Box of Tricks!

Hi everyone!

When a friend at work asked me to make a couple of cards for two special birthdays, she said she would like something "a bit different" - so I straight away thought of this clever template by Helen Allen (check out her demo here)

The template comes with instructions and a link to a video, so it is quite easy to do, but the results are very impressive - although you really need a video to get the full effect!

Here are the envelopes, which are included in the template ...


... and when you open the envelope ... WOW!!! Check out my YouTube video here to see what happens

Here are some more pictures showing the pop-up boxes released from captivity!

How you decorate them is totally up to you - that's the really fun part! I've used several different patterned papers from the MME Lost & Found Record It 6" paper pad which I got from SJ Crafts, and the chequerboard card is the back cover of the G45 Mother Goose collection 12" paper pad ...


You need a good weight of card to make these robust enough (especially if you like to keep playing with them as I do!) And if your embellishments are deeper than this, you'd need to just make your envelope a little fatter to accommodate them - but Helen talks you through all that kind of thing on the video. Some kind of scoring board affair also makes this a lot easier and quicker to do.

You can decorate the cubes to suit just about anyone - this one's for my friend's husband ...


I used the bolder, red/white/bookprint papers from the pad for the manly version, cut out some of the hearts to create 3D embellies, and added a touch of bling with some stick-on gems here and there. The alphas were die cut using the Sizzix Bigz alphabet die set - once from scrap heavyweight card and again from some of the patterned paper, so I could layer them together for extra body.

This one's for her best friend ...


For the girly version, I chose the softer, pink/white papers from the same pad, added some cut-out hearts again, some pink bling and little pink blossoms to finish it off. Oh, and peel-off greetings.

These are so satisfying to make - check out Helen's demo for more ideas.

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon :o)xxx

Comments

Helen Wallace said…
These are soooo impressive Annie....a great idea for that special occasion. TFS
Lou said…
wow, you wouldn't expect those envelopes to open like that. Were they fiddly to make? x
Val-Belle said…
That is the coolest thing ever. I love it and such a nice change from a normal card... you are soooo clever :D
Annie Claxton said…
Thank you ladies, they are impressive, but honestly not difficult - as long as you follow Helen's instructions and score, cut, fold carefully.
I've just gone back in and added some extra details about materials etc - by the time I had finished faffing around trying to put the vid on YouTube it was the wee small hours and nearly time to get up for work - oops! :o)
Heather Jacob said…
very impressed!!! what a fun and arty project, love these x
Susanne said…
Wow, those are fabulous. Great job - those are real present pleasers!!