A Bit of Designer Trash....

The top of the morning to you!
If all goes well in both the virtual and real world this post will appear bright and early and I will be at LB Crafts in Olney doing a Ranger Masterclass with Linda Elbourne! Blogger can be a bit moody and I have a stinking cold but I'm hoping for the best... So, Monday means a new theme at Simon Says Stamp & Show where it's Recycle or Upcycle. No, that's not an exercise programme but a call to be green, creative and thrifty!

I had lots of vintage newspapers gathering dust and with Mr. Chrimble on the way I decided to create a Designer gift bag! Firstly I folded the bag into shape following the shape of a gift bag I had at home, folding over the top section to add strength. Basically you just need to create a tube, pleat the sides and fold in the bottom like you would if wrapping a present.

I used Picket Fence Distress Stain to tone down the print and give the paper a nice white tint.

Then I decided to jazz it up a bit with a recycled star and double tag. The star is made from an old toilet roll cut into five. Here's a great link on making art with your old loo rolls! I painted the star with Gesso, added Rock Candy Crackle paint and lined the inside with some fab blue Graphic 45 paper. I added a hint of colour with Stormy Sky Distress ink to the points.

l was also added strips of the same design paper to the inside of the bag for a bit of colour and contrast. I decided to go for rounded handles, not string as I thought it looked a wee bit more classy! I drew around some plates onto scrap cardboard to get the shape, then covered them with more paper and inked the edges.

Here you can see the tags which were made just like the handles were. I added a few festive stamps from Tim's Season's Silhouettes set in Ranger's Cobalt Archival ink and added some old parcel string to finish. I also put a cardboard piece into the bag bottom to support the structure. So there you go, a touch of Festive Junk! You could also make these bags from old gift paper, comics or brown paper and have a great time. They are quick, easy and quite a lot of fun!

There are so many things we have and hoard that can be transformed into something new. Take a look at the fantastic ideas from the rest of the talented Design Team here. You name it, they've done it! I'm sure you are all full of inventive ideas too, so come on, get peddling on your Upcycle! There's a generous $50 prize and Top Three Title on the go!
I'm all done for today and must be flitting off. Thanks for being here, I'd love to hear from you... See you all very soon, Sarah.