Stationery Set

Here's a little something that is a WONDERFUL idea for a gift - except for a challenge I'll discuss in a minute (if you're looking for projects to be perfect, you've come to the wrong blog - this is one I'm just about ready to toss in the dust bin!).  First, a bit about what this is.  It's a writing set in a box.  The basic idea came from Jackie Topa at Splitcoaststampers.  Here's what mine looks like when it's all closed up:

The odd-looking thing on the side is a pen attached with velcro.  If you look back to the first photo again you may be able to see the following:

• A compartment for A2-sized cards in the back
• Two compartments in front of that for mini cards and gift enclosure cards
• A little pocket that holds stamps
• A notepad
• A post-it note pad (light pink, just sticking out behind the notepad).
• and, of course, the pen on the side of the box

So far so good, right?  The problem with it is this.  I used a medium card stock for the stationary box and it just plain feels too flimsy. You have to hold it rather gently and it screams "home made" rather than "hand crafted" - if you know what I mean. It may be too late for this particular specimen, but I DO have some ideas for overcoming this challenge in the future.  One could try a heavy cardstock -- though I'm not sure if you could get one that would be heavy enough. Another option would be to cut either acetate or chipboard to fit the bottom and sides of the box, glue them in place, and cover them with decorative paper before adding the compartments.  In fact, the best thing to do might be chipboard to strengthen the outer part of the box and acetate to strengthen the little compartments.  I DID use acetate in the very bottom of the box - foreseeing the problem - but I didn't take it far enough.

Another tip:  I recommend making embossed panels that you add for decorative purposes rather than embossing the base card stock itself.  I embossed the card stock itself for the little compartments and that weakened the card stock a bit - and even tore a bit at the score lines, though a little glue hid that well.

The flowers on the front are cut from a papier tole set from Paper wishes. The mini cards and gift enclosures that I used are shown here and here.  The rest of the enclosures will be shown over the course of the next few days.