All Wrapped Up!

Hi everyone, Darcy here with another little festive project. Something you could pull together in no time at all...and at this time of year we are all short of time, right?

So, if you have been following my blog you will see that I have been using just one focal stamp to make cards, I also did the same with some tags. In this same way, we can carefully select just one stamp and create repeating motifs to make our wrapping paper. 

All you need is brown parcel paper, Christmas stamps and a little paint. I love using cheap brown paper, once painted it is incredibly strong and is useful for so many projects. Similarly, if you want a white paper, then go to the DIY shop and get a roll of lining paper. 

For my first piece, I chose to use the chunky text from Noel Plate 4

I wanted to use London Bus fresco finish, as you know this is a translucent, over the brown paper this would have looked dull. So, I cut some squares of foam, the same size as the text stamp. I glued them into a stack and then used them to stamp background squares using Snowflake. Because Fresco finish dries so quickly by the time I had stamped the background squares, they were dry enough to stamp the text over the top.

Onto the next piece. this time I used the round medallion stamp from the same set, and just using Snowflake I created my repeating pattern. 

Paper #3 is again utilising the same stamp set, this time I used the bumping method. Usually I would put a dark colour below and the white on top, but for a change I switched these around and as you can see it works great. Also putting the Snowflake underneath helps the Holly paint to stand out. 

I then made my snowballs with a highly technical tool... the eraser on the end of a pencil. 

Paper #4 using the snowflakes from my new Christmas stamps. EDY04

I used both the group and the single snowflake, as you can see they nestle together on the flexi-block giving you a bigger stamp. 

For the final piece I used a bauble from Noel Plate 6

This time when doing the bumped method I used the darker colour on the bottom. I stamped the text bauble as the background using Sky, then for my top layer I mixed Vintage Lace with Metallic Glaze ( this makes a wonderfully shimmery paint) I used the bolder diamond patterned bauble for the top layer. 

This paper is good for all sorts of shapes and sizes, easy to rip away, and cheap enough that you don't need to save it.... I know you have all sat there holding your breath as people rip into expensive paper, thinking to yourself, awww I could have reused that lol

...but sometimes special gifts need a special box...

So I started with a pillow box, this is cut from Smooth Heavy Card. I love this card, it is strong enough to hold a shape while still being flexible enough to be scored and folded. 

I painted the whole box using Chocolate Pudding, then I sponged on a light layer of Old Gold

The next layer was Crackle glaze, scraped on super thin using a palette knife. My top layer was Nougat This is one of my favourite colours for top layer crackling. As you can see I only crackled the central sections, leaving the end flaps. I rubbed a little French roast along all the edges. 

I then stamped the text from my Christmas stamp EDY04, the font on this stamp is perfect for that vintage feel. 

Now I just needed to build up some embellishments. I brought together a mini doily, some book pages and sequin waste. I also used a papercast that I had made using the bauble stamp from EDY03

I explained how to make paper-casts back in this post from July. I first painted the cast with chocolate pudding, after it was dry I had to chuckle to myself, it really did look good enough to eat. if you have ever wondered how chocolatey the Chocolate Pudding paint is, then just look at this. It truly looked like a piece of chocolate sat on my desk. 

I then built up my layers of embellishments. The chocolate baubles were finished off with Treasure Gold, they laid over the doily and some lace. I finished this section with a gorgeous white flower from Petaloo Premier (wild blossoms set) I adore white paper flowers, not only do they look classy on all kids of projects but they can be painted or sprayed in your favourite colours. 

In the bottom corner I layered up the sequin waste, then I made a book paper flower and topped that with  braid and a silky smooth metal cog from this  Finnabair - Prima set

and so my little gift box is finished..

I then had fun adding yarns to my wrapped boxes, finishing them with the tags that I made in this post

I hope this has inspired you to have a go at making your own wrapping paper or decorating some gift boxes. 

I will see you again soon with another festive treat. 

Darcy x