Cardmaking: Making A Tag Booklet

There is simply something magical about the act of untying and opening gifts and cards. Today we use a couple of simple tags and turn them into a booklet. The booklet is tied together with rope and ribbon before being handed to the recipient. This untying of the 'card' makes the act of receiving it so much more fun. Just watch people's faces when you hand them their tag booklet, to witness the sheer delight.

Start by punching a few tags out of cardboard. I used 5 tags in the project, but you can use as many as makes sense for your own needs. If you do not have a tag punch, you can use a Cricut machine, or trace some tags and cut them by hand with scissors or a craft knife.

I find a newspaper article with lots of writing and cut strips of this print from the newspaper.

I then punch 5 tags from the newspaper print as well.

I use Dala Acrylic Gel Medium to paint the tags.

I then lie the newspaper tags on top of the wet Acrylic Gel Medium and give the tags another coat of the medium over the newsprint. Note the cute photo of an artwork I found in the newspaper and managed to include in my tags.

Once the newspaper side of the tags are dry, I turn them over and layer another coating of the Acrylic Gel Medium on the backs of the tags.

I then lay the tags on top of some old sheet music I keep in my paper stash. Browse through your local antique shops to find yellowed sheet music.

Yet another tag is punched from some craft paper.

This craft paper tag is decoupaged onto the back of one of the newspaper tags.

The sheet music backs of the tags are coated with the Acrylic Gel Medium.

Once the tags are dry, I find Dala Acrylic Paint in Raw Sienna and with a wet brush, I colour wash the newspaper side of the tags to give them an aged appearance.

Again, I wait for the tags to dry before finally cutting them apart.

I now use Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain to ink the edges of the tags.

I use some Washi Tape to tape the tags together.

Leave a slight opening between the tags when you tape them together.

First, I tape all of the tags together on one side.

Then I turn them over and tape them together on the other side as well.

The Washi Tape is trimmed to take the shape of the tags.

I now fold my tags concertina style. The artwork from the newspaper forms the outside of the tag booklet when viewed from one side.

When viewed from the other side, the craft paper is on the outside of the tag.

I now find some stamps with flourishes and curls.

I randomly stamp the tags on both sides, making sure to avoid any pattern, and allowing the stamp to run off the tags in places.

I then re-fold the tags and punch a hole through the top of the booklet.

You should now write your message in the tag booklet. You may also choose to include photos, tickets stubs, or similar memento's in your booklet.

Remember that you can use both sides of the tag booklet for your messages and memento's.

Cut a piece of rough string and fine ribbon to roughly equal lengths.

Fold the two in half.

Push the loop through the hole punched in the tags.

Pull the loose ends of the string and ribbon through the looped end and pull tight.

The completed tag booklet when viewed from one side.

The tag booklet when viewed from the reverse side.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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