I started out with a bunch of small boxes - the smallest ones I bought at a pound shop, 3 for 49p, the large ones came from Michaels in the US, I forget how much they were but I'm thinking around 50 cents each. I used the lids from 2 large and 6 small for this project. Obviously you can use any size of box, in any arrangement you like.
I used my ATG gun to stick the lids together. Notice that the bottom box was too large so I took a 1/2 inch slice out of it. It doesn't matter if the join is a bit raggy, it won't be seen once it's covered with patterned cardstock.
The small lids were slightly shallower than the large ones, so I added 2 strips of chipboard on the back to even out the height. I then completely covered the back with another sheet of chipboard to make the tray more sturdy.
Notice that I've added a length of wire to hang it on the wall (string would work too if you don't have any wire).
The wire was twisted on the inside and is unseen once the compartments have been lined with patterned cardstock.
Finally, each compartment was lined with patterned cardstock and edged with tissue tape. It's all ready now to be filled with whatever goodies you choose! :) It's also a LOT cheaper than one you'd buy in the shops (I'm sounding like a Blue Peter presenter now LOL) I hope this was useful for some of you - see you tomorrow! :)
The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week is "A Hat". Before starting on this project I thought about hats for quite a while, turning things over in my head, trying to decide what I was going to do. Iconic bowler hat images such as those from A Clockwork Orange and Magritte's paintings came to mind, and were incorporated into this printer's tray, along with a nod towards the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland!
Believe it or not, if you cut with a page height of 3.5 inches (perfect size for a brag book), all 7 pages will fit onto 1 sheet of 12x12 cardstock! If you use double-sided cardstock you can cut the whole thing from one 12x12 sheet and just turn each alternate page over for a quick, stylish base for making a stunning keepsake gift!
More patterned paper today, though I've almost obliterated it with paint! Costco cardstock, Lost and Found stack, brown and white acrylic paint, Stampotique stamps and a white paint pen.
"Ginger/Copper/Rust" is the theme over on the Gingersnap Creations blog this week. This also marks my last project for the design team. It's been a fun (though crazy) time, with "life" getting in the way for a while, during which time I had to step down from the team for a spell. I'm so grateful that they were kind enough to give me that time when other priorities took me away from crafting temporarily!
Those of you who have followed my blog for a while might remember that I designed this file a year or two ago and all the pieces are cut on the Cricut using the SCAL program. As I have bought a huge box of 5" cards with envelopes, that is the size I will be making, so this box is 5 1/2" wide and 6" or so tall. I reckon I should be able to fit about 30 or so cards with envelopes in it.
Now all I have to do is be self-disciplined enough to actually make the cards! LOL Oh, the ingredients... Top paper is from My Minds Eye Christmas Glittered stack, bottom is from a Costco tote full of double sided cardstock. The picture is from Tim Holtz's Seasonal card stack and the ticket is one of his stamps.
The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week is "A Word". For this dream-y card I started by covering my card base with randomly placed pieces of torn tissue tape, which was then covered with espresso and red pepper paint dabbers applied with kitchen paper. The butterfly from Tim Holtz's Spring Sprung stamp set was stamped on the painted background with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then over-painted with white paint dabber applied with an artist's paintbrush, coloured with marker pens and restamped. The piece was edged with Walnut Stain distress ink. The letters are cut from the Lost and Found card stack and covered with glossy accents for extra shine. Finally, the mat was cut from the Retro Grunge card stack.
Please remember you are only allowed to download this file for your own use and can not share it or distribute it to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are shared.
This was one of those times I like the best, when I just sit down at my desk and start to play with no clear idea in mind of what I'm aiming for :) It doesn't always make for the best results, but it's a lot of fun!
This is my first attempt at a diorama card, and I had a lot of fun making it, with a few small headaches on the way, lol Basically it's a flat back and a window front, with concertina'd sides that allow you to fix different elements at different levels inside the card. I made a file for the whole thing and cut it on my Cricut, along with the "dream" letters, the house and the birds.
The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week is "Stars". This is actually the 2nd piece I've made for this theme - I didn't like the first one so I scrapped it and went back to square one!
It's been a while since my last one, so it's great to be able to offer you another free cutting file this week! This set came about when someone emailed me asking if I had a file for a gothic arch greetings card. I didn't, so I set about creating one!
As you can probably tell by now, I'm still not tired of doing these 5x5 cards :) I think this one is probably my favourite of the 3 so far.
Not only the title of this card, but also a great classic British movie and a fantastic album by the amazing Kate Bush! :) In both of those cases, the red shoes are ballet shoes of course, not a battered pair of Converse sneakers! I doubt that they make ballet shoes to fit my canoe-sized feet and I wear Converse Chuck Taylors ALL THE TIME, so it was always obvious which way I was gonna go with this :)
A few weeks ago, while on an outing to York for the day, I bought a box of 5"x5" square cards and envelopes and have been itching to have a go at one ever since! I also got a few of Tim Holtz's new stamp sets a day or two ago, and this card includes some of the images from the "Steampunk" set. The house was inspired by some I saw on the Paperbag Studios blog (though I think theirs may be stamps and mine was hand drawn).
"Office Supplies" is the theme over on the Gingersnap Creations blog this week. After completing the configurations box that I blogged here I had 3 of the small boxes left, which I thought would be perfect for this project.
I started by joining the 3 boxes together with my ATG gun, then covered them with paper from the Tim Holtz "Crowded Attic" card stack, finishing off the edges with Tissue Tape. I pierced 4 holes in the bottom and inserted large chrome brads to act as feet. I added 2 metal handles to the front and filled the compartments with office supplies (of course!). The tickets were from the "Lost & Found" card stack and the vintage eyeglasse came from the Artistic Stamper. Click one of the images for a larger view.
Which is to say "Me? I'm not trendy!", and believe me, I'm not! LOL (A fact that I'm sure can be vouched for by those who know me!) But I did think this guy from one of the PaperArtsy Urban Snapshot plates is kinda cool looking, hence the "branché" on the tag.
The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week is "Metal", so when I started making a frame for last week's piece I decided to encrust it with metal embellishments to fit with this week's theme!
The theme set by my friend Hels over on the Sunday Stamper today is "Nature". I thought this frame, decorated with variagated leaves fitted nicely with the theme, so, um, here it is :)
As I mentioned here a couple of days ago, I was lucky enough to take a class with Tim Holtz a week or so ago. I've finally finished off the project I started in class, one of his "Configurations" boxes. It hasn't photographed that well, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out! I have 4 more of these waiting to be started, so you'll be seeing more of them in due course! :)
It suddenly occurred to me tonight that every single time I've made one of these framed moo pieces I've given it away to someone else. Since I still have a lot of empty wall space to fill, I thought it was time to redress the balance a little, so this is one is all for yours truly! :)
A week or two ago I "upcycled" some of my recently made tags into a framed gift for a friend and then proceeded to completely forget to blog it! The windowed moo central panel and the mount that surrounds it were designed in Inkscape and cut on the Cricut using the Sure Cuts a Lot program.
As some of may know (because you saw me there - or heard me, I seem to be recognised by my voice a lot!) I went on the ArtsyCrafts Workshop last week. This was a 2.5 hours class with the awesome Lin and Leandra and a 4 hour class with Tim Holtz himself!
