Clear Sleeve Gift box

While laying awake a few nights ago I decided I wanted to make a clear-top gift box. Something simple that could be embellished prettily. This morning I pulled out the stamps I wanted to use, grabbed some paper and luckily remembered to take photos! Here's how you can make one too.

Start with a square of cardstock. I've used Close to Cocoa. Mine is 6x6" but you can use any size you want. Score all four sides at the height you need. I scored at 1 inch.

Snip each side as shown. Pre-fold all your score lines. If you are going to stamp your box base, now is the time to do it.

Using some adhesive on the inside of the tabs, stick your box together. Simple right? I've made teeny tiny boxes this way or quite large ones. You could repeat the process with a slightly larger square to make a lid....or carry on as I did...

Decorate your box base (if you didn't pre-stamp it). I used strips of Outlaw (retired) designer paper and sponged with Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa ink.

Cut a strip of acetate (overhead transparency) the same width as your box (mine is 4 inches). You can also use patterned paper for this step, or try vellum for a lovely semi-opaque effect.

Score your sleeve four times according to the height of your box sides. Make sure to score a little larger than the height of each side of your box so it will fit over your base. Adhere together with Sticky Strip. You can stop here or dip into your ribbon stash and adhere a length on each side of the sleeve, again with Sticky Strip. I used Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain.

Time to embellish! I used a gorgeous stamp from the Oval All set, along with the Large Oval and Scallop Oval punches. The card stock is Sage Shadow and the ink is Chocolate Chip. The pearls and flower are from the Pretties kit and I used glue dots to adhere these to the acetate.

I waited until I had assembled my sleeve to use a rub-on so I could place it exactly where I wanted it - just place the rub-on on your sleeve, then turn upside down and rub on the inside of the sleeve to avoid misshaping it.

I made a tag by stamping an initial using the Wild West alphabet and punching it out using the Curly Label punch. Layer this on more Close to Cocoa card stock and cut around to get a nice border. A jumbo eyelet and hemp twine finish off your tag. Some more sponging - a bit of piercing and I was done!

I love packaging homemade and store bought gifts in boxes I've made myself - it really adds something special (and of course I can make a card to match!)

Have a creative day,


Supplies available from Stampin' Up!

Product Spotlight: Three For You Punch Box

Hi everyone, hope your weekend is going great so far! I thought it was about time I wrote the post I've been promising for a week now - highlighting my new favourite product...the Three For You Punch Box! (There's a special offer coming at the end of this post!)

Regular readers will know I'm punch mad - so much so, that this was the only punch I needed to complete my Stampin' Up! collection! Now that I have it, I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to get it. Here's why....

First, let's take a look at what you get in the box. Wait, let's talk about the box itself! I was SO surprised how large this box is! It's a really cute metal box with a clear lid and a silver hinge. The thing I like most about the box is the label comes on a sticker sheet in the inside - so if you want to use it for something else you don't even have to peel the label off first!

Inside is the Trio Flower Punch, the 9 piece Three for You stamp set and three Stampin' Spot inkpads in Basic Black, Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate. All you need to start creating is some card stock, everything else is here!

The stamp set is wonderful - the first thing you need to know is the set is die cut! That means you don't have to trim your stamps before mounting them on the wood blocks. Love that. I also love that it features a mix of images and sentiments, as well as polka dots - my favourite background image at the moment. And of course, the flower images fit inside the punch perfectly as you'll see soon.

There's nothing like seeing a couple of projects to get the gist of a product, so here's a couple I whipped up last night. This is a card I've had in my head even before my punch box arrived - that's rare for me, I don't usually start with a plan, so I'm glad this turned out cute! One of my favourite things about Spring is Blossom Trees - they are just so beautiful. I thought the trio flower punch would make wonderful blossoms!

To make the blossoms, all I did was punch Blush Blossom and Pretty in Pink cardstock. I then "nicked" the edge of each blossom with the distressing tool from my cutter kit, but you could use scissors (be careful!) This starts to split the cardstock slightly, and because Stampin' Up! cardstock is such good quality, you can split each petal without ripping the cardstock. I just get my fingernail in between the layers then roll up the edge of the petal. I love the softly feathered effect this gives.

Once I had my flowers I stamped the branch image from the hostess set Spring Solitude repeatedly in Chocolate Chip ink. There are lots of stamp sets with images that would work as branches, or you could draw them freehand. I used SNAIL to adhere some of the flowers and a little piece of Stampin' Dimensional to raise others up.

A bit of piercing, some Spring Fling Designer Paper, Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon and my card was done! Now, just to be sure I had achieved the blossom effect, I asked hubby what he thought it was - "one of those trees....a blossom tree" he said, so mission accomplished!This second card was a Terrific Ten - I made it in under 10 minutes. I used the Purely Pomegranate ink in the tin to stamp the polka dots on Whisper White. I also used the same ink to stamp the flowers - stamping onto scrap paper twice after inking to get the pale shade for the bold flowers. Because you stamp and punch three flowers at once it's super quick to make these little embellishments.

I used the slit punch to make the scalloped edge for the card base, stamped the sentiment, tied some ribbon and adhered everything with dimensionals - voila!

Are you in love with this kit yet?!? If you are, I better give you a special offer hadn't I? Because the only thing the box doesn't include is cardstock....purchase the Three For You Punch Box before October 31st from me for $109.95 including discounted postage, and choose any pack of A4 cardstock from the 48 regular colours or the 2008 In Colours for FREE! That's a $12.50 value!

Everything will be couriered to your door, no extra postage for rural customers! You're welcome to add other products to your order for the same postage price if wished. Please email me if you would like to take advantage of this offer. All payment methods accepted, including Visa and Mastercard.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, hope the sun is shining where you are!