Today has been one of those frustrating mornings. Due to our very slow rural internet service I set a video to upload to YouTube overnight. Unfortunately when I came down this morning it had crashed and I had to start all over again. Then as I was trying to upload today’s Whale Done! project the internet kept dropping out. So this whole thing has taken me so many more coffees than I’d planned. Still, it’s done now, so now I get to spend a fun few hours creating in my studio. Enjoy…

INNOCENT START

Today’s project started innocently enough with the new Love You Always Treat Box from Stampin’ Up. This plain white, no-adhesive box comes in a pack of 10 and simply has to be folded along the pre-scored lines. I created a project using one of these boxes a little while ago, but today I wanted to give you a little more information.

You see the boxes are already cut and scored but are shipped flat. The sleeve for the drawer just needs to be opened up, but the drawer is a bit more challenging. In fact it had me confused when I first got them. That’s why I wanted to make a quick 30 Second Solution video showing you how it goes together.

So you see the box is easy to assemble and amazingly sturdy. The finished dimensions are listed as 4-1/16″ x 2-11/16″ x 1-1/2″ which is quite a good size for treats or a small gift.

WHALE OF A TIME PANELS

With the box assembled, my next task was to decorate it. Previously I’ve just stamped straight onto the white box sleeve, but today I wanted to show a different option. So I decided to add decorated panels on the sides and top.

I began by selecting a couple of sheets from the Whale Of A Time 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. First I wanted the sheet with a weed border at the top, and weed with the seafloor at the bottom (shown in the photo above).

The weed is actually taller then the sides of the box so I had two choices; trim the top of the weeds or trim the bottom. I went with the second option. Then because of the size of the box I needed two sheets of the same paper.

Using my Paper Trimmer I cut both weed-only borders off the two sheets about 1/8″ above the top of the tallest weed. Then I cut one of the other borders off (again 1/8″ above the tallest weed). Next I trimmed the bottom off each strip making the weed sections 1-1/4″ tall.

Now I was ready to trim the strips to fit the sides of the box. I needed two pieces for the long sides of the sleeve, so I cut these 3-13/16″ wide. Then for the ends of the box drawer I cut two pieces 2-3/8″ wide.

With that done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the four pieces onto layers of Pretty Peacock Card. For this I needed two pieces 1-3/8″ x 3-15/16″ and two 1-3/8″ x 2-1/2″. Once the DSP was mounted onto the card, I fixed the layered pieces onto the box sleeve and drawer ends.

WHALE DONE!

This was where I could have got myself into trouble. I’d chosen the Whale Of A Time DSP and so was drawn to the coordinating Whale Done Stamp Set. I loved the “Whale Done!” sentiment and thought my daughter who is pregnant and would find it funny. So I took the chance and carried on.

First I cut a piece of Pretty Peacock Card for the top of the box, 2-9/16″ x 3-15/16″. Then looking at the scraps of paper I had left on my desk I picked up the centre section of one of the sheets. I was disappointed that it was not as tall as the card layer, but then I had a thought. Instead of stamping my sentiment onto a separate piece of card and then adding it to the top, I’d put my sentiment above the DSP!

So using VersaMark ink I stamped “Whale Done!” in the top left corner of the Pretty Peacock Card layer. Then I sprinkled the sticky ink with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. After removing a few stray specks I then melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Next came the DSP for the top and I trimmed it down to 1-3/4″ x 3-13/16″. Using liquid glue once again, I fixed the DSP onto the embossed layer, then mounted the assembled piece onto the top of the box sleeve.

All I needed now was to add a little more decoration. I could have stamped the whale using an image from the stamp set, but instead turned to the DSP pack again. I chose one of the sheets with whale images that perfectly fit the coordinating Whale Punch. All I had to do was punch one out and attach it to the box with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then from the remaining scrap pieces I punched out the two water splash shapes before fixing them to the Pretty Peacock layer using liquid glue.

Finally I added a line of three self-adhesive Pearl Basic Jewels in the bottom left corner and my project was complete.

INAPPROPRIATE SENTIMENT?

Before actually writing my blog I sent my daughter a photo of today’s project. All I said was “this is what I made today”. Her reaction was “that’s me!” with a laughing emoji. While it’s really not appropriate to comment on a woman’s size whether or not she is pregnant, my daughter and I have an amazing relationship so we’re all good.

Punny sentiments are my thing though and pairing it with the sea-theme images it’s unlikely to offend anyone. Now all I need to do is find a nice gift to go inside the box for her.

To see my previous project using the Love You Always Treat Box, see my blog post Lovely inspiration for a box project.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Whale Done Stamp Set and Whale Punch together using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included both options below so you can explore these if you wish.