Gift Wrapping Is My Bag, Baby!

I (Lauren) may have mentioned that before. But I never get tired of making extra-fancy presents for my friends and family. Especially (...but not limited to...) the kiddos. It's amazing how quick and easy it is to make a plain boring giftbag from the big box store into something infinitely more colorful and fun... with Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape!

You've seen me make washi tape into patterned paper before, just by applying tape in neat strips on plain white cardstock. And that's what I did this time to make the star bag, but instead of choosing one pattern of tape, I made a washi rainbow! I used a homemade star template from my computer to trace the star and cut it out with scissors. Then I matted the whole thing onto a scrap of glossy black cardstock and cut it out again. For the heart bag I used a store-bought stencil for the shape, and this time I applied the tape in a sort of plaid pattern, alternating between placing the tapes horizontally and vertically, so it would be more interesting. I matted that one on a coordinating shade of purple. I machine-stitched around the edges of both shapes to add a little extra texture.

I affixed both shapes to their bags using a few pieces of foam tape. But first I wanted to add a little more color to the bags. The nice thing about washi tape is that it comes in lonnnnnnnnnnng rolls... so you never have to worry about how wide or tall your project is. I marked an even point on the right and left sides of the front and back of each bag. Then I applied my tapes carefully, one at a time, in long strips that went alllllllllllllllll the way around the bag! By starting inside the fold at the side of each bag (and working neatly) I was able to hide the place where each strip of tape overlaps at the end of its run. I love how it looks seamless, and I can tell you that when non-papercrafters see something like this, they have NO IDEA how you've done it! (So when you make your own version, if you want to tell them it was *MAGIC* your secret will be safe with me!) ;)

On the star bag, I used: Red Dot Tape, Blue Stars and a couple of Skinny Print Tapes for variety; the star itself has: Heart Washi, Orange Stars, Crayon Tape, Blue Stars, Purple Checked, Skinny Yellow Dots, Skinny Green Stripes and Confetti Tape.

On the heart I added a stack of Paper Flowers with an Enamel Dot center, and these tapes: Pink Checked, Purple Zigzag, Pink Dots, Skinny Pink Dots and Skinny Pink Checks plus Heart Tape; with Wide Star Washi and Skinny Glitter Tape on the bag. But really... both of these designs would work with literally ANY combination you'd like to use! You could work in a specific color group--either the recipient's favorite combination, or to commemorate a school or team. Or use the entire rainbow--either randomly or in the ROYGBIV spectrum. You could even combine tapes thematically, for an occasion like a birthday or holiday. The only limit to the variation is your own imagination!

Need even more great ideas for using Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape, Brads or Bling? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see all the latest makes from our amazing design team! ♥

Lauren Bergold's favorite color 

is RAINBOW!!!

♥♥♥

Lots of Love

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! It's Lauren here again, and in my opinion it's never too late to send a pretty Valentine out to someone special; or for that matter, to send an all-occasion greeting that just happens to have some hearts on it! I've used some of my favorite Eyelet Outlet Tapes, Enamel Dots and even some Balloon Brads to make a couple of cards that are all heart!

My first card was inspired by a layered heart die that I saw recently on social media. It's quite a new product though, and I haven't seen it in a store yet, which made me wonder if I could make my own version using a heart template and my trusty scissors. And it turned out that yes, I could!

After I traced the heart outline, I used the curves of the stencil to divide the shape into five segments that were more or less even, without being straight. Then I cut out around the heart. And finally, I cut the sections apart... but... I stayed just a scant 1/8" or so away from the dividing lines, so that there would be a bit of a gap between the segments when I reassembled them, without changing the shape or size of the heart.

I traced each of my finished heart sections onto a piece of plain white cardstock to which I had neatly applied strips of Pink Dot Washi, Orange Star Tape, Skinny Green Stripes, Blue Houndstooth Pattern Tape and Purple Dot Tape. I popped each segment up on foam tape and mounted them (with tiny gaps in between) on top of some texty patterned paper I made just for these cards. The text reads, "hugs & kisses & rainbow wishes" and is formatted in a free font called "Broach". I created a page that's white with black print and one that's black with white print. Both of these will be archived on our Freebies Page, so feel free to grab that to use on your own creations!

For my second card, I was thinking of the balloon bouquets my niece Riley has often received on her birthday, which just happens to be today--Valentine's Day! So those bouquets always had a heart balloon or two mixed in with some ordinary colorful balloons. I decided to recreate that look by diecutting small hearts from some of the leftover "tape papers" I had made for the first card --in this case Pink Dot Washi, Skinny Green Stripes and Blue Houndstooth Pattern Washi. I mixed the heart shapes with some of our Bright Balloon Brads and layered them all on top of my text paper, on which I machine stitched some balloon strings. I punched two small holes on either side of the stitched strings, threaded through some very skinny purple ribbon, and tied it into a bow at the front of the card.

I hope you will be inspired to take the hearts we all love on Valentine's Day and use them to spread the love all throughout the year! ♥

Lauren Bergold 

wishes you a very 

♥Happy Valentine's Day!♥