Who ‘eight’ all the mints?

At Craft Your Passion this week the challenge is  Christmas ABC (Anything But a Card).We have the fabulous Whimsy Stamps as our sponsors too.Head on over to check how to play and win.Don’t forget to take a look at the DT inspiration,they’ve done a wonderful job.

I decided to make an After Eight dispenser as a gift for  my DS2’s teacher.For those who’ve not heard of them before they are wafer thin dark chocolates that have a gooey mint fondant centre.They were intended as after dinner mints but they’re so yummy I doubt anybody could wait that long!So back to the dispenser…I followed  a tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers for a Tea Bag Dispenser Box as this worked out to be perfect for these too 🙂 All the base card is kraft and the papers are a magazine freebie from last year that I never got round to using.The cute stamp is Santa Emma by C C Designs.I bought her in a sale at least a couple of years ago and used her only once I think.She’s been coloured with Graph’It Markers.I was very lucky in a recent challenge on their blog and won some fabulous goodies – i.e. some pens including a Glitter Shake in Gold 😀  As I only have a fairly small collection of pens these were a very welcome addition:) It was quite an adventure creating the depth and blend I wanted to achieve but I’m quite please how she turned out.I used the Plum as the darker shade but found the Ruby (and only red I own) didn’t,as I suspected,blend too well so I hit upon the idea of using the Magenta.This gave a perfect blend but as this was too pink I went back over with the Ruby to bring the red back.I was impressed that,as unlike some other brands of pens,there was no spattering or seepage with the dark red/pink tones 🙂 The Powder worked beautifully as a highlighting colour.For the bluey/green parts a mix of Dark Cyan,Jasmine and  Fresh mint were used.After colouring the buckle on her belt with regular Graph’It Markers I went over with the Glitter Shake Pen (shame I forgot to take a close up).With some experimentation it was quite rewarding that I could get the kind of results I was looking for with a limited amount of pens 🙂

For the trims on her clothing I opted for a White Sakura Souffle Pen.Normally on cards I would apply FLuffy Stuff or Flower Soft but I wasn’t sure how well it would stand up to the handling this may get.

Here’s a view of how I decorated the top :

And a close up of the tag I made to match.This will be attached once it’s been wrapped in cellophane :

Supplies :

Image :  Santa Emma Stamp by C C Designs

Sentiment : Past magazine Hot Off The Press freebie stamp

Mediums : Graph’It Markers,Graph’It Gold Glitter Shake Pen,Sakura Souffle Pen,Jet Black Archival Ink

Paper & Card : Papermania 12 x 12 Kraft Basics,DP past freebie from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine

Tools : Fiskars 30cm Euro Personal Paper Trimmer,Woodware 1″ & 1 1/2″ Circle Punches,Marianne Design Fantasy Flowers,Crafter’s Companion Die’sire Scalloped Tags Decorative Dies,Big Shot

To Embellish : Ribbon,Wooden Button and Jute Twine from stash

 

Some challenges this is for :

4 Krafty Girlz : Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday : Celebrations

Delightful Challenges : Celebrate

MilkCoffee Challenge : Any Christmas Creation

A & T Emerald Faeries : Christmas

Always Something Creative : Merry Christmas

Bastel-Traum : Anything but a Card

Crafts and Me Challenge & Inspiration Blog : Christmas Gift Box

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge Extra  : Anything Goes…Christmas

Desert Island Crafters : 2.  Die Cuts, 3.  2 or More Papers, 4.  Ribbon/Twine, 7.  Flowers, 9.  Make a gift, 10. Red/Green

Die Cut Divas :  Let’s Celebrate

Fairies Challenge Blog : Christmas

Feeling Crafty Challenge : Christmas

Heck of a Challenge : Colorful Christmas

Crafting for all Seasons : Anything Christmas but a Card

Crafty Creations : Anything Goes

Creative Belli : Christmas

Digistamps 4 Joy : Anything Goes

Divas by Design : Anything Goes

Inky Impressions : Merry Christmas 

 Paper Shelter Challenge : Anything Goes

Bearly Mine Challenges : Anything Goes

Die Cuttin’ Divas : Happy Holidays

Inky Chicks : Christmas

Papertake Weekly : Christmas cards/projects

Through The Craft Room Door : Always Anything Goes

Graph’It Colour Challenge : Anything Goes

Thanks for looking

Lisa x