Spring explosion box

I made this box waaay back in October... before my blogging days started. Some of my customers have been asking how to make it lately, so I thought I'd share it with you all.
It's called an explosion box because the base of the box base is just held in shape by the lid of the box & opens out when you take the lid off, to show a greeting or other surprise. The finished size is approx 3 inches across by 2 ½ inches high, so it's great for small gifts, like chocolate or other yummies. I got the original template from the demonstrator part of the Stampin' Up!® website (another perk of being a Demonstrator, but don't get me started on that or I'll never finish this post!), & adapted the size to fit on an aussie A4 sheet. I've also seen instructions at Splitcoast.

For this project, I used the 'Looks Like Spring' & Cheery Chat sets. I'm very happy that 'Looks Like Spring' is not retiring, as I use it a lot. How can you resist a set with co-ordinating papers & a punch? Anyway, onto some info on how I made the box.
The base is an 8 inch square of bashful blue card, stamped with the large flower and bashful blue ink. I scored & folded it to form the box shape. Then, I stamped a square of very vanilla card with the diamond background in bashful blue ink & the thank you greeting in close to cocoa ink & mounted it with dimensionals onto a square of close to cocoa card. The lid is a 7 ¼ inch x 5 ¼ inch piece of very vanilla card, which is stamped with the 3 flower stamp & then scored & folded it into the lid shape. Then, I used the rock & roll technique to stamp a large flower with bashful blue & close to cocoa inks onto a square of very vanilla card. Then I stamped a small matching flower in close to cocoa ink, punched it out with the spring bouquet punch & attached it to the large flower piece with a gold brad. I mounted the square on another square of close to cocoa card & attached it to the lid.
If you'd like more information on how to make the box, just drop me an e-mail & I'll send you a detailed instruction sheet and template. 

edited 25 July 2014
You can now view & download the instructions to make my explosion box here

PS: Just realised this box matches the colours of the stem card in my last post. Totally unintentional! Who knew I already liked that combo in October?

More stem silhouettes

This is my second project from last weekend's workshop, again using the sooo elegant 'Stem Silhouettes' set & the 'Lots of Thoughts' Sale-A-Bration set. Like the big buckle card, I decided that I wanted to try a different fold, but still use a standard half A4 sheet, so this is what I came up with.

I used bashful blue, close to cocoa (which I am loving at the moment) & whisper white card. First I scored & folded the bashful blue base. Then, I cut some close to cocoa front & inside panels, stamped around the edge with the leaf image & versamark ink & attached them to the base. I decided to use versamark, as I wanted the print to be very subtle. For the main image, I stamped the leaf in bashful blue ink on bashful blue card & then outlined part of the image with the white gel pen, to add dimension. Then I mounted it on whisper white card & attached it to the centre of the card front.
For the outside greeting, I stamped 'many thanks' with close to cocoa ink onto some whisper white card & punched it out with the large oval punch. I mounted the greeting onto another white oval with dimensionals & attached it the lower left of the card.
You could easily make a quick card based on this design without the front fold, but I think the fold adds an extra bit of interest. What do you think?
Just a few reminders...Sale-A-Bration ends on 29 FebruaryYou've only got a little time left to get these gorgeous sets. Just place a $100 order with me and you can choose one of the sets for FREE.
Going going....The retirement list of current Idea Book & Catalogue items that won't be returning in the new Idea Book has just been announced.Items on the list will only be available while stocks last, or until 31 March at the latest. Some goodies are already sold out, so if there are items on your wish-list that are being retired, please contact me to order them ASAP.You'll receive free shipping on any retiring stamps or accessories you order from me until 31 March, which is a saving of 5%.All my customers should have received the list via e-mail, so if you haven't got yours, contact me as soon as possible.
I'll be featuring lots of projects using retiring items over the next month, so subscribe to my e-mail feed to get any updates.

Bud basics big buckle

Finally, I can show you the 'big buckle card' we made at last weekend's class. It gets its name because of the 'buckle' strip attached to the back of the card & slides through a hole in the front of the card to close it. I saw instructions for one on Splitcoast and thought it was a fun idea, so I adjusted the size to suit aussie A4 card.
Again, most of the supplies are from the Summer Mini - 'Bud Basics' set & 'Loves Me Paper'. I also used the 'Sincere Salutations' set from the main catty for the greeting.

I felt like being a bit 'bold', so I chose tempting turquoise for the base. I used whisper white for the inside panel, and trimmed it with a strip of polka dot 'Loves Me' paper. The whisper white front panel is stamped with the large 'Bud Basics' flowers in cool caribbean pretty in pink & close to cocoa. The front corners are rounded with the small corner rounder punch. I also rounded the ends of the buckle strip & added another strip of 'Loves Me' paper. I used the Word Window Punch to make a hole in the front of the card for the buckle to fit through. Then, I attached the buckle under the inside panel, so that it lined up with the hole in the front & adhered the inside panel to the base. Finally, I closed the buckle & stamped the greeting.
I'm sure you'll be seeing at least one more of these from me, as I really like the buckle effect! If you'd like to know more about this buckle card or anything else Stampin' Up!®, just drop me an e-mail.
Oh, in case you were wondering (or not)... the previous post title "It's for a man, man!" was inspired by a quote from the legendry Austin Powers!

It’s for a man, man!

This was a birthday card I made for a dear friend of ours a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd share it with you, as many people say that they find male cards the hardest to make....and I certainly normally too, although this one came together nicely.

I used mainly Summer Mini supplies – the 'Carte Postale' stamp set and coordinating 'Enchante' paper. I also used the celebrate greeting from the lovely 'Wonderful Words' set in the main catty. First, I attached some fleur-de-lis patterned 'Enchante' paper onto a sage shadow card mat & added a line of 3 vintage brads on the top right. I stamped a single fleur-de-lis with close to cocoa ink onto sage shadow card, pierced the corners with the mat pack & piercer & cut a choc chip mat to fit. Then, I stamped the celebrate greeting with chocolate chip ink onto vellum paper. To put all the bits together, I attached the small choc chip mat to the Enchante paper mat, wrapped the vellum greeting strip around the paper mat & mounted the fleur de on top with dimensionals. Finally I stuck the whole piece on a choc chip base.
On a silly note, if anyone knows where I got the inspiration for my post title, leave a comment!... just so I know there are some more nuts out there!

Anyone for chocolate?

I can't resist anything to do with chocolate, so, I made this chocolaty card in the hope it would stop me eating the real thing. (No it didn't!) Everyone who saw it at my weekend class really liked it, so I thought I'd share it with you all.
It's made using mostly supplies from the Summer Mini. I only used one stamp set - the very elegant 'Stem Silhouettes'. For the base, I attached some 'au chocolat' paper & wide chocolate grosgrain ribbon. Then, I stamped a chocolate chip leaf onto very vanilla card & double matted it on choc chip & vanilla card. I stamped 'thank' & 'you' separately with choc chip ink on vanilla card, punched them out using the tab punch & attached them to the side & bottom of the mats. Then I tied more wide choc chip grosgrain & 'au chocolat' paper around the leaf piece & attached it to the base, so that the chocolate ribbon lined up across the front.
Anyway, hope you like it too. Weekend class project pics & info still to come too. It's a very dull day in Sydney, so no pics today I think.

Big birthday punched flower

After seeing Sam's clever punched flower card, my friend and fellow demonstrator Kellie (Hi Kellie) and I had a play with the small & large oval punches too & this was my card. I love using the oval punches with greetings, but it's always fun to find more ways to use them. Thanks for the inspiration for this one Sam!

I wanted to use really cheerful colours so I picked lavender lace & cool Caribbean for the flower & used a clear button backed with lavender lace for the flower centre. The flower is attached to a lavender lace base, matted with whisper white & gable green. I used my lavender lace & gable green markers to stamp the greeting (from 'Sincere Salutations'). It's attached to the card with some blue gingham ribbon & a silver brad. The finished card is 10.5cm x 10.5cm in case you were wondering. I have to say that I am not 100% happy with some bits of this one, but I decided to show you anyway.

Kellie used one of my favourite colour combos for her card – perfect plum & pale plum on very vanilla & it looked gorgeous.
If you haven't already, check out Sam's blog too, as her creations are always inspiring. Have a fun weekend everyone.

I’ve seen that butterfly before...

I had a butterfly left over from this card I posted last week, & thought it was too cute to throw out, so I made a mini version using the very cute very vanilla pocket notes from the Summer Mini.
It was so quick to make with just a few small scraps (choc chip & regal rose strips, old olive circle, punched out with the 1 3/8 circle punch & a pierced certainly celery mat). I mounted the butterfly ('Time Well Spent') on dimensionals. The thank you is from 'Stem Silhouettes'.
The greeting inside the card says "Time spent with friends is time well spent", & isn't that just the truth! I thought it was a good time to share this, as I'm looking forward to spending some time with friends on Saturday at my first class of the year. There are still a few places left, so e-mail me by Friday if you'd like to come. I'll post the projects from the class next week.

Take Two Buds

Here are 2 more cards from Jane’s workshop.

With these I wanted to show 2 different looks using the same card layout and colours – the first, very clean & simple using only limited supplies and one ‘stepped-up’ with some added details using different products & techniques.

So what’s the same?...
- the layout

- the colours – close to cocoa, chocolate chip, regal rose, pretty in pink & whisper white
- the stamps – ‘Bud Basics’ flowers (Summer Mini) & ‘Lots of Thoughts’ greeting (SAB)
The small flower outline is stamped over the close to cocoa base with close to cocoa ink. The flower outline & image is stamped in close to cocoa & pretty in pink on whisper white card & cut out. It is mounted with dimensionals on a square of whisper white card, stamped with a regal rose flower.

... and what’s different?

Card 1 - I used only cardstock. I punched the greeting with the large oval punch & added a regal rose brad.Card 2 – I swapped the regal rose card strip for 2 strips of ‘Loves Me’ paper (Summer Mini) & the choc chip card strip for some choc chip grosgrain ribbon, which I knotted around the card. This time, I punched out the greeting with the small oval punch & mounted in on a large regal rose oval & added some more choc chip grosgrain behind it. Finally, I sponged the edge of the whisper white square with pretty in pink.

So which one would you make? Leave a comment & let me know.

Merci Jane

I thought I'd share some of the projects from a workshop I did last weekend for the lovely Jane and some of her friends. Hi Jane & thanks again for a great time :) The first project was this bagalope, which is a bag made using an envelope. They're so quick & easy to make & everyone I've shown them to loves them as well.

For this one, I used the 'leaves-a-la-carte' jumbo Stampin' Around® wheel & 'Carte Postale' set from the Summer Mini Catalogue. I also used one of my fave colour combos – perfect plum, very vanilla & yep, you guessed it - certainly celery!

First, I rolled the 'leaves' wheel over a normal card size very vanilla envelope (C6) with perfect plum – super quick. Then I made a perfect plum topper for the bag & stamped it with the 'Carte Postale' swirl. I stamped the single leaf & merci from 'Carte Postale' in perfect plum & punched out a tag with the tag punch. I matted the tag with some celery card (yay!), punched a hole at the top with the horizontal slot punch and added some celery grosgrain ribbon to finish.
While I used a standard envelope for this bag, any sized good quality envelope can be used to make different shapes and sized bags. If you'd like any more information on how to make one, just send me an e-mail.
I also made this matching card prior to the workshop, using the same colours & stamps, to show how one project can inspire another. I used the wider celery grosgrain from the Summer Mini Catalogue,this time, also for more impact.....OK and I just really like the wide ribbon too!
Supply List: Stamps: Carte Postale, Leaves-a-la-carte wheel (Summe Mini). Card/paper: very vanilla envelope & card, perfect plum, very vanilla, certainly celery. Ink: Perfect plum, Accessories: Celery grosgrain, tag punch, horizontal slot punch, 1 3/8 inch square punch (card).

Butterfly Birthday

So have you missed me? I didn't get a chance to post last week but I do have some projects to show you over the next few days. This one has got to be one of my favourite recent cards. I made it for a dear buds birthday a couple of weeks ago, but I don't think she'll mind me sharing it with you now (if there is anyone out there!).
The water-coloured butterflies are one of many gorgeous stamps from 'Time Well Spent', which is a set all Demonstrators received as a thank you gift from Stampin' Up!® late last year – they are so good to us! The good news for you too is that it will be a new hostess set in the 2008/09 idea book, which is due out in April. The happy birthday greeting is from the 'Birthday Whimsy' Sale-A-Bration set.
I cased the design from a card in the latest Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator monthly newsletter. This is just one of many sources of information & ideas available to demonstrators. I really liked the layout & colour combination (& not just because I got to use certainly celery!)
To make the card, I attached an old olive rectangle & distressed circle of certainly celery to a close to cocoa base. Then I pierced a strip of regal rose using the template in the mat pack & attached it and a thin strip of choc chip to the left edge. I also pierced a border around the old olive card, (I love piercing holes – very therapeutic!). The happy birthday greeting was stamped in choc chip ink on regal rose card. The butterflies were stamped on watercolour paper with basic brown ink, then coloured with my Aqua Painter™ & old olive, rose red & cameo coral Watercolor Wonder™ crayons (I would have used regal rose & rose red but I don't have the Rich Regals® crayons yet, so I improvised!). Finally, I arranged the butterflies on the base, used a choc chip marker to stamp the antennae & attached them with dimensionals.
Supply ListStamps: Time Well Spent (coming soon!), Birthday Whimsy (SAB). Card: Close to cocoa, certainly celery, old olive, regal rose, choc chip, watercolour paper. Ink/Colour: basic brown ink, choc chip ink, watercolour wonder crayons – rose red, cameo coral, old olive, choc chip marker. Tools/Accessories: Aqua Painter™, mat pack & piercing tool (crafters tool kit), dimensionals