Metal Tags

Metal Tags
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Yeah, I'm still here!

It's surprising how many times I've read that sentence on other people's blogs this week. ;-) And now I'm the one saying it! Ha ha ha!!!

I don't have a really good excuse either. I've just been busy elsewhere and haven't had much time to create.

I did, however, find the time to make these two metal tags. I watched a class on UStream, hosted by Linda Israel. She's quite talented! Linda made metal-like tags using chipboard (I used an old cereal box) and alcohol inks on metal tape--the kind used for actual duct work. (Which, unlike actual duct TAPE, is actually used for actual work on actual heating and air ducts. Mike Holmes says duct tape has many uses--duct work isn't one of them. Five points if you know who Mike Holmes is!)

So Linda die cut little tags (I used a tag punch) from chipboard she had covered with the metal tape. (I found that too many layers for the punch, so I punched the tag and then covered it with the metal tape.)

Then she spritzed the tag with alcohol and began dropping the alcohol inks on the tags, swirling the colors together. She stamped text all over the tag using Archival ink--I used Stazon. She punched holes in the top and bottom, used matte medium to adhere bits of paper and other images, and to seal the image when she was finished. Then she slipped jump rings and charms in the bottom holes. Finally she added chain to make the tag wearable. (I used rattail cord instead.)

Linda used a silver leafing pen for the edges of the tag. I don't have one so I just sanded the edges of the green tag to make it look like I had used a silver pen.

They are surprisingly light, for all the layers, and since I have multitudinous amounts of Tim Holtz's alcohol inks, I can pretty much make one for every outfit I own. HA HA.

The butterfly is from Graphic 45 paper and the little bird is from My Mind's Eye. I distressed everything with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy. The text is from an old English textbook.

These are really quite easy to make and fast too. And with various ink colors, stamps, papers and images, you could dress them up or distress them down. ;-)


Check out Linda's UStream channel. She's so much fun to watch!


~Cynthia