31st April??

Ok, ok! I know its 1st May, but if it had been 31st April my tag post wouldn't be late!! What with the ATDML retreat, my trip to India then being off at school camp I haven't been home much in April so I'm a bit behind. April this year (for me at least) has been a bizarre combination of bright sunshine and 40degree heat and then lately...snow! But April is best known for April showers so my April tag had to feature an umbrella. I call this tag 'showers and flowers'...the little boy and some flower fairies are taking shelter from the seasonal rain amongst the spring flowers...

As usual I started with a 4" x 8" plain card tag, and the two sheets of Graphic 45 Children's Hour papers for the current month. You'll also need a scrap of yellow card, a wooden skewer, 4" of lace and some co-ordinating ribbon.

The first stage for me was the fussy cutting. I cut out the little boy (getting rid of the bouquet he is holding), some daffodils and crocuses, the orangey coloured flower with the face in the centre and one of each of the flower fairies from the April Montage. Then I cut the 'April Showers' the 5" orange decorative piece and the green strip with the poem on from the 'April Collective' paper. Once that was done I could begin decorating the tag... 

1. Add blue striped paper to the top of the paper so that it looks like rain...

2. Make the umbrella - I found a glass that was almost as wide as the tag and drew round it on yellow card. Then I folded it to make 8 sections.

3.I cut the curve off each section to make it into an octagon. Next I cut out 3 whole sections or triangles and part of a section to leave 4 sections and a 'tab'...

4. I then folded over part of the triangle on the opposite side to where the tab was (you can see the crease in the top triangle on the picture below)...

5. I attached the half umbrella using this small triangle - DO NOT STICK DOWN THE OTHER TAB!...

(so the right hand side is not stuck down - this allows you to make this a tab that enables you to fold the umbrella flat)

6. I made a scrap paper template then used it to cut a piece of the green paper  to fill the tag below the umbrella (the rain has to stop at the umbrella!!)

7. When I glued it on I did not glue over the right hand tab but instead left it like a pocket so that the tab can slide in and out.

8. I used one of the discarded triangles from earlier to cut out some random triangles from the Montage paper - I trimmed them a little smaller then added them to the inside and outside of the umbrella - inking all my edges...

9. I stuck the little boy on with double thickness of foam pads - I positioned him so that his hand could be holding the umbrella...

10. I added the orange strip and the April showers strip on foam pads...

11. Next I added, the orange flower to look like a sun, and started to stick on flower fairies and cut out flowers...

12. I cut down a wooden skewer to make an umbrella handle and stuck it on with glossy accents...

13. I cut up and inked the poem strips and added them on foam pads...

14. I added some lace to the edges of the umbrella...

15. I finished off my tag by adding some ribbon...

You can see here how the tab pulls out in case you want to fold the umbrella flat (eg. if you are putting it in a book or sending it somewhere by post!)...

I hope you liked this tag - back soon with my offering for May.

Happy crafting!

Jane x