Spellbinders ~ Helleborus the Christmas Rose

Hey crafty friends, I have a fun creation to share with you today, which I did some pretty cool recycling to create. I've made a Christmas Gift Box, but I used a tofu box from our larder to create it. This little tofu box comes with a wee heart cut into the back of it, so I saved two of these boxes, turned them inside out and pieced them together to make a square box, rather than the narrow rectangular boxes they come as. I fashioned an insert from kraft card stock, which is a slightly darker shade than the actual inside of the tofu box, so this worked well with my rustic theme. 

I added some fabulous paper from the Cathe Holden Flea Market Finds Collection for Spellbinders. This paper pad is called Neutrals Palette Sampler and it's full of gorgeous shabby chic rustic papers. I used one with a neutral gingham fabric pattern to cover the top of the box and distressed the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Ink. I distressed all the edges of the box with the Walnut Stain Oxide, I also distressed around the hearts, front and back of the box and the edges of the sentiment banner too. I used an older Spellbinders die from my stash to cut a banner from the same paper to add my sentiment across the front of the box. 

The diecut sentiment is from the Tinsel Time Sentiment Set, which has a large range of words to diecut which can be used in multiple combinations. I was thinking of one of my besties who likes shabby chic designs, so created this with her in mind. She'll get a giggle that it was recycled from a tofu box too.

I added a lovely cotton lace trim around the sides of the box and edged that with a little distress oxide too, just to keep that more vintage tone, as it was quite bright and clean without that rustic touch. I poked a whole in the top of the box insert to thread a ribbon pull through, so it was easier to lift the insert out of the box. I added three little jingle bells for added interest. 

The pièce de résistance is of course the beautiful Christmas Roses or as they are known by their botanical name Helleborus. I cut these beautiful blooms from a stunning satin finish cardstock which I bought some years back from Joanna Sheen in England, it's a gorgeous satin finish cardstock called Red Velvet. I shaped the flowers using a large ball tool and foam. The cardstock is quite thick at 336gsm, so there was a little bit of creasing on one of the flowers, I think I'll opt for a slightly lighter cardstock next time to avoid this happening. But I loved the sheen of this paper too much to substitute with another cardstock for this creation. I cut the stamen and leaves from a contrasting very dark green cardstock with a pretty shimmer, it's not easy to pick up in these photos, but in the right light, it has a pretty shimmer finish. I opted to use a gem embellishment in the centre of the Helleborus and really like how that looks.

Thank you my friends for popping in to visit today. I hope you've enjoyed this latest instalment of my adventures with Spellbinders. If you'd like to see the rest of the current release from Spellbinders, you can click through on the banner above. I will link thumbnails of all the elements I've used in this creation below. There will be another new collection launched soon and with Halloween and Christmas fast approaching, there are just so many lovely elements being released. So it's worth popping in for a look.

For my friends in the UK, did you know that Spellbinders now has a designated UK store? You can click through on the banner above to visit their UK store. The shipping costs are local UK costs, so it makes things a little more accessible.

If you like what you see, be sure to check out the fabulous 'Today's Deals' category on the Spellbinders' site, they've loads of lovely items included in this promotion. I have more than a few items on my wishlist! Thank you again for stopping in to visit today. I really hope you're enjoying my first few posts for Spellbinders and I wish you a wonderful day and happy crafting! Big hugs, Wends xoxo

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