Punches week continues with an altered purse made by me, Paige Evans. Scalloped circles are my favorite punch, and after seeing Kim Watson's amazing purse last week I wanted to try sprucing up a purse of my own. Instructions:

1) Punch concentric scalloped circles from monochromatic pieces of patterned paper.

2) Paint a layer of decoupage across the front of each scalloped circle and let dry. Paint a layer of decoupage across the back of each scalloped circle and let dry. Repeat painting layers of decoupage on the front and back until you have about three coats on both sides. This makes the flowers durable and protected from everyday wear-and-tear.

3) Layer the scalloped circles together by color then attach them to the front of a canvas bag using brads and buttons. Also stitch a round glitter button to each flower. Bend up the edges to create more dimension.

4) Hot glue matching colors of ribbon for stems and add a some hot glue under each flower to secure. Tip: Place a scrap piece of cardstock inside the bag to prevent the hot glue from leaking through the layers of the bag and sealing it shut.

5) Using a pencil, lightly draw a sentiment across the bag. Backstitch over the sentiment by hand using brown floss, and dot the "i" with a Chestnut mini brad.

6) Cut a piece of mulberry picot ribbon and stitch it to the top of the bag as a handle.

Design Team member Kim W. blew me away with her project this month! Check out her amazing idea for using up your buttons... Kim says: "When I was given the button assignment, I decided to try & think outside of the box for this one. I really wanted to steer away from traditional scrapbooking uses for the buttons & look at other crafty ideas. My love of sewing & fashion influenced the project I settled on, I hope you find it inspirational.

This purse was made from Fabric Finish paper from the Dear Lizzy line...yup really it is! I cut & stitched the different panels just as you would do with regular fabric. The wooden handles were from a local craft store.

Before I attached the inner canvas lining, I stitched a variety of the Glitter buttons to the Firefly Festival Fabric panels adding dimension & a bit of glam. See there is a little pocket inside too for my Iphone :o) I used 1.5" ribbon & rose trim as the perfect finish for the top of the purse. The little hanging charm is also simply: buttons threaded double onto twine, then attached with a hook, it could also double as a key chain. I was surprised after giving buttons some thought, that there are a multitude of cute ideas I had never even tried." This looks incredible and absolutely adorable! I love Kim's idea for making the hanging chain... too cool! Wouldn't you love a button purse just like this?

Hello! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm really excited to start this week's theme here on the AC Studio Blog because this is one product that I just cannot live without... The foam tabs are just one part of the new This to That adhesive line! American Crafts adhesives are perfect for holding things in place or adding a little bit of lift. From our permanent glue running adhesives, double sided tape and dimensional dots and tabs, we've got you covered. I'm a foam adhesive junkie, and these tabs are perfect for bringing your projects to new heights. Check out this great example from Design Team member Wendy Sue... Wendy Sue says: "I LOVE using dimensional dots on my layouts - I just love the shadows and layering effects that can be created by using a few (or more) pop-dots. It's pretty rare for me to create a card or page without a few pop-dots here and there, and one of my favorite techniques is layering pop-dots. The clouds on the top of my layout have been layered - can you tell? Some of the clouds have 2 layers of pop-dots behind them and other clouds have 1 set of pop-dots...I love stacking pop-dots and overlapping elements this way. Also, some of the American Crafts dimensional accents and stickers already have foam dots on them (love that!), so you can place them directly on your page for dimension, or you can add an extra layer of pop-dots (or two) for even more shadows and layering! The next time you're using pop-dots on your project, try stacking them and see what you think!"