BACK TO THE BEACH!!!

May Arts May Craft Challenge is going BACK TO THE BEACH!!! .  I decided I wanted to take part in this challenge, now this is my first time entering a challenge so I'm a bit nervous - also because I am not used to making tutorials on how I come up with a project.  I am not used to working with themes, usually I just sit and make whatever comes to mind.  Having a theme has made me realize that I rather just make whatever comes to mind, simply because I had so, so many ideas, I had to make a decision as to what to make, and I think I'm going to make some jewelry too, but for now here it goes; my first item.  Hope you all like this as much as I do.

1.  Gathering all the materials to use;
(a) May Art ribbons #'S HX34, 369-15-04, 369-15-02 & AW33 (used for this project);
(b) tulip's  glitter champagen, soft fabric paint glitter sapphire, slick royal blue and color change white/blue;
(c) Fabric Mod Podge;
(d) shells (my sister just happened to give me these last week not knowing that I needed some) 

Some more materials, I realized I needed:
 (e) Bedalon non-tarnish wire (medium hard);
(f) Beacon Fabric Tac glue;
 (g) several pliers
(h) the tote I used was given at a craft social by Tulip fashion arts ( a sponsor)

Step 1:  I took Tulip's Glitter Champagne dimensional fabric and painted  about 1/3 of the bag ( this represents the sand)

Step 2: I used Tulip's Soft fabric paint glitter sapphire to paint right above the champagne color -  then I took tulip's slick royal blue and went over the sapphire - last color I used was Tulip's color change white/blue to paint the top part of the bag.  I tried not to let any of the paints dry, I like blending colors while wet for a nice effect.  Once done with all the painted, I let all the paints dry before going to the next step.

Step 3:  I used fabric mod podge by adding to the bag directly, I hand pleated the ribbons on the bag as  you see here on the picture; I let the glue dry overnight.

Step 4:  I added more fabric mod podge to the ribbons to ensure these will stay  after washing;  now the brown flower you see here is made from May Arts ribbon ( wired) I took one of the wires and gathered the ribbon, wrapped the ribbon into the shape of a rose, and once I had the flower as I wanted I stitched it as I wrapped the final flower .  Once I was done stitching I used beacon's fabric tac to glue the flower to the bag, I used it to on the small shells and glued them where i wanted them.  I waited a few hours while the glue dried.  I used Beadalon's wire to attache the star and some light pink shell beads I had to the purse as an added decoration.   I also used beacon's glue to add the blue ribbon on the top trim of the bag.

This is the final piece, I think I just might add some pearls to this bag,  some hanging from the rose and some at the bottom of the bag right below the ribbon.