A BOX IS A BOX, RIGHT?

Why is it that boxes are so intriguing to stampers? Whenever I see one, my mind always begins to wonder . . . how hard is it to make, what would I use it for, how should I decorate it, etc. This box is quite an odd size, mainly because I (unknowingly at the time) didn't exactly follow the instructions, but a box is still a box, right? What made this box a ton of fun is that I used Rub-Ons to decorate it. The floral vine along the bottom and the "happy day" on the lid are rub-ons from one of the Sale-A-Bration products that will be available Feb. 1 - March 17 from Stampin' Up! There are four sheets of rub-ons in the pack, they all have the same images, but each sheet is a different color . . . black, white, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive. With any $50+ order during the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) period, you can choose one of the SAB products. Other SU products used to make this box include the Scallop punch, Horizontal Slot punch, Circle punches, Soft Sky Double-Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, "Big Pieces" and "Little Pieces" stamp sets, Vintage eyelets, and 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon (to cover up a little scoring boo-boo). Even with it's minor imperfections, this box is still a box.

PINWHEEL CENTERPIECE

Have you noticed the designer paper pinwheels on page 67 of the new catalog? I fell in love with them and decided to try them tonight. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them, so I decided to just do as SU had done . . . put them in something glass! I went a step further, though, and added some Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons (the white flower on the glass and the "you make me smile" sentiment on the ribbon). Pretty cool, huh? I really wanted to use some Jelly Beans in the bottle, but I had to settle for bath salts. Fortunately, they were the perfect color (don't you just love it when things come together), and I'd had them for a year or so--just taking up space on a shelf! Wouldn't this centerpiece be perfect for a Spring/Summer event? Truth be told, this project took less than an hour to create, and I even applied the Rub-Ons after I'd already filled the bottle with bath salts and tied the ribbon in a knot! Super easy!

STEP RIGHT UP!

And hand me your order for these AWESOME Rub-Ons! I stayed up late last night putting the finishing touches on this card, and I had the best time! Goodness! These little morsels can just about be rubbed onto ANYTHING! As you can tell by this card, I used black and white designs on the clear button (I don't know what happened to the "g" in "thing" . . . it's probably rubbed onto the countertop or something . . . LOL), but doesn't the white design look great on the ribbon? I wasn't sure how that was going to turn out, but I'm impressed! I used a sheet of Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper to cover the chipboard heart and then sanded (distressed) the edges with a sanding block. I backed the clear button with the other side (dotted design) of that same designer paper so it would coordinate with the ribbon strip.

EASTERN ELEGANCE RUB-ONS

ETA: The top of the tin appears brown due to the overhead light and camera flash; I didn't emboss or otherwise color it.

Mercy me! Look what I decorated today! I took one of the tins that the Build-A-Brad comes in and decorated it with some of SU's brand spankin' new Rub-Ons! There are actually four packs of these from which to choose in the new catalog, but the ones that I used are from the "Eastern Elegance" collection. Can you say "EASY PEASY?????" It's kind of hard to read "Life is Beautiful" on the tin, and I guess I should have used white instead of black there. Oh well . . . I'm still learning! The packs of Rub-Ons come with two sheets . . . one with all black images and one with all white images. Go ahead and put "Rub-Ons" on your wish list because you are going to NEED them! You might as well get a couple of Build-A-Brads, too, because it's an equally fun and useful product, plus you get the tin to decorate!

SU RUB-ONS

This past week, I received two Spellbinders' dies that I had ordered, one of which was "Flower Creations." OMG!!! This is a wonderful die! Just look at the layered flowers I created! I have all kinds of paper and card stock in my stamp room, so I grabbed a pad of DCWV paper and used five coordinating colors/patterns to make the cuts. Choosing which ones to use for the layers wasn't easy! In the center of the three flowers, I used a pink SU rhinestone brad, which is a perfect embellishment for them! While very little of this card is made with SU products, a very important detail is SU . . . the white "you make me smile" sentiment. It's one of the images on the "Eastern Elegance" sheet of rub-ons, which is one of the new products in the Spring/Summer Collection catalog. It's been a while since I used rub-ons, but this was easy-peasy! I just cut (from the sheet) the image that I wanted to use, peeled off the backing, placed the image where I wanted it to appear on my card, and used the craft stick to rub the top of the image. Voila! Instant image transfer! Sooooooo easy and such a nice look! In case you're wondering, each pack of SU rub-ons contains two sheets that are FULL of designs (images, sentiments, words, etc.) . . . one sheet of black rub-ons, and one sheet of white rub-ons. When January rolls around, these little gems will certainly be on my first order of the year.