I'm delighted to welcome you to my first monthly Artisan Design Team blog hop. For January, we're showcasing the From My Heart Suite. In addition to the stamps, punches and specialty DSP, the suite also includes the versatile heart-shaped lidded baking tins, pretty doilies, a gorgeous Real Red satin ribbon and chunky faceted gems. I've got three projects to share with you that, between them, show off the whole suite.
Here they are together: a lidded box with rose decoration, a small gift box and a card.
First up, the card. I created the background by repeat stamping the small heart stamp. Believe it or not, I used Real Red ink, heavily stamped off. I like the soft variations in colour you get with this technique. The red doily makes a lovely frame for the stamped and punched sentiment. Doesn't the sentiment look good with the slight shimmer that comes from using the Black Shimmery Embossing powder? Cupid's arrow is fussy cut, and popped up on dimensionals. With just straight edges, it's very easy to do.
I think these little heart shaped baking tins have lots of uses. Decorated up, they make a lovely small gift but I think they'd make for gorgeous wedding favours too. I opted for a simple project here. I used a picture of my daughter and partner and punched it out with the heart punch. The heart punch fits nicely inside the doily, as you see. Then I masked out the two words I wanted from the sentiment stamps and popped them up on dimensionals. I added in a couple of the faceted gems to bling it up a bit. Simple, yet effective. Then I filled it up with Hershey's Kisses, just because that seemed appropriate.
The third item I made was a decorated gift box. The base is made with Thick Whisper White card and the top from one of the DSP sheets. If you're unfamiliar with box making, there are instructions all over the internet with ready-made sizing you can try. My one piece of advice is to always cut the lid piece 2-3mm bigger than the base. That way, the lid goes on and off much more easily.
I only made a box because I really, really wanted to see if I could make a rose out of the heart punches and I needed something to put it on! Just before Christmas, I was dead-heading my roses when a very full bloom fell off and came to pieces. I noticed that the petals were shaped like an elongated heart. So, the experimentation began and I came up with this.
I used 16 punched hearts, each one scored at the bottom at about 3mm. That gives you a small tab to glue onto the base. Then I curled the edges inward with my bone folder, increasing the amount of curl with each layer: that is, the outside layers are less curled than the inside ones. They're glued onto a 1" circle of Real Red card in concentric circles, working from the outside in. For the centre, I opted to put in a cluster of faceted gems. For this, the Take Your Pick tool was invaluable! Depending on how you glue, you might need one more or less heart.
The scalloped heart punch was perfect for leaves. I cut them out of Shaded Spruce and inked the edges for definition. I didn't shape them as I wanted them to lie flat on the box.
Finally, I'll share this photo because it shows the 3D items at a better angle and you can see better how the gift box and rose look. And look at that fabulous red ribbon!
Next up on the hop is the magnificent
Lauren Alarid, aka The Crafty Peach.
If you live in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar or clicking on any of products below.
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