Beautiful Day - Sue's Loaded Pocket

Hi Everyone, I hope today finds everyone safe and happy.

Today’s project is a loaded pocket made from two small paper bags.  The types you can buy from party stores of cheap stores.

Materials Used:

Maggie Holmes Heritage Range Paper:

-          Decades

-          Postmarked

-          Generations

-          Daughter

-          Handwritten

Santoro Lace               
Buttermilk Nuvo Drops                   
Darkroom Door Gazette Texture Stamp

Two different sized small paperbags                      
Various paper scraps (old music & book pages)

Using the smaller bag I folded up the bottom to make a small pocket and then glued it onto the bigger bag. Make sure you only glue the sides and bottom so you have an extra pocket to use. My bags were tea dyed but that is not necessary.

Next step was to use some paper scraps (anything that co ordinates will do) to make a small collage on the turned up pocket and then on the smaller bag.  The collage on the smaller bag won’t really be seen so on my second one I just stamped to take away the plainness. 

Next I took some ivory card stock and cut out three tags to fit into the pockets.  The measurements depend on how big the bags are. I just estimated how big they were.  I cut the top corners off to make them look like tags.

I also took some patterned paper (Daughter) and cut it to make a cover for a little notebook. Again cut it to fit into the slot between the two bags.  I also cut some coffee dyed paper to fit inside. I used two pages and machine stitched straight down the centre.  You could also hand stitch these pages in or staple them in.  

Then I decorated each of the tags.  I used scrap bits of paper, patterned paper to co ordinate from the Maggie Holmes Heritage range.  I used ‘Daughter’ and the reverse of ‘Handwritten’.  I like to tear the papers and distress the edges, however straight edges work well too.  I also used some cut out stamps from the ‘Postmarked’ paper and some little images from the ‘Decades’ paper. My main images were the fantastic old photos from the ‘Generation’ paper.  Once the collaging was finished I stamped over the blank spaces with the Darkroom door Gazette Texture stamp.  Each tag was also finished with a piece of Santoro lace, which was folded over the top and stapled on.

I collaged the front of the little book using the same method.

Finally I placed each of the tags into the pocket and added some Buttermilk Nuvo Drops in clusters of 3 to finish off.   Use in a journal or give out for happy mail.

You can watch my process video HERE.

I hope you enjoy making this loaded pocket and remember you can vary the style to suit your taste.