Adapting the Curvy Keepsake Box and Winding up With Tummy Boxes---My Tutorial

NOTE:  I began writing this a few weeks ago but realized I needed more pictures if the tutorial was going to make sense.  Panic set in when I couldn't locate my Curvy Keepsake Box thinlit.  The last time I had used it was at the Charity Scrapbooking Crop which I had attended and for which I provided make-n-takes.  A frantic phone call to the organizer did not turn up the missing thinlit, nor did her messages to the attendees.  And so this post was put on hold.  What good would it be without the appropriate photos to show precisely how to make my little adapted tummy box?

Time passed and finally, a couple of days ago I pulled the comforter out of the back of my SUV, intending to clean it since the dogs had been all over it.  And suddenly I heard a metallic clang---a soft one, but still, a clang.  I checked the cement floor of the garage and there it was!  My thinlit had jumped out of the bag into which I had packed it after the Crop and was just hanging out, having a good old time travelling around with me.  Well, no more.  I've put it to work again and here it is.  My tutorial is finally ready.

I love using the Curvy Keepsake Box.  I've used it countless times as it was designed to be used, and decorated it up with great success.

I've even used it as a wrap, adapting it to be used with just two sides.  That has been a lot of fun and well received.

And then I designed the Tummy Boxes, another adaptation of the Curvy Keepsake Box.  These have been terrific little gift boxes for Christmas but could be used anytime, for all sorts of different occasions.  Here, if you haven't seen it yet, is my little Snowman Tummy Box:

He's easy to make.  I'm going to lead you through the process and have taken pictures as I've gone along.  The fun thing is that once you've made my little snowman, the sky is the limit.  You can change the colours of cardstock and make a gingerbread man, Santa, any of the elves or even a reindeer.  Your imagination is your limit with this adaption of the Curvy Keepsake Box.

Ready?  Let's begin.  For the initial box you'll need the Curvy Keepsake Box thinlit, of course. Before I began cutting, I took a black marker and drew lines on the sides of my thinlit as shown:

If you find this difficult to read, on the left it says 2" from cutting

bar. (this will be the front).

On the right it says 1 1/2" from cutting bar. (this will be a side).

Materials:

Heavy weight Whisper White, piece 1:  4" x 6 1/2"
Heavy weight Whisper White, piece 2:  4" x 4 1/2"

Real Red cardstock, optional:  1 7/8" x 1 7/8"

24" of your choice of 1/8" ribbon.

Tear & Tape Adhesive

Tools:

Big Shot
Curvy Keepsake Thinlit
1/8" Hole Punch
Scissors

Step-by-step photos:

Now assemble your box the way you normally would, using the adhesive of your choice to hold the bases together.  I've used Fast Fuse because I find it holds beautifully.  Then, if you wish to have a liner for your base, adhere the piece of Real Red to the inside bottom.  I also used my scissors to curve the corners of the front.

Cut your piece of ribbon.  Find the center of the ribbon and place the ribbon across the back of the box, on top of the Tear & Tape Adhesive. 

You are now ready to begin lacing the ribbon through the holes you've punched.

Once you've pulled the ribbon through the punched holes, as shown, you can pull the sides and front up and tie the bow in front.

And that is basically how to make the Adapted Curvy Keepsake Box.  It becomes the "tummy" of whatever character you decide to make.

The following is how I've made it into a snowman.

I've shaded around the perimeter of the head by using a sponge and Basic Grey ink.  I drew the eyes using my Basic Black Stampin' Marker as well as all those little "pieces of coal" which make up his mouth.  The nose is actually the ice-cream cone framelit from the Snow Friends framelits with the "ice-cream" cut into a smaller circle.  It was cut from a piece of Tangelo Twist cardstock and the little "carrot-wrinkles" were hand-drawn using the Tangelo Twist Stampin' Marker.  I used the Blushing Bride Stampin' Marker to colour in his cheeks.

You can see that I've curved the "arms" from the baby's onesie for the brim of the hat and also curved the top of the hat.  I glued a piece of the matching striped ribbon around the hat and attached a sprig of holly using the Snow Friends framelit and matching stamp.

Finally, the arms.  If you follow my lines, you can get both arms from the circle which you've already cut.

You can see how easily the circle becomes two arms.

I used Tombo glue to attach the head and arms after  sponging a bit of Basic Grey to give the body, arms and head some "dimension".  I attached a blank white circle to the back of the head to hide the cut-out from the Curvy Keepsake Die.

You can see how everything is attached from the back.

Lastly I used the Owl Builder Punch and cut five little circles (the second largest of the punch) and attached them to his body and the front of the box.  This is the completed little snowman.  He's a lot of fun to make and his "tummy" holds a lot of candies.

As you can see, a lot of candies fit into his waiting tummy.

And here, just for fun, is a little Gingerbread "tummy" Man which I created from the Kraft paper.

I hope you enjoy making your own little "tummy" people and animals.  Your imagination is your limit.  If you have any questions, just email me or ask in my comment section.

I'd love to see your creations, as well.

I've entered my little Gingerbread "tummy" Guy into the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge.

And I've also entered him into the {PIN}spirational Challenge.

WWC47 - Lots of Joy

This week Marsha has provided us with a colour inspiration for the Watercooler Wednesday challenge.  The beautiful image is ours to use thanks to Design Seeds

When I chose the colours for my card, I knew I would use Pacific Blue and then chose complimentary colours which are in the Stampin' Up! palette.  In the end I wound up with, of course, Whisper White as my base.  The rest of the colours are Sky Blue (ink for stencilling the stars in the background), Night of Navy (as my second layer), Pacific Point (as my star and the background in the smaller ornament), Marina Mist (as the background in the larger ornament), Smoky Slate (as my smaller oval) and Basic Grey (as my larger oval).  I've also used Silver Foil, but that is considered a neutral just as the white is, and is therefore allowed.  

I had fun making this card.  I really wanted something different that covered most of the wonderful blues and greys in Marsha's photo.  I think I managed to do that.

Please come and check out the other Watercooler Artists' designs at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and then link up your own version of this colour inspiration.

PCCCS174 - Merry Christmas (through the window)

Time for another Paper Craft Crew Challenge and this one is is a fun sketch.  I wanted to have a Christmas scene through a window but decided not to use the window framelit for this card.  Instead I cut a rectangle into four smaller rectangles and stamped the scene on those, mounting them onto a larger piece of Real Red cardstock to make them appear like window panes.

The diagonal striped piece is from the Holidays Fancy Foil Designer Vellum.  The little Christmas tree is fussy cut from the Home for Christmas Designer Series paper and that cute little gift is simply Red Foil tied up with a piece of the Garden Green 1/8" Striped ribbon.  I've used the tree scene from the Happy Scenes set as well as the Santa from the Holiday Homes set (retired).  Finally, the cute Siamese cat is from the Festive Fireplace set.

I invite you to come over to the Paper Craft Crew Challenge and see what you can do with our sketch.

WWC46 - Silent Night

I love CAS challenges and when Jean Fitch chose to make her challenge for our Watercooler Wednesday challenge masculine as well, I was anxious to get started.

I decided to make mine a Christmas card.  It's not always easy to find something strictly masculine among the many Christmas cards on display, is it?  For my husband, for example, I usually try to have something of an outdoor theme on a card.  He is an avid fly fisherman and has hunted for most of his life.  His job, too, has taken him to many wilderness places that some people only dream of seeing.  With this in mind, I chose the elk image from The Wilderness Awaits stamp set.  To that I added the beautiful tall pines from the Wonderland stamp set as well as the sentiment from the same set.

I kept my card very simple (of course) and kept to an almost complete black and white palette.  I say "almost" because I did add a touch of colour to the elk, using my Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake Stampin' Markers.  While my husband may not understand the concept of "clean and simple", I know he'll love the card.

I hope you'll check out the other CAS cards created by our Watercooler Artists at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've also entered my card into the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge since their's is, serendipitously, CAS this week.

PCCC173 - A Very Merry Christmas

I really enjoyed creating my card for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge this week.  It was a sketch that put an idea into my head immediately.  I knew I wanted this to be a Christmas card and I also knew that I wanted to include a red foil butterfly.  I love butterflies at Christmas!

When you check out the sketch, you'll notice that instead of the splatter, I've used snowflakes.  Instead of the oval, I've used a Deco Label.  Instead of the hexagon, I've used my wonderful red Foil butterfly.  I have white and silver silk butterflies all over my Christmas tree.  No-one can tell me that butterflies aren't a part of Christmas.  In fact, my grandsons think my butterflies come from the North Pole.

It's fun to take a sketch and make it your own.  You can see all the ways in which I've changed the sketch, shown below, but you can also see all the similarities.  Check out what everyone else on the Design Team has created from this sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge this week.

Joy!

As Christmas approaches, one is filled with a sense of joy.  The beautiful decorations on the tree.  The wonderful lights along the streets.  The music---oh yes, the music!  That truly brings me joy.  How serendipitous, therefore, that Addicted to CAS has JOY as their theme.  With that in mind, I took the colours from the Create With Connie and Mary's challenge and got to work.

I wanted the word and the ornament to pop and so my base is the heavyweight Whisper White and my next layer is the "normal" Whisper White.  I've cut the corners for that layer using my Curvy Corner Trio punch plus the 1/8" Circle punch and then used my Scoring Stylus to score lines connecting the tiny circles.  I cut my JOY from Mossy Meadow cardstock and the ornament from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  In order to have silver glinting through those beautiful cuts in the ornament, I cut a circle from the Silver foil using my 1 3/4" Circle punch.  The sprig of holly is fussy-cut from the Home for Christmas designer series paper.

Those little red dots in each of the corners?  I decided to cut some Red foil using my 1/8" circle punch and glued them into the holes I had originally punched.

This card is being entered into the Create with Connie and Marie Challenge

This card is also being entered into the Addicted to CAS Challenge

And finally, this card is also being entered into the SIP Challenge

WWC45 - Merry Everything (Susan's Sketch Challenge)

This week our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is a sketch provided by Susan Horr.  It's a great sketch and I had a lot of fun with it.  I'm sure you will, too.  I hope to see your version on our challenge page this week.

I decided to use the Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper as my background.  I don't use a lot of Designer Paper and it's annoying because we have some wonderful designs in the Holiday Catalogue.  And then I wind up with the paper in my stash.  It's a really bad habit and I'm trying to break it.

The design I decided to use is the one with all the houses and churches in a snowy setting.  It just evokes such an old-fashioned Christmas feeling and, with the snow on the ground here, I was ready to begin thinking of Christmas.  The design has some terrific colours in it.  I probably took almost as long deciding which colours I would use for my cardstock and ink as I did making the card.  I had just about convinced myself that I would be using the Mint Macaron and then, at the last minute, I decided to use the Mossy Meadow instead.  Now, looking at the card, I'm very glad I made that decision.  I don't always use what are considered the conventional Christmas colours, but for this card they really work, don't they?

My base is the heavy weight Whisper White.  Then I added a layer of Real Red followed by the Designer Paper.  With such a lot going on in the patterned paper, I knew I had to keep the rest of my card very simple.  For the two skinny horizontal pieces in the sketch, I chose to use a background of Real Red topped with Mossy Meadow for the narrower one and then I used a background of Mossy Meadow topped with Real Red for the wider one.

I used the Merry Everything stamp set for my sentiment and stamped that using Mossy Meadow ink on Whisper White.  After cutting that out using my Note Tag punch, I added a backing of Real Red which I fussy cut close to the tag.  To finish off, I took Real Red ink and stamped the ribbon from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and then cut that out using the matching framelit.  A Real Red Home For Christmas Enamel dot finished it off.

When I look at my card, I find myself wondering why I don't use Designer Paper more often.  It certainly worked out well for this one.  

I hope you'll join me and the other Watercooler Artists this week and add your creation to our page at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

WWC44 - Congratulations (Buffy's Anything Goes With Weddings Challenge)

I love "Anything Goes" challenges, don't you?  I saw Buffy's and noticed that it has a wedding theme.  That made it even more fun.  As for her inspiration photo, she says herself that the colours don't matter, it's the theme that counts.  Well, that made it perfect.  After a whole lot of fall and Christmas cards, I was ready for a change and making a wedding card would be just that:  a change.

I began with a base of the Heavy Weight Whisper White cardstock.  For my next layer I turned to Hello Honey because that was one of the colours in the Designer Paper which I intended to use and I thought it gave a "nod" to Buffy's colours.

For my main layer, I decided on the beautiful Shimmery White specialty paper.  I love the subtle shimmer in that paper as well as its body.  It has been one of my favourite papers from the beginning.  My piece measured 4" x 5 1/4" and I carefully arranged the swallowtail framelit along its left side, tilting it to have the image at an angle.  I carefully put the die-cuts aside even though I had no plans for them for this card.  Waste not, want not.

Then I took a piece of the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and cut a swallowtail butterfly from that, carefully saving the pieces.  After that I cut another swallowtail butterfly from a piece of the stained glass window design  which is from the Season of Cheer designer series paper.  I carefully saved all the pieces, of course.

Assembly time!  I covered the piece of Hello Honey with Fast Fuze, leaving a tiny border free of adhesive.  Then I attached the Shimmery White layer (you'll remember it has the swallowtail shape cut out of it, right?)  I took the outline die-cut of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and carefully fit that into the Shimmery White.  Then I carefully took each little cut-out from the Season of Cheer butterfly die-cut and fit it into the empty spots.  It took a while but they attached tightly to the layer of Fast Fuze which I had spread.

To finish I fussy cut the body from the Season of Cheer butterfly and glued it to the Dazzling Diamonds body.  Then I stamped the antennae from the Watercolor Wings stamp set using Hello Honey and (sorry, it's retired) the sentiment from the A Word for You stamp set also using Hello Honey ink.  A scattering of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper hearts cut using the Confetti Hearts punch and some Tombow Glue finished the card.

Pretty?  It's downright dazzling!  For more cards by fellow Watercooler Artists, check out the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've also entered my card in another "anything goes" challenge over at the AAA Cards Game.

PCCCS172 - Noel

Sometimes mixing up the new with the old can be so satisfying.  For this challenge I did exactly that.  After all, what good is it having a stash of retired favourites if all you're going to do is look at it?

I began with a base of the Naturals Ivory cardstock.  I'm still in shock that they retired this paper.  It's so gorgeous and there is nothing out there that is similar.  But I have a good stock and I love using it.  My next layer is a piece of Mossy Meadow on which I first used my Softly Falling embossing folder.  I put the most embossed section to the bottom of the card since I covered the top portion with a piece from the Season of Cheer DSP.  To make the embossing stand out, I softly sponged it with some of my Encore Silver ink.

My next layer again came from the Naturals Ivory but this time I cut it into an oval and topped it with an oval of Soft Sky which I embossed using the Elegant Dots embossing folder.  My little Bambi is from the Home for Christmas DSP and was attached using Dimensionals after I carefully fussy-cutting it.  I added a Mossy Meadow banner heat embossed in Silver and a ribbon of the heavy-weight Cherry Cobbler twine.  A little sequin snowflake with a silver sequin in the centre completes my card.

You can find more cards using this sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge.

For fun I've entered my card in the Christmas Card Challenge which is "Anything Goes.

And finally, I've added my card to the Sunday Stamps Weekly Challenge.

It's the Black Friday of Stampin' Up!

Every year Stampin' Up! puts on their own version of Black Friday and holds it for a week.  Instead of Black Friday, they call it their "Online Extravaganza".  And the prices definitely prove it's an extravaganza.  With shipping in lots of time for Christmas, this is a great way to get some gifts for the crafter in your life or some stocking stuffers for people you know.  And if you happen to sneak in one or two (or three) little extras for yourself, well, you deserve something for all your work, right?

Beginning today, you can save from 20% to 50% on a whole list of wonderful items.  There is a bonus, too.  On the first day (today, November 23rd) and on the last day (November 30th) there is a special list of "door-crashers" available for only 24 hours on those dates.  The rest of the items stay on sale for the entire time.

Just go to the right side of my page and click on my shopping cart.  That will take you directly to the Stampin' Up! store and there you can check out the lists.  Excited?  I sure was when I got up this morning.  Who doesn't love a sale?

The Wacky Watercooler November Christmas Celebration Blog Hop

Welcome to our November Blog Hop.  Yes, this time it's all about Christmas.  I'm so excited to be able to concentrate on all my Christmas "treasures", old and new.  That's right, old.  I will get to use some of my treasured stash for one of my projects.  I know exactly which stamp set I will be using, too.  It's one of my favourites.  I wonder if you'll guess which one it will be.

As you will remember, if you've wandered through our blog hops before, our blog hop is presented in a circular fashion.  What does that mean?  Wherever you begin in our blog hop, whether you go forwards or backwards through the participants, eventually you will wind up precisely where you began.  I hope you'll take time to visit all the participating blogs and, perhaps, leave a short message letting us know  what you've thought of our posts.

If you've been moving forwards through the blog hop, you'll have arrived here from a very talented fellow Canadian, Gail Allen.  Weren't her projects terrific?

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My first project is a little 3-D creation.  I've adapted a little box I found on Pinterest.  Actually the person who makes them calls them Belly Boxes and sells the patterns to be used on a personal e-cutter.  Well, I don't have a personal e-cutter but I do have imagination and, even though mine don't look like the originals, they are my version of such a cute creation.  I made the "belly box" using the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlets but modified the pieces. Then I proceeded to personalize it with some fun punch art.  After all, it's Christmas and we want everything to be full of cheer (and sweets).

Isn't he cute?  I used the Heavy Weight Whisper White cardstock, Basic Black cardstock, my Stampin' Markers, and some of the red and white stripped 1/8" ribbon.  The little sprig of holly is from the Snow Place stamp set, cut out using the Snow Friends Framelits die.

And the reason it's called a "Belly Box" is that the candy fills up his belly.

You can see better from this side angle that I've used my 1/8" punch to put holes along the side and front in order to lace the ribbon through and hold the bos together.  That's right, the only adhesive holding his box together is at the bottom just like in the regular Curvy Keepsake Box but because I don't have the tops which "lock" together, I needed the ribbon.

Along the back, however, I simply used Tombo glue to attach the ribbon.  I'll post dimensions and more photos showing the construction in an upcoming post.  Isn't he just the cutest thing?

For TUTORIAL click here. 

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For my next project I decided to use that beautiful Wonderland stamp set.  Those pines are gorgeous, aren't hey?  I made an oversized card in order to use the full pattern of the Boughs & Berries embossing folder.  I began with a base of the Heavy Weight Whisper White, followed by a layer of Mint Macaron and then the embossed layer of Whisper White.  To make the embossing stand out even more, I sponged over it lightly using Mint Macaron ink.

In the centre where there was no embossing, I added my image layer.  First there is a layer of Mint Macaron, then a layer of Silver Foil and finally my stamped layer of Whisper White.  For the pines I used Mint Macaron ink.  When that had fully dried I stamped the snowflakes using Versamark and then heat embossed them with Silver embossing powder.  My banner is vellum onto which my sentiment is heat embossed in Silver embossing powder as well.

Doesn't that bit of Silver Ribbon which I tied in a bow diagonally across the top left look perfect?

* * * * * * * * * * 

For my final project, I had the best time hauling out my retired stash and playing with some of the wonderful products which I still love.  I've used only four products for this card which are current.  Everything else is retired.  For my base I've used Naturals White.  I still love that cardstock because the random flecks give it such character.  My next layer is Baked Brown Sugar, a colour which is so versatile, especially this time of the year.  I loved it for gingerbread men and also found it was a perfect match for the colour of the burlap ribbon.

My embossed layer is current.  I used the Shimmery White specialty cardstock.  There is nothing else that looks quite the same and it is absolutely elegant.  I used a retired embossing folder and then sponged over the perimeter as well as the embossing with Baked Brown Sugar ink to make it stand out better.

For the ribbon, I really went to town.  My bottom layer is the current Burlap ribbon followed by the very elegant (and current) Very Vanilla 1 1/4" Subtle Stripes Satin ribbon, and then the retired Linen Cheery Cobbler ribbon.  Since the Linen is so tightly woven, it was possible to heat emboss my sentiment on it in Gold embossing powder.  I absolutely love the effect!

The stunning Poinsettia is made using one of my very favourite retired stamp sets, Joyful Wishes.  Yes, after heat embossing the images twice in Gold embossing powder on Vellum, I did have a lot of cutting to do.  But I don't mind doing a lot of fussy-cutting, as you know, and it went more quickly than I expected it to.  Once cut out, I set to colouring the flowers and the leaves.  I hauled out the retired but still-loved Blendabilities and set to work with the Cherry Cobbler and the Old Olive pens.  First I coloured them from the back side of the image and then I carefully coloured the front inside the golden lines.  A bit of curling and bending with my Bone Folder and the Poinsettia was ready to assemble.

For the centre I used one of my favourite embellishments (also retired) but first pushed it into my Versamark, covered it in Gold embossing powder and then used my heat gun to turn it into gold.  It looked perfect in the centre of the flower.

For the inside of the card, I used layers as well.  I decided to use a layer of Baked Brown Sugar and then added my stamped layer, which was Shimmery White to continue the elegance.  Both stamp sets which I used are retired.

And that's it for my projects.  I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed creating them.  From here you'll be returning to the beginning of the circle again, and another wonderfully creative Canadian stamper, Deborah Smart.

If you get a moment, I'd love it if you would leave a comment.