Do you get the most...

...out of your craft equipment?

I'm probably as guilty as the next person - I buy something and only ever use it the way it says on the box/tin/pack.

If you are busy (and who isn't these days) the time you have available for crafting is limited and you don't always have the luxury of playing around with pieces of equipment to see if they can do more...this is a shame because craft equipment can be expensive and in this current financial climate, who can afford to buy things that will only be used occasionally when there is the possibility that they could be in use on a regular basis.

Take the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch board...

Would you have thought that you could make this cute gift box...

...isn't it great and you can even add apertures if you want the contents to be seen.
Andy Pearson (Pinnacle Crafts) held a demo day above the shop yesterday...

 ...and he shared a lot of his ideas and those that he had found on places like YouTube. These boxes were one of the favourites of the day...

 ...and the samples got a lot of handling. Andy said these boxes were not his idea but he had found some videos by a lady called Deb Valder. I only look at YouTube occasionally so I probably would not have found these - thank you Andy for bringing this idea to my attention and thank you for another great demo day.

So of course, when I got home I had to have a go...

 ...out came my Envelope Punch board...

 ...a paper cutter and a scoreboard...

 ...some pretty CS, ribbon & DST.
In next to no time I had this...

...my own little gift box (I didn't put a window in mine)...

...as I was in a hurry to get it done...

...these boxes are adorable and even have a lid to help keep the contents secure.

With Easter coming up, I thought this CS would be perfect because of the Spring-time colours - just imagine one of these full of tiny chocolate eggs.

Change the colour scheme and you have favour boxes for the wedding table or gift boxes for the bridesmaids.

You can get 3 of these out of 2 sheets of 12x12 or one out of a sheet of A4. This is an ideal way to make a dent in that mountain of PP & CS.

So an envelope maker can do so much more - I made cutlery holders at Christmas. I've made bon-bons (crackers) and a wrap over box that will hold two crème eggs. Now I know I can make these cuties as well..........................................................................