Branching out

This Christmas, I branched out making different boxes to hold presents. My husband recently started to make turned pens, and we gave a few to friends and family, so they needed boxes (lots of tutorials here), I made pizza boxes to hold gift cards (tutorial here) and finally, I made this box for a good friend. 

I came across a really cute card at Curt's World, and remembered that I had the same stamp, so I decided to play. The inspiration was the first card on Curt's blog. 

Here's the details:

I made the box. Then, I cut a piece of white cardstock the same size as the top. I stamped the trees (Lovely as a Tree, SU) and sponged on some blue distress ink (I think Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans (I really need to start writing this down). Then, I tore a piece of white cardstock to make the snowbank and sprayed it with glimmer mist. I layered a sheet of acetate on top to create the window and added the cross bars to make it look more window-like. The curtains are made with a 3 inch circle cut in half and adhered together and then the valance is a piece that was punched with a MS punch. The elf was stamped, cut out and coloured with copics then adhered behind the window to make it look like he was checking up on everyone. I have a santa stamp, too, that I may use next year. 

Thanks for looking!

Happy New Year!

December was a busy month, with preparations for Christmas, work parties and events for our clients, and just general busy-ness.

Now, it's the new year, and time for a fresh start. I love the possibilities of the new  year- so much potential, and who knows where the year will take us?

I have a few crafty resolutions, including:

Try to update my blog at least once per week.

Get crafty at least once or twice a week- one of my non-crafty resolutions is to try to avoid snacking at night, and this might help with that, too!

Use what I have, including designer paper, stamps that haven't made it out of their packaging and other misc items. 

I also want to stamp each image I have to create an index of sorts.

Now, onto crafty goodness! 

The House Mouse and Friends blog had a new challenge posted this week, and I've really enjoyed playing along the last couple of months- the challenge this time around is to celebrate anything new... and I am celebrating a NEW STAMP!

My friend M and I headed to our fave store for some post-Christmas bargains, and I came home with not one, but two HM stamps... This little guy got inked about 10 minutes after I got home. 

The image was stamped with Momento black ink and coloured with Copics. I love the background paper- it's La banquise paper, called Vent Polaire. I cut the card blank at 5 inches square, and cut the silver mirror stock at the same. the Vent Polaire paper was cut at 4.75 and the House Mouse image was cut at approx 3 inches, with the silver backing 1/4 of an inch bigger. The sentiment is a sticker. 

My mother in law is here for a visit, and this little guy will make his way home with her next week. 

I've been busy in the craft area this week- there will be more coming shortly!

Metallics revisited

I am having so much fun with this metallic challenge at Less is More.
This morning, I did some more canning- love harvest season. After lunch, I decided to play.

I've gotten a bit of use out of my Boss Kut poinsettia die, and I decided to try it with red metallic paper.

 

I ran the die through twice, which gives it a nice, full look. Then I added the leaves, adhering them to the card stock with Glossy Accents. I seem to be using that as glue quite a bit lately. I stamped the sentiment on white and layered it over a bit of red. Easy, peasy. I did play with a few options, but decided to leave it plain, to let the flower stand on its own. 

 Yesterday, I was going through my stash of metallic papers- yes, I have an entire container just of metallics. I love coppery colours, and this one jumped out at me. I decided to try a couple of things with this card. I have never done the cracked glass technique, and I was a little nervous about trying it. I discovered that if you don't like what you have done, the cracks can be heated back up and they will fill in, then you can start from scratch.

I used three rounds of ultra thick embossing enamel then stuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes. After I cracked the enamel, I rounded the corners and adhered it to the brown card base. The inside of the card has a white insert so the writing can be seen.

One more day left of this weekend. Can't wait to play with some of the new toys I purchased on Saturday.