19th November, 2021

Special Delivery

Hello friends. It’s Day 5 of my week of Christmas makes and I wanted to thank you for your kind comments. I hope these posts encourage you to make a little something something during the season. I have some fall/thanksgiving makes planned for this weekend which I’ll be sharing next week, but on with the Christmas makes. If you’d like to see the Tim Holtz holiday stamp launch and all the inspiration makes, head over to Tim’s Blog.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
I made a little box of tiny cards and envelopes using the curio box bigz die and retired envelope die and the magical new Tim Holtz holiday stamps and stencils. I made one of these boxes for the villainous potions distress launch which you can see here. They make such sweet gifts for non card makers (and card makers too) and it’s always so handy to have notecards and gift cards ready to go.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
For the mixed media heavystock box top, I sprayed frayed burlap onto the non stick mat portion of my glass media mat and picked up with the heavystock and spritzed with water and dried. I sprayed a little antique linen distress spray direct onto the box top and dried again. I stamped the santa from the holiday things stamp set and the text from the jolly santa stamp set. I stamped the sides and once finished I assembled the box. How to a little further down…

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
The base of the curio box was die cut from distress kraft heavystock and I used the new stripes shifter stencils to create these cool candy cane stripes. I LOVE candy cane stripes like I LOVE pumpkins and this stripes stencil is perfect for creating your own. I used distress paints candied apple and picket fence and painted through the stencil. Shifting slightly to leave a strip of the kraft heavystock showing through. I did this before assembling the box.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
Using the curio box bigz die, cut distress mixed media heavystock and distress kraft heavystock. You will see that the box on the left has tabs, this is the top of the box and it slides over the top of the box on the right that has no tabs.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
I add a little scor-tape to the tabs and stick into place. Super super simple.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
The base is a little more fiddly, but only until you find your way. I used distress collage medium in the precision bottle. Run a line of glue along the edges of the end pieces and hold them together until they dry. You don’t need much glue and it doesn’t take long to dry. It can be a little tricky the first time you do it, but once you’ve made a few it’s really easy. I suggest die cutting a cereal box and practice on that so you’re not worrying about wasting the good cardstock.

Pro Tip: Ask your husband/wife/friend/family member to hold it while it dries. Thanks to my sweet husband for always being willing to lend a hand (literally).

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
Your box is ready to fill with tiny cards and envelopes.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
Using the holiday things stamps, I stamped onto distress watercolor cardstock with distress archival ink and watercolored with distress reinkers. I stamped the sentiments from the cozy christmas stamp set with distress archival ink. Once dry, I gave the card toppers a light mist with the seasonal mica sprays. I decorated in the inside of an envelope using the same technique as the box base and stamped onto the front with a stamp from the jolly santa stamp set.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
I stamped and fussy cut a label with “special delivery” from the jolly santa stamp set stamped inside with distress archival ink and added it to the bottom of the box.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
I used my sewing machine to stitch the distress watercolor cardstock toppers before I attached them to the distress kraft heavystock card.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
I attached an idea-ology tiny clip to connect each card and envelope. This is such a cute addition if you’re sending this out as a gift for someone.

igirlzoe: tim holtz stampers anonymous holiday things jolly santa curio box
Brown paper packages tied up with string… these are a few of my favorite things!

Thanks for stopping and don’t forget to join Tim and Mario tomorrow for part 3 of the holiday demos on Tim’s YouTube channel. See you there.

Zoe


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14 Comments »

  1. Amanda says:

    These are such lovely cards and the box is deceptivly perfect. All perfect things look effortless hiding all that skill and ingenuity. Thanks for sharing all the details love these definitely inspire me to make a set for someone.

  2. Janice Woodard says:

    Thank you so much for sharing, Zoe! I love these tiny cards and envelopes. Can’t wait to make some!

  3. Barbara Roby says:

    Stunning. Thank you for sharing the details.

  4. Sharon Newman says:

    This so darned cute! Nice idea. I did all of my Christmas things for this year and this would be a good idea for things through out the year. I am going to put this one in my ideas folder. Thank you for all the inspiration!

  5. Cindy B says:

    I absolutely love this card idea. Your cards and envelopes are gorgeous and would make lovely gifts. Thank you so much for sharing your process.
    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

  6. Kathleen Stadler says:

    Zoe, this is a lovely project! I like the idea of sharing the cards with others so they have a handy go-to. Your cards are absolutely beautiful, as always, and that box is just sweet! Thanks for all your encouragement! Your tips and inspiration really help me find my way. 💕⭐️🌲

  7. Anne R says:

    Zoe, this was one of my favourite of your makes this year, as well as being beautiful, it is so practical too! The candy stripe box is adorable and I just love that santa sentiment on the box cover! A stunning make! xx

  8. Susan Hansen says:

    Absolutely adorable!

  9. Dawn Lifton says:

    These are so cute. It’s great to see the curio box being used. Your stitching looks amazing, I really must give that a try. Fabulous make, thank you for sharing x

  10. Henriëtte says:

    Ohh my Zoe, this is a awesome set of cards and envelopes, not to mention the beautiful box they come in.
    Thank you so much for sharing these beauties, stay safe and
    have a wonderful day.

  11. Jane B says:

    Special delivery indeed! What a lovely gift.

  12. Stacy says:

    What a fabulous make!! That Curio box bigz die is now on my Christmas list! I really hope Santa brings it!! TFS!!

  13. Joanne says:

    Such a great and wonderful special delivery. I love everything about this make.Zoe you are one of the most creative people I know. Thank you for sharing with us on how you made this. Happy holidays❤️❤️❤️❤️

  14. Karen Briguglio says:

    Please oh please can I know the name of the retired Sizzix die you used for the envelope? It doesn’t seem to be one of Tim’s dies.

    Thank you very much.

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