Plain Jane Cigar Box - first attempt

So we have these really nice friends who live in Germany (I think I might have mentioned them before?) and they were nice enough to send Reilly a postcard from Germany for his Felix the Rabbit project in his class. They also kindly sent the German version of Felix the Rabbit with the postcard. (Wasn't that nice? Now he has a keepsake to boot). So I wanted to send back a little goodie to Saskia who is their 10-old-daughter because she wrote Reilly the letter, as a thank you. So I made up these little notecards and the Plain Jane Box as a stationery holder. I finished the whole thing off with a beaded pen. I think they came out cute, but the postage to send them to Germany is a whole different story. HIGHWAY robbery I tell you....Ugghh!

So here's the scoop....(the pictures are awful - sorry - please forgive me?). The box is from you guessed it PTI. It's made of chipboard and I covered it with DCWV paper. I can't seem to find them on their website at the moment, not sure what's up with that....but just do a search on Plain Jane cigar boxes and you will find them. Back to the project....in all honesty.....I had some trouble getting the paper to stick (since we are being honest, I had quite a bit of trouble with this little box. I think I thought it would be a quick doodlie doo and off to the races....it wasn't.) I would not recommend covering the hinge of the box....that is where my trouble started. I also would recommend sanding the box lightly with sandpaper or a file block, I think it would get the paper to stick a little better. I have one more....I am going to try that and I will report back. So I covered the box with three different patterned papers (inside and out) and adhered them with glue stick. I normally have no problem with chipboard and glue stick....maybe this was a fluke? I traced the center out of the middle and cut it out of the top piece of paper. Then I stamped Saskia's name using the Doodle Alphabet on a white piece of paper....colored it and sponged it, then adhered it underneath. I then covered the inside cover so you wouldn't see the paper. I liked how that came out. I used a prima for the dot of the "i" with a little purple blingstone in it. The hinge of this is covered with a fabric tape that I found at archivers (it's really cool stuff and comes in a pack of four different designs.) I also used this on the inside hinge. Trust me, after redoing the hinge with paper, cardstock, ribbon and then the tape.....just leave the hinges alone....for the love of life....it would have been sooooo much easier. I added hardware to the top and bottom and threaded a piece of organdy ribbon through it. (note - add the hardware prior to putting the paper on the inside - guess who didn't do that?).

The note cards were actually a snap compared to the box. Sheesh...at least they were speedy.

I made a total of 12 notecards in three different colors. I also banded the envelopes together with a scrap piece of patterned paper to make them look "fancy". I didn't line the envelopes mostly because I didn't think a 10-year-old would really care. Anyway, all the stamps are from my Bella friend Em. The Bella's are still my fave....but she has lots of other stuff too...check her out at Stamping Bella. She is from Canada (sounds like Kuh-nay-duh) har har. Seriously, she is so sweet and I love love love her Bellas and their Fellas. I used the new PTI spring moss paper, Almost Amethyst and Lovely Lilac cardstock. The images are all stamped in pallette black ink on PTI white cardstock. The patterned papers are leftovers from the box. I embellished with different ribbons most are SU or PTI and added bling as I saw fit. Oh, I forgot the words were printed out on the computer prior to cutting the paper. All the images are watercolored with my SU markers and an aquapainter. I used these Bella images in case you want to find them fast Emmybella, Jammybella and Superbella. I could go on and on about all the new bellas and my want of the bellas and fellas, but I won't. I hope you likey as Em would say.

Until later....Happy Stamping.