Tag Your It

I love making tag art.. it's quick, allows you to make that mini masterpiece. I have used them for gift tags, placed in my art journals, and have them all over my inspiration wall. They are a wonderful tool to use if you are involved in many of the challenge blogs on the internet, or if you want to try out a new technique it allows just the perfect amount of space to work and then you can write on the back of the tag what steps were taken to acquire your look. My style of art is vintage, worn, distressed so the tea stained tag works perfect for me. I try to keep a big apothecary jar full of these tags all ready for use. Here are my steps that I take to prepare my tags .

Large pan full of water and add about 30 tea bags... ( I know that sounds like a lot, I buy the store brand so it's not too expensive) You can also use instant coffee for this technique. Boil until you get a deep rich tone to your water.


 

Using tongs, separate the tags in the water so the tea is distributed properly. The circular reinforcements will drop off, but there is no need for these



Lay your tags out to dry

 

The next step is optional because you might want  completely flat surface to work on. I love the texture of wrinkles so I make the majority of my tags with the next step. But I do keep some on hand that are completely flat for those projects that call for that look. 

While still damp, roll your tag in a ball and squeeze tightly, unfold and lay back out to continue drying.

 

 

I love the old look the wrinkles give to the tags and applying whitewash or Distressed Inks is so easy to accomplish an old look.

 

Once again, the next step is optional but I love the technique of leaving a cup stain on some of my tags. Your tea or coffee mixture needs to be very dark in order to get a nice tea stain.

 

And the final step that I apply to some of my tags is rolling the edges with a skewer, pencil... etc. to give it that funky old look. Make sure your tags are still damp because when they dry the rolls will be set.

Then you have a whole lot of little canvases ready for your art. I know there are many tutorials on the internet for these techniques but you can never have too much inspiration. The plain manila tags can be purchased at my Etsy shop @ https://www.etsy.com/listing/94773701/manila-tag-number-8?ref=shop_home_active_6&ga_search_query=tag

Happy Crafting..... xoxox Toni