Labour of Love!

Twenty-one years ago I laboured to give birth to my youngest daughter so it only seemed fitting to create a very special card to celebrate her birthday.

This large box card was a true labour of love and very fun to create!

I've been wanting to make an 'explosion' box card for some time, so this special birthday was the perfect excuse for me to try this fun fold design.

I used retired designer series paper to decorate this card box -- Pattern Party on the outside and Sunshine & Rainbows on the inside. The DSP determined my colour scheme and inks.

The box was made from a 12" x 12" piece of Melon Mambo cardstock scored at 4" on all sides. I made the lid from a 6" square piece of Melon Mambo cardstock and scored it at just under 1" on all four sides so that it would be slightly larger than the 4" square box.

I die cut hearts for each corner from Basic White cardstock using the largest heart from the retired Be Mine Stitched Dies. I also traced around that same die to make each heart-shaped corner for my box.

The Mini Pocket Envelope Dies were the perfect choice to make a little pocket to hide $21 inside for the birthday girl because she is Amazing!

I used one of the Let's Celebrate Embossing Folders on vellum to make the 'Happy Birthday' section of the box.

The Charming Sentiments Bundle allowed me to find the perfect words to place over some frayed gold ribbon on top of one of the Stylish Shapes Dies.

I created a triangular pocket out of designer series paper on one side to hide a little message which allowed me to sign the 'card'. The white heart was the inside of one of the larger corner heart die cuts.

I printed six photos of my daughter at various ages on paper and then die cut them with the largest heart from the Be Mine Stitched Dies to personalise this special box.

The tealight multi-tiered cake was another project I had been wanting to make and I personalised it with the Playful Alphabets Dies. 

I made sure to make the cake hollow so I can easily turn on the tealight. You can learn how to make a cake in my video below.

I've also made another little video showing this special card in close-up view along with explanations of how I made it. All the products I used are listed in the description of the video.

Even though I used a lot of retired products to make this special gift card, you can make your own using whatever you have at hand or purchase some similar products from Stampin' Up!

#KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #CreativeTherapy #KeepStamping #CardMaking #ExplosionBox #PaperCake #21stBirthday

Power of Hope Vellum Lantern

I love the look of paper lanterns and when I saw the Power Of Hope stamp set, available for free during Sale-A-Bration, I immediately thought of making one. I looked at some paper lanterns I had left over from attending the Auckland Lantern Festival in previous years and attempted to copy them in miniature.

I used a piece of petal pink vellum 5" x 4" (12.7 cm x 10 cm) for the little lantern and stamped the images in Memento back ink all around it between two 1/2" (1.25cm) score lines.

After the ink dried I cut 1/4" (0.5 cm) slices between the top and bottom score lines to create the curved lantern effect. I then glued the lantern sides together, overlapping one of the 1/4" (0.5 cm) slices.

I used a couple strips of petal pink cardstock 1/2" x 5" (1.25 cm x 12.7 cm)  to give it stability on the top and the bottom.

I hung a petal pink Best Dressed Tassel using gold thread at the bottom of the lantern. This also created a way to hold the battery-operated tealight. I also used a 1/4" x 6" (0.5 cm x 15.24 cm) piece of petal pink cardstock to create a handle at the top. 

Using three flowers from the Seasonal Layers Dies, I die cut the petal pink cardstock and vellum to decorate the little lantern, thus hiding my joins on the top and bottom strips.

I love the way this lantern came out and it was so easy to make. If you'd like to make one yourself, have a look at my video for instructions.

If you make a lantern I'd love to see it. Please post your pictures in the comments or on my Facebook page.

#Vellum #Lantern #Tealight #PowerOfHope #KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #creativetherapy #StayHome #SaleABration