Exploding Box Card

This is the first exploding box card I’ve made. When you take the lid off the box the sides explode outward. I’ve been wanting to try this for some time but until now had not tackled one. I needed a card for my friend Laura’s birthday – one that I could put individual birthday wishes from friends in pockets or mini envelopes and didn’t want to do the same type of cards I’ve done in the past.  I like that I could put envelopes or pockets on the sides of the box and there are 3 flaps per side so that gives 8 to 12 surfaces for pockets/envelopes.  I still need to put something on the inside. Right now there are journal cards tied with a ribbon that she can write on and add photos to. I may put some 3D flowers and possibly some butterflies inside the box.

 

I’m Back

It looks like I’ve been neglecting this site for over a year. That wasn’t my intention – It just happened. But I’m back and I’m going to post some of the things I’ve made this year and what I’m doing creatively.  So now it’s catch up time.

Here is an altered Altoids tin that I made for our 2014 Church Pinterest party. At the Pinterest party we get to see a demonstration of making recipes that were found on Pinterest (and we got to taste them too) and we also made crafts that were found on Pinterest. This year we also had a table where we could put gifts that we made for the Christmas season and everyone was able to pick one of the gifts to give away to bless a neighbor or a friend.  This is what I made and added to the table. It’s an altered Altoids tin mini album.  I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.  When the album is opened there are pockets with tags that can be taken out and journaled on or pictures can be added to the tags.

The bottom

The top

top and side

Inside

Ellen’s Birthday Card

This is a Never Ending Card or an Infinity Card – depending on who you are talking to.  I love this card. There are so many different surfaces to decorate.  It’s a little challenging to decorate it in such a way that no matter which way it is open it will still look good.  The different sides match up in different ways as you open it and open it again and open it again until it gets back to the beginning. I think I did ok for my first attempt.  I had fun putting little pockets on 4 of the panels and stuffing them with tiny cards that different people wrote their birthday greetings on.  I will be making more of these in the future.

I put little blessings on different panels. On this one on the right I thought it would be fun to say peek-a-boo and after taking the pictures I ended up putting some googly eyes under the peek-a-boo so it looked like someone was actually saying it. Ellen got a kick out of it as I knew she would.

This is the front of the card.

Here are a couple of the pockets with cards sticking out of them.

Notice these are the same pockets as the photo above but the panels alongside them are different. This is after opening it another time. Each time you open it will show a different view.

This is the envelope I made for the card.

The back of the envelope. I sealed it with some Tim Holtz washi tape.

A view of the inside of the envelope with the card.

We had a surprise party for Ellen and I made her a crown to wear. She was queen for a day. She was such a good sport to wear it.

Box of Cards for a Friend

These are the A7 size cards and the box I made out of paper and embellishments for a friend. I had fun making these for her.

Top of the box

Side view

Bottom of the box

Inside bottom of the box

Some of the cards with box

More of the cards

Envelopes

More Envelopes

Cards wrapped in ribbon inside the box

Annette’s Birthday Card

I needed (wanted) to make another card for a friend that lots of people could sign. I’ve been interested in mini albums for awhile now and thought it might be nice to make a card like a mini album with lots of pockets, tags and mini envelopes and cards.  This is what I came up with. I started with a 12″ x 12″ sheet of card stock and cut it to 12″ x 9″ with 9″ being the height.  I scored the length of it at 3″, 6″ and 9″ to make 4 panels each 3″ wide.  I then cut 8 panels of designer paper slightly smaller than 9″ x 3″ and adhered it to the panels of the card and then added pockets and mini envelopes and bling and embellishments. The designer paper is A Ladies Diary by Graphic 45, my favorite paper company.    I had trouble figuring out how to keep the envelopes closed so I searched for a solution online. I didn’t like any of the solutions other people used.  They just weren’t right for this card. I finally found Velcro mini fasteners on Amazon: Here   They were PERFECT!

Front of the card. I found the metal
frame in my stash and printed ‘happy
birthday’ on card stock to put in the frame.

Card standing up.

Inside view of the card standing.

 

Front side

Backside

Some of the tags for the pockets and envelopes.

An envelope with a mini card.

Another envelope with mini card.

Two more. Tiny keys and locks add a nice
touch to any vintage paper craft.

And even more envelopes with cards. I love the  double sided designer
paper. It makes the inside of the envelopes look so nice.

The envelope I made for the card. It’s bulging because of
all the greetings added to the mini envelopes and pockets.

Inside of the envelope with lining.

Kathy’s Birthday Card

I made my own version of an altered Altoid tin a couple weeks ago and loved it so much I wanted to alter another one. When I decided to make a Birthday card for a friend at church for everyone to sign I got this brilliant idea (well I thought it was brilliant anyway.)  I decided to alter an Altoid tin and make enough pockets to put a lot of birthday wishes in it.  I had to double the length of the insert to have enough pockets and since so many people signed tags and each tag has a ribbon or fiber attached it is pretty full and hard to close.  But I think it came out very nice.  Here are the results.

This is the top of the tin.  I love using pearls and lace and ribbons and flowers.  I am also confident that the receiver likes these things too.

Here is the side view of the top.

This is the inside front, some of the panels are folded in.  If you click the picture you will be able to see more detail.

Here is the inside back.

All together there are 10 panels front and back totaling 20 panels to work with.  I believe there are three panels without pockets and there are two or three tags in most of the pockets. The bird on the inside cover has a necklace of bling which I also love.  Girls just gotta have bling!  🙂

Another Wonderland Mini Album

Here is a very small Alice in Wonderland mini album I’m working on. It’s not even close to being finished. This is just the beginning but I’m so excited with the possibilities of how this is going to turn out.

This is the cover as it exists right now. A blank canvas to work with. Can’t wait to see how it ends up!

 

Wonderland Mini Album

This is just the beginning of the mini album. Right now it’s basically envelopes put together as a mini album with a cover.  I will be adding a lot more detail to it. I have a few metal charms in the Wonderland theme that I want to hang in the outside of the album, and I have more pockets and pages to add to the album.

Front cover-Painting the roses Red

I love the “To me?” in the bottom right.

The back cover

These are the journaling cards that are going into the envelopes.

 

Curiosities

I absolutely love the Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe paper. It’s the first paper pad I purchased from Graphic 45.  I’ve waited a long time to use it – and I have finally, FINALLY braved my insecurities and cut into the paper and tried to make something pleasing to look at.  I am not sure why I’m attracted to Steampunk but I am. I love the metal and gears and keys and hot air balloons and Victorian women with a wind up key in her back and apothecary bottles and clock parts and top hats and handlebar mustaches.  It’s all so — Curious!   I added some gears and a metal key to the collage for fun.  I may add more to it at some point, but for now I decided it’s finished.

My Art Journal

Here is a cover photo of the journal I made 3 years ago.