softly, softly

this week's challenge at shopping our stash is to use something ♥SOFT♥... such as flock, felt, flowersoft, satin, fabric, puffy tail on a bunny, etc etc; how fun is that?! wouldja believe... soooooo fun i got just the tiiiiiiiiiniest bit carried away?*

ok, so yeah, that's quite a LOT of lace, ruffles, eyelet and trimming, isn't it? but wait-- there's MORE:

uh huh. turns out, the first bag was the sensible one! didn't see THAT coming, now, didja?! :) let me try to anticipate your top five questions:

1. lauren, are you INSANE?

well, um... yeah. pretty much.

2. how much lace did you use?**

the short answer is: LOTS!!!!! 

the real answer is: the tan bag has 8 layers of lace, the white has 6... the bags are like 8" wide by maybe 3-4" deep... i guess that's like 3/4 of a yard per layer; thus... 10-11 yards, i suppose. (aka, "LOTS" as i said, previously.)

3. how did you attach the lace, and didn't it take forever?

i used a low temp hot glue gun, started with the bottom layer, and just worked methodically. i had cut the layers of lace more or less to size before i started and "laid them out" to see which order looked prettiest, had the most contrast, texture, and so forth. yes, it did take a while, but it was pleasant; i only really notice time when i'm NOT having fun.

4. do you have any tips, gleaned from this experience?***

why yes, i do! it helps to put something about the same size of the bag inside it, to help hold the paper flat and make it easy to turn as you work your way around. it also helps to have something besides your fingers to press the lace into the glue, unless you're intending to embark on a tri-state crime spree directly afterwards, and would prefer not to have any fingerprints left to leave as evidence.

5. why, oh WHY, would anyone do this??!

the short answer is: see question one. :) 

the long answer is: these are for my mom and my aunt, both of whom have been helping me make stuff since... well, since i was born, basically. neither of them is shy about speaking up whenever anyone has anything cool that they can't use, they'll immediately chime in with, "oh lauren might like that!" in fact most of the lace (which is vintage) came in a huuuuuuuge liquor-fifth box, from a friend of a friend (and maybe one more "of a friend") of my aunt's, like 4-5 years ago...  and i'm still using it!!! in fact i've only really just started to make a dent! anyway, i usually try to make something especially fancy for the two of them because i know how much they enjoy it; i've taken to gift bags and the kind of box where you wrap the bottom and the lid separately, because otherwise they just WILL NOT OPEN the gift for ages and ages since they don't want to "ruin" it, lol!!!

but actually, the REAL answer is: i love wrapping gifts almost as much as i love making cards; and in both cases, the more crazy and over the top it is, the happier i am!!! so now you know!

another thing that's bound to make you happy is a little trip to SOS to see and admire the amazing things my design teammates have made for your enjoyment! ♥

*me? carried away??! SURELY NOT, lol!!! :)
**i actually know the answer to that, because leslie asked, for real!
***because obviously EVERYONE is going to want to make a few of these, ASAP!