My Little Shoebox

Tuesday Tutorial: Valentine Gift Card Holders

Hello, MLS friends! It's Robyn with you today for a Tuesday Tutorial.

Just a few more days 'til Valentine's Day. What?! You've forgotten to pick up gifts? That's okay. Today's tutorial will help you whip up a quick batch of gifts for your sweethearts.

Everyone loves a gift card to their favorite store. Why not package this simple (and fast!) gift in a beautiful way?

All you need are:

• Plain white envelopes (mine are the all-purpose variety from Target and measure 3 5/8" by 6 1/2")
• Paper trimmer
• Circle punch
• Embossing folder
• Cardstock stickers and die-cuts from your favorite My Little Shoebox collection (I used Vintage Shop)

First, seal your envelopes. Then use your paper trimmer to trim a little off the short edge. I cut mine down to 5".

Now that you've got your pouch, use a circle punch to cut a rounded sliver out of the top of each one.

Next, insert the pouch into an embossing folder and run it through your Cuttlebug, Big Shot or other embossing machine. If you're not into embossing, you can skip this step. I just like the texture it adds to the pouch.

Now you're ready to layer on some embellishments! I used banner pieces from the die-cut sheet and a few cardstock stickers to finish off this gift card holder.

Repeat on the other gift card holders. Try mixing it up a bit or adding in scraps of patterned papers or a strand of trim.

And then you're ready to insert your gift cards for the ones you love.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

xoxoxoxo

Tuesday Tutorial - Christmas Angel

Good morning, I am squeezing in a little more Christmas magic for todays tutorial.  These little angels are fun to make and can be made to stand on a side or hung on the tree.

First of all find a small circular shape to draw around on some pattern paper.  I used an old feeding bowl!  Choose the paper you would like to be the 'dress' and draw around on the reverse side before cutting it out.  I have used Notebook - With Love paper.

Next cut the circle in half.  I did this by folding it in half and cutting down the score line.

Ink the round edge with white pigment ink and heat emboss with gold powder.  Next take one half and wrap around to make a cone shape.

Take some of the gingham ribbon and sew a gathering stitch to create a circle, I have used the Coming Home Trims.

Secure this over the neck of the cone.

I then cut out some butterfly wings using the Xcut Decorative Die - Butterflies in the Vintage Shop - French Lace and ink the edges as before.  You can use any type of butterfly die or you could freehand cut your own.

I then sandwiched them together as shown below so they were stiffer.   You then need to punch out two circles and add them either side of the atenna, don't forget to add the thread for hanging!  Don't worry if any bits over hang as these can be trimmed off.

Glue this to the back of one of the cones tucking the tip of the cone on the inside of the two circles.  Roll up some of the Notebook - With Love paper to create some little arms and add to the cone.

Add a Christmas greeting and some Vintage Shop 3D roll up flowers along the bottom of the greeting.  Punch out some small holly leaves in the Cricket and Lagoon paper and fold in half before adding to the base of the angel.  Embellish with some red adhesive stones.

So there is the little Christmas Angel for you.  

I hope you have fun making your own.

Enjoy your day

Beckie :)

Tuesday Tutorial - Box o' Tags

 

Hello, MLS Fans! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! It's my turn to share a tutorial, and I've used the Oh Deer! collection to create a fun project that will be perfect for gift-giving during the holidays: a set of gift tags inspired by Fall!

 

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the Wood Tag shape (available in the Silhouette Online Store) in two different sizes. You'll be using the Print and Cut feature on the Silhouette, so you'll need to make sure you turn on the registration marks setting before you print the design onto cardstock.

I cut two large tags (sized at 4.25" on the long side) to go on the outside of the box, and I cut ten smaller tags (sized at 3.75" on the long side) to go inside. You can certainly cut more or less, but ten is a good number to fill up the box.

Once you have your tags cut, it's time to make the box. Start by cutting a sheet of cardstock (I used the Linen/Carnation from My Little Shoebox) to 8 1/2" x 9".

Next, score each side at 3". In other words, score one side at 3", then turn the paper and score at 3" and turn again until you have four score lines.

Turn your paper over and find the 9" long side. Cut along the score lines toward the middle as shown here.

Then fold in your sides to create the box.

Attach the large tags to the front and back of the box. I used double-sided tape.

So your box will look like this:

Cut a strip of the leftover cardstock to 3/4" wide by 7 1/2" long to create a handle for your box. Attach each end to the back of each tag where it meets the box. I added a brad to cover the hole on each side, but you could use a button or whatever you have handy.

Next, it's time to decorate! I used cardstock stickers and additional Silhouette cuts to match the collection. I also used a to/from stamp on each tag, but you could easily handwrite "to" and "from" if you don't have a stamp handy.

I also tied a strand of ribbon or trim through each tag so they can be easily attached to a gift.

And here is my finished box with all the tags inside:

There are plenty of possibilities for creating all kinds of gift tags. Try mixing collections or using mini alphabet stickers for a different look!

Happy creating!

 

'Oh Deer' Paper Piecing Tutorial

Hello There

Today I have a little technique using the new My Little Shoebox and Unity stamps.

These stamps are perfect for paper piecing to create little 3D toppers.

Here's How

First choose about 5 sheets of patterned paper, ink up the mushroom stamp and stamp the image on to each piece of paper.  Here I am using the papers from the ‘Oh Deer’ collection.

Cut out different sections of the mushrooms as shown.  Make sure you have one of the whole image cut out.

Layer up the mushroom caps as shown in the photo below finishing with the middle orange one which is put on with some foam pads.

Add the little cut out heart and dots from the larger mushroom with foam pads as well.

 

Cut a piece of card to 8cm x 22cm piece of card stock and score and fold at 1.5cm, 3cm and 12.5cm.  Cover with paper and add the mushrooms to the front section.

Cut off the top section of one of the journal cards as shown and snip into it to create grass.  Attach to the card.

Cut out some clouds and owl from the Vintage Shop collection and add to the back of the card. 

Stamp ‘you make me … mushy’ on to one of the flags from the Oh Deer 3D flowers and add to the card.

I hope this inspires you to get creative with some of the other new MLS stamps

Have a creative day

Beckie :)

Making a kite with the new 3D Roll-Up Flower Sheets

Hi My Little Shoebox fans!

The new My Little Shoebox 3D Roll-Up Flower sheets have a new look! They now include leaf and fun accent shapes (which I love).

The cute diamond shaped pieces remind me of kites so that's what I decided to make with them.

Here's how to make them a little more dimensional...

With a sharp tool, score a line through the middle, from the top to bottom and from both sides.

Now fold along the scored lines, you now have a dimensional piece.

Add some string and you have a cute, realistic looking kite!

These cute papers are from the new Cherry Blossom collection.

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by!

~Liz

Tuesday Tutorial - Up in the Trees Bracelet!

Hi My Little Shoebox fans!!

It’s Monique today and because it's Tuesday again I have a tutorial for you!

As much as I love to create layouts and cards, sometimes I love to create something else more! So for today I chose to show you how to create paper beads to make a bracelet.

Let’s get started!

First we start creating the paper beads.

1. Gather your materials to create the beads: scraps of paper (I use scraps from the Up in the Trees collection), scissors, trimmer, knife & ruler, glue stick, tooth picks and either glossy accents or crackle accents (or nail polish).

2. Cut a few strips of paper of at least 7.5”long and 0.5“ wide. Because I want every bead to be different I cut a few extra strips, but 4 would be sufficient.

3. Cut your strips at a length of 7.5”.

4. Use your knife and ruler to cut the strips diagonally so you get triangles:

5. Now roll the top of your strip of paper (the wide end) 1 time around the tooth pick and use your glue stick to glue the rest of the back of the strip of paper.

6. Roll the paper completely around the tooth pick like this:

7. Repeat this until you have 8 or 9 beads (for my arm 8 is enough). Because you didn’t add the glue to the top of the paper you can easily slide the bead off the tooth pick:

8. Because I don’t want to damage my bracelet when washing my hands I covered the beads in a little bit of crackle accents (glossy accents or even nail polish will do too of course):

9. When using crackle accents your beads look like this:

10. To let the beads dry in stuck them in a piece of styrofoam:

Now we come to the second part of the tutorial: creating the actual bracelet!

11. Gather the rest of the supplies: (glass)beads from your stash and elastic beading cord):

12. String the beads on the elastic cord (I use a double beading cord so my bracelet is stronger). For my arm I needed 8 paper beads, 8 metal beads and 8 glass beads:

13. Tie the ends of the beading cord together and your bracelet looks like this:

And on my arm it looks like this:

That’s it!! You’re done! Isn’t this a fun way to use your scraps???

Btw, I want you to know that this isn't my own idea. I got the inspiration from a book I downloaded on my Kindle recently: "101 Crafty Gifts" by Chris Thomas.

Thanks for stopping by My Little Shoebox’ blog today and if you decide to try and create a bracelet too, I would love to see it!!

Have a great and creative day!

Monique

Tuesday Tutorial with Beckie

Good morning everyone! It's time for another Tuesday Tutorial with the MLS design team. In case you missed our last tutorial here is the link. Every other Tuesday each month we feature a fun tutorial that you can recreate with your My Little Shoebox stash. Today's tutorial is featuring designer team member Beckie Dreyer...

 

Hello MLS fans! Today I would like to share how I made this card by repurposing our Cardstock Sticker sheets.

I used the negative circles from the leftover Aiko Cardstock Sticker sheet as my template.

First create a mask by cutting the 'waste' of the small round alphabet down to desired size.  Peel off the backing and press on to your jumper.  This makes the back less sticky which means you can easily remove it from the card.  Place it on the card blank.

Spritz over the card blank with a selection of mists

Remove the 'mask' to reveal the bubble wrap effect.

Finish by adding some of the 3D rolled flowers, a ribbon and greeting.

Once you have finished with the 'mask' you could create a little decoration by wrapping it into a cylinder around a battery powered candle and decorate with some of the card stock stickers.

Have fun creating!

Beckie :)

Tuesday Tutorial - Brag Book

Happy Tuesday! It's Robyn here with another Tuesday Tutorial to share.

For this week's tutorial, I've made a great little brag book that you can keep in your car or purse to showcase some of your favorite photos.

All you need to create this little mini is a sheet of My Little Shoebox journaling cards -- I used the Happy Go Lucky collection, but this idea will work with any of the journaling card sheets you have on-hand -- plus a binder ring, some stickers and a strand of ribbon.

First, you'll need to trim your journaling cards in blocks of two, like this:

Once they're trimmed, use a craft knife to trim out the centers of the frames on one side of each block. It helps to have a very sharp blade on your craft knife -- especially when trimming out the intricate curves on the bracket shapes.

Fold each of your blocks in half to create the double-sided frame. Then add a photo inside each one and adhere it all together.

Here's a look at all of my pages after I glued the photos inside:

Next, decide what order you want your pages to be in. You might want some of the photos facing backwards so that you can use the journaling spot on the facing side.

Finish it off by punching a hole in each corner and attaching the binder ring. Tie a strand of ribbon on the binder ring, and add a few stickers and embellishments if you like.

Here are a few more shots of the inside pages:

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Tuesday Tutorial with Rocio

Hello MLS fans! It's Tuesday and time for another fun tutorial from our Design Team. Today's tutorial is brought to us by Rocio Duran.

Origami Folding Flowers Tutorial

With spring just around the corner, I wanted to share with you all an origami folding flower tutorial using our Enchanted Garden collection.  I have been addicted to making these paper flowers.  We even make it as a family activity.  Hope you enjoy it!

1.       Start with a 3x3 piece of paper. I used Enchanted Garden’s Classy paper.  I love all the colors.

2.       Fold the bottom corner to the top to make a triangle, this will be the side seen on the outside of your flower so make sure you are happy with your choice.

3.       Fold the right bottom corner of the triangle to the top point. 

4.       Repeat for the left side.  I used a bone folder to ensure my folds and edges were flat.  You should now have a square.

 

 

5.       Fold the top left flap of the square backwards as shown.  This should form a little kite shape on each flap.  Repeat for the other side.

6.       Fold the top triangles as shown so that they are level with the edge of the paper. 

7.       Fold the right flap along the existing crease.   Repeat for the other side.

8.       Place adhesive to one triangle as shown and attach to the other triangle. 

 

9.   Here is a completed petal. Repeat steps 1-8 to create five more.  Note where I placed my adhesive to adhere the petals together.

10.    Adhere all six petals together.  When you have adhered three of the six petals add the floral wire in the middle as shown.

 

Here is what the completed flower looks like.

 

 

Once you have created a few flowers you can create your own bouquet of flowers.  I used all 6 papers from Enchanted Garden to create my flowers.  I also added a few leaves using the “B” side of Exquisite and adhering them to some floral wire.  Here is my completed bouquet:

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a creative day!

Tuesday Tutorial with Mandy

Origami heart tutorial with Mandy Starner

 

I love you card

 

Supplies used:

11543 Sabrina -both sides(Audrey)
11544 Breakfast at Tiffany's -both sides (Audrey)
11549 Cardstock stickers (Audrey)
11541 3-D Roll-Up Flowers
11022 Journaling Die-Cut page(Farmer's Market) -Green border
Heart Shaped Paper Doiley
Punches- Martha Stewart(doily), Marvy(heart)
Stamps- Lawn Fawn(Banner), Unity for MLS(sentiment)
Pearl- BasicGrey

Bee Mine card
11555 Magnificent -both sides (Enchanted Garden)
11514 Sunny Side Up (Playtime)
11544 Breakfast At Tiffany's (Audrey)
11022 Journaling Die Cut (Farmer's Market) - Banner
10120 Ruby Glitter Alphas
08963 Ocean Sprinkle Glaze Alphas
11051 Clear Stamp (Garden Party)
Black Cardstock
Heart shaped Doily
Baker's Twine

 

Here's how to create your own!