Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A Few Tips about Making Boxes


When I saw this cute take-out style box on the Art Philosophy cartridge, I knew I had to give it a try.  This is a fairly unusual shape and it isn't found on very many cartridges. 


I first cut the the box using the cartridge directly in the Expression machine set at "fit to page" on some blue cardstock.  The size the machine would cut was 11 inches.  This makes a fairly small box but I knew that I could use Design Studio, the Gypsy or even the Cricut Craftroom online design tool to manipulate the image and cut a larger size.


By rotating the cut about 45 degrees, I was able to cut the box at 13 1/4 inches.  Those two inches make a big difference in the finished box.


Here is the side by side comparison of the two boxes.


This view shows the tops of the boxes.  You can see that the brown box is much larger.


I find the little "tick" marks that show you where to score a box or card to be unattractive and generally unnecessary.  For most cards, there is no reason you can figure out where to fold the card - just fold it in half!  Boxes and bags can be a little trickier to figure out.  If I am not sure about all of the folds, I will cut a box from surplus cardstock with the tick marks and fold it up.  This sample box then serves as a guideline for folding and assembling the finished box in my chosen cardstock color.


Even if you fold directly on the lines indicated by the tick marks you will still see the little cuts.


I much prefer the smoother look as seen on this box.  I scored all of the lines so it would fold nicely using the blue trial box as my guide for the fold lines.

There are two ways to get rid of the tick marks.  If you check "weld" on the item in Design Studio or on the Gypsy, the lines will not cut.  You can also hide all of the lines individually using "hide selected contour."


Here you can see the scored and folded larger box - with no distracting little cuts in the sides of the folds.
I assembled the box using Scor-Tape - any sort of strong adhesive will do.  I generally avoid liquid adhesives because they can  get messy and leave marks on the project.


I did have to slightly enlarge the slit for the two top flaps to join evenly and give the box the proper shape.


I tied a wide, wired ribbon around the box.  I thought that the colors looked very nice for Autumn.


 I wanted to use another stamp from the CTMH Art Philosphy bundle for a tag.  It was a little but difficult to tell which cut was the correct one for the stamp.  I would recommend marking the page in the book for the shape that corresponds to each stamp shape to save time.


The stamp sheet does tell you the size to make the cut for the stamp to fit properly.  In this case that size was two inches.  The first shape I chose was "almost right" but the stamp was a little too large and didn't line up nicely to the shape.  I then found another shape which turned out to be the correct one for the stamp I had chosen.


I added a tiny gem to mark the "friend" category and then used one of the stamps from the double set that was available as a gift with purchase from CTMH last month.  I only inked the section that said "thanks" to fill in the label for my box.


It is very handy to have the stamps and the Cricut cuts coordinate so easily.


I used some foam squares to pop up the tag and a small leaf that I stamped and cut when I first tried the set.


I also added a few gem stickers to the leaf cut.


This is a perfect little box to hold a gift card along with a few candy treats for a friend.  Who says Halloween is just for kids!

The Art Philosophy cartridge is available exclusively through a Close To My Heart consultant.  My friend Melanie is a consultant and she sent me this bundle to review.  I have to say it is a great overall cartridge.  There are so many types of things included - 3D projects like boxes and flowers, mesh pages for backgrounds, lots and lots of cards and tags, two fonts and lots of labels and medallions.

Melanie has posted photos of the entire cartridge handbook on her blog - click HERE to go directly to that post.  You will be amazed at all that this cartridge has to offer.

You can visit Melanie's Close to My Heart website by clicking HERE.  To go directly to the page for the Cricut Art Philosophy bundle click HERE.  You will find many more sample projects and tutorials on Melanie's blog, Courtney Lane Designs, and you can contact Melanie directly with any questions at melliemel77@gmail.com (just tell her I sent you!).

Our floors are still not finished so I am a crafter in search of a place to work for the next few days.  I hope that by the end of the week things might be back to normal!

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18 comments:

  1. Wow That is great advice about the tic marks on the boxes. I just made 8 boxes for a scrap booking event and even though I used a scoring board, they don't line up perfectly, thus I can see the marks. I definitely will be putting this tip to good use! I love the way your box turned out, thanks for sharing.

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  2. Thanks for another detailed post; I'm learning tons from my daily sit down with you. Love these tips for boxes.

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  3. Just received my ARt Philosophy cart and am anxious to use it. I like the box. Very nice for gift cards, etc. TGS.

    Dianne Bell

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  4. Another beautiful project and thanks for sharing.

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  5. Wonderful box! Thanks for the tip about welding. I didn't know you could do that on the Gypsy. I usually do hide conture for each of them.

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  6. What a great box! Wish I had a gypsy so that I could rotate, etc. I can't believe what a difference in size it made!

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  7. It is so pretty and thank you for the tips you share.

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  8. Great project and thanks for the tip about the "tic" marks. I knew to individually hide them but how much simpler to just click "weld". Thanks for saving me lots of time!!

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  9. Great tip about using weld to get rid of the little scoring cuts! I find those annoying, too, and had heard about using hide contour, but weld would be much faster. I've also considered if the fold lines where complicated that I would use a marker for that part and then hide for when the blade is in...

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  10. Thank you SO MUCH about the tip for welding to hide the marks! Sometimes I don't mind the tick marks, and sometimes I do. But I have avoided some cuts because I don't want to hide the millions of little lines inside. Thanks to you I can now!!

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  11. Thank you soo much for the tip on the scoring cuts. I will definitely try this the next time I cut out something that is scored. As always, love your blog!

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  12. Thank you for the info on boxes. I was making a box for treats and had a problem seeing the tiny score marks. I also didn't like the way it went together with glue.
    Thank you
    Linda in Stanwood

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  13. Thanks for all the beneficial tips, Diane. Would you mind sharing what cardstock you used? I find many of mine are not solid color and thus show break marks even after careful scoring. I like my boxes to be heavy enough that they hold their shape without lining them.
    Thanks!

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  14. Dear Capadia,
    I'll be watching this blog closely, thank you for giving us so much of your time and mind. You make so wonderful and lovely works! I enjoyed the visit on your site. Many thanks for your beautiful inspirations!!
    Please take a look on my Blogspot.
    Hugs from Marina.

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  15. Such a sweet and lovely box. The gems add so much to your tag and the leaf cut. Just the perfect design for a fall gift.

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  16. I love the fall colors of your box and ribbon! Thanks for the tips!
    Shellee

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  17. thanks very much for the tutorial - I especially love the tip for using weld instead of the hide feature - much faster!!! scrap happy...

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  18. This is a really pretty and I like you hate those little score marks and always remove them having made a template first.
    Kim xXx

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