Contemporary gift card holder

As I mentioned in an earlier post, last weekend was spent working on projects for my upcoming holiday classes.  One of the classes is all about gift-giving and finding unique ways to make your gifts extra-special.  I designed this gift-card holder as one of the options for that class.  It has a contemporary look...I also did a vintage one I'll post tomorrow.

Gift card holder using Jolly Holiday DSP

Inside view #1

Inside view #2 (I had to use a Tim Horton's card...I AM Canadian, after all!)

This is one of the few projects I did last weekend that I was actually happy with and that will make my class line-up.  I started with a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I scored it at 3", 4", 5", & 8".  I folded along the score lines, creating a "mountain" with the two 1" sections.  I added a 4 x 3/4" piece of DSP to each 1" section and then glued the sections together with sticky strip.  Be sure to put the sticky strip on the OUTSIDE edge, otherwise your giftcard won't go into the slot (don't ask me how I know that!).  I then punched a slot with my Word Window punch that was wide enough to accommodate the gift card.  The rest of the project is up to you.  You can decorate it as much or as little as you'd like.  For the front of mine, I used more Jolly Holiday DSP which I matted on Old Olive cardstock.  I punched out an ornament from a different pattern in the Jolly Holiday pack, embellished it with a gilttery snowflake (cut with the Northern Frost die), added some linen thread and a little "Merry" tag from the Tiny Tags set.  The ribbon I used is the 1/8" taffeta in Old Olive.  The first inner page was again more of the Jolly Holiday DSP and a little tag from the Tags Till Christmas set.  The inside Christmas tree image is from the Contempo Christmas set;  I coloured it with markers and added a shimmer brad in Real Red for the star.  I left one page blank to write a heartfelt greeting on. 
What I like about this project is it's versatility...this layout could be used for any occasion and be as elaborate or as simple as one wants.  Tomorrow I'll post a vintage version of this idea.  In the meantime, have a great weekend!