A new Pencil Box

 Hello and welcome everyone.   A special welcome to my new followers.  So happy to have you join us.

Quite a while ago .. over a year ago now .. I was into colouring books.  I really enjoyed sitting in front of the telly watching whatever and colouring in.  I found it very relaxing.  Well, for some reason or other I stopped doing it until just recently when I saw a few posts by Lisa Landry about her colouring journey.  It got me interested again, so I bought a few books and went looking for my pencils.  Well, do you think I could find them?  I had so many you'd never think they would get lost .. but they did.  So, off to the shop and bought some more .. and then some more .. and then .. you get the picture.  Anyhow, my pencils were overflowing my pencil tin so I decided to create myself  a pencil box.  

The inspiration for this box came from JenofEve's Keepsake box.  I only have the small and medium sized templates and so had to adjust them to the size I wanted.  I also had to adjust the size of the digital papers I used to cover it.  The papers I used are from JenofEve's 'Shades of Colour' Collection and Antique Paperie's 'Rue Garden' and 'Simple' Collections.

The box measure 8" x 11" and is 1.5" deep.

I created 6 removable trays for my pencils.   Thought it would be easier to find the colour I was looking for if I could put diffferent shades of the same colour in each one and they are removable so it would be easy to get the pencils out.  The inside of the box is lined with the Shades of Colour papers by Jen Harrison of JenofEve Designs.

 

 Each little tray is covered with the 'Simple' papers by Sherri Mitchell and the inside is lined with tea stained papers.

 

A view of the side of the box .. 

 

 

 .. and the bottom.  I used four wooden beads for the feet.

 

 Here it is with all the colours inside.  As you can see, I have plenty of room for more pencils.  He! He!

 

The outside of the box is covered in the Rue Garden papers by Sherri Mitchell of Antique Paperie.  As I said before, I had to adjust the size of the paper to make it big enough to fit and ended up with just half of the design but I love it!  Looks so pretty.
 

There's not an actual closure.  I've simply attached a little charm and beads dangle.  You can see where the paper sits up a bit because of the wire underneath.  Couldn't figure a way to get rid of that but, I don't really mind as, IRL, it doesn't really show very much and doesn't interfere with anything either.

 

Have been using this for a few days now and I am loving it!!

 

That's all for now folks!  I have been neglecting my blog lately and can't promise that will change.  I'm still creating but I seem to be doing lots of things all at the same time and, when I finish one, I'm too busy with the others that I forget to post it.  Am still making a couple of books right now so hopefully, when I remember, will post them when they are done.

 

Thank you so much for your visit and enjoy the rest of your day.

 

Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

 

 

Mini Books and Box

Hello everyone and welcome once again to my blog.  

So lovely to have you visit and I hope you are having a fabulous day!!

Today I'd like to share with you a set of Mini books and the File Folder box to keep them in.  This is a design download purchased from Marion Smith Designs and it was great fun and very easy to put together.  The download includes templates for most of  the required pieces.  The only things you need to measure out for yourself is the outside cover of the File Folder, but she gives you all the necessary information to make this very easy to do.  Marion actually has a video tutorial on this project and, if you'd like to take a look for yourself, you can find it HERE.

The papers I've used for the outside of the box and for the covers of the mini Books are from Prima's Engraver A4 Paper Pad.

The pattern includes this concertina fold for both sides of the box.  It is simply a matter of printing it, cutting around the outside and then scoring the fold lines. 

The back view.

I haven't done a lot of decorating on this.  As a matter of fact, I've done very little.  This is the cluster on the top of the box.  The large gardenia was originally white.  I've simply coloured it slightly with some watered down Tea Stain Distress Ink to make it blend in better with the papers.  The skeleton leaves were cut with my Silhouette from green cardstock and I've coloured those with Walnut Stain Distress Ink for the same reason.  I've also added in some paper and fabric flower buds and some autumn leaves.  The autumn leaves and the gardenia are available from Meg's Garden HERE.  The paper bud is from Magnolia Ink and the fabric buds are from my stash.  There is also a small green gem spray from Magnolia Ink but that is a bit difficult to see here.

For the cluster on the front I've simply used the same skeleton leaves, some small Kaisercraft Roses and a white gem spray.  

The open File Folder showing the mini books snuggled inside.  You can also see the Velcro I've used for the closure of the folder ... 

... and here are all the little books.  The base of each of these is a print out and then you simply cover them with the papers of your choice.  You don't even need to measure your dp as there are templates for that too , including those for the flaps.

Just a closie of one of the books.  You can make up your own mind as to what kind of closure to use.  

This is the inside of the book.  You simply punch the holes through the cover and the paper and then thread through some twine and tie it off.  So simple!!

I've glued an ornate metal plate on the front flap and used Velcro to hold the folder closed.

This was a fabulous little project to make.  Really easy to put together.  The only fiddly bit was attaching the concertina sides to the cover but even that was not really difficult.  It just came together really well and I'm certainly going to make more of these.  I think they would make a lovely little gift.
Sooooo, I'm thinking you might be wondering what I'm going to use this for?????  Well, I needed somewhere to write down  all the bits and pieces used on the cards I make so that when I write up my Blog Posts I'll have all the information at hand, and that's what these little books will be for.  Am I clever or what?????  Actually I just have a pretty bad memory and am sick of having to get up a dozen times or more to find the name of what I've used on a specific card or project.  LOL!!
Will be so much easier now.  That is if I remember to write it down!!!!!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit and I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Craft Caddy ... Completed !

Hello everyone, so pleased you stopped by for a visit.

I'm back to show you my finished Craft Caddy.

I should have actually posted this a couple of days ago but life has been a bit hectic lately and I haven't had the chance to do it till now.  Everyone's in bed and I have some quiet time to myself.  Yayyy!!! 

The papers I've used are Graphic 45's French Country and all the edges were inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  The decorative edges were made using Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Border Punch.

The papers were glued on with Gel Medium and then were coated with Modge Podge for protection.  I didn't add much in the way of embellishments because  this Caddy will get used a lot and I'm afraid anything too much would just get damaged ... also I feel the papers are gorgeous enough to stand on their own anyway.

Here is a view of the inside of the Caddy.

On the sides I added a chippie label from the same collection, fussy cut some of the sunflowers from the paper and glued them on top.

 I cut the sunflowers and a few of the leaves twice and glued them on top of each other for more dimension.

 The other side was decorated in the same manner. 

  The word 'create' on the front of the box was made using the Scrabble page from Kaisercraft's Timeless Classics.   I fussy cut the letters, glued them onto some pasteboard for extra height and then mounted them onto some black cardstock  so they would stand out from the backgraound.

 The chippie frame is from Little Birdie which I coloured with Versa Color Burgundy and then coated with Glossy Accents.  The chippie tag and the label are both from the French Country Collection and the gorgeous red flower is from Prima.

Here you can see the back of the box ...

... and here it is with all my most used tools inside.

I'm sure everyone will recognise that the metal feet are from Tim Holtz.  They were a last minute addition  and I was amazed what a difference they made to the look of the Caddy.

I've been using it for the last couple of days and I must say I love it!!  

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little journey with me in making this Craft Caddy.  I certainly had fun putting the tutorial together (my previous post) and  making the box and I hope that, for at least some of you, it has been informative and a little bit of an inspiration.
Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy what's left of your day.
Take care and God Bless. 
oxox Marg

Tags in a Box

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  

I would especially like to welcome my new followers.  Thank you ladies.  Totally stoked to have you join me.

I would like to share a little tutorial with you.  Actually it won't be all that little, there are a lot of photos.  LOL

A little while ago I posted about a box I had made to hold a mini album and smash book on our New Zealand Cruise and I said I would show you how it was put together.  I needed another box to hold the tags I have been making and I took photos along the way so I could show the process.   You're probably thinking  'Well, that's  bit silly, we all know how to make a box".   I just hope I'm not wasting your time, but I was amazed at how simple it was to put together and you can use this process to make any  size and type of box you need.  So I hope you will stick with me to see the finished product at the end. 

To make this box I used 2ml paperboard which I purchased from my Newsagent.  You can get a huge sheet of it for only a couple of dollars.  Then you need to decide on the measurements.  My box had to be 3.5"  x  4.5" on the base so that my tags would fit inside and I decided to make it 4" deep with a 6" back.  

 Here are the pieces already cut out and showing the measurements. 

The base and the front ...

 ... the two sides ...

... and the back.

Next come the joiners.  I need to tell you that these are not my own idea.  I actually saw this on The Gentleman Crafter and they are brilliant and so easy to make.  HERE is a link to Jim's blog.

You can use any cardstock you want.  Colour doesn't matter because they get covered with paper.  You simply cut as many 1" strips as you want ...

 ... score them down the middle ...

 ... and attach double sided tape on both sides of the score line.

Cut them to length and attach to all four sides of your base piece.

 Then attach the front, sides and back leaving a small gap so that there is room to fold each piece up.

 You then need to  attach a joiner to one side of each piece as shown ...

 ... adhere the sides together ...

... and then the back.

There you have it.  Now all you need to do is cover with paper and decorate any way you like.  If you want a box with a lid you just need to make all sides the same height and then make a lid exactly the same way but make the base or top piece just a bit bigger so it will fit over your box.

How easy is that?  I actually found this a lot of fun and have thought of a lot of different boxes I wish to make.  I've also made heaps of the joiners so I've got some handy whenever I need them.

Here is the finished product.

I rounded the corners on the back and covered the box with Prima's Nature Garden papers.  I've inked all the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

 Used one of the Nature Garden Tags on the front along with a Prima flower.   The title was cut using my Silhouette Portrait.

 I decorated the back with a chipboard button on which was mounted a metal butterfly.

 The box with the tags inside ...

... and with a tag pinned to the front.   I can easily attach whichever tag I'm in the mood for.

I hope you've enjoyed this post and I haven't confused anyone too much.  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you take the time to leave a comment.  I'd love to know what you think.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg