Technique of the Week: Painted Gift Bags by Marj Marion

Time is short before Christmas, but here is a quick project to make decorated gift bags. You can insert baked goods, or perhaps a packet of handmade cards!

Supplies: white gift bags (a multi-package of bags can be found at the craft stores), ribbons of your choice, Dylusions paints by Dyan Reaveley, baby wipes, assorted die cuts or tags, light tack painters tape, assorted watercolor or regular white card stock.

Directions:

1. Wrap some painters tape around the base of the handles so they stay white you are painting the  gift bag.

2. Choose 2, 3, or 4 colors of paint, and shake the jar so some paint remains inside the lid when you open it. I used Calypso Teal, Vibrant Turquoise, Crushed Grape, and White Linen.

3. Gently dip a slightly damp baby wipe into the paint inside the lid, and using a light touch, paint random streaks over the front of the gift bag. Leave some blank spaces for your next paint color.  If you get too much paint on the baby wipe, you can dab some off before painting the bag. If you want to make several bags at a time, paint each color in sequence on all the bags, and then paint the second color on each of the bags, etc., assembly line style. Use a separate baby wipe for each color, and dry the gift bag between each color application if desired.

4. Repeat, using as many colors as you wish. You can swipe the paint on the bag, as in my sample, or apply with a swirl or pouncing motion. Practice some different strokes on some card stock or watercolor paper to use later!

5. Dry gently with a heat tool……my favorite is the white Heat-It tool, but any heat tool will work. When one side is dry, you can turn the bag over and repeat your painting design on the back…..or use a different pattern.

Add some dots with the end of a paint brush for extra pizazz!

6. Before you throw the painty baby wipes away, rub the excess paint over panels of card stock or watercolor paper, to create creative panels for your next card making session!

7. I just painted the front and back of the bag, as these are the flatter, easier sides to paint. But, you can choose a cardboard box that fits in the bag, cover it with waxed paper, insert it in the bag, and then have easier access to the sides if you want to paint them.

8. After your bag is dry, you can glue on some die cuts to the front, and then add ribbons or a tag to the handles.  

9. Enjoy this technique, and come show us your result…….we love to see what our customers do with our techniques of the week!

Everyone at Art 'n Soul wishes you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a very Happy New Year. We are so grateful for the support of all of you, our customers and friends. The 12 Tags benefit for the food bank is drawing to a close (today is the last day!) and you all really came through and made it the best ever! We collected a record amount of food and money. We don't have final totals yet, but will let you know. THANK YOU so much for your generosity, and we hope you had as much fun as we did making the tags.

We are still in the middle of our Twelve DAYS of Christmas event! Here is a copy of the flyer, showing what special we have each day!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

As performed by
Art ‘n Soul Fine Art Rubber Stamps 

SUNDAY, December 11 

Through

THURSDAY, December 22 

(Limited to stock on hand, so come in early!) 

EVERY DAY YOU COME IN DURING THE 12 DAYS, YOU CAN FILL OUT AN ENTRY FORM FOR OUR DRAWING!!  FOR EVERY $10 PRE TAX THAT YOU SPEND, YOU CAN FILL OUT ANOTHER FORM.  YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN A FABULOUS PRIZE PACKAGE FROM ART ‘N SOUL

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11:  ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS, MY ART ‘N SOUL GAVE TO ME, DOUBLE MARKS ON MY LOYALTY CARD (I.E. 2 MARKS FOR A $10 PRE-TAX PURCHASE, 4 MARKS FOR $20 PRE-TAX, ETC).

MONDAY, DECEMBER 12:  On the second day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me, ANY stamp at 25% off!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13:  On the third day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,ONE FREE MAGENTA CAT STAMP WITH A MINIMUM $30 PURCHASE.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14:  On the fourth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me, 50% OFF A TOOL OR PRODUCT FROM A SELECT BASKET WITH A $30 MINIMUM PURCHASE.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15:  On the fifth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,30% OFF ANYTHING BLUE OR GREEN IF I WEAR BLUE AND GREEN AND/OR A SEAHAWKS SHIRT!  GO HAWKS!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16:  On the sixth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,BUY 2 GET 1 FREE CARDSTOCK FROM A SELECTION OF BEAUTIFUL CARDSTOCK.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17:  On the seventh day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,20% OFF DYAN REAVELEY ACRYLIC PAINT (LIMIT 2).

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18:  On the eighth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,ONE FREE STAMP FROM A SELECTION OF FABULOUS STAMPS WITH A MINIMUM $25 PURCHASE.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19:  On the ninth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,20% off a hasty lace template, or 20% off any stencil (one per customer).

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20:  On the tenth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,15% off my whole purchase.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21:  On the eleventh day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me, ANY MAGENTA STAMP FOR 25% OFF.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22:  On the twelfth day of Christmas my Art ‘n Soul gave to me,A basket of goodies to the winner of the drawing! DRAWING WILL BE HELD AT 4:30 P.M. TODAY!

(Fill out one entry form for the drawing each day (no purchase necessary).  Fill out an additional entry form for each $10 spent.)

 Gift Certificate and class purchases are excluded from promotion.

WHAT'S NEW:

MISTIs are scheduled to be delivered today, Friday December 16th. We are getting one case of Standard size MISTIs and one case of the mini MISTIs. These make fabulous Christmas gifts, so get yours today!

Our Hero Arts order is also scheduled to be delivered today! Come in this weekend to see what we got!

If you have a paid order, you will get a call, and if not, come in this weekend anyway, the earlier the better! Don't miss out!

Our Ranger order is scheduled to be delivered on Monday, December 19th, and we will have just a couple extra of the Crazy Dog dies and Mini Crazy Dog and Cat dies available. We will also get stocked back up on Yupo paper, the newer alcohol inks, and the smaller size packs of Tim Holtz watercolor paper. Come in early and stock up; especially the Yupo paper goes very fast!

We will start scheduling January classes very soon and let you know. We will try to get Rosie's Roadshow back down here, and schedule more fabulous classes with Sally Penley. Stay tuned!