Valentine’s Day is the 14th

Valentine’s Day is the 14th

Although the techniques I used for this tag were similar to the Heart aMazing Tag, I was much happier with the results. To continue the chocolate box metaphor, I guess this one had the caramel filling.  Nom Nom.

When all else fails, Coke is it.

To most closely replicate this tag, you will need some sort of red ring. I am lucky that my vintage stash contains a plethora of red, white and green plastic translucent rings. I have no idea what they were used for or where I got them. I suspect they came from a game, but that’s just a guess. In any case, scrounge around your supplies and see what you discover. If you come up empty, you can always use the plastic top from a Coca-Cola bottle.

Measure the width of the interior of the circle and using a computer and a sans serif font, print out the number 14 onto to tan or ivory paper. Choose a font size that will mostly fill your circle. If you wish, you can print several different sizes to see which one you like best.  You can always use the leftover 14s in some other Valentine collage. Center the ring over your chosen number 14 and use a pencil to lightly trace the ring. Then cut out the circle and glue the number to the back or inside of the ring.

There’s a test to see if you are paying attention

For the next steps, follow the same process you did for the other tags—almost. Just to keep you on your toes, I threw in a couple changes (I’m nasty like that). For the base coat, use purple acrylic paint. After it dries, add a red coat, wait until it is slightly dry, then sponge dab white acrylic over it and allow to dry until tacky. Overall, the tag will have a mottled pink appearance. When you rub the damp paper towel over the embossed areas, the purple base will show through on the raised elements, and the second layer of red will appear in some non-embossed areas.

While the tag finishes drying, use another of the Grungeboard hearts from the die you used for the previous tag. Or, if you prefer, you can use a different die to cut a heart shape from the Tim Holtz Grungeboard Dots. Paint both the Grungeboard heart and a heart-shaped paper doily with the same purple paint you used earlier.

Now that’s just a doily trick.

Hey! That’s a doily trick!

Here’s a handy little trick to get extra mileage out of your doilies. Place the valentine doily on a white sheet of paper or cardstock. When you paint the doily, go slightly beyond the edges. This will create a negative image on the paper that you can then use in a future project.

After the Grungeboard and doily are dry, cut a 5” length of lavender ribbon. Dab the Grungeboard’s raised dots with red stickles. Create a row of red stickle dots along the length of the ribbon as well.

Put adhesive to the back side of a small curved section of the paper doily, making sure to remember how fragile this paper lace is. Attach doily to the corner of the tag and using a scissors, trim the doily to the edge of the tag. Glue the ring with the number 14 to the edge of the curved doily. Adhere the Grungeboard heart to the tag so it extends slightly beyond the tag. Attach a shiny red heart sticker to the Grungeboard.

After everything dries, attach a piece of coordinating paper to the back, using the same process described in the Heart aMazing Tag. Run the ribbon through the tag hole and tack together with a dab of hot glue.

Supplies:

Avery Shipping Tag, red, white and purple acrylic paint,  Stampin Up Hearts Stamp, Dream Impressions Spencerian Collage Stamp, Big and Bossy Giant Pre-Inked Embossing Pad, Melt Art Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, Tim Holtz Grungeboard Dots, Ellison Thickcuts primitive hearts, Ranger Red Stickles, vintage plastic ring from personal collection, heart sticker, doily and ribbon from unknown sources.