festive ice skate tag card…

DSC07414
there’s a festive chill in the air this holiday season so time for a little winter fun. i always get asked what to do with all of the tags i make?  well you can use them as an actual tag and place in a journal or scrapbook page, or use as a gift tag, or perhaps cut the top off the tag and layer on a card…but what about making an actual card from a tag?   today i wanted to share a simple tag card using the bigz ice skate die i designed for sizzix this year.  i must say many people are loving this new ice skate die and the coordinating mini movers and shapers ice skate die (sure seems to bring up lots of childhood memories for many).  one of the cool features of the bigz ice skate die is the ability to lace the skates since the die actually cuts lacing slots  – here’s how…

DSC07393step 1: begin by die cutting a pair of the bigz ice skates from grungeboard.

DSC07394step 2: paint the ice skates with distress paint and let dry.

DSC07395step 3: sand and scuff the edges of the ice skates using a sanding grip.

DSC07396step 4: ink the ice skates with distress ink using an ink blending tool.

DSC07416step 5: cut a piece of waxed linen thread about 15″ long and thread on to a needle.  *note: if you don’t have waxed linen thread, you can use any type of twine, string, even dental floss.

DSC07398step 6: notice the lacing slots cut in the die – cool huh?  (only the bigz ice skate cuts these slots -the the mini movers & shapers ice skate die does not)

DSC07399step 8: pull the thread through the slot leaving about a 4″ tail of thread.

DSC07401step 9: holding the end of the thread with your thumb, skip one slot and insert the needle through the third slot from the front of the skate creating a whip stitch.

DSC07402step 10: continue pulling the thread through and repeat next stitch by skipping a slot and inserting the needle from the front of the skate again.  (notice how the stitching creates a diagonal whip stitch?).

DSC07403step 11: repeat the previous steps going all the way down the skate skipping a slot between each stitch.  once you reach the toe of the skate, you will need to make a stitch into the last slot (therefore you will not have a space to skip).

DSC07404step 12: next you’re going to stitch moving back up to the top of the skate.  insert the needle into the next empty slot on the front of the skate to create the next stitch.

DSC07405step 13: continue stitching back to the top of the skate skipping a slot and only inserting the needle into the empty slots.

DSC07406step 14: once you reach the top your last stitch should leave the thread coming out from the back of the skate (as shown).

DSC07407step 15: take both ends of the thread and tie a bow – simple as that.

DSC07417step 16: for the tags, apply distress paint to the craft sheet.

DSC07420step 17: mist the paint with water and swipe both sides of the tags through the paint.  mist the painted tags with water to blend.

DSC07421step 18: repeat the previous step for both tags and dry completely with a heat tool until flat.

DSC07422step 19: place only ONE tag on a score board and score  1  1/4″ from the top of that tag.

DSC07423step 20: fold the ONE tag on the score line.

DSC07424step 21: apply adhesive to the top section of the ONE scored tag.

DSC07425step 22: place the ONE scored tag on top of the bottom tag, line them up, and secure them together.

DSC07426step 23: you’ve just created a tag card – pretty neat huh?

DSC07427step 24: embellish the front of the top tag.  here i embossed a piece of foil card stock and added a word band with paper string as well as secured some tinsel twine to the top of the tags using a tiny attacher.

DSC07414step 25: adhere your ice skate to the tag and add any other embellishments to finish it off.

DSC07415the details: for the top of the skate i die cut kraft core using my festive greenery die and created mini pinecones using my tattered pinecone die.  i painted the tips of everything with a little picket fence distress paint for the finishing wintery touch.

what a fun way to use a tag to create a tag card right?  hope you enjoyed this quick project and the step by step to lace up the bigz ice skate die.  hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and don’t forget to take some time for yourself to do something creative!  these skates would also make great accents for packages, wreaths, place settings, and more.  time to deck the halls…t!m

Bigz Ice Skates (SSS|IE)

 

Metallic Distress Paint (SSS|IE)

 

Picket Fence Distress Paint (SSS|IE)

 

Festive Greenery (SSS|IE)

 

TF Snowflake Pattern & Plaid (SSS|IE)

 

Bigz Tattered Pinecone (IE|SSS)

 

Plain Grungeboard (IE|SSS)

 

Foil Cardstock (IE|SSS)

 

Word Bands Christmas (SSS|IE)

 

Paper String Stripes (SSS|IE)

 

Tinsel Twine Silver (SSS|IE)

 

Kraft Core Shattered (IE|SSS)

 

Xyron Megarunner (SSS|IE)

 

Tiny Attacher (IE|SSS)

 

Sanding Grip (IE|SSS)

 

Vagabond (IE|SSS)

 

Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101