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

Box to Hold a Mini Album and Smash Book

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

I'd like to show you the box I constructed to hold a travel mini and a smash book I'm putting together to hold photos and mementos from our New Zealand Cruise.

I got the idea for the box from Astrid MacLean at Astrid's Artistic Efforts.   You can find her blog HERE.  She has lots of wonderful creations to inspire you.

 

I constructed the box from 2ml thick card which I purchased from my Newsagent.  It's much like chipboard but it's covered with white paper and it's quite cheap.  You can get a huge sheet of it for just a couple of dollars.  After putting the box together I covered it with G45 paper from their Communique collection and edged it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I love this paper, the colours are so gorgeous and it has so much detail on it that I didn't have to do any stamping.

The vintage map and the Tikis are free images from the net.  The Tikis I printed to the size I needed, fussy cut them and mounted them on the same card that the box is made of to give them extra dimension.  The map is just mounted on a tag tied with a piece of the gorgeous ribbon I received from Sandie Edwards.  You can find her blog and more wonderful inspiration  HERE.  The  Title was cut from black cardstock using my Silhouette Portrait.

The larger flowers I used are from Kaisercraft, which were lightly edged with gesso, and the smaller roses are from Prima.  I placed them on a piece of gauze which was randomly coloured with Vintage Paper Distress Ink.  The leaves I've had in my stash for some time and the small gold spirals were made from some long stamen pieces that I found at one of our cheap outlets.

The 'Tattoo' was another free image from the net.  With the image I was able to make a cutting file for my Silhouette Portrait so it was really easy to cut out the shapes.  (I love this machine, it is so versatile.)  Once the Tattoo was glued to the box I went around it with a soft black pen to blur the edges a little.

More images from the net.  Printed to size, fussy cut, mounted on some card and edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I really enjoyed putting this box together and it was so simple.  I've also made another smaller one to hold some tags and I've taken photos along the way so I'll do a post on that shortly.

Here is the box with the Mini Album and the Smash Book inside it.
Now I really need to get serious about sorting out the photos and mementos to finish off these books.   I have started, but it's a slooow process. 

Thank you so much for visiting and have a great day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Just a Card

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to my little blog.

I have a card I'd like to show you.

It's fairly plain and simple with not a huge amount of work done.  I took some plain pale grey cardstock, used a border punch on one edge and then a template and a Versa Color Stamp pad in Cinnamon to add a tiny bit of colour in the middle.  Then did a little doodling around the edge with a felt pen.

 Made a slit close to the top right corner, curled  the edges, added a small piece of dp and curled that as well.  Tucked in some leaves, a couple of Kaisercraft flowers and some tiny pearl beads  and attached a small key underneath.

 Created this flower cluster with Prima and Kaisercraft flowers and then attached a few pearls around it for a bit of bling.  I did a bit of doodling on the leaves and gessoed the edges of the flowers as well.

 I stamped the sentiment on a piece of  cardstock and attached it to the back of a small Imaginarium frame.  The frame was lightly coloured with Versa Color Cinnamon.

 This card is going to a friend of mine who sort of likes girly things but doesn't really like them to be too fussy so I hope she likes this card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Tag No. 5

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my blog.

I'm back to share with you Tag No. 5.   I was actually intending to make 8 of these tags for my little journal but I might have to restrict myself  to 6 because otherwise I feel the journal will be way too bulky.  Then again I might do two journals, who knows?

The doily was cut from kraft card with my Silhouette Portrait, I then inked it with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and edged it with Walnut Stain.  I also stamped it lightly with a script stamp from Kaisercraft.

 The paper doll and her dress were cut out with my Silhouette (Looove that machine)   It was a bit fidly because I had to resize the doll and then had to resize the dress as well to fit her, but it worked thank goodness.  The shading on the pleats and petticoat was done with a felt pen.  I also put some stickles on the waist band and the shoes for a bit of bling.

 The quote is, again, from the net and I thought how true it is.  We all pass on our own little bit of creativity through our blogs and, hopefully, someone will get some inspiration or benefit from it.

 The large flower is one I made myself although it wasn't quite the right shade, so I sprayed it lightly with Sugar Plum Fairy Glimmer Mist.  The small roses are Kaisercraft and the leaves were also cut with my Silhouette.  One reason I love this machine is because you can easily change the size of  the item you're cutting which you can't do with die cuts or punches.

 The clock was printed on my computer, glued onto a couple of pieces of cardstock and then fussy cut.  I edged it with copper Versa Color and then ran a thin line of Glossy Accents around the edge.

The light beige cotton lace is from my stash and the darker one is from Bo Bunny.  

So, tag number 5 is done.  If I'm only doing 6 then I only have one more to make, but I'm really enjoying the process of making these tags so I may not be able to stop at that but, we'll see.

Once again, thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

I also wish to thank again all the lovely people who have left such kind comments for me, I really appreciate your support.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I love you all.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Tag No. 3

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  

I didn't think I would be back with another tag so soon but I've got the 'bug' now and I'm actually enjoying the process so I'll  keep going with it.

This is one of the Tags I actually kept when I threw out all the others that I had sprayed and didn't like.  I was quite happy with this background.

 The chippy in the corner is from Make it Crafty.  I coloured it with Versa Color Lapislazuu, edged it with Distress Ink Walnut Stain and then coated it in Crackle Accents.  When it was dry I rubbed over it with Versa Color Royal Blue and wiped off the excess with a paper towel.  The seam binding is from a piece I won in a prize from Sandie Edwards at Delightfully Crazy.  It was already coloured when I received it and was perfect for this tag.  Thank you Sandie.

 The flowers are all from Kaisercraft and I just dry brushed them a little with gesso.  The lace is from my stash.

 As I mentioned in my previous post, the quotes and sayings I'm using are all from different sites on the net.  I really love this one.  I printed it onto cardstock and made it into another little tag and then tucked it under the flower cluster.

In my previous post, I mentioned that when I started this project I really wasn't happy with it because I wanted to create my own backgrounds with paints and sprays, etc. and it just wasn't working out for me, but I'm in more familiar territory now and I'm really enjoying making these tags so, be prepared, there will be more!!  LOL

Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Washi Tape and a little bit of Texture.

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

I've probably said this before but, usually, when I make a card I know pretty much what design and embellishments I wish to use, but with this card it kind of happened bit by bit.

 

 I've had a die cut of a tattered clock in my stash for quite a while but never really found the right place to use it.  I usually found something else which was more appropriate.  Then I saw a tutorial by Gabrielle Pollaco where she used one of her flourishes as a mask and decided I wanted to give that a go.  So I placed the clock on a piece of white cardstock and inked over it with a Versa Color stamp pad in Cinnamon and really liked the result.
( Unfortunately I can't find the tutorial but HERE is the link to Gabrielle's Blog if you wish to have a look. )

Then I went to look for a piece of lace and found my Washi Tape.  I really liked the colours and the text on it so decided to use that instead.

 I did a little bit of doodling ( inspiration by Heather Jacob, although you can't see it too well here ) and also some stamping around the edge of the cardstock ( inspiration by Sandie Edwards ).  I then distressed the edges and mounted it on a deep grey card base.  Then I had to decide what embellishments to use and, of course, chose flowers.  ( Loooove my flowers.  LOL )  These flowers are mostly Kaisercraft but there are a couple of small Prima ones in there as well. 

I felt the centre was a bit bare so I added the chipboard tag.  I also added the small pearls and some tiny dragonflies to the cluster to fill it in a bit and used some liquid pearls to decorate the tag.
I used some texture paste and a template to add a little extra interest to the sides of the card and peeled back the cardstock to add  a dragonfly in the corner.

As I said before, this card came together bit by bit.  Each time I added an element something else came to  mind.  I'm quite happy with the result.

That's all for now lovely people.
Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg