Mermaid Gift Bag
by Sharon Jeffs
Recently I had a birthday to go to for one of my nieces. I love the idea of giving handmade items letting the other person know just how much time an effort you put in to telling them that you care. That's why I decided to decorate a plain craft gift bag for her myself.
The bag I had was white already so I began by masking out the centre of the bag for my focal image (it's easy to do with a large post it note, or in my case several!) Next, I stamped the entire surface, front and back, with a newspaper stamp ( French Newspaper Background from the Frantic Stamper line of stamps) and tea dye Distress ink pad. I then spritzed the entire surface so that the ink feathered slightly and while the surface was still damp, I rubbed faded jeans and peeled paint distress inks across the surface. I chose not to blend the colors neatly because I wanted a jagged kind of feel much like I imagined it would be like underwater.
Once the bag had completed dried, I stamped the Sea floor stamp (also from the Frantic Stamper range of stamps) in the centre masked section (I removed the masked bits first though). I then colored this in with a selection of Copic markers before adding in a strip of mesh (I prefer to use Drywall tape its far cheaper than anything else you can buy) some strips of green mulberry papers, pins and string to finish decorating the front of my bag. Finally I added a cut out Mermaid image that I made by stamping (the stamp is also available from the Frantic Stamper line of stamps) and coloring, using some foam pop dots so that she stood out from the sea floor scene. So, that's how I created mine. I'd love to see any gift bags that you created for your family.
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