New Design Team Begins with a St. Patrick's Day Challenge

New Design Team
"made with love (and paper)" Design Team
made with love consists of a group of gals that love paper-crafting! Each month we challenge ourselves to complete projects with specific requirements. We are a new group to the craft world in internet land. Please stop by and join us!! You are welcome to submit your creation to the challenge.

Shamrock vs. 4-Leaf Clover
First, a little history. The shamrock (♣) is a symbol of Ireland. It is a three-leafed old white clover. The plant was used by Saint Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. The four-leaf clover is often confused with the shamrock. While the four-leaf clover is a symbol of good luck, the three-leafed shamrock is mainly an Irish Christian symbol of the Holy Trinity and has a different significance. (wikipedia) (For the record, I am not Irish. Well, only on St P's Day!)

The Challenge
As our inaugural challenge was to debut on March 1st, Rachelle asked us to focus on St. Patrick's Day. Our project is to be a paper craft of any kind. Our creation included the following requirements: green, textured paper, glitter, stamping. I made two items.

Card, 6 X 4.5 inches

The St. Patrick's Day Card
Cards are my specialty. But it's still a challenge given the theme and all that green! My craft store had 3 pieces of paper/cardstock in this theme. I was happy to see that one of them was non-traditional. It's really pretty. And I must have had a little Irish luck on my shoulder when I shopped, because there was only one piece of this! It is textured with foil! It's a simple card, but elegant. Ya know how crazy folks get with the bright green on this festive holiday! The Irish Blessing is from history and is a "digital stamp" that I created. There is a bit of glitter on the shamrock as well as the "shine" on the paper and in the fibers. (Fibers are my favorite embellishment!)

Keep scrolling down . . . there is more.

The Treat Box
Again I broke away from the traditional green. I found this lovely cardstock in a baby boy collection that I have. The blue flowers on the cardstock are covered with glitter and slightly raised for texture. The "take out" box is included with the software for my Pazzles Inspiration paper cutter. I did have to create the handle though. I have a good friend and neighbor who is Irish and she was my inspiration. She is a beautiful woman of God--fun, yet elegant. I put my mind to think about what she would like. I plan to give her this box. (The picture at the top of the post is to show the handle.)

I do not usually plan my paper crafts ahead of time and then go shopping. I use what I have one hand. I was blessed to have embellishments that complimented each other in color and style. I am very happy with the treat box. These are so fun to make and can be used for any occasion (or just because). From some angles, the shamrock and flowers blend in, but I think it is pretty. For this project I created a a circle digital stamp. (Love those!) I added the flower in the center of the stamp to dress it up. Finished with this amazing ribbon! What do you think? I am going to open the (maybe even take off the flaps) and fill it with Irish blessings. May you find yourself blessed at this festive occasion!

Treat Box

3 in High, 6.5 in w Handle, 4 in Wide