12 Tags of 2012 - Framed

My little creative art project is now complete. Through out the past year I’ve been inspired by Tim Holtz’s 12 tags of 2012, participating in the internet link up via Inlinks. In February there was just one solitary altered tag amoungst eleven blanks. Last week was the happy day when all the tags were finally, and colourfully, filling my board.

These past few weeks I’ve been contemplating how I would eventually display all these tags. I like to add these tags to my space where I can see them. I don’t take notes, or print off instructions. I learn by doing, improvising, and my muse and I work together with visual cues. So I make these tags to keep for my visual reference, and they look awesome as room decor too. I made many of my Christmas tags this year based on inspiration from these tags.

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I went to the discount store and found these two frames which I thought would be the perfect size. I re-arranged the tags into an order that I found pleasing and devised a way of attaching them to the backing without adding extra holes or glue to them. I’m a very ordinary photographer, but you can get idea of what they all look like together like this. And if your curious about the boards in the background, they are in fact the floorboards of the verandah. Perfectly grungy, don’t you think!

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Now I did say I would have a tutorial to show you how I mounted the tags, and here it is. Warning – there are lots of photos, but I kept the instructions brief.

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  I start with frame size 20cm x 60cm ( 8″ x 24″). Take out glass and matting, and discard.

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Cut two pieces of pellon larger than the backing board in frame. I used a cotton pellon as used by quilters as that is what I had on hand.

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Lay one piece of pellon out on the work surface.

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Spray the inside surface of the backing board with spray adhesive.

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Lay the glued surface face down onto the pellon.

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Repeat, but this time you’ll spray the pellon you have just attached to the backing board.

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Now you have two layers of pellon on your backing board. Trim back the excess pellon.

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Spray the top layer of pellon with adhesive…..

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……. and lay down onto fabric cut with an extra 3cm (generous 1″) margin all round.

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Spray a spot of adhesive in two corners……..

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……. and fold the corners of fabric in as pictured. Note – I found the Elmers All Purpose Spray Adhesive had a good strong hold. I didn’t have to wait for bonding of fabric to backing board which made this project really fast, simple and mess free.

Repeat with the other two corners.

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Spray a line between two corners……

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Your board should now look like this from the back…….

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…and something like this from the front.

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Insert back into the frame.

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To attach the tags, position the tag where you want it to be, get a large headed sewing pin and pierce the fabric right up close to the tag. Laying the pin as flat to the surface as possible, slide all the way in so only the head is showing. The pin heads hold the tag in place securely without actually piercing the tag. I used six pins for each tag.

If you’d like to try this method for framing some of your favourite altered tags I’d love to see what you’ve done. This would be a great idea for displaying tag swaps too. You can easily change tags out as you mood or seasons change. Now I’m off to hang the frames.

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