GD:Lelainia Lloyd #2 Homespun Holiday Stitches

Hi. Lelainia here with another festive gift wrap idea. In my family, we like to recycle gift wrapping materials. For years, we’ve had the same printed gift boxes and pretty handmade fabric bags travelling back and forth between our houses, wrapping numerous gifts given over the years. They’ve become treasured heirlooms and it’s become a tradition to carefully tuck them away with the rest of the Xmas ornaments after the holidays, to be re-gifted the next year.

I cut a piece of muslin slightly larger than my embroidery hoop. I folded the fabric in half so the fold is along the bottom and creased the fold so I would be able to see where the bottom of the bag was going to be. 

Next I took the Noel stamp from Lin Brown ELB10 collection and inked it up with black Staz-On ink. I gently stamped this image onto a piece of scrap paper to remove some of the ink. I did this because I want just enough ink on the fabric to see the image when I stamp. This helps to make the stamped image disappear beneath my stitches. 

ELB10 

Once I had removed the extra ink, I centred the image over my fabric and stamped it lightly.

TIP: If you’re not confident in how much ink you should remove, I recommend using a piece of scrap fabric and practising till you know how hard you need to press when removing ink. I also recommend unfolding the fabric before you stamp so the ink doesn't bleed through when to the back of the bag.

Next I used an embroidery hoop and back stitched around the word “Noel” using red embroidery floss. I chose DMC 816, but feel free to use whatever colour you prefer.  I cut the thread about 12 inches long and then stripped off 2 threads to stitch with. (2 ply.)

I back stitched around the star using DMC 680, an antique gold, 2 ply and then filled the star in using a series of French Knots.

For the second bag, I use the “Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year” stamp from Lin Brown ELB11 collection. 

ELB11 

For this one, I didn’t remove any ink from the stamp because I wanted the message to be prominent. I stitched the * symbols  in the border using DMC 520, which is a dark green with 2 ply of thread and a straight stitch. Once the stitching was done, I pressed my fabrics to remove the creases from the hoop.

TIP: Always press on the back side of any embroidered piece to avoid flattening your stitches

For both bags, I evened up the edges of the bag and then folded the top edges over ½ inch and pressed them to help mark them before sewing them down using a ¼ inch seam allowance. These channels will be where the drawstring goes, to close the bag.

Next I sewed up the two sides, stopping at the stitch line where the channel begins at the top

I turned the bag inside out and flattened the bottom fold. This created two triangle points at each end. I pin these triangles to keep everything lined up nicely.

.

I marked a line 3/4 inch from the corner on each side and then sewed along that line. 

I clipped the excess fabric away, leaving a ¼ seam allowance from the stitched line. This makes the bag bottom square, so the bag can sit upright on its own. 

This makes it look more finished and it looks really nice sitting upright under the tree.

Finally, I cut four 18 inch lengths of red and white baker’s twine for the Noel bag. This twine was on the thin side, so I decided to double it up and use two strands per side. 

I poked a safety pin through a loose knot at the end of the twine and threaded it through the entire channel at the top of the bag starting from the right side of the bag. 

I did the same with the second piece of twine, but started feeding it through on the opposite (left) side. This will allow the twine to pull in opposite directions, making a good draw string closure.

I threaded a small jingle bell on each of the strings and knotted it. I then knotted the two pieces of twine together on each side.

TIP: To thread the twine through the bells, I used a flosser as my “needle”. You can find these at any store that sells oral care products. A package usually costs under $4 and you can use the flossers as needles over and over again. They are super useful for anything having to be threaded where an actual needle would be too big.

For the Merry Christmas bag, I used a slightly thicker twine, so I only used one strand per side. I added jingle bells to them as well.

To close the bag, simply pull on both strings at the same time, loop and tie a bow. Aren’t they pretty? Paper Artsy has so many stamps that would lend themselves well to stitchery-have a look through your collection and see!

Lelainia

A huge thanks to Lelainia from PaperArtsy HQ for these stunning gift bags. What a beautiful way to start a family tradition. I can see lots of PaperArtsy Christmas bags appearing under trees this year. 

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Nov 1st 2014 and Nov 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Nov 30th 2014

Welcome Back GD: Lelainia Lloyd #1 The Wonder of Christmas

Hello , and welcome to another set of projects with me Lelainia.  Tonight I begin my trio of festive projects with this sparkly card. When I saw the tree made up of dots in Lin Brown’s collection, I knew right away it would lend itself perfectly to a little holiday bling!

I began by stamping the tree from Lin Brown ELB10 onto a small piece of Smoothy card stock with black Staz-On ink.

ELB10 

Next I glued a selection of small rhinestones to the dots that make up the tree with 3D Crystal Laqueur. If you don’t have this product handy, I would recommend using Eileen’s Tacky Glue. Just put a blob of it on a piece of scrap paper and use a tooth pick to put the glue where you want it

I added a silver star sequin to the top of the tree and painted the tree base with Ranger’s Stickles in Xmas Red to give it some dimension. I let everything sit for a couple of hours to dry.

I cut a piece of Smoothy card stock 4 ½ inches x 8 inches. I marked the centre fold with my stylus and then folded it with my bone folder.

I used Hey Pesto Fresco paint and The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Sketch Grid stencil to create a simple background on the card. I wanted to keep it simple because I want the tree to really stand out.

While that was drying, I stamped The Wonder of Christmas from the Lin Brown ELB11 collection on a scrap of Smoothy cardstock.

ELB11

I wrapped lime green Tim Holtz Tinsel Twine around the card twice, knotting it on the inside.

I outlined both the tree and the words using a red Conte chalk pencil which I gently smudged with my fingers.

I decided where I wanted to place the words and the tree and stuck them down on the card using double sided tape.

And there you have it! Join me again tomorrow for more festive fun. 
Lelainia

A huge thanks to Lelainia from all at PaperArtsy. That stencil is so effective against the crisp white card: a perfect backdrop for all the twinkly bits. Ooo it's definitely getting all festive in here. 

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Nov 1st 2014 and Nov 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Nov 30th 2014

Flower Canvas {with JoFY Stamps by Emma Godfrey}

Hi everyone. Emma here again.   This time I want to share with you a project using some of JOFY's stamps and the Fresco Finish paint.   I think it could make a great present for someone special ... especially with Christmas coming up quick!

I completely covered a 6"x8" canvas board with Chocolate Pudding paint. I then glued some small pieces of book text on top. I dabbed over the top of the whole lot with Stone and Mud Splat paints to create a mottled background. Then I glued some strips of corrugated cardboard (two towards the bottom and one up the top), and dry-brushed those with Stone and Mud Splat too.  I added some more Chocolate Pudding paint with a wet wipe in random areas.

I used the circle stencil (PS001) with a Coffee Archival Ink pad and a piece of Cut'n'Dry Foam, to apply some subtle interest to the background.    Next, I mixed some Irish Cream (the paint ... not the drink!) with some water and then applied it over everything on the canvas.  Wipe off any excess with a wet wipe.    Once that was dry, I then wiped the Coffee Archival Ink pad in places over the canvas, and used the Cut'n'Dry foam to smudge the ink edges slightly.

With a Versamark Ink pad, I went around the edges of the canvas (making it heavier in various places) and gently over the corrugated card. I covered the canvas with gold embossing powder, tapped off the excess, and used a heat gun to melt it.

To make the flowers and quote, I cut a piece of Smoothy cardstock in half.  One half was painted with Blush, and the other with Claret. I also painted a sheet of book text with Irish Cream.   Once they were completely dry, I stamped my flowers and letters with a Versamark ink pad, and embossed them using gold embossing powder (Warning: if your paint is still even slightly wet - the embossing powder will cling to everything!).   I used the flowers and leaf from JOFY22 and JM34,

JOFY22

JM34,

 and the letters from JOFY21 and W2 (Ink & The Dog).  

JOFY21

W2

I always stamp as many as I can fit on the piece of card ... usually because at this stage I don't know how many I need ... and any spares can always be used for another project.   When stamping the letters from W2, I also always leave enough space around each letter to cut them out individually.  I cut the flowers and letters out, and inked the edges with the Coffee Archival Ink pad. 

At this stage I played around with the layout of the words and flowers on the canvas, until I was happy with it.   I decided it needed lightening up a little, so I chose to add some tiny white dots to the darker flowers (and also to the letters where I hadn't cut out the centres - O, E, R and P) using a Sharpie Extra Fine Point pen.   This pen is so fine pointed and never seems to splodge extra liquid.

I stacked the larger flowers together by putting brads through them. Two of my brads weren't quite the right colour for the project - so I applied some Classic Treasure Gold over the top.  All I needed to do then was stick everything down - PVA glue for the flowers, and 3D foam pads for the letters.

I hope you like the canvas - I enjoyed making it so much.   I think these flower stamps my be my all time favourites EVER!   
Emma. 

A huge thanks to Emma from all at PaperArtsy HQ. This is stunning, gorgeous colours and really pretty details with all the gold embossing. The clean and bright flowers and letters really pop against the neutral background, and the canvas/corrugate areas add just enough texture. 

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Nov 1st 2014 and Nov 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Nov 30th 2014