Autumn is definitely getting a foothold here in Nova Scotia. As I drove into town yesterday I noticed quite a few trees have started to replace green with bright reds and yellows. While we don’t have any fields of sunflowers, somehow when I think of autumn I always think of them. So today I decided that I’d pull out the Celebrate Sunflowers Stamp Set and coordinating Sunflowers Dies for this pretty gift tag.

CELEBRATE SUNFLOWERS WITH MARKERS

Instead of ink pads I thought it would be fun to stamp using the “marker to stamp” technique. This is a great option when you have an image that you want to stamp in multiple colours.

TIP – the stamp to marker technique does not work with alcohol markers such as Stampin’ Blends.

So from the Celebrate Sunflowers Stamp Set I took the smaller sunflower image with the attached leaves. Then from the 2020-2022 In Colors Stampin’ Write Markers I took the Bumblebee and Cinnamon Cider pens.

Using the side of the brush tip I first coloured the petals on the stamp surface in Bumblebee. Then I coloured the centre of the flower using the Cinnamon Cider marker. Finally for the leaves I chose an Old Olive Stampin’ Write Marker from the Regals collection.

Once the stamp surface was completely coloured I breathed on the ink to re-moisten it. Then I stamped the sunflower onto some Very Vanilla Card.

I cleaned off the stamp and then repeated the whole process again so I had two multi-coloured sunflowers.

Next, from the Celebrate Sunflowers Stamp Set I chose the small stamp with the two separate leaves. I coloured the stamp rubber with the Old Olive marker and stamped that onto Very Vanilla Card too.

With that done I cut out the stamped images using the coordinating dies from the Sunflowers Dies set.

I still needed one final stamp and that was the sentiment “Let’s celebrate you”. Using the Cinnamon Cider marker I inked up the sentiment just like the images then stamped it onto Very Vanilla Card.

The sentiment is actually all on one line and would be too wide for my finished gift tag so I decided to cut it out with Paper Snips and separate the words. Then I added the words to my pile of stamped pieces.

TAILOR MADE TAG BASE

With the decorative elements complete I was now ready to start on the tag base. For this I chose the largest of the curved-top dies in the Tailor Made Tags Dies set. This particular die not only cuts the tag shape but also adds a small round hole at the top. So from the same set I also took the die to cut extra small circles with matching holes in the centre.

Then using the two dies and my Mini Cut & Emboss Machine I cut out some Very Vanilla Card.

Next I went looking for a background to cover the front of the tag. I found exactly what I needed in the 2020-2022 In Color 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper Assortment. I chose the plaid design in Cinnamon Cider and cut one tag base from that. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the two tag bases together back to back.

Now I could start putting the stamped pieces onto the tag. First attached a sunflower to the bottom of the tag using Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then using a little liquid glue I tucked a single leaf under one edge.

My plan was to add the second sunflower to the top of the tag but then I had an idea… I took the sunflower over to my Cut & Emboss Machine and cut part of the flower off using the tag die. Now the sunflower was shaped to fit the top of the tag and had the same stitched details.

So going back to the tag base I added the altered sunflower to the top using liquid glue. Next I glued the little circle pieces on the back and front of the tag to reinforce the holes. Then I threaded some Linen Thread through the holes and tied it in a simple knot.

That just left the sentiment pieces, and after attaching those using Stampin’ Dimensionals my tag was finally complete.

I really love how this turned out. Little details like die-cutting the sunflower to match the tag top really add to the overall effect. Oh, and I had a leaf left over so glued that to the back of the tag, just because…

Are you creating for autumn, or are you already in Christmas crafting mode? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you’re currently working on.

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