Inspiration for your paper crafts projects can come from many different places. I usually start by looking through my magazines or surfing the web. I also like to look through the supplies I have on hand and see if anything sparks my creativity. The inspiration for this project came from my growing collection of found objects, which can be obtained from a variety of places, and my paper stash. The tag can be copied as is or you can use the idea as a starting place for your own unique creation.
While I created this tag simply for the sake of expression, a tag like this could be used on the front of a greeting card, as an attachment to a wrapped gift or a sweet tuck in for a letter or card. It would also make a nice surprise left on the keyboard of a coworker. For the tag I started looking through my scraps and found some ephemera printed images and antique keys as the pattern. I thought I might have a key in my "found objects" treasure drawer so I started going through the rejected objects that I had saved with the hope of turning them into something artistic. To my dismay, I had no key but did find an old watch - I played with that for awhile and nothing came to me so I went back to my stash and found a little heart on a key chain. The heart had a cross on one side and a picture of Jesus on the other, you know the kind that was on the Sunday School wall in 2nd grade. From that and the keys, I developed the theme of “the key to my heart”.
For this project you will need:
Scrap of solid color cardstock
Four small tags
Scraps of ephemera
Your choice of embellishments
Glue dots
Glue stick
Hole Punch
Distressing Ink
Small piece of jute
Brayer
Small letter stamps or word stamps
Small charms
Begin by cutting tag shape to desired size from cardstock. Punch a hole in the top of the tag. Tip: You could also use a pre-made tag. Ink edges of tag with dark brown ink. Tear a few small pieces of ephemera type printed paper and ink edges with distressing ink. I like to use Jim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger. For this project I also used two small ephemera coupons and inked these as well. Collage pieces to desired effect using a glue stick and a brayer to adhere to tag. Next take your four small tags and distress with ink, let dry, and then stamp your message with dark brown ink. Adhere small tags to large tag. Finish by using glue dots to adhere small charms. Tie jute with key chain in the tag hole. Fray the jute a bit for a weathered look.
