This week's Try a New Technique Challenge over at SplitcoastStampers.com was an origami box that I thought I'd try out since it looked fun. If you click on the hyper-linked green text above, that will take you to where you can download the template you'll need in order to fold & make this box.
The thing the instructions don't tell you is that you need to make ALL of your folds, after the first two, go to the center of the paper. Here's a link to an online video that may make the instructions a little easier to understand. Starting with a 12" piece of cardstock or paper will yield a 5" square box, 2" tall.
I decided I wanted to use this box as a Post-It note holder for a teacher gift so after many tries, I figured out the formula to downsize this box to 3.50" square that will hold a 3" square stack of notes (math is NOT my strong point!): Start with a 9.75" square piece of cardstock or paper. It will be a little under 1.75" tall.
Here's the box, open, so you an see the construction a little bit better:
That first link above gives you the details on how to make the cover for the larger box. For my downsized version, I was able to use 4" square chipboard coasters for my cover.
I started with two pieces of coordinating patterned paper (mine is from My Mind's Eye Irresistible collection) cut to 4" x 8.25". Place a coaster on each end of one strip of paper that is upside down and covered with adhesive or glue:
Add glue to the top sides of the coasters and cover with the other strip of 4" x 8.25" patterned paper. Using a bone folder, score along the ends of the chipboard:
Since the corners of the chipboard coasters are rounded, I rounded the corners of the paper by using this nifty heavy-duty 1/2" corner rounder by Zutter. I LOVE this tool -- it will easily cut through multiple layers of patterned paper, since it's made to also round chipboard corners!
Before gluing the box inside the covers, place ribbon along the center of the bottom, back and top of the cover. I set a heart shaped eyelet in the center of the lid top so I could thread the ribbon through it and tie the box closed.
The top of the box is decorated with what reminds me of a sweet cuppie child drawing a Valentine with a gigantic pencil! It's from Taylored Expressions Love is Sweet stamp set. She was stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto Neenah Classic Natural White cardstock and colored with Copic markers (colors are shown below). Her heart and cherry top are glittered. She was die cut with Spellbinders Labels One Nestabilities die and matted with another of the same size die, cut from Prism Razzleberry Dark cardstock and cut in half. Zva pink crystal gemstones accent the sides.
The "for a special teacher" sentiment is from TE's A Year of Sweet Sentiments set. Using a stamp positioner, I inked each word of the long horizontal sentiment with Memento Rhubarb Stalk and stamped this stacked version of the sentiment.
The coordinating card has a Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossed background. The scalloped mat was made with Fiskars' Threading Water punch -- I just adhered strips behind the focal image and mitered the corners.
This sweet cuppie from Taylored Expressions A Year of Sweets 3 stamp set is holding the glittered Valentine she drew for her teacher up above! I wanted the cupcake image to stand out the most in this scene, so I kept the coloring to a minimum, focusing on the sweet cupcake. I really liked how this turned out -- it reminded me of a nostalgic newspaper comic drawing. Plus, a yellow school bus just wasn't going to match my pink project, LOL! The original stamp scene has the cuppie holding an apple, but I cut one of the hearts from my patterned paper and popped that up on dimensional foam tape to cover the apple!
Both images were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with these Copic markers:
I finished the card with the "happy valentine's day" sentiment from Taylored Expressions' Love is Sweet stamp set. I cut it into a thin strip and gave it a banner look by trimming the ends, curling it, and adhering it with mini Glue Dots.
Whew! Sorry this post ended up so long, but I sure am glad to have a teacher gift all ready for Valentine's day!
