Let yourself 'Go Wild' with Stampin' Up!'s Gift Box Punch Board!

Hello again! Today I want to show you a couple of gift boxes that I made using the Gift Box Punch Board and the fabulous Go Wild Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack from Stampin' Up! as promised in my last blog post!

The Gift Box Punch Board is such a fantastic tool. With it you can create a variety of sizes of gift boxes, up to 4" (approx.10cm) on each side. It is really easy to use and all you have to do to create gift boxes  is to punch and score your piece of cardstock/DSP - you don't even need to glue it together if you don't want to, as it has a clever, integral punch that cuts a little curved notch out of the box flaps to allow you to close them securely. It comes with clear instructions and measurements are printed onto it too.

Stampin' Up! Gift Box Punch Board 135863 £18.00 now £13.50 for a limited time 

What is even better about the Gift Box Punch Board is that it is normally only £18, better still is that there are a limited number of them in the WEEKLY DEALS this week (until Tuesday 14th July 2015) at a bargain price of only £13.50 - wow! That is a good deal! There is only a limited stock of these at this price though, so if you want to grab yourself a bargain, you will have to be quick!

Here is one of the boxes I made recently for my Go Wild Inspiration Station at our team training day. It is the largest, 4x4" (10x10cm) sized square box, made from Basic Black cardstock (12x12"). And I have decorated it with the Go Wild DSP stack (the stripey Tip Top Taupe and Whisper White Pattern) and a Tip Top Taupe Bow made using the Gift Bow Bigz Die (129977) and the Amazing Birthday Stamp Set: 

As I wanted the bow to go on the top of the box, I decided to make the opening slightly different from how I would normally do it. The front side of the box is actually what would conventionally be the top opening of the box, but, I glued down three of the triangular "lid" flaps (as you would when making an envelope) and covered them with a strip of the Go Wild DSP:

I then cut a semi-circular  thumb-grip hole with my 1" Circle Punch and glued another similar strip of the DSP to the triangular flap of what is now the lid of the box:

The above photographs show how the strip of DSP is cut and glued onto the front side and the lid's triangular flap to enable a "hidden"opening. The half-circle thumb hole shows how you open the box and allows you to easily open it too. The box is self-closing, there is no need for additional glue to keep the lid closed.

This final image shows the box fully open. You will see the concertina folds which attach the lid to the rest of the box. You could cut these triangles away, but, I think it makes a stronger box if you don't. On the other sides of the box, the equivalent concertina triangles have been glued shut and then glued onto the corresponding inside side of the box. It really is quite sturdy and would easily hold a fairly heavy gift inside it. 

It is more complicated and takes longer to explain how to make a box with the Gift Box Punch Board than it actually takes to make one! It really is a simple process though!

Stampin' Up! have made a fantastic video showing how to use the Gift Box Punch Board - click here to see it!

Here are another couple of boxes that I made using the punch board and the Go Wild DSP. I have left the lid openings in their "normal" position for these two boxes and used the integral clasp-making punch to create the curved notches which allow the box lids to stay closed:

This one is 2x2" (approx. 5x5cm) square and made with the lovely black and white animal print DSP from the Go Wild Paper Stack. The "Surprise" stamp comes from the Amazing Birthday Stamp Set and is punched out using the 1 1/4" (3.2cm) Circle Punch; the gold circle is a 1 3/8" (3.5cm) circle punched out of the Gold Foil Sheets.

As you can see above, I made a matching 3x3" card and decorated the envelope with an extra piece of the lovely graphic chevron design of Go Wild DSP to go with this last box.

Well, that is it for today. I hope that I have inspired you to go try out the Gift Box Punch Board AND the Go Wild DSP Stack. Click here to go and order them from me today, whilst the board is still on special offer! Remember to use the hostess code of FQZ4JER4 for every online purchase you make with me between now and the end of July to receive a thank you gift in the post  from me during August. (You will need to un-check the "no Contact" option for me to do this!)

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my post. Until next time, happy crafting everyone!

Lucy x

Go Wild with some Tip Top Stampin' inspiration from me!

Hello,

Today I have some photographs of our team training day to show to you. I love being part of such a friendly, welcoming and inspiring group of talented and creative people! It was such a fun day and it was so nice to see some dear friends again and meet some new ones, all whilst having the opportunity to craft and be inspired together for a whole day.

One of the best things about being an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is being part of such a lovely family of like-minded people, who don't look at you oddly if you "oooooh" over a piece of patterned paper or pretty ribbon... or "ahhhhhh" over lovely buttons... or if you relate everyday items to Stampin' Up! colour names: "I saw a lovely Bermuda Bay handbag the other day", or, "Her skirt was a lovely flowery pattern in Mint Macaron and Night of Navy"!

I volunteered to do an "Inspiration Station" for our team training on Sunday and chose to showcase the Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack papers. Everything I made for my display used the Go Wild DSP and its gorgeous colour palette of Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White and Basic (or Memento Tuxedo) Black - with a little bit of gold here and there, for a touch of bling where necessary! Here is a photograph of my display table:

I wanted to show that you can make all sorts of things with a limited colour palette and that Tip Top Taupe, black and white can be both masculine or girly, depending on how you use them! I LOVE the Go Wild DSP. It is a great mix of animal print patterns and quite graphic designs that are reminiscent of African batiks etc. There are 48 sheets in a pack - 4 each of 12, double-sided designs that are 6x6" (15.2x15.2cm) square. I found that a little bit of paper can go a long way and I made all of the above (and more) and still have several full sheets and usable off-cut scraps left over for future projects. A bargain for £7.25 I reckon! There is also a Go Wild Cardstock Pack of 24 A4 sheets of cardstock in Basic Black, Tip Top Taupe and Whisper White (8 sheets of each of the three colours) for £6.50 to go with it too.

The picture below is of a collection of cards that were inspired by and CASED from a card design in the Stampin' Up! 2015-16 Annual Catalogue (on page 105), but using my black, white and taupe colour palette; plus a box made using the Gift Box Punch Board (which, incidentally, is discounted this week in the Weekly Deals for 8th to 14th July 2015!)

I really loved the card on page 105 of the catalogue and have wanted to CASE it ever since I first saw it. (CASE meaning to "Copy And Share Everything"). The original uses a softer colourway with what looks to me like Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede with Silver Glimmer Paper.  The larger card in my photograph above is a copy of that card layout, using some of the Go Wild DSP punched out with the Hexagon Punch;  Gorgeous Grunge and Six-Sided Sampler stamp sets stamped in Tip Top Taupe ink;  the Bold Butterfly Framelits and Gold Glimmer Paper, Gold Glitter Glue and the fantastic new Gold Metallic Thread for a bit of glamorous sparkle.

I decided to theme my swaps to my table display and chose to make a 3x3" card front, similar to those in the photograph above.  I totally forgot to take any photographs whilst I was making them all though and only remembered to photograph them on Sunday after I had already given some away - oops! Here is a photograph of what were remaining when I finally remembered to take pictures of them:

And here is a close up of three of them:

I used a selection of the DSP designs to use for the hexagons, but kept everything else the same for each card. The first step was to stamp the splattered dots from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set with Tip Top Taupe ink onto a square of the new Thick Whisper White cardstock. A DSP hexagon was then glued on top, using Tombow Multipurpose glue. The Metallic Gold Thread was then looped and stuck onto a dimensional on top of the DSP hexagon. Then, the little strip of Gold Glimmer Paper was stuck onto the same dimensional (and pressed down well!). The Basic Black filigree butterfly was then glued on top of that, using a glue dot. The final touch was to squeeze some Gold Glitter glue onto the butterfly for it's body and leave it to dry. A simple but effective card I think - and it didn't take too long to make them either! I shall definitely be making some more of these - I really like them. I might even try them with different DSP and other colours... hmm...

Well that's it for today, apart from showing you what is in this week's Weekly Deals. There are more items than usual in this week's deals and there are only limited numbers of the items at these discounted prices. Once that stock has been sold, the items will still be available, but at the normal, full catalogue price - so hurry up and grab them quick if you want them at a discount!

It is a bizarre coincidence that the Gold Glimmer Paper that I used in the projects above, is in this week's deals... a great opportunity to re-stock I think, don't you? I love it and a little goes a long way with this gorgeously sparkly, glittery paper! I couldn't be without my Magnetic Plate for the Bigshot to cut out my butterflies either (so useful for all the framelits and thinlits - an absolute must-have in my craft room!) - as is the Gift Box Punch Board - what a bargain that is this week! Get one now if you've not got one - it is SO versatile, I love it!

Stampin' Up! are really spoiling us this week!

If you place an online order with me between now and the end of July and you use the hostess code FQZ4JER4 when you place the order and do NOT tick the "no contact" option when you order, I will send you a little gift in the post as a thank you. Please remember to not use the "no contact" option though, if you want to receive the thank you gift from me.  If you do use the "no contact" option, you will miss out, as I won't have access to your details and I will be unable to send you your thank you gift! 

To start shopping with me, click here

Well, that is it for today, do come back later in the week as I have LOTS more photographs of my Inspiration Station projects to show you - including a Project Life layout I made especially for the day and a very cute gift box too!

Until next time, happy crafting and don't forget, you don't always have to "go wild" with lots of bright colours to make some interesting and beautiful cards, gifts or packaging! ;)

Lucy x