Altered Tag Swap

A couple weeks ago, QueenBe (Carol) suggested hosting an altered tag swap. She sent out plain manilla tags to half a dozen folks, and our job was to go at them in any way we please, then send them back. I finally got mine done and sent off late last week.

I've had some ideas floating around for a while now to incorporate fabric into my collage work. At the very same time, Melange hosted a "Transfer Challenge" on their blog. I incorporated my fabric ideas into this challenge and did a homemade inkjet paper technique which I could also use for my tags.

To get started on my set of tags I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink on the tags, spritzed them with water, then let them dry. As a base, I adhered bits of sewing pattern with Golden's soft gel. As that dried I gathered an assortment of tidbits to complement a "seamstress" theme, including rick rack, lace, vintage buttons and measuring tape, pins, and pieces of button cards. Oh, and of course my mini images printed on cotton. I did a little sewing here and there for added interest, then toped it all off with gloss soft gel. (I wish I'd gone with a matte finish instead, but I'm still learning by trial and error.) Here's the finished result:

Now I'm just waiting for my assortment to come back to me... a pouch of pretty little presents from some of my favorite Etsy pals!