Dress up a Tin Box

Hi there, it's Cathy here with a hybrid project for you today.  What's hybrid? It's the combination of digital and tradition crafting. You may think that it requires an extra step of getting the digital products out of the computer and into your hands, but there are some great benefits to hybrid. The one I like best is that I can re-use digital papers over and over again!

The project I'm sharing today is dressing up a tin box. You could use this for presenting a special gift, or keep some cherished items in.

The digital papers that I used are from the digital Kit "Cherries Jubilee" by Kristin Cronin Barrow.
Here's how I made this box:
1. Select two digital papers to use for flowers and one for leaves.

2. Open digital paper selections in photo editing software and prepare for printing.

  3. Print selected digital papers on inkjet cardstock ( I used Red River Linen 60lb)

4. Use large and medium flower punch (Paper Shapers Retro Flower)to punch required number of petals to create flowers. For the twisted rose, punch three large flowers and one medium flower. For a rose, punch three large flowers. For the open rose, punch one large flower and two medium flowers. For the small rose, punch three medium flowers.

5.Work on a soft surface such as the back of a foam mouse pad. Create two twisted rose flowers. Use three large and one medium punched flower for each of these. Spritz the flowers lightly with water to make them easy to manipulate. Using tweezers, hold the middle of a petal and twist it about 90 percent.

 
6. Push the twisted petal in towards the middle of the flower. Repeat for the remaining petals on all three large punched flowers.

7. Using your fingers, scrunch medium punched flower in to a ball. The image below shows one punched medium flower and one that has been scrunched.

8. Lay one of the large punched twisted flowers on the work surface. Place a drop of liquid adhesive in the center (I used Beacon Adhesives 3-IN-1 Advanced Craft Glue). Layer another large punched twisted flower on top, alternating the petals. Use the handle of a small paint brush to push the center of the flower into the foam work surface to shape and adhere the flower. Repeat with third large punched twisted flower.

9. Add a drop of liquid adhesive in the center. Using tweezers, place the scrunched medium punched flower in the center to complete the twisted rose. Set aside to dry.

 

10. Create three rosettes. Use three medium punched flowers for each. Push the center of one of the flowers into the foam surface using the handle of a small paint brush.

11. Repeat step 10 for the two remaining medium punched flowers, making them each slightly tighter than the previous flower. There will be three shaped flowers pieces of varying openness as shown in the image below.

12. Layer the three shaped flower pieces starting with the most open on the bottom. Add a drop of liquid adhesive in the center and layer the middle open flower piece on top. Add a drop of liquid adhesive to the bottom of the tightest flower piece. Using tweezers, insert it into the middle of the two layered flowers to complete the rosette. Set aside to dry.

13. Create one rose. Use three large punched flowers. Use the handle of a small paint brush or stylus to curl the petals on one punched flower under.

14. Using the handle of a small paint brush, push the center of the remaining two large punched flowers into the foam surface.

 
15. Make one of the flowers tighter by squeezing it against the handle of the paint brush.

16. Layer the three shaped flower pieces using the same technique that was used to layer the rosettes. Start with the most open flower on the bottom and end with the tightest flower on the top. The image below shows the three shaped layers, most open on the right and tightest on the left.

17. This completes the creation of the flowers. See image below to identify each flower type.

 
18. Punch leaves from green digital paper.

19. Prepare the tin by coloring it with inks. Color the outside of the lid and base. Simply place dots of alcohol ink on the tin surface. Use an alcohol ink applicator tool to spread or overlap the inks if desired. Allow the inks to dry. Below is a picture of the tin prior to coloring with the inks. The inked tin is seen below in step 20.

20. Once the ink has dried, spray the lid and base of the tin with Beacon Decoupage Gloss Sealer. This will seal the inks and provide a nice smooth, glossy surface to the tin.

 
21. Wrap ribbon around the lid of the tin using fabric adhesive (I used Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac)

22. Adhere rhinestone sticker to lid.

23. Cut dimensional glue dots in fourths using non stick scissors

 
24. Use the cut glue dots to adhere the flowers and leaves to lid.

Here are some additional photos of the tin.

Designer Showcase: Throwing Punches

No, we're not really "throwing punches". We're just sharing some projects using paper punches. Cathy here today for the Designer Showcase.  OK, let's not pull any punches, and get right to it (I promise, I'll stop with the puns!) hehehehe!!!

First up is this page by Vicky.  She used a circle punch to create a detailed edge to her page. She simple punched a medium circle every so often around the edge of her patterned mat. By placing the circle punch just half way onto the paper edge, it creates a look similar to a postage stamp.  It's really neat how it allows the background paper to show through. Using a coordinating top paper really is key to making this a classy look.

Marlene used a few punches to create this beautiful page.  She punched and layered the heart - with a detail punch in the center too. The polka dot paper mat is edge punched with sweet little hearts too. The photo mat is border punched with some wavy music notes.  I really like the way she set that mat tilted and on top of darker paper, it really highlights all the details.

Cindy has shared some really cool, and easy to create cards using border punches.  On this first one, she used two punches that have about the same size repeat.  In the black and white colors, this makes for a really elegant card.

On this card, Cindy has taken the cuteness factor way up. She used the same bubble punch that was used on her first card. This time she added a strip of red paper on the edge.  Check out this neat little trick, Cindy gathered up the confetti  from the bubble punch and used them to create the dots on her card. Isn't that cool?  I can just see this card making a Disney fan very happy!

This is another simple card that I made (many years ago). I used a large circle punch to create the stroller bottom and top. I folded a full circle in half to form the card base.  The stroller top is 1/4 of the circle.  Small circle punches were used to create the wheels.

On this altered birdhouse, I used a dew different border punches.  I punched many strips of paper with the apron border punch and then layered them to create the roof.  A lacy border punch frames the soffit on the front. The grass around the bottom was created using a scalloped border punch. Even the butterfly is a punch.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing some ideas of ways to use your punches. They are a tool that comes in handy whether you are scrapping a layout, creating cards, altering home decor or any paper/mixed media projects.