Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft: On Such a Winter's Day

Hello Crafty Friends!

I'm loving Wendy's theme of special winter gifts this month. With Christmas almost around the corner (well, it's not but the way time flies it kinda is, right?...).... these projects are a great inspiration for creating special hand made gifts for the special people in your life. And today.s journal gift set would be so loved by me!! (lol) and anyone who loves the art of writing, journaling and memory keeping :)

BOXED JOURNAL GIFT SET

Today I have this lovely Boxed Journal Gift Set to make. This would make a very special gift to send to someone. Can you see the trend I have going this month. Winter weather crafts to share with others and take the winter blues away. My mum always said, 'Sharing is caring!', and what better way to feel warm inside by making a wonderful present for someone special to you.

This set contains a handmade journal and a matching handmade journal pen and is also left undecorated so you can personalise it yourself.

What I used:

*Authentique 'Solitude five' patterned paper (for the box)

*Authentique 'Solitude four' (for the journal and pen)

*Double-sided tape

*Plain paper from my supplies (for journal pages)

*Scor Board

*Twine to bind journal

*Refill pen cartridge

*Kaisercraft Snow Crystal Die Set - Medium snowflake

The first thing I did was put the box together using the 'Solitude five' patterned paper from Authentique. I used the full sheet of the 12x12 paper. Then scored at 1/2inch:1inch:1-1/2inch:2inch around the four sides of the paper. Then on one side I scored at another half inch in (where the 2 1/2 inch would be) but only scored down to the second score mark going across. This is done on the right and also the left of the top and bottom of the paper.

It will look like this below: You can see the four long score lines and the shorter score line only going to the vertical second score line. The corners are then cut out. Cut the short score line, then diagonally to the fourth score line, cut up one and then across, which cuts the corners out.

Your paper will look like this below when all four corners have been cut out.

Double-sided tape is then placed on the outer edge of each side. The sides are going to be folded over and the outer edge is stuck to the base, which gives you the shape of the box.

Then flip the paper over and place a small amount of double-sided tape on the diagonal sides.Take the protective strip off the small piece of tape and replace it back with a little over hanging the edge of the diagonal side. This will help you to pull it out later when the corners have joined together.

Like below:

Then each side is folded over and attached to the base. Then the protective strip can be pulled out at the corners and your box base is done. The size of the box ends up being 8x8inches and a height of 1/2inch... just a perfect size to add a journal and pen in there.

To make the front cover, I used a piece of the same patterned paper and cut it at 8 1/2 inches by 8 inches. I scored the left side at just under half and inch, put some double-sided tape along it and joined it to the left side edge of the box. This makes my front cover of the gift box. I placed a small amount of velcro on the right hand side top edge of the box, which I used as a closure, so the goodies inside would not fall out.

Making the Pen:

My previous blog post HERE shows you how to make the pen I used in this gift set.

Making the Journal:

I used the Authentique "Solitude Four" as the cover which was cut at 10 1/2 inches by 6 3/4 inches. I scored in a spine at 5inches then 5 1/2 inches. The little wider spine allows for added embellishments inside the journal you may want to add. For the pages, I cut some A4 paper from my supplies to 9 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches and they fit lovely inside the cover.

Putting the pages in the cover is rather easy to do. I used a three hole pamphlet stitch and some twine from my stash.

When I had my journal and pen made, the pen was too loose in the box even though you could clip it into to journal, I decided to make a small pouch that would hold it.

I cut a piece of paper 2 1/4 inches by 2 3/4 inches. Scored at 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch around three sides, folded the scores and glued the pocket onto the base of the box. This was a perfect size to place the pen I made and it keeps it nice and secure.

I wanted to leave the embellishments to a bare minimum, so the recipient could personally decorate it to how they like. I did add one of the cut outs from the selection of paper to the cover of the journal and also to the front cover of the box. Tied a bow around the outside of the gift box and added a medium sized Kaisercraft snow crystal Die cut to the ribbon, saying, 'Personalise it!'

I think this makes a beautiful gift for someone special to you and it was such a fun winter project for me to make...wearing my cardigan...heehee!

I hope you enjoyed reading about this craft project and I hope it inspires you to make one yourself ...a Winter themed one....using the Authentique Solitude collection of papers from Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft....