The Bag Lady

Hi there ePers!  Today I (Erin) am showing you my bag that I made for the eP Picks Challenge hosted by the always lovely Ms. Toni!

When I first learned about this challenge, I was racking my brain on what medium to use!  Paper? Seed sack?  Lace handkerchiefs?  Redecorate a gift bag?  Use a brown lunch bag?
I decided to use up some of my seed sacks that I bought from my cousin's yard sale last summer!  She wanted to get rid of them, and I knew that I could find something useful to do with them sometime!  Well, that time came now!

Seed sacks are kind of like the old laundry bags from college, but without a flat bottom.  If that makes any sense!  It's tough, hard, stiff canvas.

Throughout this whole process, I did not measure.  I eyeballed all of the sides, and roughly eyeballed the handles.

I went through and cut the sides into actual panels, and prepped them all with gesso.  Once that was dry, it was ready to paint!  I used my Acrylic Glaze paints mainly because I wanted something vibrant and I wanted it to stand out.  I don't have too many other options in the paint department, so the Acrylics worked beautifully!  (I think so anyway!  ;D)

The first panel was my face.  Which, it's not MY face!  My 4 yr. old daughter and I had a discussion about this face!  She asked who it was a picture of and I responded no one.  She said, "No Mom, really, who is it?"  I replied again, now a bit agitated, "It's no one, ok?!"  She came back with, "Jeez Mom, you don't have to be mean about it!"  LOL!
So, the face just kind of drew itself.  I used black gesso and a paint brush.

To create the background, I just used different stencils and more Acrylic Paint colors and more gesso!

I pretty much did the same thing for all of the sides.

The difference for the back/front panel w/ the words 'My Craft Bag', are that those are sprays with different stencils and black gesso for the tiny circles stencil.

The difference for the rose panel is that I used white embossing paste, which I mixed a color into and using the edge/end of my palette knife, laid down the paste in the form of a rose.

I did have help on this, in the sewing it together portion!  I only sew on paper!  I NEVER sew fabric!  Hey, I'd actually have to measure something!  YIKES!

Anyway, I did the handles, and was successful at attaching 2 panels together, and then my sewing machine decided not to work right.  So, I handed my project over to my mother to sew the rest of it together.  I had strict instructions on how I wanted it done.  And she is such a darling and finished it for me so that I could post it here on my day!


I hope that you have been inspired by my bag and want to try out for our challenge!  This is a perfect opportunity to think outside the box!!!!

Erin

Links:
white & black gesso
white embossing paste
Antique Bronze Distress Paint
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen (black and white)
Stencils: Mini Reverse Chicken Wire, Mini Tiny Circles, Distressed Honeycomb, Bubbly
Silks Acrylic Glazes Honey Amber, Pink Anthurium, Bolivian Blue, Love Struck, Olive Vine,
                                    Apricot Nectar

Dylusions: Pure Sunshine, Funky Fuschia, London Blue, Cut Grass, & Melted Chocolate