Dress up your gift giving with the Design a Treat Box Dies!

I've been having lots of fun playing with the new Design a Treat Box Dies from Stampin' Up! There is so much you can do with these dies along with the coordinating stamp set. This bundle allows you to make treat boxes for a variety of occasions -- birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, Halloween, Christmas and other celebrations.

I started by die cutting the little box from different papers -- cardstock, designer series paper, and glimmer sheets -- to see how the boxes come together. Then I couldn't stop creating! I just had to try out the different dies in this set.

I found that in order to still be able to open the boxes you need to die cut two of the top pieces (bow or bats) and glue them together just at the top so the centre will remain open. You can then slip it over the half-circle at the top of the box to decorate it.

When I first saw the dies in the Annual Catalogue I couldn't wait to get them to make a snowman. I stacked two white boxes for the body of the snowman with two 'branch' arms between them. I drew a face on the top box and used gems for the eyes and nose. I then made a little top hat from Basic Black cardstock and attached it to one side of the box top so that it could still be opened and closed.

The die set includes numbers from 0 to 9 so I decided to make an advent calendar tree. 

I used a piece of adhesive sheets on the back of gold foil before die cutting the numbers. This allowed me to easily attach them to my project. I chose to use the 'negative' image on red glimmer paper for my numbers. I will save the rest of the gold numbers for another project.

I die cut 12 boxes, 10 in Old Olive and 2 in Early Espresso cardstock.

I embossed the green pieces with the pine branch folder from the Wintry 3D Embossing Folders set and the brown cardstock with the Timber 3D Embossing Folder to give them some texture. 

I enhanced the embossing on the green pieces by using a blending brush to add a little Old Olive ink to them.

By stacking the boxes sideways I was able make the tree so you can remove one box at a time to get the treats out. 

The boxes are small so you can only fit a Hersey Kiss or two in them. You could put an inspirational message inside each box or maybe a hint for a scavenger hunt to find a bigger gift!

After creating all these projects I had an idea of sticking four boxes together so they would fold up to create a bigger box, but it wouldn't stay closed so I just left the pieces on my table. When I went back to my table a day or two later, I thought the connected boxes looked like a caterpillar until I started playing with some of the die cut wings. Next thing I know, I was creating a dragon!

I used the wing die to create the arms, legs, tail and of course wings for my dragon. I created the look of scales with a spotty stamp from the Perfect Pomegranate host stamp set.

I had glued adjoining flaps together so that each box was connected but could still be opened. So this little dragon can hold lots of treats!

The eyes were made using the zero die and the oval die with some glimmer paper. I used more glimmer paper to make the flames using the antler die and the zero die for the mouth to 'blow' the flames out! I think my little dragon turned out really cute.

I am very surprised by how many different projects I made with these very versatile treat box dies. You can see them all in my video as well as a cute Santa 'gnome' to go along with the reindeer!

What would you make with these little boxes?

#KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #CreativeTherapy #KeepStamping #RubberStamping #CardMaking #DragonBox #AdventCalendar #TreatBox

Snowman 'Empathy' Card

I came up with an idea to make a card showing a snowman whose head has fallen off. Why has it fallen off ? I don't know. Maybe it was starting to melt. Maybe there was a gust of wind that blew it off. Maybe the snowman was in a snowball fight and got hit in the head. Maybe whoever was making the snowman went away and never finished putting the head on the body. No matter what story you create, it seems a bit sad to see the snowman reaching for it's fallen head. Since this didn't seem to be a Christmas card (even though there is a snowman), I decided to make it into an 'empathy' card.

The inside of the card on the left says "I know this must be hard for you" and the inside of the card on the right says "I just didn't know what to say."

Genuine Gems Cling Stamp Set

The Genuine Gems stamps were perfect for the sentiments because this stamp set has lots of sayings for those times you just can't find the appropriate words. This card would be perfect to give to someone to let them know you are thinking of them during a difficult time in their life.
The base of the card is a standard Whisper White A6 size (5-13/16 x 4-1/8"). I used two Balmy Blue pieces cut to 14.3 x 10 cm (5-5/8 x 4") for the background on the front and a mat on the inside. I cut one piece of Whisper White cardstock to 13.8 x 9.5 cm (5-7/16 x 3-3/4") for the inside of the card. I used two 2 x 10 cm (2-3/4 x 4") thin Whisper White pieces for the snowdrifts on the front of the card. I cut three circles using the smallest Layering Circles dies out of Whisper White cardstock to make the snowman.

Seasonal Layers Dies

I stuck the snowman pieces to the card with Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue and Stampin' Dimensionals, tucking parts into the snowdrifts. I cut a scrap of Basic Black cardstock into a hat shape and glued a little strip of Old Olive cardstock on it as a hat band before placing it on the card with dimensionals. I cut a long triangle from a scrap of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and drew little lines on it with a Basic Black Stampin' Write pen to make the carrot nose. The two arms are cut out of Early Espresso cardstock using just the top part of the branch die from the Seasonal Layers die set. All pieces were glued into place using Tombow.

I made a video with instructions -- actually two videos because my phone stopped recording just before I had finished the card. In the first video I show you how to get the snowstorm effect by splattering Snowfall Accents Puff Paint on the Balmy Blue background before heating it with a Heat Tool. I also demonstrate how to tear the thin Whisper White cardstock for the bottom of the card. These pieces are layered to make a snowdrift effect for the snowman to be stuck in. To make the eyes and buttons I used Stampin' Blends to colour Basic Pearls and Rhinestone Jewels. I then had the difficult task of choosing which words to stamp on the front and inside of the card with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. There are so many good choices from the Genuine Gems stamp set!

If you live in New Zealand you can order all the products you need to make this cute snowman card at my shop or from your demonstrator.

#KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #creativetherapy #StayHome #PaperCraftIdeas #ChristmasCard #HandmadeCard #SnowmanCard #Empathy 

Want To Melt A Snowman?

I live in a country where Christmas is hot and sunny because it is summertime here in New Zealand in December, however I still love all the traditional festive images of snowflakes, starlit nights, Santa in his red suit and dreaming of a white Christmas. I really like snowmen as they come in lots of different sizes and shapes, which got me thinking of a melting snowman. I remember making one out of felt many years ago so I decided to try to recreate it using paper.

I cut an A4 piece of Whisper White cardstock at 14 cm (5.5") on the long side. I used the 14 x 21 cm (5.5" x 8.25") piece to die cut the Mini Curvy Keepsake Box to make the snowman head.

Mini Curvy Keepsake Box dies

Frosted Foliage stamp set

Christmas Countdown stamp set

I then cut the remaining 15.7 x 21 cm (6.25" x 8.25") piece into a 'melted' blob for the body of the snowman. I stamped all over both pieces with Silvery Shimmer ink using the little star/snowflake stamp from the Christmas Countdown stamp set.
On the remainder of the 14 cm Whisper White cardstock I stamped the words 'You Warm My Heart' from the Frosted Foliage stamp set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then punched it out with the Story Label punch and popped it on to the melted snowman using dimensionals.

Seasonal Layers dies

I cut a scrap of Basic Black cardstock into a hat shape and glued a little strip of Old Olive cardstock on it as a hat band. I attached it to the melted snowman body using black mini dimensionals. I cut a long triangle from a scrap of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and drew little lines on it with a Basic Black Stampin' Write pen to make the carrot nose. The two arms are cut out of Early Espresso cardstock using the branch die from the Seasonal Layers die set.

Before assembling the box I drew a 'melting' mouth on one side with the Basic Black Stampin' Write pen and I used a Basic Black Dark Stampin' Blends pen to colour two Pearl Basic Jewels for the eyes. I then glued all the pieces to the base and used three Red Rhinestone Jewels for the buttons which had fallen off the body as it melted.

Have a look at this video for instructions on how to make one for yourself.

If you live in New Zealand you can order all the products you need to make this adorable snowman at my shop or from your demonstrator. Then you can get started on melting your own snowman!

#KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #creativetherapy #StayHome #PaperCraftIdeas #ChristmasCard #HandmadeCard #SnowmanCard #CurvyKeepsake