May 07 2007

A Quick Gift…

Published by Julia Stainton at 9:34 am under Challenges, Papercraft projects

I’ve been wanting to try this out for some time….I recently came across a couple Stampin Up notecubes that I bought a couple years ago. I believe they are now retired (someone correct me if I’m wrong) but I know there are various on-line sources for them. Stamp On This sells note cubes, but I have never purchased them from them so I can’t verify their quality. If you have purchased some from Stamp On This or another source, please let me know and I’ll share it on this post.

Edited to add…I received some feedback on Stamp On This…good reviews on the company and the memo cubes are great…even the less expensive seconds. HTH!

Poppy Memo Cube

jks-poppies-memo-cube.jpg

For this cube, I stamped my beautiful Stampendous Poppies on the sides of the note cube. To get a nice, layered look, I created a mask with some scrap paper. If you’ve never masked before…simply stamp your image on a piece of scrap paper or a post-it note works fabulous. Cut it out and layer over the image you have already stamped. Then stamp the image again, off to the side. This gives a layered look and protects the original image from being stamped on.

Quick Tip: Hold the top and bottom of the cube tightly with your other hand with stamping on the sides to get a clean image.

Having never really used cubes before…I had to experiment a little. I was trying to watercolor the poppies, and would much have preferred that, but it just wasn’t working well for me on the edges of all those paper layers. I had to pull out my markers instead and then color in the poppies. After coloring in the poppies…I decided the bottom edge still needed a little filling in so I used the brush end of my marker to make quick sketched in grass strokes.

To add a little interest and dress up the project a little, I tied the cube with my green striped ribbon from Jacksonbelle. I then added a little tag. To make this, I punched out a little tag from the Kraft cardstock and then stamped my poppies on it. I watercolored the poppies and then matted the tag with Whisper white and Pink Passion layers. After punching the tiny hole in the top of the tag, I tied it on with the striped ribbon.

This project was designed as a quick gift and is very easy to do. Today’s technique challenge TLC115, is to make a teacher’s end of the year gift and as teachers go through a lot of notes, I thought this would be a pretty but practical gift.

Edited to add …

Some reader’s tips:

Use an elastic band to hold the memo cube tightly together while you stamp on the sides.

Drill a hole near the corner of the cube (I’m assuming the corner near to the binding) to hold a pencil.

18 Responses to “A Quick Gift…”

  1. Colleenon 07 May 2007 at 10:30 am

    what a great idea…the teacher will love this!

  2. ematsonon 07 May 2007 at 10:47 am

    Adorable! Love the poppies! What a fabulous gift idea!

  3. Christine Hauckon 07 May 2007 at 10:50 am

    This is so sweet. Love it! Thanks for sharing with us. I’m still thinking of what to do for the challenge. I have lots of things that could be altered, I just don’t know which to do.
    Chris

  4. Angelon 07 May 2007 at 10:57 am

    I have a whole box of these cubes. I don’t even remember where I got them, but I know people even go to Office Max and have them made by cutting stacks of paper. Not sure how that works. I agree…this is one of the easiest gift ideas and well-liked and used! I usually make a little “wrap” for mine by cutting the cardstock the same length as the cube is tall and scoring it, adding ribbon to hold it tight. That wasn’t a good description, but examples are on my blog. LOL

  5. Linda (LSN on SCS)on 07 May 2007 at 11:20 am

    Absolutely gorgeous Julia! I would love to have a pretty set of notes on my desk like this one (although I’d probably jot my notes on my ugly paper first to avoid using it). Love those Poppies! May just need to get this one from Stampendous too!

    Linda

  6. jamion 07 May 2007 at 11:37 am

    Oh my - this is so striking Julia! Love it!

  7. Melissa Kaufmanon 07 May 2007 at 11:38 am

    Awesome! I love how bold the colors of the poppies are!

  8. Dawn Burnworthon 07 May 2007 at 11:53 am

    Julia,
    I have ordered from Stamp On This. They are a great website to order from. I actually got note cubes. They did have some that were not 100% at a much cheaper price. I order those and they were even awesome. I also ordered little kraft boxes to stamp on. Definitely a great sight. I love your note cube. Thanks for sharing.
    Dawn B.

  9. Juanitaon 07 May 2007 at 12:28 pm

    The box is BEAUTIFUL!! There is a commercial on TV with a woman walking down the street in a city scene and she is wearing the cutest white dress with red flowers and green stems. When I saw the commercial again last night I thought about the colors and thought Christmas, of course. But then I realized if the combo was done in flowers and left a great deal of white showing it would look like her dress, which I absolutely LOVE!! You can imagine how I felt when I saw your post this morning. All I could say was WOW. I don’t know what the ad is for because I’m too busy looking at her dress and shoes, LOL. I think we’re on the same wave lenght! TFS.

  10. Bethanyon 07 May 2007 at 1:22 pm

    A perfect teacher gift! Not something that will just sit there adding to the clutter. And it’s beautiful! The blades of grass make such a difference.

  11. Fran McCllintockon 07 May 2007 at 2:40 pm

    Really like these poppies and the bright colors. I have done several cubes and I always put rubber bands around mine to hold the pages tight while I stamp and color.

  12. jacksonbelleon 07 May 2007 at 2:51 pm

    How darling!! I LOVE that stamp, the colors, soooo cute J! :)

  13. Margon 07 May 2007 at 2:56 pm

    Lovely. I love the colours. I have made these on several occasions. I drill a hole in one of the corners to hold a pen/pencil.

  14. trudeeon 07 May 2007 at 5:51 pm

    very sweet, J!! great little gift!!!
    where did you get your poppies from?

  15. Michele Kovackon 07 May 2007 at 9:15 pm

    I love this idea! I have the cubes but haven’t done anything with them yet….will have to now!

  16. Linda Bon 08 May 2007 at 5:41 am

    Love this idea. You could give these to almost anyone. I am going to find some cubes and go to town on them. Thanks so much for the inspiration. linda

  17. Bettinaon 08 May 2007 at 7:29 am

    Love, love, love this cube! I’m always looking for a fun teacher’s gift - and now I know what I’m doing this weekend. Thanks for the awesome idea.

  18. leslierichon 08 May 2007 at 7:36 pm

    A perfect teacher’s gift! Great idea and very pretty!

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