Tutorial | 15 Together

This week my husband and I celebrated our 15th anniversary.  I wanted to create something that would commemorate the milestone and get me a bit of creative time too.  I always love when I can add fabric on a tag.  Muslin is one of my favorite fabrics to use because it is inexpensive and so easy to color with inks.  It is a true blank canvas!  And with the new set of first four minis of the 2015 Distress Inks, color goodness!

Place a piece of cotton muslin on a craft sheet.  Create lines of color on the dry fabric by raking the ink pad directly onto the fabric.  This piece of fabric is about 6″ x 6″.  Oftentimes I will color a piece larger than I need so that I will have plenty of scraps for other projects.

Mist the fabric generously with water.  The color will blend and wick through the fabric.

Wring the fabric in a towel to remove excess water.

Dry the fabric with a heat tool.

Use a glue stick to apply glue to a scrap of cotton batting that is about the same size as the fabric.

Look at both sides of the fabric and decide which you will use on top.  The colors on the inked side will be bolder.  The color on the non-inked side will be softer and more aged looking.

Adhere the fabric to the top of the batting.

To add pattern to the fabric, place the Chevron Layering Stencil over the fabric/batting piece.  Use an ink blending tool to pounce Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink onto the fabric through the stencil.

Pounce Gathered Twigs Distress Ink onto the fabric through the stencil using an ink blending tool.

Apply the accent color randomly so that it doesn’t cover all the first color.

Generously spray water onto your hand.  Flick the water onto the fabric to create water spots and to help soften the look of the stenciling.

Dry the fabric with a heat tool.

Accent the stenciled design with machine stitching.

Die cut a heart from the fabric.  (I use the heart from the Love Struck die, it is my favorite Tim Holtz heart die.)  Place the Measured Layering Stencil over the die cut.  Pounce Gathered Twigs Distress Ink onto the die cut through the stencil using an ink blending tool.  (I made sure to include the 27 for our anniversary.)

Adhere the die cut heart to a piece of Burlap Textured Surfaces.  Add more machine stitching to adhere the two pieces together.  Trim the burlap around the heart leaving a thin burlap border.

Blend Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink along the right edge of a Ranger Ink #8 manila tag using an ink blending tool.

Place the Latticework Layering Stencil over the tag.  Randomly pounce Gathered Twigs Distress Ink onto the tag using an ink blending tool.  You can add extra definition to the design by using the fine tip end of a Vintage Photo Distress Marker to randomly trace around elements from the stencil.  Don’t overdo it with outlining though because it can quickly add too much prominence to the background.

Use a glue stick to adhere the fabric/batting piece along the left half of the tag.

Trim the fabric to match the edges of the tag.

Machine stitch around all sides of the tag about 1/4″ from the edge.  Machine stitch a pattern over the fabric part of the tag to create a quilted look.  I added a simple grid pattern using the edge of my presser foot as a stitching guide.  I stitched slightly off of the edge of the fabric onto the tag on each line.

Create a Fluffy Bow from Crinkle Ribbon.  Tie the ribbon around the center of the tag.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for another quick ribbon coloring technique!  See the previous ribbon and bow tutorials in my ribbonwork gallery.

Adhere the assembled heart over the ribbon next to the bow.

Tuck pieces of flowers from the Botanical Remnant Rubs slightly under the edge of the heart.  Cluster the flower pieces all around the heart including over the ribbon band.

Tip- Be sure your ink is dry before adding rub-ons.  They will not stick as well if the ink is still wet.

Place a Number Brad on top of the round part of a Memo Pin.  Flatten the prongs of the brad around the edges of the Memo Pin.  Snip the edges of the brads off where they are too long.  Fill the back of the Number Brad/Memo Pin piece with clear, quick drying glue to help secure the two pieces together.

When dry, flip the piece over.  Tap Picket Fence Distress Paint onto the front of the Number Brad.  Dry the paint with a heat tool.  Sand the front of the brad with a sanding grip.  Sanding will remove all the paint except for the paint in the number and will add some age to the brad.

Pin the Number Brad/Memo Pin through the fabric part of the heart.  (On my tag, the 5 is for May, the 27 is for the 27th which is my anniversary.)

Add number or word Remnant Rubs to a Monocle.  (I used a 15 for our 15th anniversary and for 2015.)  Use a Loop Pin to pin an Adornments Charm and the Monocle onto the bow.

Use an ink blending tool to add a punch of color with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink to the upper and lower right corners.

There is just something about the look and feel of quilting that makes me think of the cozy comforts of home.  I love that the background of the tag combines symbols of home and garden, which is important to David and I.

I love the little birdies on this sheet of Remnant Rubs.  I snipped one bird off so that there would only be birds setting on the branch.  I added the word “forever” under the birdies too.

I love the added definition that adding a few outlines of the stencil adds to the background.  By using the same color or close to the same color it keeps it subtle.

Aren’t the little hints of botanicals peeking out from under the heart so pretty?  And yes, the Remnant Rubs were applied over the top of the ribbon band.

You could choose any numbers that are significant to you if creating a tag to commemorate a date or anniversary.  My tag is for my 15th wedding anniversary, 5/27/15.  The quilting and garden symbolizes home, the heart is for love which is at the center of it all, and the Fleur de Lis is for St. Louis where we live.  I love when you can add little elements to symbolize things that are important to you.

In 15 years there have been lots of highs and lows for us.  Through it all though, there isn’t anyone else I would rather have by my side.  David is such a perfect complement to me, I am blessed to call him mine.  It sure was fun to work on this tag while thinking about us, where we have been and where we are going.  We are certainly blessed to have each other.

I hope you found a few ideas or elements in this tag that you can use in a project of your own!  There are so many bits that are great on their own.  And all combined… well, definitely one of my most favorite tags to date!

Don’t forget that I will be back tomorrow with another quick ribbon dying tutorial.  I hope you will check it out!