Seasonal Music In The Bag

     Christmas Craft Creations have a new challenge starting today, this month it's anything with music. As we get closer to the festive season I start to think of decorations and gift packaging rather than cards, so for my project I have chosen to make a gift bag that could be used for a December birthday if needed.

     I started with a large piece of watercolour card and a Chocolate Baroque stamp called Hark The Christmas Rose. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx black ink and began to paint it with Ditress Ink Crushed Olive. This was following an inspirational project by one of the Choc B design team, Rachel.  I loved the colours she used as it's so like the Hellebores growing in my garden.

     For the leaves I used Distress Ink Forest Moss to make them darker than the flowers. I was going to add some pale colour to the background but I knew I would probably make a mess rather than improve it so I left it alone.

     The stamens were coloured with Distress Ink wild Honey, but to add a bit of shine I used a Stix2 glue pen and some of their gold foil to the stamens.

     I trimmed the image panel and mounted it on some olive green card that's been in my stash for ages. This all lokked OK but it needed a gold mirri mat layer to make it zing.

     Mounted on to a Stix2 Kraft Gift Bag, with no greeting added it makes it either a gift bag for a winter birthday or for a seasonal gift.

      There is a lot of inspiration over at Christmas Craft Creations to help you and this month we also have a prize for the lucky winner, please remember to use our challenge logo in your post or you will not qualify for the prize.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Sparkles Christmas - Vintage

The 12 Months of Christmas - Anything Christmas/optional colours

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

We Love Chocolate Baroque - Anything Goes     Top 3

It's In The Bag & On The Card

     We all spend time making great cards for Christmas but what about gift packaging? Why not make a gift bag to match the card for that special friend, then pop over to Not Just Cards and show us.The waste from making this bag was used to make a card, it doesn't match the bag but it has made use of bits that may have been thrown out.

     Using both the Poinsettia and the Swirl Poinsettia dies I cut in gold and white, I kept the offcuts for the card.
     Assembling the flowers white over gold and shaping them slightly didn't take long but I wanted something special for the centres. Using a hot glue gun I added a large blob of glue to the flower centres and covered them with seed beads, gently pressing them down a little and leaving them until set.

     For foliage I used the new small ivy spray die and cut several in thin white card, I also cut a white greeting.
     The layers were all cut and matted before I put the flowers on, it's much easier to do when everything is flat. I have also learnt that if you wish to stamp on the top layer this should be done before it gets stuck on the bag, when folded up these bags can be a bit 'lumpy'.
     I love the Kraft and white combination, it's clean and simple and works well for any gender.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

ABC Christmas - S-Sparkle & T-Texture

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas/option Patterned Paper

The Holly and Ivy Christmas - Anything Christmas

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas

My Time To Craft - Anything BUT A Card

     Now what to do with the off cuts?  To start with I put the white over the gold layer but off set it slightly and stuck them together.
     Using the Poinsettia stamp set I put a large piece of red card in my stamp press and stamped it using a Crimson ink pad, I though black would look a little too harsh.

     I put the white and gold layer over the red and lined up the petals, there is a little overlay as the gold and white are offset, then carefully stuck them together making sure there was a red border all the way around the top layer. I put a tiny amount of glue on my finger nail so I could stick down the little bits without making a mess.
     There is a small difference between the Swirl Poinsettia die and the Poinsettia stamp, the smallest stamped flower does not have a corresponding swirl because it's too small so their are two of the next size up. This meant that the smallest flower was missing on the top white layer so I stuck one on top of the white and there was one flower hole with the wrong size stamped image, so I covered this one up with a red die cut flower dropped in the hole.
     The red layer was trimmed to give me a nice even border around my image panel, this was then stuck on to a white card blank. All that remained was to add some gold pearls to the flowers.
     Making a card with what I would usually have discarded made me very happy, after all no crafter wants to throw anything away do they!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers - Anything With Dies

Winter Wonderland - Favourite Embellishments

Materials List - for both projects

JND132 - Swirl Pionsettia Die
JNDCC017 - Poinsettia Die

JND50013 - Elegant Poinsettia Stamp

JND129 Mini Ivy Die

Guest Spot at Through The Craft Room Door

     Last month I was lucky enough to win a challenge at Through The Craft Room Door, along with this went the opportunity to be a Guest Designer for them and a great prize from A Day For Daisies. For my project I was given a Polkadoodles image to work with, they are the sponsors for this weeks Anything Goes challenge.

      I printed the image on white card suitable for alcohol markers and coloured it in using my Graph-It pens and a gold glitter gel pen on the bauble cap. I have covered her eyes with Glossy Accents to make them shine.
     Before mounting the image panel on the gold paper, which luckily matches the gold pen, I die cut some stars in the big white open areas. The white card is stuck flat on to the gold paper before being stuck flat on to the Kraft bag.
     To keep continuity I die cut the greeting from the same gold paper, it was all one diecut but I cut it apart so I could put Merry at the top and Christmas at the bottom, again filling open white areas. With the addition of a red bow on the handle my gift bag is complete and ready for use.
     Through The Craft Room Door is an Anything Goes weekly challenge so that gives you lots of scope for an entry, I hope to see you there.

Materials used

Polkadoodles image - Bauble Wishes, Twiggy & Toots

Kraft bag

White card - suitable for alcohol markers

Graph-It  Alcohol Markers

Glossy Accents

Gold Paper

Merry Christmas Die / Small Star Die

Stix2 Double Sided Tape

Signo Gold Glitter Pen

I would like to enter this gift bag in the following challenges:

Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (optional Not A Card)
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Cute / Anything Christmas
The Pencil Case - Anything Goes

Heartfelt Blazing Poppies

     Poppies are beautiful flowers that have great significance during November but sometimes get overlooked during the rest of the year. These projects were made with red flowers to be used in shop display at Albright Of Diss but could just as easily be made using any other colour.

      The vase and single flower was stamped on white card, covering the vase with scrap paper the flower spray was stamped over that to create a full bouquet. It looked a little odd at this stage with overstamping but this was covered with a die cut flower later so it wouldn't show. The image is coloured with alcohol pens and then the panel was die cut, as some of the leaves would have been cut off they were trimmed around and tucked outside the dies cutting edge.
     The edge of the image panel has been coloured with Distress Ink Bundled Sage before being mounted on a die cut black layer.

      Another vase was stamped, then over stamped with the fern from a different Heartfelt set and coloured before being cut, shaped and stuck over the original vase.
     The dimensional poppy was stamped and embossed on red card, cut out with the matching die, shaped and then stuck together. This flower is stuck over the main flower in the vase so it hides the overstamping.
     The background is cream card coloured with Distress Ink Pumice Stone, then stamped with a script stamp using the same ink pad. The corner spray is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa in one corner of the card. Cut to size and corners punched it is then mounted on a thin red layer before going on to a black card.
     

      Using the poppies to make a card is great but what about using them to decorate a gift bag to match the card.
     Using a sheet of Kraft card the poppies are stamped and embossed in the corners, then mounted on a thin red layer of card and stuck on to the bag. I found trying to stamp directly on to the bag wasn't very tidy, when flat the folded in sides and handle ends are lumpy so it's best to work on a sheet of card and add this to the bag.
     Three more stamped and die cut poppies are added to give dimension and match the greeting card.
     With the addition of a die cut greeting the bag is complete and ready for the gift, a little red tissue on top to cover the gift and everything matches.
   
   

      I would like to enter these projects in the following challenges:

Creative Moments - Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

Retarte - Anything Goes

Sunny Day Crafting -Anything Goes

MHK Designs - With This Ring

      Day four of our new releases at MHK Designs is With This Ring, perfect for the upcoming wedding season. With a set like this you could make your entire wedding stationary package, especially when teamed with the gorgeous digi paper sets on MHK Designs etsy shop.

     For these little favour bags I have used paper set Damsel In Distress altered on the printer functions to change the colour. I have used a die to cut these bags out of an A4 sheet, two bags per sheet makes it affordable too.
     Each bag measures 3 x 2.5 x 1 inches, small but not too small, They could even be used as place markers and favour bags all in one.
     The front is also die cut so remember to print your image small enough to fit the dies. By backing the lace die with co-ordinating coloured paper and colouring the bow on the larger image to match it can all follow your chosen colour scheme. With the addition of some coloured organza ribbon the little bags are complete.
     Tomorrow will see the last release set to be showcased, but it's not too late to hop over to the MHK Designs blog for a chance to win a set of stamps and take a look at all the DT inspiration.

With This Ring

Damsel In Distress

I would like to enter these gift bags in the following challenges:

Southern Girls - Patterned Paper

CraftyHazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything With Patterned Paper

Decorate To Celebrate - Anything Goes For A Party

Digital Delight - Anything Goes Using A Digi

Julia Spiri - Make A Craft Bag Using A Digi

As You Like It - Favourite Non Crad Project & Why ( love bags & boxes)

Too Many Shoes? Never!

     Welcome to February for Creative Expressions, a new month means new stamps and this month's selection are perfect for those girly cards and gifts, they also work well for Mother's Day.
     I have chosen to use 'Shoes' for my little gift bag. There is also a quote with the picture stamp from Marilyn Monroe, 'Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world'.
   
   

     The bag is made from a 12x12 paper I had in my stash, although the shape can be cut from an A4 sheet. I have used extra card on the inside at the top to reinforce the handle holes, just in case the gift is small but heavy. With the addition of ribbon handles it makes a small neat little bag.

     The image is stamped and embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Lava Black, it has a great burgundy sheen to it that goes well with the pink paper. It was then cut out using a Spellbinder die and inked around the edge with Distress Ink Victorian Velvet before removing the die, this gives a neat white edge all the way around the shape. The image panel is then stuck on to the bag with foam pads.
 

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

Eclectic Ellapu - Burgundy, Red and Cream 

Robyn's Fetish - Anything Goes #249