cut areas.  I then used a paper stump to go around the die cuts, to ensure that the die cuts stood proud from the base.  

Once I was satisfied, I used two shades of Ranger Distress Paint:  Salvaged Patina and Uncharted Mariner to achieve a more mottled look. I used a chisel shaped paint brush to apply the paint, to ensure a good coverage.  I set it aside for five minutes to dry a little.

Once dry, I buffed the surface of the tag with an old fabric rag, paying attention to the die cut areas again.  When I was satisfied with the look of it, I mounted the tag on a piece of co-ordinating card and threaded a ribbon through it.

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If you would like to learn more about #tapeatag, why not join the Facebook group, the link is here.  It is run by Karen Warneke of Oarsum Crafts.  There is lots of inspiration in the group.

Sticky backed foil tags (Tape-a-tag)

While away at the caravan, I watched a youtube crafting tutorial by Keren Warneke of "Oarsum Crafts made by KJ", where she shared how she uses sticky backed foil tape to create decorative tags.  I was intreagued and decided I needed to have a go myself once I was back home.

In the meantime, I found that there was also a Facebook group for the tags too, the link to the group is called "Tape-A-Tag" and the link to the group is here.

I got home from the caravan this afternoon and once the first load of washing was in the machine, I sat down at my craft desk to have a play.

I was very fortunate, that I recognised the foil tape Karen used in her tutorial.  I asked Hubby if he still had some and he did, so I rescued it from the shed and the tape is now officially a craft supply and will not be returning to the shed again!

I started with a tag blank.  I cut pieces of cardboard into rough triangle shapes and used a glue stick to stick the shapes into position on to the blank tag. 

I cut off two lengths of foil tape of similar length, slightly longer than the tag length.  I scrunched each one up separately till the foil tape was a ball.  I lightly opened the tape, retaining all the crinkles, removed the backing and stuck the tape down the middle of the tag over the triangle pieces.

With the second piece of tape, again I opened it up and cut it in half, sticking half on one side of the tag and half on the other, till the tag itself was covered.  I turned the tag over and removed the excess using a craft knife.

Next I smoothed the foil over the triangle areas and used an embossing tool to detail the sections between the triangles.

I decided I wanted to replicate the colour of my favourite chocolate bar by using Ranger "Villainous Potion" purple Distress Paint, I painted over the surface of the foil, ensuring it was totally covered.  I set it aside for five minutes, then buffed the surface of the tag with a piece of kitchen roll, removing any surplus paint.

I then added the words "Spread the love" using a Clarity Stamp word sticker with a white background, before mounting the tag on a white background and using a white "hole re-inforcer" before threading silver ribbon through the tag to finish.

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I then moved on to the silver tag.  

I used the same process of covering the tag with foil, but this time I didn't scrunch the tape, so the surface was relatively smooth. I ran an old membership card across the surface to make it as smooth as I could achieve.

Using a ruler and a ball ended embossing tool, I created vertical lines over the tag.

Next, I coated the whole tag with a black Sharpie pen.  I set it aside for a couple of minutes then buffed the surface with a piece of kitchen roll, removing the majority of the black Sharpie ink.  The result of it reminds me of the "Black Ice" technique which I tried a few years back using mirror card.

I mounted the tag on to black card stock, then added a sentiment, which is from the Clarity Stamps "Words Stickers" set.  Finally, I threaded a silver ribbon through the hole.

#tapeatag