Tea Light Box

Please forgive the photo quality of my pictures, my camera seems to be trying my patience today … it won!  Remember, if you want to see any of the photos larger, just click on them.

As promised, over the next few days I will be posting the instructions and/or project recipes for items I created  for Stampin’ Addicts Stampin’ Up! New Catalog blog tour.  Today I am going to reveal how I created my Tea Light holder box.  For the sake of photography, I used a scrap piece of white paper and drew lines in pencil to show where the score/fold marks are on the fancy favor box.  While this die does call for a 12” sheet of cardstock, I used an 6” x 11” piece – making sure that I placed the paper at the very end of the die that did NOT have the overlap.  This resulted in the overlapping tab (on the right side of the photo) being cut at approx. 1/4”, definitely enough for a piece of sticky strip to hold it all together.

 
After cutting the base of the box, I used the Clearlits Scallop Rectangle die to cut the inserts on the narrow side panels only.    I eyeballed this, trying to center it on the panel – then cranked it through my Big Shot … repeating the process for the second narrow panel.

 

 

Now grab your ruler, this is where the real technical (NOT) stuff comes in!   In the photo below, see how I have my ruler running right along the scalloped edge of those 2 scalloped panels?  I marked a dot about 1/2” in on each side, then drew a line between those two dots … moved to the top of the box and did the same thing.  MAKE SURE TO DO THIS ON THE INSIDE OF YOUR BOX!   Then I connected the top and bottom dots to create my cut lines. 

     

Using a craft knife and ruler, I cut out on those lines – leaving a nice little opening for my decorated vellum cardstock piece.  Do the same thing on the last panel.  You should now have 4 openings in your candle holder and the hard part is done!

I wasn’t sure as to the result of heat embossing on normal vellum paper so I opted to use the heavier vellum cardstock from Stampin’ Up!.  I measured the openings, added approximately 1/2” to the top and side measurement, then cut my vellum pieces.  I inked my stamp up with Versamark, colored with markers, stamped the image on the vellum, sprinkled with iridescent ice embossing powder and heated it all up.  The result was exactly as I hoped!  Attach these pieces to the inside of the panels with snail (I placed the embossing on the outside).  A few pieces of sticky strip to put the box together and you are finished!!!

  

Again, I opted to use battery operated tealights (2 fit nicely inside this box) – I did not want to test the waters and see if paper really burned.  <grin>

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  Just Believe
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Peach Parfait DSP, Vellum Cardstock
Ink:  Peach Parfait, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive (marker), Not Quite Navy (marker)
Accessories:  rhinestone brad, paper flower, sponge, 1/8” ribbon, iridescent ice embossing powder, circle punch, birds & blooms die (scalloped circle)

On a lighter note …

Because I’m feeling rather sentimental today, I thought I would share one of my recent family stampin’ moments.

A few weeks ago my grand daughter wanted to make a special card for her father.  I let her loose in Stampin’ Central, the only thing off limits to her are my precious markers!  After a few minutes of watching the little tornado, I decided it best to cover her up and save her clothing from potential disaster.  Here she is hard at work choosing the perfect stamps for daddy’s card and in deep concentration to get those images placed exactly where she wants them.  She totally rocks that Stampin’ Up! apron! 

  

Notice the almost empty spool of sticky strip on the top of the mat … it will come into play later.

Like all good little demos, she takes time to focus on her admirers and flash them that gorgeous smile of enthusiasm.  She definitely loves what she does, and is more than willing to share!

 

 

 

Welllllllll ………

Until Auntie decides to get into the act – she wants her turn at a photo op too!

I suppose I do need to give kudos to Auntie, for supervising our little devil in disguise throughout this adventure. 

 

 

Remember back at the beginning of this post when I told you to not forget about that almost empty spool of sticky tape?  Leave it up to the mind of a 6 year old to find a way to recycle and repurpose an item that screams “trash bucket” to the rest of us.

A beautiful flashy bracelet that all of her friends would die for (no, this was NOT a gift for her father)!  There was no additional adhesive used for this creation.  All those beads stuck wonderfully to the residue left behind from the tape.  Now we know our Sticky Strip truly IS amazing stuff to work with!

Thanks for letting me share this with you.  I’m sure going to miss these precious moments when she and her family move across the country in the next few days.

Something Little

I wanted to play with the new designer paper I “won” at convention so I created these little notepad folders for each of my club members, as a small token of my appreciation.  They were each tucked inside a coordinating Stampin’ Up! reusable tote bag which was purchased at Momento Mall.  Of course, their special bags also included the merchandise they ordered for the current meeting.   This is the front and back of the folder – notice the cute Stampin’ Up! pen peeking out!

… and this is the inside.  A pocket on each side…one to keep your important notes safe and one to house a mini legal notepad. 

 

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  Apple Blossom (level 2 Hostess)
Paper:  Play Date DSP, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Real Red
Accessories:  Brads, Modern Label punch, Large Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Scallop Trim Border punch, corner rounder punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch, 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, sticky strip