Heather Leopard: Summer Tote Gift Idea & Tutorial PLUS WOYWW

Here for Workspace Wednesday? It's at the end of this post so stay tuned...

I guess it's design team swap week. Yesterday, I featured some DIY gift card boxes that I made with Little Yellow Bicycle and Petloo. Today I'm featuring Canvas Corp and Imaginisce. Canvas Corp sent me a ton of canvas, burlap, fabric flowers, mini (white and kraft) envelopes, a shadow box, Tattered Angels mists and a ton of jute and colored cording. They seriously spoiled me.

I'm showing you something I created this past week for my daughter to give to her teacher for teacher appreciation week. Even after making this, I barely made a dent in my stash. I am sure you will be seeing many more projects using Canvas Corp in the near future.

The project I made today uses their canvas bag, Tattered Angels mist, black cording and their large yellow fabric flower. Take a look at the project and then I'll walk you through how I made it.

Here's how I made it...

Step 1: Insert wax paper inside the bag to keep the paint from penetrating the back of the bag.
Step 2: Grab a mask template and paint the inside of the mask with a color that matches your bag base color. I wanted the image to run over the right side and bottom of my bag, as you can see from the photo below. I also wanted a tone-on-tone effect since my flower was so colorful. Wash paint off the mask and let dry. I used the Jenni Bowlin Malted Milk Paint Dabber and Pink Paislee Vintage Doily Mask by Christy Tomlinson that came in my Scrapbook Circle May kit.

Step 3: Place the stencil in a misting box or over a scrap piece of paper. Mist over the stencil - do not do this step with the mask on the bag. We are actually making the mask into a stamp and we want the mist to stick to the template.
Step 4: Flip misted stencil over and lay it on the canvas, matching up the stencil to the painted stencil image already on the canvas. You might have to do this step more than once, to get your desired effect. The photo below is after 1 application and I think I did it 3 times to fill in the gaps. I also added some paint and mist to the top edge of the bag. Set aside to dry.

Step 5: Once the paint and mist is dried, apply a layer of mod podge over it to seal in the color. Be careful applying the mod podge as it may smear the color. I simply dabbed it on with my finger instead of brushing it on. I suggest you try it out in an area that will be fully covered by the flower.
Step 6: Take your fabric flower and cut strips of coordinating fabric and burlap (with large scallops to resemble flower petals) and adhere them to the various layers of the flower. You can actually do this while the paint is drying.
Step 7: Using your i-top 2.0 and XL bits and pieces, made an XL burlap brad. Insert in the middle of the flower to anchor it all together.
Step 8: Next, I added the black cording onto the bag and adhered my flower over the cording.

Step 9: Pack the bag with supplies and you're ready to go.

This bag is filled with things Rheagan's teacher can use to relax this summer - book, sunscreen, water, a box of chocolate and a gift card (I think I'll keep my sunglasses though). Oh, one last thing...I'm thinking of stenciling her name or monogram to the upper left corner of the bag. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure to head over to the Imaginisce and Canvas Corp blogs to see what some of the other design team gals did. There are prizes to be won!!!

WOYWW - What's On Your Workspace Wednesday?

I am taking part in a new weekly feature. Well, it's new for me but I first noticed on Jingle and Diana's blogs a while back. It's called What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. I just finished recording my first silent film for a video tutorial that's debuting next week on the 17th. The project I worked on yesterday is still a secret so it's in hiding but the camera and the mess where I shoved all the little pieces of leftovers from other projects before I started filming are proudly waving at you. Wow, what a little mess...and this is my desk in what's considered clean because I always seem to have something scrappy in the works.