Faux Leather Tag Tutorial

Hi Everyone!  I wanted to share a tutorial I made that was in the March issue of Scrapbook News and Review.  I also shared this with Swirlydoos because I used this tag on a page I made for the April kit reveal.  In my opinion, Fimo Clay is far too often overlooked as a medium for scrapbook pages.  You can make practically anything with it and it is super light so it won't weigh your pages down.  Having said that, let's get on with the tutorial!

Supplies
Clay - I used Sculpey
Tag Template
Rolling Pin
Aluminum Foil
Wax Paper
Knife
Metal Etching Brush
Stamp
Perfect Pearls
Paint Brush
Grommets
Distress Ink - Black Soot
Antiquing Medium
Paper Towels
Tim Holtz Retractable Craft Pick

Step One
Put some wax paper on your work surface. Depending on the type of clay you use, you may need to knead it for a bit in your hands until it becomes more flexible. Once the clay has become really flexible and soft, begin to roll it out with your rolling pin. You could use a glass if you don't have a rolling pin. You want to roll it to about an 1/8 (one eighth) of an inch thick. I try to go just a bit thinner than that, but too much more and it will be too thin to work with.

Step Two
Position your tag template over your clay.
*Tip - I made my own template out of scrap card stock. I punched a hole in the top and then using my Tim Holtz clear ruler, I pierced the stitching holes around the edge.

Step Three
Using your knife, cut your clay to match the template. Remove the excess clay. Keep the template on your tag and use your knife to cut out the hole. Then, using your craft pick, follow the stitching holes in your template and pierce the holes into your clay.

Step Four
Take your stamp and press it into your clay. If you press too hard you will go through your clay just like a cookie cutter. You want to apply enough pressure to embed your images.

Step Five
Take a piece of aluminum foil and crinkle it up in your hands. The more crinkle in the foil, the more wrinkle in your clay. Pull open the foil enough to expose your wrinkles and place it over the top of your tag. Lightly press it down onto your tag. Roll your rolling pin over the top. You don't need to apply pressure, just lightly roll it.

Gently remove the foil and your tag should look something like this.

Step Six
Apply some Perfect Pearls to your stamped image using your paint brush. Using a damp paper towel, lightly go over the top of your stamped imaged. This will remove the Perfect Pearls from the top edges. I like to to do this because it will give a more worn look to the finished tag.

Take your grommet and place it in the hole. Take it back out. You want to do this before you bake your tag because you may break or crack the clay if the grommet is too big.

Using your metal brush, rough up the edges of the clay. This will give your finished tag a more realistic look. I find that a thinner piece of clay gives me a more ragged edge; where as a thicker piece of clay will curl more than it will "fray".

**Bake your clay following the manufacturer's instructions.

Step Seven
Once your clay has cooled from baking, add some antiquing medium to a paper towel and brush it over your tag. This will deepen the color. Then I used another paper towel and some Black Soot Distress Ink and hit a few of the edges making them look dirty.

Now all that is left is to add your grommet and any other embellishments to dress up your tag. Here are a few examples as well as the page lay out I added this tag to:

Thanks for stopping by to check out this tutorial.  I hope I have inspired you to play with clay!

XO~ Lisa