Studio Monday with Nina-Marie: Last Minute Gift Tags (That Still Look Gorgeous!)
Hello crafty friends, it’s Nina-Marie here with you today for a new Studio Monday video!
This week I want to share a last minute gift tag idea that features both Hero Arts & Simon Says Stamp products! When you think of making something last minute, you usually envision something basic and simple right? We think there isn’t enough time to make it have a “wow” factor.
Not so! Just because something is made during crunch time, doesn’t mean it can’t look like a work of art. The tags I have created today feature a VERY simple Distress Ink and stencil technique that does all the hard work for you in just a couple short minutes… keep reading (and watch the video!) and I will show you just how quickly these came together.
I used the Hero Arts Forest Scene stencil paired with Distress Inks to create the backgrounds for my tags; by applying three different shades of inks through the stencil, I was able to create a variegated color palette that adds instant interest to the tag (the tags are die cut using the Nesting Tags dies from Hero Arts). To further texturize the tags, I added water splatters and flicks of the Finetec gold watercolors.
The sentiments are created using the Simon Says Stamp Believe stamp and die sets. I LOVE that script believe, it is just gorgeous! I heat embossed the believe sentiment with embossing powder and die cut it with the coordinating outline die; I then popped it up off of the tag, above where the rest of the sentiment is heat embossed directly onto the tag.
Color palettes are so much fun to come up with… for these tags I chose Festive Berries, Fired Brick and Seedless Preserves for the red tags; and then I used Shabby Shutters, Evergreen Bough and Pine Needles for the green tags. I find that because this stencil is so delicate, it is best to dab onto the stencil instead of brushing over it as you might normally do with a stencil (unless you were to use a temporary adhesive on the back of the stencil to adhere it down to the paper).
The brush I used to apply the Distress Inks was an inexpensive craft foam brush (mine was about 2 inches wide, found at my local craft store). I dampened the brush and squeezed out any excess water before bringing it over to the stencil-covered paper; remember that the more water you use with stencils, the more it will run… so if you want a less defined image, use more water. If you want something more crisp, use less.
To finish things off, I tied a bit of ribbon and hemp around the tops of tags; to prevent the ribbons from fraying, I used the We R Memory Keepers Ribbon Cutter to seal the ends. This tool is so handy for giving your ribbons a nice, professional look! I’ll show you in the video how I used this tool to trim the ribbons down, so make sure to check that out if you are interested!
In all, these tags took very little time to put together; all four took me less than an hour and I could have made a bunch more in that same amount of time, because I was working in assembly-line style. So I hope this has given you ideas and encouraged you to think that just because something might be last minute, does not mean you have to sacrifice on beauty!
WATCH THE VIDEO
I love these tags with that beautiful background and embossing! Lovely!! Thanks for sharing the video.
What a great idea. Thank you for this. I also love the tool you used for the ribbon .
Love this messy look – like finding images in the cracks of a wall. Very pretty!
Gorgeous and fast! Great combo! TFS Hugs Kristina
Your tags are so
fabulous! Loving
the background
stamping and the
colors, so pretty.
Carla from Utah
These are so pretty, Nina. Thanks for the helpful video. Love the believe dies.
Really Gorgeous tags!!! I love the look of the bleeding under the stencil!!
Super cute tags!
Great tags!
Beautiful tags. Love the believe stamp you used and colorful background on the tags.
I like the wonderful artsy background on the Tags.
Melissa
“Sunshine HoneyBee”
Gorgeous little tags!
Love the tags, very pretty!! I love how you made green ones and red ones, very pretty. Getting into the holiday spirit!! Thanks for sharing! Hope you are feeling better soon! You’re voice actually sounds worse :( Rest Up!
Such fun!!
Beautiful! Merry Christmas
Great tags.
Beautiful–getting into panic mode before Christmas, so perfect to have quick yet beautiful tags to add to special gifts! Thanks for the inspiration.
Oh how beautiful!
Really lovely tags, I love those believe sentiments!
These are beautiful. Love the colors.
Very artsy and SO fun, too! I like the colors and the added splatters. Thanks for the video.
Gorgeous tags!!
So beautiful! Can’t believe how quickly you can get such results! Thanks for sharing :)
Gorgeous, artistic tags–love these! Those metallic paints are on my wishlist!
Great tags!
Beautiful tags!
Very cute. Love the color choices and the not quite perfect trees.
Love your tags, the colors and the Believe die. Thanks for sharing.
Linda D.
Stenciling is a lot of fun. Was afraid of it at first
but now that I’ve done it for awhile I’m enjoying it.
Love your tags.
thanks for sharing
Merry Christmas and happy new Year
You’re right! Stencils are a quick way to get fast backgrounds down! What a great reminder! The shiny splatters add so much Nina. Perfect!
Try as I might, and promise as I do, I’m still down to the last minute on several holiday preparations. Great idea on these tags. I love the watercolor look, mostly because you can cover up a lot of mistakes, which I tend to make when I’m in a hurry. Thanks for the great video, ideas & impetus to get me moving.
I love these tags because of the coloring and the hold sentiment. The background reminds me of mar beling.
These are gorgeous! I’ve recently discovered the joy of stencilling a background – makes things go so much faster!
Such beautiful tags! They are too pretty for my wrapped boxes!
These tags are creative and so beautiful!
They scream happy.
Really pretty, love the colors!
I love these tags! What gorgeous colors!
Wow, these look fab!
Thanks for the tips. I’m among the many crafters scrambling to make last-minute tags.
These are beautiful!!, love the color combo and the mix/match of the gold and silver embossing is a perfect touch!!
Lovely Christmas tags.
Gorgeous, Nina-Marie!! I can’t wait to give this a try!
Great tags! I love the believe die. I am using it on my cards this year.
Such beautiful tags Nina! I would so love to have that believe die….One day, I will!
Great fun
Another fun project Nina Marie! I haven’t made tags before, would love to now for future birthday presents!
I love the casual artsy look of these tags – they are so fun and relaxed looking.
Love the colors on these tags. That’s a gift on a gift. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas.
perfect gift tags. . . .like this technique!
Love those gorgeous watercolor background. What a fun idea and some super quick ideas for tags. Thanks!