Mini tissue holder and get well card

Good morning! I'm very excited today because I have the cutest project to show you! It's a little tissue box holder - not my idea I hasten to add: I first saw them here on Stephanie's blog. Mine is very similar, although I've made it quite a bit smaller so that my tissues fit snugly inside.

Here's how to make it:
Start with a 20cm square piece of Very Vanilla card stock.

Score it at 3cm, 8.5cm, 11.5cm and 17cm. Now turn your card stock 90 degrees...

... and score it at 1.5cm, 4.5cm, 15.5cm and 18.5cm.

You'll need to cut away the shaded areas with sharp paper snips...

...until you should end up with something that looks like this! Now it's time to stamp the card stock.

The butterfly from Strength and Hope makes a striking design in Basic Black ink. When you've stamped it, fold all your creases  crisply with a bone folder and snip flaps in the four places as shown above.

Trim off the shaded areas above  - this is going to be the side that doesn't get sealed, so that you can fill the box with tissues.

Fold over the top flap and, using the extra large oval punch, make a cut in what will be the front of your box. Use the 3/4" circle punch to make a nick in the refill flap.

Curve the corners on your refill flap. By the way, my corner rounder is the old-style punch - I've had it for years - but they come in the flat, easy-to-store design if you buy them now.

Right! It's time to apply tape to the box and assemble it. I always use Sticky Strip to make bags and boxes so I can be confident it's not going to come apart!

This is what the box looks like when it's assembled.

And here it is with its refill end open. Of course, you can make the other side the refill side if you prefer.

I filled my box up with a packet of mini-tissues and tied some of the wide striped grosgrain ribbon around it. This ribbon really does have the wow factor and I particularly love it in dramatic black and cream. The box is shown here with a coordinating card - and can you see? I used that gorgeous striped ribbon again to cover a button to use as the centre of my flower accent.

My favourite wood carving flourish from Strength and Hope makes an effective frame round the outside of a 9cm square Very Vanilla card base and I added this lovely sentiment from Hopeful Thoughts. The flower is die cut using an exclusive Stampin' Up Bigz L die called Fun Flowers - which frankly deserves a whole week's attention to itself!

Well! That brings us to the end of a week filled with Strength and Hope (which I've needed, let me tell you, as I've been struggling with a tooth infection this week!) I do hope you've enjoyed the projects I've been showing you but, more importantly, I hope that something you've seen here might have persuaded you and your friends to buy the Strength and Hope set and raise money for breast cancer research. Please email me to order your set, or give me a call on 01280 820593.

Have a lovely weekend - and don't forget to come back next week, when I'll be using what could be my favourite designer paper of all time! 

Three Minute Thursday - using Strength and Hope

I'm really enjoying my week of show-casing the Strength and Hope stamps. If you've been reading my blog this week you'll know that I would love everyone to buy this set because every time someone does, Stampin' Up donates £1 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation - an organisation dedicated to finding a cure for this vicious disease. If you've not yet ordered your set, send me an email and I'll get it organised for you.

I've found Strength and Hope perfect for a three minute card! Here's the design I came up with for Three Minute Thursday:

It's the work of a moment to layer the wood carving flourish onto a background of script then add a sentiment. All you need is that useful tool, the stamp-a-majig, and everything is kept straight.

The little flower and pearl embellishment is the thing that gives the card a bit of dimension and I've chosen to pair soft colours with the neutral background. This one is in Pink Pirouette...

...while this one is in Bashful Blue. The pearl centres of the flowers are self-adhesive and so easy to use. I use these and the rhinestones all the time.

The flowers are both the tiny flower from the Boho Blossoms punch. The pink one has been snipped between the petals and the blue one hasn't - can you see that it gives them quite a different appearance?

Here's how to make this card:

• Cut a 9cm x 18cm piece of Very Vanilla card stock. Score and fold in half to create a card base.
• Using a stamp-a-majig to keep everything straight, stamp the script onto the card front in River Rock ink.  Ink up the stamp again and add a second impression directly under the first image.
• Ink up the wood-carved flourish in Early Espresso and stamp over the top of the script, using the stamp-a-majig again.
• Stamp a sentiment underneath the script using Early Espresso ink again.  The stamp-a-majig comes in handy again!
• Cut a flower with the Boho Blossom punch. Snip between the petals if you like and embellish the centre with a self-adhesive pearl. Attach the flower to the centre of the wood-carved flourish using a glue dot.

Supplies
Stamps: Strength and Hope, Thank You Kindly
Ink: River Rock, Early Espresso
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette or Bashful blue scrap
Other: Self-adhesive pearls

The three-minute card I've shown you today was adapted from another card I made using the Strength and Hope set and I thought I'd show you this one as well!

This one obviously took longer than three minutes! To get the textured bit of the Early Espresso card base, I just tucked the bottom of the card front into my favourite Square Lattice embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot. The wood carving flourish is stamped onto Crumb cake card stock which has been sponged round the edges with Whisper White craft ink, which gives a lovely soft look. I punched a pink Pirouette flower and attached it to the flourish with a gold brad before mounting the panel onto a piece of Pink Pirouette card stock using dimensionals. It was then glued to the card front.

Buckingham has been basking in sunshine again! It's gorgeous and no-one's enjoying it like this little lady....

... and they say it's a dog's life!

Thank you for visiting today. I'll be back tomorrow to show you the prettiest little tissue box and I do hope you'll join me then.

Candy cane holders using Strength and Hope

I'd like to say a huge thank you to those of you who have already ordered your Strength and Hope stamps! Every time someone buys this set, Stampin' Up donates £1 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation - a non-profit making organisation committed to finding a cure for breast cancer - and I think that anything we can do to help is worthwhile.

I've been busy coming up with ways for you to use your new stamps! Today I want to show you a little holder that I designed to hold some candy canes I found in my brilliant local sweet shop.

It's so easy to make these! You simply take a 25cm x 5.5cm piece of card stock and stamp it on one side with a repeat design using the same colour ink as card stock. Score and fold the card stock at 8cm.

Use a 3/4" circle punch to create an indent in the short end, and curve the corners at the other end with a corner rounder. Then sew the holder closed with contrasting thread as shown below. I found some Rich Razzleberry coloured thread for mine!

Have fun decorating the holder! I used flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch and self-adhesive pearls and rhinestones and I tied ribbons round my candy canes.

You could put all kinds of things in a holder like this - pens, pencils, scissors and other stationery items, beauty products such as lip gloss or eye liner, gardening labels...

...but candy canes are the best fun! I  photographed them here with another card I made with the Strength and Hope set.

I thought you might be interested in the border. I scalloped the edge of a 9cm square Very Vanilla card base with the scallop border punch. Underneath it, I glued a 9cm square piece of Melon Mambo card stock the edge of which I'd tucked into the Square Lattice embossing folder and run through my Big Shot.

It gives just a hint of texture - look, here it is in close-up. The background was created by stamping three of the script image, one on top of another. I used a stamp-a-majig to make sure mine was straight.

And here's the beautiful butterfly! I made this in the same way as yesterday's card - it's so easy but very effective. Stampin' Up's adhesive pearls have some strips joined together as well as individual gems. The joined ones are very useful for embellishments like this although they can be used separately too.

Here's a view of the inside of the card - just to show you the neat finish and that little bit of texture showing at the edge.

I hope you're getting an idea of how versatile this little stamp set is now. If you haven't yet ordered your set, click here to email me.

Thank you so much for spending some time here today it's always a pleasure to welcome you to my blog. I'd like to say hello to everyone that follows my blog too - I hope you'll find plenty to inspire you over the coming weeks.

I'll be back tomorrow with a quick card for Three Minute Thursday and there might just be a bonus card too! Hope to see you then,

A note card using Strength and Hope

One of the things I like about crafting is that I feel a part of a truly caring community. Card makers all over the world have been using their craft to raise money for good causes for many years and whether they're selling cards, donating cards to sell, getting involved in craftathons or whatever - it's all good news. I was so pleased when Stampin' Up brought out their Strength and Hope set to support breast cancer research. If you are thinking of getting a new set, please consider this set as the company are donating £1 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for every set sold. The set costs £15.95 in wood mount or £12.95 in clear mount - and you can order your set or get more information by clicking here to email me.

Yesterday I showed you a masculine card made with this beautifully designed set and today I've made a more feminine card.

This card show-cases the incredible butterfly (or is it a moth?) which is so detailed it gives an instant wow to projects! Stampin' Up stamps are made with very deeply etched rubber, so you get a really crisp impression.

Look - here it is in close-up. Can you see how I've stamped it onto the background then layered another cut-out version over the top? One advantage of this is that the antennae show on the bottom stamped image so there's no need to cut out that intricate part!

The background is stamped using the H stamp and my stamp-a-majig. I used Baja Breeze ink but stamped it off onto my scratch pad before adding it to the card stock. This gives a paler version of the colour. The background is layered onto some of the exquisite Springtime Vintage designer paper - but have you seen what I've done to it?

If I zoom in you can just about see the texture - I ran it through the Big Shot with my Square Lattice embossing folder and I love the quilted effect it gives!

Here's how to make this card:

• Take a piece of A5 Very Vanilla card stock. Score and fold in half to create a card base and set aside.
• Cut an 8cm x 7.5cm piece of Very Vanilla card stock.
• Ink the H image up with Baja Breeze ink and stamp a background with it. TIP: Stamping off once on scratch paper will make a paler background. Use a stamp-a-majig to line the Hs up accurately.
• Sponge the edges of the card stock gently with Baja Breeze ink - using a sponge dauber makes this easy.
• Stamp the butterfly onto the background using Not Quite Navy ink. Stamp it again on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla card stock and cut it out - no need to cut out the antennae. Layer the cut-out butterfly on top of the stamped one using a thin piece of Sticky Strip. 
• Stamp a sentiment in Not Quite Navy ink using your stamp-a-majig to make sure it's straight.
• Cut a 9cm x 11cm piece of designer paper. Tuck it into the Square Lattice embossing folder and run through the Big Shot. Attach the butterfly panel to this using dimensionals, then glue it to the card front.
• Finish the card by gently easing the butterfly wings up and adding self-adhesive pearls.

Supplies
Stamps: Strength and Hope, Trendy Trees (sentiment)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Card stock: Very Vanilla
Other: Springtime Vintage designer paper, Square Lattice embossing folder, self-adhesive pearls

Thank you for dropping in to have a look at my Strength and Hope projects. I'll be back with a 3D project tomorrow so I'd love it if you can join me then. Meanwhile, all my children have gone back to school today so it's time for me to roll my sleeves up and get this house back into some kind of order!

Have a lovely day!

Masculine Monday - Strength and Hope

Good morning! It's Monday and time for a little more male inspiration!

All this week I'll be showing you cards I've created using Strength and Hope - a set created to help breast cancer research: Stampin' Up is donating £1 each time someone buys one...

... and let's face it, it will be no hardship to add this beauty it to your stamp collection! The set costs £15.95 in wood mount and £12.95 in clear mount - click here to email me your order or to find out more.

But wait - how on earth would you use this set for a masculine card? Well, it does seem very ornate, but there's a woodcut quality to this design that makes it work for male cards. Take a look at this birthday card:

The sentiment here is turned into a real focal point by the wood carving effect behind and, of course, you can easily change the sentiment to make the card suitable for any occasion.

It's was easy to make a frame effect with this flourish using my trusty stamp-a-majig. I coloured in the leaves and swirls using Early Espresso ink and my blender pen, adding to the wood carved effect.

Here's how to make this card:

• Colour the wood-carved image using Early Espresso and Riding Hood Red markers and stamp on a piece of Whisper White card stock. Turn the stamped image upside down and, inking up the stamp again, make a mirror image using a stamp-a-majig.
• Clean and dry the stamp thoroughly. Now colour just the large heart on the stamp and, again using your stamp-a-majig for accurate positioning, add a heart at each side to join the flourishes and create a frame.
• Colour the leaves and swirls using a blender pen and a little Early Espresso ink.
• Trim the card stock to 8.5cm square.
• Using Riding Hood Red ink, stamp the Happy Birthday stamp from Afterthoughts on a piece of scrap Whisper White card stock. Cut it out (omitting the part of the sentiment in brackets) TIP: I used the 1 3/8" square punch to help me with straight edges. Glue the sentiment to the centre of the stamped frame.
• Cut a 10cm x 20cm piece of Whisper White card stock. Score and fold in half to create a card base. Attach the frame panel to the card front with dimensionals.

Supplies
Stamps: Strength and Hope, Afterthoughts (hostess set)
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Markers

I hope you've all had a great weekend - a very long weekend for my readers who live in the UK! We spent our Friday celebrating the royal wedding with some lovely friends and had just finished the most wonderful barbecued lunch when a violent thunderstorm sent us scuttling indoors. How British is that?! We didn't mind though, it was the perfect opportunity for us ladies to review The Dress and The Kiss and for our menfolk to look at each other in a bewildered way!

Now, if you didn't like my male Strength and Hope card today, please don't give up on this set! I want you all to own it so I shall doing my best to inspire you all week - do come back tomorrow to see!

Strength and Hope thank you and congratulations

I know I don't normally post at the weekends but I have a lot to show you this week and I couldn't bear not to enter my favourite Less is More challenge! This week the ladies at LiM are simply asking for clean and simple thank you or congratulations cards. This is particularly apt since I'd like to say not only congratulations to them for coming up with such a fabulous idea for a challenge site and making it so successful, but also thank you so much for all their hard work in maintaining it.

Chrissie and Mandi - these are for you!

I love the texture this Square Lattice embossing folder creates - perfect for male and female cards. It's easy to put just the bottom of the card front into the folder and send it through the Big Shot.

A strip of the gorgeous taffeta ribbon tops the embossed section. I've allowed it to overlap the card and have trimmed it on the diagonal.

The real focus of these cards is the amazingly intricate butterfly...

...which comes from a very, very special stamp set.

Strength and Hope is not only a truly gorgeous stamp set but it's also a way of helping the fight against breast cancer. Stampin' Up is donating £1 for every set sold to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation which is dedicated to finding a cure for this grim disease. My hope is that everyone that loves stamping will choose to add this set to their collection - it costs £15.95 in wood mount and £12.95 in clear mount. You can order yours by emailing me or giving me a call on 01280 820593.

Today's card can be used for all sorts of occasions - I got carried away and made this birthday card too! - but the set is incredibly versatile. This coming week I'll be showing you some other designs I've come up with using it - starting with a male card on Monday. I do hope you'll come and have a look.

Thank you so much for dropping in today. I can't wait to see what all the other LiMettes have been up to and I'll be coming to see you soon!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,