Triple Play Blog Hop: Week Three: Flower Tote

I have a confession to make.  I love tote bags.  I would surely perish without them.  Seriously, if someone asked me my secret for being such an organized mom, the answer has to be tote bags.  We have a dance class tote, we have a soccer tote, we have a library tote.  All totes live either in the closet or hanging on a hook by our back door.  When it's time to go to the library, we just grab the library tote.  My daughter knows she always keeps her library books in the tote, that way they don't get lost.  The library tote also has a pocket for our library cards.  The dance class tote always has tap shoes in it.  Get the idea?

Do you know what else I love?  Fabric flowers.  I make them, I buy them , I wear them, I pin them to just about anything that needs a little flair.  So I was very excited when I found out this week's Sizzix die was Brenda Pinnick's Sizzix Originals Die-Large Flower, Beauty Bloom.  Then it got even better!  Brenda provided us with some of the die cut shapes cut-out of her Couluer Vie by Brenda Pinnick fabric for Henry Glass & Co.

Although I do sew tote bags from scratch, I find that I prefer to embellish the totes I already have. Using Brenda's die as well as some additional flowers cut from my personal fabric stash using the Sizzix by Originals Die-Large Flower Layers #3, a doily and a new button, I was able to transform a 10 year old, plain tote I had laying around:

Into a modern, floral, girly tote that just might be our new library bag!

I really love how it came out!  I think flower dies are one of the best investments you can make as they have so many uses.  Paper crafting, sewing, making hair clips, pins, headbands, the list goes on.  For more ideas for Brenda's flower die, please continue visiting the other designers on the blog hop.  If the past two weeks are any indication, you won't be disappointed!

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