Kaisercraft advent calendar part 2

So I have assembled the outer shell. But before I decorate it, I decided to tackle the drawers. I wanted to know how they would need to be constructed, because that would influence how I was going to decorate them.

The drawers come cut and pre-scored in separate packets with 5 drawers in each. They are made from thick chipboard. They are essentially a cross shape, with a semi-circle in the top of the front panel, so you can pull out the drawer.



Which brings me to issue number 1: how to adhere the drawer sides together. Glue? Tape? Again, I was on my own due to the lack of instructions. I decided on double sided tape, because it was quicker, less messy and more trustworthy as an adhesive.

Hello issue number 2: a drawer with tape all over the outside is going to be one seriously ugly drawer. Painting isn't going to work over tape, so that leaves me with covering it with paper. So I used strips of double sided tape to hold the drawer in shape and adhere the paper.

So we arrive at issue number 3: what about the inside? Leave it nude? cover it with paper too? Paint? I decided to go with paint- paper seemed that way too much effort for 25 drawers. I am happy to report that the chipboard takes acrylic paint very well, and because it is thick there is no warping. But I recommend good quality acrylic paint for this. Watery paint isn't going to give you good coverage and might cause buckling. So the paint has to go on before the paper unless you have meticulous painting skills. (And you don't get a spare couple of drawers just in case.) NB I also painted the exposed edges of the drawer and the score lines on the bottom of the drawer that would be hard to cover with paper.




So for the drawer summary:
PROS

• Good quality thick chipboard pre-scored

CONS

• The ongoing problem of no instructions
• Adhering the drawers together without using tape would be difficult, so it means ugly tape showing unless you are prepared to cover the outside of the drawers with paper.
• A couple of spare drawers to make mistakes on (seeing as we have to learn on the go due to the lack of instructions) would have been a nice thought.
  

My method was to fold along the score lines, then reflatten the drawer and paint the inside, then fold up the sides and use double sided tape to secure them together while the paint is still wet. Then paint the bottom of the drawer and when the paint is dry cover the sides of the drawer with a strip of paper. I used a circle punch to cut out the notch in the paper for the front of the drawer.

I'll be back when I've got the drawers made and the shell painted!

Kaisercraft advent calendar: part 1

When I saw this new advent calendar from Kaisercraft, I was sold! I loved the the sturdy base, the drawers and the blank middle area for decoration.

Silly me forgot to take a photo of the package BEFORE I opened it and started the first stage of construction. Doh! But basically it comes flat packed, wrapped in plastic. There is the large base piece, and 6 other 'wood' pieces that need to be cut apart to form walls that slot into the base and form the shell for the drawers to be inserted into. The package also includes 25 flat packed chipboard drawers that require assembly, and a sheet of plain chipboard numbers.

So far I have managed to assemble the shell only, and that took me about 30 minutes with my husband helping. Thoughts so far...

PROS

• I really like the design with the drawers on the outside and the center area left blank for decoration.
• The shell is sturdy, not just chipboard.
• Reasonable cost- I bought mine at a LSS for less than $30.
• The inclusion of the numbers sheet. Of course you might choose to use a faster method (like stickers) but it is nice that they include it.
  

CONS

• Weight and size may be a problem for those who don't have an option of picking this up at their LSS. You'll be paying a heavy item surchage for this one I'd imagine.
• No instructions! At all! I know it isn't a combustion engine, but I think some sort of explanation of the different pieces isn't too much to ask for.
• Assembly time required. Working alone it would take 45-60 mins to get all the individual pieces of the shell assembled, and there are still all the drawers to do before you even get to the decorating part.

My other tip is to make sure you really cut or file off all the connecting tabs from the drawer walls. Even part of a millimeter left behind can cause the outside wall to bow out a little and then the outside corners of the calendar don't meet up as precisely as they should.

For anyone interested, the depth of the drawer (inside measurement) is 48mm.

I'll be back with some assembled drawers and more thoughts (hopefully) soon.
Have you had any experience with this Kaisercraft advent calendar? Got any thoughts or tips to share? Just leave me a comment, I really appreciate it.

More apples

I have been working on more apple card designs and had a few apples that I had stamped and cut out lying around. We are going to a 3rd birthday party this weekend, so clearly it was the quick and easy solution to producing a card to go with the crayon roll. Not your typical birthday card for a three year old I guess, but I figured she probably wouldn't care if there was a card or not!

Hero Arts design accent four apples, Spellbinders labels four die set (I used the largest in the set.) Cosmo Cricket patterned paper.

Rolling along

It made a refreshing change to get out the sewing machine and make something not paper related this week! This crayon roll is a gift for the daughter of some friends, and I used this tutorial from Skip to my Lou to make it. I had a ball working with the adorable fabric. AND I even managed to get the tension right on my thread- a major acheivement for me :)

And I thought I'd let you know I have just started work on an advent calendar. I think I will post photos of the process as I go, along with thoughts about the product (Kaisercraft's new release advent calendar). So if you've been thinking about doing something like that this Christmas, make sure you drop by again soon.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The Scrapper of Oz round 2

Those of you who have been paying attention will be wondering what happened to round 1! All my fault, I completely forgot to post it. There were some amazing entries at Scrapz.biz for round one, and it is not too late to join in now even if you didn't enter for round one. For all the details, visit here.

This layout features Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend collection, Hero Arts stamps and Sassafras Lass paper and embellisments. Oh, and Thickers of course. They are my new addiction!

My youngest is at that stage where he thinks he can speak fluently, but in reality only one word in fifty is in English! It is new territory for me, because his older brother spoke clearly very early on and had a large vocabulary by the same age. Still, it is very cute when he gives me long speeches.

A jot of journaling

The new weekly challenges are up at Scrapz.biz. This will be the last weekly challenge for a while- once The Scrapper of Oz competition starts up (Oct 11th- not long now!) we won't be having weekly challenges until it is finished.

You can check out the pdf instructions for this journal here. You'll need to be a member of Scrapz.biz to access the file, but registration is fast and free.

A fun stamping technique

The theme for the week at the Hero Arts blog is paper piecing. I really enjoy this technique- I get to use my paper scraps and do some fussy cutting. My tips for this technique:

• I usually prefer to heat emboss my image with clear powder. It just helps me cut the outline more cleanly.
• Small very sharp scissors are a MUST for this. I have a pair of EK Success cutterbee scissors that work great.
• This is the perfect opportunity to break out the adhesive foam and add some dimension to parts of the pieced image.

I'll be back tomorrow with a new weekly challenge at Scrapz.biz!

It's coming...

I confess to being a challenge junkie. I like having some parameters to work within, a deadline to get my butt into gear and lets face it, a fantastic prize is always a great incentive.

Heike has thought up some really interesting challenges for this competition, and there are some BIG prizes up for grabs as well as a participation prize for EVERYONE. It doesn't get better than that. So what are you waiting for? Sign up to join in at the Scrapz.biz forum today!

WINNER!

Random.org popped out #4 as my winner, so Sandie I will be in touch by email to get your RAK out to you.

Thanks for your comments everyone, hope you had a great World Cardmaking Day. Lets do it again next year!

World Cardmaking Day Giveaway

This is one of my sketch cards I did for the special WCMD challenges that start today at Scrapz.biz. Clink on the link to check out the sketch, add your own spin on it and upload it to the gallery to go into the running for one of the prizes. You will need to be a member to view this section of the forum, but registration is fast and free.

BUT before you do, leave me a comment here about what you like about making cards and I will randomly draw a winner for a little RAK. If I get more than 10 comments, I will draw two names on Monday- so let your friends know to come and visit me :)

And finally I just wanted to say on this special day of celebrating cardmaking and cardmakers- a huge thank you to all the crafty bloggers out there who share their knowledge, ideas, creativity and enthusiasm with us all. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Card details: Stamps Tim Holtz Flights of fancy, distress ink background, grungeboard butterfly; distress stickles, clear embossing powder, liquid pearls.

so much to catch up on

I was a bad blogger and didn't post for 2 weeks while I was on holidays. Now there is so much going on!

First up, the new weekly challenges are up on Scrapz.biz and here is one of my samples for the noteworthy challenge. Head over there and check out the other DT projects for the weekly challenges- Lydell has done an amazing wipeable holiday checklist planner and used my current favourite paper collection (The Boyfriend, by Cosmo Cricket.)



Secondly there is a BIG STAMP SALE going on at Scrapz.biz with 20% off all stamps, so don't miss out.

Don't forget that it is World Cardmaking Day on October 3rd so come back tomorrow when I will have a giveaway and more stuff to share :)