Life of the Party!

We have had Basic Grey's 'Life of the Party' line in for a while, but it is so cute I had to make something with it. Here are directions on how to make a birthday card with matching gift bag. You will need the following supplies: 2 different pattern papers, solid cardstock, solid color bag, happy birthday stamp, ink pad, scissors, twine or ribbon, dimensional foam tape, hole punch, 1" circle punch, and the Epic Six Letterpress machine used to diecut the banners.

In the picture above you can see the whole array of papers from this line, basic cardstock, the $.99 birthday stamp, and the twine. Start off by cutting your green cardstock to 10"X7". Next, score it right in the middle so you make a 5"X7" folded card.

Next, using the Epic Six machine and the banner cutting dies cut out five of the smallest size; three of one pattern and two of the other.

Next, arrange the cut out triangles in an angular pattern acorss the length of your green 5"X7" card and adhere down using the double sided foam adhesive to give the banner dimension.
Then, punch two holes at either end of your card just above the line of the banner. Tie knots on the underside so it stays put.

After that, cut a small piece of solid cardstock to 1.5"X2.5" and stamp 'Happy Birthday' on it. I prefer to use VersaFine ink because it goes on the easiest and it stamps clearly.

Lastly, mount the sentiment with the foam tape and adhere it to the bottom right corner of the card and Voila!

Now it's time to make the matching bag! First, I printed out the word 'HAPPY' on pink text weight paper. I also cut out the second smallest size of the banners from the cutting dies.

Next, using your 1" hole punch, cut out the letters you printed making sure they are centered.

Now, mount the cut out letters using the same dimensional foam tape and adhere them to the little banners.

Next, we need to thread the twine through the banners. The dies do cut out a little notch which works great for flat ribbon. However, since I am using a fibery twine, it is much easier to punch holes and thread them through that way.

Again, punch small holes in the top of the bag so that the twine can thread through. Make sure to tie knots so it will stay put. I also used more foam tape to hold the banner onto the bag. Next, I stamped 'birthday' on plain red cardstock and attached it under the banner.

Here is the completed bag! One great way to personalize this is to spell out the gift recipient's name or any other sentiment on the banner.

Happy Crafting!

-Malyse