Product of the week - Gift Card Envelope

Gift Cards - they are the kind of present I sometimes feel a little guilty about.  Sure, they are practical, and give the recipient the ability to chose their own gift, but they can be a bit impersonal.  Though sometimes, if you don't know the person you are buying for very well, impersonal can be just right!   That's where a little bit of card stock, and your Big Shot can come in handy.  Now you can personalise the gift card as much as you like!   Here's one I made recently for a party my son was invited to attend.  He knew his mate would appreciate a gift card, so I managed to whip up this gift card envelope and a matching birthday card in minutes.  And I could look the birthday child's mother in the eye and say "I made it!"

Gift card envelope and matching card - nothing fancy, but 12 year old boys don't usually care for fancy!

Here's the basic envelope as it comes, once you've die cut it with the new Gift Card Envelope Framelit and your Big Shot - I put the gift card in already!  I adhered the bottom flap to the sides.

I decorated the front simply, using some white card stock and a leftover bit of a retired DSP from my stash, adding a bit of green seam binding ribbon to hold the envelope closed.  I stamped "Happy Birthday" in Island Indigo (to match the DSP) and attached the strip to the front with Dimensionals. 

Here's a look at the back:

This framelit is going to get SUCH a workout from me - not just for the constant round of birthdays my four children constantly seem to be invited to, but, HELLO - Christmas!    I can see little love notes, or even an Advent Calendar being made with these.  I'm sure I'll be posting quite a few projects with this clever, versatile product!

Don't you think you could use this too?

To purchase any of these products, just click the images below.

Gift Card Envelope & Trims Thinlits Dies

$55.95

Big Shot

$149.95

Age Awareness Photopolymer Stamp Set

$27.95

Wild Wasabi 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon

$11.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Don't forget to take advantage of the Stock Up & Save Promotion!  It finishes Monday 6th October (tomorrow), so get cracking!

Gift Card Holder

My kids are at the ages where gift cards are the way to go for their friends' birthdays.  I was browsing the internet for some ideas recently, and came across this awesome YouTube video by a clever Stampin' Up! demonstrator in the USA, Jackie Topa.

My son is going to a birthday party today, so this was just what I needed!  I made two while I was at it:

I used the following products:

Cardstock:  Real Red, Midnight Muse, Whisper White

Ink:  Real Red Classic Ink, Midnight Muse Classic Ink, Daffodil Delight Classic Ink

Stamps:  Bring On the Cake, Perfect Pennants (Sneak peek - this is from the NEW mini)

Other:  Gingham Garden washi tape, Paper Trimmer, Score Board, Envelope Punch Board, SNAIL Adhesive.

Check out Jackie's video:




Have fun trying this yourself!  As always, you can purchase these products in my Online Store.

Gift Card Holder Tutorial

 As promised - the gift card holder tutorial.

You will need:

• Sticky Strip,;
• Paper Trimmer;
• 11cm x 9 cm piece of Cardstock; 
• Co-ordinating DSp to decorate if desired ; 
• bone folder or Simply Scored plus stylus,;
• embellishments as desired.

1.  Take your 11cm x 14 cm piece of card stock and score it on the long side at 3.5cm and 9cm as per the photograph below:

2. Apply sticky Strip to the edges of the shorter fold to form a pocket for your gift card.  Be sure to check it will fit.  If desired, you can use an Edgelit to make a cute cut away convex edge to the pocket, as shown, and a fancy edge to the top flap (pinking shears would work too).  

3.  Decorate and embellish as desired.  

That's it!  Embarrassingly easy.  Once you have the measurements for the score lines, it practically makes itself!

One down, three to go!

My eldest child finishes school for the year today, so I sent off her teacher present yesterday. I was also responsible for making a card and gift card holder from the entire class - also done!

I haven't had time yet to upload all the photos of the presents I've made, but I still have three teachers to go - my younger three finish school for the year next Friday.

Here's a collage of the gift card holder I made (with a dummy iTunes card to check for size) and the matching card from the class:

It looks a little small - I did the collage from my iPad while still in bed this morning!  

Gift Card Presentation

Gift cards - so convenient, so appreciated.....but sometimes their presentation is a bit blah.

I recently whipped up a couple of cute Gift Card holders from scraps on my desk - I'll do a tutorial soon with measurements, etc.  I pretty much eyeballed these, because they were a "five minutes before we get into the car" kind of job.  I used the Big shot to add interest with the large scallop edgelit on the flap of the blue one, then made a quick belly band from a scrap of DSP.

The Summer Starfruit one was embossed for texture and again an edgelit was employed for the inside.

Too easy!