Embellished Tags

My shoulders, arms, and hands are finally feeling better. Not what they once were, but at my age I don't guess I can expect anything to be what it once was. The trick now will be to ease back into my needlework and quilt making activities without going overboard. To that end I have chosen to make a few more textile collages that I can mount on tags. The tags I have were bought several years ago from our local Office Depot. They were labelled as shipping tags. They measure 2.25" wide and are 4.75" high. That gives me about 2" x 4" to play in. I have two to show you. This first one began with a cloth napkin that had a rose bud stitched in one corner. It was awfully neutral so to give it some color  I wrapped the stitches of the rose bud with a silk floss and the leaves with cotton. 

I love to play with charms and beads in my work so I have quite a collection to choose from.

I also had a play with a skinny strip of some mysterious striped fabric, creating a ruffle with some of it and just stitching the rest down flat.

That tag has layers of textiles but they are all secured to the napkin base. This second tag developed in a whole different way.

 I actually started with the scrap of lace and built downwards. I liked the lace over the William Morris repro print that ended up being the bottom layer but it blended in too much. I needed a bit of contrast. That's when the chambray scrap turned up. I decided to do a bit of feather stitching to dress it up a bit, with size 12 perle cottons.

Then I felt the Wm. Morris print needed dressing up too.

The script print, button, and dangling fibers at the top were added at the end to hold everything together. I've used Scotch brand double sided tape in strips to mount the textiles to the tags. I find it interesting that I've been able to embrace raw edges at last. The perfectionist in me would not have allowed that in the past. 😉 

These will be sent to the Disabled Artists Foundation Inc. for an upcoming fund raising auction. I may even get one or two more made before I send anything off!