Bitty Box surprises finally revealed!

You would think being home alone would give me all the time in the world to stay caught up with posting to my blog - evidently that isn't true.  I'm sorry I'm so late posting the details on the cute Bitty Box note card set you all loved, things have been a bit hectic around here.  I've made a promise to myself that I WILL get this done today ... and hopefully have some new things to post soon.

I mentioned I found a few surprises I made while creating this, you might already be aware of these but they were new to me and I was very excited when I made the discoveries. 

Discovery #1:   
We all know how nicely Stampin' Up's Full Heart punch layers with the new Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit die, but did you know you could also make those cute little polka dots coordinate perfectly by inserting your heart into the same embossing die after punching it out?  Easy peasy, and I love the subtle difference in the hearts when layering as above!

First, punch out your heart and position it inside the embosslit die as shown in the first image below.  Close the die and run it through your Big Shot ... perfectly sized and positioned polka dots - yet no scalloped edging!

     

Discovery #2:  Did you know you could add shimmer paint to your color mixture when dying ribbon to coordinate with your project?  I am unable to achieve a wonderful photo to show you just how shimmery this ribbon is when sitting in front of you, just let me assure you ... it is gorgeous!  The tiny glimmering light spots are pieces of the glitter in the shimmer paint, now embedded in the ribbon! 

To achieve this all I did was put about 25 drops of water into a small plastic bag, add 12 drops of refill ink and 2 drops of Champagne Mist shimmer paint (amount of ink, water and paint depends on how much ribbon you are dying).  Squish it all up, roll up the ribbon and put it in the bag.  Squish it around again, making sure all the ribbon is covered with your homemade die.  Pull out the ribbon and lay it on a thick layer of paper towels, fold over the towels and apply some pressure to "soak up" the excess liquid.  Lay your piece of ribbon aside and let it dry ... which only takes a few minutes.  Pick up the dry ribbon and admire your creativity!

And finally, the cards cards and envelopes which were super quick and easy to assemble. I took a 2" x 4" piece of textured Pretty In Pink cardstock, used the Pinking Hearts border punch to make the pretty edging at the bottom of the card.  Punched out a few hearts using the SAB Welcome Neighbors dsp paper pad and layered them with the Scalloped Heart embosslit die.  Using a coordinating piece of paper, I lined the inside of the card and made matching envelopes - stamped on the envelope and DONE!

On a special note, I have to give credit (as promised) to my darling daughter for her aid in designing and making this project.  THANK YOU CASSIE!!!  She claimed to suffer from "sizzix elbow syndrome" after so many hearts were cut and embossed ... could we possibly see a new medical diagnosis in our future?

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts
Ink:  Pretty In Pink
Paper:  Pretty In Pink textured and regular, Rose Red, Welcome Neighbor DSP Paper Pad (SAB)
Accessories:  Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Organza ribbon, corduroy button, Full Heart Punch, Small Heart punch, Pinking Hearts border punch, Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit die