Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Tag Card Tutorial

     There were so many requests for the instructions for my FSS Blog Hop card I figured I'd better get busy on this tutorial.  It's really not a difficult card to make and can be constructed in so many different ways.  There was no tutorial for the cards I saw (I'll give you links to those at the end of the post) so I had to try to figure everything out myself.  I can't guarantee this is how the inventor did it, but it works for me.
     Let's start with the base first.  You'll need to cut a cardstock base for your card at 6" x whatever.  LOL  Lot of help that is huh.  Well this is the part that I thought needed tweaking on my card.  I cut my cardstock at 9 1/4" which was actually too long compared to the example I was trying to go by.  This measurement is totally up to you.  All this effects is how much of a lip sticks up from the back of your card.  So you definitely need to have 7" to make a complete pocket, but the amount extra left for your punched edge/edges is up to you and differs depending upon the punch.
     In the picture you'll see a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock cut at 6" x 11" and scored at 3 1/2".

     You'll need to check the amount of paper that gets cut off when you punch the edge before you punch your card.  This will help you figure out how much you need to leave for the back lip depending on how high you want it to extend.  Here's an easy way to figure this out.

     Go ahead and fold on your scoreline.  Take a scrap piece of paper and use the punch you've chosen on it.  Line up the edge of the punched piece on the top edge of the pocket you've folded up from the scoreline.  Mark along the edge of the punched piece and you can use these marks to cut your cardstock and have it the perfect height for your punched edge.  NOTE:  This will have the bottom of your punched edge even with the front of the card.  If you want a larger lip on the back like my FSS card, you'll need to add extra length .
     Here's what it will look like when cut like above.


    After you have the base cut to your liking, you need to cut out the scalloped piece for the front of the card.  I used the same cardstock as the base card.  For the scallop I used the largest Classic Scalloped Circle Nestie (S4-124) and the second largest Standard Circles Large (S4-114).  Use some tape to hold the two in place together and run them through your die cut machine.  Pop out the center circle and cut the scallop below the fifth scallop on each side.  The large piece gets glued onto the front panel of your card over the DP. 


     Center the scalloped piece on the front panel and draw a light pencil line around the inside circle of the scallop piece.  Cut this piece out slightly larger than the drawn circle.

     The front panel of DP will be cut at 5 3/4" x 3 1/4".  You might want to use a little repositionable tape or a Two Way Glue pen to temporarily affix this panel to the front of the card.  Once you do this flip the base over and trace around the inside of the circle cut out.  This will also need to be cut slightly larger than drawn.  You want all the edges to be hidden underneath the scalloped piece.

     Attach your DP panels to the front.  Now is the time to do any machine stitching if you'd like to add that.  You can also cut your panel of DP for the inside of the card.  I cut mine at 5 3/4" x 3 3/4".  Attach this.
     Attach the scallop piece to the front of the card and you should have this.

     Apply 1/8"  score tape to the inside right and left sides of the front panel.  If you're using wider adhesive you will have to adjust the width of the slide in tag part of the card.  Remove the protective tape and press the front and back sections together.  You can add any other embellishments you like to the front of the card and you can also stamp or write something in the cut out opening that will be revealed when the insert is withdrawn.
     Now we'll make the tag insert.  If you want the tag to have a punched top edge I would do the punching first and then cut the tag to measure 3 3/4" x 5 1/2" .  You can add mats to this piece however you'd like including more punchwork.  Don't forget to do any machine stitching before you apply the mat panels to the base tag.
     For the image I punched another of the largest Scalloped Nesties, leaving it whole.  I then cut a whole circle using the largest Standard Circle Nestie and used the inside of that Nestie to draw a light circle around my image.  I cut the image out by hand.  You can do this any way you like.  All these layers were glued together.  Next I put the tag panel inside the pocket and then lined the image/mat stack up to fit in the cut out hole.  I just held it in place and slipped a little glue under the edge to get it started.  I use the Scotch Quick Dry so it was secure pretty quickly and I could pull the whole tag out and add glue under the rest of the scallop to secure the image completely.  The position of the image stack will differ depending on the height you want it to stick up over the top of the back edge.
     Here are links to three cards made similar to this by the exceedingly talented Marianne.  This lady has some major talent and inspires me so much.  I just wish she would do tutorials for all her ideas. {sigh}
Angel and bunny
Baby Carriage
Dandelion Girl
     I hope this was easy to understand.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.  I'll have another card made like this posting tomorrow.
Blessings!

2 comments:

Nancy said...

Thank you so much for sharing these instructions Tracy! I really LOVE what you've done with it! It would be super cute for a mini album too, wouldn't it? :o)

Unknown said...

Goodness girl, it must have taken you quite some time to put this tutorial together. You're a great teacher, that's for sure!