Love Bug Box

From the moment I saw the 'coming soon' post on Instagram for this ladybug box, I was in love! Ladybugs hold a special place in my heart and as a result, I have a small but unique collection of ladybug treasures that I've accumulated over the past 25 years. Because of this, I was understandably excited to see two of my favorite things, ladybugs and paper, come together in this adorable 3D box from Dreaming Tree's Love You More bundle.

I have no intention of using this box as a mailbox or bank, so I hid the contours for the mail slot when I was laying this out in Cricut Design Space prior to cutting. You can see above that I added some hearts to the back center panel of the ladybug's body where the slot would have been. I also changed the direction in which the hearts point.

This side view shows how I redistributed the hearts on the ladybug body as well as some of the flower embellishments. 

I cut  the larger flower out of light pink glitter paper and inked the edges with some abandoned coral Distress ink. The smaller flowers were cut from the same pearl paper I used on the top of the box which is pearl heart print which I also inked with Distress, this time in shaded lilac.  

I liked how the purple gems in the original project tied the colors all together, but I didn't have any purple gems. Alcohol ink to the rescue! I simply dabbed some Purple Twilight alcohol ink from Ranger onto some clear gems and behold...purple gems! I use this little trick a lot to create gems, pearls and other embellishments that match my project color scheme.

The pipe cleaners I have are so thick and fuzzy that when I tried to loop them, they looked large and rather silly, so I kept them short and hot glued some glittery red pom poms to the ends.  

I love how this project came together and am so thrilled to finally have a 3D paper ladybug! I think I'll be making more of these in the future.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Lovebug!

As part of my 2015 SVGCuts Spring Challenge entry, I made this ladybug out of the owl from the Enchanted Autumn kit by SVGCuts.  I'm a big fan of ladybugs and just HAD to have a 3D paper version for myself.  

Ultimately I just modified some of the panels on the head and body to eliminate the 'feather' cutouts and add some dots to my bug. Had I been really ambitious, I might have added wings, but I was really pressed for time!

The antenna cutouts came from the Peace On Earth card from the Joyful Christmas Cards kit, also from SVGCuts. It's actually the the swirly foliage on the dove piece but snipped, duplicated, reversed and ultimately welded together.  

I think she's the perfect addition to my Valentine's decor as a little lovebug.  It would be cute to create this using hearts instead of dots on the wings too.  So many possibilities!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ladybug Love Shack and Love Lantern

Last year I created this little ladybug love shack using the Hugs & Kisses kit from SVGCuts.  I'm a lover of all things ladybug, so the cute little fox was replaced with Ms. Bug which I cut from the Cricut Create A Critter cartridge. I had fun picking out all the polka dotted papers and bling for this project. Now that I've got it out for display again this year, I might see if I can add some hearts puffing up out of the chimney. As if there's not already enough glitter and bling!!! 

I also had fun altering the Damask Lantern from the Mistletoe Manor kit, also by SVGCuts.  I kept some of the damask pattern, but moved it around to fit in some of the swirly hearts from the For My Valentine kit.  I just love how this came out. I always look at things down the road and want to add more. I think this needs a glittery ribbon bow and/or maybe some flowers on top.  Adding it to my To Do list!

It's so much fun to decorate for Valentine's Day!

Thanks for stopping by!