Counting down...

We're past the middle of the month, now.  It's just a bit over a week before the big day.  Are you ready?  I sure hope you are because I'm simply not.

I haven't quite finished accumulating all the gifts I had in mind.  For a couple of people that means I'd better get motivated or they're facing an empty spot under the tree.  That wouldn't do at all.  And there are those "little things" I'm still considering getting to bulk out one or two stockings.  And the time is ticking!  I can actually hear it in the background.

I've put together a few decorated boxes.  Some you've seen as I've made them for blog hops or posts.  One that I finished last week makes me really happy.  I had bought a couple of boxes from the local Dollar Store (yes, the one with those awesome little frames I've fixated on for a while) and had some thought of decorating them.  Finally, last week I tackled one of them and I'm so happy with the results.  It's a good-sized box, too, which means it can hold something special.  It's a 5" x 5" square and is 2 1/2" high.  Like I said, a good size.  A pretty scarf can easily fit inside or a goodly stash of candies (or tea).

I have been using the Joyful Christmas poinsettia quite a bit this year.  It's so incredibly beautiful and lends itself to so many cards and projects.  You won't be surprised to hear that I used it again for this project.  This time, however, I only used it to heat-emboss the poinsettia in gold in the centre of the lid.  After that I dug out my Watercolor Winter stamp set from last year and went wild.  That stamp set is a perfect compliment to this year's Joyful Christmas stamp set, don't you think?

I love it when I can use stamp sets in conjunction with each other.  It's quite an investment to have a stamp set that serves only one purpose.  When it can be used with another set or to compliment current sets, it's definitely a bonus.  I guess what I'm saying is "buy what you really love".  Most of the time you will re-use it.

So, around the gold heat-embossed poinsettia on the lid of the box, I stamped some of the pine twig and the pine cones in Always Artichoke and Early Espresso respectively.  I added a bit of Gumball Green with my markers to give the pine needles more presence and coloured in the pine cone using my Baked Brown Sugar marker.  Then I used my Strawberry Parfait marker to colour and shade in the heat-embossed poinsettia.  A bit of sponging around the edge of the lid using my Gold Encore stamp pad and the lid was looking really nice.  All it needed was one of those exquisite Frosted Finishes Embellishments in the centre to be perfect.

The rest of the box had to be worthy of this lid.  I knew immediately that I wouldn't use the Joyful Christmas stamp set any longer.  The sides of the box were too shallow at 2 1/2" to fit that beautiful, large poinsettia.  The small poinsettia from last year's Watercolour Winter, was exactly the right size.  And so, for the sides, I used the poinsettia and the pine twig from that set.  Instead of colouring each poinsettia the same colour as the one on the lid, I chose to match the lid on two sides and to colour the poinsettias on the other two sides with my White Stampin' Chalk Marker.  I love the way the chalk marker lets you layer the colour just like the markers do.  Of course I also sponged some Gold Encore ink on the edges of each side of the box.

Doesn't it look pretty all stamped and coloured up like this?  The whole box is so stunning that I'm almost reluctant to give it up.  I just hope the recipient loves it as much as I do.

After all, this is a box that could become someone's special memory-holder.  Wouldn't that be great?