"Hello everyone, Lelainia here with project number 2. Hallowe’en is my favourite holiday. It was my Gramps’ birthday and so it
will always hold a special place in my heart. I could hardly be designing for
PaperArtsy in October and not use their fabulous line of spooky stamps!
Awhile back, a friend of mine, Penelope Harris taught me how to make a box
using playing cards. As soon as I had it constructed, I realised that there was
no way I had to limit myself to using playing cards-I could paint and stamp my
own cards to make a fabulous boxes. This project is the result of those
imaginings"!
I chose the Smoothy HeavyWeight White Stamping Card. It’s the perfect weight to stand up to painting, stamping and
stencilling while also being strong enough to hold the box shape. I am in love
with this paper!
I began by cutting 22 cards
that measure 2 ½ x 3 ½ inches. (Standard ATC size) In order to make the most of
each sheet of paper, I made sure I inserted my A1 sheets into the paper trimmer
so that they lie this way: I wanted the longer edge of
the paper (the 11 ¾ inch side) parallel
with the bottom of my paper trimmer. Once I had my paper positioned this way, I
cut 3 strips 2 ½ inches. I cut the remaining strip 3 ½ inches. Next, I cross cut the 2 ½
inch strips by 3 ½ inches. This gave me two cards per strip. For the 3 ½ inch
strip, I cross cut at 2 ½ inches. This strip will yield 3 cards. When I was
done, I had a total of 9 cards, all measuring 2 ½ x 3 ½ inches. I repeated this process for
the second sheet of paper. For the third, I only needed to cut three 2 ½ inch
strips & then cross cut at 3 ½ inches. This leaves a bit of the third sheet
left over. I cut a few extra cards in case I made a mistake along the way.
Next, I rounded the 4
corners of the entire deck of 22 cards using a corner rounder. This is an
important step, so be sure not to skip it-it helps the box slide together
smoothly.
I counted out 12 cards and
set the rest aside. I folded each of the short ends of the 12 cards (top &
bottom) over by 3/8 of an inch. I measured the 3/8 of an inch and made a score
line using a stylus on both sides of each card. Once all the cards were scored,
I folded the ends over and used a bone folder to make a good clean crease.
I went ahead and painted
each of the 12 cards with Tango and Autumn Fire and then layered Snowflake over
top using The Crafter’s Workshop Mini Sketch Grid stencil. I think this is my
all-time favourite stencil now. What I loved about it is that when used with
the Snowflake paint, it gave my cards just the right amount of light to make
the stamped images pop.
Then I counted out 6 cards
from the 12 I had just painted. These cards will form the outside of the box-4
sides, the top (lid) and the bottom. I unfolded the creases to have them lie
flat but made sure they were all facing in the portrait direction. (Short ends
up and down.) I stamped these 6 cards
using HPHW04 and HPHW02. When I was finished stamping, I re-creased
the folds, using my bone folder. It's important that the creases be really
crisp.
I took the remaining 13
cards and folded each of them in half, creasing them with the bone folder.
I flattened them out again
and then painted them Little Black Dress where the crease is. I painted over
the crease line and about 1 inch either side of it. There is no need to paint
the entire card as you will only see the crease because these cards are going
to become the hinges that hold the box together.
{Assembling the Box:}
First I took one stamped
card and one stencilled card. See how the stamped card has
the folded flaps left and right and the plain stencilled card has them top and
bottom. I made sure this was the orientation I was using to lock them together
as a single unit.
I just tucked the flaps in
at the top and bottom to interlock the two cards. At this point, I put my
interlocked units under a stack of heavy books overnight to help the folds lie
flat. I don't recommend stacking the units one on top of the other, as the
paint will still be ever-so-slightly tacky and you risk having them stick to
one another.
Once the interlocked units
had been flattened overnight, it was time time to assemble the box. I began by
sliding one of my hinge pieces into the gap on the side of one of my
interlocked units.
Next, I slid another
interlocked unit onto the other side of the hinge piece to connect them. I
added another hinge to that unit's gap.
I slid another unit onto
that hinge. Now I had 3 sides connected. I added another hinge.
When I had the 4th unit
attached, I added another hinge to the remaining gap and use it to close the
box into a proper square.
Now that the box was a
square, I flipped it upside down so I could add the bottom.
I took the interlocked unit
I wanted to use as the bottom and put a hinge in each side of the gaps, all the
way around.
I slid the top hinge into
the box bottom and tucked the edges into the gaps on the left and right.
I turned the box around to
face me and gently worked the other hinges into the gaps.
Once all the hinges were in
the gaps, I gently pushed down, slowly to slide the bottom into place.
Finally, I added the last
hinge to the gap on the top of the interlocked unit I wanted to use for the
lid. I worked the hinge into the
top of the box and slid it down gently.
While I had my Staz-on ink
out, I stamped Minis MN77 onto a piece of PolyShrink. Quick tip: Place the
stamp ink side up and then lay the PolyShrink on top and gently smooth it with
two fingers. This creates a clear image. I cut around the image leaving a very
scant white border around the outside. (I cut mine so that it had a coffin
shape to it, just for fun.) I lay the image on a Teflon sheet and used my heat
gun to shrink it.
Next I wanted to make a
small hole in the top of the charm for a jump ring to go through. I used this
little gizmo I have for hand drilling, called a two hole metal punch. It's
super handy for drilling holes in just about anything. If you don’t have one,
you could also use a teeny tiny Fiskars 1/16 hole punch. I also own one of
those and it makes a very tiny hole, the perfect size for jump rings. I added 2
jump rings to the PolyShrink charm so it would hang properly.
I cut a 3 inch piece of
ribbon and threaded it through the top jump ring. I put a piece of double sided
tape between the fold of the ribbon so that it would stay nicely folded and to
give it some strength. I put a piece of double sided tape on the ribbon at the
top on both the front and the back and then slid it between the front gap in
the box lid. Once I had it centred, I smooshed it to make sure it was stuck to
the inside of the lid securely. The charm becomes a tab for opening and closing
the box.
As a final touch, I wanted
to add some paper grass to cushion anything I put in the box, so I tore some
pages out of a book, sliced them in skinny strips with my paper cutter and then
scrinched them up in my hand a bit to help give them some loft. I tucked them
into the box. When I am ready to give the box to someone I'll filled it with
Hallowe’en candy and it’s good to go!
Wasn’t that fun?! I've shown
you mine, now it's your turn .... I do hope you give this a try.I will be back tomorrow night with my final project of the month.
~Lelainia~
A huge thanks from Team PA for sharing this spook-tac-ular step by step project with us all. This is the ideal gift to have on stand by for all the little trick or treaters. The addition of the Polyshrink tag is the perfect finishing touch.
We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If
you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Oct 1st
2014 and Oct 31st 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will
go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the
PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Oct
31st 2014.
