Castle Box Tutorial by Gloria

Hello everyone! Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday! Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts sent me a "prototype" Castle Box and Mini Album to try (this product is coming SOON to the GSL Store). When I found out that Graphic 45 was coming out with the Enchanted Forest Collection, I knew that I had a winning combination! I love how GSL continues to make products that match up perfectly with various paper collections on the market! 

Today, I am sharing the Castle Box project. In two weeks, I will share the matching album, which fits inside the box! (Part 2 will post on March 22nd.)

I created a tower, complete with knight and dragon! The Castle Box is 7 3/4" x 6 1/2" x 6 1/4" and has a piece that can be used as a door for the front of the box. The album that fits inside is approximately 5 1/2" x 6".

Start by prepping all the castle panels by wiping them with a damp cloth to remove any dust from the laser-cutting process. Paint all the edges with black acrylic paint. Make sure to paint all the battlements black as they will not be covered with paper.  

Place the left side of the box face down on the work surface. Place the castle door piece face down to the left of the side piece, leaving a 1/16" gap between the pieces. Cut two pieces of tyvek to 6" x 4". Using one piece of tyvek, attach the castle pieces together. The tyvek forms a sturdy hinge. (I used some left over mailing envelopes made from tyvek for my hinge.) Flip the box pieces over and add a second piece of tyvek to the front side to make a stronger hinge. Score lightly on the 1/16" gap and gently fold the door piece inward.

Cover the inside areas of the box pieces with decorative paper. Trim the paper slightly smaller than the box surface if you wish to have a black border around the edges.

Cover both sides of each piece. Use a matte gel medium to attach the paper to the box surface.

Assemble the box, using a strong, quick-drying glue to adhere the pieces together. Sponge paper edges with black ink, if desired. Make sure to sponge any visible tyvek with black ink as well. Note that the hidden door hinge is on the left side of the box, when facing the box front.

To make a closure for the door, I used a piece of metal latch that I found in my stash, and a long hinge from the Hinge Straps Shape Set, painted black. Use a hole punch to make holes in the hing strap, as shown. Use long mini brads to attach the pieces to the box.

Use a hole punch such as a Crop-a-Dile to make holes in the box for placement of the hinge strap and the hinge plate. Fit the top of the hinge strap over the knob of the hinge plate to secure the door.

Use black acrylic paint to paint the Art Deco Border and Corners and the pieces from the Art Deco Corner Set. Also, paint two dragons from the Dragons Shape Set. Use metallic inks to color a plate from the Keys and Plates Shape Set. 

Wrap a bit of paper border around the large dragon's neck and use a white pen to draw an eye on the dragon shape. Use strong glue to attach the dragon to the top of the box. Fussy cut a knight image from the decorative paper and attach him to the dragon with foam adhesive so that it looks like he is standing next to the dragon.

Trim the Art Deco border into sections and glue one piece to the door of the box. Glue Art Deco corners to the bottom left side of the box. 

Glue the small dragon to the top of the door as shown. Fussy cut two shield images from the decorative paper and attach them to the dragon with foam adhesive. Glue Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest decorative chipboard to the door, if desired.

Glue two Art Deco corners to the right side of the box. Glue another section of the Art Deco Border to the back section of the box. Place tiny brads into the holes of the key plate and attach it to the top of the back panel with strong glue.

To cover the holes where the front latch is attached to the door, glue some decorations from the paper collection to that area of the door. 

The box is now ready for the album! Here is a sneaky peek!

Tune in on March 22nd to see the matching mini album!

Thanks for joining me today! Visit my blog, Scraps of Life, HERE. 

~ Gloria

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Products Used:
Castle Box with Mini Album (coming soon)
Hinge Straps Shape Set
Art Deco Border & Corners
Art Deco Corner Set.
Dragons Shape Set
Keys & Plates Shape Set

Other Products Used:
Paper and decorative chipboard: Graphic 45 Enchanted Forest
Ink: Colorbox Pigment (Burnt Copper, Gold Brocade, Copper, Bronze); Memento Tuxedo Black
Paint: Martha Stewart Sating Acrylic Beetle Black
Brads: Tim Holtz long fasteners
Metal clasp: SkyBluePink
Tyvek: recycled envelopes
Adhesive: Ranger Glossy Accents, Liquitex Matte Gel Medium, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L 3D Foam Squares

Flying Heart Wall Hanging Kit

This is one of the new wall hanging kits from Gina's Designs and it was a pleasure to assemble and decorate.

The kit comes with the following:

• 6 x 6 chipboard square with a small hole punched in each corner (I used my cropodile to insert eyelets into each hole).  This square piece is intended to be at the top
• 6 x 7.5 chipboard rectangle with two holes punched at the top and one hole punched in the center of the bottom.  This piece is intended to connect to the square at the top, and to hang the large key from the center of the bottom.
• A large heart and a smaller heart
• A pair of wings
• A crown
• Large key (to hang from the bottom of the chipboard rectangle) and also a smaller key
• Corrugated cardboard lazer cut shape (I used this on the top piece)
• Corrugated cardboard strip (fits the length of the bottom piece, and I chose to cut mine in half)
• Three words (Dream, Inspire, and Create)

Please see the bottom of this post for a list of the other items from Gina's Designs that I added to my hanging.  This piece looked gorgeous just as it was without the extras I added, but that's just me, I can't stop once I get my hands on my chippies :)

Gina's Products used:

Flying Heart Wall Hanging

Steampunk Shape Set

Steampunk 2 Shape Set

Hinge Straps Shape Set

Brick Wall

Other Products used:

Butterflies from Renea Bouquets on Etsy

Tim Holtz Design paper

Prima Chalk Inks

Crackle Accents

UTEE

Metal Effects Iron Paint by Modern Masters (used on the chipboard keys and hinge)

Metal Effects Rust Activator by Modern Masters (The activator is part two in the above process)

Rub n Buff in silver, in gold and in patina

Tim Holtz silver metallic distress dabber paint

Tim Holtz distress embossing powder (on the wings)

Metal roses from my stash

Recollections gold roses

Magic Mesh in pale green

Tim Holtz chain clasps

Mini Album Display Case by Lisa

Hi Everyone! It's Lisa here today and I am sharing my mini album display case. I had such a great time creating this project and I know you will too! This beautiful piece Gina designed houses four little mini albums.

I covered mine in Bo Bunny Mama Razzi Papers and inked all the edges. Gina's Miniature Bookplates Shapes gave the binders of my mini albums a special touch. I dabbed Tim Holtz distress paints on the chipboard bookplates in two different colors.

I added a button for my drawer pull and covered wooden spools in matching paper for my feet.

The top of my case was covered in flowers and butterflies!

I used Gina's Hinge Straps on the sides of the box. I covered them in modeling paste and then went over them with gesso. While the gesso was set I sprinkled on distress embossing powder and heat set it.

This is the back of the display case with a sweet butterfly and some bling!

Here is a photo of one of the little minis! Isn't it too cute!

I hope you enjoyed my project and don't forget to stop by the shop and pick up one of these cases for yourself!

Supplies Used

Miniature Bookplates Shape Set

Hinge Straps Shape Sets

Mini Album Display Case