Gift Bag with a twist - -

Recently went to the local stamp show and one of the vendors was a local demonstrator of Fun Stampers Journey. I have shopped her booth at this show and others and all my FSJ orders are through her. I had recently seen the new background die set the Rose Garden. I was hoping to see card samples using this die set at her booth and happy me that she had samples to look at. Decided I would buy this die set and I ordered it when I came home from the show. The die set arrived and I had planned on making two cards with it but once I took it out of the packaging I wondered . . .

Earlier this year I bought the Card Caddy/Gift Bag die set from ODBD (Our Daily Bread Designs) and this is the first gift bag I had made using that die set:

The die set can be used to make a solid bag or you can use this decorated inset die for your bag front and or back that comes with the die set. ODBD also sells a Poinsettia inset die (which I will be using for upcoming holiday projects) for this bag. ODBD also sells a snowflake background die which I do not own (yet -- haha) but I am not sure if that die set would work with the gift bag die set or not.

Wanted to work on my two cards using the FSJ Rose Garden die set and when I opened it it dawned on me that it may just work with the ODBD gift bag die set so I thought I would give it a try..... Laid the die pieces on my work table next to the ODBD die set and it looked like it would fit so I cut the card stock and die cut all my pieces. Here are the two die sets next to each other -- FSJ dies are all lime green:

This first gift bag I made I used the new Stampin Up Highland Heather colour card stock and I made the gift bag with a solid front and back piece and I used the Rose Garden die to make a decorated panel to fit over the front of the gift bag:

Very monochromatic but I like how the rose panel gives the gift bag front some depth. I also did not want the handles to cover up any of the bag front panel so I attached them to the inside of the bag. As with the first gift bag I made using this die set I assembled the bag flat and then added my rose panel to the front of the bag and then closed the bag. All I have to do is make a tag and fill the bag with paper shred or coloured tissues and a gift or treats....

Really like how the Rose Garden panel fits into the ODBD die set -- new possibilities for a nice gift bag set.... but wanted to show off the Rose Garden die cut panel so why not try a see through front panel??? Here is that bag:

The above photo the gift bag looks more blue than the Cool Caribbean card stock it is. As before I die cut the solid piece for the gift bag back, the two sides, the two handle pieces, and then the front panel using the Rose Garden die:

Once again I assembled this bag flat and then formed the bag with all the pieces attached to each other:

In the photo above you can see I attached the two side pieces to the front and back. Before I attached the Rose Garden die cut front panel piece to the other side piece I turned this over and measured the backside. I cut a piece of clear sheet to be a bit larger than my die cut front panel.   When I use clear sheets or clear packaging for 'windows' on treat holders and such I use a store brand Swiffer duster refill to run over the clear sheets to remove any lint or card stock "hairies" etc.. With that done I attached my clear sheet to the wrong side of the gift bag front using red sticky tape. With the clear sheet in place I closed the gift bag:

I closed the bottom of the bag with tear and tape. Added the handles using large glue dots and on the inside of the bag behind each handle I put a 7/8" circle from the matching card stock. This covers the backside of the handles on the inside of the bag. Added a large clear rhinestone to the front of the handles on the bag front. Here is another photo of this bag:

In the above photo you can see the shadow on the inside of the bag of the rose cutouts on the bag front. I used clear sheet so paper shred and treats and such will not fall out of the bag through the openings the rose die set made on the bag front panel. Here are the two bags together:

Really like the ODBD Card Caddy/Gift Bag die set and am happy I now have another choice for decorating the front and back panels of the gift bag! Now off to make the two cards I had bought the Rose Garden die set for to begin with .... ;0)