VC Rocks - Big Shot Hop

Welcome to the second Blog Hop of the summer for VC Rocks. If you don't know what VC Rocks is, please check out the VC Rocks Blog for more info and to see the entire list of blog hop participants in case of broken links. There is some wonderful additional art work on the site as well.

(Blog Candy has been added-see details below)

If you have been following the hop from the beginning, you should have arrived here from Jackie's blog Creative Designs By Jackie. She has some great cards and sketches on her blog.

The theme for this hop was to make items featuring the Big Shot and Sizzix Dies offered by Stampin' Up!

For the gift box below, I used a project design that I saw on this blog, with a little tweak. I used the new Nautical Expedition DSP for this project as I needed a masculine gift box.

The tweak I made to the design was to make the box lid a bit longer than in the original design and to have the fancy edge from the die on the lid as well as the box. To do this I simply used a wider strip of paper, 3.75" x 12" and ran it through the Big Shot twice. You could make it any length that you like!

After running the DSP through to cut the shape, I simply moved the paper up over the fancy cutting edge a bit, making sure the end edges matched up with the steel blades, and then ran it through again. Here is a sample pic before the first run through.

When prepping your paper to run through the Big Shot the second time, make sure that the bottom of your cut-out is lined up with the score lines on the die (purple lines) and that the sides of the cut-out are lined up with the metal cutting blades (turquoise lines). This will ensure that you do not cut off edges that you don't want cut, and that the fancy edge cut will be straight across the top.


Once you run it through the second time, simply assemble it as you would the Fancy favor Box and decorate as desired.

Stamps: The Open Sea
Ink: Early Espresso
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Nautical Expedition DSP
Misc.: Fancy Favor Bigz, XL die, Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Antique Brads, 2" Circle Punch, Coluzzle Cutting System, Sponges


For this card I stepped a bit out of my comfort zone, color wise. I am not at all a fan of the peach/orange color family, but I am trying to make a deliberate effort this year to use items that are just hanging around and taking up space in my craft room - at least once anyway. :) The color combo I used can be found on Stampin' Up!'s Color Coach and is Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz and Concord Crush. All current In-Colors.

In keeping with the Hop theme I used the Fun Flowers Bigz L die; and for the sentiment, I used the smallest label from the Matchbox Bigz XL die. All the patterned paper is from the In-Color Designer Series Paper Pack (Hostess Level 1).

For the design element in the top right corner and behind the sentiment, I used the "&" stamp from Together Forever and Peach Parfait ink to randomly stamp the paper. I am not sure that I am totally thrilled with this card, but I can live with it. Maybe the colors will eventually grow on me. :)

Stamps: All Holidays, Together Forever
Ink: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Concord Crush, In-Color Designer Series Paper Pack (Hostess Level 1)
Misc.: Fun Flowers Bigz L die, Matchbox, Bigz XL die, Antique Brads, Spiral Punch, Sponges


The next stop on your hopping journey is Heather's blog Stamp and scrapbook with me! She has some darling layouts on her site.

Edited 6/11: Due to the wonderful and encouraging comments I have received so far, I have decided to give the box and card, on this post, away as blog candy, along with an additional gift box in the winner's color choice. Just leave a comment by midnight June 12th to this post and your name will be added to the drawing. Those who have already left comments will be included too. :)

Hope you have a good time on your hopping journey this weekend and find a little inspiration for your own projects along the way.

Enjoy!