Gift Card Book

I am quite pleased with myself for coming up with this one on my own. I needed a holder for multiple gift cards, and didn't want to make a bunch of the standard ones. So, looking through my stash of stuff, I found that coasters are just the right size for adding a pocket and slipping a gift card inside! I used 3 coasters here, covering them all with papers from the MME pack I've been nibbling away at this season. The pockets are essentially scraps of red card stock that I trimmed with the scallop edge punch. A gift card will fit horizontally or vertically, but it's a little snug horizontally. To bind the booklet together, I added some silver eyelets to each coaster and tied them with some thin white ribbon. So easy, really!

Are you all getting ready for the holidays? I have been mentally buried since Thanksgiving with getting everything together, but the end is in sight. I just felt so unorganized this year and like I was moving in slow motion. However, the cards have been mailed, the packages have gone via Fed Ex, and the goody bags are just about finished for Justin's class. Two more card packs to make for my mom to give away and I'm DONE!! Well, except for wrapping for hubby and the boys...

I hope you are able to slow down and enjoy the holidays. They always seem to pass in such a mad rush! All the best to you! Thanks for looking!

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Have I really not posted for 6 days? That's what happens when there's a birthday party thrown into the mix of the Holidays, I guess. Thanks to those who have stuck with me in the past year :)

Here are a few projects that I've done in the last few weeks to get ready for Christmas. The first is using the Monday Lunchtime Sketch #49 from Mary Jo at Techno Stamper. Last week she posted a fantastic double gift card holder, so I used that idea from her, too. It's perfect for that last present I had to wrap for DH. The images are from Holiday Blocks, embossed with a mix of holographic and white EP. The DP is from Making Memories (a recent RAK from Allison).

This next project was almost too pretty to give away. I finished it and wished I had purchased more of the star shapes to alter! They were from Bazzill Shapes and are a nice textured white on the back. The DP on these is from the Provo Craft Holiday Slab V that I've been chipping away at. The stickers are dimensional Mary Engelbreit stickers from Cindy. My boss was the recipient of these ornaments.

Now I'm off to run two last errands. DH was stuck in Canada this morning trying to get home from a last-minute business trip. He finally made it and I can go out without DS, who is SO excited for Santa that he can hardly sit still! Since we have no family close by, I'll probably post again tomorrow as I play with my new toys (rumor has it that Santa is bringing me a Scor Pal and an ATG!). Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season!

Cute Gift Card Holder

I took today and tomorrow off from work to get some last-minute things done. We are hosting DS's birthday party on Sunday and I still had a few Christmas packages to get out. And catch up on the housework, etc. I will get to the housework tomorrow, but today had some time to stamp. One project off my to-do list is the favor bags for the birthday party. I will post those tomorrow. Today I want to share this cute gift card holder I came across on Julee's blog. The original template can be found here, at Wild Sprinkles.

Due to a miscalculation in cutting the angle, I turned my card to the side. I still like how it came out, though. Seriously, I am template challenged. I am trying to make a little box for a co-worker's gift and cannot make the top fit properly. I might have to call on my engineer hubby to do some math for me. It frustrates me to no end, and makes me greatly admire those bloggers who share their templates!

I'm off to do two more gifts that are to be given tomorrow. Have a good night everyone. Thanks for looking!

A Challenging Gift Card Holder

Early in June, Susan Daly from Stampindaly.com issued a challenge on her blog. She would send out a little packet of materials and the recipients had to create something with those materials. Of course, I forgot to take a "before" picture, but she sent me some orange, yellow and red cardstock, some double-sided dp (red on red stars/polka dots), some striped dp, a chipboard star, an image, a few tags in red and white and some black grosgrain ribbon.

Here is the card she sent with the goodies. Isn't it cute that she created a ladybug from punched shapes? And I always love flowers on flourishes! These materials have been in my head since I got them, and I wanted to do something special. Since the colors are really outside my comfort zone, I waited and waited until the idea came to me. Then I had to wait some more until I had time to execute the idea! Well, today was the day and I made time tonight to complete it. I still have pieces of materials left, and will make another card tomorrow after a good night's sleep.

I chose to make a flap card gift card holder. To begin, I covered the star in the dotted paper. In the center of the star is a small punched star and a rhinestone. The star hides the magnet closure for the card. The outside is layered with the red, then the striped dp. I even took the time to match up the pattern of the pieces so it looks more polished!!

Inside, I colored the hippo with Prismacolor pencils and blended with OMS. I dragged the gray around the image to create a shadow. The main image is mounted on red, then the dotted dp and adhered to the center part of the card. The bottom, as you can see, has a strip of the black ribbon across it that holds the gift card in place. One problem - the gift card slid out the bottom of the card when opened all the way. As a remedy, I added a tag that has a sentiment from my own collection and some punched stars from the dotted dp. This is attached to the ribbon with a red brad (also from my stash) and the lower right corner is adhered with a glue dot, which holds the gift card in place. Clever, no? I'm sure I'm not the first to use this trick!

This is the first time I have used the BG magnet snaps. I LOVE THEM!!!

I hope Susan likes what I have produced. I'm hoping to get more stamping time this weekend. My desk is relatively cleaned off, so I won't have to waste time doing that before getting started. The only chores for the morning are a run to the farmer's market to supplement our tomatoes and zucchini, and a trip to get a haircut for DS. Then the boys will take a ride in the new car and the day is mine (insert evil laugh here)!

Hope you all have a good weekend. Thanks for looking :)

Teacher Gifts, Yankee Swap Gift

Here are the beaded pens and altered notebooks I made for the teachers at ds' preschool. It's hard because there are soooo many teachers and assistants! I decided to just give gifts to the three that spend the most time with him. I got the tutorials for these gifts at Emily's blog. They were so much fun to make! It was my first time with Mod Podge, and now I'm ready to alter the other things I have been collecting - frames, more notebooks, paint cans...I also made a few matching notecards for one of the teachers. The others got gift cards in these adorable little holders. I found the instructions for these little cuties HERE. SOOOOOOOOO easy and better than the generic rectangle holders you get at the store.

The final item is a Criss-Cross Box that I found through Nichole Heady's blog. The instructions and template are HERE. My DH needed a quick Yankee Swap gift for work, so I whipped up this box, filled it with chocolates and another gift card in a holder. They loved it!

Phew! This is the last of the Christmas postings for me! I'm going to spend the weekend cleaning and getting the house ready for guests. And we still have all our wrapping to do, so I'll be getting all that done, too. We still have to put up the tree, which will probably be done on Sunday when the guests arrive. And ds has requested a Green Goblin birthday cake, so I'll be hunting for pictures for that! Is it January yet?

Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for looking!