Personalized Gift Sacks that make the best Gifting!

  Getting done with your Christmas gifts is only HALF the job done; getting them DELIVERED is what finishes the job entirely! And what better way to give a gift than putting it inside beautiful wrapping? Admiring the wrap is half the fun of opening a gift, and personalizing that wrap is even MORE fun gifting to someone! I made at least 10 of these and each one only took mere minutes to design. The embellishment of the flower pop on the front took 3x longer than decorating all 10 sacks with names.


                       Here's the easy "How To" on these cool personalized keeper Sacks...

                                 
        I started out with a set of Tim Holtz Cling Foam Stamps: Type Lower Case Letters I'd
       purchased earlier in the Fall that was on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics. It was a bargain I
                  couldn't refuse...not that I ever HAVE refused anything Tim Holtz...lol!
           While shopping, picked up a 10-pack of plain brown-wrap-paper gift bags from
           the party isle in Hobby Lobby, for just $2.00. I already had the rest of what I needed to make the basic bag: Ranger Archival Black Ink Pad &Reinker, and clear stamp mounting block.
GRANTED: it would be much easier if you had multiple sets of the same lettering stamps,
     but only Tim and his main Helpers are likely to have that kind of stash, and storage!!
          So, I thought up this system that was easy-peasy and much less trouble than
              measuring and outlining it all...

Step 1:   Make sure you use either your Craft Sheet, TH Glass Mat, &/or extra scrap cardstock or      
                 paper  to lay under the edges of the sack, so the ink won't ruin the surface of wherever
                  you are working! You WILL go over the edges on this project. My custom-made
                  countertop would narc on me to the ChiefHubby.

Step 2:  Place lettering (of name chosen to print onto sack) onto the clear stamping block. TH    
                 Blocks do work better as they are grid marked for easy placement, but there are others
                  out there that are also grid marked.

TIP:  If the name you use has a double letter (such as my Sister's name , used here; pAmelA,
            place down the lettering as it is meant to start with the first double letter....

                                  pamel        is what I start stamping with

                                  p mel      then this is what I end up with after having ALL the letters on
                                                       the block- save for that last A needed- I take that first A off.

                                  p mela     and moved it to be the last letter

               If the double letter was anywhere in the middle- you could leave the space in any of the
                      2 places it appears. BUT, IF THE DOUBLE LETTER APPEARS ON EITHER
                        END: you MUST move it to an end place, or you will need to measure for a
                       space as you stamp. You can always use an extra odd letter on an end as a measure
                       but then you would need to remove it or tape over it before stamping.

                    Example:    Amanda      ~ has the letter A three times: in the middle & on both ends.
                                                           
                                      *mand*      ~ is how I would put the lettering with the * having
                                                                 NOTHING in those spaces,
                                                          ~  & now go ahead & INK the four letters (mand)
                                                          ~  Then put another similar-sized letter (in this case,
                                                                       the letters E and O in my set are about the same  
                                                                        sizes as the letter A. (I used plastic gloves and my
                                                                   tweezers to help these moves of lettering while inking.

 Step 3:  So, you've got the name's end letters on each end- don't worry about spaces
                       where you will move the doubled letter. We'll get to that down the line.
                         OK- Now you're ready to stamp!

     (PS: I am VERY RELIEVED to report that- according to Paula Cheny who posted to my
    inquiring worry over rumors of Tim Holtz being "discontinued at JoAnn Fabric Stores"...
  that rumor is COMPLETELY FALSE!!! YAY!!! It seems that JoAnn's simply has a wide/deep
   overstock in TH products and is clearing out before all his NEW 2019 ITEMS hit the shelves.
  I am taking HUGE ADVANTAGE of this - and YOU should also: some stores I have visited -  
  Minnesota, and a couple in Indiana, have already cleaned out. While the Online Joann.com is
    still going with huge bargains. The Funkie Junkie Boutique has also had several nice deals.)

Here is my first row of stamping the name Pamela (all lower case lettering stamps, remember)

I measure out the sack to make an UNEVEN number of lines- this makes it look more natural

than even number of lines, which I did try on my first practice sack.

In the case of this size of sacks; I chose to make 7 lines of her name. 

LOOK CAREFULLY at the top photo: you will see 

that you can read her name both UP & DOWN as well as RIGHT TO LEFT...

   

                      P mela          

                   pAmela

               p Mela 

          p mEla

       p meLa

    p melA

THIS is the GUIDE!

It was so easy to follow it since the block has grids that- in this case and most other larger sacks-

the grids can line up with the top line I just did first, with the next line down.

I stamped only ONE TIME each line, moving the name over by ONE LETTER SPACE to THE LEFT... I kept going downward and left until it had only the letters to fit that last line.

Now, you can see where the first letter met with the last letter as I went back to the top line

to fill in the rest of that line, moving down as I went before on that first stamp of the name.

DON'T REMOVE THE LETTERING YET!

But take that doubled letter (the A in this name used) and move it to the space it is needed.

My grid block now looked like this...

pamel

Here is where I took the A and stamped all the lines in the space where it was needed.

Again; the grid lines helped me keep it all straight in each line of lettering stamped.

I chose to do my Sister's last name on the other side of her sack, which had no problems

 or double letters to deal with. I followed the same lines pattern I did on the other side.

You'll notice that I flattened the fold to stamp the entire side.

Then, I decided to do the BOTTOM also- with the year of the current Holidays.

I always like to put a strip of EZ Clear Duck Packaging Tape across the bottom

 of all my sacks...while this was not a heavy gift, I never have to worry any gift will break through.

Use the same pattern as before. Numbers seemed to be easier. Or maybe it just LOOKED that way!

Now, you can see how the Poinsettias I made really made the sacks special looking!

If you missed the "How To" on the TH Poinsettia Die/Embossing Folder Set...

CLICK HERE

I'm very pleased with how easy this TH Cling Letters Stamp Set worked for these!

And I think everyone liked the personalization of the sacks as well as the pretty 

Poinsettias adorning each one! In any case- it was a FUN way of GIFTING!

                                 

                           

                                Thanks, yet again, for taking the time to peek in and see what's up

           with the latest project! I am thankful for each page view as I'd never even noticed it

          until a few months ago.... and it knocked me over with a feather! 

                                I have one more thing to blogpost: the actual gifts that went into these

           sacks! I really think you'll like them.... and while making all 8; I came up with another

           cool idea I hope to try out during one of the 2019 Challenges the Designers on the

            Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog will come up with. I hope you can JOIN US!

                                                            Until next time:

                                      Please be SAFE &

              

                                  HAPPY BLOGGING!!