Gift card holder

2 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/21/2012 09:43:00 am

I've been browsing the internet and came across some videos by Kathy Orta of Paper Phenomenon and of boy, she comes up with the most amazing projects.  She is one talented lady!


I saw last week that she had made a video showing how she made a gift card holder from an envelope, so I thought !I can do that!"  I didn't however, have any of the same size envelopes in stock (typical) nor any white ones that had the flap at the side.  I did have, however, a rather large stash of old payroll envelopes (C5 size) that I decided could be easily (famous last words...!!!!) adapted to make a gift card.


I started with papers from the February mega kit at The Studio:




I just love the colours used in the kit, and the papers are gorgeous.  


I sort of followed Kathy's video instructions to arrive at this gift card holder:



Those are shots of the front of the card and the back.  I used clear gloss on the cutout elephant,before sticking it on the back although with hindsight, I should have used card stock to print the elephant on as the paper version just curled up as the clear gloss dried, hence the cracks in it :(.  In my defence, I did only buy the clear gloss about 10 days ago and this is only the second time I have used it.

Don't you just love the fasteners though?  They were made with two circles (the larger one was from a 1" circle punch and for the smaller one, I used the top of a large Pritt stick as a guide since I don't have a smaller circle punch!).  the "friends" tag was cut from a sheet of card stock from the In My Mind's Eye lost and found labels collection.  Since it is core'dinations card stock, I was able to sand off the top layer of the text and distress the edges.

This is inside of the card.  The left and right hand sides have been completely covered in paper, but the middle section has the envelope flap left open but with two brads from the kit (again covered in clear gloss - can you see the cracks where the paper curled up again?  Oops!).



There are then three separate pockets in the front of this section, each one containing a tag.  The idea is that the gift tag goes in the bottom pocket and then you can put greetings, photographs, tags that can be personalised by the recipient, and so on.  Again, I created tags from the In My Mind's Eye card stock, and this is how they looked:




Considering this was the first time I had done anything like this, I was really pleased with the result.  Hubbie was not impressed (but the nothing short of the Mona Lisa would probably impress him ;) ) but my fifteen year old thought it was brilliant (he is such a smooth talker!).  


It was really easy to do and whilst Kathy says in her video it should take about 40 minutes, it took me a while longer as I was adapting a different shaped envelope.  I reckon the next one will be much quicker and believe me, there will b e a next one!


Why not have a go yourself?  It is straightforward to make, and is a really unique gift card.  In case you are interested, the video can be found here.


Happy Scrapping!

 

Heart gift boxes

1 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/20/2012 04:47:00 pm

I thought I'd share with you these cute little gift boxes I made for Valentine's day even though I know we are well past Valentine's day.   Well, you can always use these to make a start on next year's, right?


I used Truly, Madly, Deeply by Darlene H:




Couldn't you just eat those chocolates, lol?! !


Anyhow, I made two gift boxes, the first of which was a heart topped box:







I found the template for this at http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/free-gift-box-templates.html and it is so quick and easy to use. 


I actually converted the template into a png and got rid of the white background so all I had to do was place the template on the kit paper, print and cut out, then score along the dotted lines and fold.  The flower on the front side of the box was made using petals from the kit which I cut out and stuck together to create a flower.  I added a leaf from my stash to finish it off.


The only difficulty with this box was the actual heart on the top, as you need to make sure you cut far enough down so the two halves fit together.


The second box was also made from a template I found (see http://tethered2home.com/?p=8300), but was just a little bit trickier to put together (hence the crease on one side of the lid which shouldn't be there!).  






Again, it was a case of cutting out and scoring, and then folding the box up (it worked the second time ;) ) .  I added extra hearts (using heart shapes included with the box template) and created a 3d flower using two copies of one of the kit flowers.  I reduced the flower in size so it would fit the box before printing it out, and then cut down the side of each petal, placed one copy of the flower on top of the other and attached them to the lid of the box using a Papermania brad.  I also added a lace ruffle to the underside of the lid as a finishing touch.  


All in all, both boxes were fairly straightforward to make and I will definitely be using these templates again.  But for now, I need to get back to sorting out a client's VAT return.  Oh, I lead such an exciting life ;)


Happy scrapping.

 

Fiskarettes

0 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/19/2012 09:13:00 pm

It seems an age since I visited the Fiskarettes blog so, actually having some free time for once, I wandered on over only to find that Clare Curd had done an online workshop last week.  Of course, I had totally missed this, but she has posted all the instructions on the blog.

Anyhow, I thought I would have a go, and, since Valentine's day has been and gone and went, I changed the card to a birthday one.  This is what I ended up with:


The glitter is somewhat slapdash, which is totally my fault as I ended up putting my hand on the glitter before the glue was dry!


Still, it didn't turn out too bad and I know I will use this idea's of Clare's again!

Happy scrapping!





 

Tim Holtz butterfly die

0 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/13/2012 09:56:00 am

I love my Tim Holtz dies, oh. how I love them!  And the distress inks?  The papers?  I want them all, every last one of them!  


Whilst I like making crisp, clean and minimal cards, I also really like getting grungey, messing with the distress inks and getting out my dies.  So when it was our youngest son's birthday last month, it was the perfect time to dig out my Big Shot and Tim Holtz dies:








I used some ideology papers as a background, the tag was inked with several distress inks and then stamped, and then I had the chance to use my baker's twine which I bought before Christmas (from a butcher's website as I could get far more twine for my money than buying form a craft shop!).





 

Altered folder

0 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/13/2012 09:54:00 am

I was busy yesterday afternoon creating an altered folder/smash book/journal book using a Project 365 kit (January) by Digilicious Designs and it was a real joy to work with this.  This kit is so adaptable and particularly good for hybrid crafting!  I used the full pack (the preview is linked to the store) although you can buy the kit separately:


I didn't actually use the alphas but concentrated on the journal pages as I thought they would make great pages for the folder.


I started with a plain black A5 folder (8.3 in x 5.8 in) and covered it with papers from the kit which I had printed on plain copier paper.  This is the front and back covers, with a photo from above the folder and one of the first page and inside cover:


I wanted lots of pockets and inserts in the folder, so you will see I added a pocket to the inside cover and put the January dates on the first page along with a tab.  The idea is that I will add the different months as the year progresses but whether I actually get around to that or not, who knows?!!!  Also, see the 3D flower on the front cover?  This was made using flowers from the kit.

These are photos of four of the inside pages.  You can't really tell from the top photo, but the flowered part on the left is actually a flap from the right hand page, which opens up to reveal a triangular pocket which holds tags, etc. The orange flower is from the kit and was cut out and folded slightly before being stuck to the page.  The quotation marks are also an element from the kit.  Of course, if I had been thinking properly, I would have reversed one of them so I had the proper 66' and 99's.. hindsight is a great thing, isn't it?




Four more inside pages.  Again, there is a pocket on the right hand page on the bottom photo with a tag inserted:



And I just love the butterfly from the kit.  How could I not use that?!!!


I had to use it on the inside pages though as I thought if it was on the outside, I would be sure to catch it on something when using the folder and it would be torn off.


And here are more pages, with another flower and another pocket insert




The right hand part of the photo here is the back inside cover, with a different flower and another pocket added 


More pockets and the top right part of this one shows the pocket between two pages:


Here is a another pocket between two pages:




The idea is that the pockets can hold tags, photos and suchlike but nothing too bulky as I am sure my double sided tape would not be up to the job!

I was really pleased with how this turned out so if you are looking to make something similar, this kit is ideal.  It is also a great relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening!

Happy scrapping!


 

Christmas gift bags and boxes

1 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/10/2012 10:52:00 pm

Well, yes, I know, it is now February, way past Christmas, but I have been busy catching up on all my hybrid projects now that the tax return panic is over.  



This is a purse bag made using the Purse Gift Bag template by Boop Designs:


This template is so easy to use and the finished bag is surprisingly large. It was actually really nice to end up with a large bag, instead of one that can only hold, say, a necklace or pair of earrings.  If you are looking for a larger gift bag, then this is ideal.

TO decorate it, I used the gorgeous Decadent Season kit by Julie C and Paper Capers Designs:



I fell in love with that kit as soon as I saw it, and it is a real joy to use. AS you can probably see form earlier posts, I have used this kit a fair nit this Christmas!

go check the template and the kit out for yourself as the previews are linked to the store.

I then had the chance to work with the Vintage Berry Page Kit by BooLand Designs:




My daughter's favourite colour is currently purple, so this was an obvious choice for gift boxes for her.  I still want to do more with this kit, I just wish I had more than 24 hours in each day and seven days in each week!

Anyhow, as part of her Christmas, we got our daughter two necklaces, so I used some gift box templates I found online to make these:





One box was rectangular and the other more square and both were big enough to take a necklace each, or some chocolates, or other small gift.  

Let me know if you try these out yourself.  I'd love to see what you come up with!

Happy scrapping!




 

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Simple calendars, post it note holder and freebie template

2 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/10/2012 07:06:00 pm

Oh, the relief now that I have all clients' tax returns in and can finally catch up on my sleep and get the office organised!  January is always a hectic month with me working all hours (literally) and it is not unusual for me to be working until 3,am, 4 am or even 5 am most mornings.  So, as you can well imagine, the first couple of weeks in February are really slow work wise.  It is not that I don't have any work, far from it, it is just that I am too tired to even think about it!


So far this week, I have had a couple of client meetings but the main highlight of the week has been a trip to Ikea to buy a new shelving unit and a matching desk.   Hubbie very kindly built them both up for me and so I am now sitting here thinking about tidying and organising the office....only thinking, mind, because actually dong any of that would involve me:


a) thinking about what to put where; and
b) actually moving and doing something other than just sitting at my computer!


So, instead of actually clearing the decks ready for work, I have instead being playing, and this is what I have made:












These are so easy and straightforward to make.  All you need is a sheet of A6 cardstock scored at 3", 6", 6.75" and 7.5". Stamp on one side, add a calendar tag and voila, one desktop calendar ready to go!


Of course, I couldn't leave it there.  Stamping an image is all very well, and it does look good, but I thought that a flower would look even better..... so naturally, I had to experiment!   This is the first one I made, black card and a bright orange flower:




Isn't that flower gorgeous?  It looks so effective on the black card too :).  






So of course, I then had to have a go with different cardstock, and different flowers:






 The green gingham flower was made using a Woodware punch, and the orangey flower is actually a Tim Holtz/Sizzix tattered florals die.  I used plain white paper and then sprayed the die cut petals with Cosmic shimmer Mist (ancient copper).  


I am so pleased with the results (talk about modest, eh?!!!)!


Whilst January tends to be a very profitable month for me as clients call in to collect their accounts and tax returns (and pay me!), I just don't get chance to do any crafting at all, so as well as the calendars, I have also been playing around with loads of other things.


One kit I have been working with is All Wrapped Up by Snickerdoodle Designs






Well, I had originally intended to use the printables from this kit to make gift tags and jar wraps, but due to work commitments (why, oh why, is the tax return filing deadline in January?  It means most accountants barely have time to think about Christmas, let alone celebrate it) never had the chance to do this.  So then I thought I would use it for my son's birthday (which is in January) but yet again,. work got in the way of that idea.  So, whilst I know this is more of a Christmas kit, I am a great one for making the most use out of all supplies, digital and paper, so decided to use this kit to label the storage jars in the office:



I actually tweaked the tags slightly to take out the "To" and "From" (I used the clone tool to cover up the text) since I wasn't using these as gift tags, and then stuck the wraps and the tags onto each bottle.  Having been to Ikea earlier in the week, I had grabbed a set of jars whilst there, and they are the perfect size for these tags (although I did resize them slightly to completely cover the circular front of each jar).  I couldn't resist the wrap though which,even though Christmassy, has such a cute mouse on it!




Well, not content with that, I then adapted a post it note holder I had bought before Christmas and again using the All Wrapped up kit, came up with this:


Please excuse the poor quality of the photos - there is no natural light in my office so I have to rely on the flash in my camera and photoshop editing!



You will see form the above that the cover tucks into a flap in the bottom layer.  I made this by drawing a semicircle (in pencil) on the inside of the bottom flap:


Then I carefully cut around this and erased the pencil marks:







I created my own template from the post it note holder that I bought, and here it is:



and you can download this here or by clicking on the preview above.  
This is for personal use only I am afraid, but please do come back to show what you made if you use it.

Happy Scrapping!


 

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Quick update

0 comments Posted by Lynn at 2/02/2012 10:32:00 am

Just a quick update to let you know I will be posting in the next week as I am still in the middle of tax return filing here.  January is always chaotic for me as I struggle to get all my clients' tax returns in by the filing deadline and let me tell you, when HMRC extended the deadline to 2 February, I knew it was the answer to prayer!

Anyhow, I only have one more return to do which, surprise, surprise, is mine!  I'll be tied up all day doing that and will spend Friday sleeping as I am so tired after all the 3/4/5 am finishes I have had this month.  Friday evening sees me off to a conference with friends so I won't be back until late Saturday and then I have plans early next week to post here as I have managed to squeeze in making some gift boxes and cards between all those tax returns.  I just haven't had time to post them.  I also want to add to the "My Life" kit as well as catch up on all my blog reading!  but then I may also have to fit in a bit of work too....

So, watch this space as I will be giving away some freebies too but in the meantime....

......Happy Scrapping!


 

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