Graphic 45 Sun Kissed Jumbo Tag: It’s Sneak Peek Week!

Hello, G45’ers!  Is all the snow and cold weather getting you down?  How about a little beach therapy?  I’m talking sun drenched colors and charming beachy images and all the things we love about the shore.  Graphic 45’s new Sun Kissed Collection is all that and more.  I spent a happy afternoon creating this Sun Kissed Jumbo Tag to warm up your winter.  Grab your sunglasses and join me for a walk by the sea.

This ginormous tag measures 5.5″ across x 10″ tall.  That gives you lots of room to play with these vibrant papers and charming images.  I made the tag myself, from medium weight chipboard.

How to Make Your Own Sun Kissed Jumbo Tag

• First, cut a 12×12 piece of medium weight cardstock into two rectangles measuring 5.5” wide x 10” tall.
• Next, find the center point at the top of each tag, which is 2.75” and make a mark with your pencil.
• Then, from this mark at the top of your tag, measure out 1.75” on both the right and the left hand sides and make another mark.
• Now, from this mark, measure down 1”  on each side of the tag.   
• Use a ruler to draw a diagonal line from the 1.75” mark on the top of the tag  to the 1” mark on the side of the tag.  This creates a beveled corner on the tag.
• Cut along this diagonal line to create a beveled tag edge.
• Next, punch a ½” hole about ½” down from the center mark at the top of the tag.  This gives you a spot to run your ribbon or trim.  If you don’t want to do that, you can skip this step.
• Now you have two beautiful chipboard tags.
• Finally glue the layers together to make a sturdy tag that will hold up to all the layers and embellishments your heart desires!

Sun Kissed Jumbo Tag: Preparing the Background

Since you are working with raw chipboard, you will want to prepare the background before you add papers.

• First, paint a 1” border all the way around the tag. Don’t forget to paint the tag edges for a nice finished look. I used Ranger Mermaid Lagoon Distress Paint.  
• Then spritz the border with Dylusions White Linen Spray at random intervals to create the sense of white ocean spray against the blue paint.
• This color combo is a near perfect match for the Sun Kissed papers, and adds a fun mixed media element to the tag.

Sun Kissed Jumbo Tag: A look at the details

You can create your own tag embellishments using dies and paper from the collection.  This way, everything color matches perfectly.  To make these festive paper rosettes, I die cut patterned paper with Tim Holtz Rosette and Mini Rosette Dies.   They remind me of  cheery beach umbrellas.

Banner flags cut with Tim Holtz Ribbon Banner strip die add a festive, nautical feel to the tag.   I had this little silver turtle charm in my stash, and added him to a rosette.  He fits in perfectly with the fussy cut sea turtles from the paper collection.

Sun Kissed Jumbo Tag: Borders and Ephemera Cards

I’m a huge fan of the beautiful border pieces that G45 always adds to a paper collection.  I’ve used them on the top and the bottom of this tag to sort of frame the piece.

The ephemera cards in this collection are gorgeous, front AND back!  I’ve matted this large 4″ x 6″ card and used it as the focal on my tag.  The Post Card layer is trimmed from the back of another card and tucked it behind the tag focal.  Now  I can use the other portion on another project some day.

Cut a circle of striped paper to create a secondary focal image on the card.  Then dress it up with fussy cut sea turtles and a tag from the cut apart page in the collection.

 

A Week of Sneak Peeks and Giveaways on the Graphic 45 Blog

It may be too cold and nasty outside for a visit to the beach, but inside, in our craft rooms, we can create a virtual summer.  I plan to warm up my winter by making lots more paper pretties with this darling collection.

Sun Kissed should be available for purchase later this month.  But, pop on over to the Graphic 45 blog today, and leave a comment because they are doing a whole week of sneak peeks and giveaways!  You just might win this lovely collection before you can buy it!  Hooray!

I hope I’ve shared some tips and tricks that you can use in your own crafty adventures.  If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy