Paper box Kraft papers gift bag

Hi, design elf Katrina here again to show you my latest project from my craft nook.

   I am taking a short break from the Graphic 45 papers to show you the new papers from Paper Box. The first set I have to show you is the Kraft Paper Retro. It's 12x12 and 130gsm so it folds and cuts beautifully. It is printed on one side but because it is printed on Kraft paper you also have the plain Kraft on the other side, so all the off cuts can be used on other projects. I have used the pink but it also comes in brown, yellow, evergreen, leaf green and orange.

I used my Silhouette Cameo electric cutting machine to cut out my gift bag and tag shape and it cut beautifully. Try it in your die cutting machines too.

It has a lovely Art Neuvo inspired pattern on it and as its a fairly simple print it gives you lots of scope to add your glitters or use your glitter pens. I have just coloured in the flower center on the front of my bag with my clear glitter pen.

My tag was cut from the left over paper and then I cut out the flower and applied it to the top. As the paper is the same coloue it just blends in.

I was really happy how these papers held the shape of the bag and as I said before cut beautifully. Do have a look at them, there are other designs in the collection and I will be focusing on the other designs shortly.

You can find the Paper Box Kraft papers in the shop here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/12-payper-box-695-c.asp

Hope you have enjoyed looking at my Gift bag project, thanks for droping by, I will have another project for you very soon, till then,

Happy Crafting

             Love Katrina

Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest Princess matchbox

Hello! I'm design elf Katrina and I am here to show you my latest project from my craft nook.

   At the moment I am working with the Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest papers and really enjoying them. For my last post I showed you a super cute Fairy matchbox. Well I couldn't just make one, they are such fun to make and the papers have so many lovely characters to cut out and use I had to make a second one.

   This time I went for the Princesses.

Now, I made my base matchbox using my Silhouette cameo electronic die cutting machine but there are a lot of free templates available on the internet to use. I made my base in kraft card and then covered the cover of the matchbox in one of the pretty papers in the 8x8 paper pad. 

I then cut out one of the panels from one of the papers, I chose a Princess one this time, and stuck it to the top of the base part of the matchbox.

Then I  put the drawer of the matchbox together and covered one end with another of the papers. There are lots of details among the paper designs that are perfect to cut out and use as embellishments, like this roundel.

To make this embellishment I punched out the design using circle punch and then punched a piece of the scrap kraft card to back. I did that because I wanted to use some Glossy Accents over the top and I find when you do that to small pieces they can curl if they are too thin. I used the crackle Glossy Accents but you can get the same look with the regular Glossy Accents. 

If you want the cracked look but haven't got the crackle Glossy Accents then just use the regular one thickly. leave to thoroughly dry and then just bend it and you will find it will snap and crack. I has to be applied thickly though.

For the inside of the drawer I started by covering the sides with pieces of the papers from the pad to make it look like a room in the castle. I then made the bunting with the sweet little flags that cover another one of the papers. I cut them out and glued them to some bakers twine and hung them across the back of the room.

We then needed Princesses to live in our castle, so I chose two of the princesses from the page full of characters and cut them out. The larger of the Princesses I added 3 layers of 3D foam to her back and then stuck her to the back of the drawer. The smaller one I added 2 layers of 3D foam and also stuck her to the back of the box.

All it needed then was to pick out some highlights with my trusty clear glitter pen and my mini scene was finished.

I have had such fun with these two projects.To find the other matchbox I made, just go back a post and you will find it there.

The Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest paper can be found here - 

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/enchanted-forest-696-c.asp

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my latest project and will join me again very soon

              Love Katrina

Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest Fairy matchbox

Hi there, design elf Katrina here again to show you another of my projects using the wonderful Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest papers.

   I must admit I do love to work on 3D projects, and will save any little container I can paint or cover in any way. My new thing is matchboxes. I love all the little scenes people make in these little boxes, great fun!  So when I saw the lovely little people that cover one of the papers in the 8x8 Enchanted Forest paper pad by Graphic 45 I new what I wanted to do with them...........they were destine to live in a  matchbox!

    I made my matchboxes using my Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting machine but there are lots of free templates available online and as they are all straight lines, simple to cut and make up.

   The first one I want to show you is my I believe in Fairies matchbox

I made my matchbox base in craft card and then used a piece of the black diamond paper to cover all the sides of the matchbox cover leaving a thin margin of the base card to show. I then chose one of the lovely panels from another paper, the I believe in Fairies one, and attached that to the top of the matchbox.  Using a clear glitter pen I traced over some of the highlights to add a little sparkle.

For the end of the matchbox drawer I cut out one of the little roundels from one of the papers and then used one of my own brads.

The inside of the drawer I covered with the red script paper, picking out the Once Upon a time for the back. I then cut out a couple of the fairies from the page full of fairies and princesses. The main fairy I raised up on 3D foam but the small one I stuck flat on the back. The happy ever after is a small piece of the word strips also on one of the papers.

Then all you have left to do is place the drawer inside the cover and your little matchbox is finished

So that is my first matchbox I have to show you, the second one I will show you in my next post. So watch this space!!

You can find the paper here - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/enchanted-forest-696-c.asp

Do have a look at this paper by Graphic 45, it truly is beautiful.

                                     Love Katrina

Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest Pillow box

Hi! I am Katrina, design elf for the Fruit Pixie and I am here to show you what I have been up to in my craft nook today.

    I am still spellbound by the Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest papers that you can find in the shop ( link will be at the bottom of the post )  I have been working with Graphic 45 papers ever since they started but one thing I have noticed that is new and such a good idea is the templates they now include on the covers of their 8x8 paper pads.

                     Here they are. Excuse the dark pictures, it was such a dull day, but you get the idea.

As you can see you get all sorts of tags and a wonderful pillow box. These are great because you have the beautifully printed card on the other side and as it is the cover of the paper pad it is perfect for them.

So I thought I would make the pillow box up for you to show you how it looks. Of course the savvy crafter would  make a template from them too!

  All I did was take the cover with the pillow box printed onto it and cut it out along the solid lines. You then need to crease the dotted lines. The easiest way to do this is to find something soft, like an old fashion mouse mat or just a few pieces of scrap paper and then using a bone folder or the end of the handle of a spoon draw along the dotted lines. You can use a ruler to guide your scoring for the straight bit but for the curves you have to do it freehand.

Apply wet glue to the straight flap and stick it to the straight side on the other side, allow to dry. You will then find your flaps at either ends will fold down beautifully to close the box and give it its shape.

Of course you then need to decorate your lovely pillow box now. I chose a panel from the paper pad and cut a couple of swirls, also from the paper pad, using the Sue Wilson splendid swirls.

I also cut out one of the tags and just decorated it with a couple of the cute little stamps that are also in the paper pad.

The Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest is a really beautiful collection and the addition of all these templates just gives you somewhere to start.

You can find the Enchanted Forest Collection papers in the shop here -  http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/enchanted-forest-696-c.asp

The Sue Wilson Splendid Swirls dies here - 

 http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/sue-wilson-die-splendid-swirls-24678-p.asp

Payper Box bone folder -

 http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/payper-box-bone-folder-20088-p.asp

So there it is, a cute pillow box using the Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest papers. I hope you like it and will have a go too.

Love Katrina x

Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest Fairy Tower

Hello, design elf Katrina here to show you what I have been up to in my craft nook.

     At the moment I am working with the Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest papers. If you know Graphic 45 you will know all about the wonderful quality and smell of these papers!! If you have never tried Graphic 45 then please try them they are truly beautiful.

     Now, I was playing with these papers at my last crop and a lot of my crafty friends, although they love Graphic 45, said they found then difficult to use because they were too nice and didn't want to spoil them. I have herd many people say this and even felt it myself, but if you keep them in a draw and look at them now and again, where is the real pleasure in that? But if you jump in and make something with them, cut them up and make a beautiful project, you then have had the pleasure of making something and then you can then either use it, looking at it or giving it to someone. Now I think that is far better then having a cupboard full of paper isn't it?

    So with that in mind, here is my first project using these wonderful papers.

  When I first looked through the 12x12 papers and paper pad the first thing that I wanted to make to make a fairy tower. The closest thing I could find was a chess piece made using my Silhouette Cameo.

I increased the size of the tower slightly and cut the pieces out on my machine in craft card. I then used the different elements in the 8x8 paper pack to decorate my tower.

Of course the tower had to have a flag. So I cut down a bamboo skewer and using a die and my die cutting machine cut out a flag from one of the pattern papers.

One of the papers has rows and rows of these wonderful flags. I cut some of them out and glued them to some bakers twine.

There are plenty of boarders and word strips within the patterned papers to cut out and use to decorate your projects.

For the main body of the tower I used the script paper.

Then the base was also decorated with patterned paper and boarders to finish the tower off.

The project all came together so easily as these papers are just so nice to work with. 

I think my Fairy Tower looks right at home among the primroses in our garden don't you ?

Do give these papers a go, there are endless projects you can make with them. I will be showing you a few over the next few blog posts.

you can find the papers in the shop here -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/enchanted-forest-696-c.asp

the bakers twine here - http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/fibres-ribbons--trims-54-c.asp

              Happy Crafting 

                                                   Love Katrina