Quick and easy gift card holder

This week has been nuts!  I've got so much going on its hard to know where to start, so today's post will be a quickie.  I made this easy gift card holder the other night.  I literally took me 10 minutes to make.

Top Note die gift card holder

The top layer swings open using the brad as a hinge

I got a little carried away with my decorative label punch (but I like the effect!)

To start, I ran two pieces of Always Artichoke cardstock, 2 pieces of the Deck the Halls DSP and a piece of Big Shot multipurpose adhesive sheet through my Big Shot ALL AT THE SAME TIME using my Top Note die.  I adhered one of the DSP die cuts to one of the cardstock die cuts using the adhesive die cut.  I cut the second DSP die cut in half and adhere the outer edges to the last cardstock die cut using sticky strip.  I then punch a 1" strip of always artichoke cardstock using my scalloped edge punch and then used my 1/16" hole punch to punch each scallop I adhered that along the top edge of the half top note DSP.  I laid the two top note pieces on top of eachother, making sure they lined up and punched a small hole at the top using my Crop-a-dile.  I put an antique brad through the hole.  I cut a piece of cherry cobbler seam binding ribbom and a piece of Chantilly Lace trim, layered them on top of eachother and tied a bow.  I adhered the bow just below the brad using Tombow.  I stamped the focal image from the Tags Till Christmas set in Cherry Cobbler on very vanilla cardstock and punched it out using my decorative label punch.  I also stamped the same image in always artichoke and then hand cut out the centre oval.  I adhered that to the cherry cobbler piece using dimensionals.  Then I punched several more decorative labels in always artichoke, cherry cobbler and very vanilla and layered them behind the original image.  I adhered the whole thing to the front of the project.  For the inside sentiment I stamped the image from the Bells and Boughs set in cherry cobbler on very vanilla, punched it out and layered it on another cherry cobbler punch.  I adhered it with dimensionals as well.

That's it...start to finish in under 10 minutes...I think it actually took me longer to type this post than it took me to make this project!

Tomorrow night I am teaching a stamp-a-stack class in Waterloo and will not be home to post.  I will be back by the weekend with some new ideas...I just received an order today!!  Can't wait to play...

Another over-the-top Christmas card

Today was not a good day at work.  First of all it was Monday which is always a downer.  Secondly it was the day after Halloween.  Now you wouldn't think that teenagers would be affected by the tons of candy consumed on that particular holiday, but let me assure you THEY ARE!!  My students were out of control today...sugar highs all around.  This made for a long, frustrating and exhausting day.  I also had some professional news that was a shock and not in a good way.  So by the time I got home at 5:30 I was done.  I related my tales of woe to my husband over dinner who listened with the appropriate amount of empathy and indignation and then, instead of heading for the TV I headed to my stamping table to try to "stamp out" my crappy day.  I'm happy to say that a little paper and ink therapy really helped and that I am very pleased with the card I created.  See what you think...

I love this card...it is so pretty...much better in person than in the photo!

Is it wrong that I counted the pearls?  There are 45 of them, in case you're wondering.

The sentiment from the Bells and Boughs set in the Holiday Mini.

Inside of card...sentiment from Snow Swirled set

See what I mean by over-the-top?  I don't think I could have used more pearls if I tried!  This card weighs about half a pound...definitely will require a padded envelope and extra postage!  But I have to say...I don't care!  I really am happy with the card and I can honestly say it has been a long time since I've been able to say that.  That's one of the things I love most about this hobby...you can have the crappiest of days at your day job, come home and create something really beautiful.

So...how did I do it?  I started with a 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock.  I randomly stamped the images from Serene Snowflakes in Bravo Burgundy ink all over it.  I then took a same-sized piece of vellum and randomly stamped the images again using Champagne shimmer paint.  The key here is that I didn't clean the stamps between the burgundy and the shimmer paint.  What I wound up with was a shimmery, lighter shade of Bravo Burgundy for my snowflakes on the vellum.  I layered the vellum over the vanilla piece, adhering with glue dots along the top and bottom edges.  I then took two 1 1/2" x 5 3/8" pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock and ran them through my Big Shot with the Elegant Details impressions plate.  Then I sponged the same shimmer paint all over the embossed pieces, again with a hint of the burgundy ink still left from inking the stamps previously.  I layered the two embossed pieces over the vellum along the top and bottom edges.  The vellum layer will show in the middle.  Then I took 2 pieces of Bravo Burgundy grosgrain ribbon (retired...I bought this during the Clearance Rack blitz!) and adhered  them along the rough edges of the embossed pieces.  Over that I layered 2 pieces of Chantilly Lace  trim.  The whole thing was then adhered to a piece of 5 7/16" x 4 3/16" bravo burgundy cardstock.  That was then adhered to a very vanilla card base using Tombow glue (it is pretty heavy by this point...but I'm not done!).

This is when the fun begins!  I grabbed my sheet of pearls and went to town.  I used the smallest size on the embossed pieces.  Then I took one of the big designer buttons in very vanilla and adhered 1 large pearl in the centre and then added six more around that.  I adhered the button, along with a scrap of  Chantilly lace, to the card using Tombow.  For the greeting I stamped it on very vanilla in Bravo Burgundy ink and then sponged the whole thing with shimmer  paint. I punched it out using my decorative label punch and then sponged the edges using bravo burgundy ink.  I layered that on another bravo burgundy punch out and then adhered it to the card with dimensionals.  I added a few more pearls (so it wouldn't feel  left out!).
For the inside I stamped more snowflakes in shimmer paint, stamped the sentiment in bravo burgundy and sponged it in the same way I did the greeting on the front.  It is also layered on burgundy cardstock and adhered with dimensionals.
Since I was on a roll, I made another project that I will save until later.  Tomorrow night is my team meeting, so I don't know if I'll have time to post...if I do, I'll show you my other creation.  Here's hoping tomorrow's a better day!

Veeery Spooooooky!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
I trust everyone out there had a wonderful day and lots of Trick or Treating fun!  As you may know from previous posts, I don't really do much for Halloween.  My 3 year old son is just plain freaked out by the whole thing.  Case in point:  today we tried to convince him to put on his costume.  He wouldn't do it.  Period.  No amount of cajolling and encouraging would get him into that thing.  He also refused to leave the house to go trick-or-treating.  No interest, no desire.  Then we thought he could at least help us hand out candy at the door...well that didn't go over so well...he ran away crying at the sight of the first kids in costume who came to our door.  So much for Halloween at our house! 
Before all of this drama, my husband and I actually made an effort to make our house look a bit festive.  He carved a pumpkin in the shape of "Ramone" from the movie CARS (at my son's request, of course!).  I have to give him a huge amount of credit...this "simple" pattern took 4 hours to carve!!  He was exhausted by the end of it and, of course, our son did NOTHING to help out.  Here is a photo of John's masterpiece all lit up for the big night:

"Ramone" from CARS...my husband's Halloween masterpiece!

Ramone's close-up

For my part, I made some luminary bags to line our front steps.  They were really simple and quick to make.

Halloween Luminaries (photographed in our bathroom...the only room in the house dark enough to get the full effect!)

Scary Spider

 When I said these were easy to make I wasn't kidding.  I was done in less than 1/4 the time it took John to carve his pumpkin!  I started with plain brown paper lunch bags.  I ran each one through my Big Shot with a circle die.  I then cut a piece of vellum cardstock large enough to cover the opening from the inside.  I applied the "Spooky Things" Decor Elements from the Holiday Mini to the vellum.  Then I glued the vellum to the inside of the bag, ensuring that the image was visible through the opening.  Viola...easy-peasy Halloween decor!  The best part is that I can save them and use them again next year...too bad John can't say the same for his pumpkin!

Vintage gift card holder

As promised in yesterday's post, here is the vintage version of the same gift card holder.  I changed the orientation to landscape, rather than portrait. 

Gift card holder using the Bells and Boughs set and Deck the Halls DSP

Inside view #1

Inside view #2 (there's that Timmy's card again!)

I just love these rich colours and the classic images.  To construct the foundation I followed the same steps I  described in yesterday's post.  To decorate it I just used Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla, along with the Deck the Halls DSP.  One thing I did want to mention is that I stamped the holly image in versamark on water colour paper and then heat embossed it in gold.  This made it really easy to colour.  I then sponged it lightly with Soft Suede ink to soften the brightness of the paper.  The ribbon I used on this is the seam binding ribbon in cherry cobbler from the Holiday Mini.  The brad on the front is one of the Antique Brads from the main catalogue.
Time to get back to my stampin' desk and get busy prepping for a Stamp-A-Stack class on Thursday!  Enjoy your weekend and Happy Halloween!

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!

Treat Box makeover

Last month Stampin' Up! ran a Clearance Rack Blitz where many discontinued items were offered for online purchase at deeply discounted prices.  Being the good little shopper I am, I picked up all sorts of goodies; among them the Treat Boxes that were in last year's Occasions Mini.  These cute little boxes are sturdy but the colour scheme (Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel) just weren't cutting it for Christmas.  So, I decided to make it over into a sweet little Christmas box. 

Treat Box Christmas Make-Over

Close up of focal image with 3D ornament.

 When I began this project I had thought it would be a good one to offer as part of my Gift Giving class in December...then I realized just how involved it would be and thought better of it!  I will certainly use this little box in my own gift giving this year, but I think it would have to be a class all on it's own if I were to try to teach it to anybody else!
In case you want to try it yourself, here is a list of supplies I used:
Cardstock:  Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White
Patterned Paper:  Jolly Holiday, PlayDate
Stamps:  Lovely as A Tree (for the pine bough from which the ornaments are hanging), Tags Till Christmas, Contempo Christmas
Ink:  Real Red, Old Olive
Fibers:  Double-stitched White Grosgrain (retired), 1/8" taffeta in Real Red and Old Olive, gold elastic cord (also retired)
Tools:  Big Shot, Top Note die, ornament punch, decorative label punch, word window punch (to punch the slot at the top)

This project uses LOTS of adhesive.  To adhere the layers of patterned paper to the cardstock I used the new Big Shot multipurpose adhesive sheets.  I am LOVING these things!  It makes adhering paper so easy and it DOES NOT come up.  I also used lots of sticky strip to adhere the various panels to the box.

If you want to try this yourself, do as much as you can prior to assembling the box...it is easier to work on a  flat surface!
Good luck!

Pop can card

Today's card was a bit of an experiment for me.  I have often wondered what would happen if I took the aluminum from a flattened pop can and ran it through my Big Shot with an embossing folder.  I finally gave it a try and was relatively pleased with the result...see what you think...

Focal image created by running a pop can through the Big Shot with the Petals a Plenty embossing folder.

Close up of the focal image.  The sentiment is from the Perfect Punches set.

Inside of pop can card.  The poinsettia image from Jolly Bingo Bits matches the embossing folder perfectly!

Using a pop can to create a card poses a few challenges.  First of all, how the heck do you cut the can apart?  Well, believe it or not, I just used my craft knife.  The metal in pop cans is VERY thin and doesn't take much to cut.  I just sawed it apart using my knife and my knife actually ended up being sharper as a result!
The second issue is one that you can't fix...the edges of the metal are SHARP!!  Use caution when handling it...blood doesn't mix well with ink. 
The third issue is that it is nearly impossible to get a straight edge on the metal.  You can't cut it with a regular paper trimmer.  I used scissors but even then, the edges were less than perfect.  My solution was to mat the metal with a frame to hide the rough edges.  I used the Scalloped oval frame and trimmed the sheet of metal to hide behind it. 
The final issue surprised me a little:  the metal really got stuck in the embossing folder.  I had to pry it off with a fair bit of difficulty after running it through the Big Shot.  The next time I try this I think I won't use any tabs on my platform...hopefully that will make it a bit easier to get the metal out of the folder.
So now on to the rest of the card...its really simple, actually.  After I embossed the metal and die cut my frame I glued the two together using Tombow (you need something strong here!).  While that was drying I embossed a Night of Navy card base using the Perfect Polka Dots folder.  The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed using silver embossing powder.  I punched it out using my 1 3/4"scalloped circle punch and then layered it on a 2" Real Red circle.  I set eyelets in either end of my oval frame using my crop-a-dile and threaded a length of Whisper White satin ribbon through them.  I tied a pretty bow on the left side.  I ran a layer of sticky strip underneath the ribbon to keep it laying flat.  I then adhered my sentiment using dimensionals.  The entire focal image was adhered the card base using sticky strip...again, stronger is better.
The inside of the card is pretty self-explanatory, but I did want to mention a discovery I made.  The poinsettia image from the Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set in the Holiday Mini matches the Petals A Plenty embossing folder perfectly!  I was mighty pleased to discover this...but I am easily amused...you may not be quite as excited about it as I was.  By the way, if you're thinking of purchasing this set, it will carry over into the new catalogue next summer...just thought I'd throw that out there...