Asian Inspired Tag and a Cute Little Purse

If you didn't get to join in on the Treat Yourself Crop week before last at Card Swaps...then you missed out on a lot of fun challenges! I still have a lot of things going on in my life right now so I was only able to do two of the challenges. Meredith asked us to make a tag using a specific technique of coloring and embossing. The idea is to ink your background and then stamp it in another color. You then stamp your main image with versamark ink and then clear emboss. Then you apply a darker ink all over your tag. The embossed area will reject the darker ink causing the lighter ink and stamping to show through. For Meredith's full tutorial click HERE.

I was inspired by the Japanese Shinto wood charms for my tag. I used 3 different colors of distress ink, a Japanese script rubber stamp, a Japanese crane rubber stamp and a Japanese symbol rubber stamp. For my tag base I used a kleenex box that I cut the tag shape out of to give some stability as if it were wood. I then cut two more tag shapes out of a manilla folder. After inking both pieces I then placed one on each side of the tag cut out of the kleenex box. The back of the tag is inked with black walnut distress ink to help make the tag look like wood. I then chose to top off my tag with a Japanese Omamori Tassel knot. For a tutorial on how to make one, click HERE.

The second challenge I did was hosted by Margaret. She had us make these adorable little purses.

I kept mine super simple but you can embellish them as much or as little as you want. They are super simple to make. They would be absolutely adorable for a bridal shower or to house a small gift of jewelry or something for someone. You can find the tutorial on how to make these adorable purses HERE.

If you missed the crop this time....don't fret! The next one is coming up in November.  There will be lots of challenges, games, a blog hop, prizes, not to mention all the fun and inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sugar Crash Blog Hop and Crop

WELCOME!

You are on the CardSwaps Sugar Crash Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Christy Croll's blog. The fabulous Christy from Tiddly Inks who is also one of our guest designers on the hop. If you didn't arrive from Christy's Tiddly Inks blog then you need to head back to the beginning which is Lora's blog. You won't want to miss anything.

There are 16 stops along the hop.Why should you hop along to them all? Well because each stop is loaded with inspiration to get your holiday mojo crafting juices flowing. You might also find a free digital image or sketch to pick up along the way as well. Also each host is offering a prize to one random winner who leaves a comment on their blog. So please be sure to leave a comment on each to let the host know you were there. For my prize I am offering the new...

Die Cuts With A View Winter Printed Combo MatStack

To qualify for a chance to win my prize you must leave a comment by 11:59pm CST November 6th. Be sure to check back here on the 7th when the winner will be posted...it could be YOU!

You are also invited to participate in the Sugar Crash Crop at CardSwaps, too. There are 10 challenges to be posted over the next 3 days (November 4-6, 2010) and EVERY challenge will have a winner. What’s the prize, you ask? A paper crafts book from CardMaker Magazine!! PLUS, one lucky crop participant will win a card making kit that makes 50 cards!!!! It’s very cool… you MUST play along. And if that is not enough...there will be games to play daily too! Hope to see you over at the crop which you can find HERE.

Now on to my project that I am showcasing! The theme for the hop and crop is Sugar Crash which means a holiday theme with lots of glitter, glam, shimmery , glitzy things!!! I decided to make a paper bag purse that would hold Christmas goodies such as candy or maybe some packages of hot chocolate. It's a simple quick project to make and would be perfect to give to friends or coworkers filled with home baked cookies or candy!


I totally glitzed my project up with all kinds of shimmer and glitter. Here are the supplies I used:

Printed Paper is by Heidi Grace Designs
Cardstock is Bazzill's Shimmer Gemstones
Image is by Digital Delights, colored with Prismacolor Colored Pencils and I used some Stickles to make the snow shimmer
Snowflake Dies are by Cuttlebug and embellished up with rhinestones.
Other tools used are Spellbinders circle Nestabilities and SU's tag punches
Purse handle is shimmery ribbon by Offray.
I used a white lunch paper bag instead of the brown as I thought it looked nicer for my theme. Check your local party store for other colors!

Side view:





Back view:

Open view:

You can find full instructions and tutorial HERE on how to make your own paper bag purse.

Christmas has always been a favorite time of the year for me. There is something magical about the holiday. One of the things I always enjoyed was making fudge with my mother. We would make several batches and make packages up to give to friends and family. I shared that tradition with my daughter and the past few years my son has joined in on the yearly Christmas fudge making. A favorite in this household is peanut butter fudge. I think the paper bag purses will be perfect for delivering batches of fudge to friends and family this year!

I hope you enjoyed your stop here along the hop and I hope my project inspires you to try it. One last reminder before you hop on:
You have until 11:59PM CST, November 6, 2010, to post your comment on the blogs on the hop (that includes mine, please! Everyone that comments on my blog will be entered in to the drawing for a prize from me. In addition, if you want to participate in the challenges for the Sugar Crash Crop go check it out after the blog hop and upload your completed projects by 11:59PM CST, November 8, 2010. There are prizes to win there, too!

Now on to your next stop which is the fabulous Diana!

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you over at the crop too!

Blog Hop Stops:
Lora
Carolyn King (guest designer)
Meredith
Ashley
Christy Croll (Tiddly Inks - guest designer)
Susie - YOU ARE HERE
Diana
Jane
Traci (guest cardmaker)
Angelina
Tami Mayberry (guest designer)
Irina
Ana
Margaret
Natalie (Chi Chi Memories - guest designer)
Laura

Birthday Card - 3 Challenges

I had a blast making this card! I found this tutorial on one of my favorite blogs that I follow for making a purse card. You can find the tutorial here on Belles N Whistles. I made my flap a little different and attached my ribbon handle slightly different but other than that I pretty much followed the tutorial which I found so easy to do. I made this for my daughter's birthday this month. I am also entering it into 3 challenges which are:

Creative Card Crew - "Celebrations"
Simon Says Stamp - "Mother's Day or Girly" I think I got the girly part down! :)
Stamp Something - "Something Girly" also required is a stamped image which I have inside the card. The cupcake image by Magnolia which I paper pieced part of it and colored the rest with Prismacolor colored pencils.

Side view of card

Back view

Top picture is close up of the bottom part of the inside of the card. The picture below is a full view of the inside of the card.

I hope you take some time to check out the 3 fantastic challenge blogs that I entered this card in. Be sure to check out the tutorial too as I truly enjoyed making this and I know I will be making more. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies Used:
Image: Cupcake by Magnolia
Sentiments: Hero Arts and Happy Birthday is computer generated
Ink: Memories and Colorbox Pigment Ink (lilac)
Printed Paper: Plum Blossoms and Plum Stripes by DejaVu
Cardstock: From my stash so source unknown
Tools Used: Spellbinders Nestabilities (large butterfly, circles, and labels), Martha Stewart border punch and butterfly punch, BossKut swirls die
Embellishments: Ribbon by Offray and rhinestone from my stash
Techniques Used: Paper piecing and coloring with Prismacolor color pencils
Completed size: 5 1/2" square when closed

Paper Bag Purse

I found this tutorial for these adorable paper bag purses and just had to try making one. The instructions were super simple to follow and I put this together in about 20 minutes. Super fast and easy! I think these would be adorable to give some Christmas cookies or candies to friends and co workers. They would also be perfect in other themes such as birthdays. Couldn't you just see one of these done up very girly girl with lots of bling? Oh I could see doing a beaded handle and adding some flowers.......I think I will be making lots of these in the future! You can find the tutorial for making these HERE.


Inside the purse.