Koi Pillow Boxes by Rachel Winn

 Hello friends,

I am excited to be joining the i-crafter Inspiration Team! Today, I am showing you my take on the new i-crafter Koi Pillow Box die set! I spent some time researching what different colors meant in Japanese culture, and used that as the inspiration in the colors I used. I settled on creating fish that were blue, black, and gold.

I started with the blue Koi Pillow Box, blue representing peace and tranquility, seemed like an excellent hidden meaning to a gift. I decided on using a combination of patterned papers, and a pretty shiny metallic paper. For the body, I used a 6"x6" dotted patterned paper. I decided that I wasn't a fan of the gills being open, so I backed the gills with a piece of the metallic paper. I used the same metallic paper for the back of the face and the tail fin. For the top fin and front, kinda frilly piece of the face, I used a paper that looked like waves to me. I finished with plain white paper for the eyeball, and plain black for the pupil.

My next Koi Pillow Box is black, which represents overcoming an obstacle, which is another excellent time to receive a gift. I started with a black chalkboard cardstock, this cardstock has a bit of a smooth, soft texture to it, and is really nice and thick. Next, I used a cardstock that was black on kraft paper for behind the gills, the top of the face, and the tail fin. The back of the face and the top fin, I used a black and white diamond patterned paper, I chose this to break up the black a touch since I didn't have 3 different shades of black papers to use. I used the same white for the eyeball and black for the pupil as on the first fish.

My final Koi Pillow Box is gold, which represents wealth and fortune. For this, I used a metallic gold cardstock for this one, it is thicker and would handle a little more weight than the regular cardstock fishies! I found a gold lace/floral patterned paper to use behind the gills, top face piece, and tail fin. For the bottom face piece and top fin, I used a white glitter paper. I finished this one up with the same white eyeball and back pupil.

I hope you've enjoyed my take on this fantastic die set and look forward to seeing how you create some fishes! If you'd like to follow me, here is my blog, Instagram, and Facebook page. Be sure to join the i-crafter Facebook Fan Club, then follow us on Instagram, and Pinterest too! We love to see your creations using the i-crafter products.

Until next time,

Rachel