Gift Card Holder

Welcome to our Paper Anthology World Cardmaking Day (or in this case Weekend!) Online Crop. We've got ten inspiring challenges that will roll out over the next three days, plus trivia quizzes, chats and more. Be sure to visit the Paper Anthology Facebook Page for all the details. This challenge might be self-explanatory, as the name implies, we'd like to see gift card holders. With the holiday season approaching, we'll all need at least a few of these ubiquitous items, and frankly the store-bought variety are just too expensive and not cute enough, imo! (PS: your holder need not be seasonal; any theme from wedding to birthday to all-occasion is fine!)

There are lots of dies and templates for making clever gift card holders with pop-ups, fun shapes and other cool interactive features. But sometimes we need something FAST and the ones I've made (basically just a small card with a built-in pocket) require only a 7.5 x 4.5" piece of double-sided patterned paper, a coordinating 7.25 x 1.5" strip, a scoring tool and a few embellishments. 

To make the folder, score your 7.5 x 4.5" paper at the 1.5" mark (of the long edge) and again at the 4.5" mark. 

Fold on both score lines and place a very thin line of dry adhesive (I've used 1/8" Scor-Tape) at the very edges of the 1.5" flap, to create the pocket. Of course you can move on to embellishing at this stage, and hold the little folder closed with ribbon, velcro, or a magnet closure. But I chose to make a little slide from a scrap of coordinating paper.

To make the slide-off band, score your 7.25 x 1.5" paper on the long side at the 1" point and again at the 4 + 1/8" point... yes... that makes the space inside your slide 1/*" larger than your gift card folder... which is why you can slide it on and off without tearing or getting stuck. 

Figure out where your overlap is going to be and add your adhesive there only. Slide it onto the folder and you are good to go!

Once you've got the folder and slide made, you can embellish it in any way you like. Though I suggest keeping whatever you add to the front of the folder quite flat, and making sure the decorations on the band are adhered securely. I stamped and colored four adorable Lawn Fawn Critters, stamped matching sentiments on four diecut Tiny Tags and accessorized with some diecut trees and snowflakes. 

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own version of this very easy and flexible gift card folder! Don't forget to join us on the Paper Anthology Facebook Page for challenges and other fun stuff all weekend long!

Pocket Full of Xmas

At Jingle Belles, we're still celebrating the joy and convenience of giving gift cards, by making cards or other containers to hold them. This week I've turned an obsession with a recent Instagram discovery to good use by making a fun folded pocket thingie. See?

It was probably Stephanie who found the IG account @LoveForPaperGoodies and while I love EVERYTHING she posts, I was especially taken with her folded paper pockets; so this seemed like the perfect excuse to make one. I used this video tutorial and was pleasantly surprised to find the technique is quite easy. 

I experimented on different sizes, shapes and weights of paper, and found that generally, the thinner the paper the better; though anything fragile is clearly not a great choice. Making a small crease in one corner is a good paper test; if you find your paper wants to splinter or otherwise misbehave, choose something else. Also rolled giftwrap that cannot be persuaded to lie flat will be a torment throughout (ask me how I know!). The size and shape of the pocket is obviously determined by the size and shape of the paper; for a library-card-sized pocket like I've got here, you want paper that's around 8.5x11". The most important aspects while you're working are to make sure your folds are parallel and perpendicular; also you want to make nice sharp creases.

So what's inside, apart from the gift card? There are basically three levels of pocket, once it's assembled. For the furthest back area, I decorated a #8 shipping tag with some torn paper, vintage postage, a fussy-cut Authentique reindeer and miscellaneous blooms held on with ancient brads. For the middle section I grabbed a #5 shipping tag, trimmed down another Authentique journal card and a sentiment and augmented the holly on Santa's hat with some Eyelet Outlet Holly Brads. And then the gift card tucks into the shallowest pocket right at the front.

Check out Stephanie's project at Jingle Belles and start planning what you'll link up with us this time!

Everyone Loves Gift Cards!

Of course, one can enclose a gift card in ANY handmade card and it will be awesome, but at Jingle Belles, we like to raise the bar a little bit more, so this fortnight we're making cards that have a purpose-built pocket or window that can contain a gift card; OR a specialty box or envelope intended for the same purpose. There are lots of dies and templates on the market, or you can decorate a store-bought item. Here's what I made:

I confess I incline to the "little box of some sort" school of thought when it comes to gift cards because it just looks so much more substantial. I saved and dissected a little pillowbox that came with skincare samples in it, traced the shape onto some pretty Ciao Bella patterned paper from Paper Anthology, then cut, scored, folded and embellished it.

I made a gift card folder to hold the actual g/c, sized to fit inside the pillow box, and decorated both items with diecuts, silk flowers, ribbon, jewel brads and a little bit of sparkly washi tape.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles and see Stephanie's awesome project, then start planning what you will link up with us this fortnight!