Sentimental Journey

I love Pinterest, don't you?!  So much inspiration, and you can save the projects you want to try yourself, or store all the glorious landscape photos to dream over, or try out those scrumptious recipes...
I found a fun project there the other day and had to try it.  It was an altered matchbox.  Now, I received a new release digital image from Squigglefly that I thought was PERFECT for my own altered matchbox, BUT...I couldn't find a matchbox in the house to save my life (or create my project).

So I made my own matchbox, but it became more of a square box card than a matchbox, but who cares, the image fit perfectly and I didn't think you'd mind! LOL  Instructions for making your own boxes out of patterned papers or cardstock abound on Splitcoast Stampers, PaperCraftPlanet, and YouTube, but it's a simple matter of knowing how big you want your box, then making it a half inch bigger on all sides.  Then you score a half inch in from each side and fold in, snipping the inside score line from the edge to the next score line on the top and bottom edges.

When you fold your edges in, your paper forms a box with four small tabs on which you can place a glue dot to hold the box together.  Once finished, I covered my box on the inside with patterned paper.  The outer sleeve of my "matchbox was cut to match the size of my box and then I really just eyeballed the folds by placing my handmade box on the strip of paper and marking where the folds should be, scoring later (I made my sleeve a tad bigger than my box). I covered the sleeve with the same patterned paper that I used on the inside box and then glued it together, making sure the box slipped in and out easily.

On to the design part...This week starts a new Squigglefly Challenge on their blog, to use sentiments somewhere on your project, either from Squigglefly, or a stamp, or from the computer, or your own!  So the front of my matchbox card uses the sentiment that comes with a fun digi image from artist Diana Garrison called Feelin' Froggy?.  I love images that come with their own sentiments, don't you?
I jazzed up the patterned paper and the sentiment with Stickles, Liquid Glass and Liquid Pearls, and added a 3D flower for the "O" in Froggy.  To help the recipient of my card with opening it up, I threaded raffia through a couple of punched holes in the box side, as well as a button, then tied the raffia into a bow.

So, when you open my matchbox card, you see the image from the Feelin' Froggy set (the cutest little tree frog) along with the sentiment "Hang in There".  I colored my froggy with Copics, Liquid Glassed his eyes, and shimmered his skin with Stickles.  I adhered him onto the inside of my box with dimensional tap and attached the limb on which he is perched with glue dots.

I hope you like my card, and understood my directions for making it.  Again, the internet is loaded with video and photo tutorials if I just confused you LOL.

Do you put sentiments on your cards?  If not, you should try it!  Not only will you have a specific card when needed, but you can join the Squigglefly Challenge for a chance to win some of their digital images free.  Don't have any yet??  Click HERE for freebies! And have fun!