Completely Enveloped!

I'm not sure when it happened, or how, but I appear to have transformed from a being a card maker in to a papercrafter! It started with my frustration at the fact that I can only find white and cream card blanks and envelopes at a reasonable price locally. That and the difficulty of finding patterned envelopes in the same size as my card blank, coupled with the fact that sometimes I make a topper and its just not the right size for the pre-bought card I wanted to put it on, so I abandon the project or put it on a smaller or larger card blank so I have an envelope that will fit.

I decided last week that I'd invest in a couple of pieces of kit that would mean in future I could make my own card blanks in any colour and any size I wanted, and in any card weight as well. I asked the lovely people on the Docrafts forum to recommend their favourite score board and I used their responses to do some research and I ordered a trimmer and scoreboard which I'm waiting to arrive. I decided also that it would be a good idea to have a go at making my own envelopes, so I treated myself at pay day to a We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board.

It arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to get stuck in, so far I've made a few envelopes for A2 size cards, some for 5" x 5" cards and a couple of floral 6" x 6" envelopes. I've been using a variety of paper pads of 8" x 8" and 12" x 12" sizes I've picked up cheaply so far, I did make a few mistakes initially, I'm a get stuck in and don't read the instructions kind of girl, but I've figured it out now, easy when you know how and from this day forward I'll be able to make cards and envelopes to match, go me!

I just need to buy some lick n stick adhesive to add to the edge of the envelope for sealing in the card now and I've cracked it. Suffice to say I'm rather chuffed with my results, I can make any size from a 2" x 3.5" gift card size envelope right up to 6" x 8.5" envelope, which will cover most of the card sizes I make, I'm pretty confident that with a scoreboard I can make 8" x 8" size envelopes as well. If you can't get the hang of the paper sizes and where to score, American Crafts have produced a free to download Envelope Generator App for Android, I think there is a version for iPhone as well if you're so inclined. Using the app all you have to do is input the size of the card you need an envelope for and the app will tell you what size paper you need and which punch guide to use, isn't technology wonderful?!

I did a little further research today and discovered that using the envelope punch board you can also make paper bows and boxes to hold notelet cards in, as well as small envelope boxes for posting cards that have some dimension to them. I love the idea that I can do more than one thing with the punch board, and tomorrow I'll be having a play. I've found the punch board so useful already after just a day, that I'm seriously considering getting their box making punch board and a pillow box board, I already have their crop-a-dile tools on my wishlist for rounding corners on cards.

This weekend I also got round to playing with the box making die that came as part of the starter set for my Big Shot Plus. It makes a 6.5cm x 6.5cm lidded box, that can be used for making wedding favour boxes or small gifts to hang on the tree at Christmas. The box is the perfect size to put a votive candle, a couple of wax melts or half a dozen of your favourite herbal teas in to send to a friend :)

The set came with a floral die that cuts a floral panel in the box side or lid, some butterflies, hearts and a scalloped straight piece that you can decorate the inside of the box lid with, as well as some flower and leaf dies. I decided to use one of the tattered floral roses I made last weekend on the top of this box.

My box was die cut from an 1 x A4 sheet of Lavender Centura Pearl cardstock, although to me it looks dusky pink, hence using the pink flower to decorate the box. I closed the box with a small piece of pale pink organza ribbon, I'm going to have a go at making a fancier box this week using the other dies that came in the kit. The box in the video was made from card covered in pattern paper, it just occurred to me that I could use the same paper as the envelope to make a co-ordinating gift.