2nd time around -

Made some July 4th treat holders for gals at work.  I have not had much time for crafting but I wanted to make a treat holder for everyone for the holiday. I had made these before and I really like the Sizzix die for the treat bag so I used it again and kept the idea the same as before:

First I used the Sizzix Sweet Treat Bag die (#660265) for the treat bags. I used various solid card stocks from the stash and cut out all the treat bags. For the bag toppers I used the Top Note die and various patriotic printed card stocks I had in the stash. I also used those prints to make the pinwheels on the front of the bags. The pinwheel die is the larger pinwheel die from Lil Inker Designs. I used cloth covered brads from my stash for the centers of the pinwheels.

With all the bags die cut I used a small Spellbinders label die from my stash and die cut a window for the front of the bags. Used clear packaging sheets from craft products and cut a piece to fit behind the die cut window so the candies would not fall out. I put the clear sheets on using 1/8" tear and tape. With the windows in place I assembled the bags.  Folded the bag topper piece and put that on the bags using tear and tape on the backside of the bag and on the front of the bag I used half of a velcro oval and this way you can open and close the treat bag.

For the pinwheel I die cut the pieces and put the brad in the center and hot glued the pinwheels to the front of the bag topper on the bag. For the greeting I used an older stamp from my stamp stash and red ink -- which brings me to the ink issue.....

Awhile back SU changed their ink pads from linen bases to foam bases. I do not store my ink pads near a window, near a heat vent, near an air conditioning vent or anything. I bought the ink storage holders from Organize More so they are stored flat. Here are two photos of SU ink pads I had:

Not sure what these bubbles and bumps are but was not much happier with this one:

BOTH of these ink pads were bought brand new and neither had been re-inked....  This caused me to re think my ink for sure... Lucky me my PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) sells Close To My Heart products and she told me all about the new style ink pads from CTMH.  I liked that the lids are magnetic so you know the pad is closed and you will not have to worry about the lid coming off the track that holds it or anything. I also like the large ink pad base for your larger stamps and background stamps. For my greeting I used the Close To My Heart Candy Apple ink pad:

and this is the ink pad opened:

These ink pads are very easy to open esp if you have arthritis or if you are trying to open an ink pad with one hand while you are holding something in the other hand..... and you know they are tightly closed so you do not have to worry about the pad still being open and drying out. Happy me to find these! Here are more photos of the treat bags:

In the treat bags are various chocolate candies and everyone liked getting one. They all commented how nice it was that they are free standing as well. The Sizzix die cuts both thinner and thicker card stocks with no problems and two pieces complete the bag. Easy to put together as well.  TFL and Happy 4th!