Box Cards!

Better Late then Never!

Like many crafty folks, I was taken in by the creativity and fun of these box cards! Splitcoast Stampers has a great tutorial on the Pop Up Box Card HERE.  There are several others in various sizes including this one by Dina in a typical A2 size. Mine were made by following the Splitcoast version and were really too large to place in an envelope. Instead, I tied ribbon on some and 1 I made a belly band for out of card stock.

The cards I'm sharing today are from Valentine's Day and were inspired by a $13.99 Hallmark Card found in a Wal-Mart Circular. I placed a pic of the Wal-Mart ad on my FaceBook page and how I could make these for less! Well, wouldn't you know, I had an order for 8 of them from 1 person before the hour was up. Here are just a few of the cards I made for her. 

How did I do that?

These were actually pretty easy although a bit time consuming! I started out with a variety of papers that had a Valentine motif or would coordinate. I ended up using several papers from 2 old packs I had and added Ariana and For Always as well as coordinating card stock from CTMH. As usual, my Cricut helped me do lots of cutting! I actually cut ALL-yes ALL of the decorative paper and shapes on my Cricut using Art Philosophy, Artiste and Art Booking Cartridges which are exclusive to CTMH. 

From there I just decorated each flap and added cut designs to fill in the box. Each of the shapes was either connected to a cut strip of old transparencies I got from teacher friends or if they needed to hold upright better, I just used good old card stock strips. 

I really like how these turned out and so did the friend who ordered them. 

Close to My Heart has a wonderful set of papers and embellishments as well as fantastic Cricut Cartridges. If you haven't tried CTMH products or would like to add something new to your crafting table, I'd encourage you to take a look at our wonderful selection and ideas. You can find all the exciting supplies we offer on my online shop HERE.

I also have a Workshop on the Go monthly club where you get rewards if you join and participate for 6 months! FREE supplies just for ordering materials you would order ANYWAY! You can find more details on this club by clicking the link at the top of this page.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see my projects. If you liked any of the boxes, I hope you shared them via your Pinterest page!

Happy Crafting!

Sharon

Everything ABC's Blog Hop Letter E

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter E. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has chosen as their E element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda's blog ~ Scrappy Therapy 

If you came from Michelle Battitori then you're on the right track!

E is for Embossing!

Embossing can add so much dimension to any card or project. Here is the Mother's Day card I made with 2 different embossing folders. One is a damask design embossing folder on the Hollyhock Card Stock and the other is a dot embossing folder on the white card stock in the center. [See the 3rd photo for a close up that shows this best!).  The shine on the photo above is Frost White All-Purpose Ink for fantast/x which I sponged on the flowers and the background card stock. It really isn't that white looking in person but with the right light it does sort of glow. 

Pretty in Pink! 

I love the depth of the embossing coupled with the Frost White! To get this look I made sure I ran Close to My Heart's white core card stock through against the grain. This ensured that I got more white to show. Then to even up the white, I used our sanding block and swirled in circular motions until I got the exact look I wanted. Then I sponged on the Frost White ink and set it aside to dry.

Cricut Cuts

This center section is just jam-packed with Cricut Cuts from CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge. 

Oval Frame: p.43 Decorative Layer  cut at 3"

Oval (background) p. 43 Basic Oval 3 cut at 3"

Inside sentiment frame: Basic Oval5 cut at 1 3/4"

Flowers: Flower 8 p.50 cut from 1/2" to 2" in quarter inch increments.
The leaf can be cut from the cartridge but I had a punch that I liked better so I used it. If you wanted to cut on the Cricut you'll find a similar branch on p.35 (Branch 2)

I layered the oval frame in Hollyhock on top of the dot embossed oval. Since they were cut at the same size they fit perfectly on top of each other. I stamped the sentiment using Holiday Tags stamp set. I then worked some magic on the flowers. I used the retired {boo} stylus to soften the flowers and bend them using circular motions from the outside edge of the petal into the center. Then I flipped the flower over and pushed the eraser end of a pencil into the middle. If some of the petals didn't curl enough I used my bone folder to get more of a curl. I layered several sizes of the flowers together and inserted a mini-brad in the center. Once that was complete I sponged on some of the Frost White on each of the flowers. Finally, I glued the flowers onto the card using mini-glue dots.

If you want to make a similar card, I'm happy to share my Cricut Craft Room file with you! Just leave your email address with a comment below. I'll send you and invite to Dropbox where you can download the file!

CTMH has a new line of 5x8 embossing folders that are very nice! This video gives great information on how to work with our white core card stock to get different looks. Like less white core showing when you emboss? Then emboss WITH the grain. Take a look at how to find the grain and special features of our embossing folders {open at the top].

I want to thank you for stopping by my blog! I'd like to invite you to join my blog and my Facebook page so you won't miss a single post or project! Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Cary Magnani of My Heart's Design.

Blessings! ~Sharon

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way :)

1. Linda Norman - Scrappy Therapy
2. Joy McHargue -  Studiowow 
3. Catherine Nowak ~ Catscrapbooking  
4. Pam Trostle - Pam's Crafty Creations
5. Jenny Gilbert - Jen's Creative Classroom
6. Anita Autore- Cards and Coffee
7. Lauren Moore - CTMH Craftings
8. Michelle Battitori - Michelle's Handmade World
9. Sharon Chapman-Sharon's PaperFiesta        YOU ARE HERE!
10. Cary Magnani - My Heart's Design
11. Stephanie Feist-The Quilted Scrapper
12. Shalana Glass - Scrappin with Shalana