Altered Balsa Box For Swap At My Scrap Room

Warning: Picture Heavy Post!

 TGIF! Today I am sharing the balsa boxes (you can purchase them at Micheals) from a swap over at My Scrap Room, that Yvonne hosted. If you are not familiar with My Scrap Room, you should really check it out. They have monthly swaps, and challenges.

Just in case you never seen a balsa box here is what they look like before:

 Here is the beautiful box my swap partner,  Yvette, sent to me:)

When we got partnered up and e-mailed back and forth we did not give each other any specifics about favorite colors, embellishments etc. We decided to just surprise each other. Without any direction, she totally nailed my box with my favorite colors and embellishments!

Gorgeous!!! I love the flowers and the butterflies. The flowers have so much shimmer. I am keeping my box in my bedroom and using it for some of my favorite jewelry pieces. Here is a photo of some of the fun goodies Yvette sent along with the box:

Here are the crocheted hearts that Yvette makes herself..I think she needs to sell these, LOVE them and am going to hoard them for a while

Thanks again for everything Yvette!!!:)

Here is the box I sent her:

Since I can't get enough of the Pixie Glen paper line from Prima, I used it to cover the box. Before covering it, I painted the entire box and the little wooden feet (sold separately at your local craft store) with Martha Stewart, Pearl Acrylic Paint. I usually use Folk Art and that has always been my favorite, but after using the Martha Stewart I am liking it too. Great coverage, and I really like the consistency.

The little tiny roses and leaves are from I Am Roses. I have been buying all my flowers from there. Great prices, and customer service too. The large pink rose is from Nanne! I was really glad that I had it because it made for a great center to build around..thank you Nanne. The cream flowers are from Recollections (they originally were white). I used my Lindy's Stamp Gang, Magical Micas, in Creme Brulee, to color it. I added a little charm, some bling, and a stick pin.
I changed up the closure a little bit by adding some velcro to the inside, and instead of the wooden button that comes with the box, I added a knob. I still sent Yvette the finished wooded button piece, in case she did not like the knob, so she could easily change it out.

I finished off the inside by adding a piece of the DP from the collection, and stamping a sentiment from my Whimsical Fun Volume One Stamp Set. 

Do you think you would be interested in altering a balsa box? If so do you want to see a tutorial on how I did mine to help you get started? You can visit my post here , if you want to see another box I altered a couple weeks ago.  

Quick Tip

I think it is safe to say if you are a crafter, and do any kind of inking or stamping you own one, or many of the Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I used to store the inking foam pads in a little zip lock bag, and labeled each one with the color of the ink. I was not crazy about the system because it was taking up too much space, so I came up with something else. I added a piece of velcro to the back of the ink pad and the foam pad

so now the foam pad attaches to the back of the ink pad:

and I freed up an entire draw for other crafty items:)

That's all for today. As always thank for stopping by, and have a great weekend.

I wanted to leave you with Yvette's youtube channel so you can see all her awesome videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/DaileyScrapper/videos. You can also see a video and more photos of her altered box!

"Celebrate Spring" Whimsical Wednesday Challenge

Hello crafty bloggers, Happy Spring. Spring has sprung here in NY.  It has been more like summer, we have been having unseasonably warm weather. I think it is suppose to be in the 80's for the next two days. This week the challenge is to create any kind of spring card or project. That can be whatever you want it to be....spring colors, images, sentiment. You decide.

Before I move on to the project I have an announcement. This will be the last Whimsical Wednesday Challenge. I need a break from the challenges for a while, so that I can pursue other things that I am working on. Thanks to all of you who joined us each week, left such lovely comments, and inspired US to keep creating. It has been so much seeing all of your creations, and getting to meet new people.

I am not shutting down my blog, and will still be posting. I am also not going to say that WW is going to be shut down forever. You just may see it re-open sooner or later.

I decided not to post a project today because I wanted it to be all about the DT and showcasing them. 


Now let's see what they created this week:

GiGi 

Nanne

Shelly

Sue

Margie

Michelle

Monica

Heather

Esther

Thank you ladies for another group of wonderful projects. You have inspired me each week with one fabulous project after another. It has been fun working with all of you, and having you on the team. Please be sure to head on over to the Designer's Blogs and say thank you for their time and the inspiration they have provided for our challenges.

Here are the guidelines for this week's challenge:

1. Create any card/project that is inspired by spring

2. When uploading your project please be sure that it is a direct link to your actual post, and not just you blog

3. Only one project per challenge  

4. Please put in your post that you entered your project into this challenge with a link to this blog. I do not ask that you make a project just for my challenge. I know that there are lots of fun challenge blogs out there and I encourage you to play along in as many as you want:) So go ahead and enter your project where ever you like.

5. NO back linking

6. Link your project to InLinkz by April 4 at 12:01am EST
7. Have Fun!!!

8. I reserve the right to delete any entries that do not follow the guidelines

We can't wait to see all your spring project. ;) 

3D Blog Hop

Welcome to the 3D blog hop. You should have arrived here from Jamie's. blog. If you just happened to stop in please head over to our gracious host, Monica, blog to start from the beginning. You can also find out about the grand prizes there. Just be sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs in the hop to become eligible for the them.

My 3D project for today is a 3D box card. This is my first time making one of these. I have to say that I am LOVING them because they are so different;)

 I know that you want to move on quickly so I will have a tutorial on my blog next week on how to make this. For now just some of the important details. The adorable image, Hope, is by Sylvia Zet. You can purchase her at one of my favorite online shops Susana's Custom Art and Card Designs. I think she is one of my favorite stamps of all time!! I colored her with my copics and prisma colored pencils, added lots of glitter, and pop-dotted her to the back. The sweet red rose was sent to me by my dear friend Nanne, and the others are from I Am Roses. I handmade a stickpin and tucked it in under the roses. The ribbon is from Patsy's store, and the charms are from my stash. I used the sentiment from Whimsical Designs, Everyday Sentiments. You can purchase them by clicking on the shop tab above.

Today I am giving away one of my favorite dies from Tim Holtz:

All you need to do is leave me a comment. If you like my blog you can become a follower too..but not necessary for the prize.

I hope you are enjoying the hop so far. Your next stop is Anita.

Altered Balsa Box

I recently joined an online crafting group called My Scrap Room. If you are not familiar with the group, you should go check it out! Last month Yvonne organized a Balsa Box swap. I had bought a bunch of them at Michaels, and they were sitting around waiting to be played with. Once I know my partner received hers I will post that one, and the one she made for me. In the meantime, here is another one I created that went out to another one of my sweet crafty friends. Here is a before photo of the Balsa Box:

Here it is all finished up:

I painted the box with Folk Art Acrylic Paint-Parchment, and then covered it with the paper from the Botanical collection from Prima to cover the box. All of the edges are distressed with SU, Chocolate Chip Ink.  I handmade the larger flower, and added some Diamond Dust. The two smaller roses are I am Roses and sprayed with Lindy's Stamp Gang starburst stain. I added a stick pin that I handmade, a little dragonfly charm, and some say it in pearls by Prima.

Instead of using the the wood button and the string the box comes with it to keep it closed, I attached a crocheted covered button from Prima, and Shabby Crinkle Ribbon from Patsy's Etsy store. I also added some "feet," I think it gives it more of an elegant jewelry box look.

The bottom of the inside is lined with coordinating paper from the pack, and stamped with a sentiment from a Whimsical Fun-Volume One (visit the shop page, above, for more from this set). This was so much fun to make, and makes for a great gift. Did I mention the box is from the dollar section, not a bad deal?!

Just a quick reminder about the 3D blog hop this weekend. Please join us on Saturday at 8:00amEST for a great line-up of talented crafters, super fun 3D project ideas, and great prizes. You will have until Sunday night at midnight to complete the hop.

Hop starts over at Monica's blog.

"Going Green" Whimsical Wednesday Challenge"

This week our challenge (#45)  is to create a card/project and incorporate the color green. Here is my project for this week using the color green:

 As soon as I saw the sketch over at Stuck On You Sketches I could not wait to create something and follow it. It was a lot of fun, but a challenge:) I used the Green At Heart-Basic Grey paper collection for my LO. All of the flowers, except for the little roses are from Prima. I had been hoarding those little butterflies from Recollections forever. I finally pulled them out, and think they go really well with the LO. I used some Wheat Leaves to add a bit of interest to the flowers. All of the edges of the paper are distressed with the Tim Holtz Distress Tool and then inked with Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink (I am really liking that color). I used "Oh Happy Day" from the Whimsical Fun Volume One Stamp set for my sentiment. I thought is fit so well because Emily is on a swing, and has a big smile on her face, having a happy day!

 Here is a photo of the set I used today:

You can purchase Whimsical Designs Stamps in the Shop..just click the tab above.

Now let's see what the awesome DT did with the color green this week.

Margie

GiGi

Theresa

Shelly

Sue

Nanne

Michelle

Monica

Heather

Esther

I am loving all the color combinations the ladies used this week. It is nice to see what colors work well with green! Please be sure to hop on over the designer's blogs for all project info, and to leave them a little love! They put so much hard work into all their project each week to make great challenges, and to bring you fabulous inspiration.

Update on "Going Green"

I have received several e-mail about this weeks challenge and how much green should be on your project. It does not have to be all green. If you chose to make a project that is predominantly green that is fine too. As much as you want or as little as your want. Just green somewhere.

Announcement

I have decided to change the Whimsical Wednesday Challenges to every other week. I am so busy with other things right now, and having a hard time finding time to blog. I am not sure if this is going to be a permanent change. I will re-visit going back to every week in a few months. You will still have two weeks to finish each of your projects and upload it here. 

Feedback

I had numerous request to do a top three for each challenge. I would like to hear how you are all liking that since it has been incorporated. Please leave me a comment just letting me know if it is something that you all like, or if it is something that you would rather not be continued. If you would rather not leave a comment you can e-mail me. Thanks:) 

All of the entries for the "Time Flies" challenge were so inspiring! It is always so much fun to see how you all interpret the challenges. It is so difficult to just chose three each week! Here are your "Time Flies" top three

#4-Lorraine

#8-Caz W

#22-Scrapping Girl

Congrats! Please e-mail me using the contact button above so that I can e-mail you your top three badge:)

Here are the guidelines for this week's challenge:

1. Create any card/scrapbook LO and follow the sketch above. You can flip, and or reverse, the sketch if you chose

2. When uploading your project please be sure that it is a direct link to your actual post, and not just you blog

3. Only one project per challenge  

4. Please put in your post that you entered your project into this challenge with a link to this blog. I do not ask that you make a project just for my challenge. I know that there are lots of fun challenge blogs out there and I encourage you to play along in as many as you want:) So go ahead and enter your project where ever you like.

5. NO back linking

6. Link your project to InLinkz by March 21 at 12:01am EST
7. Have Fun!!!

8. I reserve the right to delete any entries that do not follow the guidelines

Thank you for stopping by today. Just a reminder our next challenge will be in two week, March 21. Have a great week.

I am entering my project in the Stuck On Your Sketches Challenge Blog: follow the sketch, and spring theme

"Getting Sketchy" Whimsical Wednesday Challenge

Hello Whimsical Crafters. Welcome to challenge #44. This week we are "Getting Sketchy" with a super fun sketch that our very own designer, Nanne, created. Thank you Nanne!

Let's see what the Whimsical Team did with the sketch:

Nanne

 GiGi

Margie

Michelle

Heather

Theresa

Shelly

Sue

Esther

Monica

The designers did such a fabulous job with the sketch. Head on over to each of the DT blogs, by clicking on their names, to get all the details on their projects. 

Everyone did such an amazing job on the "Colors Of Love" Challenge. Thanks to all of you that played along.  The top three winners are:

#14 Maria B

#9 Lisa

#20 AmandaB

I know that there were some problems with the linkly last week. It seems to be working okay now. I had my dates all messed up and thought the March first was next week.  I updated the "Time Flies" challenge so that it ends next week March 8. 

Here are the guidelines for this week's challenge:

1. Create any card/scrapbook LO and follow the sketch above. You can flip, and or reverse, the sketch if you chose

2. When uploading your project please be sure that it is a direct link to your actual post, and not just you blog

3. Only one project per challenge  

4. Please put in your post that you entered your project into this challenge with a link to this blog. I do not ask that you make a project just for my challenge. I know that there are lots of fun challenge blogs out there and I encourage you to play along in as many as you want:) So go ahead and enter your project where ever you like.

5. NO back linking

6. Link your project to InLinkz by March 15 at 12:01am EST

7. I reserve the right to delete any entries that do not follow the guidelines

Remember that we have a brand new challenge every week, but each challenge stays opened for two weeks.