i live to wrap!

ok, not quite. but as you know, i do ♥LOVE♥ wrapping gifts, the more elaborately the better; and then i love making a fancy gift bag to hold them; and then i especially love giving them to a very special niece, in this case riley elizabeth, whose *ELEVENTH* birthday was celebrated this weekend!!! (where exactly did that whole entire decade go... because seriously... it seems like we just had her FIRST birthday party fifteen minutes ago!) anyway, here's the bag that held the loot, i am proud to say it was quite a hit with that young lady!

(patterned paper, journaling card + transparency, alphabet stickers, stick pins: basic grey; florals: prima; small label tag: k and co; happy birthday rub-on: EAD designs; bunting rub-on: hambly; cupcake ribbon, plain white giftbag + tissue paper: michaels; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

now, i realize most of the sketches out there in the papercrafting challenge world are created for either layouts or cards, but really, a good sketch can be used for ANYTHING, and is always a great starting point if you're in a hurry. in this case i grabbed the current sketch from the basic grey blog, a whole bunch of my favorite BG supplies, and one or two other odds and ends and came up with my design post haste!

since riley's actual birthday is on valentine's day, i often incorporate plenty of hearts... as well as reds and pinks... into the cards and presents i make for her, and this week the palette at colour q was BRILLIANT for that; it's "brilliant" in every sense of the word, actually!

here's a closer shot of the gift bag, with the birthday girl's name on it. actually, riley's favorite part was the big sparkly pink flower! 

you can probably tell more easily from the big photo than from this one, that the entire design is built on a 7x9" panel of dark red paper, and every single element is attached securely to THAT rather than the bag itself; then the whole panel is attached to the bag using only 4 or 5 little squares of foam tape. which is enough to keep it securely on the bag, but make it easy for the birthday girl to detach the panel and hang it on her bedroom door, or the bulletin board in her room. because it's important to enjoy the sensation of being THE FABULOUS BIRTHDAY GIRL for longer than the span of one little party, don't you agree?

happy birthday, riley elizabeth, and i hope this is just the start of your best year yet!!! ♥♥♥♥♥