Hello. Welcome to Valley inspirations with Andrea and the 14th Weekly Social Stamping Blog Hop. The amazingly talented Kelly Kent has been the instigator and coordinator of this Blog Hop and we are so thankful for the opportunity to share creativity during this time of upheaval due to COVID-19.
This weeks theme is "out of the box". Hmm - what is that all about? My mind went to the way many people are bursting at the seems to be out of lockdown and getting back to normality - well whatever normality looks like in our current times. In an attempt to break free from restrictions many are forgetting lessons learnt about social distancing, washing hands and the like and so raising fists to the virus to say "catch me if you can" - so there!
How can this be interpreted as a project for this blog hop??? My mind went to the image of a box, that when opened there was something that exploded out. This thought led me to creating a box that when opened a cube, which had been squished flat inside the box, all of a sudden jumped out and formed its full size that was much taller than the original box. Box One.
Of course my mind also went to a different idea. I love chocolate and boxes full of this delicious sweet treat. Opening the box allows us to partake of the delicious enjoyable contents - hopefully this is our future as we progress out of lockdown to a fuller life. Or at least, with the right attitude, we can do things to enjoy the "journey" along the way. Box Two.
BOX 1: This box is a matchbox style box about .. x .. x 1/2". (Sorry its in inches - but I often revert to inches when creating boxes, not sure why.) The box is made in two seperate pieces; the bottom tray and a sleeve that the tray slides into. Both were created in Basic Black card-stock, with the sleeve decorated with the World of Good Speciality Designer Series Paper, which is part of the World of Good Suite. The sentiment, feather and ink pot all came from the Beautiful World stamp set. All were stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with different Emboss Powders, ie Gold, Black and White Emboss Powders. The Faux Suede Trim ribbon and buckles (Antique Corners & Slides embellishments) were also from the same Suite. I so love the coordination of products by Stampin' Up!
Here's a close up of the main design elements:
The box is starting to open ...
And here, the box has opened and a cube of 2.5" x 2.5" x 2.5" has emerged. It looks bigger than the 0.5" deep box. I couldn't resist adding some chocolates. Its Haigg's chocolate, an exceptional SA chocolate business that has been around for over 100years and has now explored interstate markets. Haigg's is my favourite chocolate. The cube has been decorated with pieces of the SDSP and brass die cut pieces on 4 sides, leaving the folded/split faces without decoration to not impede the mechanism.
BOX 2: The second box is a similar matchbox style with the tray made from Thick Whisper White card-stock and the sleeve created from Merry Merlot card-stock. The box front was also cut from Merry Merlot and then embossed with one of the embossing folders from the Meadows Moments embossing folders set. Both the Sleeve and the box front had a jar shaped hole punched out using the Jar punch. A Mason Jar Shaker Dome was adhered between the box front and sleeve and the sleeve was folded and adhered together.
The spray of flowers is from the Jar of Flowers stamp set, which was stamped in Momento ink and the coloured with Stampin' Blends. Don't you love the pop of colour of the tulips. They were coloured in one of the new In Colours, ie Magenta Madness, with a touch of Petal Pink. The spray of flowers was also stamped a second time on Whisper White card-stock and three tulips coloured individually. They were fussy cut and popped up on Mini Dimensionals to give extra 3D effect. As the final touch a bow was added using Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon.
It will be interesting to see what happens as our society escapes the box of lockdown. Some say we won't be able to push everyone back into the lockdown box. I certainly hope and pray that we will not need to try, but we continue to behave well, respect and support each other and any outbreaks are managed well.
Thank you for visiting the Valley Inspirations blog. I do appreciate you spending time with me. Please contact me if you would like any further information about the boxes; or if you live in Australia and would like a new Annual Catalogue posted to you; or if I can help in any other way.
I hope you are enjoying this week's Social Stamping Blog Hop that has focused on the theme - "Out of the Box". If you started at the beginning with our amazing Social Stamping Host, Kelly Kent, then you can either click here to be transferred to Lisa Whitehead at Stamp with Lisa to see her gorgeous creation or click on the 'Next' graphic below; or if you would prefer to go to the full list of participants click on this link to be taken to Kelly Kent's Host blog post at My Papercraft Journey where you will find individual links that can take you to each person's blog.
Do look after yourself and your loved ones in these changing times.
Hope to see you again next week when the Social Stamping Blog Hop theme is "Change". This will be the last blog hop together under Social Stamping Blog Hop.
Andrea 😘
