I love to create handmade gift tags for my gifts.  It shows how special the person is before they even see what’s inside!  
A great thing about making gift tags is that you can use up scraps you have sitting around your scrap space.  For this project, I used three different papers to compare how Copic Markers blend on each cardstock.
Supplies Used:
8 ½’ x 11” Pop Tones Jelly Bean Green Cardstock
8 ½” x 11”  Curious Metallic Cryogen White Cardstock
8 ½” x 11” Cougar Digital Choice Super Smooth  White  100# cover
8 ½” x 11” Brockway Deckle Edge 65# cover – Natural
8 ½” x 11” Pop Tones Wild Cherry Cardstock
12″ x 12″ Basis Dark Purple Cardstock
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copic Markers
Stamps by Close to My Heart
White Ribbon
½” hole punch
corner rounder or shaper
Twine by Divine Twine
3D Foam Tape
Tombow Adhesive
Eyelets and setting tool, if desired
Sparkle Fluff – Sugar by My Craft Lounge

I used this sweet elf to show the different papers using Copic Markers.  I always use an Archival quality ink when coloring with Copics.  It’s important to ink your image well to get a good stamp impression.  One of the wonderful things working with Copic is that most colors let the original stamping show through!
Curious Metallic Cryogen White

This paper is the Curious Metallic Cryogen White Cardstock.  I love the way it sparkles!  Copic markers work really well on this paper.  The inks stamp nicely and the colors blend well. 

Brockway Deckle Edge

This paper is the Brockway Deckle Edge 65# cover – Natural.  This paper has a nice watercolor paper feel and the deckled edge adds some character to your projects.  There was a little bleeding using the Copics on this paper, but overall I’m pleased with how well the markers blend on this paper. 



Cougar Digital Choice Super Smooth

The Super Smooth cardstock by Cougar is really, really nice.  The 100# weight makes it nice and thick.  This cardstock is not flimsy!  The stamp worked great on this cardstock, and I felt that the markers blended nicely on this cardstock.

There isn’t much to creating your own tags in order to showcase your beautiful artwork.
My favorite size tag is   4 ½” x 3”.  I start by cutting the tag front to that size.  Then, I cut the coordinating cardstock backing just a bit bigger, usually 4 5/8” x 3 1/8” .   For these tags, I used a variety of corner punches, from a standard corner rounder, to my scalloped Corner Chomper.  I even used a Fiskars peacock corner punch.    I also like the look of a “standard” tag sometimes, so then I just cut the corners myself. 

I have found a helpful trick to cutting tag corners.  Start by trimming one corner off your tag.  Then, using the cut off corner (red in the photo to show placement).  You may also use the same corner to cut the accent cardstock on the back to keep it even!

Next, I punched a hole in the top of my tag, centered at 1 ½”.  I like to use a large ½” hole punch to make sure I have plenty of room for my ribbon or twine on the tag.  (This tag uses the peacock corner rounder on the Curious Metallic Cardstock, with a standard corner rounder finishing the corners of the Dark Purple cardstock .



3-D Foam Tape on Teddy



Another thing I love about Copic Markers is that you can color ribbon with them.  I changed the same white ribbon to purple, red, and green just using my markers!  Due to the alcohol-based inks in the Copic markers, the ribbon dries really quickly and the color does not rub off on your project or your hands when it’s dry!





 
Finally, finishing touches you may want to add are eyelets in the hole of the tag (which look nice and protect your tag from ripping when the ribbon is fed through), glitter glue, dimensional accents, flock – you name it! 

Hope this inspires you to pull out some scraps and create beautiful gift tags for those holiday gifts you’re wrapping! 

Happy Stamping!
Katherine

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CutCardStock

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