A little gift...box ;)

Hello again!! :)

I’m back again- I know, so soon!! ;-) Yesterday was one of those days when I just felt like doing something for the fun of it rather than moving straight on to the next thing on my list- I probably shouldn’t have as there’s enough to do to keep me more than busy but, well, you just need to sometimes, don’t you? So, I decided to try a quick little project inspired by the current Forever Friends Challenge, which is ‘Anything but a card, include a charm’…

I’ve made this sweet little gift box using a Papermania ‘Tulip Box ‘ Template with some striped paper from the Forever Friends Pink Parfait pad and some plain white cardstock of the same weight (160gsm but I think it could do with being a tad stronger, or at least the handles reinforced). I was intending to stamp a bear on the white card but when I actually put the box together the sides were far more curved over than I’d expected so I just randomly stamped it with some flowers from a Kanban stamp set, in Brilliance Orchid and Lime Green, instead! I decided it looked a bit flat- even though it’s 3D!- so I edged it with the Orchid ink and glammed it up a bit with some glitter glue on the flowers and the obligatory Clear Stardust on the stripes :) So that was the ‘not a card’ bit covered, now for the charm…

I decided this was the perfect opportunity to try out the Shrink Plastic that I bought years ago, put away in a box and forgot about, to make my own charm :) And I also tried out my brand new Nestie Blossoms, which I got a couple of weeks ago, for the first time- and I know I’m going to love these!! :) So I stamped the bear image on the Blossom shape in StazOn (is there anything else you can use on Shrink Plastic btw, ‘cos I hate that stuff and only use it if I have to- can’t stand almond/marzipan smell!! :S ) and coloured it with a mixture of Papermania Pens and Sakura Stardust spread with a waterbrush, then drew around the edge with more Stardust and punched a hole with my Crop-a-dile :) The actual shrinking didn’t go too badly for my first ever attempt- wasn’t so sure of that at one point but it got there in the end, apart from being just slightly squiffy looking!! ;) Then I attached it to a phone charm loop which I threaded through one of the handles of the bag- it can be removed easily so it’s like an extra gift after the box has been opened :)

A little look at the box before it’s folded up together where you can see the two pieces of paper stuck together instead of  a single cross shaped piece- more interesting, easier to cut and far less waste!! :)

This is the other side of the Shrink Plastic- the smooth side- I’m not sure which is supposed to be the front but, though this side makes the colours look brighter (I’ll put a bit more colour on the bear next time!!) it also seems to have some blemishes, perhaps from my tweezers!! You can’t see the glitter really, either, and I also like the slightly shimmery look of the rougher side, too!! :)

A shot of the template, which just appeared through my door on Thursday with the rest of the- much less interesting- post...who likes bank statements, after all!! ;) Turns out I won one of the giveaways in the last DoCrafts Mag!! :) I think it’ll make a good little box to give some of my jewellery pieces in and possibly even little tree decorations- with choccies in maybe!! ;) – at Christmas :) It’s been a good couple of days for crafty surprises as, when I popped over to see who’d won the last Crafty Cardmakers challenges yesterday, I discovered I’d come in the Top 5!! :D :D I was so smiley yesterday after that- and very excited to have another blinkie to add to my side bar!! :D And for the yellow and orange card that I wasn’t at all sure of at first, too- though I have to say it’s been growing on me since I posted it on here :)

Right, I shall go and link this up now then, hopefully, I’m going to go and sit in the garden for a bit and make the most of this slightly better patch of weather we seem to be having :) I really hope it lasts a while this time, it’s been so nice to have a bit of sunlight around after so long and not to be shivering at the chill in the air!! :) I hope you’re enjoying your weekends and getting some sun wherever you are too!! :)

hugs,