Rose Blossom Garden: "G" is for Treat Box....

Hi All! It's time for another Rose Blossom Garden Challenge! Okay, before you think I can't spell, I know that Treat Box doesn't start with "G,"but if you're playing around with the Close To My Heart Artiste cartridge, you'll find the cutest little treat box on the "G" key....SEE:

I've made this little box before and used it as a teachers' gift. (You can see that project here.) Nonetheless, I thought it was worth doing again, because some people are a bit daunted by it. The thing I love about this box is that the top and box are one piece. It's a clever fold! 

I made these treat boxes for some girlfriends of mine that came into town to craft and catch up. The tags, which are also cut from the "G" key, double as little ornaments that have the date and a little message on the back. The bows, by the way, are from the same key. That's right, so much cuteness from one little key!

For this project I used Dream Pop paper. (If you're hoarding saving yours, this is a great project for it!) The boxes are cut from Dream Pop cardstock at 3 1/2 inches. The bows are cut from the pattern paper at 1 1/2 inches. Because this cardstock has a resist pattern on it, I didn't really think it needed much embellishment. For the turquoise box, I just added a 3/4 x 11-inch strip of patterned paper that matched the bow. For the gray box, I added the zip-strip from the paper that the bow is made out of and some washi tape. Now there's a reason I used the washi tape. The box top has a little tab that holds it together. I put adhesive on the wrong side of the tab and couldn't get it off. I had to cut off the tab, but didn't want to throw the whole box away. Washi to the rescue! I just taped it together and moved on. (I actually like it better with the tape! It was a happy little mistake...)

I wanted this to be a gift that kept on giving, so I added a couple of tags that could be used as ornaments. I cut the pieces at 3 inches from the Dream Pop cardstock and patterned paper. I added a 1 1/4-inch circle to the middle and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. I then stamped the sentiment, which is from the "4 my friend" stamp set, on White Daisy cardstock using Lagoon and Whisper exclusive inks. I fussy cut the sentiment with my craft knife so that it wouldn't cover much of the background and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. I added some bakers twine for the hanger and a little message commemorating our crafty get together on the back. I tied a knot in the bakers twine and tucked it into the top of the lid.

Here are the boxes and their ornaments again:

I hope you enjoyed this little project. Don't be intimidated by that little box, it gives you a lot of bang for you buck!

Don't forget to play along in the Rose Blossom Garden! I can't wait to see what you come up with using the "G" key on the Artiste Cricut cartridge!

Time to play in the Rose (Blossom) Garden!

Hi All! I hope your summer is off to a fabulous start! We're at the Eastern Shore (MD) this weekend enjoying a little quality time for Father's Day. The count down to our trip to Florida (and the Close To My Heart National Convention!) is in full swing.

Today is "Play in the Garden" day here at Violets & Sunshine. Are you ready for another challenge? It's time to make something fun using the Birthday Boy key on CTMH's Artiste Cricut Cartridge. As usual, I tried to think outside the cartridge box on this one, and here's what I came up with:

So what do you get when you turn a start-spangled party hat upside down? Why the perfect little patriotic wall pocket of course! I cut the party hat at "fit to page"from CTMH Glitter Paper, and then cut the same size from White Daisy cardstock to use as a liner. I glued the two together with wet glue for a very sturdy wall pocket. (You will want to use hot glue some other strong adhesive when you make it into a cone.) I cut the large stars from White Daisy and Cranberry cardstocks and the Outdoor Denim patterned paper from our Tommy collection. Each color of star was cut at 3, 3.25 and 3.5 inches. I layered the larger two together using wet glue and added a white pipe-cleaner between the layers. I then added the final star with dimensional adhesive and accented it with a little bit (or a lot...) of Silver Glitz. I cut the banner from Glitter Paper using "fit to page" and then sized it down in .25-inch increments and cut it again from Cranberry cardstock, Tommy paper and White Daisy cardstock. I layered the pieces and folded one end around a bamboo skewer so that it would look like a flag. Before adhering it to the skewer, I stamped the word "Freedom" in Outdoor Denim Exclusive Ink using the Urban Alphabet stamp set. I then adhered the flag to the skewer and wrapped the skewer with pipe-cleaners so that it matched the stars. I added extra stars to the flag that were left over from the hat cutouts. I used Color Ready Seam Binding for a hanger, which I tied through the holes that are already cut in the hat for just that purpose. I added some red crinkle paper and some red, white & blue bakers twine from my stash to finish it off. 

Here are a few close ups:

And here it is proudly hanging on my backdoor. (It's not easy taking a picture of something hanging on a glass door!)

 I hope you are inspired by my little patriotic party-hat-turned-wall-pocket. Don't forget to play along with us in the Rose Blossom Garden. The challenge winner this month will take home the fantastic "Perfect Fit Dad" stamp set.

Is that fun, or what?!

Look forward to seeing all the fun creations you can come up with!

IT'S HERE!!!!!

Hi All!
Just wanted to give a shout out to the brand-spankin'-new challenge blog:

The Rose Blossom Garden!

The blog launches today with the first challenge: see what you can do with the "Happy Birthday" Key on the Close To My Heart Artiste Cricut cartridge. What do ya think? Are you up for it? What if I told you there were PRIZES involved?

So here's how it works. Each month you will be given 2 challenges: one on the first of the month and one on the 15th. Each challenge will involve a single key on one of the CTMH Cricut cartridges. You may choose to play in one or both challenges, it's up to you. (I happen to be designing for the 2nd challenge of each month, so I'm a little partial to those.) ;) At the end of each challenge (so that's twice a month) we (the design team and our lovely leader, Brenda Rose) will choose 3 Top Projects for that challenge. Then, at the end of the month, we will choose a Top Project for the month and do a random drawing from among the participants for the monthly prize--which will be  a Close To My Heart stamp set that coordinates with our Cricut cartridges. (How cool is that?!) April's winner will receive the Perfect Fit Frames stamp set.

I'll be posting my answer to the current challenge soon. I'm so excited to be a part of this. There is SO MUCH that you can do with these cartridges!

So go check it out and play along! If you don't have the Artiste cartridge yet, you can purchase it here! Happy Creating!