Dare 2B Artzy 2020 Favorites

 Hi Artzy friends-

Looking back on my creations for this year, it appears that many of my favorites all featured bees, bears, and of course, honey! 

These bears with their honey pots from the Honey Bears stamp set have been perfect for cards all year long, but I especially loved pairing them with this pretty spring paper from the All the Buzz collection.

This card was was so much fun to make, featuring more papers from the All the Buzz collection, and an adorable bee from the Buzzy Beez stamp set.

Here is another fun card featuring bees from the Buzzy Beez and Honey Bears stamps and dies, with my own stenciled background.

This Bear Hugs set was just what we needed this year to makes cards to send to friends and relatives that we weren't able to see in person. And since the masks are a separate stamp and die, I will use these bears for many years to come as well!

Dare 2B Artzy release several amazing new slimline dies this year, (with more to come in 2021!) This Slimline Honeycomb die was one of my favorites! 

Not only was this one of my favorite D2BA cards of the year, it was one of my favorite holiday cards of the season! Isn't this polar bear with the penguin riding on his head adorable?! The stamp set is called Just Chillin', and it's a great set to take us right through the new year!

I'm wishing you all a happy holiday season and I hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe. By this time next year, I hope to be hugging you all in person!

There's still time to enter this month's challenge on the Dare 2B Artzy blog. Enter your "Holiday Fun" card for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate! 

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day! 

See you in 2021!

Avra

Gift Giving Time!

 Hi Artzy friends-

It's that time of year! It's time to make and send cards, shop, bake, wrap, and present gifts from the heart to our loved ones. What better way to present so many types of gifts than with an adorable box/backpack that you create yourself and personalize with your own creativity?!

I have made four of these backpacks now, and my most recent one is definitely the best, so I will share some little tips that I have learned along the way. 

Cindy, the owner of Dare 2B Artzy, has done an amazing job printing step by step assembly instructions on the die packaging, as well as provided a video tutorial for you visual learners. She has also shared many examples of backpacks she has created. My observations are just my opinions, and things that worked well for me. When you get this die, I recommend you make your first one following along with the video or printed directions, and using paper that you don't "care about" until you find what works best for you.

Here is my favorite of the four that I've made.

I chose to create this one without the backpack straps, and it's still equally as cute and useful. 

In my opinion, the backpack version is adorable and unique, and is perfect when paired with an appropriately sized teddy bear or other stuffed toy to present to a child (or adult!). But, for my purposes, I prefer to make the box without the straps. It makes a "neater" more compact presentation, and for me, has less room for error during the "construction process." 

Here are two examples of boxes I made with the backpack straps. It really is a clever design!

Here are my "two-cents" in addition to all of the tips provided on the packaging and in the video:

1)  I like to cut my main panels - front, back and sides, as well as the top, from a nice weight solid cardstock. I then cover the front, back, and sides with panels cut out of my chosen patterned papers and the dies provided. It provides quite a bit more structure and stability to the finish product. I used papers from the Snow Much Fun collection for my two holiday examples, and the SEAS the Day collection for my more summer themed backpack.

2) My other big tip won't necessarily work best for everyone, but I am a liquid glue girl. I know many of you prefer scor-tape, or other double sided tape when creating 3D objects. I tried scor-tape on my first two attempts at making these boxes. Like scor-tape, the right liquid glue (I use Art Glitter Glue) gives me a strong hold, dries fairly quickly, and can be applied to a small area. But it is much more forgiving than double sided tape in that it provides a little "wiggle room", or time to get my pieces lined up perfectly before I press them firmly into place. Like I said, it's a personal preference, but it's what works for me.

3) The only other additional tip I have is if you're making the backpack straps, use a really good quality cardstock. I'm not sure what the difference was, but the navy blue straps I made turned out really nice. The lighter blue ones got creased in a few places. It was probably just me, not being careful enough, but a nice heavy smooth cardstock will be easier to work with.

There are lots of gifts you can tuck inside this roomy box/backpack. It's the perfect size for a set of A2 cards. I plan to do this for my mother-in-law, once I can actually travel to take it to her. It will also hold candy and treats of all kinds, which is what I will fill this one with to give to my husband this Christmas. 

I made a little tag with the Rectangle Fancy Framelit dies that can tuck into the adorable front pocket. The Happy Holidays sentiment is from the Toboggan Fun stamp set.

Now that I've made a box that I love, and know how to get good results, I can't wait to make more!

You can find the Backpack die, as well as all of the fantastic Dare 2B Artzy products here. 

Please join our challenge this month here, by uploading a Holiday Fun themed card for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate!

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Avra

Gift Card Holder

Hi Artzy friends -

It's holiday gift giving season! If you're like me, you always need a fun new way to present gift cards.

I give my (adult) children gift cards every year for Chanukah (as opposed to toys and gifts each night when they were younger.) This year Chanukah begins on December 10th so I needed to have a cute simple gift card holder in a hurry! 

This little "basket" will hold several gift cards, or even small treats (Ghiradelli squares anyone?)

I stamped the adorable snowman image from the Toboggan Fun stamp set on white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers.  I then die cut the image with one of the Rectangle Fancy Framelit dies. I stamped the Happy Hanukkah sentiment from the SHELLom Turtle stamp set. I believe this set is discontinued but it can still be found on the Dare 2B Artzy website in the clearance section! This is one of the very first Dare 2B Artzy stamp sets I ever purchased because it was so cute and unique!  I added some GinaK Crystalline Drops (like Stickles) for a little added shimmer on the snowmen's accessories and set it aside to dry.

I then created the 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" holder with a piece of 7" x 5 1/4" paper from the Snow Much Fun collection, as well as a handle from an 8" x 1/2" strip of coordinating cardstock. 

I assembled the basket, and adhered the completed image, as well as a pretty little gem.

Now I just need to make 2 more holders and purchase all of the gift cards for my gifts!

The Dare 2B Artzy design team members have all been busy creating 3D holiday projects to inspire you!

You can see them all in a hop taking place over on Instagram! You can win one of two $10 gift cards! Just look for the Dare 2B Artzy account and the graphic below for all the details! We are also having a sale! Take 15% off if your order with the code XMAS2020 now through  December 6th. You can shop here!

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Avra