By the Cute and Girly Challenge - Winter Wonderland

Here is my entry for this months By the Cute and Girly Challenge. Please check out this great challenge blog - there are lovely prizes on offer! I had been hoping to take photos of my project in daylight, but I couldn't wait! It has been such a long time coming, and I had planned it in my head almost as soon as the challenge was announced. Sunday allowed me about 3 hours uninterrupted craft time and then I put the finishing touches to it at about 11 last night! I made my own size exploding box (inspired by Elaine) and made the backing paper using versamark, Clear choice snowflake stamps, a whispers stamp and Tim Holtz faded jeans and dusty concord DI. The lid used my spellbinders shapeabilities snowflake dies and the other snowflakes were a variety of punches. I finished off with a few dots of stickles and a few gems. You slide off the lid and the snowflakes bob about! Cool! I think I've come up with something to follow my card last month...hope you like it and thanks for looking!

My secret project!

I can now blog a little project I've been working on for Lynne's birthday. Although it isn't her birthday until the weekend I have now given it to her, so you can see it too! Not particularly wonderful from this angle, but if I tell you that this is the lid of a box, and the box looks like this...
You are a bit more impressed now aren't you? I made the backgrounds with adirondack colour washes in lettuce, stream and eggplant. The fern stamp is from the wild meadow themeplate from Graphicus and is stamped in Versamagic turquoise gem. The butterfly is from the crafty Elements Butterflies sheet from Crafty Individuals, coloured with promarkers and then clear embossed. And now for the next bit... (drum roll please)... slide the lid off and Voilà!
It's a magic box! Not bad for my fist attempt, eh? The butterflies are on strips of acetate and coloured and stamped on both sides (and clear embossed). The punched flower and leaves are coloured on both sides too.
The full instructions to make a box like this can be found here and some breathtakingly beautiful examples can be found on Elaine's blog. Thanks for the inspiration, Elaine. I don't think mine will ever be as stunning as yours, but I'm very pleased with the results and your instructions were so easy to follow.
It's been a funny day today. I've been on a course that was a bit abstract at times and a bit hard to follow. If you want to be a 'leader' these days you need to know an awful lot of jargon. Oh dear! I'm beginning to sound like I'm ready to retire!!! I'm not really, but maybe I should join the Campaign for plain English!
BTW this is my 200th post!!!! I can't believe it! I am well and truly addicted. I am gathering some blog candy ready for my bloggerversary on 19th October, so keep dropping in!