The Evolution of a Tag

Anyone who has ever had to make more than one of the same thing knows that the hardest part of the project is creating that "first one". It begins with an idea and then proceeds to making several prototypes before deciding on a pleasing final design.
When you are creating a tag for a tag swap of Elizabeth's (of Creative Breathing) group of high caliber paper artists, it's important to get it just right! With that said, I thought I would take you through the steps I took to create my tag for Elizabeth's Retro Kitchen Tag Swap....a project that I had lots of fun with. This is heavy on photos so if you want to go throw a load of laundry in or make yourself a sandwich first, I'll understand. Here we go...

My choice of subject for my tag was the refrigerator..... I had to design my tag and include a recipe on the back. Sounds simple enough, right?

My first model...

I decided to mount the frig on a backing to make it sturdier and allow me to punch a hole on the top.

It was OK but not great....too, too plain! I needed a different background...

Love the October Afternoon flowered paper....

Much better choice...but the front is still a little too plain. I know, a funny phrase...

OK -that's it!

 (The glue stick is my favorite brand..it smells like almond and holds really good!)

Now on to the assembly...

all ready for the trimmings....first the fringed towels...

then the stitching....well, my kind of stitching with a pen...

then the handles, cut out of shiny silver cardstock

and the grill...

then on to the inside of the frig...the housewife is printed on the cardstock

and the food is all hand cut....

and then I redid the recipe in a different font (Enviro) to be easier to read...

Ready to mail....Elizabeth, you should receive them by Friday!

If you would like to see the rest of the tags made by the other artists,

Elizabeth has been posting photos on her blog as she receives them

and I will post them all when I receive them in the mail.

This was a really fun challenge and I look forward to whatever Elizabeth is

 "cooking up" for the summer swap!

Joyce

XOXO