Santa's Matchbox Suit

Technique:  Papercrafting

Papers:
Crimson Weave by American Crafts
black card

Other:
scrap of black ribbon
silver buckle
rhinestone brads
double sided adhesive
matchbox or matchbox die

A cute little treat box that can be whipped up in no time at all.  I recently purchased the Quickutz Matchbox Die because I was using so many matchboxes that I felt it was actually more environmentally friendly to cut my own out of card scraps and recycled boxes, than the buy the matchboxes when I don't really need the matches just the boxes.

So my box above was cut from red and black card using the die, but you could just as easily cover a matchbox with coloured card.  The buckle is the type used on wedding favours threaded through a little scrap of ribbon, and a few rhinestone brads popped in for buttons.  You could whip up a dozen or more in an hour I reckon.

Do you ever have too many ideas going around in your head?  So much so that you actually end up spending all your time thinking and none of your time creating?  I am hoping that this clean, quick little project is like a mini detox for my brain LOL

Santa's Chimney Matchbox Ornament

Technique:  Papercraft

Materials:
matchbox
manila card
brick texture embossing folder
Copic Markers
silver gel pen
glitter glue
wooden bead
string
Distress Inks
* Frayed Burlap
* Fired Brick
* Aged Mahogany
* Walnut Stain
* Peeled Paint

Tools:
Tim Holtz Texture Fade
* brick wall
Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers die
* mini flourish
Sizzix Big Shot
scissors
Martha Stewart Holly Punch
Magnolia Mini World rubber stamp

The challenge at Winter Wonderland this week was give it a little lift, by using wet or dry embossing.

Part of what I enjoy about the challenges is choosing something that is out of the ordinary to work with, try and do something unexpected, so I had it in my head that I wanted to use the brick texture fade for this and be a little different.  But how?  The other thing I love about the challenges is how it gets my creative juices pumping!  In my head I have half a dozen different ways to use the brick texture in a Christmas project, but I had been wanting to make a matchbox ornament for weeks, so....

I inked the raised side of the texture fade with frayed burlap before putting the paper in and running it through the machine, to get some ink deep into the crevasses.  Then the embossed areas are inked with fired brick, walnut stain, aged mahogany and a little more frayed burlap.  It's then cut into small rectangles and glued on all four sides of a regular size match box.  Looks just like a chimney!

The back of the ornament showcases the brick texture.

Once the "chimney" has been made, the rest is just a matter of laying embellishments until you get the result that you want.  I used a corrugated card mini flourish, a Christmas ticket by Tim Holtz, some string, a silver tree charm and a sprig of holly with a splash of glitter glue.  The image is a Magnolia Mini World, and wow they are so teeny that they make the brush nib on a copic look like an oversized crayon! 

The inner tray of the matchbox is coloured with brown copics, as is the bead, which is threaded through the top with string to act as a hanger for the tree.  Small treats can be placed inside and hung on the tree.  I had so much fun with this that I plan to make a *lot* more like this!  Fairly quick to put together, very inexpensive, and the scope for creativity is enormous!

Challenge entries:

Winter Wonderland, use wet or dry embossing.

Simon Says Stamp and Show is show some embossing, it's going in there too!