Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Tags

I did promise a while back that I'd talk about the gift tags that I make and sell. I don't know what inspired me to start making these floral tags, I think they started out as Valentine's, which I wrote about on a different blog a few years ago. Anyway I had all these little velvet leaves, and little paper roses just laying around and decided that I could make something other than valentines with them. The problem with trying to make a card with 3-D elements is that they don't really fit into an envelope. So that is how I came upon the idea of gift tags! These are so fun and totally addictive to make. I can spend a whole day slicing up cardstock, gluing on leaves and flowers and attaching ribbons. Really.

The leaves and flowers used to be readily available in the wedding aisle of any craft store. In fact the first supplies I ever bought I got at my local Walmart. Sadly, they don't carry them anymore, and I now have to buy the velvet leaves online. I can still find some paper roses at Michaels, but they are less expensive bought in bulk online.

I haven't really made any tags recently, not since before Valentines day. I listed those tags in my Etsy shop, but none sold. In fact, though my tags see a lot of traffic (a lot of folks like to LOOK at them) I've only ever sold two sets from my Etsy shop. Two nearly identical sets. To a mycology librarian. The tags had mushrooms on them. (they are the ones you can see up there on my banner - they were totally cute, and sort of my favorites, so I'm really gald that someone else liked them and bought them!)

I also sell some of my covered journals and gift tags at a little shop in the town where I live. The proprietor is trying to buy only US made wares for her shop and happily lets me and a few other crafty townfolk sell our items there. The tags sell waaaaaay better in person than they do online. Just a few days after taking my first batch down to the shop, the owner called to tell me she had sold a dozen of them to one customer!

Most things improve with time and this is true also of my tags. I now feel that my product is looking a little more polished than my initial efforts. tag progression:


And hey, things can only get better - practice makes perfect, right? So today I pulled out all of my supplies again. I remembered buying some little plastic eggs with the idea of using them in some nest-themed tags. A little slicing, a little gluing, and wahlah! The nest tag!


I am hoping to get some more of these made and listed in my shop. It's a half-day school week due to spring conferences and I really doubt that I'll get called to sub, so I'll at least have a few hours in the mornings, yay!

Happy Spring!

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