Something new...

as I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to try something other than the daily challenges on SCS, so here it is...a gift for my friend Deb...for her desk at work...

First is a coaster calendar...I promised to make her a calendar last year and never got around to it - better late than never right?! I ordered the mini calendar from Impress Rubber Stamps.

and next is a coaster box that has been all the rage over at SCS...

you can find an awesome tutorial here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/coastergiftbox.php

I changed mine up a little though...rather than using modpodge (because I don't have any) I first decided to water down some glue and adhered the paper for the calendar to the coaster with that...it caused the coaster to warp a bit so I decided for the box, that I would use some two sided tape along the edges and corners and that worked for me! It is a little busy (my family made fun of me for the remainder of the night after showing them) and I think for the next one (not just b/c they made fun of me, but in the interest of saving time) I will tone it down a bit!

I used paper from one of the Provo Craft slabs, on two sides I used the SU! slit punch to make scallop borders and on the other two sides I hand sewed a strip in the middle by first piercing my paper and then sewing. Two sides have silk flowers with prima and pearl brad centers. One side has a sentiment from You Are My Sunshine(retired - SU!) with "friend" highlighted with a watercolor pencil and the other has a tag with a "D" sticker...tag was made using my MM tag maker (that Deb gave me!)... The sentiment is inside a Sizzix bookplate that I cut out of tin that I salvaged from our local newspaper printer...

The calendar is also stitched and the prima centers are cut from a beaded ribbon I've had in my stash for quite a while...I also adhered some round magnets on the back so she could stick it to a file cabinet...

I finished the bottom a little bit differently than the tutorial...I do not have the super duper glue Taylor suggests, but I do have Crystal Effects so I used that...I couldn't get the box to line up perfectly on the bottom coaster so I turned the box over and pushed the bottom into the box until it met the ribbon for the first holes and then ran CE around the entire area where the box and bottom meet and I did the same on the inside...we'll see how it holds up!!

So, there you have it, I can do things other than challenges!!! ;- )

Although the technique challenge for today is shadow box cards - I've never made one so I'll have to give that a whirl - looks like it might make a great Valentine and I need a baptism card too...hmnn...off to the drawing table!!

Hope you had a great weekend and look forward to a great week ahead!

See you soon...