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Whimsey: September

I’m finally going back and hitting my backlog of Whimseybox projects.  This one is from September (2012).  I didn’t do the project when I got it because…I didn’t really have a need for gift wrap.  I still don’t really, but I figure I should clear out some of these boxes.  Also, I really like to glue things and September’s box held much promise for gluing.

So, September’s box (Box 12) was for confetti gift wrap and involved a lot of things.

WP_20130222_002 (2)In the box were an assortment of gift bags, a few gift tags, a small box, a fairly large packet of confetti, and a tube of glue.  Also in the box, but not directly related to the project was a length of ribbon.  I think it’s an advertisement of sorts.  There’s normally something small and advertise-y in each Whimseybox.  For September, it was some ribbon and it had the added bonus of being useful to the project if you chose to use it.

Directions for the project idea was basically: put glue on stuff and then sprinkle confetti all over the glue.  It’s pretty standard for something like this.

Here’s their example.

Well, it turns out I can’t show you because
there seems to be no record of it at all
anywhere on the internet
and I have no interest in taking a picture of
a tiny picture on the directions card.
No really, I googled “Whimseybox confetti giftwrap”,
“Whimseybox box 12”,
and “Whimseybox September”
and no matching projects came up.
This project idea isn’t even on their blog.

Here’s my version, having followed the directions exactly.

WP_20130305_001 (1)It looks SO. GOOD., no?  No, it doesn’t really.  The glue they included with the box is a really wet gel glue.  It’s the stuff I liked to play with and use as a kid, but it doesn’t really glue that well and it makes the paper wrinkle because it’s so wet.  And I realize that you can’t compare it to the example from Whimseybox, but let me tell you that they don’t look anything alike.

BUT!  The direction card also included suggestions on applying glue in stripes or in some shape instead of over the whole area.  I tried that too.

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Here’s the front and back of another gift tag I did, this time in stripes.  I also didn’t just randomly dump confetti all over the place but used that weird tool whose name I forget that came with my Silhouette.  I think I’ve talked about it before.  It has a mildly sticky putty that you can squeeze out on one side to help you pick up and place small pieces of paper and a reversible proddy thing to prod the pieces you just placed into position.  I kind of like how this one turned out.  It’s still kind of wrinkly.

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Here is the small gift box that was included with all the stuff.  I went with a flower design.  This one turned out ok too.  I don’t really like the giant flower thing I did on the lid though.  I might peel it off and do it again.  Which is another thing with this glue.  It doesn’t stick well to glossy surfaces.  You can peel the glue and everything off the box and it doesn’t look like anything was ever glued there.

WP_20130305_006 (1)Here is a…lollipop?  I’m not really sure what I was going for.  I used normal white glue this time.  It sticks a lot better to glossy surfaces.

WP_20130305_007 (1)And here is that pink bag.  I went back to the glue included in the box.  I also went back to the dump confetti over everything technique.  I don’t think it worked out any better than last time.  You can kind of see that it says “hi.”  Kind of.

Are you a bit underwhelmed by this project idea?  I am a bit underwhelmed by this project idea.  I realize that I didn’t even confetti everything; there are a few bags I left undecorated.  I just didn’t see any reason to decorate the other bags.  I like plain brown bags.  What’s wrong with them?

Anyway, even though there was a lot of stuff in this box…well, it’s still kind of hard to justify the 15$ spent on it and the elementary school craft idea.  I mean, it IS a good craft for the kids though.  I remember really enjoying the glue/paper/mess in elementary school, when I last did something like this.  I just don’t think it was worth 15$.  And if you paid 25$ for this, I feel really bad for you.  I kind of feel like Whimseybox also feels bad for you and has tried very hard to erase the record that they ever sent out this box.

I make! Robot postcard edition

Robot watching gear fireworksTada!  It’s the first postcard I’ve made…in about a year, it seems.  For the same person.  For approximately the same reason.

So, I think I’ve said before that I’m not participating in Lettermo this year because I just can’t get my act together.  You wouldn’t think it’d be that difficult to send out one piece of mail each USPS business day, especially when you’re only sending out postcards, but surprisingly it can be.  So anyway, I opted not to join Lettermo this year and give myself an ulcer.  Not that I’m predisposed to getting ulcers.

But, just because I’m not participating in Lettermo doesn’t mean that other people aren’t.  I’ve kept up semi-regular contact with one challengee from last year.  Semi-regular in that, now and then, he will send me his steampunk related cards and postcards that he makes…and I may or may not send him something back.  Well, I try and send something in return, but it may not always be handmade.  I think I may have sent a robot-themed Where’s Waldo postcard once…

ANYWAY!  Mr. Challengee sent me a steampunk holiday card at the end of last year.  I thought that was very nice of him.  I don’t celebrate those varioius end of the year holidays, so I didn’t really think it was appropriate to send a holiday card back to him.  But then I thought of New Year’s and how fireworks might be appropriate for something like that.  And how gears and cogs look a bit like firework…uh…blooms.  And the idea for a postcard about a robot watching gear fireworks was born.  I had every intention of sending it out in time for New Year’s too.  But…I was really busy at the end of the year and didn’t have time to make it.  Sugh…

Well, just recently I received his postcard for Lettermo 2013 and he mentioned how he really liked my robot/gear themed postcard from last year.  I figured I really ought to send him something back, even though I’m not participating in Lettermo this year.  I really wanted to do the fireworks postcard still, even if it wasn’t really season appropriate.  BUT THEN!  I remembered it’s Chinese New Year (or at least it was when I made the card and still kind of was when I finally mailed it)!  Fireworks are still appropriate!  And thus, here’s is the postcard.

Details:

  • The postcard is 4″x6″.
  • All shapes were cut out using my Silhouette.
  • The gears and cogs were…uh…coughmumble.  I would tell you, but then I’m afraid it would make more difficult to do what I did.  I’ll just say that they were semi-hand drawn and some old Cricut software was involved.
  • The robot there was hand drawn.  I mocked on out on paper first and then drew it in Sketchbook with the mirror function on.  Makes it easier to draw symmetrical things.  Then I imported that into Silhouette Studio to resize and cut.  Erm…he did have legs, but then I got lazy and didn’t draw them in Sketchbook, so of course the final robot didn’t have legs.  The other thing I ended up doing with the robot was to cut his head off and paste it back on at a jaunty angle.  I drew it that way on paper, but not digitally.  Then I regretted it, so I just cut off his head and glued it back on the way I liked.  I meant to detail his arms before laminating, but it looks like I forgot.
  • The buildings were just a bunch of rectangles I welded together before cutting.  I meant to draw in some windows, but it looks like I forgot to do this too.  Sugh…
  • The rest of it is cardstock of various colors and a strip of vellum.  I am terribly pleased to note that I was able to use scrap pieces of cardstock for just about everything for this postcard.  I also like the messier torn edges of my supposed gradient to a black sky.  The yellow part was edged with those Fiskers paper edgers (Deckle, I think).
  • And finally, there was a liberal dose of glitter glue.  It wasn’t supposed to be as liberal as it turned out to be.  But I didn’t check the tip size of the bottles beforehand and some of it came out in a big glob.  Sugh.  You’d think I would have learned the first time, but no…it seems like I do this every time I have to squeeze some liquidy substance out of a bottle.  I did what I could to spread it out.
  • I used a glue stick to glue everything because I didn’t want any wrinkling and the final product would be laminated, so I didn’t have to worry about anything falling off.
  • The postcard ended up being kind of thick even though I tried to minimize the amount of layering.  In retrospect, I didn’t have to use a black 4″x6″ base and should have built everything on the index card instead.  Oh well.
  • Because the postcard is thicker than a normal postcard (it ended up being 0.054″ at the thickest part), I used first-class postage.  I am reasonably certain that it will hold up to the sorting machinery the USPS uses.