I recently stumbled across some lovely faux leather paper in pearlized colors from American Crafts (in Marshall's of all places!). I wanted to give it a try and I thought it was perfect for making a paper purse to use as a table favor or gift holder.
I have been trying to use some of the cartridges that I purchased in the Black Friday sales last year, you know - the ones I "had to have" that have been sitting idly on the shelf. One of these was "Forever Young" which is an older cartridge I didn't get at first because didn't think I needed such a "girly" cartridge.
I decided to make one of the purses and today I'd like to share a few tips I have for cutting and putting together bags and boxes from your Cricut cartridges.
I knew that my paper was only 8/12 x 11 so I used Design Studio to figure out the largest bag I could cut. I placed a rectangle on the second page of the file and adjusted it to be 8 1/2 x 11 and then I added the purse to the mat and sized it to fit with a little room to spare. I set the paper at the 1/2 inch mark from both the top and the side to avoid any issues with the "uncuttable" area of the mat. I used the preview to see exactly where to place the purse on the mat.
One of my pet peeves with the cartridges is the "tick marks" they cut to indicate the folds. For a regular card they are nonsensical - we all know how to fold a piece of paper in half!
On the boxes and purses they make a very untidy edge that is not attractive. You can see the edges in the sample purse I cut from scrap paper above.
I don't like my pretty papers to be messed up with all of these extra lines. So I use Design Studio or the Gypsy to eliminate all of the interior cuts (known as webbing) with one simple step - just check the weld box.
In the case of the purses on Forever Young you will also need to use "hide contour" to eliminate the word that is designed to cut into the front.
The "webbing" lines will not cut when weld is checked because they are not completed cuts. The word "fancy" in this case is one continuous line and would cut if it was not hidden, similar to the way the eyes on one of the animal faces will cut even though you lose some of the detail lines when you weld to make a shaped card (I do have a way to work around that problem which you can read about HERE and HERE).
I then use my sample cut with the marks to help me see where to score the purse to fold it correctly. These score lines will be clean and neat with no cuts.
To assemble purses and boxes, I use a strong tape like Scor-Tape. The red liner tape also works very well for boxes. First you connect the flap to the side.
Line it up carefully for a neat edge like this. Remember, these adhesives are very aggressive so it is important to get it right the first time!
Next you fold in the flaps to make the bottom of the bag. First fold in the long side with the "U" shaped cut-out.
Next, fold in the two side flaps and be sure the bumps catch underneath the first side.
Finally, tuck in the last long side so it looks like this.
I was concerned that the bottom of the purse might not be sturdy enough for some heavy candy to be added so I cut an extra piece of cardstock to add as a reinforcement on the base.
I used Scor-Tape again to attach this piece to the base of the purse.
I also cut a strip of paper at 1/2 inch x 10 inches to use for a handle or strap. I added about an inch long piece of Scor-Tape to each end.
Then I secured the handle inside the bag to get a strong hold.
The cartridge design has tab and slit closure and these can wear out quickly. So I added some small magnet pieces to close the flap. These were cut from some leftover magnet frame material I had at home.
I matched up the two small pieces making sure that the polarity was correct so the magnet would work and then used Scor-Tape once again to secure the magnet to the purse.
First I attached the two pieces together to the top flap and then I removed the protective covering on the Scor-Tape and folded the flap down to stick the second magnet in the correct position.
You can buy "prettier" round punched magnets but these worked fine (and I had the frame on hand).
The decorations for the bag are these vintage jewels and a white flared flower from Creative Charms. They give a nice sheen and sparkle to the bag.
I hope you picked up a few tips for making very neat and professional looking bags and boxes. I think I'll try making a few of the other purses on the Forever Young cartridge and use them for gifts - or just sit them on a shelf to look pretty!
I am off today on another excursion to IKEA - and hoping the items I want are still there!
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