Paper Pocketbook for Gift Cards

I am all about the gift card. It's a small piece of plastic that can bring big smiles. Any time of year you can whip up one of these cute little paper pocketbooks in just a few minutes and fill it with iTunes, shoes, lunch, gas, groceries, a night at the movies or anything else you can find a gift card for.

Follow these simple instructions to make your own paper pocketbook...

Supplies-
6” x 6” double sided patterned paper
2” x 6” patterned paper
2 ¾ “ x 4 ½” coordinating solid cardstock
9” piece of ribbon
Scoring tool
Paper Trimmer

Fold 6”x6” patterned paper in half. To cut sides at an angle place the fold at the top. Line up the top folded corner with the cutting line on your trimmer. Angle so that the bottom open corner touches the 1” line on the trimmer and cut. Flip the paper over keeping the fold at the top and repeat for the second side.
Cut a half circle out of the top edge of the 2” x 6” patterned paper. Adhere it to the cut 6”x 6” base above the fold line leaving the top edge open to create a pocket. Trim edges off using scissors to match the angles of the base.

To create the top flap score the 2 ¾” x 4 ½” piece of cardstock lengthwise at 1 ½” and at 1¾”.

This will create a ¼” wide top where you can attach ribbon. Use a cropadile or small punch to punch holes ¾” to 1” from each edge. Thread the ribbon through the holes and knot on the under side to create a handle.

Round the corners of the longer side. Attach the shorter side to the back of the purse base so the longer flap is in the front. Use Velcro dots or small magnets to close.

Decorate as desired.

Got Gift Cards??

Everyone loves a gift card. They are great to give and to receive. What I don't love is the tacky packaging most of them come in. Here is a way to dress up your gift cards and make them much more presentable and fun.

Follow my little tutorial to learn how to make your own.

Pop Up Pocket Gift Card Holder

Supplies-
Card Base- cut 2 of cardstock measuring 7” x 4 1/4"
Pattern 1 – 2 ½ “ x 4” (front), 2 ½” x 4 ¼” (pocket cover)
Pattern 2 – 2” x 4” (front), 1 ½” x 6” (reverse side for flap)
Flap – 1 ¾ “ x 6” cut from cardstock
Inside stamped image - 1 5/8” x 1 5/8”
Image frame–1 ¾” x 1 ¾” of coordinating colored cardstock
Strong adhesive – I use what I call “red line tape” but it goes by several names.
Corner rounder
Stampin Up word window punch
Circle punch

Score both card base pieces at 4 1/4”.

Fold flaps towards inside of card. Use the red line tape to hold the two flap pieces together on three sides

with the top remaining open. Attach the 2 ½” x 4” piece of patterned paper on the front side of the pocket close to the open edge. There will be a small space between the edge of the paper and the fold. Use a circle punch to punch a half circle out of the top of the pocket through the patterned paper and both layers of cardstock. This makes it easier to remove the gift card from the pocket.

Stamp desired image on the 1 ¾” x 1 ¾” white cardstock. Back with the 1 5/8” x 1 5/8” of coordinating colored cardstock and attach to pocket front. Stamp desired sentiment to the right of the gift card pocket. Add two pieces of patterned paper as background on front of card. I use the Stampin Up word window punch for the slot and punch through all layers about ¼ “ from the edge. If you don’t have the punch cut a 1 5/8” slot through all layers using a craft knife.

To make the flap closure, center the 1 ½” x 6” piece of patterned paper onto the 1 ¾” x 6” strip of cardstock and ink the edges. Round the corners of one end. Score through both layers at 4 ¼ from the straight edge. Insert the rounded corners through the slot and line up the score line with the edge of the card. Add adhesive from score line to straight edge and press firmly to back of card.
Complete the gift card holder by adding stamped images and embellishments of your choice.

I used the Ms. Holiday Cheer stamp set from CTMH. I think this is a perfect way to present a gift card to your favorite shopaholic.

All papers, inks, stamps and embellishments are from Close to My Heart. To get them visit my website.

Stampganza

Calling all my crafty friends. November is going to be a great month. The CTMH stamp set for November is called "Around The Block", and it is soooo cute. I have been waiting for this one since the new catalog came out. Here is a card that I made for a swap using this set and the Sweet Home papers.

There are different doors and windows and another roof and cute sayings, this set has so many possibilities. As always you can earn a discount on this stamp of the month set by placing any order in November. $25 order gets you the set at 25% off, $50=50%, $75=75% all the way up to earning the set for free with a $100 purchase.

Want an even better deal? Buy any two stamp sets in November and get one free! This is such a great deal for holiday gift giving or to get the sets you need to make awesome handmade holiday gifts.

If you are in the Denver area and want to come see a catalog and play with a few stamps to make a holiday card and a gift card holder come on over on Saturday Nov. 7th for my Holiday Preview at 1:00pm.

To check out the catalog or place an order go to my Close to my Heart website.

Happy Birthday Tangii

I have a good friend that I have never actually met. I guess you could call her a "virtual friend". She is a fellow scrapper and stamper and one very talented lady. In celebration of her Birthday Tangii is giving away some pretty awesome blog candy.

Take a look

Click here to enter to win it. Happy Birthday Tangii. Thanks for sharing your prezzies!

Fresh as a daisy

I redid my living room this summer. With Ashleigh's help we picked out new furniture, painted and hung new artwork. I really like how it came out. We did not do anything to the bathroom except paint a swatch of the new living room color over the old green. I like the new color much better that the old seafoamy green. For months I have lived with one spot of new paint on the wall but never taken the time to do much more.

This week as I was getting my house ready to host my first stamping party that splotch of paint really started to bug me. The unfinished state was fine for me but I didn't want to invite friends over to see it so on top of everything else I had going on this week I decided it was time to re-do the bathroom...with very little time and budget.

Now you must realize that my main floor bathroom is tiny. It is classified as a 1/2 bath but I am not sure it's not really more like a 1/3. It contains only the necessities..a toilet and a vanity. You must carefully maneuver around the door to close it and access the toilet. Leaving the door open while doing your business is not even an option.

The first step is to paint the whole room and not just that one little spot. Painting this tiny room is NOT fun. It requires some creative maneuvering and a few contortionist poses. Once the paint is done it already looks better but now I need to spruce it up with some decoration (again on very little budget).

I found this frame on clearance at Target for $6. I wasn't sure what to put in it but I knew I wanted to add some color to the room. I love gerbera daisies so I searched online for some good pics and then just printed them out on photo paper and arranged them in the frame. I love how it came out and it cost me almost nothing!

I found some long stem "silk" gerbera daisies at Dollar Tree so another $8 and I have a vase, some rock filler and a bunch of daisies for the counter. The soap dispenser and towels are from Target and I love the bright colors with the brown.

The glass shelf is something I bought for the other house and never got a chance to use. I found it in my storage unit. I bought the medicine cabinet at the Young Women's garage sale this summer for this bathroom and I really like how it looks.

So for about $25 and a few hours time I have a new bathroom...fresh as a daisy!

Creative Juices

It's been a while since my creative juices have been flowing like they were this weekend. When I quit Archiver's at the end of May I thought it would give me more creative time but until now that hasn't been the case.

I NEED my creative time, it's my therapy, it's my sanity and it's fun!

I recently decided that I could get more creative time and make a few extra $ at the same time by becoming a demonstrator for

I have used and loved their products for a long time and I know it's a great company so the decision was easy. Check out the newest catalog see all the great stuff CTMH has to offer on my website. This weekend I was invited to do to an overnight retreat with my upline and other members of our group along with some of their friends / guests. It was a great group of fun ladies and I had a wonderful time. I was even pretty productive, here's the proof.

Recipe~ Stamp- "Ashley" from Paper Makeup Stamps, Paper- Twitterpated by CTMH. Colored with Copic Markers.

Recipe~ Moody in the pumpkin patch by Paper Makeup Stamps. DP- Eerie by Basic Grey. Solid papers and ribbon by CTMH. Colored with Copic Markers.

This one is all CTMH. Stamp Set is Flourished Blessings.

Paper and Ink in Creme Brule, Tulip and Chocolate.


I love this Halloween Set by CTMH. It is called Beware. I embossed the images in black and used the Eerie line of paper by Basic Grey. Solid papers by CTMH in Creme Brule and Sweet Leaf. Ribbon is Autumn Terra Cotta by CTMH.

A great little Christmas card. All supplies by CTMH. Stamp set is Holiday Trinkets. Designer Paper is Jingle. Ink and papers in Tulip and Creme Brule.

I love the classic look of white and blue for Christmas. This card uses the Stamp of the Month set by CTMH for October- "Holiday Warmth" along with the Snow Flurries set. I embossed using Versamark ink and white embossing powder on Juniper paper. The dove and the snowflakes are embossed in silver on white daisy. Background snowflake paper is from CTMH's Jingle line. Simple holiday elegance!

This one is one of my favorites because it hold a little secret inside. It has a special place inside for a gift card! What a perfect card for your favorite shopaholic! All supplies are CTMH. Stamp set is Ms. Holiday Cheer (l love this set!). DP are from the Jingle line. Ms. Holiday Cheer's coat is paper pieced and embelished with stickles. Jingle Glitter brads finish it off.

I have no idea why this one uploaded sideways but I couldn't get it to turn. I love this card so tilt your head if needed :). This image is another one from the Ms. Holiday Cheer set. The tree and her dress are embossed. Ornaments are Jingle glitter brads. DP is more of the Jingle line. Circles are cut with nestabilities.

Pretty Productive wouldn't you say.

You Gotta Have It!

Attention all my crafty stampin' and scrappin' friends...





Do you have one of these?

Do you hate paying up to $80 for a new cartridge every time you want a new font, and then finding that the look you REALLY are going for isn't even available. I mean where is that Harry Potter cartridge I so desperately need???

I found the greatest software that works with the Cricut and allows you to...

Cut any TrueType font with your Cricut

So, I am sharing the info with all of my crafty friends. I bought, I have used it and I love it! It just opens up so may new possibilites, and yes I found a Harry Potter font and a great Disney one too. If you already have the Design Studio it works very similarly...only better! You can weld words into one piece..amazing! It will even cut SVG images so you can create your own artwork and cut it on your Cricut.

The Software is called Sure Cuts Alot, just click on the name to get it, and let me know what you think.

Here are some of my favorite fonts and where to find them.

dafont

Girls are weird - great curly girly font

Bell Bottom Laser -groovy 60's fun

Harry P - the one I was lookin' for :)

Waltograph - My fave Disney Font

1001freefonts.com

Loki Cola - the Coke font

Antsy Pants - Fun fat font

Calamity Jane

Chocolate Box

Just to name a few...there are so many fun free fonts out there!

But my very favorite thing is that you can create a True Type font from your

very own handwriting

at Fontifier and then cut it on your Cricut... How COOL is that???

You know you want it...huh!