originelle: ombre veggie stamped tote

I wanted to make a first year teacher bag for my cousin, Jeannette, who is making a difference in the Galewood community in Chicago and was inspired by Martha Stewart's Apple Stamped Bags.

ang.jeannette.me @ volare for her 24th.

I wanted to make a bag that would be versatile, so rather than using apples I decided to go ahead with using celery. Who knew celery could be so darn cute? I absolutely love the simplicity of the pattern that the celery creates.

I cut my stick of celery near the bottom to get a larger print. A fresh cut will give you a more defined shape, so I suggest slicing to for a fresh cut every so often.

To get this ombre style, pick two shades that can blend well.

I picked a red to yellow gradient and green to blue gradient. These two gradients are usually the easiest to create, but you could also do a gradient of the same color hue like red to pink.

The best part about ombre is that even if you mess up, it looks awesome because it gives it character.

My all-time fav gradient is the red to yellow because it looks like a beautiful sunset.

Look at what else comes from celery prints: