Gift Box

As I have mentioned with the past few posts, I attended a Stampin' Up! worskshop on Saturday where I learned quite a few new things.  One thing I was anxious to try was the super-sturdy gift boxes demonstrated by Donna Centamore.  If you have never checked out her blog (which I highly doubt is the case), then run (don't walk) there now and see all her fabulous creations.  One thing that she loves doing (and excels at) is making all kinds of creative gift boxes.  This is my humble attempt at a gift box using the soon-to-be-retired pale plum.  This box measures 4-inches square so it is large enough to hold all kinds of gifts.

I feel the need to confess:  the roses on this box are beautiful.  But they are a pain in the {you know what} to make.  First you've got to break down the fibers of the cardstock to make it easier to bend.  I've tried running it against the edge of my desk, running it through the paper crimper, running it against my bone folder.  Apparently, no matter what method you choose, you need to do it for about two weeks in order to break the fibers down to some kind of manageable level. Then you've still got to bend them to your will.  They don't want to be bent.  They fight you every step of the way.  You try coaxing, wrapping them around dowels, squishing them between your fingers until you just give up and say "they look good enough."  Thankfully, once you put them together they do look good enough, but the journey is almost a little bit too much.  For these roses (once they were "good enough") I decided to give them a blast of smooch spritz.  It was very satisfying.  I think I won this round.  We'll see what happens in the future.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time to stamp today!