Love It - Live It - Share It

When I was invited to my very first Stampin' Up! Workshop, I had no idea what to expect. While I had done crafts all my life, I had never really done any stamping, or made my own greeting cards. I really hadn't done a lot of papercrafting of any type. But my friend had invited me, and she wouldn't steer me wrong, so off I went. That evening, the Stampin' Up! Demonstrator told us about the products she had brought, and showed us how easy they were to use. She showed us the great colours and how all the paper, ink and accessory colours coordinated and matched. She made it look easy! When she finished her talk, it was our turn to use the products. We made a Christmas card that was lovely, but then . . . we made a Bagalope. We turned a plain white envelope into a beautiful gift bag. . . and it was easy to do!! The whole evening I had been having fun, thinking, wow, I could really like this, but now I was hooked. This was so easy to do, and so stunning, how could I not fall in love with this craft? 
So that was the beginning, and now here I am. I'm still loving this craft and have made so many beautiful cards, bags, and many other items, I can't even begin to list. But it was the Bagalope that got me hooked! I love it, I live it, and I share it every chance I get, so this project is perfect for the Global Design Project Theme Challenge this week. 

Here is an updated version of my Bagalope and coordinating card.

The Great Blue Heron is so majestic and regal. It is always a treat to see one on my lake. I used the Stampin' Blends Smoky Slate Dark and Night of Navy Dark to colour him. The lily pads are Old Olive and Daffodil Delight, and I used Pool Party and Calypso Coral for the sail boats. All the images are from the Lilypad Lake stamp set. I stamped and coloured all my pieces, and cut them out with the coordinating Lakeside Framelits Dies.

To make the waves on the Bagalope, I used the wavy lines from the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits. I cut one in Pool Party, and then I sponged Night of Navy ink on Pool Party card stock, and cut the second one. The sentiment on the bag and card are from the Sunshine Sayings stamp set. I stamped them in Night of Navy and cut them out. After that I was ready to assemble! I used dimensionals on the lilypads, boats and greeting to give it some extra pop.

I added a couple of Clear Rhinestones, and used Silver Metallic-Edge Ribbon to give the bag some bling.

Instead of cutting water for the card, I used the stamp from the Lilypad Lake set. I used dimensionals on the lily pads and the greeting, and clear rhinestones for the same pop of bling as I had on the bag. I added Calypso Coral card stock to my card to pick up the colour and coordinate with the sail boats on the bag.

If you have never made a Bagalope you should give it a try. They are fun to create, and make your gift giving even more special. Here are the folding instructions.

Cut the top flap off a 10 x 13 white envelope
Score along sides 1 ½ and 8 ½ inches
Score along bottom at 1 ½ inches
Score along top at 1 inch
Fold all score lines forward and back
Decorate as desired
Open bag along score lines, fold bottom triangles under and secure
Fold top over inside bag
Punch holes on both sides and string a 12” piece of ribbon through each side

You can use any size envelope for a different size bag. Adjust your score lines to make the bag an appropriate width deep. Make sure the side and bottom scoring size is the same.