Tote bag using fabric markers and paint

I was looking for an alternate idea to gift bags and recently saw a pack of 5 Natural Cotton Tote bags on sale.  I have done a workshop on fabric painting and thought I could have a go at decorating the bags.

After washing and ironing them (use a steam iron and water spray on the bag which is not quite dry) I looked for a suitable image.  What one can do is take a stamped image on photocopy paper and enlarge to get the size you want.  Pop it on a lightbox and, with the bag on the top, you can trace the image using a soft pencil.  In this instance I took a photo of a puma, used the photocopy selection on Photoshop and ended up with a suitable outline.

I then outlined the image with a black Sharpies Stained Fabric Marker and painted the larger areas using black Dylon fabric paint.  After leaving the ink to dry for a day I heat set the image by ironing on the reverse side for 5 minutes.  The iron must be on the no steam setting at a fairly high temperature.

I do intend trying out acrylic paints which I believe work well as long as they are not applied too thickly.  I have done a number of these bags with images taken from the internet.  Simple outline images work well.

Gift box using One Sheet Box technique

For the one sheet box technique I went onto Splitcoast Stampers to have a look at the tutorial and get the scoring measurements.  I did adapt the measurements as my sheet of card stock was a slightly  different size.  I would recommend you use a sheet of normal printer paper first to practice on.

All the paper used was from my stash.  On the pink background I used a Martha Stewart border punch Doily Lace Edge.  The apron is a die from Marianne D called Apron and the ribbon used is a Stampin Up one.  On the reverse side of the box I used MFT Gift Card Pocket Vertical, inserted a Hero Arts Long & Cute tag and embellished the outside with a sentiment from Lili of the Valley die cut with a Spellbinders Circle.

When using the box as a gift I intend popping in 2 small glass jars with either homemade spice mixes or jams.

Whiff of Joy - Snowburst

I recently picked up this Whiff of Joy Snowburst die in an online sale.  My first try at it was a bit frustrating but I persevered with a slightly thicker card stock, plenty of masking tape to hold the die down and multiple runs at varying angles through the Big Shot.

Adhering these delicate dies are always a problem for me so I stuck double sided tape (small pieces) to the larger areas and used a glue pen for the rest.  The flowers are from a Marianne D die called Poinsettia.  The sentiment is MFT Stitched Stockings in Archival Cobalt ink die cut using MFT Fishtail Flags Stax.