Thinking outside the box with the Curvy Keepsake Thinlets for the Pinkies Autumn/Winter Catalogue Blog Hop!

Thank you for joining us on another Pinkies Blog Hop! We are showcasing lots of gorgeous projects from the new Stampin' Up! ® Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping!

A very warm welcome to you, especially if you have hopped to me from the lovely Tracy's blog - I do love seeing how creative other people are, don't you? :O)

There are soooo many yummy things in the new Autumn/Winter Catalogue - I think that it is one of the best yet! So many fantastic ideas for packaging, gifts and decorations..I love it all!

 

Well, nearly all.... I'm a bit squeamish about (ok, terrified, of) spiders and so I think I may have to give the aptly-named "Frightful Wreath Simply Created Kit" on page 37 a  wide berth - but only because of the beaded spider in the kit! (It seems that the dreaded annual 'Spider-month' has come early to my house this year and the hairy blighters have been both large in numbers and size so far ... eww... so I am extra spooked by them now - bleuuugh!!)   I do, however, like the rest of the wreath though... and I do like Halloween a LOT... so I may just have to bypass the eight-legged beastie and get myself one of the kits afterall...

Anyway, talking of Halloween, that brings me to my blog-hop projects that I would like to share with you today: One of my favourite things to do for Halloween is to make themed treats to give to people. As soon as I saw the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Die and the box ideas in the new Stampin' Up! catalogue, I just knew that they would make great pumpkins due to the lovely curved shape and had to give it a try.... So, here is what I came up with:

 

With my Bigshot and the thinlits, I used Pumpkin Pie cardstock to make the box  and drew lines on it with the brush-tip end of my Pumpkin Pie Write Marker, to look like the ridges of the pumpkin. To make the leaves, I use the ever-useful Autumn Accents Bigz Die (from the Annual Catalogue) to cut out three of the serrated (Beech?) leaves from Old Olive cardstock. To give the leaves some texture I folded them in half - to make the central vein - and then pinched the serrations with my fingers to make more vein-like indentations along both sides of the leaves. Here is a view of the box from above, to show you better:



I made the tendrils by using my paper trimmer to cut long, tapered slivers from a piece of Old Olive cardstock and then rolled them tightly around my trusty Paper-Piercing Tool to produce the curved spirals. I then carefully glued them onto the uppermost box closure flap with Tombow Multipurpose Liquid glue, so that the box can be safely opened, to get  to the sweeties inside it, without damaging the box. I couldn't resist making the cute little punch-art toad to go with it! He is made using the Small Oval Punch and the Owl Builder Punch - his smile comes from the little bit that you cut out using the notch-end of the punch from the fabby new Gift Box Punch Board, that is also in the new catalogue (I LOVE that new punch board, so easy to make fantastic boxes really quickly and easily!).

After I had made the pumpkin, I began to think about what else I could make using the Curvy Keepsake Thinlets for Halloween and gosh, so many ideas sprang into my head! I decided to make a black witch's cat next...  Just after I'd made the cat, I saw, on a facebook group, THE most amazing idea for a witch using the same thinlits. It was made by a lady called Lynn Starzl in America, so,  I just had to CASE her idea and make a witch to complete my Halloween trio. Come and see:

HOW cute is that witch?!! :O) Thank you Lynn!  I love the use of the burlap ribbon strands for her hair and the hat is made from another of my favourite new things from the Autumn/Winter catalogue: the new Tree Punch!! So clever! The witch's hat slots over the box handles, so, it can easily be removed when you want to open the box and get to the treats inside! How clever is that?! I used the Owl Builder Punch for both the cat's and the witch's eyes and nose. The whiskers were hand-drawn with my white uni-ball Signo® Gel Pen. The cats ears are cut down from the Small Oval punch shapes. I DO love Stampin' Up's punches - they are just SO versatile!

 

I have also used the same Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits to make several Christmas-themed boxes, other animals and even an Easter Chick (a little bit ahead of myself there, I know, but it shows that the catalogue items are not just for Autumn and Christmas!!). I will show you more ideas on future blog posts, so do come back again soon to see them. They are quite addictive once you start making them! :O)

 

Anyway, that's enough from me for today; I hope that I have inspired you to "think outside the box" when looking at the new catalogue products and can see how many other ways you can use them all!

 

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog-hop post today. Sarah's blog is next, so hop on over using the button below.

Happy hopping everyone!

Lucy x

 

 

 

 

 

You can view all the products showcased above on my online shop by clicking here - if you are in the UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands or Austria, you can order them from me directly or via my online shop. If you order online with me by  the 29th September 2014 and use the hostess code VRSYYZAV when you place your order, I will personally send you a free gift as a thank you for shopping with me!

 

If you would like me to send you a paper copy of the catalogue, please contact me and I shall be happy to post one to you. You can add one to your online order, too, if you prefer. The order code for a single English language catalogue is 138029.  Catalogues are also available in French and German, too. :O) Lucy x