Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #62 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Halloween) + Inspired By #94 (Pumpkins)
You would never guess how this project started out based on the finished bag. I was playing around with the Spooky Spiderwebs stencil and Distress Oxide sprays, testing out a few ideas I had in my mind. While I was testing something with Black Soot spray, I had all of this ink sitting on top of the stencil that I didn't want to waste, so I grabbed a piece of cheap white cardstock and made a print. What's ironic is that what I was testing didn't pan out, but I loved the look of the print it had produced. The spiderwebs stamped very clearly on the cardstock, the outside of the stencil created a frame and there were a few spots of inks here and there that looked like intentional splatters, so I knew I had to make something with that piece of cardstock. The printed piece was 6" x 6" like the stencil and I was reluctant to cut it down because I liked the size, which is how the project ended up becoming a gift bag.
The second part of the inspiration was the Lawn Fawnatics challenge. I picked my background colours based on the inspiration picture: Granny Apple Green + Bermuda Bay + Daffodil Delight + Pumpkin Piel. I usually love using my Distress Oxide inks to blend, but because those contain pigment ink, I didn't want to lose the sharpness of the black spiderwebs, so I used my blender brushes with my Classic ink (dye ink). Once I was done, I decided to use the stencil again to cover up the black and I spritzed some shimmery spray over the blended ink to add a sheen.
Because I had a lot of room to fill, I decided to use the adorable pumpkin dies from Lawn Fawn to make a shaker Jack-O-Lantern. I filled it with orange, black and iridescent star sequins. Hindsight is 20/20 - I should have skipped the black sequins just because they sort of distort the pumpkin's face a bit when they peek from behind, but this is really me just being nit-picky.
I found some spiderweb doilies in my stash and thought they would look nice behind the pumpkin. The front side is black and it was getting last against the background, so I used the back, which is white, instead. Adding the black and white striped ribbon at the bottom also made the white tie into the design. Another item I found was some old Making Memories Halloween-themed die-cut. I picked the teal one and I added "Happy Halloween" written with good ol' Dymo tape. I added orange pearls to the tag and a row of black gemstones at the top.
That black bag is actually a bag I upcycled. Shops are big on cardstock bags for customers' purchases nowadays, and I keep the ones I think I can decorate and reuse with my gift-wrapping supplies. I was looking at my options and I found this black linen-textured bag which was the exact width I needed for the 6" x 6" panel. Because the store prints its name on both sides of the bag, that meant I also had to decorate the back. I could have done a piece of patterned paper and called it a day, but I was on a roll and I kept going with my designing. I used the same patterned paper as I had for the pumpkin and created a layered stripe. I then used a blender brush and Black Soot Distress Oxide ink to add eyes using the Spooky Eyes stencil from Carta Bella. I've purchased this one a couple of months ago, but I hadn't been able to successfully work the pattern into my designs so far. Here, I made sure to use a light hand with the inking as I wanted a soft look. I wanted to write "boo!" (it's the French spelling, in case you are wondering where I learned to spell...) so I pulled out the Typo Lowercase Bigz die from Tim Holtz and die-cut the letters out of a striped grey and black paper. I added the Spooky Fence Border over it and the Cute Cobweb images. The spiderweb was cut out of Silver glitter paper and the spider out of black foil paper. I found some teal glittery washi tape, so I added a piece to match the front of the bag. The bottom seemed bare, so I added a piece of green sequin trim, also to import another colour from the front, and I decided to stamp one of the ghosts from Booyah on Pearlescent Vellum.
Finally, a Jack-o-Lantern tag was created using the Fall Tiny Tags dies and I hung it from a little silver ball chain - another upcycled element, as those are sometimes used by companies to hand their tags from a garment, so those are really easy to incorporate in crafting projects. I used a bit of tape to get the chain to the height I wanted it to be.
The last touch was spritzing a piece of white tissue paper using Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide spray. I've purchased about a dozen colours of sprays so far and now that I have them, I'm trying to think of different ways to get a good use out of them. I have to say I was really happy with the tissue paper idea. First, because it adds a fun texture to the paper, with the speckled effect (it might be more uniform if you spritz more ink, but because this is a Halloween bag, I wanted to keep the texture). Second, you can create your own colored tissue paper instead of going out and buying more.
My niece's birthday is coming up at the end of the month. She has not so subtly asked in the past if I had any extra punches to get rid of since she would love to have punches at home. I had a few to give to her, but my sister told me I should wait for her birthday, as she's trying to make sure she doesn't become too spoiled. My actual gift to her is going out and getting her ear pierced. This is something that has been discussed for years, as my niece kept wanting them, then not, then yes, but now, she's made up her mind and has been talking about it for months, so we will be going out together to get her ears pierced. That being said, I'll probably bring the punches to her on her birthday and the bag is just perfect since she picked Halloween as her birthday theme this year. She loves sparkly stuff and handmade stuff, so I think the bag will be going to someone who knows to appreciate it.
Supplies
Stamps: Booyah (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: White; Silver Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Polka in the Dark, Perfectly Plaid Fall, Beachside, Knit-Picky Fall, Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Bermuda Bay Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!);
Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Stencils: Spooky Spiderwebs (Echo Park); Spooky Eyes (Carta Bella)
Dies: Spooky Fence Border, Cute Cobweb, Booyah, Stitched Pumpkin Frame, Outside In Stitched Pumpkin,
Fall Tiny Tags (Lawn Fawn); Typo Lowercase Alphabet Bigz Dies (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Black Tape and Label Maker (Dymo); Black and Pumpkin Pie Sequins, Striped Ribbon,
Spritzer Bottle, Frost Shimmer Paint, Spiderweb Doilies, Window Sheet, Washi Tape (Stampin' Up);
Green Sequin Trim, Black Rhinestones (Recollections); Iridescent Mini Star Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh);
Spicy Marmalade Distress Oxide Spray (Ranger); Ripe Persimmon Pearls (Studio Katia); Blending Tool (Ranger);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studio); Silver Ball Chain, Black Bag, White Tissue Paper (upcycled items)
Loving the pumpkin as a shaker! So fun!
Posted by: Jeanie | October 21, 2019 at 08:22
What an amazing bag! Wow!
Posted by: Laurel Seabrook | November 03, 2019 at 20:58