Personal Shopper

     Welcome to a new challenge project for Altered Eclectics. Now that we need to take a bag with us for our shopping I thought I would decorate my own. I totally agree with the cut back on plastic bag use, we have become a very throw away society (except for crafters...who throw nothing away!!!!)
     There are lots of great new products this year geared toward use on fabrics, many of them crossing over nicely with papercraft.

    To work out the design on my bag I used die cuts to position the separate elements. I used the stencil created by the die cuts to brush on the inks, these inks are very easy to use with a stencil brush or sponge and they come in a large variety of colours. All you need to do when finished is iron it to fix it, so if it goes wrong don't iron it just wash it and start again.
     I have used two different shades of green with a touch of brown for my foliage, the stencil was cut with Sizzix Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes.

     The flowers are made using a piece of coarse weave canvas ironed on to some double sided adhesive sheet made just for fabrics, then die cut with a Sizzix Tattered Florals die. 

     To colour the flowers I have used  Colorbox Crafters Ink which is made for use on wood and fabric as well as being pretty good on paper too. The pads come in catseye size as well as the full 2x3 size, the beauty of the small ones is you can afford to build a collection of all the colours.

     Again I used the die cut flowers to decide on position, then when happy with the layout I ironed them on to the bag, sealing the inks at the same time.

      The centre of the flowers and the butterflies are made by die cutting the fabric adhesive for delicate fabrics, it has a mesh type appearance which looks great when teamed with foils.
     For the foils I lay the adhesive shape on to the bag, then the foil and then a sheet of parchment (which was used for all the ironing) and ironed. Leave the foil until it is cold before removing it slowly. The foil might wear down over time and will need to be handled carefully if washed but the inks are pretty good at holding fast.
     The wording at the bottom is done through a stencil made using Sizzix Alterations M&S die 'Imagine'.  Just think of all the things you could decorate using the bits you already have plus a few inks and some iron on adhesive sheet.
     Don't forget to take a look at all the different projects at Altered Eclectics, we like to see anything other than cards and ATC's and you have a whole month in which to join us.
   

Materials list - available from your  local craft shop

Woodware Craft Collection - ColorBox Crafter's Inks: Bark, Olive, Jungle, Sunflower, Tangelo, Canyon

                                           R1113-3/4 Stencil Brush

                                           MR14819 Additions Fashion Fabric Square

                      

Stix2 Anything -  S57360 Craft & Mixed Media Iron

                         S57357 Iron On Adhesive - Various Materials

                         S57356 Iron On Adhesive - Delicate Materials

                         S57359 Parchment Sheet

                         Transfer Foils - Various colours

I would like to enter my shopping bag in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/optional twist Lace & Pearls

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

NBUS ( never before used schtuff) -  Anything Goes