And here we are to the last serving of amuse-bouche - Valentine Treats! What is Valentine's, if not a day to give out treats? As I was creating this last night, I was trying to come up with something grand and clever and awesome and ... And nothing happened. Does that ever happen to you?
You know a few years ago, maybe it was last year, I don't remember, but I think it was Ali Edwards that talked about having a "word" for the year. A word defining what her world would be. Well, I've decided that my word for 2010 is "SIMPLE" - I'm using that in my craft world but then maybe it will spill over into my everyday world too.
I find that I sit and try to make something grand, big, more, better, etc. and in the end I just don't like it as much as if I kept it SIMPLE. It's day 5 of 2010 and so far so good - except that it is a HARD mind adjustment for me. I have to concentrate on simple. Julie had an awesome card that I'm CASING for my thank yous this winter and I keep coming back to how clean and simple it is.
Okay, so back to this endeavor... after a few failed attempts to make something clever, I decided I was trying to hard and needed to come back to simple. Hmm, what have I done in the past and really liked? My valentine treat amuse-bouche is none other than the good 'ol Bag-a-lope from days past. The first time I made one of these many years ago in my former SU! life, I was in awe of the cleverness of it. If you are unfamiliar with bag-a-lopes, here is a tutorial from SCS but I modified it a bit. It's a bag made from an envelope. EASY. BUT wait there's more... A Muse is so perfect for SIMPLE... you can get a pack of these already patterned (AND VERY CUTE) envelopes from A Muse (and 10 in a pack!).
1. seal the envelope shut
2. score on 3 sides at 1/2" from the edge (2 long sides and 1 short)
3. using a zigzag decorative scissors (or any you like), cut off the non-scored short end to height desired of bag
4. open up from top and form bag (like a paper grocery bag); secure points/corners on bottom with mini glue dot
5. decorate tag or image for front.
What do you think? If you haven't made these before, I encourage you to do so. Let me know what you think. I just love that the envelopes are already decorated. Sure, you could do this with cardstock but it's more work and the envelopes make a lighter weight bag - I almost made it a purse! ;)
Happy Tuesday!
