Card-in-a-Box and Class Schedule for February & March

My five weeks of summer holidays draws to a close. :(

Back to work tomorrow, and what is the weather going to be but sunny and 39 degrees (think that's 100 Fahrenheit!!!!) so it's not going to be fun.

And I've had so much fun over summer! Meals out with friends, friends from near and far to visit, family spending time at the beach with us (its so much fun with small children to play with) and lots and lots of crafting time!

These Card-in-a-Box creations began to appear late last year, and I've had a play about with a few different versions. This one is based on measurements given by Monica Gale, a UK Stampin' Up! demonstrator. It turns out rather large, and apart from that, I wasn't aware that it was best to not extend too far beyond the edges, because  then it doesn't fit in an envelope! Luckily I have my Envelope Punch Board and I used a 11½ inch square piece of DSP to make a giant envelope.

So, next I checked around and found another tutorial, this time by Australian demonstrator, Tanya Bell. Tanya is very clever, and generous also. She shared the smaller dimensions that mean the Card-in-a-Box will fit in a standard C6 envelope, readily available here. I have decided to offer this as a special Project Class in February or March. You need to click on the CLASSES tab at the top of the blog, and check the list of dates that I have available. If you have 3 hours free on one of the days I've nominated, send me an email or text (0417 500 681) and we will see what we can work out. I need two participants to run a class, so if you also have a friend who wants to craft, we could be good-to-go, otherwise I will place it up as a class taking place and we will see if anyone else wants to join you and create.
 You probably need to have had some experience with paper cutters, precise measurements are required (and the equipment and measurements are imperial, not metric) but I will demonstrate the construction process before you embark on your own Card-in-a-Box.
                                                                                 


There are other classes available too, for beginners and more experienced crafters, maybe we can get together soon...
Rachel

Envelope Punch Board Boxed Cards

Now that life is beginning to settle back to normal routine, I've had a chance to have a big play with my Envelope Punch Board. I tried out various sizes of envelopes, a bow for a card, a bonbon (mine is more a Valentine's Day version) and some gift boxes. All good fun, but I wanted to try out some small boxes or large envelopes to hold a set of cards. There are lots more samples at Just Add Ink's blog, they're setting the Envelope Punch Board or Thinlet card as their challenge.

I wasn't sure where to go until a fellow demonstrator pointed me here, to Stamp & Scrap with Frenchie. Frenchie has sorted out the formula for making boxes of any size, its well worth taking a look.
 So, for some reason I decided to make a set of cards 5½ inches square. That's WAY big really, and it meant I had to search out a piece of 12" by !2" card for the box. Never mind, I had some So Saffron that size and even though it isn't listed as a co-ordinating colour on Watercolor Wonder DSP, like most of the Stampin' Up! colours, it fits in beautifully. These papers are gorgeous, you'll find them in the NEW Occasions mini Catalogue, so I mounted a 4½ inch square of DSP onto another shade of card and kept stamping to a minimum. Did you notice the rounded corners? The Envelope Punch Board has a corner rounder incorporated, so now I don't have to go searching everywhere for my long lost corner punch. Some of the cards are stamped with an image or two from Happy Watercolor, also in the new Mini catalogue. Others have a greeting from A Dozen Thoughts. Between those two stamp sets you have things covered. The envelope is quite easy to construct, fits 4 cards and 4 envelopes very comfortably (could possibly fit more) and then you get to decorate.

Envelope, Bonbon & Bow

I decided to go crazy with my flower punches and the leaf die from Secret Garden. I crumpled the flowers and worked them with my bone folder to soften the paper fibres and you get a softer looking flower. That is attached with dimensionals, and then you can slip the tip of the envelope under neath to hold it all closed. I added a belly band, only for decoration in this case. I love the gelati colours, what do you think?



I have a lot more crafting and blogging to do before I head back to my "other" job next week. Would you like to leave a comment so I know you visited?

Catch you soon
Rachel

Madly Mauve in the Secret Garden DD#76

I love these mauve shades that Dynamic Duos is challenging us with this week. They remind me of bunches of hanging Wisteria, Iris, Clematis and all things floral.

I've finally used my Secret Garden Stamp Set and matching Dies to cut the blooms and leaves, after having them on my shelf from when they were released - how long ago? Trouble was, I loved the stamp, wanted to make all the gorgeous things I'd seen on blogs and Pinterest but had too many other stamp sets, and not enough time. Feeling awfully embarrassed about this, I vowed to break it open as soon as possible, and today was that day.

masked image

Its a great bonus having dies to cut leaves and flowers out (Although you still have to hand-cut the inner flowers if you decide to layer that way). Its also a BIG time-saver if you want to create a mask for stamping, as the cut is so exact. Just stamp onto a sticky note, die cut, and place over the original stamped image.
As well as Wisteria Wonder and Perfect Plum I have introduced Basic Gray and a little Whisper White.
One of the flowers has been stamped in Versamark onto lovely thick vellum, by Stampin' Up! of course, and heat embossed with white embossing powder. It has been coloured with a Perfect Plum Stampin' Write. The other flowers were stamped onto coloured card, in the same colour. There are some other smaller punched blossoms scattered about and all finished with pearl centres. Curly Cute stamp set has  greetings in a lovely, fancy font which seemed to suit these flowers.



Thanks for visiting my blog
Rachel

Secret Garden Swap South Pacific Convention 2013

Would you like to see my swap for Convention?


I left it a bit late, and feel quite ashamed of how few I had to swap, but I will try to get more organised next year, because the girls had some gorgeous swaps there!


I'd heard that the Glossy card was to be retired, we usually would use Glossy card for crayon resist technique. I thought I would try it out on Shimmery White card using Wild Wisteria, Pool Party and Secret Garden flowers stamped in Basic Grey.



It turned out very soft and subtle, which was quite pleasing, but the crayon didn't come out as strongly as usual, so I'm not sure if that was my application of crayon or the soft pastel colours,

I must try it again with a bold colour combo!

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by

Rachel