2013 ARTISAN ENTRY #10:GINGHAM GARDEN BOXES:

Hello there! You should have just arrived from Lauri's blog and her amazing project. This is the last day of our 10 day tour. I hope you've been inspired by all of the amazing creations along the way. I know I have! 

I'm excited to share my final project with you. This had been in the works in my head for months before I started it. Every morning as I soaked in the tub, I was strategically visualizing every detail. As with my last project, this turned out pretty much just as I'd hoped it would.

I won't go into a lot of detail, because we'd be here all day. But I'll try to cover the basics. I started out with a set of nesting paper maiche boxes and covered them with Gingham Garden DSP. They were already cute with the paper alone, so I knew they could only get better. I used 8 of the 12 different patterns-I truly love how our products coordinate so perfectly-it makes it so easy. The rim on the top box was a little tricky. I wanted to used the yellow gingham washi tape, but too much of the brown was showing through. I tried to paint it white, but it was too puckery. So I finally bought a second box since I had mangled the first one, and I ran some of the yellow dsp around it and then covered it with the washi tape-success at last!

My sweet hubby took these pictures and he was on his own for the placement of the boxes. He somehow managed to get that #@*! ugly seam in every picture-lol! The bow was supposed to be way over to the left so the sean wouldn't be visible. I put sticky notes on the botton of my boxes for whoever opened them as a guide. I used the Tasteful Trim Die for the grass on the top and bottom box. The middle box was just cut with my SNIPS. I used the Scallop Envelope Die for the tulips and used the 1" Circle Punch to cut them out, I think? I used the Small Heart Punch for the leaves and scored and faux stitched them down the center. I strung a bunch of buttons on Island Indigo Baker's Twine and attached them to the top rim with Glue Dots. Okay, I said I wasn't going to bore you with details, but here I go:) For the picket fence, I used the Designer Rosette Die, cut it on the score lines and attached Dimensionals underneath. It would have been much easier to put the grass on before the fence, but I didn't think of it til after the fence was already on-not fun!

For the sign, I used the set Really Good Greetings and the following markers: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo and Night of Navy. I wrapped some more of the Daffodil Washi Tape around Daffodil Cardstock for the frame.

Again, notice the nice seam-lol. I used the set Up, Up and Away for all the fun balloons. I used various punches for the houses-1 3/8" Square, Extra Large Tag, Ticket Duo, Cupcake and Owl Builder Punches, and the Itty Bitty Shaper Punch Pack. I used the Chevron, Argyle, Perfect Polka Dots, Stripes, Houndstooth and Square Lattice Embossing Folders for the roof texture. I used Pear Pizzazz for the greenery and Soft Suede Cardstock for the tree trunks.

I don't know if you can see it very well, but I finished off the seams of ths DSP around the lids with Island Indigo Baker's Twine for a finished look.

In the top box, I tucked in 4 little 3x3 cards.

These were so much fun to make!

Of course, I had to make little matching envies, using the Simply Scored.

I didn't use this stamp set nearly enough. I'm going to have to hang on to it for awhile:)

And last, but not least...

It makes me a little sad to look at these. As with all the others who entered, I really put my whole heart into this project, and the fact that it wasn't good enough, was kind of hard to take:( It was a humbling process for me. It was like when I won the jackpot on a slot machine several years ago-you always think you're going to do it again! But it just wasn't meant to be this year. I think things worked out for the best though. I've got a really full plate now as it is-that might be why I'm not fitting into any of my clothes at the moment, and the added responsibilities of the Design Team would more than likely have been too much for me right now. I left it in the hands of the good Lord to work out, and I'm honestly kind of relieved it worked out this way... Those 500 bones would have been nice though!

I want to thank you for visiting over the past 10 days. I really enjoyed sharing my works of heart with you:) Let's hop on over to Kandi's place now and see what amazingness she has for us today!

1.Brenda Quintana http://qbeesquest.blogspot.com/

2.Joan Robertson http://www.dailystampede.com/

3.Lauri Ingram http://lauri-paperville.blogspot.com/

4.Laura Mellinger http://laurasworksofheart.blogspot.com/

5.Kandi Phillips http://kandiphillips.blogspot.com/

6.Lisa Hensley http://ponygirl40stamps.blogspot.com/

7.Anna Black http://my-creation-station.blogspot.com/

8.Pamela Staples http://www.sunnygirlscraps.com/

9.Tina Munzke http://www.craftedwithclass.blogspot.com/

10.Cindy Major http://www.cindymajor.typepad.com/

11.Patti McDermott http://craftingupthecoast.com/