Lauren & Adam's wedding {project} no. 5 and a free wedding day checklist download

Thursday 28 June 2012

 Lauren and Adam are getting married this weekend and I thought that I'd share with you some final projects that were created for the reception.

Lauren had a difficult time figuring out which favor containers she liked the most and would work best with her vintage wedding theme. We got it down to a couple and I was so happy when she decided to go with the french provencal mini decorative canisters with lids.


We knew right away that we would create a custom sticker using the StickerYou stickers to personalize the cannisters. I created the art for Lauren and she printed the stickers. After hand washing all of the cannister, she added the stickers ...  I think Adam helped out with the washing/drying!



Lauren hand punched the lace edge detail on small white tags using a decorative paper edge punch. I aged the paper tags using distress inks and then stamped each tag with the "thank you" message. Lauren used brown jute to tie the thank you tags to the cannister lid.


In case you missed it, I gave some details on how to use the paper edge punches and distressing inks in the escort card post here.



Lauren works for Cocoa Couture. She is a distributor for unique and gourmet chocolates and candies that are rarely accessible in Canada. Lauren filled each of the cannisters with "Cookies and Creme CH'Up Cakes". They are made from a solid piece of belgian chocolate with cookie pieces ... and believe me when I say that they are really, really good!!!!

The CH'UP Cake comes in four creative flavors and you can find out more about them here.

Lauren didn't want to clutter the guest tables with the favors and so she arranged to have a separate favor table set up at the reception. I thought that we should have some sort of signage for the favor table to thank the guests for coming so I made Lauren and Adam a couple of last minute projects that I thought would add to their vintage theme.


Using the StickerYou iron on transfers and some vintage linen dollies (that I picked up at a thrift store) I created some one of a kind "signs". Pictured above on the left you can see the linen sign"that I made for the favor table. The "take one" sign (also for the favour table) is similar to the table numbers that I designed and posted about here.

The last project is pictured above on the right. Another inexpensive thrift store find, a silver tray, made a unique welcome sign that Lauren can set up by the escort cards or guest book. I took one of Lauren and Adam's engagement photos, added the "love/laughter/happily ever after" wording and printed in onto a StickerYou custom sticker page. It was easy to cut out the sticker with scissors and apply it to the tray.

This morning, I was making a list of photos that I would like the wedding photographer to take at the reception. Lauren is going to let me share her wedding photos with you so that you can see how everything looks on the big day. As I was making my list I thought that it might be fun to do another free download with two wedding day check lists. One list was for the last minute things the bride (or groom) needs to do ("to do before I say I do")and the other list can be used to remind the wedding photographer of shots that the bride and groom need so they can enter the Creative Bag Wedding Contest!!!
If you want to download the art for my wedding day checklists you can find it here!
As always, the art is for personal use - no commercial use please.

Our Creative Bag Wedding Contest starts this weekend. If you want more details about the contest you can read about it here.



Lauren & Adam's wedding {project} no. 4

Sunday 24 June 2012


Lauren and Adam's Wedding is a week away and I wanted to share with you another project that we worked on with Lauren for the reception ... their escort cards.

We started with mini kraft paper bags and plain white tags (both are currently available in our Toronto store). We wanted to address the envelopes with the guest's name(s) and the tag inside the envelope would reveal the table number. Lauren did not feel comfortable writing on her envelopes so the first thing we tried was to print on the envelopes using our ink jet printers. But to be honest, we did not have much success and I would not recommend trying it. Lauren suggested that we try using sticker labels to address the envelopes. And that is what we did! I created a simple digital template with a lace design for her and Lauren added the names to each sticker. Then she printed the labels using the StickerYou custom stickers.

To make the tags a little more vintage looking, we die cut the tags using a "deep edge" Martha Stewart paper edge punch. Then I used distress inks to "colour" the tags so that they would look like old paper. The numbers on the tags were stamped using a vintage looking font.
Here's a quick breakdown of the tools that I used and how I recommend using them.
Note: all of these tools and supplies are available in our Toronto store in the Creative Studio area.
The Martha Stewart paper punch design that is shown is called "embroidery". Tip to use this punch with paper tags: reverse the punch so you can see where the die is going to punch the paper if you want the design to be centred.
I used Tim Holtz's distress inks in "vintage photo" and "walnut stain". I always use my Inkssentials craft mat and the Inkssentials bleeding tool when I use distress inks.
I prefer to use stamps on clear blocks so that I can see exactly where I am stamping.

If you want to learn more about using distress inks ... I'm going to suggest that you check out this video from Tim Holtz. Keep in mind when you watch the video that I used the blending tool technique on the tags  ...


Whether you are creating escort/place cards for a wedding, party or event you can make these your own by using different colours of ribbon or distress ink on the tags, using a different paper edge punch (how about a snowflake design for a winter wedding?), change the stamp font (look for something more whimsical for a child's party) or try using your own handwriting on the envelopes (for a personal touch).  

We have lots of escort/place cards in our stores and online that you can customize or use "as is". Stop by and see our selection.

creative packaging {no. 1} - gift card holders

Monday 18 June 2012

I LOVE PACKING!

Whether it is the packaging of something that I am buying, something that I am receiving or something that I am giving ... the packaging is always what gets my attention. I am one of those people that will buy beautifully labelled and packaged whatever (even if it costs a little bit more) just because I just love the look of the packaging.

I thought that I'd share with you some of the packaging ideas that I came up with using some our gift card holders. Gift cards and gifts of money are wonderful (and practical) gifts and although throwing cash or a gift card into an envelope with a card will be appreciated, I think that these gift card holders show that you really put some extra thought (and love) into your gifts.

Here's some close ups of my gift card holders ...

1. I had Father's day in mind when I decorated this gift card holder with a satin ribbon tie. The bottle cap/paper clip features a black and white picture of my Dad. I added a magnet to the back of the paper clip so that it could be reused on a fridge door. The kraft paper bag makes a great pocket for a tiny note card.

2. I used another bottle cap and a (happy) sticker that I created using the Sticker You custom label sheets to decorate a tin gift card holder. These tin gift card holders are one of my all time favourite gift card holders. Like a pair of jeans ... you can dress these little tins up or down!

3. I showed you how to make these paper pops in a tutorial last Christmas. I made this one using another picture of my Dad and I on the bottle cap but I could easily recreate this same project using an engagement picture for a wedding gift or maybe an old kindergarten picture of a young adult who is now graduating from high school (college or university). A larger paper pop is the perfect size on this larger gift card holder with a ribbon tie.

4. I'm still finding lots of new ways to incorporate our resin flowers into my projects. I glued this small resin flower onto a large paper clip and used it to hold tags that I antiqued with distress inks to a ribbon. This gift card holder contains a magnet so I was able to add a ribbon of my choice to this card holder.

These are just a few of the many packaging projects that I will be showing at the Creative Evening this Thursday (June 21st, 2012) in the Toronto store. I'll be doing lots of demonstrations and afterwards everyone is going to making two of my decorative accents {for free!}. I've made up a few extra workshop kits and we still have couple of chairs to fill so if you'd like to come, just send me a quick email before this Thursday morning!





Lauren & Adam's wedding {project} no. 3

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Lauren and Adam's wedding is just a few weeks away and I thought that I'd share with you another project that we worked on for the wedding reception ... their table numbers.

Lauren's vision for her vintage inspired wedding was to keep the colour palette neutral and try to mix lots of different textures. We really wanted to use burlap somewhere on the tables and the table numbers seemed like a natural choice. Lauren found these great vintage looking frames in three different sizes at Ikea and they all looked great with the burlap inside. We couldn't decide which frames we liked best and ended up selecting two different shapes because Lauren and Adam are going to have a mix of two different shapes of tables at the reception.

So here's how we put these together ...
Supplies: I designed clear number stickers and had them printed online at Sticker You. Sticker You has fonts that will allow you to design your own numbers online. I also used burlap ribbon, kraft cardstock (which we now sell in the Toronto store in the wedding section), frames with glass (ours were from Ikea) and a bone folder (which we have in the Creative Studio at the Toronto store).
1. I cut the burlap and kraft cardstock to fit the inside of the frames (our frames were 5"x7"). The burlap was inserted so that it was directly behind the glass and the kraft cardstock was behind the burlap. Then I added the frame back.
2. The clear number stickers were applied to the outside of the glass. Carefully centre the sticker in the middle of the glass and when you are happy with the position you can use a bone folder to make sure that there are no large air bubbles under the sticker. It's that easy. 


You are invited to a Creative Evening with Lorrie Everitt on June 21st

Sunday 10 June 2012

I will be hosting the next Creative Evening in the Toronto store on Thursday June 21st, 2012 and you are invited to attend!

I'll share with you some of my creative wrapping ideas that can be used for any gift giving occasion. 

You will see how easy it is to transform simple boxes, bags and containers into beautiful works of art. 

Cheques and gift cards have never looked so good! 

Wedding and party guests will be talking about your fabulous favors and loots bags all evening. 

You will have an opportunity to see and try out some of the coolest tools and products around.

The store closes at 5:30pm (regular hours) and we will re-open for everyone that has registered for the Creative Event from 6:00 to 9:00pm. 

There is no fee to register but registration is again going to be limited so sign up early!

If you are interested joining me, please send me an email



at lorrieeveritt@creativebag.com or call 1-800-263-1418 by end of day on June 18th.
Enjoy private shopping after the class and receive 10% off as a special bonus.
I hope to see you there!!


yummy teacher's gift idea

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Okay, first of all I have to confess that I did not bake this cupcake ... my twelve year old daughter, Robyn, made up the recipe and had the idea to decorate it to look like a s'more. And second of all, I did not design this project for a teacher's gift ... it's my daughter's science project. Robyn noticed the clear containers with dome lids on my desk at home and asked if she could have one for her school project. She needed something to take the cupcake to school in that would hold the cupcake and not damage the lollipop stick and paper sign.

While I was helping her to photograph the cupcake for her project this afternoon it occurred to me that this would make a wonderful teacher's gift. Especially if you have a number of teachers and office staff that you want to thank at the end of the year.

We found the art for the paper circle here and you can personalize it however you want. Robyn printed her art on kraft cardstock and punched two holes so that she could add the lollipop stick.



Party with Archie and the gang using diy stickers and iron ons

Tuesday 5 June 2012


Do you remember reading Archie comics growing up? Maybe your kids are reading them now ... I still see them on the magazine racks at the grocery store. I've been an Archie's fan since I was a kid and a couple of years ago I started making jewellery (necklaces, earrings and bracelets) from my old Archie comics.

The first time I was introduced to the Sticker You product line of stickers and iron-on transers it was at a meeting that the Sticker You staff had set up to show us (Creative Bag) how to use their website. I could not believe how simple it was to create your own custom stickers and iron-ons. And I was amazed that there were so many different images and brands on their website. The minute that I saw the Archie images during the presentation I knew that I wanted to create an Archie themed party.

And that is what I did.
I already told you that I've been making jewellery with my old Archie comics, so I thought that I'd build the party around a crafting afternoon (or evening) with some girlfriends ... either mine or my daughters ... and we'd spend the time making some of the jewellery that I've designed, eating, drinking and just having fun.

Note: I've posted the how to make these on my personal blog here, here, here and here if you are interested in making this Archie jewellery yourself.

My first project was to use our little canvas bags and decorate each one with an Archies iron-on transfer. I filled each bag with all of the jewellery findings needed to make a necklace, earrings or bracelet ... like a little "kit".

The next project I created was a dvd tin that I embellished with a large label. I thought that the invitations for the party could go inside of the dvd containers along with the small canvas bags. I was so excited when I realized that the dvd tins were large enough to hold a double digest comic too (bonus!!). I used the full size sticker sheets to create the dvd tin labels. The art on the label was not from the sticker you website. I simply scanned a page from one of my Archie comics and played with it in Photoshop until I got the size that I wanted for the dvd tin*. I used a paper cutter to cut the label out and a corner cutter to round the edges.

I created party favors using our small clear pails and filled them with candy coated chocolates. I used one of the round Archie images from the Sticker You website and printed them onto the round sticker sheets. The round labels were the perfect size to fit on the pail lid. I loved that I could easily print what I wanted on each sheet - whether it was the same sticker design on every label or a different design on every label.
I used the rest of the stickers in the round sticker package to create Betty and Veronica labels to decorate our little milk bottles. I knew I wanted to present the bottles of milk with straws and cookies as I've shown in the picture  above but it was really hard to find cookies with holes. So I made cookies using refrigerator cookie dough and cut holes in the middle before baking (and immediately after they came out of the oven) using a very small cookie cutter.

Every Sticker You package comes with complete instructions inside and a special code that is unique to your three sticker sheets so that you can create and download the art on the Sticker You website. Don't lose that code because you will need it to print your art. And you can reprint lots of times because the website saves all of the pages you design. By the way, all of the licenced brands on the site are free to use to create stickers or iron-on transfers using the Sticker You products because Sticker You pays a licencing fee for you to use them on their products.

So what do you think? Are you a Betty or Veronica? Would you want to come to my party?!



*NOTE: IF you scan a comic like I did, only use the scanned image for personal use (such as your own party). I don't want to encourage anyone to start stealing art. As an artist, I can tell you I have never once been happy to see that someone has "borrowed" my art to create products for their benefit.

Resin flower inspiration - part one

Friday 1 June 2012


I created a number of projects using our new resin flowers for the "Creative Evening" in the Toronto store last week and I thought that I'd share a couple of the projects with you.

As you can see in the photo above, I used the resin flowers to decorate a wedding (or party) favor. I used a strong "pop" dot to attach the resin flower to the top of this petal box so that the resin flower would be elevated slightly and the box did not have to be ripped open. If I was attaching the resin flower to the side of this box, I would have used a stronger adhesive such as E-6000 or Inkssentials Glossy Accents (both of these are available in the Toronto store).

As I was decorating the favor I was thinking that it would be so cute to make these resin flower cabochons into jewellery that the bridesmaids and flower girls could wear.
I've seen resin flower cabochon rings and earrings advertised by artists on Etsy for a while and been wanting to make them for my daughters. They are very simple to make and can be made in less than half an hour (not including drying time). Here's how I made the rings ....

 1. Gather your supplies - I made rings from all three resin flower styles (small rose, square floral and large rose). Choose which flower size you want and use a ring base that suits the size of flower you are using. You will also need to use a strong adhesive such as E-6000.
2. If you are going to make a ring using the large rose flower you will need to place the ring in a small bowl filled with (uncooked) rice as shown to keep the flower flat while you work. Place a small amount of E-6000 glue to the centre back of the resin flower.
3. Centre your ring base onto the back of the resin flower making sure that it is positioned the way you will want to wear it. (See my previous polariod photo with the finished ring on if you are unsure on how to position.)
4. If you are using the small rose or square floral cabochons, you will not need to use the bowl of rice. Simply add a small amount of glue to the back of the resin flower. Centre the ring base onto the back and 5. allow ring to dry.
6. The rings will be dry in a couple of hours and ready to wear.

I also make earrings from the smaller rose resin flowers using simple post backs and the E-6000 glue.

Note: We currently have ring bases and earring posts for sale at our Toronto store in the Creative Studio space.

You can see more examples of rings, earrings and necklaces that I created using our resin flowers here on my personal blog. I also give you the background story on the photo cards that I created to display my earrings and necklaces.

WINNERS

I had a little giveaway going on the blog for the past week ... for a few of the extra loot bags from the Creative Evening last week. Inside the loot bags are the materials to make tissue paper flower pom-poms, resin flowers and a ring base. I've also added a little surprise from me in each of the loot bags ... a  "prince charming glass tile necklace kit" from my Etsy shop.

And here are the names of the winners of our loot bags ...

1. Colette (who wrote) "I love tissue paper flowers. They add so much to an event, and are so easy to make. I used them last year to decorate our school's annual spring bake sale. When the sale was over, the kids were "fighting" over who would get a flower. Pretty amazing. Thanks for the reminder. Keep up the great work."

2. Kim (who wrote) "I need to make these for my daughter's 18th birthday next week - she would be so excited!"
3. Tina (who wrote) "Oh My! I LOVE LOVE LOVE these ideas. i will be sure to use some of them at my next get together. i love everything paper and packaging so I can't wait to try some of these out! Thanks for posting."

4. N.Jones (who wrote) "Hi Lorrie I can attest to the fact that watermelon lemonade is delicious! Like the paper straws and I'm going to pick some up today!"

5. Bobbi (who wrote) "love this! thank you so much for including Poppy & Pearl Co. mason jar tumblers. xo"
 
Congrats everyone!! I will need each of our winners to send me your mailing address by email here so that can get these out to you asap!

Want to know when I'm doing another giveaway ... make sure that you sign up by email to follow me and receive new blog updates soon after they are posted!


 Stay tuned for more inspiration using our resin flowers!

By the way, just in case you missed my download for a shower invitation that can be decorated with our small resin flowers ... you can find it here!