Double Acetate Box

Hey crafters :) Hope all is going well. I am just whipping up things at my desk and having FUN! For me personally- I DO like having a reason to make something BUT sometimes, it's nice to just play. Sometimes my playing turns into something beautiful- sometimes it's the start of a great idea and other times it's just a volunteer for the recycle bin :P So here's one that I made up- snatching the idea of some beautiful packaging found at Starbucks. Is it just me or is coffee packaging now-a-days just gorgeous or what? And for the cost of making your OWN coffee/cocoas, chocolate truffles and papercrafts- you can make a few cute gifts for a lot less. But starbucks is still good to go for inspiration or a caramel coffee :)

Okay- so I'm not the most clever at thinking up titles or names for my creations :P Here, I'll show ya what I made and you can tell me what I should call it!

So I teach Sunday School a few Sunday's a month and I have a trio of beautiful, giggly 13/14 yr olds. Over the past two months, one of them has been horribly ill with migranes and fevers- so Sunday School has been a bit quiet and you realize just how much you miss someone- even if you don't know them THAT well- when they aren't around for a while. SO I whipped this up after seeing the idea at Starbucks and wanted to have a sort of feel-better package for her.

Now- I recently bought some projector sheets and LOVE using them :) Thank you to whoever you were -whichever blog I hopped too- that suggested finding CHEAP acetate in this way :) SO, now that I'm done babbling- I'll give you the lo-down with more pics :)- and some recipes if you'd like!~ well- I'll post them anyways- I'm in a giving mood :)

Materials:

2- 8.5x11 acetate sheets

2- sheets DSP or PP- I used 2 sheets of 12x12 by Making Memories

3-different colours of scrap paper for lable

1- 8-9 inch peice of ribbon (I used sheer ribbon- found at Michaels- very inexpensive for LOTS!)

stamps, ink, embossing powder

Tools: hole punch, adhesive, paper cutter/scorer, bone folder

Cutting:

Cut both sheets of acetate to 11x6. Score each sheet lengthwise at 2.5,5,7.5 and 10

Cutting your DSP- I cut 1 sheet is cut at 9x6.5 (please add an 1/16 of an inch on each side for wiggle room- sorry, I'm not good at measuring at 1/16 incrimints) and 7x6.5 (again- please add 1/16 inch on each side for wiggle room). The larger one is your bottom peice- smaller one is the lid. You SHOULD have a 2.5x12 inch strip left- trim that in two (if not- cut 2.5x6 with some other paper)

Cut your other peice of DSP into 2 peices of 8.5x2.5- they are the band to go around the entire box and will overlap on the sides.

So build your acetate boxes- which will really just look like long rectangle tubes, and add sticky strip to the one inch tab and tuck that inside. Now build your bottom by scoring at 1 inch around each side, and then at the 2 inch mark at each side. Now- I took time out to take pics of a BAD box bottom (lol) cuz I tried to explain- and couldn't - so here are the photos to help explain it for me:

So as you see, you cut 2x1 inch off each side and trim the other 2x1 inch in all four sides into tabs. You then fold on the score lines and assemble. It gives the box a sturdier bottom because then the sides are 'doubled' up. :)
I did the top the same way- but only doubled up the far sides- not all four as I didn't have enough paper :) On a note (as I did it later and it was a bit tougher) BEFORE you assemble the lid- use your hole punch and punch 2 holes in the top of the lid to weave the ribbon through. You can also add eyelets for strength if you wanted to.

So I had the box bottom, I stuck both acetate boxes together and then slipped the 2.5x6 DSP on the inside side of the box to hide all the adhesive. I did that to both sides- so now you have 1 6x5x2.5 box with a divider in it, essentially. Add sticky strip to the bottom- no more than 1 inch from the bottom and squeezing the acetate together, set it in the box bottom (if you squeeze it on all sides, you don't run the risk of it sticking to the bottom sooner) and then press all the sides against the bottom to stick it together.

Then I took the 8.5x2.5 sheets and scored at 1 and 3/4 on each side and then just over lap the peices on the side and adhere to the side of the box. For the lable, I just used my Storybook cricut Cartridge and cut out 1 oval at 2, 1 oval at 2.5 and a scalloped oval (w- I think- check your book) at 2 (yes 2- it made it large enough to layer). But you can lable yours however you wish. Creativity is key :) So here are some other shots:

So it was a lot of fun to make these little pouches. Now I am also a candy maker- as I've shared before- and in the candy/wilton aisle in Michaels- they had these lollipop bags. I bought them to make lollipops (FAIL) for valentines a couple of years ago. I still had them and they are PERFECT for adding 3-4 rounded tablespoons of coffee mix. SO I made the lables with my cricut (George and Mini Monogram cartridges) and for the top I had a 2.25x3 inch peice of DSP and scored it at 3/4, 1.5 and 2 1/4. I folded the edges with the top of the pouch, punched a couple of holes and wound the ribbon through and tied a bow. Very simple- but works with the box and is SO cute for single packages!

So I've used up SO MUCH room on my blog- lol. Hope the directions were cohesive enough. I know y'all are papercrafters and some of it is common sense- but I am NOT very good at the whole 'explaining' thing and I did want to share if you want to make some of your own. So I will share the website I got most of the coffee mixes from, and share the candy secrets for another day (well- they aren't that secret- got them from cookbooks and the web too! lol)

http://www.recipe-recipes.net/beverages/beverage-mix-recipes.htm

Too fun :) And very easy/inexpensive. So there ya go- enjoy! Thanks for coming.

A Spot of Happiness

So I've been gone (obviously :D) well- not on vacation or anything fun like that- just gone from the crafting table and blogging world. I was excited to have a stranger approach me via facebook and ask me if I could do some sort of invite keepsake for her daughter's first birthday. She saw some of the cards I had on sale in my local network and loved them. I said of course! I was so thrilled that my name is getting out there some how- as small as that somehow is. So I worked with her to see what she wanted and she gave me the colour pallette and gave me complete creative liberty. *sigh* isn't that the best? When you can just whip something up. Then again- it's also nice to have guidelines and such when you're in a creative slump and have something you need to make for someone.

SO in typical Brandie-fashion- I had two weeks to complete it and I left it til last minute. Which meant that the Thursday night before it was due I decided to stay up til 2:30 am detailing the cards and making the chocolates- and I still wasn't done! Don't worry- it was finished before it was due- and I had time Friday afternoon to shower and clean up the house- so that was okay. BUT if I am serious about turning this into a business, this experience has shown me that I definatly need to be better organized with my time. Tho I am please with myself in how I organized my materials and assembly-lined my production- so that aspect of crafting for profit has gotten better :) SO here is what I made:

What she wanted (now this is a sample- so the actual ones were a bit more refined) was a card that had a cute poem in it. I thought of making a pocket card with a window in which the poem could slip in and out. This was fun doing one- but once the idea of doing 25 came into play, you see how tedious the detailing really is. So the card 4.5x3.75 (the pocket) and it was simple enough to do. I had a hard time figuring out how to make the window as I don't own an spellbinder dies which would have made the process alot cleaner AND easier. So I relied on my trusty ruler and exacto knife. I left a quarter inch on the top, and half an inch around the other three sides. The font is sweetheart script in size 12- you could go size 11- any smaller and you can't read it. Any larger and it was too large for the card. So I added a cute frame with I cut from my Storybook Cricut Cartridge. I LOVE that cartridge! It was the owl one (if you have it, check your booklet and you find out how to do the frame with the owl in it) and I just cut the owl out. The I stamped it with a flourish and embossed it with my mix of embossing/glitter powder. So here's the insert:

I buy the cardstock packs from the paper company found at Michaels. There isn't a LOT of colour selection (not like Stampin' Up- I am so excited to be placing and order with them soon! My very first !!!) anyways, for the pack it's not bad- nice weight cardstock, 11x8.5, 50 sheets, 5 colours for $5.00 CND at Michaels. Nice. So I used the Dark Pink found in the Baby Girl pack, cut at 3.75x5 (enough of an edge at the top to scallop it), Mint Green found in the Seaside pack (and other packs too) cut at 3.5x4.5 and then Beige (in SO MANY packs!) cut at 3.25x5. What I did to print the poem, was: using my Windows program (I have vista) I divided my 'page' into two collums and spaced it out so I could fit four poems on one page. Cut the paper in half at 4.25 and then it was just tweeking to get it centered. Then I used a ribbon to add some detail and stamped and embossed the poem as well.

To finish the pocket, I used cuttlebug 2x6 flowers to cut out the flowers- then I dabbed them with ink (NOT a very clean process!) and embossed them. I didn't know at the time- but I thought these were invites- but she called everyone to invite them. So the pocket is cute- tho pointless :P You could do what I did, or add a photo behind the insert OR your insert could have all the party information on it with a poem or pic behind it! To compliment the cards, I also did up a sample party favour- here it is!
Again, I used the scalloped frame idea, tho this time I used a solid scalloped square from the Storybook Cartridge. I had to cut the center out, and I just did a half an inch on all four sides. Again stamped and embossed (on the real ones, I also stamped and embossed the sentiment underneath in the same green swirls). I used pop dots under the frame to give it a 3D look and added the flowers. The box is 3x3x1 and it fits four chocolate cups. I made my own for this, as I said before, candy making is also a hobby of mine. So voila! Next time I'll give myself MORE time.

Now the reason I named my blog such, is that I've been in somewhat of a funk as of late. It has to do with adhesive. Seriously. I can't find the right glue at the right price and get the right amount. I realized that that was just the tip of the iceberg. I've been feeling a bit "blah" with my crafting lately because I don't think I'm as good as all those professional crafters out there. I am very competitive and compare myself to alot of other people. I know I know- not very Christian as who I am should only be found in Christ- but it is hard not to sometimes. So I have come to the realization that I just love to craft. I don't need to own a business or be in a magazine or work on a design team to have purpose (tho any of those things WOULD be pretty cool!) so what is crafting to me? It's my spot of happiness. It's my escape. My creative outlet. My inexpensive gift giving ability :) It's that and so much more than I am grateful to God for blessing me with the ability to do these things and make so many other people happy. So whenever you yourself are in a funk- just ask yourself why? Why do you craft? What is your craft to you? Anyways- I'm done blathering on :) Take care!

I'm not Dead

Remember back when when I said I was a horrible blogger? Yea- it's really true. It's been two whole months and not that I have been that busy- it's just that I've been busy enough to not blog or to do many projects. Christmas is usually pretty hectic and last minute for me- so taking time off before the new holidays in crucial. I have valentine's, baby stuff and birthday all coming my way. PLUS? I am bound and determined to make enough stuff to work the farmer's market in the end of May- so yea. Busy busy busy.

Valentine's is long gone and past- so I wont worry about that- but I DO have a fun project for anybody who ever stumbles upon this thing- especially now that I am actually here :) I had a friend who just had a beautiful baby boy a little over a week ago. It's her first son, but her third child and I don't know what all she has planned for the baby shower or even if she'll have one (we Canadians tend to have them after the baby is born so we can buy accordingly- I have a friend who lived in the U.S. for a while and everyone she told that too thought it was weeeeeeeeeeeeird!) SO to prepare I made her this little gift:

The box is 8x5 with 1.25 inch sides. I used accetate (thank you for the wonderful hint on just using projector sheets for that! I forget where I read that- but I didn't know that so I bought a pack of 100 sheets for 20 bucks at Staples! NICE!) and I made the lid 8 2/16 x 5 2/16 (for wiggle room) with 1 inch sides. To punch it up, I cut a 2.5 inch of cardstock with a scalloped edge and decorated it with scalloped squares, stamps, ink and lables. This set comes with 10 Thank You cards and 10 Blank baby announcments. To divide the card sets I just added a dividing wall. It's really easy- but hard to explain- as I am NOT an explainer- I'm a show-er. What I did here is take a peice of cardstock 5 inches by 2.5 inches and scored in the middle and .5 at each side. I folded it in half, folded the .5 sides up and glued the sides together, leaving the edges up and then putting stick strip on the little .5 edges and gluing them down to the box itself. If you followed that- congrats to you. If you didn't- I am so sorry- bad directions- but I have no clue how to explain them better than that :( Make sure your divider is a tad smaller than the depth of your box tho- I made that mistake and the lid didn't sit as snug as it could.

So here are the cards inside:

So here are the thank you cards- yea- I am aware the squares are a bit wonky- I will work on that when I am actually selling them and I didn't know they were this bad til I saw this photo. BUT these were fun to make :) I used my New Arrival Cartridge to make the animals and decided to punch them up with stickles. Here's a hint I learned online- use a toothpick to get fine details with your stickles :) Another hint? I made ten of these and put them in the box- well, I used dimennsionals behind the squares and sheer ribbon with a knot across the top of the card- really pretty- BUT I had to squish and tie tight nine of the cards, used one for disply purposes in the box and couldn't fit the cards AND the envies in the box. So yea- don't make you're stuff too bulky unless you make the box larger- but you'd need a larger sheet of cardstock than the typical 8.5x11. And how do you all make your envies? I make my own- but use cardstock and that's pretty thick- so I dunno. ANYWAYS! I wanted to keep the theme throughout the set, so here's the annoucnements:

The cartridge is awesome cuz it comes with six little animals. they are inchies- so I think they came out pretty cute- but if you make them larger (or have a steadier hand than I do) you could always do stitching detail to make them more stuffed animal like. Also- you can use these for girls and switch the colours- or if you have the New Arrival cartridge, they have cutsie girlie dies or for a boy they have planes, trains and automobiles :) The font used for these is Quiggly Wiggly and I topped it all off with some stickle details. Set 'em in your box, finish with a ribbon and viola! Cute, quick and fun baby gift :)

So that's my fun project- I am hoping to be a better blogger, especially with all the projects I got on the go- but no promises- take care!