Hi guys,
I'm back today with another off the page project. I have to say I'm quite enjoying these! I love layouts but sometimes a bit of change is refreshing!
While I was browsing the Silhouette Store on Black Friday (I will not tell you how many cut files I ended up buying...) I happened upon a cut file that spiked my interest. I'm not sure whose original idea this was, so I can't give credit, but it's such a neat idea! It's called Open When...Basically the idea is, you have a few (or many if you wish) envelopes with the text Open When on them, and then you write different things on them like Sad, Happy, Bored etc, whatever you like. Then the person you give these to can open the envelopes on the day they feel sad, happy, bored etc. You put some small items in these envelopes to match your titles...You get the gist.
I really loved this idea! So I decided to make one for a friend of mine as a Christmas present using the gorgeous Merry & Bright collection. Here's my finished project:
I made five envelopes. I tried to use some of the ephemera pieces, so I came up with these titles:
Open When...Now
Open When...25 December
Open When...Naughty
Open When...31 December
Open When...Sad
I used an envelope cut file and cut all five from different patterned papers. I then cut five rectangle shapes (slightly smaller than the envelopes) with the title "Open When" with my Silhouette Cameo. I backed the text with different patterned papers so they stand out. I drew around the letters with a black marker because some of them didn't stand out as much as I hoped for. I adhered these to the front of my envelopes and then machine stitched around them. Then to close my envelopes, I punched some 1" circles and attached them to the envelopes with eyelets. Just wrap around some twine and you're done. I wanted to decorate my envelopes a little, so I picked out some embellishments from this collection: ephemera and puffy stickers. I also used some puffy alpha stickers from the Attwell collection and the small red alphas are from the Childish Things collection.
I then put together my box. I cut the base from one of the busier and darker patterned papers in the collection, and the accent pieces from a different color paper, that was not so busy. This way I could add some embellishments as well, without the box getting too overloaded. I remembered I had a big red button from the Summer Sun collection, and it turned out to be perfect for my box. I stitched it on with some twine and I left a long piece of twine around my button so I can wrap it around the box to close it.
To fill the envelopes think for instance gift cards, chocolates, gummy bears, tags and flair buttons, Kleenex, sparklers, cards, crossword puzzles etc. Something small. If my friend was a scrapbooker it would be quite easy to add little embellishments in each envelope :).
I made two cards for her too, one to go in the Christmas Day envelope and the other in the New Year's Eve one.
I like how it turned out, I hope my friend will too! Hope I could inspire you to make some handmade gifts this Christmas! Even if you don't have a die cutting machine, this box and these envelopes are not impossible to make, so don't get discouraged!
Thanks for stopping by! X
