Scalloped Purse - Samples and Tutorial

Recently, my friend Jody began selling die cuts on her blog "Confessions of a Ribbon Addict."  I of course, had to have some of those little rectangular tote bags after I saw her adorable creations.  She offers diecuts in a wide range of colors from both Stampin Up and Paper Trey Ink. You can find all the various dies she has for sale HERE

I also instantly fell in love with this little Scalloped Purse. 

Doesn't it look just like a teeny Bermuda bag?  With baby and bridal shower season coming, aren't these just perfect??  

I altered one up for either a tiny welcoming gift for a little one (ahem, a gift certificate for diapers anyone?) or it could be used for a shower favor filled with those custom M&M's. YUM! 

Uuummmmm.....I'm noticing my eyelets look crooked in this photo. Trust me they're straight, just sitting funny in the angle of this photo.

So, I realized that duh, you might want to see a photo of how I altered it. So I pulled out this Rose Red one and made a little treat for my son's bus driver! Now, this seriously took me 10 minutes, no lie.  I've outlined it step by step for anyone not familar with how to alter these types of things, but really it is a piece of cake!  

To begin, I dug through my stash to find a good match for this Rose Red paper. I actually purchased SO much of this Loveland Paper from Scenic Route last year. Its still my favorite!

To begin, trace your die cut onto the backside of the designer paper.  I traced the scalloped part, and traced along the straight part of the handle. Then I folded up my bag along the score lines to trace the entire front of the bag.  

When I was finished, it looked like this. Now using your scissors, trim out this shape.  

I cut off along that straight line so that I'd alter just the bottom half of the bag. If you wanted a fully patterned bag, you'd just cut out the whole thing! Adhere to the front of the bag.

The diecut already has a closure built right into it. However, by altering, now I've closed that up.  Easy peasy... just flip it over and place onto a self healing mat (can I just say, I LOVE my Scor Pal!!)  using a craft knife (or if you're a mess like me, the sharp blade of your scissors.) 

Just slice upon this line and you'll open back up the slot for the closure!

Now, I flipped my tote back over and added some ribbon trim to cover up that seam between the original diecut and the patterned paper.  Just don't put ribbon over the actual slot you just opened up for your closure! Fold on all your score marks with a bone folder, and then you'll be able to close up your nearly finished bag. 

Embellish as desired, I chose this sweet Feb 14th image from Stampin Up and finished it off with a scalloped flower medallion and some felt flowers I've had forever!  

I'm tucking a gift certificate for Dunkin Donuts inside because if I were a bus driver, I know I'd need a LOT of caffiene to tackle that job each day!  I'm so thankful for Amy, she's wonderful!!

By the way, if you were mass producing these and wanted to save a step, you could easily just overstamp them with a background stamp, or a stampin up wheel, or embossing folder etc! 

Jody has lots of other shapes available, be sure to check out her die cut shapes.  I've some more that I'll have samples of soon, just need to get 22 Valentines finished first!

Thanks for popping by today!