Sparkle & Grunge . . .

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So, my friend Phyllis has created a monster!  At the Country Living Fair that we attended together on Saturday she pointed out some grungy, aged looking tags; some were plain, others decorated with vintage papers, buttons, ribbons, etc.  On Sunday I played around a bit (see post here), but then yesterday (Monday) I really got crazy with the new 'sparkly grunge' idea, and made these lovelies . . .

Three of the prettiest tags I've EVER seen!  My faves are the two most elaborate ones (of course) but think all three are so pretty!  All of the paper products are the same; manilla tags purchased from an office supply store, paper flowers made from the blank pages of a very old journal and an even older 'History of Georgia' school book that is disintegrating as we speak.  The pages are very delicate!  Beyond the paper, let's take a look at them individually:

'merci' . . .

Lots of brown ink, lots of Stickles 'platinum' (my go-to Stickles), 'Iris' seed beads, one tiny lampwork bead, a stick pin made of a quilters pin, more iris beads, and stickles, plain and crinkled seam binding, purple satin ribbon, cut into strips (didn't want to go too crazy with the purple), cotton twine, and a piece of older (not too old) lace.  I grunged the lace and seam binding with a bit of brown ink and even more stickles.

'hello' . . .
 

As in the others, lots of brown ink and Stickles 'platinum', plus seed beads, other miscellaneous beads, crinkled seam binding, cotton twine, and 'aged' cotton muslin.  The stick pin on this one is from Jenni Bowlin.

'thinking of you' . . .

Once again, lots of brown ink and Stickles 'platinum', plus assorted seed beads, a larger Iris bead, and a larger gold bead, a sparkly bird, a couple of very old buttons in iris-y shades, ivory lace, blue crinkled seam binding, ivory wired organza ribbon, and red twine from a large bag of dog food (and yes, I am a craft supply packrat, thank you very much!). 

I am in love with these tags, and the idea of sending something this pretty instead of a greeting card.  I also look forward to making many more, but it will probably be Saturday at the earliest, but probably next week, because hubby has decided to take off two days in the middle of the week, plus I have a 2 week follow-up appointment with my mom's Opthalmologist to see how her eyes are doing after her cataract surgery tomorrow. I may get to do some playing on Saturday, but who knows!

These tags, along with their white envelopes for mailing, are now up for sale in my Etsy shop, so if you are interested, go check them out!   Thanks for visiting, and blessings friends!!!  Becky


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