Encre, papier, ciseaux

Winter Cottage Giftcard Folder

Inspiration: YouTube tutorial from Bambidearr + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Not a Card)

I loved the cute giftcard folder tutorial I found on YouTube and pulled out the Winter Cottage collection from Simple Stories to give it a try with. The folder is really easy and quick to put together. I'm not sure what I will add to the pocket so I left them empty for now.

I used snaps to keep the folder shut. At first, I thought I would not be able to since the tool does not reach far enough to reach the center of the flap, but then I realized I could do one in each corner instead and it solved my problem. I picked the closest colour to the collection from the box I have and then I used the Bits & Pieces, decorative brads and puffy stickers to embellish the inside and outside of the folder.

I gave bead wrapping another go and embellished the side of the album with a few trinkets I had. I realized after I was done that in the tutorial, the crafter adds the bead cluster to the album with a paper clip, which would have been a good idea so that it can be taken off and possibly reused, but mine was added with a jump ring on an eyelet. It was fun to revisit the Winter Cottage collection, one of the first "Crate Paper style" collection Simple Stories offered. I'm glad that they have done more since, this style really appeals to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Decorative Brads, Puffy Stickers, Sticker Book,
Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots: Winter Cottage (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Maker); 
Beads (Bead Landing); Snaps (Unknown); 
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Circle Punch, Eyelet (Stampin' Up!)

 

Teen Spirit Mini Purse

Inspiration: Mini One 6x6 Sheet Purse Tutorial from Maymay Made It Crafts

 I was going through my Watch It Later list on YouTube, trying to see if I had crafting videos that could inspire me to do something different. I almost immediately found an older video showing how to make a mini purse out of a 6" x 6" paper. I was intrigued and knew it would be a quick project, so I grabbed the Teen Spirit paper pad from Echo Park and started crafting. The result is really cute. I would advise using liquid glue for the handles, as I went for mini glue dots and the handles kept twisting, so I think liquid glue would offer a firmer hold.

There's this pattern in the pack that looks like buttons, so I used a circle punch and punched the "Oh yeah" button image out to use as my front fastener for the purse. I added pink gems to the handles and recycled a rolled rose I had left on my desk from a previous project. I had tried incorporating it on projects all week, but it's quite bulky so I avoided adding it to card as I knew this would mean I would require an oversize envelope to accommodate the extra bulk. Here, it didn't matter, so I glued it to the purse and added Stickles to the edges to make it sparkly.

I encourage you to check out this tutorial, this packaging is surprisingly quick to put together, so definitely a good option for mass production.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Blushing Bride (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Teen Spirit (Echo Park)
Ink: Flirty Flamingo (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Rolled Roses (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers); Black Pen (Pilot);
From My Heart Faceted Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up);
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

 

Cupid Mailbox

I have been seeing some really cute projects done with Coco & Reno dies over the years and I finally caved and placed my first order with them. I was eager to try my new purchases, particularly the Mail Box dies since Valentine's Day is coming up. I picked the Cupid & Co papers released last year by Echo Park.

I used white woodgrain cardstock to make the flag on the side of the mailbox and I used a black brad to make a hinge. I added a die cut with the word Always, from the Frames & Tags ephemera pack that I got on clearance for a dollar recently. I punched a small heart and added it to the flag to decorate it.

On the front flap, I added a pink foil bow that was die-cut using the Bows dies, also from Coco & Reno. To decorate the left side, I used a rosette (another die from my order), topped with a circle die-cut and a little banner that was fussy cut from the patterned paper. I added a touch of red Stickles on the little heart from the banner.

I love that this mailbox was incredible easy to put together but also a little bigger than most I've seen in the past. (Approximately 3½" long by 2¼" high.) Hopefully, I have time to make a second mailbox so that I have one for each of my nieces.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Woodgrain (Memory Box); Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Frames & Tags Ephemera: Cupid & Co (Echo Park)
Dies: Bows, Mail Box, Rosettes (Coco & Reno)
Accessories: Black Brad (Unknown); Mini Heart Punch, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Christmas Red Stickles (Ranger)

 

Say Cheese Main Street: A Disney Notebook

I am coming on the end of a two-week staycation and I got so much crafting done during my downtime! I am feeling very relaxed and also very happy that I got to work on many crafty projects that had been on my mental to-do list. I am nowhere near done, but I at least hit some of the big-ticket items. One of those was to make a disc-bound notebook using the Say Cheese Main Street collection. I had figured out the measurements, done a sample page using the Crop-a-dile Power Punch tool and picked the patterned paper for the divider pages, but I was wondering whether to laminate the dividers pages or not and at that time, laminating seemed like a wiser option but I just was not in the mood to get the laminating machine out that evening, so the project got pushed to the back burner.

I am so happy that I finally revisited the idea and got it finished! My laminating machine was already out tonight to test out foiling, so I decided to get my notebook pages done at the same time, and then I kept going on it. The notebook could have been kept very simple - two laminated papers for covers, cut inside pages, punch holes in everything and assemble with discs, but I decided to organize it a little bit further.

I used pages from the 6" x 8" paper pad to create the cover pages and the dividers. I quickly realized when cutting around the laminated cover pages that if I left a 1/8" border around all four edges and punched, the inner pages would show under the clear left edge of the cover (I hope I'm making sense) so to avoid that problem, I cut the left edge straight to the paper and so everything lined up better that way. I rounded the corners of the plastic using my Corner Chomper (also from We R Memory Makers). For the dividers, I decided to forgo laminating. I wanted to add tabs and it seemed pointless to laminate the pages and not the tabs, and then if I did, I thought cutting the plastic would be tricky (and I didn't want the edges to be sharp either), so I decided I could live with just using paper.

I wanted to have a pocket to possibly house documentation, but I didn't want to hide the foursquare images on my paper, so I decided to add the pocket to the back of the first divider. I used the grey polka dot paper from the Basics Kit (it was a good additional purchase - the dots are adorable and having neutral papers helps complement the papers). I reused an idea from my recent summer mini-album - I really loved the look of the pocket created with the Puffy Cloud Borders dies from Lawn Fawn, so I did the same thing here as well. This looks way better than the straight pocket did, and the stitching adds a nice finishing touch. The pocket seemed a little bare, so I went through my embellishments and picked a border from the sticker book and a couple of images from the foam stickers.

Then came time to prepare the tabs. I looked at my punch and dies options. I was liking the look and size of the tabs from Planner Essentials 4 from Elizabeth Craft Designs (told you I love those dies!). I was trying to figure out how to add the names I wanted to the tabs, though. Using Word and the free Waltograph font, I printed the names on Very Vanilla Cardstock and tested them on the tabs, but they were too wide to fit on the tab part. I could have used the tab die directly on my vanilla cardstock, but I thought colorful tabs would be prettier and I'll admit, I was way too lazy to print my doc six times on a scrap of each colour. So instead, I die cut my words using the smaller of the Sentiments dies from Waffle Flower. Those are full dies (they are not open in the center), so I had to create a negative template, center it around the word, fit the die in the hole like a jigsaw puzzle, tape everything in place and run it through the Sidekick. I then cut two tabs out of each Basics Kit colors, then I added them to my divider pages using sticky strip and I added the words to the bottom of the tab. We can't see the words when the notebook is closed, but I know the order I put them in, so it shouldn't be a problem.

The paper I used for the inside of the notebook is actually nice paper with a linen pattern to it. It was actually what my office used for letterhead paper and when our logo changed, they collected it to recycle it. I asked if we could upcycle it as printing paper instead and the next day, I was gifted with a nice pile of paper... cut to 9" x 8½" to take the logo off. So... not exactly printing paper, but as a crafter, it has still come in handy. There is just a lot of leftovers because of the wonky size, but hey, it was free and it is nice paper, so I'll take it. I cut the pages to 6" x 8" like the patterned paper, so I have a nice stack of 3½" x 8" paper that will probably become a notebook for my grocery lists. I made sure to round the two right corners of the pages as well. At the last minute, I also remembered that I had the stamp set from this collection and that adding a little stamped image in the corner of the first page of each section would be super cute, so I picked matching ink colors and did just that.

The red discs I used are from Waffle Flower and I like that you get 8 discs for $6 US. Discs are not easy to find and I had a little bit of sticker shock when the disc-bound trend started and I started to get interested in it. I have a binding machine that I purchased over 15 years ago and that I still love and use once in every blue moon, but the appeal of disc-bound is that you can take pages in and out and move things around without damaging anything. This is perfect here, as I doubt I will have the same amount of notes for every park and since it's hard to anticipate, I can add to sections that need it down the line (as far as the discs can allow). 

Keeping with that same logic, the next project on the list would be a sample book. Where I can sample my products, pens, etc. and keep a bit of an inventory on items that I could benefit from. I don't plan on doing a comprehensive inventory, just for the elements that I keep searching for or where I want to have color samples on hand. This is a great example of something that grows over time and where you benefit from having a system you can add to. I would like to find larger discs for those sample books, though. Right now, I have two sets of larger discs that I got by purchasing planners from the Clearance section. I didn't really have any use for the planners themselves but they were clearanced at a lower price than a set of discs would have been. My niece actually expressed interest in keeping the pages for herself, so we punched holes in a corner and binded everything with ribbon and that made her day (and it cleared space in my workspace). 

On a side note, the cover pages are not flimsy, but they are not sturdy either since I only used patterned paper. I could have added cardstock, but then I would have either ended up with plain cardstock on the backside of the cover or would have needed to add a second piece of patterned paper and sandwich the cardstock in between. That seemed wasteful to me, so I decided the single-page cover was good enough for me. I will say that when I create notebooks for the office, that I plan to carry around with me and maybe write in while standing up, using chipboard for the back cover becomes highly important, so it depends what you plan to use your notebooks for. Just something to keep in mind when planning your design and supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Say Cheese Main Street (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Basics Kit, Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Foam Stickers: Say Cheese Main Street (Simple Stories)
Ink: Real Red, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Seaside Spray, Crushed Curry, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Sentiments Dies (Waffle Flower); Planner Essentials 4 (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Puffy Cloud Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Red Binding Discs (Waffle Flower);
Corner Chomper, Crop-a-Dile Disc Power Punch Tool (We R Memory Keepers)

Sweet Tote Bag

Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe challenge #115 (Texture + Ribbon + Die Cut) + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

This project was inspired by everything that was on my desk when I sat down to craft. I had some time to kill earlier today so I went to the art store near my mechanics and I came back with a few fun finds. One of them was papers and ephemera from the Little Adventurer collection from Pink Paislee. This one dates back to 2018, so I was surprised to find it in stock. While I was roaming the aisles, I also remembered that I wanted crimps, which I found in silver in two sizes at clearance price, so that was lucky. I was also curious to test out the Tote Bag die from Mama Elephant, so I combined all of those things and started putting together my little bag.

Another recent purchase is the white woodgrain cardstock from Memory Box. Up until now, I had been using the Lawn Fawn version, which I love and hoard because it is not cheap. When I saw that the Memory Box cardstock was $12 for 25 sheets compared to $8 for 5 sheets by Lawn Fawn, I became really curious to see if it was of the same quality. Now that I have both side by side, here are my observations. The Lawn Fawn cardstock is thicker, but the Memory Box one is not flimsy. As you can see in the pictures below, it holds up very nicely when doing a 3D project. I still consider it cardstock weight. The pattern on the Lawn Fawn cardstock is deeper and has more depth variation whereas the Memory Box cardstock is one printed design that is all the same depth. The pattern still shows up very well, but when placed side by side, the Lawn Fawn cardstock looks more luxurious. I also notice a difference in colour. The Lawn Fawn cardstock is warm white whereas the Memory Box cardstock is a cold white. I would need to test inking to see how different the results are on both. All in all, I am happy to have both and I think I will use the Lawn Fawn cardstock when the woodgrain texture is at the forefront and the star of the show and the Memory Box cardstock when I want to add a little texture to the background. This is a good example here - the die has to be cut twice to make the tote bag and because I wanted the woodgrain to run vertically, I had to cut into two sheets as the die was too high to fit it twice on the same cardstock page. When you are working with a 5-sheet pack, this feels like a lot of cardstock! At a quarter of the price, I didn't think twice about it when I decided to use the woodgrain cardstock for my tote base. And the result is really neat! Clean look of the white but with a twist.

The die set includes a pocket, which I die-cut out of the heart pattern. I added another tag die from the same set and a flower that I fussy cut from the patterned paper. Also sitting on my desk was the Library Card stamp and die set, so I stamped the library card image in Sahara Sand ink on the ledger patterned paper. The card when cut with the matching die was a 1/8" too wide, so I use my paper trimmer to make it slightly narrower so that it would fit into the pocket. I stamped the heart from the stamp set in stamped off pink ink and I added to the pocket a cut-apart image from the papers.

On the back, I used the adorable little banner that folds in half at the top of the tote bag and added another fussy cut flower, along with a few sequins. I used the rounded tag from the die set and stamped "a gift for you" from the Library Card stamp set, added an eyelet and tied the tag with ribbon to the tote handle.

I then pulled out my box of ribbon scraps (ribbons purchased by the yarn or too short to be kept on bobbins) and dug for ribbon in matching colours. I can see why those Maggie Holmes-inspired ribbon tassels have become an instant hit overnight. They are beautiful, incredibly easy to put together, cost next to nothing to make and are a great way to use up tiny ribbon scraps. I added three ribbons to the crimp, then a jump ring and lobster clasp, which I tied to a ribbon bow added to my tote handle. I then did wire wrapping on a mother-of-pearl star and a green bead, two finds from today's shopping as well. Then came the fun part of using jump rings to add those charms to the crimp. Let me tell you: I've tried various different forms of crafts over the years, but miniatures will never be one of them. I am SO clumsy when it comes to handling those tiny jewelry bits with my tools. I guess I would not have made a great dentist either... It took way longer than it should have to add those two items, but it was worth the struggle because the result is adorable! Logically, I also know that practice makes perfect and that I will probably improve over time if I keep at it, but I'll admit that part was a little aggravating.

I'm really happy with the result. This sits right in my preferred spot, layered enough to be interesting but not too cluttered. And those colors are right up my alley.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Library Card (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: White Woodgrain (Memory Box)
Patterned Papers: Little Adventurer (Pink Paislee)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Basic Grey, Petal Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Tote Bag Dies (Mama Elephant); 
Warm Golden Glow Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards);
Mini Hearts - Cotton Candy Glossies (Pure & Simple);
Calypso Coral Ombre Ribbon, Eyelet, Crop-a-Dile (Stampin' Up!);
Crimp, Mother-of-Pearl Star Bead, Green Bead (DeSerres);
Lobster Clamp, Jump Ring (Recollections); Ribbons (May Arts, Basic Grey, Unknown)

 

Spring Wallet

Inspiration: YouTube Tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

Michelle has shared a cool tutorial at the beginning of the year showing how to make a paper wallet and I finally got around to circling back to it this weekend. I looked through my 12" x 12" papers and the Comme un air de printemps collection from KirelCraft (a company from France) quickly caught my eye. I am so pleased with how it turned out. I'm not usually big on florals but the soft watercolor look of this line really appealed to me, and having two-sided papers was really key to creating a beautiful wallet. 

The other thing that made embellishing fast and easy was using my Planner Essentials dies on this one. I've used my dies from this serie a ton even though I don't do anything planner related. Because they are meant for planners, their size in on the smaller size, which made them perfect for this wallet. I was able to create this cute layered pocket and stick small items in it, all created with the dies as well. On the left side, I combined two dies and filled the opening created with vellum to mimick the identification pocket we often see in real wallets. I handcut a couple of butterflies from one of the patterned papers and used them to embellish the wallet as well. 

On the front, I used eyelets and a 1" circle punch to create a closure, adding gold cord as well. I glued the word Happy, fussy cut from the cut-apart sheet. Frankly, I will never understand why French companies include English die-cuts in their lines. There are a million companies already offering English papers, I truly wish they would stick to French only for the French customers. Anyway... I did something similar on the back of the wallet: punched out the wreath from one of the cut-aparts and added a fussy-cut butterfly from the patterned paper. All butterfly wings were made sparkly using the Glitter Gloss aqua shimmer brush.

This was simple but very pleasing to make. I think Michelle designed this to send fun goodies in a swap, but I also think it could include tickets for stuff being done around the house (a fun idea with kids, who love creating those tickets), to send out money for a gift or to send out family pictures. This is what I'm leaning towards since we still have at least a few months of confinement ahead of us and my parents have not seen their grandkids in a long time. We do send out pictures via email, but I think they like having printed copies around the house as well. 

I watched the first half of Michelle's videos, following the measurements and instructions to put together the base of the wallet and then I decided I could make a second pocket on top of the right one, but instead of gluing vellum like she had done, I decided to add a second piece of patterned paper. From that point on, the ideas started coming and I never went back to the tutorial, I just went where inspiration took me. So on the right, you can slip something inside the big pocket and also underneath the polka dot paper, which is only glued at the bottom and on the right edge. The three-slot pocket was backed with pink paper to create a lining and this piece was also glued with thin adhesive strip in order to make the top a pocket as well. Adding the various little ephemera pieces makes it more obvious where the pockets are. Same thing on the left side: the top of the vellum piece was left open so something can be slipped underneath and the vellum will let us see a bit of what's in there.

I would love to revisit this project and recreate it with another paper line. I bet the results would be drastically different just by using other products. I would also love to try with doing two score lines in the middle to give height to the wallet and make it so that it can be filled with thicker elements and still close properly. Mine closes well right now, but it has not been filled yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Gold Rush (Lawn Fawn); Basic Grey, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Un petit air de printemps (Béatrice Garni Illustration - KirelCraft)
Dies: Planner Essentials 1, 2, 4, 11, 21; Sidekick Essentials 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers); Gold Eyelets, Gold Cord,
1" Circle Punch, Blushing Bride Shimmery Ribbon, White Crinkled Ribbon,
Adhesive Strip, Stamp Mini Punch (Stampin' Up!)

Valentine Circle Boxes

Happy Wear Red Day!

A few months ago, Spellbinders had a sale on their clearance items, which included a die set I've wanted for a long time, so I decided to place an order. The package took ridiculously long to get to me, but it finally arrived this week. When pulling things out of the box, I realized that the This Time Around Cake & Treat Box die is oversized and will not fit in my regular Big Shot. My bad, I should have paid more attention to the description. Ironically, I had passed on the popcorn box die because I realized it was too big for my machine, but I did not pick up on the fact that this box die was too.

I was stll curious to see how the box would look assembled, so I improvised. I pulled out an acetate sheet, traced the die shapes on it with a Sharpie and cut the template out. I then traced it again on patterned paper and fussy cut it out. I used circle dies from my stash to make the top and bottom and voilà! It's a pretty nice size: 3 inches in diameter and 2-3/4" high. I decorated the edge with rhinestone stickers from the dollar store and the top with one of the cardstock stickers from the Sweet Talk collection to match the patterned papers. From my Spellbinders order, I also have some Love Filled faceted hearts, which I used to embellish the box as well.

I made a second box using the Sweet Talk collection again, so I will have one for each of my nieces to gift to on Valentine's Day. I made a mistake on the second box - I traced my template on the back of the patterned paper I wanted to use, placing the stripes running vertically, but I forgot that the other side had hearts on it and when I turned the paper around, I found out the hearts were going sideways! I debated for a minute whether to redo a new piece and I decided it still looked cute, so I kept it as is. Making a mental note for future boxes, though...

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Die: This Time Around Cake & Treat Box (Spellbinders)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Sweet Talk (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Love Filled (Fun Stampers Journey); Typewriter (We R Memory Keepers);
Rhinestone Border Stickers (Dollar Store); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Ribbon (Unknown); Circles Dies (Spellbinders)

 

10 Reasons Why I Love You Mini-Album

Inspiration: Festive Friday #61 (flowers + pink + sweet sentiment)

Social distancing has been hard for everyeone, including kids, who are going a little stir-crazy being confined at home without their friends and usual structure. My niece's emotions have been all over the map, so I thought I would make a little something for her. She loves my projects and really takes time to look at and notice all of the little details I put in there (which is surprising from a kid). I knew I wanted to make a mini-album and use Doodlebug supplies, which she tends to always gravitate towards when she sees it (which is not surprising, considering the cuteness factor and colorful hues). I was trying to decide which collection to pick and then I remembered I had French Kiss, which is love-themed, and also includes a lot of pinks and aquas, which she loves. 

It always blows my mind how much faster you can create a full project when you are working with a full collection of products, compared to when you pick and choose from various items in your stash. I was lucky that along with the paper pack, I had also purchased the Odds & Ends and the mini icon stickers, so I had a lot of embellishments on hand and the two sizes helped to fill in large spaces and tight ones as well. 

It took me a while to find the right format of mini-album. I was looking through various YouTube tutorials and nothing was quite right, until I stumbled unto a video showing how to glue envelopes together to make a mini-album. I looked at a few tutorials and then I ended up basing my project on this one. I went through my color envelopes and picked colors that best suited the collection: Seafoam, Jupiter Metallic, Fairway Metallic, Nautical Blue Linen and Sapphire Metallic. 

In the video, the crafter is showing how she is slipping cards in the envelope to make flaps. I did that with Melon Mambo cardstock in the first envelope, punching the edge with a Lace Trim Border punch, and while I love the look, I quickly realized this was making the whole thing a whole lot bulkier. It was a good thing that I realized that straightaway, as I limited the number of inserts I did and I made sure to use patterned paper instead of cardstock for the other ones. I was able to finish most of the album in one evening. Initially, it only had the envelopes. I could have decorated the front envelope, added ribbon and be done with it, but I do want this album to be something that my niece can keep for a while and that will remain nice even if it's handled repeatedly. I was thinking a chipboard cover would work better but at that point, I wasn't sure how to add the cover on the album, so I decided to leave the project aside and take time to mull it over. 

In the end, I kept coming back to the idea of making a binder-style cover with chipboard and to use elastic cord binding to keep the envelope album inside. I learned from my last mini-album mistake and did NOT cover the chipboard with patterned paper this time around. It's simply too thick and does not have enough give to open and close the cover properly. I went to my wrapping papers and I picked a cute white-polka dot kraft paper. I cut three pieces of chipboard: two pieces that measure 4-1/4" x 6" and one piece that measures 6" x 1". I placed them on the backside of the wrapping paper with a little gap in between each, then I wrapped the paper over the edges and added more paper inside to hide the seam. Some people who do twine binding pierce through the whole binding, but I didn't want to see the cord on the spine, so instead, I did my piercing on a piece of red cardstock, placed my elastic cord where I wanted it between the envelope pages and then I threaded it through the red cardstock and I used double-sided tape to glue it in place in the cover. Inside each cover page, I added a piece of patterned paper and I remembered before gluing it in place that I could make little pockets on each so I could slip in something else. I had selected pictures of my niece and I together and I had a unused one left on my desk, so I cut if down, created a tag for it and slipped it inside the cover pocket.

I was initially trying to decide if I would handwrite my 10 reasons I love her or print it in colorful font. I ended up choosing to handwrite everything. It was faster, simpler and it gave me more control over where I wanted the text to appear. My niece is in first grade, but she can already read my handwriting, even when it is not something I wrote carefully with deliberate handwriting to help her out. I'm very impressed with that, and it made it that I didn't have to worry about using prints in order for her to know what the journaling meant.

For the cover, I wanted to make a shaker, which I know my niece will enjoy. I've also gone back to doing rosettes lately (which I hadn't done since Stampin' Up! first started selling the Simply Score tool years ago) so I made one and found a nice circle stickers in the paper collection that was the perfect size and colour for it. I wanted one more layer, so I used the bouquet, the envelope and the flower from the Odds & Ends. The flower was mainly to hide the "Happy Valentine's Day" a bit, since this is not a valentine project. On the back, I used one of the cut-aparts that happened to say "Je t'aime." This kit includes a few French words. Unfortunately, the other sentiment said "mon chéri", which is the masculine form and wouldn't have worked for my specific project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Odds & Ends and Mini Icon Stickers: French Kiss (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Real Red, Melon Mambo, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Holo Waves Mirror Card (Tonic)
Dies: Wonky Square Frames (Avery Elle); Postage Stamps (Hero Arts); 
Dotted Scallop Rectangles (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Folk Hearts (Essentials by Ellen);
Tri Window Cover (Mama Elephant); Decor Decor, Banners (Stampin' Up!);
Stitched Scallop Rectangle Frames (Lawn Fawn) 
Embossing Folders: Decor Decor (Stampin' Up!); Dotted Lattice (Taylored Expressions)
Envelopes: Sapphire Metallic, Fairway Metallic, Nautical Blue Linen, Jupiter Metallic,
Seafoam (envelopes.com)
Accessories: Night of Navy Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Metallic Enamel Shapes,
Mini Banner Punch, Mini Stapler, Simply Scored Tool, Window Sheets, Corner Rounder Punch,
Distressing Tool, Confetti Heart Border Punch, Glitter Enamel Dots, Jumbo Heart Eyelets,
Lace Trim Border and Corner Punches, Clear Faceted Gems, Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels,
Petal Pink Rhinestone Gems, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Heart Punch (Stampin' Up!); 
Gems (Pretty Pink Posh, Studio Katia); Assorted Sequins (Simon Says Stamp, Little Things from Lucy's Cards);
White Ric Rac, Sparkly Ribbon, White and Green Trim (Unknown); Aqua Ric Rac (American Crafts); 
Blue Alphabet Stickers (PinkFresh), Washi Tape, Candy Carnival, Winter Hugs and Hello Shape Sprinkles,
Bright Glitter Assortment, Winter Assortment and Birthday Girl Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
White and Sparkly Gel Pen (Gelly Roll); Striped Blue and White Sparkly Alphabet Thickers (American Crafts);
Pink Alphabet Stickers (Queen & Co); Border Punch (Martha Stewart); 
Silver Alphabet Stickers, Swimming Pool Mini Doilies (Doodlebug Design)

 

Office Hours Notebook

I love to use steno notebooks to jot things down at work. I love that's it's large enough to get substantial info on just one page, but compact enough to limit the space it takes up on the desk, especially if you tuck the cover page underneath. I finally reached the last page of the one I'm currently using yesterday. With good quality ones, I would usually turn the pad around and start using the backside of the pages but this particular one was pretty cheap and you can see the ink through the pages, so I knew I had to find myself a new one. I didn't want to make a purchase and I had in the back on my mind the idea to make one of my own. I have the Zutter Bind-It-All machine, purchased years ago along with spiral bindings tucked away in my closet, ready to pull out for projects like this. I also have this paper I got from the office last year when we changed the company logo. They were going around the floors, gathering all stationary with the old logo on it and I asked what they were going to do with the paper. I know some offices are okay with employees using the old paper at home to print on or to give to the kids for them to draw on. I had a feeling they might not want the letterhead to circulate out of the office, but I got a nice surprise when I came in a few days later and found a stack of paper sitting on my desk, ready to take away with me! Actually, I got two surprises, because it turns out the paper was not 8½ x 11 anymore...! They had cut the logo off, leaving me with 8½ x 9½ sheets. I was both touched that they had taken the time to prepare the paper for me and also miffed that the new size couldn't be printed on, which is what I was planning to do in the first place (just for informal docs to use around the house). Well, once I got over the initial disappointment, I decided this could be used to make cute notebooks, possibly to give away as little gifts to my colleagues.

Then COVID happened and since we're all working apart, gifts are not a top priority right now, but getting a new notebook for myself was, so I got working on my idea tonight. I initially tried cutting one of the sheets in two to get the most out of the paper stack, but I found the resulting pages to be too narrow, so I measured the steno notebook I had and cut the page to 9½ x 6". To decide how many pages to include in the notebook, I pulled out my spiral inventory to look at what I had. I found a white "leftover" piece, meaning I had already used part of the spiral on another project and the leftover piece was just the right width for my notebook - and the right colour, so that's what I went with. It seemed fitting to use the Office Hours line from PinkFresh. I've been sitting on this one for a couple of months and I was happy to finally dive in, as I love this fun little collection. 

I used a thick piece of chipboard for the back (as I love being able to walk around with a notebook and have it sturdy enough to write on it while standing up - not that relevant when working at home, but very much so when working in an office, especially back when I was an assistant and would constantly be writing stuff down while standing in someone's doorway) and a lighter weight chipboard for the front. The front is still pretty sturdy now that I've added patterned paper on both the front and the inside (mostly for my own pleasure.) I picked the tab paper design to use on the front and added a strip of blue wording to the side to break up all of that pink. I used double-sided tape and I unfortunately started putting the paper piece slightly crooked, so when I added the blue wording, which was straight, the plaid pattern gave that away! I hid the seam with a piece of sparkly washi tape (which incidently, doesn't come from that product line, but is a dead-on match to the shade of blue used on the patterned paper).

I wanted to add an overlay, but keep it very flat, so I layered a couple of paper scraps and I picked the "Hello my name is" cut-apart, which worked perfectly to add my name to the notebook! I was tempted to use the alpha stickers that go with the collection, but I had a feeling they would come off when the notebook was handled over time, so I went for stamping instead. I have my full name up on a block already to stamp on the back of my cards, so I hid the "handstamped by" part and my last name and inked my first name with Night of Navy ink and added it to the die-cut. I stapled the papers together for texture and added a small little puffy stickers that says "Noted" because I couldn't resist. I'm really loving that the puffy stickers are having a comeback. Maybe because it's reminding me of my sticker collection from my childhood, which I was really proud of.

I was trying to decide whether to round the corners or not with the Corner Chomper and I ended up deciding to do only the bottom right corner, which looks great with the shape of the tab image. The only thing I could improve on in my next version would be to cut the pages slightly smaller than the cover pages so that the pages are more covered. I only realized that once I was done assembling it. Small detail, but those are the kind of things you improve on when you move to version 2.0.

I don't know how long this new notebook will last me, but I'm thinking because I have the Bind-It-All machine that I might be able to simply pry the spiral apart, take out the used pages inside the notebook, cut and punch some new ones and bind it again using the existing cover pages if I want to get more mileage out of my work. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to start using it at work tomorrow. I'm really happy with the result!

 

 

 

Supplies
Chipboard and White Paper: Upcycled
Stamps: Faire la différence 
Ink: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Puffy Stickers: Office Hours (PinkFresh)
Accessories: Blue Sparkly Washi Tape (Unknown Source); Stapler (Office Supplies);
White Spiral, Bind-It-All Machine (Zutter); Ticket Corner Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

 

Box with Unexpected Angles

Link to video tutorial

During my quarantine YouTube deep dive, I stumbled unto a video showing how to make a little boxes with unexpected angles. It immediately got me curious and instead of watching the whole thing, I kept the video aside until I could sit down and follow along while making my own sample. Here's the deal: the video is well-made, the instructions are clear to follow along. The part where you have to glue the box together and get the angle right? It's doable, but it's challenging. This is the kind of project that would totally get client excited for a class and potentially very frustrated during the class. Considering this was my very first one, though, I think it turned out very nicely and that it would probably improve from here. I did make an addition to what was shown, by adding patterned paper to the point on the box. The tutorial shows how to cut the patterned paper at an angle to follow the shape of the box and I realized I could fish those three pieces out of my recycling bin and cut them smaller and use them on the corner. I think it makes this detail stand out even more.

The patterned paper is old. Not sure from which year, but that was purchased in my early years of stamping. Because my downline members and I are doing this team challenge of using Designer Series Paper, especially older one, I found this pack. There is not a lot of paper in it, if I can push myself to make a couple of projects with it, I might be able to finish it once and for all. 

As I said in another post, I had rumaged through my stamps and put aside a pile of sets that include encouragement stamps. Here, I used an older SAB set that includes a sentiment that means "Time will do its work." I guess in English you would probably say something like "It'll all work itself out in good time." Pretty appropriate in our current context, I find.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: T-shirt Design (Designer Tee)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Calypso Coral
Designer Series Paper: Berry Blossoms
Accessories: Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon, Circle Punch

 

Easter Critters

I have been putting together every single critter huggers with my niece since the dies started coming out and we've both really enjoying them. I thought we'd be putting together the Spring Critter Huggers this Spring but the coronavirus put a wrench in this plan. I know the girls are getting cabin fever and my sister is running out of ideas to keep them entertain, so this weekend I made the duck and bunny to give to my nieces for Easter and I made sure to cut everything in double so I could give the supplies to Megan for her to have something to put together. It won't fill a whole day and I don't think it will be the same as her getting a whole afternoon at my place crafting with me, but I think she'll be happy that I thought about her. We FaceTime'd yesterday and she was asking if I was coming over this weekend. It was sad to have her mom explain again why I can't. I'm sure it's an all-too-familiar scenario to a lot of families out there. I'm just trying to find other ways to show up for them.

For the duck, I used the Mini Easter Eggs dies to give him something to hold and for the bunny, I used the carrot from the Stitched Garden Border, which is just the right size! I also used Gotta Have Gingham paper for the ear, tail and the top of the carrot.

 

 

Supplies
Dies: Spring Critter Huggers, Mini Easter Eggs, Stitched Garden Border (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Dusty Durango, Basic Black, Powder Pink,
Berry Burst (Stampin' Up!); Fog (Lawn Fawn)
Glimmer Paper: Myths & Magic (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Gotta Have Gingham (Lawn Fawn)

 

Easter Basket

Inspiration: Global Design Project #235 (Easter)

I wanted to give chocolate eggs to my nieces and I initially wanted to use the mini-egg cartons I got from Stampin' Up! a few years ago. Unfortunately, the Kinder eggs are slightly too big to fit in it, so I looked through my packaging dies to find something else. When I found the Berry Basket die, I knew it would be fast and cute, so I paired it with the Hip Hip Hooray collection from Simple Stories and I added a handle using the Tasteful Trims die. The backside of the gingham paper had cut-aparts, so it made for a strange look, so I die-cut a second rickrack piece and glued to back to back with the first so that I would have gingham on both sides. I've purchased flowers from the Prima Surfboard collection which were the perfect shades to go with the Simple Stories collection, so I used my glue gun to add a few flowers to the handle. (Glue dots would have worked but I've noticed my nieces tend to play with the boxes I give them, so I'm trying to make them as sturdy as possible.) I had yellow twine that I was trying to work in the design, but it was not looking great on the handle, so I decided to tie bows on all four corners instead. Again, because I was worried the bows would come undone when handled by little hands, I added a dab of hot glue on each one, hoping this will prevent them from coming undone. 

The basket felt a little empty and I didn't want the eggs to move around too much, so I looked around for tissue paper and I found some clear packaging with white chevron on it. I thought it would look cute, so I cut a piece down to size and placed it inside the basket to fill it out a little. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Hip Hip Hooray (Simple Stories)
Flowers: Big Waves, Wave Crest - Surfboard Collection (Prima)
Dies: Berry Basket Bigz L Die, Tasteful Trims Bigz XL Die (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Mini Stapler, So Saffron Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Chevron Clear Packaing (Upcycled)

 

Let It Snow Mini Album

Inspiration: Crate Paper YouTube tutorial

I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately to try and find inspiration for new projects. I've shared earlier the mini fan-in-a-box album I've put together after finding a tutorial on the Crate Paper channel and that led me a down a rabbit hole of many mini-albums videos that were all more fantastic than the next. I immediately moved on to making another one based on their Merry Days album tutorial. I quickly decided to use the Snowflake collection from Crate Paper not only because it's gorgeous but also because I was so enamored with this collection that I purchased most of the elements from it. I knew that would make embellishing the album fast and easy.

While the former mini-album was put together in an evening, this one was put together over the course of almost a full week. And I will say that I stayed really close to the original. The tutorial only shows how to put together the first couple of elements and then the other are variation of the same idea, so they flip through the album but don't necessarily show the steps. I stopped the videos are various intervals and built similar pages based on what I had from the collection and in my stash, but it was heavily inspired by what was shown. It was my first no-binding mini-album so I preferred to stick to what was being shown to get the hang of it and then I can take more liberties in future projects.

Speaking of liberties, I only realized after I started putting together my binding with paper that their are using fabric for the cover of the album on the video. And I soon found out why - the paper is thick and makes the album cover stick out! Maybe if you are using lighter weight patterned paper, it would fare better, but then again, you do want your cover to remain nice after being handled repeatedly. Because I figured out the cover was really stiff as I was starting to assemble it, it gave me time to add two pieces of ribbon inside the cover before I added the lining so that I can tie the ribbon shut.

The only thing I haven't made yet are inserts for the pockets. I guess I can figure those out when I'll be adding pictures to the album. Because the collection is winter-themed, I think it opens the door for the Holidays or something more general. I'm not sure what I'll put in there and if I'll keep it or give it away. I might be getting a jump on my gifts for this upcoming Christmas. This could be something that my parents would enjoy if I filled it with family pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Saisons colorées (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Vellum, Sage Shadow (Stampin' Up!); Burnished Rose Mirror Card (Tonic);
Burgundy (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Stickers, Layered Tags,
Washi Tape, Ephemera Pieces: Snowflake (Crate Paper)
Punches: Hole Reinforcer (We R Memory Keepers)
Dies: Alphanumeric Label (Tim Holtz for Sizzix);
Stitched So Sweetly, Doily Builder Thinlits, Stitched Nested Labels,
Blizzard Thinlits (Stampin' Up!);
Reverse Stitched Scalloped Circle Windows, Road Border (Lawn Fawn) 
Embossing Folders: Large Polka Dots, Scripty 3D, Northern Flurry (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Gold-Foiled Tag, Stampin' Dimensionals, brads, eyelets,
Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, Pearl Basic Jewels, Faceted Dots,
Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements, Pearlized Doilies, Clear Chunky Glitter (Stampin' Up!);
Enamel Dots (Simple Stories); Buttons (Autumn Leaves);
Copper Paperclips (Office Supplies); Sugar Plum Flairs (My Mind's Eye);
Metal Holder (Making Memories); Wooden Button (Unknown);
Circle Template (Coluzzle); Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps);
Warm Golden Glow Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards) 
Ribbons: Powder PInk Shimmer Ribbon, Real Red Curly Ribbon,
Silver Tinsel Cord, Merry Merlot and Copper Reversible Ribbon,
Delightful Dijon Mini Striped Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Sparkle City Mini Fan-in-a-Box Album

Inspiration: Crate Paper Tutorial Video + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

With the current Great HIbernation, I've been visiting YouTube quite regularly and thanks to the suggestions YouTube makes based on what we've previously watched, I found a really cool mini-album tutorial from Crate Paper. I tend to save tutorials for later when I find something I like but this one seemed so simple and yet very unique, it sparked the desire to try and make one right away.

I pulled the Sparkle City collection because I have a big pile of patterned papers and many embellishments to go with it, so I knew it'd be easier to embellish a mini-album with a full collection. You know how I said the project seemed simple? Well... It's not overly complicated, but I did run into a few caveats along the way. My first mistake was deciding to be fancy and use two different patterned papers for the top and bottom. Not a big change, but I was using a paper with words printed on it. I was really proud that I had anticipated that detail and thought about which direction the words should be facing when doing my scoring. Here's where it went wrong. I assumed the lady in the video was making the bottom of the box first and the top second, which is how I would have gone about it. I assumed wrong. Which means that despite my best efforts, my words still ended up upside down. I had also assumed the first part was the bottom because it was so darn long. It didn't seem right so I went back to the beginning of the video to double-check the measurements. They are handwritten and I finally realized that the size was 4" and not 6" as I had initially read. (If you intend on trying this out, remember that the top paper needs to be 4" x 9-1/4".) So I went back and made another top that was the correct size. After having already wasted paper, I decided I could live with the wording upside down and kept what I had.

The second part that gave me grief was securing the ribbon in the box. I didn't pay close enough attention to the video and missed the part where they staple the ribbon in place, so I ended up adding mine once the box was glued together, with double-sided tape at the bottom best I could. Here's my advice: the length of the ribbon and where you add your pages on it is VERY important. Too long and it will tople over - not long enough and it doesn't fan out enough to stay open and falls right back into the box. I had to tug on the ribbon and take it off the tape and place it again a couple of times until I found the correct mix. So the album was working for a while until I started decorating it and it was not fanning out properly again... which is when I realized that the added weight of the embellishments was making the ribbon come undone! So I basically covered a strip of cardstock with double-sided tape, folded one end up so I would have something to hold it with and using tweezers, I place it over the ribbon so it wouldn't pull up again. (The strip with the fold was the second attempt - the first one was placed in the wrong spot, made my ribbon too short again and after coming really close to swearing, I went about trying a way to correct the length again.)

So preparing the album and putting it together is fairly easy. The ribbon length and assembly is the part where you have to work slowly and deliberately. If you get that part right, the rest is just regular scrapbooking. Because of the little folds we're making at the bottom of each page, the pictures you add in will have to be 3" x 3" or smaller. The little folds are great to add little elements that will pop up, though, like in a 3D card. My favorite is the one with the pigeon. I love that Shimelle added adorable pigeons to this line and it was just the right size for the fold. 

I added a box on the top of the box and on the front, I stamped the definition of the word Family (from Stampin' Up!'s Praiseworthy Prose stamp set), embossed in navy powder. The die-cut I was using had some balloons on it, but I wanted the word family to be standing out, so I turned the die-cut around to get the balloons out the way. This unfortunately made them upside down, so I use other stickers (the little stars and the camera) to hide it. I added a black gem on the camera lense, for shimmer and dimension.

I am really happy with how this one turned out, considering it was done in an evening. I would estimate in less than four hours. If you take away the fiddling I did, it's pretty quick for a mini-album. I just have to decide if I'm giving this one away or keeping it. At this rate, I'll probably have time to make a few more anyway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Prose louable (Praiseworthy Prose - Stampin' Up!); Photo Bomb (Mama Elephant)
Patterned Papers, Stickers, Chipboard: Sparkle City (Shimelle for American Crafts)
Mirror Card: Holo Waves (Tonic)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Navy Embossing Powder (Top Boxx); Bow Punch, Purple Grosgrain Ribbon,
Rounded Tab punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Pinking Heart Border Punch,
Candy Dots, Jumbo Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Lace Border Punch, Silver Thread,
Paper Argyle and Molds (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Baker's Twine (Lawn Fawn); Midnight Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh);
Heart Shaker Gift Tag Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Not So Basic Mittens

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #528 (Any winter holiday)

After spotting the Plush Frosty Mitten die in my stash, I decided to put it to use to make something for this Christmas season. Initially, I was thinking of using the felt I had found at the dollar store recently, but I realized I had already made felt mittens before and it might be more fun to see how it'd look out of patterned paper. I found some old Basic Grey holidays paper leftovers and I put together the turquoise mitten. 

Initially, when I cut the mitten pieces, I was planning on having the pattern on both sides of the mitten. I soon found out that you have to remember to turn the paper around before die-cutting the second mitten side so that the fingers line up when you put the pattern on the outside! Rookie mistake... Usually, I would have corrected with another piece, but because I was working with leftovers, that wasn't a option, so I used the aqua side and I added a die-cut snowflake to decorate the front of the mitten instead. I added a pompom from the pack that was also part of my dollar store run. The fun sparkly thread is another recent find from the craft store. It's DMC Étoile thread. I like that it has shine without being as stick as Kreinik thread is. I purchased it to use in my cross stitching projects, but it became a perfect option to stitch the mittens. I used some tinsel trim to make a loop and added buttons as well. (I used my glue gun to add the pompom and the button.) I had found some peppermint candy canes at the dollar store, so I slipped one inside. I discovered that the paper mittens are stiffer than the felt version so that don't open up as much and therefore cannot contain as much. My idea to slip if candy inside along with the candy cane sort of fell by the wayside. I did like the result so much, though, that I decided I wanted to make some more to share at the office. I made seven more, each one different, going through the rest of my Holidays Basic Grey papers (and reminiscing all the while about the Basic Grey glory days). Because my additional mittens were not solid, I switched the snowflake on them to a more substantial version so that it would show up better and I used bigger pompoms to keep the proportions right.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Red Metallic Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Basic Grey
Dies: Plush Frosty Mitten (Memory Box); Snow Crystals (KaiserCraft);
Christmas Day Snow (Echo Park)
Thread: DMC Étoile
Accessories: Buttons (Autumn Leaves); Pompoms, Candy Canes (Dollar Store);
Tinsel Trim (Stampin' Up!)

 

Winter Mitten

After I found felt at my local dollar store, which you've seen me use on my Cocoa Stand card, I thought I would pull out the Plush Frosty Mitten dies from Memory Box and make some mittens with it. I wasn't feeling all that inspired until I started wondering how the die would look paired with patterned papers intead. So I went to the patterned paper I've put aside to work on upcoming projects and I found some old Basic Grey holiday collections. I selected a few scraps and die-cut the pieces I needed. I used some new DMC étoile I found at my local craft store. I really like it because it's sparkly, but much softer than metallic thread, so it made stitching much easier and faster. To make life easier for myself, I stitched the mitten first and then the cuffs separately and I used adhesive strip to add the cuffs in place.

I had initially planned on having patterns on both sides of the mittens, but I messed up when I die-cut the pieces, forgetting that I had to use the backside of the paper for the second piece, in order to have the pattern I wanted out on the outside of the mitten once I put the two pieces together. Instead of wasting paper, I used the aqua piece and decided to decorate it with a die-cut snowflake and to add a pompom in the center. I found those at the same place I found the felt, and I like them because they have metallic flecks in them (silver on the white pompoms, and the assortment also includes red and green). I used my glue gun to add the pompom, the buttons and the loop for hanging the ornament.

The initial idea for the mittens was to prepare holiday gifts for the office, with a few treats stuck in them. What I found is that the felt version will let you slip stuff inside easily. The patterned paper version - not so much. It's too stiff. I was able to slide a candy cane in, but I don't think it'd accomodate much more. That being said, it makes a cute ornament.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Blitzen (Basic Grey)
Dies: Plush Frosty Mitten (Memory Box); Christmas Day Snow (Echo Park)
Buttons: Autumn Leaves
Pompoms: Dollar Store
Floss: DMC étoile (C816, C699)

 

Treats Takeout

After finishing my scrapbook page, I decided to use the leftover papers and stickers to make more treat boxes, which I plan to give to my office colleagues. This was really quick - I used the die from the set to create little insert to go in the front and back, and matted them using the Perfect Layers rulers (which are great when working with wonky angles). I used Black Foil paper and Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper for a touch of shimmer. The candy jar sticker was too big, so I cut the bottom off, and after gluing it in place, I covered the jar with Glossy Accents. Those are probably the simplest takeout boxes I've done so far. (See Batch 1, Batch 2 and Batch 3.)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Bewitched (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Black Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Takeout Framelits (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Glossy Accents (Ranger)

 

Two Final Halloween Takeout Boxes

Inspiration: Fusion Challenge

I needed two more takeout boxes to round out the number I needed for the office. I pulled out the Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper from a couple of years ago and put together those simple but adorable takeout boxes. The first was decorated with the Pumpkin Patch stamp set and the second with the Spooky Cat stamp set (both retired).

To play on the takeout theme, I wanted to tape an "order receipt" to the top of each boxes, with the name of my coworkers on it. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but I found a stamp that says "Special Delivery" in last year's hostess set In the City (probably meant for baby cards, but perfect here), so I stamped it repeatedly on a strip of Very Vanilla cardstock, tore the top and cut the sides with pinking scissors. Then, I handwrote the name of the person the box goes to and taped the receipt to the top of the box (or the back, in one case where the ribbon bow was in the way).

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch, Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Witches' Brew
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark, Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate, Basic Grey
Accessories: Takeout Framelits Dies, Pumpkin pie Satin Ribbon,
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber
Non-Stampin' Up! Accessories: Candy Corn Twine (Lawn Fawn);
Black Glitter Washi Tape, Foil Paper Dots, Pinking Decorative Scissors (unknown sources)

 

Fish Tank

inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #57 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Bright and Cheerful)

I usually make packaging and then find candy to go inside, but this time around, it was the candy that inspired the project. I found some fruit juice candy at my Bulk Barn and I immediately thought it could work great paired with the Keep on Swimming stamp set to create a fish tank. Initially, I was tossing around ideas where I would have created a window to see inside the packaging, but when I went looking in my packaging box to find cello bags, I actually found little acetate boxes from Stampin' Up! that were just the right size to be turned into a fish tank.

I inked blended a long panel of white cardstock, on both sides, using Distress Oxide inks (Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers and Lucky Clover) and Blender Brushes. I spritzed with water and dried with my heat tool on the low setting. I then scored at 1-15/16" intervals twice so that I had a three panel insert to put into the box. I cut the last piece to 1-15/16" x 1-15/16" for the bottom of the box. By having the folded panel, I was able to simply slip the insert inside the box and now have to glue it in place, which is preferable when working with a transparency. I did glue the bottom part in with narrow double-side adhesive as it kept popping up a bit, but it didn't matter since we won't really be seeing the bottom of the box. It doesn't really matter when there's candy in there because the weight is keeping the panel down, but I've noticed that people tend to keep the empty boxes for a while after it's empty when I'm giving away candy as they think the packaging is cute.

I glued various fish and shells on both sides of the panels and added the Hope your day is fantastic on cardstock strips on the back. For the cat at the front, we would have seen the adhesive inside the empty box, so I die-cut the cat image (and snipped the tail off the image) and the fish food image a second time using grey cardstock and I glued it inside the box, lining it with the colored images. Then it looks like a shadow and hides the adhesive in between. My tip for you: glued the grey pieces inside first and then add the colored pieces outside afterwards. It's way easier to line up the small pieces on the outside since you have room to work. (I forgot to do that with the fish food image and I struggled to put it in place inside - I worked smarter with the cat and it was much easier.)

To finish the package off, I tried various ribbon and twine options. I didn't like it wrapping all the way around the box as it hid the fish, so I did pink ribbon around the cover only and baker's twine on top to tie the tag on it. I tried another colour option first but was not liking it, so I went back to my inked cardstock scrap and die-cut a tag out of it, which looks much better.

This set with the cat looking at something is fun. I can see using it for many more projects to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Keep on Swimming (Lawn Fawn); Étiquettes des Fêtes (Tags & Tidings - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Inks: Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Features and Lucky Clover Distress Oxide (Ranger);
Tuxedo Black (Memento); Night of Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Flirty Flamingo Ruched Ribbon, Basic Black/Mint Macaron Baker's Twine,
Clear Tiny Trest Boxes, Christmas Tags Thinlits Die (Stampin' Up!); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
Markers (Copic); Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Candy

 

Beach Shack

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #543

There was a lot of be excited about in the new Lawn Fawn release, but the item that got me the most excited was the Scalloped Treat Box Beach House Add-On. In part because that item had not been showcased during their release week so it was a surprise to find it amongst the new stuff when the released items were posted online, but also because I've been enjoying doing themed houses since buying the Scalloped Treat Box. I've done Halloween, then Easter last month, and I couldn't wait to add my beach house to the lot.

The Color Throwdown colors were just perfect for something soft and beachy. The roof and windows were done in grey, the door and shutters in blue and the sand dunes in Brushed Gold. I created openings for the windows and doors and backed them with acetate - I had done that for the Easter house and I liked how bright it was with the light shining through so I went for acetate again. (I had done vellum for the Halloween house since I was planning on putting a tealight in it.)

For the door, I hesitated between adding the anchor or the lifesaver on the door. I was curious to see what the lifesaver looked like, so I started with it, using white and red cardstock. The die collection includes two circles, which I assumed were meant to be overlapped to get some colors peaking through. Kinda... except that the middle circle doesn't cut all the way through. Since there has been no Lawn Fawn video filmed for those dies, I don't know what the reasoning is, but I can only imagine it's done that way so you can "clip" the lifesaver on something: a fence, the side of a boat, etc. It was not really working for my door, though, so I used circle punches to make my own open-center lifesaver, which I clipped under the white one. I got the idea to hang the lifesaver on the door and pulled out the Mini Picture Frames dies to use the hanging cord die, but it turns out it's too big. So I went to my baker's twines instead and picked some Thick Baked Brown Sugar to tie around the lifesaver and on the door. Because the door has slate on it (one of my fave details from the die set), it's not as sturdy as the other doors from other sets. You have to be very careful when you bend the door at the hinge as the cardstock tends to crumple where the slates are. For that reason, I had cut another piece of blue cardstock to size to back the door, and this piece came in handy to hide the ends of the baker's twine as well.

Since I had put a bunny peeking out from behing the door of the Easter house, I figured I'd do the same thing with the seagull, but in the end, I ended up putting him outside the door on the ground, as it was showing up better there. (White on white is tricky.)

I decided to test out adding palm trees on the back and see if the scale fit - and that's when I realized I hadn't added green anywhere just yet! I was planning to do the little sprigs anyway, but the palm trees introduced some more green as well and filled the back of the house very nicely. I reused the Brushed Gold cardstock for the coconuts and picked Baked Brown Sugar cardstock for the trunk (which I now realize matches the twine as well!). I would have loved to add the crab from the Palm Trees die set but it was too big for the scale of the house (it would have been as big as the seagull), so I trashed that idea.

I think the result is so darn cute. Those houses are addictive! (But also time-consuming - I think it took close to three hours to put everything together even though I had a clear idea of what I wanted to make from the start and didn't fidget with anything.)

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Balmy Blue, Poppy Parade, Brushed Gold, Baked Brown Sugar (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Scalloped Treat Box, Scalloped Treat Box Beach House Add-On, Hammock and Trees (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Baked Brown Sugar Thick Baker's Twine, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!)

 

French Kiss Wine Tag and Card

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Tag It) + Tuesday Morning Sketch #501

For the Simon Says Stamp Tag It challenge, I was hesitating between making a tag or mounting a tag on a card. I looked through my stamps and papers for inspiration and when I saw my French Kiss collection, I was instantly inspired to make a wine bottle tag. Last year, Stampin' Up! had the Cheerful Tags Framelits, which were perfect to make those kind of tags. I spotted the "You had me at merlot" die-cut on one of the sheets and planned to use it, but it was quite big, so I cut the sentiment out and used it with some of the Mini Icon stickers instead. To decorate the bottom, I used a scroll from the same Framelits collection, cut out of Holo Waves Mirror Card from Tonic. I have to say, holographic foil is popping up everywhere on papers these days and I'm really digging it, so I was happy to find some foil paper with that finish, and I find it goes really well with the French Kiss collection's colors. I topped the sentiment strip with some aqua gems and I liked the result, so I decided not to overdo it and leave it as is.

Now, I had the rest of the die-cut image on my desk (a wine bottle and a wine glass) and it screamed to be finished as a greeting card, so I kept going with the supplies I had on my desk. The Tuesday Morning sketch was perfect for the size of the image, so I trimmed it a little smaller, and matted it with Blueberry Bushel cardstock from Stampin' Up! using the Layering Square Framelits dies. I used the cool mail stripes washi tape from the same collection underneath and the pink bow paper for the background. I added a strip of flowery paper and topped it with the Stitched Ric Rac, die-cut in white. (I LOVE that new die, it's going to be great to create ric rac in various colours, and the stitching makes it even better,) Brights enamel shapes were added to the top corner of the image. and I also added little clear droplets on the bottle to mimick condensation. (Those raindrops were sold by Stampin' Up! last year.)

For the sentiment, I pulled out the Cheers die from MFT. I initially die-cut the sentiment fom the same Holo Waves mirror card and matted it with white fun foam, but the word is very delicate and the fun foam was all over the place, which made the result look sloppy, so I gently pulled it off the card and started the whole process again, layering four die-cuts out of Thick white cardstock instead, and the result is much neater. This is something I've learned with experience - if you're not satisfied with the result you've achieved (coloring, inking, cutting), unless it's stuck permanently on your card and you can't take it off or cover it without ruining the card, it's worth taking the time to redo it. It's okay if something is not perfect (after all, it is handmade) as long as YOU like it. If you don't, you will probably always hate the card, as what we truly don't like will rarely grow on us. That layered sentiment is a good example - it took me an extra fifteen minutes to create a new die-cut, but it was totally worth it because now I really like the result, whereas before I was trying not to focus on the uneven fun foam. (By the way, I'm not sure how others are making that technique work - I find that the Big Shot flattens out the fun foam and always makes it "fatter" than my top die-cut, so it is always peeking out too much from underneath the die-cut for my liking.)

For the envelope, I picked a Seafoam envelope and embellished it with leftover pieces (the rest of the flower strip and the rest of the die-cut rick rac), and I added another wine mini Icon sticker. My favorite part is the bow placed on the back flap! I was looking through the Odds & Ends (I totally fell in love with this collection, so I got a few items from it) to decorate the inside of the card and the bow was the perfect finishing touch for the envelope. I used to use my embellishments very sparingly to be mindful of price and so as not to run out when making pages for my album, but as my stash has grown over time, I've learned that you might as well use whatever tickles your fancy while it's hot and fresh instead of keeping it for later and maybe not using it at all. There's been a few items that I've run out of over the years and would have loved to get more of but can't, but the list is short. The industry is thriving and there's always something new and exciting to look forward to, so I say, if you love it, use it!

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel (Stampin' Up!); Holo Waves Mirror Card (Tonic)
Patterned Papers: French Kiss (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Stitched Ric Rac, Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX, Cheers (My Favorite Things);
Cheerful Tags Framelits, Layering Square Framelits Dies (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: A4 Seafoam Envelope (envelopes.com); Brights Enamel Dots, Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (Stampin' Up!);
French Kiss Mini Icon Stickers and Odds & Ends (Doodlebug Design); March Crystals (Studio Katia)

 

The Easter Bunny House

Inspiration: Inspired By #66 + Fab Friday #159

I really wanted to pull out the Scalloped Treat Box Spring House Add-On dies and make and Easter Bunny house with it. The colours from the Fab Friday challenge were perfect for it, and I picked the Spiffy Speckles paper in purple for the box (which is great to create that house texture). I also used those papers to die-cut little Easter eggs, in order to get the speckles on them.

I had the fabulous woodgrain cardstock to make my embellishments for the house, so I was able to use the kraft cardstock for the door and the white cardstock for the fence, The texture really adds impact. I used the new Mini Easter Eggs dies to create an egg-shaped tag. I also challenged myself to include every single die from the Spring House Add-on set.

I used the window dies that make openings and lined them with acetate. This would help contain the candy if I were to fill the box with treats and you'd get a glimpse of it as well. But having the light come through the house (since I have windows on both sides and they are lining up) is really adding an element of interest to the house and have it feel more airy. I think it turned out pretty cute. I might not give this one away and add it to my growing village instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Flirty Flamingo, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!);
Woodgrain Cardstock in Neutrals (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers: 12" x 12" Spiffy Speckles (Lawn Fawn)
Dies: Scalloped Treat Box Dies, Scalloped Treat Box Spring House Add-On Dies,
Mini Easter Eggs Dies (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Window Sheets, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Handheld Punch, Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!)

 

Easter Treats

I wanted to make Easter treat packages for the office but I wasn't sure if time would allow. I finally decided to go for it this weekend and I picked a simple container that wouldn't takke too long to embellish. I realized that if I made pillow boxes, I could use my Hello Easter 6" x 6" paper stack. You only need a 5-1/4" x 4-3/4" piece of paper to create a box. There are many pillow boxes available - mine is the retired Bigz from Sizzix by Stampin' Up!

I pulled out the Easter Party stamp set that Lawn Fawn released last year. I had barely had the time to use it before Easter was over, and the cute characters are easy to color and die-cut. I looked for options on what I could place them on and finally decided to use the rectangle frame from the Mini Picture Frames dies. Since I was using double-sided patterned papers, I was able to simple turn the center upside down and get two different colours for the frame and the inside rectangle with only one cut. I had also grabbed the Say What? Gift Tags dies as another possible option, but the speech bubble caught my eye and I decided to have the characters say "For You." Because the duck is facing the other way, I had to improvise and die-cut those speech bubbles from the backside of the paper so that I could turn it around and the speech bubble facing right. The sentiment was embossed with clear embossing powder for a bit of shine.

I initially used pink and turquoise ribbon on all boxes depending on what created the most contrast with the paper but I found the turquoise ribbon was clashing with the turquoise frames, so I switched a few of them to chocolate ribbon. A dab of Fairy Wings Drean Drops were added to the top of the speech bubbles to fill them out a little bit and I was done.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Easter Party (Lawn Fawn); Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes - Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper: Hello Easter (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Easter Party, Say What? Gift Tags, Mini Picture Frames (Lawn Fawn);
Pillow Box Bigz (Sizzix by Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Fayr Wings Dream Drops (Nuvo); Markers (Copic); Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon,
Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Valentine Takeout Box

Inspiration: In[k]spire Me #386 + ColourQ #119

This box will be going to my niece for Valentine's Day. It's filled with Smarties and I used a lot of pink and shimmer, which I know she loves. I picked block letters to stamp her name on the tag and for the main sentiment. She's learning to read and has gotten the hang of it quite fast (as long as it's not script), so she should be able to read the sentiment herself. (She's known how to recognize her name on packages for a few years, now.)

The takeout box was die-cut out of hot pink metallic sheet. They're pretty much like the Lovely Lipstick foil sheets currently offered during SAB, but those are metallic foil paper my mom found at the dollar store. I found them while going through my paper stash looking for patterned papers and thought they would look great used for the box. I made sure to add a piece of print paper between my cutting plate and the foil surface, as I've learned the hard way the foil surface gets scratched or takes on texture really easily (and the shiny surface of the foil makes it really obvious afterwards). The heart die is from the same die set - I cut a negative image and filled the backside with some pink striped paper from Lawn Fawn. I used papers from the same paper pack on the backside, using the pink and orange section of it. I started watercoloring with inks, but the Stampin' Up! black ink is not great for watercoloring since it's meant to be waterproof, so I switched to my Gansai Tambi watercolors then and finished off the skunk with them. I went back to inks for the bird, but pulled out my Cosmic Shimmer iridescdent shimmering watercolour paints for the heart, which I wanted silver. I glued little gems of various sizes and shades around the heart for interest, and added my white-embossed "I Love You" block over it with dimensional adhesive.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Hey Love (Stampin' Up!); Label Love French (Altenew); Alphabet (Studio G)
Cardstock: Going Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Shimmery White (Stampin' Up!); Foil Poster Board (Studio - Dollar Store)
Patterned Papers: Really Rainbow (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: VersaMark; Melon Mambo Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Takeout Framelits, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Black and White Stampin' Emboss Powder,
2013-2015 In Color Sequins, Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Gems (Little Things from Lucy's Cards);
Set 1 Metallics Iridescent Shimmering Watercolour Paints (Cosmic Shimmer);
Gansai Tambi 36-Color Watercolor Set (Kuretake)

 

Poison Potions

Inspiration: Inspired By #42

I kept going on my Halloween packaging series, this time using the Laboratory dies. I used the Black Foil Sheets from the 2018 Holidays catalogue to make the front bottles so that they would be shiny. I stamped Yum onthe tag, using the old Oh, Goodie! stamp set.

My favorite detail is the cork. I was trying to find cork sheets at my local store but they didn't have any. When I got back home, I stumbled onto something I had put aside to use in my crafting: a little pocket made out of cork that i received from Anthropology when I bought a piece of jewelry at their store. The cork even has some tiny copper flecks in it - it's really pretty, and it's thin enough to be die-cut easily. I knew I'd get more use out of the material than the actual pocket, so timing was perfect. And considering how small the corks for the bottles are, the piece of cork is going to last me a lifetime!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Oh les petites friandises ! (Oh, Goodie! - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Grey, Smokey Slate, Black Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Witches' Brew
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Laboratory Dies (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Cork (Anthropologie);
Takeout Dies (Stampin' Up!); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

Jack-o-Lantern Tote

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #38 + The Paper Players #412 (Patterned Paper + Pumpkin + Orange)

This project started innocently enough. My local store offers a 25% rebate if you shop on your birthday, so I managed to score some awesome new items for myself. (And my mom was with me, so she offered to pay for part of the haul as a gift, so thanks, Mom!) Part of that birthday haul was the Tote Bag die from Lawn Fawn. My store always has extra cute samples made with it and I was yearning to get it, even though I don't really need another bag die. (The size is pretty great, though, and the fact that it's open at the top, unlike boxes, present additional opportunities for packaging gifts of all sizes.) I had some loyalty cards from the store ready to exchange as well, so the bag came home with me.

Tonight, I was a little tired, but also curious to give the die a try and see how it looked assembled. I was not planning on making a whole ornated project, but I figured I'd pick some pretty Halloween papers and quickly assemble the bag. I picked some of the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper, which I have used for some takeout Halloween boxes earlier this year, so I stayed with the same papers to coordinate. I picked the jack-o-lantern pattern and as I was assembling the bag, the wheels started turning.

Initially. I thought I'd only hang a tag made with the Fall Tiny Tags pumpkin and call it a day, but as I was looking through my dies for it, I also spotted the Spooky Fence Border and started thinking the Pick of the Patch pumpkins and the spooky fence die-cut out black glitter paper could look pretty cool. That's when I started fighting the fact that I was tired and kept going on "just one more thing before I stop for the night." Well, inspiration kept coming and the project was turning out really cool, so I kept going and ended up finishing it!

Another detail I really like is the moon. Another item from my birthday haul is Baked Texture embossing powders from Emerald Creed. I never looked twice at the powders in the store, but they had some embossed samples on the counter which grabbed my attention as I was waiting to pay. This is one of those things that doesn't look like much in the container, but is a whole other story on a project. The Vintage Beeswax on ivory tags looked beautiful, so I decided to grab a few for myself. Here, because the patterned paper had some Very Vanilla patterns on it, the Vintage Beeswax was a perfect complement, and the fact that the powder has flecks of other colours in it gave the moon a perfect shine and texture. To make my life simple, I covered a scrap of Very Vanilla cardstock with VersaMark, pourred powder on it and embossed it (heating from underneath the cardstock since the embossing powder is a little coarse and to avoid having it fly everywhere), and then after letting the powder cool a few seconds, I punched the piece out with a 1-1/4" circle punch. This way, I avoided not having anywhere to hold the circle without leaving a mark with tweezers.

And those little stars? Scraps found on my desk! I made a scrapbook page where I used the Star Confetti Border punch on a photo mat, and on a whim, I kept the black stars thinking I might glue them somewhere... Don't they complete the bag nicely? By the way, you would find stars the same size in the Say What? Gift Tags dies, as the set includes tiny stars you can use a shaker pieces in the tag.

I had stamped and colored a few images from the set and using them all on the front of the bag would have been a little crowded, so I used the other pieces on the back instead, and added a little banner with "Happy Halloween" stamped in French on it. I'm definitely happy with the Tote Bag die - a nice size and easy to embellish!

FYI, if you like the look of the pumpkins, they were colored with Copic markers and I used Y38 + YR15 + YR 18 on the tall pumpkin. The white pumpkin was simply shaded with W2 + W4. I really like how they both turned out.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Pick of the Patch (Lawn Fawn); Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Happy Haunting (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Cute Cobweb Dies, Pick of the Patch Dies, Spooky Fence Border (Lawn Fawn);
Vintage Beeswax Baked Texture Embossing Powder (Emerald Creed); Markers (Copic);
Mini-Stampin' Dimensionals, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Star Confetti Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Sentiments Die (Waffle Flower)

 

Halloween Takeout

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (It's a Wrap) + In[k]spire Me #368

I used my new Tim Holtz Halloween papers to make cute little take-out boxes. The Takeout dies come from the Stampin' Up! 2018 Holidays catalogue. I also used some adorable faux wax sceal stickers from Recollections. I was convinced those were actual wax sceals when I bought them - until I got them out of the package at home and found out they are puffy stickers! The effect is that convincing! (And the price is way better than wax sceals would be!)

I tested out my Black Soot Distress Crayon on one of the boxes, running it around the edges and smudging the crayon with my fingers. I really like the smoky look you get using this medium. It might be the easiest way to distress edges without getting harsh lines.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Salutations effroyables (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween - 2018 (Tim Holtz Idea-ology)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Faux Wax Sceal Stickers (Recollections); Black Soot Distress Crayon (Ranger);
Stampin' Dimensionals Takeout Thinlits Dies (Stampin' Up!)

 

Deathly Takeout

I've wanted a takeout box die for a long time, and Stampin' Up! finally added one to its lineup in the 2018 Holidays catalogue. Like most dies meant to go in the regular Big Shot, the resulting box is quite small. But quite adorable. It was one of the first things from my preorder I was drawn to trying out so that I could judge by myself how big it was and how the dies from the set could be used. Here are a few things I noticed:

• The box is not square. The sides are narrower. This is important to know since the die set includes a piece meant to cut a layering piece to decorate the box. This layering piece can be centered on the front and back, but not on the sides. It would be the same width as the sides, but not the right height. That being said, it would help you get the right shape and you could certainly trim down the pieces by hand so they are the right size for the sides. I would have liked the side layering piece to be included in the set, though. This is where I feel Stampin' Up! something miss the boat in their sets. They include a lot of hearts and stars repeatedly, but not always all the core pieces a set could benefit from.
• The layering piece leaves a wider border than I expected. This is in part why I decided to stamp my boxes, because the box still felt bare even with the added patterned paper. Personally, I might have prefered a larger piece with a narrower border. Personal taste here, though.
• To me, a takeout box usually has a handle, and one that can swing up and down. The die set does not include anything handle-related, so I made my own with a decorative border and brads. It makes opening and closing the box a little harder if the handle is up, but that is not a problem when using brads since you can rotate the handle out of the way.
• The die cuts two slits on the top of the box to secure the box shut the same way you would a takeout box

The colour inspiration for those boxes was the MFT Color Challenge #99 (Crumb Cake + Tango Tangerine + Basic Black + Going Grey). Based on the sixe of the boxes and the colors, I think I could slip a small Reese's Cup inside as a treat. I wound up with two boxes because I hesitated between two cardstock colors and cut out two boxes before deciding on the grey one. I figured I would use the kraft one for a Christmas box but as I was working on the first box, ideas kept coming and I already knew what I could do to decorate the second one, so I kept going. I'd like to give candy boxes to colleagues at work again this year and I always prefer to work on it over a few months rather than do assembly-line work all at once (which takes all of the fun away from it for me, since I like creating and despise repeating). So two down and 2½ months to go to work on the rest.

To include the kraft colour on the first box, I stamped and colored my images on Crumb Cake cardstock using Prismacolor pencils. My pencil coloring keeps improving and the images turned out pretty cute. I didn't have the matching dies last year when I bought the stamp set since they were always selling out but I managed to put my hands on them since, so I was able to cut the small images out neatly. I hung the spider from a piece of black twine and glued the end of the twine inside the box using a piece of grey washi tape. The handle was made using the Mini Provincial Impresslits from Tim Holtz. I used the new Joyous Noel Glimmer paper from the Holidays catalogue but I spaced out on the fact that I had to be mindful of which side of the paper I was putting face down in the Impresslits. The embossing ended up on the white wide instead of the sparkly one. Not to worry, I used a blending tool and my Ripe Persimmon Distress Oxide ink to turn the white backside to orange. The sparkly side of the handle is still showing, so that's a fun little surprise. The same paper was used to add a punched star to the top of the second takeout box.

The Takeout die set includes a little banner with fold lines on it to give it dimension. (Going back to my previous comment, the just retired Popcorn Box die set had the exact same die in it, but I guess you have to repeat some pieces to replace the retired ones.) I had a look at which Halloween sentiments I had that could fit between the two lines and spotted what I needed in the Frightful Friends stamp set. The first one reads, "Love You to Death" and I paired it with the tombstone image. The second one reads "Happy Haunting" and it goes well with the cemetary theme, with all three other sides decorated with tombstones from the Grave Situation stamp set. When I made the second box, I was running a little low on coloring steam and I didn't feel like going back to my Prismacolor pencils again, so I stamped the images directly on grey cardstock and just did very simple shading using Smoky Slate and Basic Black Stampin' Blends. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be fancy to be cute.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see based on the size of my fingers how tiny the takeout box is!

 

Color Combo: Crumb Cake + Smoky Slate + Basic Grey + Tango Tangerine

 

Supplies
Stamps: Frightful Friends, Fab-BOO-lous Friends, Grave Situation (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Tango Tangerine
Designer Series Paper: Happy Haunting (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Basic Grey (Stampin' Up! Archival Ink);
Ripe Persimmon (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Accessories: Basic Black and Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Baker's Twine,
Joyous Noel 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper, Mini Star Punch, Takeout Thinlits Dies, Black Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Stampin' Up!); 
Mini Provincial Impresslits (Tim Holtz); Tangerine Cord (Lawn Fawn); Blending Tool (Ranger); Pencils (Prismacolor)

 

Covent Garden Frame

After I finished making my Covent Garden page for my London album, I was left with one unused picture, which I figured I could turn into a frame of some sort as a memento of my London trip. The papers and embellishments were left out on my work table overnight and when I came back to it, I got struck by inspiration. I remembered a turquoise metal frame (from Prima) I bought on a whim at my local store probably three years ago. I could never figure out what I fill it up with, and I suddenly realized I had the perfect picture and papers for it. That's why I have a roomful of crafting stuff - because the stuff I keep always end up being useful at some point in time when the right idea and supplies collide.

The frame had a tag with the item info tied to the top with twine and I thought it was so pretty that it could probably get reused by simply covering the marketing parts with patterned papers. The ideas kept coming and within an hour, my frame was done.

It was only when I was completed finished and turned to my computer to start a blog post with the project info that I realized in my excitement I had made a pretty big mistake... I added the incorrect name on the tag! Using rub-ons, I had written Camden Market without thinking twice about it. The picture was not taken at Camden Market, it was taken at Covent Garden!! Which I should know considering I just made a page about it!! In fairness, I also made a page about Camden Market a day prior, so I think the two names were floating in my head, but for a second, I wonder how I would save my project.

I got REALLY lucky: I still had that wooden paper and I was able to cut a strip that covered the previous rub-ons while still fitting between my embellishments, and because the wood is a pretty even pattern, the seam does not show at all. I was able to add new rub-on letters with the correct name, ink the edges, glue over the previous name and nobody will ever know when looking at the project. What a relief! I really loved my design, so I would have been disappointed if I had had to change it.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Metal Frame: Prima
Rub-ons: Making Memories (Providence Small White, Heidi Small Black)
Paper Flowers: Prima
Buttons: Autumn Leaves
Ink: Walnut Stain (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
1-1/2" Circle Punch: Stampin' Up!
Stampin' Dimensionals: Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Mois de l'année Script (Lime Citron)
Twine Rickrack Trim: Michaels
Patterned Paper: Spring Market (Carta Bella)

 

Dirty Dozen - March Projects

These are the projects I made for the March Dirty Dozen gallery on Splitcoast Stampers: