The Book Box - finally

Well, my upline was right, she said that if I tried I could create 7 blog posts out of this one project. Thanks for encouraging, no, make that pushing me to get blogging again Susan. We're now finally at the last post and are ending with the Book Box that holds the cards shown previously.

I don't know about you but I love making little sets to give as gifts for people. While I love making cards, there is something so much more satisfying when creating a 3D project. I confess that I had seen the book box mine is based on while looking on You Tube. Click on the coloured links and it will take you directly to Caroline Helwigh Wrights blog and video. I'm sure you'll love her ideas and projects as much as I do.

I used all of Carolines measurements but instead of making my own stamped paper, I used some Delightful Daisy DSP. I had also wanted to make the box using Night of Navy but hadn't realised I was getting low on stock and didn't have enough. With a little planning I was able to combine two colours without it looking as if I'd not had enough of the original colour in the first place.

I'm not going to add the instructions as Caroline has done a great job! Another small concession was to add a little piece of DSP on the inside left to hold stamps. I can never find them when I need to so thought if they could have their own home it might save the recipient a search.

Did you know you could use the ink pads or write markers to colour white ribbon? I used Calypso Coral; it looks good doesn't it? Another quick tip if you're starting out. Get a selection of white ribbons and colour them to match your project until you're able to buy a selection of co-ordinating colours.

Dragonfly Dreams

Hello, if you've been following my blog we've made it as far as card number five of the book box set. This time I revisited a card using Dragonfly Dreams that I'd made at Coffee and Cards with Susan at Craftyduckydoodah.

These are the cards made with Susan. I loved the colours used, however, this time I needed to use a particular colour palette for my project.

Once again my colour palette was based on the Delightful Daisy DSP, using Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Whisper White.

Calypso Coral

Old Olive

Daffodil Delight

Whisper White

I used Gorgeous Grunge to stamp the Whisper White base card using Old Olive and Calypso Coral. The stamped lines replaced the washi tape on the original card. Then I added a Stitched Shape square with a border in Calypso Coral.

The dragonfly was stamped and coloured with Watercolour pencils; I used the blender pen so that I didn't end up with any blocks of colour or harsh lines. I then fussy cut the image out. There is a slightly smaller dragonfly die you can use if you really don't like fussy cutting! The dragonfly wings were gently shaped so that it didn't lie flat against the card.I arranged the leaves - not Stampin' Up this time - and added Silver Metallic Thread that had been looped around my fingers first.

Typical me, managed to get a tiny ink mark on the inside of the card so to cover it up I decorated the left hand side for a change. In crafting there are no mistakes. I like to think of them as happy accidents.

I like to add a little image on the inside of the card and also on the envelope for a cohesive look. I don't know about you, but I always open cards with a decorated envelope before plain cards. They are just that little bit extra special.

My sentiment was stamped directly onto the base card. As I don't feel confident at stampin straight I try to use my stamping precision press. I'm really not as bad as I think I am but it really does take the worry away.

Anyone for a Wedding?

And so onto card number three of my project; this time to celebrate a wedding. Now I know I said I wanted to stick to the colours of the Delightful Daisy DSP but it is becoming apparent that my favourite colour is Pool Party! This time it was only teamed up with Whisper White for a very, in my opinion, elegant look.

Pool Party

Whisper White

I decided to make an easel card using Floral Phrases. They really are easy to make although it took a little bit of time to line up the Detailed Floral Thinlits so I was happy with it. This time I chose to use Pool Party as my base card, with Whisper White as an insert and also behind my die cutting.

The sentiment for the front was stamped onto card and die cut using an oval Stitched Shape Framelit. I also placed a piece of white ribbon around the front of the easel and finished off with a small bow. 

I retrieved a few of the tiny die cut flowers and leaves  after releasing them from the die and added them to create a little more interest to the front. Pearls were placed in the centre of each flower.

Oops, can you see the stray pearl? It tried to escape... Luckily I spotted it and secured it back in place before the card went to it's new home. Unfortunately I forgot to take another photo.

Baby, it's A Little Wild!

So now we're on to card number two from the boxed set. If you'd like to see the first card, it's in the previous post. This time I made a card for a new baby; I don't know about you, but I find I need lots of these...

                 ...and wedding cards. So many of the girls I used to work with are settling down, marrying and starting families.

Stampin' Up! do a fabulous bundle called A Little Wild. I adore this set for babies and children. The dies make double sided tags but with a small adjustment, you can use the front and back of each animal on a card as I have. I chose to keep it gender neutral by not using pink or baby blue.

Pool Party

Whisper White

Smoky Slate

Daffodil Delight

Once again I used a Whisper White base card. I then took more white card stock and using a retired stamp set called Flowering Flourishes made my own DSP using Pool Party ink. Any spaces were filled using a small stamp and Daffodil Delight which came out much brighter than I'd expected. This was adhered to the base card, leaving a small plain white border. I then cut a circle through both layers.

The patterned circle was then stuck down to the inside of the card lining up to  the hole in the front. Using a piece of Whisper White card I stamped, coloured and die cut the elephant. It was then trimmed to remove the loop. Only the head was needed from the front image so that it gave the impression of peeking through.

The back of the elephant was stuck inside the card carefully matching it up to the head. A little grass was stamped around his feet to "ground" him.

I used both first and second generation stamping to make the balloons which were then punched out. They were stuck down using dimensionals. The string was stamped and a bow secured to cover where string and balloons met - there was a very tiny mis-match. All that it needed was a simple sentiment adding. I chose to place it bottom left to balance out the balloons.

I didn't need to add more decoration inside but as usual, I stamped on the envelope for a cohesive look.

Jar of Love meets Delightful Daisy

Hello, I've finally made it into my craft room. End of term just can't come soon enough, while I love my job in college, it really doesn't leave me as much time as I'd like to be creative now that I'm full-time.

A while ago I made a book box and filled it with cards as a little thank you to a work colleague who sometimes gives me a lift home. She lives in the same village as me luckily and I have to say I really appreciate her kindness, especially at the end of a hectic day.

Pool Party

Smoky Slate

Calypso Coral

Old Olive

Whisper White

Today I'm going to show the first of the cards I made. I based them all on the colour palette of the Delightful Daisy Designer Series Paper although I did use various stamp and die sets for a range of cards that hopefully cover most life events.

For this card I went back to one of my favourite stamp sets, Jar of Love. I chose to use a Whisper White card base for this birthday card. My DSP was cut smaller and using a collar fold mounted onto Calypso Coral. I really like collar folds as it shows off both sides of the DSP. This in turn was stuck onto the front of the base card.

Using a scrap of Whisper White card and the Pool Party ink pad I stamped the small jar and mounted onto the card to the left hand side. I don't know about you, but I love stamping and die cutting leaves, flowers and butterflies so that I can use up the smallest scraps of card stock. I hate throwing any away and if it's big enough to take a die or punch then I put it it in my scrap folder for later use. I arranged the flowers and stuck down using dimensionals once happy with the layout

A small bow using Pool Party ribbon and birthday sentiment taken from the Cake Soiree stamp set completed the look. As usual I decorated the inside of the card and the envelope, this time by adhering a strip of the DSP along one side.

So, this is card number one, I hope you like it. Keep an eye out for the other four cards and the book box I made for them to go in.