Distressed Scrapper

Quick and Easy Gift Bag – Photo Tutorial

16 Sep 2018 Comments Off on Quick and Easy Gift Bag – Photo Tutorial

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects, giveaways Tags: Creative Embellishments, gift bag tutorial, laser cut chipboard, online crop, scrapbook challenges

As promised, this is a quick and easy gift bag tutorial to help with ideas for my challenge in the Creative Embellishments online Birthday Crop in their Facebook Fan group. This base template is highly adaptable to make a variety of sizes and designs. I’ll mention a few variations at the end of the tutorial. The measurements I used for this base results in a bag that is 5 ¾” long x 2″ wide x 5″ tall, with sides that are 3 1/8″ high. I used plain white cardstock for this tutorial so I could draw the score lines and write directly on the template. When selecting patterned paper for this project, keep in mind that the paper will wrap around to the back, so you’ll want to use a design that is not directional/direction specific (otherwise, if the front is face up, the back will be upside down).

Start out with 12″ x 12″ paper.

Score your page at 3 1/8″ and 8 7/8″ (which is 3 1/8″ in from each side) as indicated by the black vertical lines.

Rotate your paper 90° and score at 5″ and 7″ as indicated by the purple lines. These will be your horizontal lines once you straighten the page again.

Fold in on all 4 score lines.

You’re going to create a 45° fold where I’ve indicated with a line in the photo. You do not need to score this. You will create this fold starting at the corner where I’ve written 45° by bringing the horizontal scored line up to meet the vertical fold line. Doing this will automatically create a 45° angle.

This is what it looks like when you bring the horizontal fold line up diagonally to meet the vertical fold line on the left. Press that new 45° fold firmly to create a crisp line.

Do the same on the right side, then rotate it upside down and do the same on the other end.

You can see the new diagonal fold lines in this photo (my pen lines are on the other side. Make sure all your creases are in place before the next step. Once you have your fold lines complete, apply your adhesive where shown in this photo, going from the corners of the paper to where it meets the diagonal line. You can use a tape runner, double sided tape, glue, etc. Just do one side at a time, folding on the 2 vertical creases.

The 2 flaps should overlap slightly and you should be able to smooth it flat. I’ve puckered up the center in the photo to show that the center is not glued down. The adhesive is only going from the diagonal folds to ends.

Apply adhesive as shown in the photo. It should run along the horizontal fold lines, in triangle shaped sections created by the diagonal folds.

Bring the horizontal folds up diagonally to meet the vertical folds as you did before, but adhere them this time.

You should end up with a rectangular base that stands up on its own. Tuck in the sides and pinch lightly (as shown in the photo) to get the expandable sides that look best if you want to seal the top of the bag. You can either staple it shut, or punch holes and add ribbon to tie it. Leave the sides as they are if you want to punch holes near the top and and handles.

This is the first one I ever made (8 years ago or so?)…

As you can see, for that one, I tucked in the sides and pinched it to create the triangle sides so it closed smoothly when sealed by tying it with a bit of ribbon. You could add handles rather than sealing it by using the same holes and just adding the ribbon differently.

This is one I made more recently:

This one was for my daughter and I was just leaving her a gift on her desk for Valentine’s Day, so I didn’t want handles and I didn’t want to seal it either. I decided to fold the top flaps in a little over an inch to shorten the overall height.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful!

Play along with my challenge (either make a package or alter one! So either take an empty container and alter it or make an envelope box, gift bag, etc.) in the Creative Embellishments Birthday Crop for a chance to win this amazing prize:

There are a total of 8 mini challenges available and 8 incredible prizes (FOUR $30 gift vouchers and 4 prize packs):

Use of CE products is not required in order to enter and win the challenges, but if you do use CE products, you can also enter your project to win this gorgeous prize pack:

For full details, join the fb group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1985585078160468/ and click “going” on the event to view all the challenges. Entries are due by midnight ET Sept 17th (12 am ET Sept 18th).

Envelope Box for A2 Dimensional Cards – Photo tutorial

15 Sep 2018 Comments Off on Envelope Box for A2 Dimensional Cards – Photo tutorial

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects, giveaways Tags: Creative Embellishments, dimensional card, envelope box, photo tutorial, Scrapbook challenge

Welcome back! To help with ideas for my challenge in the Creative Embellishments online Birthday Crop in their Facebook Fan group (see previous post), I decided to create a photo tutorial on how to make a quick and easy envelope box for A2 sized (4 ¼” x 5 ½”) dimensional cards. Stop back tomorrow for an easy gift bag tutorial! 🙂 You can really adapt this basic template to suit just about any size card. For my examples, I’m using measurements and fold lines to suit ¼” and ½” thick cards. with a little extra space for the length and width, so the card doesn’t fit too tightly, and used plain white cardstock so I could write the measurements directly onto the paper in the photos. For your first few, I would recommend using solid cardstock or patterned paper that has a design where direction does not matter because your paper design will end up going diagonally on the finished project if you do not compensate for the pattern direction.

First up is the ¼” thick envelope:

Start with an 8 ½” x 8 ½” square.

Using a scoreboard, place your score lines at 2 7/8″ and 3 1/8″ from the corner for one flap, then rotate the paper and do the same for the opposite corner. These are the left and right flaps of the envelope. The photo shows black lines where your score lines should be.

Turn the paper to the side and score 3 ½” and 3 ¾” from the corner, then rotate the paper and do the same for the opposite corner. These are the top and bottom flaps. The photo shows purple lines where your score lines should be.

Cut where I have the hot pink marker lines. Note that you are not cutting off the entire triangle shape formed there. Only cut where I’ve indicated with the marker because this will leave little tabs you will fold in when closing the envelope box.

This is what your paper should look like once you’ve cut where indicated in the previous photo.

Fold on the score lines. You can use a corner rounder on the top and bottom flaps if you’d like.

Tuck in the bottom tabs and side flaps and fold the bottom flap up and adhere it to the side flaps using your tape runner, double sided tape, or glue to form a pocket. I find it helps to insert a solid object like a thin stamping block into it when assembling so that it’s lined up straight. At this point, the base is done and you could decorate your envelope. Once you insert your card, bring the top flap down and seal. You’re done!

Instructions for 1/2″ thick envelope box:

Start with an 8 ½” x 8 ½” square.

Using a scoreboard, place your score lines at 2 5/8″ and 3 1/8″ from the corner for one flap, then rotate the paper and do the same for the opposite corner. These are the left and right flaps of the envelope. The photo shows black lines where your score lines should be.

Turn the paper to the side and score 3 ¼” and 3 ¾” from the corner, then rotate the paper and do the same for the opposite corner. These are the top and bottom flaps. The photo shows purple lines where your score lines should be.

This is what your paper should look like once you’ve cut where indicated in the previous photo.

Fold on the score lines. You can use a corner rounder on the top and bottom flaps if you’d like.

Here’s a very simply decorated example using a plain white base. It was the first envelope box I ever made using this same method, but different measurements:

I hope you found this tutorial helpful!

There are a total of 8 mini challenges available and 8 incredible prizes (FOUR $30 gift vouchers and 4 prize packs):

Use of CE products is not required in order to enter and win the challenges, but if you do use CE products, you can also enter your project to win this gorgeous prize pack:

Creative Embellishments online Birthday Crop

15 Sep 2018 Comments Off on Creative Embellishments online Birthday Crop

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects, giveaways Tags: altered box, Creative Embellishments, laser cut chipboard, mixed media, online crop, scrapbook challenges, Wood veneer

Creative Embellishments just turned 5 and to celebrate, they’re hosting a HUGE online Birthday Crop filled with 8 mini challenges and 9 amazing prizes!!! Be sure to join their fan group on Facebook and click “going” on the event in order to play along and enter to win some goodies! All the challenges begin today, September 15th at 9 am ET and entries must be posted by midnight on Monday, September 17 (which is technically September 18th at 12 am ET). You do NOT need to use CE products on your projects to enter and win prizes! However, for those who do use CE products on their entries, there’s a BONUS PRIZE opportunity, so you have 2 chances to win with each project you create using CE products! 🙂

I’m one of the volunteers hosting a challenge this weekend and since birthdays usually come with presents, gift cards, cards, etc., I’d like you to either make a package or alter one! So either take an empty container and alter it or make an envelope box, gift bag, etc. For my examples, I altered/repurposed 2 empty boxes. One was the box my Webster’s Page Pocket TN came in and the other is a square jewelry gift box. Here’s how they turned out:

I started out by applying Finnabair/Prima crackle texture paste and allowed it to air dry. Then used Lindy’s Stamp Gang color shots to bring out the crackle pattern that emerged and give it more color and texture. Next I added bits of Webster’s Pages netting to each box. For the larger box, I added CE chipboard feathers that I altered with gesso and the same LSG color shots I’d used for the base, and a wood veneer heart from the CE Lovers Hearts Set. I finished it off by adding some skeleton leaves and flowers and a flair button from the Birds of a…. set.

A couple of close ups:

For the smaller box, I applied some gesso to one of the corners from the Steampunk Corner Set and snipped off the smallest 2 gears on both sides to better suit my box’s size and layered the cut off bits between the remaining 3 larger gears on the piece. I then topped this one off with a pair of flowers, a couple of metal leaves and layered metal flowers. Then finished it with a blue cameo tucked into the space created they layered elements.

Close ups of the smaller box:

One winner will be selected from all the entries on my challenge to receive this prize pack:

Here are the other prizes that will be awarded for the challenges during the crop (there are FOUR $30 gift vouchers that will be given out)…

IF you do use CE product on your entry projects, you can also enter to win this BONUS PRIZE:

I hope you enjoyed my examples for the challenge! To help give you more ideas, I’ll be posting photo tutorials on how to make an envelope box for A2 sized cards later today and a quick and easy gift bag base tomorrow. 🙂

Some important links:

CE store: https://creativeembellishments.com/

CE fan group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1985585078160468/

Summer ATCs and Coffee Themed Pocket Letter

18 Sep 2017 Comments Off on Summer ATCs and Coffee Themed Pocket Letter

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects Tags: ATC, coffee, Creative Embellishments, Glimmer Mist, laser cut chipboard, Lindy's Stamp Gang, mixed media, pocket letter, shimmer mist, Summer, Tattered Angels, Wood veneer

As we say goodbye to summer and usher in the new season with its cooler weather, I decided to share two separate projects I created recently using some fabulous products by Creative Embellishments. 😀 First up, I created a four ATC set for a trade partner I met through a facebook group. Since all 4 were for a single recipient, I made them all similar, yet different. For the base, I distressed and layered papers that I’d stamped with the CE Distressed Text Stamp and splattered with black India ink, then swiped a bit of gesso onto corrugated cardboard. I topped each cardboard piece with some wood veneer pieces from the CE Summer, Anchor, or Boat Wheel sets. I finished them with a bit of tied twine around each piece. Here’s how they turned out:

Close ups of the individual cards:

Next, I created a coffee themed pocket letter. For the base, I dyed the white cardstock background paper with real coffee grounds, then splattered it with a Lindy’s Stamp Gang color shot and Tattered Angels glimmer mist used the same color shot to add “cup rings” to the page. I then added fussy cut images from a Heartfelt Creations paper pad. I then added my CE Coffee set pieces which include the title (altered using acrylic paint), the layered CE “to go” cup (altered with with gesso and acrylic paint), and the cup and saucer (altered with PITT artist markers). I left the wood veneer Coffee Cup piece bare. Here’s how my pocket letter turned out:

Close ups of each row:

TFL! I hope you enjoyed my projects! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our September Challenge post for info on how to enter for a chance to win the $50 gc prize!