Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #38 + The Paper Players #412 (Patterned Paper + Pumpkin + Orange)
This project started innocently enough. My local store offers a 25% rebate if you shop on your birthday, so I managed to score some awesome new items for myself. (And my mom was with me, so she offered to pay for part of the haul as a gift, so thanks, Mom!) Part of that birthday haul was the Tote Bag die from Lawn Fawn. My store always has extra cute samples made with it and I was yearning to get it, even though I don't really need another bag die. (The size is pretty great, though, and the fact that it's open at the top, unlike boxes, present additional opportunities for packaging gifts of all sizes.) I had some loyalty cards from the store ready to exchange as well, so the bag came home with me.
Tonight, I was a little tired, but also curious to give the die a try and see how it looked assembled. I was not planning on making a whole ornated project, but I figured I'd pick some pretty Halloween papers and quickly assemble the bag. I picked some of the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper, which I have used for some takeout Halloween boxes earlier this year, so I stayed with the same papers to coordinate. I picked the jack-o-lantern pattern and as I was assembling the bag, the wheels started turning.
Initially. I thought I'd only hang a tag made with the Fall Tiny Tags pumpkin and call it a day, but as I was looking through my dies for it, I also spotted the Spooky Fence Border and started thinking the Pick of the Patch pumpkins and the spooky fence die-cut out black glitter paper could look pretty cool. That's when I started fighting the fact that I was tired and kept going on "just one more thing before I stop for the night." Well, inspiration kept coming and the project was turning out really cool, so I kept going and ended up finishing it!
Another detail I really like is the moon. Another item from my birthday haul is Baked Texture embossing powders from Emerald Creed. I never looked twice at the powders in the store, but they had some embossed samples on the counter which grabbed my attention as I was waiting to pay. This is one of those things that doesn't look like much in the container, but is a whole other story on a project. The Vintage Beeswax on ivory tags looked beautiful, so I decided to grab a few for myself. Here, because the patterned paper had some Very Vanilla patterns on it, the Vintage Beeswax was a perfect complement, and the fact that the powder has flecks of other colours in it gave the moon a perfect shine and texture. To make my life simple, I covered a scrap of Very Vanilla cardstock with VersaMark, pourred powder on it and embossed it (heating from underneath the cardstock since the embossing powder is a little coarse and to avoid having it fly everywhere), and then after letting the powder cool a few seconds, I punched the piece out with a 1-1/4" circle punch. This way, I avoided not having anywhere to hold the circle without leaving a mark with tweezers.
And those little stars? Scraps found on my desk! I made a scrapbook page where I used the Star Confetti Border punch on a photo mat, and on a whim, I kept the black stars thinking I might glue them somewhere... Don't they complete the bag nicely? By the way, you would find stars the same size in the Say What? Gift Tags dies, as the set includes tiny stars you can use a shaker pieces in the tag.
I had stamped and colored a few images from the set and using them all on the front of the bag would have been a little crowded, so I used the other pieces on the back instead, and added a little banner with "Happy Halloween" stamped in French on it. I'm definitely happy with the Tote Bag die - a nice size and easy to embellish!
FYI, if you like the look of the pumpkins, they were colored with Copic markers and I used Y38 + YR15 + YR 18 on the tall pumpkin. The white pumpkin was simply shaded with W2 + W4. I really like how they both turned out.
Supplies
Stamps: Pick of the Patch (Lawn Fawn); Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Happy Haunting (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Cute Cobweb Dies, Pick of the Patch Dies, Spooky Fence Border (Lawn Fawn);
Vintage Beeswax Baked Texture Embossing Powder (Emerald Creed); Markers (Copic);
Mini-Stampin' Dimensionals, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Star Confetti Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Sentiments Die (Waffle Flower)
Oh wow, this is just too cute!
Posted by: Gab | October 04, 2018 at 09:05
Funny how projects sometimes take on a life of their own! This is a wonderful Halloween bag and I like the spooky scene you've created on the side. A trip to the craft store, with freebies, seems a pretty fine way to spend the day. Thanks for joining us at The Paper Players this week.
Posted by: Jan Clothier | October 04, 2018 at 14:55
SUPER cute, no wonder you wanted this die! It's an adorable project! LF has such fun little images, too! Thanks for sharing this with us at the Paper Players this week!
Posted by: LeAnne | October 05, 2018 at 13:28
Your treat bag is so cute...so fun for fall!Thanks for playing along at The Paper Players, so glad you joined us!
Posted by: laurie | October 09, 2018 at 10:41
Very cute bag! I really love the how you colored the pumpkins, they are so much fun! Thank you so much for playing the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge! -Samantha
Posted by: Samantha Casey | October 14, 2018 at 20:41