Rubber Stamping Archives

I’ve been in a crafting mood lately and this project is right up my alley. It combines my love of crafting with my love for gifting and giftwrap.

One of the items I love to gift (and get) most are candles. Often times I buy my candle gifts at HomeGoods or TJMaxx because they usually have a variety to select from and the price is right. The only downside is that many of their candles don’t come in boxes which means you have to come up with your own packaging.

I have several friends with birthdays in April so the other day I headed to HomeGoods in search of a candle and found this one. The glass jar was really pretty and classic but I knew to give it as a gift I would need to put it in to some kind of gift packaging.

I decided to make a pretty custom gift box. This is a pretty simple project and the box becomes an added gift that the recipient can use as décor in their home.

To create the gift box I used a few crafting supplies and clear stamps from CraffitiDirect, including one of the new sets from expert crafter Mark Montano .

Supplies Used:

Hinged Wood Box

Mark Montano Vintage Nature stamp set from Craffiti Direct

Thank You Flowers stamp set from Craffiti Direct

Sticker Paper

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad in Walnut Stain

Prima Markers

American Crafts Glitter Tape

Drawer Knob from Hobby Lobby

I knew I wanted to add a handle to my box so before I got started with the paper design, I drilled a hole in the lid of the box to fit a decorative knob I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

To cover each side of my wood box, I stamped five sheets of 4″ x 6″ sticker paper using the Thank You Flowers Stamp and the Mark Montano Vintage Nature set. Once stamped and colored in using Prima markers, I placed the sticker paper to the top and sides of my box and then cut off the excess paper.

The box had a hinged lid so I used my exatco blade to cut the paper between the opening and around the back hinges.

To finish the edges and add more dimension I used glitter tape to frame each side of the box.

And as an extra touch I covered the front and back of a couple of small matchboxes with stamped sticker paper using one of the beautiful butterfly image from the Vintage Nature stamp set.

I’m addicted to decorative match books now!

Each side of the box has a different design layout so it is really unique.

Creating your own decorative gift wrap is an easy way to personalize any gift you give. I hope you enjoyed the project and hope that it inspired you to get crafty!

Happy Friday!

Those of you that follow along on my blog my or may not know that I have a vast professional background. As a little girl I was totally in love with fashion and knew that I wanted to do something in that field as a profession. After winning the title of best dressed in high school and getting a fashion and interior design degree from college I took my first job as a department manager for a regional department store in Seattle. I quickly made my way to the position of assistant buyer where I bought jewelry and fashion accessories.

The bulk of my fashion career was spent at Eddie Bauer. I started as an assistant buyer in women’s and over the course of 11 years I the buyer for various product categories and eventually the general merchandise manager for the non-apparel products for both the catalog and retail division of the company (Gear, Luggage, Footwear, Accessories, Watches, Sunglasses etc).

After leaving Eddie Bauer and moving to Atlanta, I tapped into one of my other loves, interior design. For 8 years I owned and operated my own home decor and gift store and after closing it in 2011, I opened my boutique interior design business which is what I do now. Throughout my retail, fashion and interior design career I’ve also had a side passion that’s kept me busy…Crafting! Just like fashion and design, crafting is part of my DNA and I love to create things. Over the years I’d crafted in every medium you can think of but there is one area that I have a slight obsession with, rubber stamping!

I am an admitted rubber stamp addict {as represented by the more than 1000 rubber stamps I own} and am really excited about a new opportunity that has come my way.

I was recently contacted by a rubber stamp manufacturer here in Georgia to create rubber stamp projects using their stamps. Craffiti Direct is in the initial stage of launching their own rubber stamp line and are building their line-up of stamp artist. One of the missions of the company is to give their customers with creative ideas for using their stamps, beyond scrapbooking and traditional card making. That’s where I come in.

The Floral Background stamp designed by Elena Guzinska

I’ll be creating unique projects for them that show people different ways they can use rubber stamps. It’s such fun to combine gift wrapping, holiday decorating, decor and my love of paper with rubber stamps.

Here’s a look at a few projects I’ve created so far…

A fun holiday ornament

Stamped Ribbon

Cards

And gift tags!

If you like to craft with rubber stamps, I hope I’ll inspire you in new ways. if you’ve never tried stamping before I hope I can encourage you to give it a try. Either way I’ll be sharing the projects I create for Craffiti here on the blog.

I’m so grateful that throughout my life I’ve been able to live my passions and I’m so glad you stop by the blog every day and let me share them with you. Thank You!

To see all the stamps available from Craffiti, head here!