Friday, February 22, 2008

six steps of fun!

OK, here is how I make my business cards and tags. Step 1, use shipping labels or cardstock for your base. I like the shipping tags because they are bigger and I think they look funky in a good way. Here you can see that I have distressed them. I use a variety of inks and ink pads to do this. My favorite is Tim Holtz distress ink pads. (Sold at Michael's and Hobby Lobby and on line.)
Step 2 is actually putting some color on your tags, however you want to do it, but remember that only little parts of this will be showing. Sometimes I put ink on both sides of the card.
Step 3 I use the same method as Step 2 on a sheet of sticker paper as a base for my name sticker. You can get 30 sheets of sticker paper for $10.79 at Staples. (Or you can get it for $1.79 if you take in 3 empty ink cartridges.) They will give you a $3.00 coupon for each cartridge. And I always need ink.

Step 4 You can see in the above photo where I have stamped a sheet with my name sticker. I had this stamp made at a stationary store. Stamp up your name stickers. You can also use regular paper or cardstock. I like the sticker paper. With the others you can use a Xyron to make the back sticky or use glue.


Step 5 Use a punch to punch out your name sticker. I have a round stamp so I use a round punch. Use whatever shape you like. Punch these out and put aside.
I wanted to add my blogsite so I typed out a page with that info and cut them out.
I am selling a line of bags made from recycled jeans called rag bagz, so I made a sticker for that.
Step 6 After making a big pile of all three stickers....the fun begins. I do this while watching TV.
Take your tag base and add your stickers on it in whatever form you like. You can assemble them all the same or mix it up. I prefer to mix it up. Then other ideas come to me and I branch out from there.
I have this box of misc. stickers made from punches and rubber stamp designs. I use them to fill in an empty spot or to just add a little extra something to the card. Sometimes I put one or two on the back of the card or I will use a rubber stamp.




This card is made of just cardstock. I often recycle junk mail and catalogs, magazines, ect,for these. I always look beyond what I am really looking at in a magazine.
I like using lots of colors. There are no set rules to this. Just have fun with it. You are giving away a little piece of art with each card.
Have a great weekend and if you make some of these be sure to show them to me.





4 comments:

Sharon Tomlinson said...

I'm taking a quick break so I will be quick about it.

so way cool. love this idea of giving a little piece of art.

Suze said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I always love to meet other "Suze's". People often ask me about how the spelling of my name came about. My father is French and all of my siblings and I have very french names. How did you come to spell your name that way? Love your business tags and I also the use distressed ink pads. come see my shabby 2" square I made for Pink Artist. Yours are great!

tascha said...

Those are so beautiful!

Nichol Brinkman said...

Suze,
Those are great. Thanks for the description--it's so useful---especially knowing the materials you use. I had no idea that "distress ink" even existed, and I always wondered how people get that effect. Your sticker thing is cool too, I am way jealous. You take HANDMADE to a new level with even your marketing stuff being handmade--I love it. Do you sell your bags on Etsy? Let me know if you do, so I can link to your shop on my blog.

Thanks for the "6 steps of fun"---I'll have to show you some pictures when I make some.

Best,Nichol