Gift Card Holder (Blog Hop)

 Happy Holidays Everyone!  It feels waaayy too soon to be saying that, especially with the beautiful weather we've had in Cambridge this week, but the holiday season is upon us despite the balmy temps.  Every year I buy more and more gift cards as it becomes harder and harder to buy the perfect gift, and I always worry that it's a bit of a let down for the recipient...where's the fun?!  So I was really excited that our theme this month is gift card holders--we are bringing back the wonder!

I am once again featuring the colourful and fun Coming Home bundle and DSP--because I can't get enough of it!!  The DSP includes two sheets of this full 12x12 scene.  

I'm not a scrapbooker but this is such a great scene that I knew I wanted to feature it somehow in a card, and this pull out design was the perfect choice.  

It took a bit of fussy cutting to get everything to line up just perfect, but I think it was worth the effort. :)

I followed a tutorial from 2018 on Patty Bennett's blog for the original pull-out dimensions, but I altered the gift card holder to be a full pocket, so that the scenic design wasn't interrupted.  

I also decorated panels on the back of the pull-out and the card base, so there was a space to write a holiday message without disrupting the design.\

I have loved colouring these little houses and trees!  They are very simple designs and the perfect size to practice shading with our Blends alcohol markers.  

This design was so easy and fun I made another one featuring the Poinsettia Petals bundle, some traditional green/red DSP, and some of the Forever Gold Laser Cut specialty paper elements.

It's hard to see the shine from the gold elements, but in real life it provides such an elegant touch.

Please continue to hop along and be inspired by the other designs this month, and as always I'd love to hear from you!

LollyandSand (Sandy)

SimpLeigh Stamping (Leigh)

Stampingjen.BlogSpot.com (Jennifer)

A La Cards (Leena)

Laurel Davis Crafted (Laurel)

Not A Christmas Blog Hop

Our challenge for this month's blog hop was to showcase how a Christmas stamp set could be used year-round--getting more mileage out of stamps!

I chose to use the Coming Home Bundle for my interactive Pull Tab card, which I created to celebrate a new driver earning their license.  :)  The design would also work as a retirement card, or a new house....really any occasion for moving on.

Here is my non-Christmas card:

The pull tab opens to reveal a hidden sentiment:

And as a reminder of the intended use, here is the same set on a Christmas card:

I love the coordinating dies because they also come with the horizon pieces, one with trees and one a plain hill.  They are great for adding depth and dimension.

But back to my non-Christmas version!

I started by cutting out my sentiment space with a stitched rectangle die on a Basic Grey panel.  I added a forest background from the coordinating DSP (which just happens to be on sale this month AND the dies cut out the printed images!!).

I inked around the edges of my panel with Basic Grey ink and popped it onto a card base where I had heat embossed "congratulations" in white to line up with the pull out opening.

I coloured a neighborhood of houses with my blends in Soft Sea Foam, Crumb Cake, and Calypso Coral.  My little VW bug is coloured with Burmuda Bay.  I added some accents with a white gel pen.

Because my 16-year-old has not decided to try for his license yet I decided to keep the inside blank for now....maybe someone will move first!

And here is one more look at the completed card:

Thanks for hopping by today, here are the links to see the other projects:

LollyandSand (Sandy)

SimpLeigh Stamping (Leigh)

Stampingjen.BlogSpot.com (Jennifer)

LaurelDavisCrafted.Blogspot.com (Laurel)