Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...with the Krafty Girls!!

Good morning friends! Time for another challenge over at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog, and this week it's my turn to play hostess! My challenge gives you a chance to go a little green, and perhaps even save a few pennies in the process...Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!! So this week, I want to see at least one recycled item on your project. :)

I must confess...I am frugal. Well if you ask my husband, he might just choose to use the word "cheap", but that has such a negative connotation! I salvage and hoard all sorts of various items that may come in handy for something crafty. I am getting a bit more discerning with what I keep though, as I only have so much room to store it all! Ribbon from beautifully wrapped gifts immediately goes into my ribbon stash. Sometimes you find really funky little tags that might come on gift boxes or clothes...those find their way into my crafty bins too. Let's face it, some of our products for cardmaking can be pricey, so it's nice to save a little money where we can! It's also a great way to reduce garbage, and to help out our environment!

For those of you who don't know, my day job is at a cardiologist's office. During the holiday season, many of our wonderful patients bring in boxes of chocolates, trays of homemade goodies and lovely cards that always put a smile on our faces. This year, one patient brought in a box of Quality Streets chocolates in a funky little box with a magnetic closure...I called dibs on that box as soon as I saw it!! (and NO I did not eat ALL the chocolates!! I may have indulged in a few though, lol) I thought it would provide the perfect base for a fun altered gift box...and the front panel provided plenty of room to showcase one of Kimmie's stamps!

I chose to ink up Stella Strawberry for my box and paired her up with some great papers from October Afternoon...how perfect were these sheets with strawberries on them??!! I also found that cute little strawberry charm in my box of embellishments. The bow was tied with my Bow Easy. Before adhering my bow, I always cinch in my bottom of strip of my ribbon with a bit of thread so that it looks like the ribbon is all one piece...nobody will ever know that you cheated by using a bow-tying tool. Um...well, they won't know unless you come out and tell them on your blog. :) lol

I stamped Stella Strawberry on Neenah Smooth cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her with my Copic markers. I used a bit of the red polka-dotted background paper to paper-piece her underskirt. If you plan to paper-piece any areas on your image, make sure to add in some shading with your colouring medium of choice to prevent the area from looking flat. (I used my colourless blender, R20, R37, R59 and C9 on the underskirt)

Copics: Skin: E000, E00, E11, E21, R20 Hair: E50, Y21, Y23, Y26, YR31, E31, E33, E37, E59 Dress: BG000, BG10, BG11, BG23, BG78, C9, E50, E41, E42, E43, E47, R000, R20, R37, R59, YG00, G20, G82, G85

This is what the box looked like before I got my hands on it. :)

I added an accordian-fold flower to the top of the box.

Here's a little peek at the inside. There was a method to my madness you see...I had in mind to put together a strawberry themed gift package...body butter, shower gel and a fun bath pouf! Custom gift packaging is so much fun to create, and it adds such a personal touch to your gifts.

We'd love to have you play along this week...if you do, you could win "Stella Strawberry", the stamp I used on my project today! Just make sure to use at least one recycled item and a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project and then link it up at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog. While you are there, make sure to check out the projects by the rest of the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests...they are AMAZING!!

Did you order the new January stamps?? You can find them at the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Online Store. If you had a hard time making up your mind on which stamps to order, Kimmie has her Gimmie Kimmie Kits still available for a limited time...one click, and you can order each artist's stamps as a separate collection at a discounted price!

Thanks so much for stopping by today friends, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Stella Strawberry"

Ink: Memento, Copics, Walnut Stain Distress Ink

Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Kraft cardstock, October Afternoon

Embellishments: Machine stitching, ribbon, strawberry charm, KaiserCraft pearl brad

Tools: Spellbinders Lacey Circle, Bow Easy