Hats off ...

I went through a bit of a weaving fascination this year. This was a bare hatbox when I found it and I covered the front with quarter inch strips of green cardstock that I wove together. The ends of the strips were adhered to the sides of the purse front and then the entire side was covered with patterned paper. The weaving took HOURS and HOURS, but I love the effect and it's very durable. I handmade the flowers using a scalloped punch and metallic cardstock layered with patterned paper. I simply adhered each scallop layer together with a few glue dots and then began scrunching them all together. I added the gem center for a bit of bling. I also found that adding the gem center first gave you something centered to "scrunch" the layers around. The large solid pink flower was made in the same way, but without the patterned paper layers or bling. This cardstock was 110 lbs (quite heavy) so I wet it first to make it more scrunchable.

The "Paris," Flourishes and Eiffel Tower are Quickutz dies and the black bling swirls are Prima. Because I love poking holes in things I outlined the Eiffel Tower with holes made by my paper piercer for a bit of added interest. Hemp borders both the front and the back of the purse to hide the edges of the patterned paper and give it a more finished look.

As the structure of the purse is an actual hatbox it easily carries a wallet, keys, cellphone and is sturdy if I am cautious of the embellishments. Everything was secured with gobs of Beacon Adhesive so I am confident it is not going anywhere I don't want it to.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne