Broadway Bound Good Luck... and Ombre Tuesday Tip!

Imagine the scene... the sudden realisation that you have less than an hour to make, address, photo..., get to the Post Office and send a card and a treat box to wish your son well in his exams... or you are going to miss the post and they will arrive the day after his first exam! As it is a Bank Holiday weekend...

So these happened! Talk about speed crafting... Broadway Bound papers... 

Amazing Life stamps (the ones in the bundle with the Rectangles Stitched dies! Still available with 10% off till 3rd June)... 

And of course our very favourite Stitched Shapes dies...

But he will be happy... as the box contains not one but two bars of chocolate! 

And oh yes... you guessed it... I covered one of those Lemon Lime Twist boxes I had already made...well speed was of the essence!! 

But for you... link to the tutorial here! 

Wouldn't care... but I seem to remember I was in the same last minute state last year! Though I blame the Bank Holidays of course!

And oh... nearly forgot.... My Ombre tip for today... 

See the word LUCK... coloured in with a Marker Pen... then coloured over the bottom again... with the same marker pen!! 

Simples!! Just wish I had take a close up shot for you...

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Sweet Sunday.. Box for 2 Chocolate Bars with Tutorial

So lots of these were made this week... as my ladies got their Easter Makes on! A box designed from one piece of A4 card... to hold 2 Milka or Cadburys Dairy Milk chocolate bars... or any of the more widely available "thinner taller chocolate bars" with the frilly bit at either end...

The ladies in this week's class all have big family gatherings for Easter... and so like to spend some time with me decorating lots of Easter Treats for the table...  So I have to keep things decorated simply... as they don't want to have to stay overnight!!!

This is a project I was determined to make this year... all of my friends and family Easter makes and sends in the past have been something lovely and decorative... and usually cute... but with... not a lot of chocolate!!

So this year I will send lots more chocolate... 2 Milka bars going in all mine... But something simpler and more stylish for presentation... as (apart from 2) they are all getting too old for cute Easter chicks and bunnies... Though I did have to laugh as... for once... I loved the pop of bright colour for the boxes... Lemon Lime Twist particularly doing it for me!! And everyone else as it happened...

I used the Petal Passion papers... as then everyone can colour as much or as little as they wished....

Craft Spa Recipe
A4 Card 25 x 21cm (ie A4 width)(9 3/4" x 8 1/8")
Papers - Top 10.5 x 14cm (4 1/8" x 5 1/2"); Bottom 5 x 10.5cm (US 4 1/8" x 2")

Craft Spa Instuctions
1. PORTRAIT(short edge at top). Score 1, 9, 11 & 19cm (3/8", 3 1/2", 4 1/4" & 7 3/8")

2. LANDSCAPE(long edge at top) with the narrow section at the bottom. Score 2, 4 & 23cm (3/4", 1 1/2" & 9")

3. Bone Fold all lines

4. Cut as per Template (Note the thin red lines for sections you want to dart as you cut. Neater if you keep those wider bottom sections as straight as possible...)

5. 3/4" Circle Punch as per Template

6. Apply glue and adhere Box together as per Template in following order for ease/neatness.. we used Tear & Tape for all sections apart from the lid... where we used Tombow Multipurpose

(1) Lid sides first checking they fold in nicely! (TIP- partially doubling them up this way makes for a  stronger lid)
(2) Narrow side section (TIP- line up tape glue along the fold edge rather than in the centre or open edge)
(3) Small bottom side tabs
(4) Back bottom wide tab (TIP - use a ruler to go into box to bottom so you can apply some pressure up against the ruler to stick things together firmly...)
(5) Front bottom wide tab (TIP - again using your ruler)

7. Cut 1.5cm (1/2") from either side of the papers (when PORTRAIT ie short edge along top)
8. Adhere longer pieces
9. Adhere side shorter pieces
10. Adhere ribbon to wide shorter piece (TIP - colour first as required! Blends or Markers will do the job... but let marker coloured ones dry a bit!)
11. Adhere centre/wider paper piece

11. Decorate as required...
We used a die cut Stitched Shapes circle (2nd smallest) and then stamped using just the leaves from the Sale A Bration Amazing You flower stamp in Lemon Lime Twist... plus a silver embossed Easter greeting from the retired Springtime Blossom set... though some were made using Happy from Perennial Birthday and Easter from Teeny Tiny Sentiments ( but too much faff to actually use in a bulk making class!)

And here are about half of them all neatly assembled and ready to go... the rest were a little bit of homework after all!!

Please note that the inches (imperial) are a literal conversion of the project rather than one tweaked to US Letter card... so either can be used... but do cut & score in the same system!.... Though personally ... even though I am an inches girl... I just found this one easier in metric (centimetres)!

Mini Egg Carton - Moo on Monday!

Following on from the Easter Chick and the Easter Bunny... I then moved onto a cow!

I can hear some of you asking... why a cow!? Probably something to do with the fact that Milka Chocolate is probably my favourite chocolate - especially those very big bars I used to bring back from many a French ski holiday!!

And when you have seen a "purple cow" skiing (and handing out chocolate... to kids!!! Cough!) around the French Alps during the Easter holidays... then it all becomes a logical choice... though I couldn't go the whole way and actually make my cow purple... maybe next year!

Ano hey...guess what! The cow was the most popular make here for Easter!!! But I forgot to take the photo of the herd!!!

SU! Products Used
Stamps - Playful Pals, Perpetual Birthday Calendar (blobs), Basket Bunch (flower)
Dies - Stitched Shapes, Baker's Box (nostrils, mouth), Playful Pyramid
Circle Punches - 1 3/4", 1/2"
Embellishments -  Subtles Enamel Shapes (So Saffron)

Milka Chocolate Bar Pull Treat Holder with Travelling Tag! and the Tutorial

Remember these posted just the other day…

Well not only have mine multiplied but I have had lots of emails asking me for the directions for this years’ Easter treats … so here they are for those of you that have already gone out and bought your chocolate bars!  No pressure!!!
All of these wishes were from Europe – so I have left the tutorial as metric – as that suits the bar I used….
Oh and I have to add…. I loved the nickname given by Karen… the Pull Bar with the Travelling Tag… I think that sums up the extra element of this project perfectly!
And for those of you that needed to know…. The size of my Chocolate Bar is 100g in weight and 5cm wide x 18,5cm long x almost 1cm deep
Recipe
Box: 19 x 21cm
Tag: 5.1 x 18cm
DSP (Paper): 7,5 x 15,6cm
White Panel for Stamping: 4,6 x 15,6cm
Ribbon: 46cm (18”)
Twine: 22cm (9”)
Punches – Ornate Tag Topper Punch, 1/4” Handheld Circle
DSP (Paper) – Painted Blooms
Stamps – For Peeps Sake, Happy Easter Bunny ( see what I have done to my stamp at the end!!!)
Instructions
1. With large box panel PORTRAIT, score at 8,9,17 & 18cm

2. Turn 90degrees so LANDSCAPE with 2 narrow score lines across the top
3. Score LANDSCAPE at 19 & 20cm

4. Bone Fold all score lines
5. With panel PORTRAIT and narrow sections to bottom and to LHS - cut up all 4 bottom score lines (see red lines)

6. Cut out 2 outer bottom sections (see red striped sections)

7. Apply glue to small tabs and outer narrow sections (bottom and side)
Sorry for awful photos here – don’t know what happened!


8. Adhere 2 small tabs to inner bottom section

9. Pull over outer bottom section & remove protective tape

10. Adhere long outer side section

11. Adhere paper
12. Punch ¼” circle through top ( about ¼ cm down from top line of paper)

13. Punch Tag ( I used the Ornate Tag Topper Punch)
14. Stamp & adhere white panel to Tag
15. Place Tag hole over box hole

16. Insert ribbon from inside the box up through these 2 holes

17. Place chocolate bar inside the box with the ribbon underneath it

18. Holding onto the front end of the ribbon - push chocolate bar into the box allowing the ribbon to slide under it and ending up with the 2 ribbon ends the same length ( you may find you need to adjust ribbon to size to achieve this!)

19. Knot ribbon and make a twine bow around the knot


20. Now when you pull on the bow, the chocolate bar and the Tag move up the box to surprise the recipient!



21. And here is the view behind the Tag. Looks SO SO SO much better with the Travelling Tag added!!

Now I know a few of you will be saying…where is that Happy Easter Bunny in the Spring Summer Catalogue….
I was guilty too…I just didn’t spot it until I saw it used by another demo – and then I fell in love!!
So here is the image…

And here is (actually are) my stamps….
 
I just cut out the Bunny before I mounted the stamp… the Bunny being mounted on a spare wooden block I had lying around… eh voila! – Easy Bunny stamping…. I wouldn’t have him any other way!!
Right – off to nurse my aching back – my new “heat rub” definitely needed now …..