Tag Collage, Scrappin' Syle

While paging through a scrapbooking magazine, I saw a really cool project...a photo collage made with tags.  I knew immediately that I wanted to make one of these for our niece, Heather.  She is Denis' brother's daughter.  So, it was off to the picture vault (old albums from Denis' mother.  Thank you, Stella, for saving every picture!) to find just the right ones.

I started the project with a picture frame, the size I chose was 16" x 20".  I then cut a piece of foam core to fit.  I then covered the foam core with paper (I used papers from the Emporium collection by Close to My Heart).  I added some inked Dimensional Elements borders (also Close to My Heart (CMTH).  My daughter, Kristy is a consultant.).  I used my Cricut to cut the tag bases in a dark brown (CMTH Cocoa) cardstock and the tag fronts in an off-white (CMTH Colonial White).  Some of the tags also feature a photograph cut in the shape of the tag.  The photograhs of are Heather, her Mom and Dad, her brother, and each set of grandparents.  I embellished each tag with various brads, ribbons, buttons and other items.  One of my favorite tags is the one of her grandfather Bill in his army uniform.  During WWII he was stationed stateside and rode the troop trains (as an MP) across the country.  We had several of his rifle medals, so I used one on this tag.

Here is the finished collage in the frame, followed by close-ups of some of the tags:

 I tried to use a variety of brads, ribbons and other embellishments on the tags.  I used the Cricut to cut the photos on the lower left tag.  These are in the shape of a travel trailer, which emulates the subject of the photos.

 Because the wedding photo is so light in color, I used a blue patterned paper for the front tag, as well as ribbon roses for embellishment. 

 I used my Cricut to cut the wedding photo tag shape and the picture frame.

 These were done with acrylic rubber stamps (also CTMH)

 I copied the Michigan logo from the University's website, printed it on photo paper, cut it out, and used a foam square to stand it off the tag.

Here is my favorite tag of Grandpa Bill. 

I gave this collage to Heather for Christmas, 2009.  She loved it.  It was the WOW! gift of the season.  It made her cry.