Vintage Christmas Gift Card Holders

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today and I'm thinking about Christmas!!!

If you are like me, you have tons to do around the holidays and you run out of time every year.  So, even though it is wicked hot here in New York, I decided to create some gift card holders.  I find I give mostly gift cards these days and that is just so boring (from my perspective).  But, I find if I dress them up somewhat I am much happier giving a gift card!

I started with envelopes - sealed them and then cut off 1/2" from one end.  I have tons of envelopes so this is a great way to use them up.  I inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Since I was going to use ribbon, I decided to ink it up in keeping with my vintage theme.  Just swiped Vintage Photo Distress Ink pads around both sides of the ribbon.

So I ended up with 2 gift card holders, pretty much the same, but I changed up some of the papers, tearing, inking and adhering them to the envelopes.  I chose the Sizzix Victorian Carolers as the focal point - there is something about these silhouettes that really appeals to me.

I also used Sizzix Stars, inking them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink before layering them and adding them to the envelope with a brad.  I punched a half circle in the top of the envelope so you can easily pull out the interior card. 

The interior card is cut slightly smaller than the envelope and Merry Christmas was repeatedly stamped.  Using some left over scraps of pattern paper, I created the panel that would hold the gift card in place.  On this first card, I added another star and placed a sentiment on top.

I didn't use a star on this card.  I wasn't sure which I liked best, so I went with both.

2 gift card holders are done.  Now, I just need to put them somewhere safe so I can find them in December!!!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Steph

Be Yourself (Tag Tutorial)

Marjie Kemper here with a tag using several Sizzix dies and loads of Ranger Distress Inks.  I started by adhering Ranger's Manila Cardstock to Grunge Paper using Glue 'N Seal, because I wanted this to be a fairly sturdy and really wanted the flourishes raised up for dimension.

I die-cut the parts I needed from the Tag & Bookplate, Elegant Flourishes, and Pediment Sizzix dies. Kim would be happy to special-order any she doesn't have in stock... just shoot her an email.

I chose the largest of the stamps from Tim's Way With Words set:

After inking up my stamp, pediments, and flourishes with Distress Inks using an Ink Blending tool, I stamped the sentiment onto the tag in Jet Black Archival Ink.  Then I laid my inked flourishes on top of scrap paper (where I'd already stamped the sentiment) and stamped the sentiment again on top of them:

I ran the Pediment pieces through my Vagabond using the Mini Rays Texture Fades embossing folder:

  

and attached them with redline tape and long fasteners:

   

 I used a toothpick to apply Matte Medium to the back of the flourishes:

and hammered the brads for a more distressed look:

 

I really like the way this came out. I'd probably pick a stamp that doesn't have so many unique parts to line up if I did it again, but that may have helped in that it gave me a lot of different reference points to be sure it was on straight.  The Matte Medium was the perfect adhesive because it dries clear, so any excess is unseen. 

I'd like to thank Kim for the opportunity to be on the eclectic Paperie design team for these last six months.  It's  been a delight!  Though I won't be continuing on as this term ends, I look forward to driving to New Hampshire in September to teach classes in person at Kim's new studio location.

All the details will be posted on the EP blog by June 15, but for now please save the date if you can join us there the weekend of September 21-22.  Thanks for visiting today!

Marjie

EP - Tim Holtz Pediments Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Way With Words Grunge Paper Ranger Inkssentials Manila Card Stock Tim Holtz Idea-ology Long Fasteners Glue N' Seal http://www.zibbet.com/TheFunkieJunkie/artwork?artworkId=769693 Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Shabby Shutters Ranger Distress Ink - Peeled Paint Ranger Distress Ink - Dried Marigold Ranger Distress Ink - Spiced Marmalade Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Fired Brick Ranger Distress Ink - Mustard Seed Ranger Distress Ink - Black Soot

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Blossom & Bloom

One of my favorite ways to spend the day is playing in my art journal. Since there are no rules in art journaling you can follow your whims and just see what happens.  If you don't like it you can always paint or gesso over it and start fresh.  Often times I'll do a little here and a little there over time, and this is one of those spreads.

These pages started out with a layer of gesso and then I moved on to paints and Distress and Archival Inks.  I painted dictionary paper and cut circles from it, edging them with Distress ink before stamping the new flower stamps by Darkroom Door on them.  

I received the new Tim Holtz Mini Filmstrip die from EP last week and I've already used it on three different projects!  I like the way it grounds these pages.  I used my Xyron 900 to adhere them with repositionable adhesive (a good choice because as you see, I decided I wanted to move the large circles partially under instead of over the filmstrip.)

This shot shows the chicken wire stencil a few layers down, which I used with gesso before coloring everything.  I linked all the stencils at the end.

 I repeated that in two other sections, following the rule of thirds.

The frame is also by Darkroom Door and I used some ancient stickers for my title.  That's it for me today.  Thanks for visiting!

Marjie Kemper

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