Sunday, August 4, 2013

A Hostess Gift...I Hope!

Good Evening!

We met up with my friends Kay and Barb this weekend to talk about an upcoming trip.  I guess you could call it a planning session.  LOL!  Well, being the gent my mom taught me to be....(Yes, I try!) I wanted to go over to Kay's with a little, "Thank you for having me and making your AMAZING chicken salad!" gift.

I decided to hit the studio and try and dream up something...Quick!   I had no idea what to make, but I was just going to go for it. Tonight, I wanted to recreate the thank you gift and take you along for the ride....Ready?  Let's get started....

OK, I know I have boatloads of chipboard...check!  I also know I have a ton of Configuration box inserts...Check....What can I do?  OK, why don't I make a little book using the config inserts...Yeah!  That's what I will do.  A little book that she can keep her smaller special souvenirs in.

Now I'm going to lay it out, take a few measurements and just go for it.  It it can either be really bad or OK.  Either way, they will probably be grateful I at least tried....If not, I know she has a fireplace..She can burn it...LOL!

I decided on (3) of the 2 x 3 inserts from Tim Holtz Configuration Boxes.  Now to think how to attach them to the cover....I'm going to double the thickness of my covers.  I'm cutting (4) 3-1/8 x 6 covers from chipboard and laminating them together forming (2) 3-1/8 X 6 COVERS.  I also cut (2) pieces of chipboard to 1-3/4 x 6-inches for the spine piece. I rounded the edges to the (2) cover pieces with a 1/4-inch corner chomper and sanded the edges.


I matted the inside covers with one of my favorites... no longer in print...Graphic 45's A Proper Gentleman.


Now for the front of the covers....Once again...MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE COLLECTION that G45 did...Transatlantic Collection!  I so wish they would bring this amazing collection back....Here's for wishing!

  
Once this was done, I punched a 1/8-inch hole into the covers with my We R Memory Keepers Big Bite, coming 1/2-inch in from each side.  I  took some seam binding and "strung" it through each hole and glued the ribbon about 1/2-inch in from the cover edges to the interior.  (Sorry, forgot to take a picture of this)....

Next, I needed to paint the boxes black....





I added Scor-tape to the backside of the config box inserts....
 

And then I matted the config boxes.  The longer sides at 1-1/2 x 2-3/4 and the ends at 1-1/2 x 1-3/4.


Next, I cut some little doors for the front at 1-5/8 x  2-5/8 and matted them.  I then punched a small half circle at the top of each door with a gift I received from my pal Artedar.  It's an amazing punch that I'm sure was not intended to do what I am doing with it, but it works!  Thanks Artedar!  If you get a chance, check out her blog HERE! She's amazing....Here is the punch...




Then I cut some structure strips to 1 x 2-5/8  and adhered the strip to the bottom edge of the door.
If you want to make structure strips and don't know how, head HERE.



I then adhered the door to the config box.


It was time to adhere the configuration inserts to the covers.  I lined them all up to the cover and pulled the tape backing off the top box and adhered into place.


Next, I pulled the tape backing and adhered the bottom box.


Last, I adhered the right box to the right cover.



Now it was time to add the spine piece.  I cut a piece to 3 x 6 and rounded the corners with We R Memory Keepers Scallop Punch and ink distressed the edges with Vintage Photo.


Next, time to score the edges.  I scored them at 1/2-inch and again at 2-1/2-inches.  I folded the paper on the score lines and added Scor-Tape to the backside of the score lines.


I pulled the tape backing and adhered the piece to the spine....

 

Time to add the interior spine piece...


Now that is done, I thought I would add some 1-7/8 x 2-7/8-inch mats to the spaces in between the boxes....


 Last, I tied the seam binding into a bow on the side to close it.....



...and added some embellishments...


That's it!  A little hostess gift....Hope you like it as much as my friends did!


Have an Awesome Day!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

41 comments:

  1. Well isn't that just stinkin cute. Do you ever run out of ideas? I hope not!! Wonderful little gift.

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  2. Jim, that is so cool! I need to make one. You are a clever, clever man! :)

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  3. What a neat little box Jim! Love it!!

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  4. I really like this concept. It is a good idea to put mementoes in from trips, just the right size.

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  5. So cool Jim! What a great gift, thanks for sharing!

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  6. Nice! Clever. Great gift idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I LOVE little boxes! This turned out to b an excellent hostess gift. I don't know why I was worried the whole way through that the 3 boxes wouldn't mesh together. Probably because my lid didn't fit on my teapot. Lol. Thanks a lot for showing us the how=to. Well worth making. By the way, I put an EK punch on the floor this am and stood on it to get it to punch my chipboard. It worked!
    Hugs,
    Mo

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  8. Wonderful project! you are an artist!!! Fabulous box! I would really like to know and meet you and all the company of friends in Italy, it would be a unique opportunity for me! BArbarayaya I'm sorry I posted this comment also on another post!

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  9. I am sure you are used to being told this Jim but you are a crafting genius and you clearly are the true gentleman your Mum wanted you to be! I bet Kay was thrilled to bits with this gorgeous and very clever creation........ Thanks so much for the step by step too.

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  10. Wow fab idea Sir Jim, love the idea, ae have the boxes but can make them lol

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  11. so talented are you Jim. great job!

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  12. This is such a lovely idea Jim and I'm sure that Kay was thrilled with it. I don't know how you always manage to think these things up - but I'm so glad that you do! I'd like to try making this sometime, but I'd have to make the boxes too as I don't have any configuration boxes. Thank you for the inspiration :)

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  13. What a kind and thoughtful person you are! The boxes are gorgeous :)

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  14. Fantastic. Those are fabulous papers from G45. What a lovely gift

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  15. That is awesome! I know your friend really loved it. What a great use for those little configurations boxes.

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  16. Haha!! A "little" hostess gift!!! That is NOT a little hostess gift... it's a FABULOUS!!!!!! hostess gift!! I love how your mind works!!!! Thanks for showing us how you did it!!! I know that Kay had to swoon with delight with it!!! You are a true gentleman
    Teri

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  17. Your designs are amazing! I love the dimensional quality of this piece...and the thought that went into it. Wow! Thanks for sharing the deets! You are the BEST!

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  18. you are a true gentleman!!! your mama sure raised you right!!! awesome hostess gift which i am sure will be treasured and perhaps filled with mini treasures from Italy!

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  19. What a great use for all the extra configuration boxes. Have to pull mine out and get busy. thanks as always for sharing. Theresa aka Mountain Dreamer

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  20. FANTAATIC Jim!!!! I love it! Glad you are going!!!

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  21. FANTAATIC Jim!!!! I love it! Glad you are going!!!

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  22. Wow I am amazed at the speed of your creativity. There is no way I could do that on the fly. It turned out very nice.

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  23. I AM DIZZY...wow, Jim, a little hostess gift, you say? You have an invite to my home, *any time*! This little gift would take me days to build, configure, rebuild, you get the idea.......truly, THNAKS for showing!!!

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  24. WOW! I live only a hop, skip and a jump south of you and would love to play hostess for a gift like this, LOL. I am sure your friend will really love this hostess gift and thank you for showing!

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  25. That is spectacular!

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  26. It's beautiful! Not only are you incredibly creative, you are also very talented with construction. I love that you put one of the drawers on the opposite side of the other two. How very clever.

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  27. I DO like it! You can just go ahead and send me one! :0) Thanks for showing how you did it.

    Noreen
    Crafty Journal

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  28. Thanks Jim for this great tutorial, what a lovely gift!! I am going to try my hand at making one for my daughter!! Thanks again for sharing!!!

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  29. WOW Another awesome project. It is a very cute gift.

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  30. Just lovely Jim. Thanks for sharing. Karen.x

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  31. Sweet little gift! I'll bet they loved it. I'm going back to write down the directions. TFS Hugs, Jess

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  32. wow what a wonderful gift, I would be over the moon to receive a gift like that, thanks so much for sharing... I have a thank you gift to make and am thinking this might do the trick... and I can think of other uses for it too, birthday/christmas gifts, etc.....

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  33. Love this!!!!! What a wonderful gift ideal!!!

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  34. I love this and I am going to make one also. I hoard all the G45 papers so I have plenty to make it with the exact papers. I will try another with different G45 papers-thanks for sharing you are amazing!

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  35. Love this box, Jim! I have to ask you about that punch too. I found one of these in my sister's things a few months ago. We lost her last year :( But she had this punch and neither me or my other sister could figure out what it was or how to use it! Do you know what it's called? Maybe if i knew the name I could find some ideas on how to use it!

    Thank you!

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  36. Love it! You are so creative .. (as if you didn't know that :)thank you for sharing all of your wonderful ideas with us!

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  37. Amazing project!! I love it!! I love your designs, they are very unique!! Thank you for sharing!!

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