No Time To Stamp?

Today I’ll show you how to create your own box to perfectly fit any little gift item you please.  I get a fair amount of emails asking this exact question — “I want to make a box for this or that, and how do I figure how to cut my paper and where to score?”  Well, if that’s something you’d like to know, keep reading — and fair warning, this tutorial is about as simple and basic as it gets.  I am writing this to assume you have no clue where to start.  I don’t mean to offend anyone with my simplicity, but I know many of you truly haven’t done this before and don’t know how to begin.   This is written for those people.  Once you learn this, you’ll have so much fun creating boxes, I’ll bet you won’t be able to stop!!! (I can’t!!!)

Above is the style of box I’ll teach you to do today.  It is a simple base with a slip on cover.  A very simple and elegant box design in my opinion.  For today’s boxes, I just grabbed two items in my house that might be likely items one would purchase for a little gift — I grabbed a bar of handmade, scented soap and a package of square, embossed cards from the $ Bin at Michaels.  Here they are:

The first thing you need to do is determine the size box you need. We’ll start with the soap.  You need to measure it.   It measures 3 x  4.25″.  I like my boxes with a little room inside for tissue paper, so I decided I want my box to be 3.5 x 4.75″.  That’s 1/2″ larger than the soap as to both width and length.  Take a sheet of paper to write your notes and sketch your box.

This is my worksheet.  OK, we know the box is going to be 3.5 x 4.75″.  But how deep does it need to be?  Measure the soap.  It is 1″ thick.  Again, I want room to pad with tissue paper, so I’ll make my box 1.5″ deep.  Now, sketch it out on your paper — it does NOT need to be to scale - just a rough drawing of a rectangle.  Mark the shorter side as being 3.5″ and the longer side as being 4.75″.  Again, this is NOT to scale.  OK, now remember, we need this to be 1.5″ deep.  That means our sides need to be 1.5″ tall.  Draw on all the sides, all 4 sides.  Looking at my drawing, our original rectangle is left in the middle, it has the X on it.  That is the box base, the box size.  We have now drawn the 1.5″ sides all the way around it.  Write on all these sides that they are 1.5″   

Now let’s do some math.  How wide does your box need to be?  The center is 3.5 wide, and the sides (look at your drawing) are 1.5″ each.  There are 2 sides. So you add 3.5, plus 1.5 plus 1.5 =  6.5″.  That’s how wide you need to cut your paper.

Now for the length.  The center of your drawing (box base in the X) is 4.75 long, and you have 1.5″ sides on each end, so that is 4.75 plus 1.5 plus 1.5 = 7.75″.  That’s how long you cut your paper.  So for this box we cut our paper 6.5″ x 7.75″.  That’s 6 1/2″ x 7 3/4″.

Then, where do I score?  Well, remember our sides were 1.5″ high.  That’s where we score — 1.5″ around all 4 sides.  I’m using my full size Scor-It and I have set my guide at 1.5″ so there is perfect consistency on all my scores, making for a perfectly shaped box.

Now we need to clip our corners to form our tabs.  You can see where I’ve clipped, and I actually take out a thin strip, rather just just one clip.  Your box will bind a bit and not form quite as well if you don’t give those corner tabs room to bend in.  This is particularly necessary when using a heavier paper.  Then you need to put tape on your corner tabs.  The tape goes on the RIGHT side of the paper (outside of the box) in the corners.  When you fold this into shape, the tabs go on the inside of the box.  Peel the tape and you’ll be all set!

Stamps:  Small Self-inking  Stamper by JustRite

Paper:  Frosted Orange by Prism, SU Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Scor-It, Ribbon, Tag Die by Spellbinders

Once my box base was made, I wrapped my soap with ribbon and hung on a little tag made using one of the Small Self-Inking Stampers by Justrite.  These stampers have a great assortment of tiny words that fit perfectly into the Tag Dies by Spellbinders.  Such fun for quick tags.  I also made a similar tag to hang on the wrapped box. 

Now you need a box top, and there are no step-by-step photos to show you.  But you make it in exactly the same fashion as the bottom — the only difference is the size you cut the paper.  Cut the paper 1/8″ larger as to both width and length.  This gives you just the right amount of room to easily slide your top over your box bottom.  So for this soap box, you’ll need to cut your paper 6 1/2 + 1/8 = 6 5/8 wide.  For the length you’d figure 7 3/4 + 1/8 = 7 7/8 long.  So cut your box top 6  5/8 x 7  7/8.  Then score it exactly the same as  the box bottom — score at 1.5″ on all four sides.  Finish as above shown.  Slip your cover on, tie with a ribbon, done — GORGEOUS!!!

Now let’s try another box in another size and shape.  This box will  house the white square embossed cards from the $ Bin at Michaels.  Again, we’ll figure it out just like we did above.  Here’s my worksheet:

Again, we start by measuring the item.  The card package is 5 3/4″ square, so we’ll want the box to be 6 x 6″ .  The card package is 1/2″ thick, so we’ll want our box to be 3/4″ high.  Let’s sketch it out like we did above.  Draw your 6 x 6 square in the middle and add your 3/4″ sides on all 4 sides.  Now let’s do the math.  6 plus 3/4 plus 3/4 = 7 1/2.  So cut your paper to a 7 1/2″ square.  Take it to your Scor-It and score 3/4″ from all four edges.  Refer to the photo of the first box to clip on the score lines to form your tabs, adhere tape, and put your box bottom together. 

To make the top, this time I wanted a bit of a tighter fit.  This box is so shallow, it can fit a bit tighter and still go on easily enough.  So I want to make the box top 1/16″ inch larger, rather than the 1/8″ we did above on the deeper box.  So when we add 1/16″ inch to our 7 1/2″ measurement, we get 7 9/16″.  That’s how big you cut your top — 7 9/16″ square.  Make the top just as you did the bottom. Again, done and GORGEOUS!!!

Stamps:  2X Stamper by Justrite

Paper:  Spring Willow Medium by Prism, PTI White

Accessories:  Scor-It, Ribbon, Tag Die by Spellbinders

I made a tag for this box also, this time using one of the 2x Self-Inking Stampers by Justrite.  There’s a great assortment of these fun little stampers as well.  They stamp really great, giving dark and clear images.  Really, when we find good buys like this in the $ Bin, we should stock up and have little gifts like this all made and ready and on hand for those times when we just need a *little something*!

Here’s a Few Tips:

• I usually prefer a heavy weight paper for boxes.  Today I used Prism Prismatics and it works nicely with it’s somewhat leathery texture.   For DP I particularly love Crate Paper for boxes.  It’s a really great weight and texture.  I also got some new 12 x 12 cardstock from WorldWin called Double Mates.  It has has a linen-like texture and it is a different color on each side and of a weight that would work well for boxes.  I think the fact that it is 2 colors would be really fun for these boxes.

• Once you design a box, make it first out of plain white cardstock.  Cut, score and fold it, but don’t tape it together.    This will let you see if it turns out the size you intended.  THEN save this white box as a template for future use.  Because you didn’t tape it, it’ll store flat.  Before you know it, you’ll have a nice collection of box templates at your disposal.

If you’d like to read more about the Scor-It, they have a lot of good info on the Scor-It site.  To purchase either the full sized Scor-It or the Scor-It Mini, you do need to go through a retailer.  My friend Joan over at Joan’s Garden just got her order of Scor-It’s in, I know Ellen Hutson usually has them in stock (listed under Tools), and Marco’s Paper also carries the Scor-It Boards. 

And my apologies — I know I promised info today on my new stick pins.  But this post ran so long again, it is late and I’m so tired — I’ll get it for you tomorow, OK — I’m sorry!!!  Just want to say *thanks* for taking the time to click in and visit — much appreciated!!! Tomorrow we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming of quick, easy and flat cards for the season!!!  Hope to see you then!!!

Grandma had a button box, Stampin’ Up! has the Pretties Kit, and now Stamp Simply has a Bare Necessities Box!  Talk about fun to make and put together!!!   I created this project for a fun *Girlfriend Gift*, and following will be a complete tutorial so you can make one, too — if anyone so desires!!!  This is one of those gifts that is as much fun for the giver as for the recipient!!!  I had so much fun filling up my little boxes!!!  Take a look:

Five small boxes within a sturdy, recycled box base, filled to the brim with fun things for your crafty girlfriend.  A kit filled with any crafter’s Bare Necessities!!!  And the fun Girlfriend card to give with this gift is a Joy Fold Card, another fun project!!!  I’ll show you a few more pictures, then we’ll get down to the nitty gritty of how to make a Bare Necessities Box for yourself.

Here’s a peek inside!!! Ooh, I just smile looking at this!!!  I’ll try to contain myself, but honestly, this was THE most fun project I think I have EVER done!!!  I SO love all these type of things.  Hope the recipient does, too!!!  Lush ribbons, pretty buttons, vintage/recycled pieces of lace, satin flowers and all sorts of pretties — pearls, pins, crystals and charms!

Here’s the Joy Fold Card — so fun to do!!! A great tutorial on this Joy Fold Card, complete with all measurements, can be found at SCS in this tutorial written by Beate — thank you, Beate!!!  This is a quick and fun fold that packs a lot of punch with very little effort!

In this shot I’m just trying to let you see how the card functions!

Here’s the card opened fully.  This fun girlfriend sentiment, as well as the girlfriend greeting on the front, are in a set called Glamour Girls by Crafty Secrets.  I got mine from Joan’s Garden.  And now that you’ve seen the completed card, here’s how I did it:

The card base is 4.25″ x 8.5″, and using my Mini Scor-it, I scored at 3″, so when folded my card base is 4.25″ x 5.5″, a standard sized card.  The smaller card that will be on top is cut 3″ x 8″ and scored at 4″.   That’s it.   Add your DP and assemble as shown in photos or, better yet, refer to Beate’s tutorial linked above.  Can you see my scalloped top (Martha Stewart Scallop Punch) ?  The DP is attached with double sided tape to a piece of SU cardstock — so it is quite thick, but I scored the embossed line above the scallops on my Mini Scor-It without any problems whatsoever — a beautiful embossed line — just a subtle detail, but it’s all the little details that produce a great end result.  Here’s a close-up:

Can you see the detail?  I love it! I think adding a bit of embossing with the Scor-It or Mini Scor-It adds so much, with so little effort!  If you’re not in the habit of scoring lines for embossed detail — give it a try — I think you’ll like it!!!  And, oh YES, my pretty pin!!  This post will be continued tomorrow, and tomorrow I will share information on sources for these beauties!!! And the *Necessities* monogram was done with JustRite products, discussed further down!  Fun!!!   OK, now on to the details for making the Bare Necessities Box.

We’re going to start by covering a recycled box base.  The box I used was 7.25″ square.  And I know many of you may actually HAVE this same box at home.  It is the base only of the box containing the Harmony Circle Stamper III Ensemble.  As you look at the pictures below, my box is pure white and your box will have the graphics of the JR product on it — but it’s the same box.  When I got my Ensemble it was a prototype and just came in the plain box — that’s all!  OK, now to cover our box:

Start by measuring how tall the sides are on  your box.  My box has sides a little over an inch tall.  I wanted to cut my paper about 3 times the height of the sides, so I cut my paper so I had 3″ wide strips.  Then cut your strips as long as the sides of the box - in this case, 7.25″.  Cut 4 strips and then score them right down the middle lengthwise, which for this strip was at 1.5″.  I am using the Scor-It, and as you’ll see above, I am scoring with the paper upside down.  I want the brown side to be the right side — so I want the valley side of the fold on the right side — and to do that I must score with the right side down/wrong side up.

Here’s my 4 scored strips.  This is really an easy way to cover the box and get good corners without much fuss at all.  I cut 4 small pieces to cover the corners, as shown.  I also took a brown marker and colored on the top rim in the corner area – I’m just a bit paranoid about any white showing through - LOL!!! To adhere the paper to the box, my choice is Mod Podge.  I like it for covering projects as it sticks nice and tight and it never peels up  once adhered.  Its quick to work with, but can be a bit messy on your fingers.  But in my opinion it’s worth it for the nice result it yields. OK, once your corners are all covered, take one of the scored strips, lay it on the rim, as shown, and press it to the inside with your fingers and to the underside, tightly creasing both creases as you press.  Once you have formed it to the shape of the box with your fingers, take it off, you will probably have to clip out a bit at the lower inside corner where it goes along the box bottom, and then paint your Mod Podge over the inside of the strip, making sure to cover it all.  Then quickly adhere that strip to the box, again pressing with your fingers — but it’ll go right into place easily as you had already formed it before you had any glue on it.  Press to make sure all the air bubbles are out, then continue on to do the other 3 sides.

When you get the inside done, it’ll look like the box on the left above.  Cut a piece to fit on the inside, which in this case was slightly less than a 7.25″ square, cover the back of the piece with your Mod Podge and adhere in the box, again pressing out all air bubbles.   The 2nd photo shows the completed inside.

And here’s the outside after covering the sides, then after covering the bottom.  In this case, I used a piece just about 7.25″ to cover the bottom.

And now that our box base is done, on to all the little boxes.  The measurements provided below are to fit the above-referred to box.  If you do this you may have a different sized box base you are using.  In tomorrow’s post I will teach you how to determine what sizes you need to cut your paper and where you need to score, for whatever size boxes you need to make.  Please check back tomorrow if that’s something you’d like help with.

All specific measurements for each of the 5 boxes will be listed at the end of this post.  The process is the same for all of them.  Once your box is cut and scored (see measurements below), cut your slits as shown above and apply adhesive of your choice to the corners.  I have them marked with an X above. There is one major difference here from a normal box.  Normally you would adhere your corner tabs on the INSIDE of the box — NOT SO with this box. I want the insides of these boxes to be the nicest sides as that is what we see, so we are going to adhere our tabs on the OUTSIDE of our box, as shown in the photo above.

And here’s a pic of all the boxes in the base.  You can see they are not squeezed in there super tight as I still needed room to attach my labels and I also wanted them to be loose enough that I could easily removed any filled box without a struggle, and I can.  I have also shown my labels partially done.  They are made using the Damask Border Starter Kit I by JustRite, but I used a different font rather than the font in the Kit.  I chose the Special Occasions font for my labels, which can be purchased separately. I used markers to color my Initials and my borders - Real Red and Chocolate Chip — to go along with the the SU Bella Rose DP I’m using.  Once stamped I cut, embossed and framed them using my Petite Circle Nestabilites by Spellbinders.  But this photo does not show the finished label.  If you’ll refer to the finished Bare Necessities Box, you’ll see that I also added a pink scallop framing behind the brown solid matting.  The label as seen above was adhered to the inside of the box and I then adhered the pink scalloped framing to the outside of the box — just gives a more finished look.  And can you see how/why I decorated my labels as I did?  I wondered if anyone would ever get this — R for Ribbon, B for Button, L for Lace, F for Flowers and P for Pearls, Pins and Pretties!!!  (Cute, huh? LOL!!!)

Here’s another front view of the completed Bare Necessities Box.  My Necessities label on the box front was made with the same Special Occasions Font mentioned above and the Small Letter Set for Round Monogram Stamper.  Rather than placing my letters in the round border formation you so often see, I just placed them in the center grid and got a straight word.  I stamped my Necessities first, and then I stamped the N over it. And I’ll wrap it up here with the measurements for each individual box.

One thing that makes these boxes so easy, is that they are all scored exactly the same - 1″ from each edge.  I put my guide/stopper at 1″ so scoring all these boxes was an effortless breeze.  Once scored, cut slits on the score lines as show in this photo and photo up higher in this post, adhere tape to corners and tape.  Remember, as I said above, for this project adhere you corner tabs on the OUTSIDE of the box.  You’ll be done with this project before you know it!!!!

Ribbon Box - Cut paper 5 x 7 - Score 1″ from all 4 edges

Button Box - Cut paper 4 1/8 x 5 - Score 1″ from all 4 edges

Lace Box - Cut paper 6 x 6 - Score 1″ from all 4 edges

Flower and Pretties Boxes - Cut paper 3 15/16 x 4 15/16 - Score 1″ from all 4 edges

These are just so quick and fun to make and could serve any number of purposes.  I hope you get creative and come up with some more fun things to fill up a box you might make!!!  If you’d like to read more about the Scor-It, they have a lot of good info on the Scor-It site.  To purchase either the full sized Scor-It or the Scor-It Mini, you do need to go through a retailer.  My friend Joan over at Joan’s Garden just got her order of Scor-It’s in, I know Ellen Hutson usually has them in stock (listed under Tools), and Marco’s Paper also carries the Scor-It Boards.  These are all great places to deal with!  And if you have any gifts to buy for crafters in your family or circle of friends, consider a Scor-It — I think you’d make someone VERY happy!!!

Thank you for bearing with me though this LONG post.  It will be continued tomorrow with information on how to determine measurements for your own box, of any size, as well as information on the pretty pins I’ve used.   It’s super easy!!!  Thanks for stopping in and I hope to see you all again tomorrow!!!  Have a great day!!!

Presentation is everything!  This begins a multi-part series on quick and simple ways to present your gift items — tricks, treats, teacher gifts, hostess gifts, little gifts – this week I’ll be showing you different ways to contain and present gift items in lovely fashion during the autumn season.  Today I’ll begin by making some gift boxes which is a sure-fired way to give an inexpensive little gift some instant appeal.  Here’s the 3 we’ll be doing today.  Tutorials for all 3 will follow:

I LOVE making boxes — my absolute MOST favorite of all 3-D projects.  They are quick, easy, functional and usually create a big WOW!!!  And WOW is good — especially when you are presenting a little gift that is perhaps NOT so WOW on it’s own — LOL!!! 

I have used Crate paper, Crush Collection, for all three of these boxes.  The tags were either punch-outs that came with the paper, or something I made using the same paper.  I LOVE Crate paper for boxes.  It is nice and heavy, it has a great texture, and it even has it’s own smell — have you ever noticed that?  Really, it does!!!  I’ve had this paper for quite some time and over the years I’ve purchased Crate products from both Jacksonbelle Embellishments and Eclectic Paperie.  This is THE perfect box paper!!!

I’ll start with the upright narrow box on the left.  It measures 4 x 8 and it houses a simple set of Autumn themed metal cookie cutters made by Wilton from Wal-Mart.  They were $2.47 and came tied on a cardbooard backing with metal twist ties — MOST unattractive.  I love metal cookie cutters and thought they would be nice for a little teacher treat or girlfriend gift — anytime!  Take a look:

A pumpkin, leaf and a turkey — fun — resting on some shredded paper also purchased from Wal-Mart.   It makes a great filler!!!  The box top slips over, it gets tied with a pretty ribbon, a tag hung on, and ready to go!!!  Here it is all wrapped up:

This tag was a punch out that came with the paper and I used my Harmony Rectangle Stamper by JustRite with the Brayton alphas to stamp my To and From.  The edges were DTP’d with the ink as well (Palette Burnt Umber).  My ribbon is 1.5″ wide striped grosgrain by May Arts.  The trick in doing this box is to make sure the top is a tad larger than the bottom — then it slides on and off so nicely.  Here are my hand-written templates — nothing fancy — but I hope it’ll get the information across to you.

I used my full sized Scor-It to quickly and easy make these boxes.  To make the box bottom, cut the paper 11 7/8 x  7 7/8, then simply score 2″ from all 4 outer edges.  Fold on the score lines, and then cut on the lines highlighted in  yellow, and assemble the box using a strong double sided tape. 

About scoring on the Scor-It:  The Scor-It makes a hinged score which is a very functional score that works extremely well, but you should be sure to fold the paper in the right way so your hinged score works properly.  When you score, one side is indented and one side is humped out (highly professional terms — LOL!).  The INDENTED side is the OUTSIDE of the fold.  An easy way to remember without having to think each time, when you lay your paper on the cutter, put it upside down — so the side you want for the FRONT, is laying down against the rubbery pad — then it’ll come right.  You will actually be running your scoring tool along the WRONG side.  Easy –

And here’s the box top.  Cut your paper 10 x 6, and then simply score 1″ from each outside edge, fold, cut on yellow lines, tape, and done!!!  See how we made the box bottom a bit smaller — now this top will slide on and off very easily!!!  When you try it, you’ll see!!! 

My second box holds a $1 Wal-Mart jar candle.  I tied a ribbon on the jar (it is Crate ribbon to coordinate with the paper).  And even though this candle was very inexpensive, it smells just luscious!!!  Mulled Cider — how perfect for a crisp fall evening!!!  I lined the box with more of the shredded paper and it perfectly protects and nestles the candle.  Here it is all wrapped up.

This tag was another punch out in the Crush pack of paper.  I used a very old PSX stamp for the To and From.  The brown hemp I am using to tie on my tags is from the jewelry making section of Wal-Mart.  I am particularly fond of this 3.5″ square box.  Here’s the templates for it:

For this square box bottom, cut your paper 10.5 x 10.5 and score 3.5 from each outside edge.  Fold, cut on yellow lines, tape and assemble.  You can see I have my paper guide set at 3 1/2 inches.  When I’m just scoring cards on my Scor-It, personally,  I don’t use the guide.  I find it very easy to just lay my paper on the correct measurement.  But when I’m making a box, it is really important to get all your measurements accurate to make the box fit correctly, so I do use my paper guide for boxes.  It easily adjusts to any measurement you need.  Here’s the box top:

Again, I wanted this slip on box top to be a bit larger than the bottom, so I added that 1/8th of an inch — it makes all the difference.  Cut your paper 7 5/8″ square, and score 2″ from all four edges.  Again fold, cut on yellow, tape, assemble.

And here’s my last little gift item.  This box measures 4 x 6 and is only 1″ tall.  It holds ribbon — what a great gift for a stamping friend!!! The box top is made of acetate or clear cardstock, allowing us to see the gift inside — how cool!!!  This time I made the box top smaller rather than larger than the base.  Can you see how this box top goes INSIDE the box.  Making it that 1/8 inch smaller does the trick.  This functions very nicely as well as shows off the gift inside!!!  I made this tag using the same PSX stamp and a die cut tag from Tags Five by Spellbinders.  Here’s the templates:

Cut box bottom 6 x 8 and score 1″ from each of the 4 edges.  Finish off as the above boxes.

And here’s the template for the acetate box top.  It’ll be just a tad smaller than the box and it’ll slip inside the box as displayed above just perfectly!!!  And don’t fret about having to score your acetate or clear cardstock.  It’s no problem at all using the Scor-It — it’ll score just like butter.  You will have to apply a bit more pressure than you normally use when scoring cardstock, but you’ll be able to tell/feel once you start — it’s no problem at all.  Once scored, it is harder to fold the acetate than cardstock, but just use your fingers to press it down on all 4 sides, and once it takes its shape it’ll hold it well.  These are SO FUN to make when you can see through and into the box!!!

If you’d like to read more about the Scor-It or find a retailer near you, you can do all that on the Scor-It site.  They do not sell the Scor-It boards from their site, but I know Ellen Hutson carries them (they are under TOOLS, her service is phenomenal) and in doing a Google search I also came up with another store that I’ve been unfamiliar with — Marco’s Paper.  And while I was cruising their site — guess what???  Michelle Zindorf is running some of her brayering classes there — how cool is that!!! OH, I only WISH I could go, and I even checked the map, but it’s way too far for this country girl!!!

Thanks so much for stopping in — always appreciate it!!! Part II continues tomorrow with more gift presentation ideas.  Hope you try some boxes — they are SO fun!!!  Talk to you later!!!

A boutique gift item?  Sure looks like it!!!  What fun to change a $4 Wal-mart bag of potpourri (but it does smell delicious!!!) into an item that looks like it came from an expensive boutique!!!   This  was super quick and easy with the use of 2 items to make this a standout gift — the personalization with a JustRite Monogram Stamper C30 Kit and all that luscious ribbon!!!  Take a look:

Isn’t this just so pretty!!! I love it just as much as I loved making it.  For this project I used the smaller of the self-inking monogram stampers by JustRite, the C-30.  In all my past projects using the self-inker I have used the C-45, which is the same size as all the original round wood stampers.  But today I wanted a monogram a bit smaller, so the C-30 was the perfect choice at 1 3/16″.    I have never used my C-30 before, and as it came with a double sided pad that was filled with black ink on one side and empty on the other, I decided to fill the empty side with SU Handsome Hunter ink.  I have had great success using the SU ink refills in all my pads for the self-inking stampers by JustRite.  Here’s a series of pictures to show you how easily it is done:

Photo 1 shows the ink pad with no ink on the side you are seeing. The other side has the black ink from the factory.  I took the pad out of the C-30 to ink it up.  Photo 2 shows you how I have begun to fill the pad with drops of ink.  It saturates in quite quickly, but if it beads up, just wait a few seconds and keep going until your pad appears to be evenly saturated with ink, as shown in photo 3.  Now, I’ve heard it said that you are supposed to wait a bit for the ink to evenly saturate and settle before using your stamper; however, I  haven’t really found that to be necessary when using the SU ink refills.  I usually stamp within a couple minutes.   The first 2 or 3 images may be splotchy, but they clear up immediately!!!  On this stamp today, my S was not accepting the ink evenly, so that told me that it needed to be conditioned, or roughed up a bit to give the rubber some tooth to better hold onto the ink.  I just went over it with a pencil eraser very quickly, and that did the trick.  However, on some of the larger stamps with more surface area to cover with ink, it may be necessary to condition with something a bit more rough.  Just realize if ink is beading up on your rubber, you need to condition your rubber to give it a bit more tooth.  And as far as actually using your C-30, it works just like the C-45.  Taylor over at Taylored Expressions has prepared a perfect video to show you how to do this if you aren’t familiar, and you can see Taylors video here.

Once my Monogram was stamped, I used all punches on this project, making it super quick and easy.  The monogram itself was punched with the SU 1 1/4″ punch, the matting was punched with the SU 1 3/8″ punch, and the scallop was punched with the SU round scallop punch.  After adhering all layers together, I pierced the scallops.  The small yellow punch is my Deco Corner punch by All Night Media. I can’t even tell you how old this punch is — I think it was one of the first I ever purchased when I began to stamp maybe 10 years ago.  I used it to punch the corners.  If you have any of those great new Spellbinders dies, those would work wonderfully for a project such as this!!!  Here’s a closeup of the monogram:

And all that great ribbon is my new favorite, 1.5″ wide grosgrain by May Arts.  Don’t you just love it!!!  Here’s a close up of the card, which is 3.5″ wide x 4 high.  Such a fun project!!!  See how the ribbon is wrapped around the card?

• Stamps:  Monogram Stamper C-30 Kit by JustRite

• Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, Crafty Secrets Earthy Pad

• Ink:  SU Handsome Hunter

• Accessories:  May Arts Ribbon, SU Taffeta, SU Brads, Mounting Tape, Piercer and Mat Pack, SU Punches:  1 1/4″, 1 3/8″, Scallop.  All Night Media Deco Corner Punch.

Thank you so much for stopping in to look!!!  I’ll be back tomorrow with all the Stamp Simply Designers with another fun challenge!!!  Hope to see you then!!!  Have a great day!!!

This is it folks — Blog Candy #18 — the last for this party — LOL!!!  HOWEVER, the folks over at JustRite, who so graciously donated today’s Blog Candy, are in a partying mood and the Blog Candy Parade continues at the JustRite Blog, so when you’re done here, take a skip on over to the JustRite Blog to see what is up over there!!!  Their first Blog Candy post is here, and keep watching for more!!!

OK, now for today’s Blog Candy here — I have one of the NEW items — HOW FUN!!!   It is the Christmas Ensemble and the Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III.  This is probably my favorite of the new products — I just LOVE this large circle.  It is 3.25″ and the Christmas Ensemble contains 6 different rings and 6 different centers, giving you a nice variety of sentiments all set to go!!! 

Today I chose to do a really quick Christmas gift item.  I had a nice Natural Soy Candle in a glass jar with no label on it, so this was the perfect jar to decorate for a gift.  Take a look:

I first wrapped the jar with 2 prints from the new SU Christmas paper called Holiday Treasures — really nice paper, I love it!!!!  I recently got a nice supply of May Arts wide ribbon (which are my favorite type of ribbons!!!), and I tied this ribbon (1.5″ wide grosgrain) around the neck of the jar and made a nice big bow.  It took 32″ of ribbon to do this and, in my opinion, worth every inch of it!!!  The snowflake was actually left over from a project a few days ago — but it was die cut on the Cuttlebug with the Ice Crystal die, using a heavy white cardstock.  I got the die from Jacksonbelle Embellishments and just LOVE it — it’s going to get a lot of use this winter season!!!  There is a little rhinestone on the snowflake center.  Here’s a top and side view:

This is a side view of the jar so you can see the bow and a top view so you can see what I made with the JustRite Christmas Ensemble.  I set my large stamper III up with this fun Merry  Christmas in the center and the holly ring.  I stamped it first with Versa Mark and embossed the center Merry Christmas with dark brown embossing powder and cut the center portion only with my Petite Circle Nestabilities.  Then I sponged the edges of this sentiment with brown ink.  Then I  inked my stamper up again with Versamark and this time embossed the outer holly ring border.  Then I cut out the entire circle with my Nestabilities, colored the holly with markers.  I layered the Merry Christmas on top, framed it with a scallop circle, and DONE!!!   Could this have been done by just stamping it once — absolutely — I just like the added little bit of interest that comes with layering, plus it then gave me an edge to sponge, creating more definition.  This was then attached to the wood candle top with glue dots and now I truly AM done with this little gift.  Quick and simple!!! And FUN!!!

• Stamps:  Christmas Stamp Emsemble for 3.25″ Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III by JustRite

• Paper:  PTI White, SU Chocolate Chip and SU Holiday Treasures Designer Paper

• Ink:  Versa Mark, SU Chocolate Chip.  Markers in red and green.

• Accessories:  1.5″ striped grosgrain by May Arts, Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Brown Embossing Powder, Sponge, Rhinestone, Glue Dots

To sign up for this Blog Candy, merely leave a comment below.  All comments received prior to 6:00 p.m. EST on  Friday will be in the drawing, with the winner to be selected by Random.org.  The winner will be announced on Saturday.  Good luck everyone!!!

Thanks so much for stopping in!!! Have a good week ahead!!!

The winning number selected by Random.org is #346, Cindy H.  Huge Congrats, Cindy!!!  Here’s what she had to say:

Cindy H. Wow, this is just a gorgeous gift!! I love the look you achieved with the layered circles and your generous bow (definitely your signature)…well that is just luscious!!! Thanks for all the chances at an awesome array of blog candy!!! I’ve missed out on some chances because I was on vacation:( I’m certain though that some lucky ladies are doing the happy dance after winning these wonderful blog candies:)Sep 17, 1:27 PM

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

346

Timestamp: 2008-09-19 23:49:23 UTC

Thank you so much everyone for playing along.  Much appreciated!!!