Guest Blogger: Rebecca Luminarias

It's the 6th of the month which means another round of Papertrey Ink Packaging!!  We're settling into summer now and I've cooked up some pretty packaging featuring muslin bags and the Cloche Quarters die.  Who's ready for cheery colors and pretty florals?!

To kick things off, though, I'm going to get right into the long-awaited Tassel Tutorial.  It's a good month for this, since I featured them in my projects (of course), and because I used a few different colors of DMC floss that coincide with PTI hues.  Thank you for patiently waiting for this…I hope you'll find that it's quick and easy!

You'll need a couple of things to get started:

– Embroidery Floss     – Jump Rings     – Thread     – Scissors

My preferred jump ring size is 10mm (which I have found at Joann, but I buy them in bulk from Fire Mountain Gems).  I normally use embroidery thread in Light Gold (though whichever kind of thread you prefer is at your discretion).

The first step is to choose an end of your skein and spread apart the natural loop (see below).  You'll be slipping the jump ring around the top of the loop so you'll also need to open up the ring.  I do this with my fingers, but if you're familiar with making jewelry, you probably have a tool for this.  Perhaps something like these pliers?  I'm not a jewelry expert, which is why I use my fingers!!

 

As mentioned, slide the opening of the ring around the top of the floss loop…

…and close the jump ring (again, I push it closed with my fingers, but if you have manicured nails, you may want to use pliers instead).

The next thing to do is wind thread tightly around the floss, by which you bind the jump ring in place.

Wind the thread around several times, tie off, and trim the end excess.

If you'd like to, repeat the same steps to make a tassel at the other end of the skein.

Using a pair of sturdy scissors, cut the tassels off at your desired length.  Mine are roughly 2" – 2 1/2" long, and I'm left with a similar bundle of floss from the midsection.  Basically, I've cut the skein into thirds.

Clean up the ends of your tassels with a few choice snips and you now have 2 tassels ready for adorning your projects!

Back when I started making these, it seemed like such a waste to throw out the midsection, so I kept them all in a bag until I had an idea of what to do with them.  I can never resist a little bow (as you'll see later on in this post) and fringe bows in the vibrant floss colors quickly became staples of my craft work.  I simply tied a knot around the middle of the loose bundle and evened up the ends.

Voila!  A cute bow and 2 tassels in just a few minutes.

The tassels add such a color pop to projects–they are rich and saturated, even in the softer hues.  I will sometimes choose a lighter or darker shade of floss to complement the existing colors in a project.  The spectrum of peachy-oranges would have been so pretty here, for instance.  Although, in the end, I opted for matching shades or Harvest Gold and New Leaf, because I couldn't resist the added deep green.

For quick reference, here are the colors I used to match my PTI colors today:

New Leaf – DMC 905

Harvest Gold – DMC 743

Sweet Blush – DMC 819

Also shown are:

Raspberry Fizz – DMC 600

Melon Berry – DMC 967

Darker Melon Berry (dark peach) – DMC 3341

Pale Melon Berry (pale orange) – DMC 3770

 

Now let's get to the projects!

Muslin bags are one of my favorite ways to contain gifts.  They come in a wide range of sizes and you can sew on, stamp on or dye them to suit your needs.  I buy them in bulk from Uline, but you can also do an Etsy or Amazon search to find them in smaller quantities and different sizes.

I use them for packaging in my Etsy shop often, filling them with multiple clothespin sets, greeting cards, and tag sets.  The contents of my mini packaging kits are always contained in them.  A few of you have inquired about card packaging and while today's project does not focus on cards, this is a great card packaging idea.

I recently acquired the Cloche Quarters dies, and to be honest, one reason I chose them was because I thought they would make really cute tags in their solid form.  I didn't cut out the center, as seen in most of the CQ projects–though you still could do that and have a result that works out just as well.  The nice thing about these dies is that they're made to be versatile and their uses are open to interpretation.  With some PTI felt and floral stamps, my end product was just what I was hoping for.

I've started with a 4 x 6 bag (a great size for 4Bar or mini cards!).  I like to decorate the bag itself sometimes, instead of just adding tags and trims to the tied off part.  Stamping on the bags is always fun, but here I chose to use 3-dimensional pieces instead.  Little bows are some of my favorite embellishments so I made some out of the Bow Clips die and PTI felt.  My colors on the first bag are Harvest Gold, New Leaf, and Melon Berry, so I made the bow with MB felt.

One of the dies in the Cloche Quarters set is a mini banner, which I've cut from glitter paper and I created a simple focal point at the bottom of my muslin bag.  I glued down a small swatch of lace, followed by the banner, and the cute felt bow.  I used Fabri-Tac and it's a good idea to place some wax paper inside your bag to keep the front and back from sticking together and accidentally sealing the foot of your pouch!

The small scene is mainly for balance and interest, but your recipient is more likely to re-use it (I think) if it's decorated.  The addition of the bow screams 'GIFT BAG!' and it's a great way to wrap a gift without technically wrapping it.  Since I'm not glueing any of the tags onto the bag, other tags can be substituted when the gift-ee is ready to be the gift-er.  Using a smaller muslin bag is a quick way to package up gift cards, too.

Speaking of tags, let's get to that part now!  I cut a large cloche from MB felt, and a smaller one from white card stock to matte with it.  The cloche pairs come in 2 sizes and I used the smaller ones here.  I chose to stamp flowers from Fresh Floral Wrap Ups in Harvest Gold ink and the leaves and stems in New Leaf.  A small scrap of lace sandwiched in between the paper and felt added a bit of my beloved texture, and the colors all worked together for a pretty, summery tag.

One large cloche, cut this time from card stock, completes the set and serves as the place to write the recipient's name.  I stamped 'to' in New Leaf (the stamp is part of the Keep It Simple: To & From set).  When I put the tags together, I fanned this one out in order to keep the important part of the bottom cloche visible.

Now to put it all together…The first thing I did was string metallic gold thread through the top of the felt cloche.  I punched a 1/16" hole through the card stock cloche and slipped that through the gold thread, also, linking the tags.  I tied the gold thread to the twine of the bag in a double knot to ensure it held.  I looped 2 embroidery floss tassels onto the bag twine, too.

I added a few lengths of colored seam binding and a bit of gold eyelash trim, then gathered the draw strings of the bag and tied everything in place.

My second bag is the same idea as the first, but with slight differences.  I've used a larger bag–5 x 7 this time, which houses A2 cards expertly.  I've kept Harvest Gold, but replaced Melon Berry and New Leaf with Raspberry Fizz and Sweet Blush.  I also used all large cloches here.

This project is a bit of a teaser to what I have lined up for next month's Packaging Ambassador post, which will feature several ideas for card packaging (those do not include muslin bags!).  To go with card packaging, I needed to make some cards for context, and you might just see a form of this idea on a celebratory card next month!  The style of cloche bottom I chose here reminds me of a cake stand and when cut from gold glitter paper and topped with a bright pink bow, it's too cute not to be a birthday card…But you'll have to stay tuned for that next month.

For today, the glittery cake stand, a pink bow, and some lace all look very festive on this muslin gift bag.

Again, I used the larger (longer) cloche set for this bag and cut the base from RF felt.  My florals and stems were stamped with Harvest Gold and Sweet Blush and when I put it together with the RF felt, I fell in love with the colors.  As you might notice from some of the photos, I tried out a few other floral combinations but this one might be the one I like the best.  You never know until you start playing around what really works.  I mean, they all work because the PTI colors ALL match unbelievably well, but this really array stood out!

While a different style, the 'to' is from the same KIS: To & From set as I used on the previous bag.  As a serial gift wrapper, it's an essential stamp set for me.

Harvest Gold and Sweet Blush tassels here, along with soft seam bindings and pale pink eyelash trim, and my second gift set is complete.

I hope you found some good inspiration here today!  If I haven't covered your exact topic yet, it's likely coming up in one of the next few posts.  In the meantime, try to incorporate some of these techniques or packaging ideas into your desired interest.  I know you can do it!  You come to Papertrey Ink because you're crafty and you enjoy being creative.  I've loaded you up with 4 months of ideas (not to mention what can be learned from the rest of amazing Papertrey gals, as well as what YOU already bring to the table).  I've been hearing from a few of you who are putting these tips to task and coming up with fantastic results.  I love to hear about and see what you're getting up to so keep at it and keep sharing!

On deck for August: Card Packaging!  Until then, take care and enjoy your summer!

Stamps:

Fresh Floral Wrap Ups

Keep It Simple: To & From

Dies:

Cloche Quarters

Bow Clips

Ink:

New Leaf, Harvest Gold, Sweet Blush

Other:

Stamper's Select White Card Stock

Felt – Melon Berry, Raspberry Fizz

Embroidery Floss:

DMC 905 (New Leaf) DMC 819 (Sweet Blush) DMC 743 (Harvest Gold)