Don't Box Me In . . .

Stampin Up sells a box die set called Lots To Love Box Framelits.  I had seen many projects made online using this die set and decided to buy the die set. Stampin Up offers this die set with a matching stamp set for a "bundle" reduced price if you buy both the stamp set and the die set together. I did not think I would get much use from the stamp set as I have many heart stamps already so I decided to just buy the die set. The 'bundle' pricing is a good thing if you think you will use both products but how much money would I save if I did not use the stamp set that comes with this die? So bought just the die set and it arrived last week....

This is a photo of this 10 piece die set:

The first thing I made was the standard box this die set makes using patterned double sided card stock:

Here is a photo of the card stock 12 x 12 sheet I used for my box:

For this standard box I cut out two die pieces for the front and back of my box:

Using tear tape I put the box together. Stamped a greeting stamp onto scrap white card stock and used a circle punch to punch that out. Used a scalloped circle punch for the scalloped piece behind that. On both straight ends of the box I used a 3/4" circle punch and punched out a half circle to make it easier to open the box tabs. Using pink twine from Close To My Heart I tied a bow around the box and tied on the stamp tag I made to the box front. Very easy box to put together and this is a box that can hold a gift card or small gift or larger candy treats.

With all the ideas out there using this box die I next made these two holders that hold two of the Ghirardelli candies:

The purse is free standing so will make a cute favor or treat at a table place setting:

Both those holders are made using one of the box die cut pieces so you can make a lot of them using your card stocks. The aqua one is solid card stock with a printed piece put on the front and back of the box and the purse is made using double sided card stock and I cut out an oval from white/GP card stock using a scalloped oval die for the purse flap. I have made other purse treat holders in the past and they are always popular so a new purse that holds 2 Ghirardelli's will probably be the same....

Now for these two boxes -- these both use four of the box die cut pieces and the cream one uses the curved flaps on the die cut piece to close the box and the polka dot box with the orange curved flaps is taller and you can drop in your candy treats since this box does not close or have a top:

These two boxes use the same size die pieces but one I scored at 2 1/4" from the straight edge and the taller one I scored at 1" from the straight edge. For the cream box I cut printed card stock pieces to put on the box sides:

Some box die sets make one size box or variation only but this box die set will certainly get a lot of use in my craft room. Always looking for new treat holder ideas and this one die set was used for these 5 treat holders alone! Always a good thing when a die set can be used for more than the one item it was designed for.... TFL

Reuse, Recycle, Re DONE!

This post has nothing to do with paper crafting or card making but it is what I have been busy doing lately that has kept me out of the craft room -- :0(   This has been my follow up project to my kitchen island that I had bought on Craigs List:

Quite the "looker" I know... but after I refinished it and new stainless steel top:

This island has doors on both sides so it is perfect as my "baking station" and it gets lots of use. . .  Happy to have this new-to-me kitchen island but the project I just finished is our guest room - - this all began with DH buying and laying real oak flooring in that room. With the floor installed and sealed now it was up to me to "design and decorate it". . .  Had to decide the wall colour and paint the room. Then to decorate which brings my niece and her family who live out of state and visit us every August to mind . . .

She has little girls and last year the girls took turns putting soda cans and card board items in the recycle bin DH had built a stand for in the kitchen during their visit.  They do not have a recycle bin at their house and this was a big deal to them. So keeping them in mind I decided the guest room would be a "Reuse and Recycle" room to show the girls everything does not have to be new and "matchy, matchy".

Where to start??? Awhile back DH was going to an auction at an auction house and asked me if I wanted to go along with him. I had never gone to an auction before and this auction had his car parts and tools as well as household items for sale. DH shopped outside and I shopped inside. I bought an armoire for $35.00 thinking I could eventually refinish it and use it in the guest room once the floors were installed and finished. But that was the only piece of furniture I had for that room.

Remembering that DH had made benches out of old wooden doors over a year ago and I liked that he used an old wooden door for that so why not ask him to build a headboard for a double bed out of a wooden door? He agreed and he bought this wooden door from Restore -- they had priced this door for $25.00 but it had not sold for a couple of months so DH picked it up for $10.00:

This was a swing door so it did not have a door knob on it so no hole:

Here is the bottom to show this was a swing door:

DH explained he would be cutting off this corner of the door so it would not change the layout he had for the head board. Here is a photo of the head board cut and framed out with molding at the top:

Now this is where I come in.... DH can build pretty much anything and it all looks so nice... but don't ask him to paint anything as he does not like to paint and he complains it takes too much time... . which I know since I have been painting since the week of Easter.... haha. With the floors installed and finished I asked him to put up crown molding so he did that for the room. I then painted the walls and the crown molding and the baseboards. With those done we moved the door headboard into the room for me to paint it.   Here is a photo of the backside of the headboard upside down right after I painted the first coat on it:

DH attached the metal bed frame to the headboard after it was all painted:

Now to the armoire. It was not in bad shape but just needed painting and I wanted to add a glass door knob and a wooden applique to the bottom front of it... Sanded it down and DH glued the wooden applique on the front of the armoire:

The armoire took time to paint as I painted the inside and out and it took a couple of coats of paint.  Here are the photos of before:

Here is that painted and finished:

With me being busy in the house with all my painting I had honestly not even given a thought to nightstands for this room but DH was working on those. He used a wooden door and built the nightstands and the tops to these nightstands are made up extra oak flooring pieces he was not using:

His nightstands are a simple design but again uses old doors for the sides and back with flooring for the top and shelves. I painted the inside and outsides of the nightstands and he did the tops and shelves.

Just when I thought my painting was over DH told me one day after work that he had seen a small dresser at Restore and it would make a perfect fit for the guest room. He knew I would paint it but he did not know if I wanted to have a small dresser in there or not. I told him with the size it was it would work on the one wall of the room so the next day he picked it up and brought it home. I was happy that he bought it but what a painting nightmare for me --- Tip Toe Through the Tulips or It Is Not Easy Being Green both come to mind:

This poor little dresser had a couple of coats on it with a painting faux finish as the top coat and hand painted tulips on the drawer fronts. The piece on the back of this dresser also had to be replaced but the stamped logo in the top drawer says it was made in New Hampshire and it is maple. It is well built as the drawers are all dovetailed and solid. So DH moved it outside and I began sanding to take off the tulips when I found the emerald green paint (from Dorothy's old room on the Wizard of Oz? haha):

After sanding was complete DH removed the old back on the dresser and he added a new piece of lauan cut to the size for the dresser back. Then we moved the dresser back into the room for the coats of paint I would have to put on it:

I was surprised this dresser had white porcelain knobs that all matched?  DH explained he found the porcelain knobs also at Restore for $1 each and I am happy he bought those.... They were dirty but remember Dawn is not just for ducks and dishes.... I filled up a small plastic bowl of warm water and added the knobs and a squirt of Dawn and in a half hour the knobs were all clean and shiny white again. A day after the final coat of paint dried I put the porcelain knobs on the dresser and here that is:

Picked up an eyelet dresser scarf for the top of the dresser at the Restore and a larger dresser scarf for the top of the armoire at a thrift store. Brought them home and they went for a water ride - washing machine. Air dried those and ironed them and they look nice on their new homes:

Here is a photo looking into the room at the entry door:

Wall and furniture paint from Sherwin Williams (on sale). Comforter set by Ralph Lauren from Macy's (on sale and coupon), rug on sale at Wayfair, drapes and sheers on sale at JCPenney.com. Table lamps on nightstands are from Ikea. Here is a better photo of the headboard which started this project:

A BIG thanks to DH for his building talents and for helping me put this room together with my "Reuse and Recycle" ideas. My PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) has seen this room and she wants to know when she can move in?  LOL -- Hoping the girls enjoy their stay when they visit with my niece in August in the "Reuse and Recycle" guest room.... I am certainly happy to be finished painting and hoping to spend some SERIOUS time in my craft room again!! TFL

Bitty Bag/Box

Had seen this mini bag on Pinterest and followed the link to Charmaine's blog with instructions:

https://www.papierwunder.com/2018/03/25/mini-goodie-verpackung-f%C3%BCr-kleinigkeiten/

Sizes were given in centimeters and this bag was too cute to not make up so off to Amazon for me and I ordered the Scor-Pal score board in centimeters. I already have a Scor-Pal score board in inches but in the past I have come across projects in centimeters and always said I should order a score board with centimeters but never had.... until I saw this mini bag and instructions -- here is my version of this cute bag and I used the Scor-Pal score board in centimeters to make mine:

To simplify making my bitty bag/box I used double sided card stock so I could have the top of the bag match my print since it is the backside of the floral print. Her blog gives all the directions and sizes and to show this I made a sample bag/box using white/GP card stock:

The above photo shows the white card stock cut and scored. This next photo shows all the scored lines and the trimming of the flaps:

I used red sticky tape to put my box together. Once assembled use your fingers and pinch the top  sides of the bag/box as shown:

For the bag/box topper piece I used a scrap print and cut that to 2 inches by 3 inches. Used the Stampin Up Scallop Tag Topper punch on one end of this piece of my bag/box topper:

With that one end punched I folded over this piece in half and used a bone folder on the folded line to give it a crisp fold - used red sticky tape to attach it to the back of the bag/box piece:

As done on Charmaine's blog I die cut a circle from scrap card stock and used a small circle punch for the hole at the top and bottom of this circle. I used Stampin Up twine to tie my bag/box closed. Used a small flower punch for the flower and punched that out of the same card stock as the bag/box is from so it all matches. The circle tag piece is held on the front with the twine -- I did not use glue dots or anything to attach it to the front of the bag/box. Here is a photo to show the side of this bag/box where it is pinched together at the top:

I also laid it onto a ruler to show it is about 3 inches high overall:

It is an easy bag/box to put together and would be cute for any occasion.  It is also free standing so would a good place marker at a table and such. Thanks to Charmaine for sharing her cute mini bag/box and instructions. Am so happy I bought the score board in centimeters as there are a lot of other items I want to make using centimeters!! And that score board certainly helped to put this bag/box together quickly! TFL

Spring Tissue Card

What is old is new again -- used the Faux Silk technique that France Martin demonstrated in her video on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AzFMQH_JQc&t=25s

For my card I used a kraft card stock base and cut and scored that with the fold on the left side. For the card front I used pink card stock and cut that to size. Used the ATG and put the pink piece onto the kraft card stock base.

Like "Frenchie stamps" in her video I also used the Stampin Up Indescribable Gift stamp set. For my white tissue I used tissue from the dollar store and I stamped my flower image on the non-shiny side of my tissue paper. (If you should try this technique be sure you cut your tissue piece much larger than what you will need for your piece). Once stamped I followed her instructions for using markers on the backside of the stamped tissue.  Set it aside to dry.

Using a white paper doily from the dollar store I cut that in half for my card front. Used a scalloped frame die and cut out a kraft card stock frame to go over my stamped tissue piece. With my items cut I used a piece of white/GP and cut it a bit larger than I would need for my card front. Covered that with TomBow glue and smeared it all over the white card stock with my finger being sure to have glue on all my edges. Cleaned the glue off my hands and then took the stamped tissue paper and crumpled that up. Gently opened it - not to tear it - and laid it on top of the white card stock that was covered in glue. Tapped the tissue into the glue -- do not smooth out the wrinkles on the tissue paper as that is the texture you want. Be sure your edges are glued down. Set this aside to dry.

With that dried I then trimmed this stamped tissue piece to the size I needed to fit behind the die cut frame I had cut out. Decided it was "too white" and blank so using a stamp from the Stampin Up stamp set Eclectic Expressions I inked the stamp and stamped it off onto scrap paper and then stamped it randomly onto my tissue piece to fill in the background. For the greeting I used a stamp from an Easter stamp set from Reverse Confetti and stamped that using brown ink. Used thin red sticky tape to put the die cut scalloped frame over the tissue piece. I laid this piece onto the card stock base and put the two half doilies where I wanted on the card front. With that decided I used double sided tape to put the doily half pieces onto the card base. Then used large glue dots to put the tissue piece on top of the doilies and on the card front.

Easy card to put together and thanks to Frenchiestamps.com (France Martin) for sharing this technique and cards on her video.