A matchbox for Unstampabelles Challenge #60

The current challenge #60 at Unstampabelles is to make something that IS NOT a card, and as usual don't use stamps when making it. The twist is to write up a tutorial or put in the link to the tutorial, on how you made your project.

I saw one of these decorated matchboxes on Pinterest - yes a great time waster, but so many pretty things.....and I decided to make one but a bit bigger than the normal match box size. I found I had a tutorial in my files, but was not sure where it had come from, so I will not lay claim to it. If it was you, many thanks: can you message me with your name so I can credit you - it is a great template and instructions.

It consists of a sleeve and a box and the box has flaps folded down on the smaller sides but not on the bigger sides. I made mine from one sheet of 12 x 12 double sided DP called fancy Sweet Pea - Abigail. All sizes were in inches, which suits me as I was born in the time of inches and still tend to think of them rather than centimeters. 

Once my sizes were cut out, I scored using my SU scorer anyway so really didn't have to think to much!

The instruction sheet calls this a Matchbox Cookie Gift Box

The sleeve is just folded over and over and glued along the inside - this is actually the bottom of my sleeve........

The box which slides into the sleeve with its flaps turned down and glued into place on the short ends

Then I just decorated it.

I sewed the hessian ribbon in place and layered wide lace, hessian and more lace to make a wrap around the sleeve. 

I rifled through the flower drawers and found some pink stuff, and added them, with a string of pearls and a bit of ribbon. Oh, and a charm. 

I did add a brad to the end of the box to allow pulling it open easier as well -you can just see it here above. It is a bit cold outside so I took the shots inside, and the bottom one is with the flash, so a softer  look at the colours, while the one above is with the lamp only. The colours are inbetween both.

This took me about an hour to make, discounting husbands interruptions.

Itis big enough to put a cookie inside if you wanted, but I think it would be better with chocolate, jewelry, silk scarf, or other small items inside as a gift box. You could even put a note inside with a gift voucher.

Unstampabelles runs for another two weeks

Oh, and here is another pretty photo of my state - this is the bridge I travel over to go to the city. I live on this side of the river - Hobart is on that other side! That is the Mountain   - Mt Wellington - in the background. Time would be about dusk. 

A beautiful shot of the Tasman Bridge by James Kerstan Photography.

Another post for Unstampabelles Challenge#60

#60 Anything but a Card: twist - tutorial or link to tutorial on 'how to make this' added to your blog

for

Unstampabelles

Today I am showcasing a gift bag I very quickly threw together in need, using some die cuts I had purchased some time ago and a gift bag bought from an el cheapo shop. We have a chain of shops here called 'Shiploads' and every so often I visit and fill my trolley with 'stuff' that is too cheap to leave behind. Today I used some of the 'stuff'.

The bags came in a set of 4 and probably cost .50c each - they already had a black plate on one side of the bag. I contemplated covering this as they are not straight but decided to go with the flow as I didn't have a lot of time.

This is the collection of diecuts I used to decorate the bag - there is a very clever panel behind the cellophane bag with an image of all the items in the bag (x 2) so I am able to note on this what has been used already without tipping it all out to check.

I lay the selected items on the bag and moved them around until I was happy with the arrangement.

The ribbon curl made a great 'roadway' for the scooter.

I did add some tissue paper and gold ribbon with the present but didn't take a photo of that!

Told you I was in a hurry.

So, this was made for Unstampabelles current challenge 

and this is the prize offered for random selection

Be Humorous was the challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies this time

Those who know me know I cannot go too far away from a good pun. I saw this one on a card in the village of Richmond, visiting there with a good friend. We had a lovely day out - eating, shopping talking, shopping, talking, eating.....you get the gist.

I came home and started to make this card but again got waylaid by visitors and family - lovely to see them all, but of course it made me late again for Crafting with Dragonflies!

But....here it finally is.....

My take on the commercial card I saw

We have a mutual friend who has just moved house, so it will be ideal for her!

Privet hedge sticks and gold wire but I am afraid I am not good at winding the wire around neatly.

My house is from a stamp step by Waltzing Mouse, coloured with Copics and fussy cut out, and mounted on dimensionals.

There is a double layer on the porch

Some 'grass' to cover up the sticking of the sticks to the card

I was going to use the computer to generate the sentiments, but just ran out of time

So - handwritten!

Hope you enjoy the visual pun and am inspired to go over to Hilde's new post at 

Crafting with Dragonflies

Newest Challenge at Unstampabelles: #60 anything BUT a card

That month went swiiiiisssssshhhhhhhh!

OK August - traditionally the coldest month (for us) even though it is also supposed to herald spring

It’s also snowing on the Midlands Highway from Bianca Calleja

A photo taken last week on the Midland Highway between the North and South of the State of Tasmania - it takes us about two hours to go from one city to another ie Hobart to Launceston, but days like this mean a longer trip for most

In contrast, the weather as I write this is sunny and about 16 degrees - but the weather reporters are cautioning us against getting out the bathing suits and warn that there is more like last week on its way. My dear old (now passed) Dad was a farmer and it was on days like the one last week when he would appear in the kitchen from a perambulation around the lambing grounds,  in his Dry-as-a Bone coat and his old disreputable hat, and draw from the copious pockets of said coat new born lambs - deserted by death or other reasons by their mothers - and gently place them into the warming oven of the old slow combustion stove. No, not roast lamb you cynical readers. It would give them warmth and if they tottered out of the oven later in the day, they were fed from the bottle and be called 'Come On....', and be hand reared until they were old enough to eat grass and survive in the paddocks again. If they didn't do that, they were buried quietly. Such is life.....

What is the challenge, you ask?

Anything but a Card 

TWIST Create a tutorial in your blog OR add a link to the one you used to create the item

There is a prize for this challenge - random number selected.

I made a favor box - suitable for a wedding or a gift of thanks

Cute, huh!

This one takes four Lindt chocolate balls

The die is a SU one called Floral Thinlits - it has two parts - I used the bigger one for this, plus the cutting edge.Cut a strip of card to 8 inches x 4.25". Use a bone scorer to create two folds at 3.25 " in from each long edge. This is the base for the box to sit in. Lay the bigger die plus cutting edge as shown in photo below to the edge, with the straight edge along the first fold and die cut. 

Flip the card over, and repeat on the other end. By flipping over you allow for the top to be identical on both decorative edges. If you don't flip it over, they still match up but just not as neatly. It depends if you are OCD or not - mine is not flipped as I didn't (as per normal) realise you had to do it until I had cut it.

You have two lacy sides and a flat centre piece. Into this bit, I placed a small rectangle box. My box is 4.25 x 1.50 inches with a .75 inch edge around the whole, scored. Cut at the points indicated from outside to fold line, fold up the edges, and glue each resulting tab inside the box for stability. 

I also used some double sided tape to the bottom of the box before nestling it into the wrap. Then I added the chocolates or whatever, and used ribbon to tie close. I punched a heart and used a sticker sentiment, but I am contemplating at Christmas using a tag, and a Christmas snowflake, and making my boxes suitably festive!

As you can see, it sits four Lindt balls nicely into the box. 

There you are - my non-card project and the TWIST (to create a tutorial). Hope you can follow the tutorial and enjoy making the favor boxes. 

You can go to Unstampabelles and see what else the DT have created for inspiration. 

August Challenge at Eclectic Ellapu

The theme at Eclectic Ellapu for the Purple Team in August is 

 "it's a man thing" 

(something for a male. masculine: colours, prints, textures)

I used some stash I have had for a while, and some brand new stuff to make this:

I used some SU new DP (Floral Boutique) and Not Quite Navy card

My surfer dude is mounted on a piece of card which has been dry embossed

The sentiment and the surfer are on some hessian which is on some card which is on some DSP which is on some card........

A bit of blue twine and some sequins

Behind the dude is the Swirly Bird die cut twice - one in card and once in silver sparkly card to imitate the sea and waves, and give some further texture to the whole

The whole is on a white square commercial blank card. 

The surfer and the sentiment are from a set which has to be three years old, floating around in the stash. Now I have broken open the packet to use two pieces - the other 7 or 8 pieces will be used perhaps in another three years!

Eclectic Ellapu 

You have a month to join in the challenge.

Well, it did snow at sea level - eventually.......

The weather people told us it might and it did - but a week later than the first dire warnings! 

It snowed to sea level again

Photo of Geilston Bay from my veranda, taken by me!

We even had snow flurries at our place - but nothing settled of course!

Bloody cold but.......

Thought this card might be appropriate

I found some flimsy Christmas papers - magazine freebies - of penguins and snowflakes

See photo below to get an idea of the originals

So I cut out a section of penguins I liked and glued them onto some white card, and then fussy cut out individual penguins or a group of penguins in one case......

....and then took some of my Tim Holtz inks to the snowflake sheet in an attempt to create a sort of Southern Lights or Aurora by masking off sections and sponging on ink

The ice flow is from the pack of Dior perfume, cut to look like hillocks and with glitter on the top edge. I then positioned my penguins on these

I think they are Emperor Penguins - cute babies......

I put glue and sparkles on the snow flakes to create icy conditions

The sentiment is computer generated

My Aurora

So - my natives for this week - the penguins 

and the poor old Taswegians like me suffering from the cold weather!

Hopefully I have not caught a chill - yet!

Whoohoo - Anything Goes at Crafting with Dragonflies!

Hello all, hope you are warm and dry (or cool and dry) and that life is treating you well. 

It is time for a new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies

Challenge#62: Anything Goes

Remember, this is a card challenge

I subscribe to a monthly kit from D'Lish Scraps

It is supposed to be for scrapbooking but I just love the eclectic bits that arrive, and usually use them in cards in anything but the way they were probably intended

This month's arrived a few days before my DIL's birthday, and looked so delicious I had to use them to make her card. 

The background paper is a scrap from SU, I think, and I just love those jelly colours together - they seemed to go with the colour scheme of the flowers too

I used my Copic marker to colour in the letters, before sticking them onto the card, and I also coloured up the butterfly before adding a touch of Stella sparkle to the wings

The black strip is washi tape and the little heart is wooden, while the bird is plastic!

The sentiment strip was in the kit although the letters were from my stash.

The whole is on a piece of SU Flirty Flamingo card folded to make a square 14 x 14 cm card blank.

As my DIL lives in another state I had to post it - and as I was a bit late it had to go express!

Thought it was a bright, cheerful card to get in the middle of winter!

You always love the Anything Goes challenges so let it rip!!!!