The Altered Alice Romance in Wonderland

One more project for the Altered Alice February Romance in Wonderland Challenge featuring the fabulous Romance Steampunk images from Simply Betty Stamps.

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We wish to thank Simply Betty for the fabulous sponsorship this month.  The winner of the $15.00 certificate will be announced shortly on The Altered Alice Blog.
 

 

Here I've altered a Godiva Chocolate Truffle box using the gorgeous Romance Gwendolyn.

Doesn't she make the perfect Queen of Hearts?  After coloring her with Copics, I fussy cut and popped her on the lid.  The gorgeous swirls behind her are part of the box design. 

Her hair was too pretty to disturb with a crown, so I added a covered wooden one from Artchix Studio to her heart shaped balloon, spelled out "For my" on Alpha Beads and completed the sentiment with a tiny wooden Queen of Hearts card, also from Artchix.

To ground her a bit (and cover up some writing on the box) I added some velvet ric rac and a red rose from her Wonderland palace garden.  I've so enjoyed working with these fabulous Romance Steampunk images and want to thank our participants this month and wish them luck.

 And did you know there is still time left in the very first monthly Simply Steampunk challenge which is Anything Goes?  I am entering my project there as well.

 

It's a Girl with CTMH Artiste

I've been playing with my new CMTH Artiste cart and was excited to use the sweet baby shoes on page 63.  Our nephew's wife is expecting and although we don't know the sex yet, I figured I had a 50/50 chance.  I cut them at 4" in the sweetest flocked DP from Me&My Big Ideas and then set out to find something to do with them.  I loved the cool box on page 74 and used DS to determine how large I wanted the top to fit the shoes with room to spare.  I was surprised to find out it was 2".  Must be measuring from the height of the box.  At this size, you need a 12x24" mat and you still can't fit the top, bottom and side cuts on one piece of 12x24" card stock but the box was then a substantial size, with the interior being approximately 5" square.  I chose to do the top and bottom cuts out of white, instead.  The assembly instructions tell you to glue the shoe upper flaps to the top of the soles, but I wanted a more finished look inside so I cut the soles again at 3 7/8" and glued the flaps under the smaller soles and then glued the 4" soles on the bottom.  This was a bit tricky and I ended up doing a teeny bit of trimming, but I preferred the clean look both inside and out.

I made a second layer for the top, again using DS so I could add another layer of DP.  The sweet bows on the toes are another cut from Artiste, (page 56) which I embossed (along with the shoe straps) with Swiss Dots.  They started at 1" but I shrunk them down to fit with DS.  "It's a Girl" is another fab cut (on page 64 at 2 1/2") and I cut it twice, embossed the top layer and offset them slightly and popped them for a little more dimension. 

I have to say my fave cut of all on this is actually the bow.  Couldn't help but use it again cut at 1", and embossed with the Cuttlebug Polka Dots folder. This is cut in a single piece with holes cut with your Cricut for a brad for easy assembly.  Too cute!

For a finishing touch I lined the top and bottom sections of the box with DP.  I just cut a square at 5" and attached inside which not only added strength, but also hid the flaps used for assembly.  I'm really loving CTMH Artiste because it really has fabulous 3D projects  and cuts for all holidays and occasions as well as coordinating chipboard and stamps.  If you haven't already purchased it, please visit my fab friend, DT sister and CTMH consultant Susan HERE.  Also be sure to visit her personal blog HERE for many more inspirational projects from this versatile cartridge.

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp and Show No Rules Challenge, the Allsorts It's a Gift Challenge, and the Divas by Design Anything Goes challenge.

BBTB2 TBBM Box Challenge

Isn't that title hilarious? I'm sure non Cricuteers are scratching their heads. Translation: This week our challenge at Bitten By The Bug2 was chosen by our fabulously talented sis, Jeri. Her pick was ony of the 3D boxes or containers from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. Well, my fave box on that cart is the cake box. However, I had a hard time figuring out what to do with it because I had already done a vintage inspired Halloween one HERE, and also a birthday cake shoe HERE. What I didn't realize, was that I could cut it quite a bit bigger than the "fit to page" size on a 12"x12" mat, which is 9". By turning it around using DS, I could just cut it a a whopping 11". WooHoo! That is SOME slice of cake!

I used just two colors because I decided to use the trick or treaters silhouettes from A Child's Year and create a little scene around the sides of the box. They look quite vintage to me, and the paper decorations I have left from my childhood have few colors other than orange and black. I finally got to use the larger MS fence punch too.

The figures were cut at 2 1/4 " (the witch, clown and princess) and 2 1/8" (fairy, fireman, and cowboy) Some were flipped so they would all face the front of the box. To continue the scene, I punch a smaller MS Spooky Fence punch to add around the top.

"Trick or Treat"was cut from Pumpkin Carving. I added a large moon and shadow cut with my Grand Caliber and Grand Circles Nesties. The haunted house is a Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Die. I happen to have a Big Shot, but these can be cut in the Cuttlebug too, using the die between 2 B plates.

The box opens from the back so of course I needed to decorate that too. "Happy Haunting" is also from the Pumpkin Carving cart and the ghosts are another MS punch. I'm telling you, LOTS of treats will fit in here! Now don't fret if you don't have TBBM, because any box or treat container from any of the carts will do, as long as it is a "new" project and you mention and link to BBTB2 in your post. Now go have a look at the amazing inspiration from my DT sisters and we hope to visit you to see your take on the challenge too. BTW, although we have a new challenge every week, you have 2 weeks to complete them so our winged, drippy heart challenge HERE is still open as well.

Spooky Crayon Box

Happy Saturday! Did you think I forgot you? Well, I've been crafting my little fingers to the bone with an especially large BBTB2 project for next week (besides all my other DT gigs) so I haven't been able to participate in many other challenges. I did get a whole bunch of new stuff via post (including my Imagine which I haven't had time to test out yet) and decided to try a quicky for you this morning. The crayon box from TBB&M was already cut. Changed my mind at the last minute for that BBTB2 project. Decided to finish it with my new Tim Holtz Raven and Scaredy Cat die and Paper Rosette Die from Sizzix. They both work in the Cuttlebug. Cool, huh?

I've always loved these flowers but all that scoring was a PITA! Now it's a snap! I cut the raven twice for a bit of a shadow and wet embossed him with Utee. (Lovin' that stuff!)

Spooky is done with my new Cuttlebug Emboss Plus Postage Stamp alphabet. I grunged it up with Black Soot and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I did find that it's a good idea to poke out the teeny hole between the letters BEFORE you cut them apart. Really hard to get them off if not. the big crystal swirl is Prima. The added fibers were from my stash just to finish it off.

Sorry for the rushed post. We're off to a music festival in Sonoma today. Dig the lineup. Pretty vintage just like me! LOL

BBTB2 Crayon Box Challenge

This week Regina, our dear BBTB2 DT sister, founder of the original BBTB and owner of the fabulous Cutting Cafe chose the Crayon Box from the TBBM cartridge. I love this cut and often use it for envies for my fat Cricut cards. Actually I use it so often that I had a bit of a brain freeze. In a way I feel like I've cheated a bit because the box is the only Cricut on this project. As I've said before, I'm trying to actually USE some of my new crafty purchases (as well as old stash) so that's how this came about. The box was cut at 9" which is the largest you can cut it on a 12" mat.

At the Santa Clara Scrap Expo I purchased a number of the Heartfelt Creations stamp sets that coordinate with Spellbinder's Nesties. This was a first attempt and I must say they take a bit of practice to line up, even using the template method as recommended. I'm not gonna tell you how many got tossed in the bin. I used both the Aztec Gold Sunflowers sets 1 and 2 which coordinate with the Nesties Blossom 2. They were embossed with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder and inked with Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Brushed Corduroy (does that scream "Fall" or what?) The gorgeous corners are from the Heartfelt Creations Perfect Petals Die Cut by Spellbinders. The seeds are hand cut and the sentiment was cut with Nesties Labels Four (both on the Sunflowers 1 set).

The DP is K&Co Wild Saffron and so are the layered sticker leaves, tiny lady bug and dragonfly. The gorgeous Offray ribbon from my LSS inspired me to attach it to the box but leave it loose near the flap for a tie closure. My DT sisters knocked this one out of the park with tons of creative inspiration so be sure to check out BBTB2 if you haven't already. I hope you're inspired enough to try your own.