Well, it's high time that I start showing off some of the awesome new products from the super spectacular Holiday Mini Catalog, don'tcha think?!
I made these cute Halloween treat bags for my Demo Meeting swap last week to showcase several of the new products, and I think they turned out great! Plus, they hold LOTS of candy—BONUS! In addition to the cool box-in-a-bag design, you'll also see a couple of new techniques I used to create the spooky medallion.
Box-In-A-Bag Instructions
I loved how easy this project is to create (I know, I always say that, but it's true). It's versatile, too! You can make the box different sizes to hold a variety of contents, even cards! And, you can adjust the height to make the bag up to 12" tall! Whoa—can you imagine how much candy that would hold?!
Visit my Box-In-A-Bag Tutorial to learn how to create your own project! I also want to try the card-holder style purse that I saw on Andrea Walford's Sunny Stampin' Blog. So cute!
Decorating The Spooky Box-In-A-Bag
My bag is made from the Wicked Fun Specialty Designer Series Paper, so I used the matching color scheme of Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Cajun Craze.
The closure is made from the Round Tab Punch, adhered with Sticky Strip (<<<a must). I punched a 1/4" hole in each tab with the Crop-A-Dile and threaded through the new 1/2" Lace Trim. I love the lace! It's a little bit spooky, and a little bit sexy. We were joking at Stamp Club that it would be great for a bachlorette party invitation…*wink*!
The cute little Bat Punch added to the corner has his wings sculpted forward with a Bone Folder to make him look ominous. As if!
The featured accent is the Spooky Medallion. You'll find similar medallion shapes, usually with a ruffled border, are popping up everywhere, and they look especially great on Halloween and Christmas projects. The Holiday Mini offers many medallion examples, shown on page 16, page 18, and especially on page 21. The new Waffle Paper and Seam Binding are both perfect for creating medallion ruffles, but I wanted to try another style using card stock.
Eyelet Border Punch Medallion Ruffle
I started with the Extra Large 2-1/2" Circle Punch. This circle is HUGE! It's a great size for punching a stamped focal piece for cards and scrapbook pages—it's a size that commands attention! I believe it's the largest punch available from Stampin' Up!—you have to use Bigz Dies to get any larger shapes.
Punch a circle with the ginormous 2-1/2" Circle Punch.- Add Sticky Strip along the edges. You'll have to pleat the edges as you go, but that won't matter when you take the liner off.
- Punch an Eyelet Border out of a 1" wide, 12" long strip of card stock.
- Run the Border through the Crimper.
- Attach the Eyelet Border to the Sticky Strip, pleating as you go to follow the circular shape. Tip: Experiment with the different looks you get when you "buckle" or pleat the border at the edges or middles of the scallops. I found it was easier to buckle between scallops, because the card stock wasn't as wide there.
- Once the border is on, trim any excess, then press it firmly into the Sticky Strip.
- Add several pieces of foam tape or Dimensionals. Tip: I attached them overlapping the border as another way to hold the ruffle in place.
Decorative Label Punch Layer
Speaking of awesome punches…the new Decorative Label Punch definitely is my new favorite punch! I love the shape and it's large enough to fit greetings and images in all kinds of sizes!
I took advantage of the room to layer my Rich Razzleberry "spooky" over a Basic Gray spider web. Both images are from the new Wicked Cool stamp set.
The only problem with this punch is that it's so big that there aren't many other punch shapes that you can layer with it. No problem! Create you're own layered border!
You'll need two punches in the color you want for the layer.
Cut the first punch in half length-wise, then cut off the points, as shown. Attach them to the top and bottom of your original stamped piece. It will look like this:
That's a pretty look in itself, but for a complete frame, you'll add another layer.
Cut the second punch in half width-wise. This time, you'll cut the first curve on each side completely off. Attach those heart-like shapes to the sides, as shown.
Cool, huh?! You can see a video tutorial Angela McKay's North Shore Stamper blog, if you need more details.
Here is my completed batch of Box-In-A-Bag Spooky Treats!
Angie
