Christmas Mice Flip Flap Gift Card Holder

I give a lot of gift cards during the holiday season so of course I was attracted to the Lawn Fawn Flippy Flappy die set.  When finished the hidden gift card flips down when the tab is pulled up...so cool! I had fun making the card front with the Lawn Fawn merry mice stamp and die sets. The red snowflake background card stock is also from Lawn Fawn. I love the silver snowflakes and was pleased to coordinate them with the 'Believe'  silver foil word that was cut with a Whimsy die.  The little red ornaments are actually tiny stickers that sparkle like crystals.

To make this card holder I needed to follow the Lawn Fawn UTube video because the die set did not have any instructions. I guess I am paper engineering challenged because I had a difficult time putting together the paper parts. I did eventually (many tries) did get the card to work and look good. Making a fancy holder for a gift card will show that you did take effort to make the presentation special.  I do think that giving a gift card will please most recipients and if it is a Ben Franklin Crafts gift card, they'll be extremely happy! 

 

Reindeer Wearing Xmas Lights Tag

This is the prototype of a a cute reindeer tag that I plan to replicate...uh, next year.  I got the Lawn Fawn die set too late to make more than one tag. The die had lots of little parts that had to be pieced together, but I discovered that if I cut the large piece out of white card stock and ran it through the Xyron sticker maker, all the little parts and the black outline could be stuck on.  To undo the sticky white parts of the reindeer I applied some fine crystal glitter.  Also to cut down on more work, I filled in the bulb colors with Stickles which added color and sparkle.  The tag tie was made from a wire snowflake garland (HM BFC).  As you can see, this tag does take a bit of time to cut out all the parts and assemble the reindeer so I'll mass produce it next year....long before the middle of December....hahaha!

 

Winter Scene Xmas Card

I am so pleased that I was really able to create a card that I imagined using only one Hero Arts stamp set and the matching die set.  It is super simple to stamp the scene using different shades of green and blue inks (Versa Magic).  Even the word stamp was in this set.  I heat embossed the 'Merry Christmas' with gold powder (Hero Arts).  Initially, I stamped the reindeer and rabbit in black in but it seemed too severe so I stamped them again in brown ink and die cut them before adhering them with foam dots.  This little change added to the dimension of the card.  There are so many possibilities with this stamp set!  I am already planning my next card perhaps using some clear ink to heat emboss on some clear glitter powder.  I think this will add a glistening snow effect to the card. Well, gotta go...more holiday crafting to do before the 25th!

 

Xmas Tags from Paper Scraps and Bits & Pieces

I get satisfaction from cranking out tags from my collection of Xmas paper scraps.  I love large tags because they have room on the back to write a special message.  Be sure to choose card stock that is blank or light colored on the back so your message will  be readable.

I used the Hero Arts Infinity tag die set and my Big Shot machine to easily mass produce a stack of tags. With the die sets (Sizzix and Little B) I was easily able to die cut words from solid colored papers.  There are two ways I like to adhere the words to the tags. If they can fit in the Xyron sticker maker, I use this clever tool (sold at HM BFC) to apply a sticky back to the words.  After pressing them onto the tags, I dusted the words with cornstarch to counter act the sticky residue. (A light wipe with a damp paper towel will remove the excess cornstarch.)  To glue down the words that wouldn't fit in the Xyron sticker maker, I used a glue pen.  Again I dusted with cornstarch and wiped down with a damp paper towel.

I had fun digging through my boxes of Xmas bits and pieces to find embellishments for the tags.  My favorite finds were the real jingle bells on the reindeer tags and the miniature Santa hats for the HO HO HOs.  Because I know that most tags will be tossed in the trash with the wrapping paper, I try not to spend a good deal of time on each tag.  Occasionally, I make a super fancy tag and hope that the recipient will at least hang it on the Xmas tree for a little while.  I guess that's just a tag fantasy...LOL!

 

Upcycled Reindeer Xmas Gift Box

It was my goal to repurpose a shallow box (that once held Asian treats) into a gift box suitable for a small treasure or gift card.  I was very pleased that I was able to accomplish what I set out to do.  

Using only one 12x12 piece of Authentic card stock (from an old Xmas tablet), I was able to cover the top, and insides of the box.  The cute SPC (Sierra Pacific Crafts) felt reindeer was purchased in a pack of 5 from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  The chipboard Xmas tree and holly are Echo Park products. 

On the inside of the box and on the top are vintage-looking card stock words from Authentic.  

I adhered plaid ribbon to the sides of the box top with double stick Heiko tape. Originally, I used glue but that showed through so tape is definitely the way to go.  The inside of the box top was red and black like the original box cover so it already looked somewhat Christmasy.  Covering with the matching card stock and adding the chip board holly really finished off the total look.  I plan to just tie a red ribbon around the box to give the gift and hopefully the recipient will think of using the box next year for gift giving.  This will really make it a recycled-recycled Xmas box and save even more trash from going into the landfill. Yay, for recycling! 

 

New Xmas Stamps and Paper Scrap Cards

These two cards were inspired by the Whimsy clear stamp set called, ATC Sleigh Rides.  I really liked the vintage look of the signage-like stamps.  I had fun finding just the right color and print of paper scraps to add to and compliment the main images.  The Xmas printed blank cards were from a boxed Xmas set  I bought (last year?) at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. There will probably be boxed cards again this year at the store.

Of the two cards, I like this one the best because of the reindeer image and the 5 cents.  I was happy to find a small strip of leaping reindeer paper to add to this card.  In my paper scrap pile I found an old foxed card with a gold rimmed blank panel.  I'm so glad that I didn't throw it away because it was perfect for the vintage look of my new card.

This angle shows the Christmas tree stamp in a better light. I heat embossed the words with Hero Arts brass embossing powder from HM BFC.  I used the Misti stamping tool to ensure I could re-stamp the image if it wasn't clear enough.  Actually, I originally stamped the image in dark green but it looked too dull so I re-did it by stamping again and heat embossing the brass colored powder.  I was pleased that one of the printed card blanks had Xmas trees on the front that matched the stamped message. These cards really reflect who I am.... a lover of vintage/antiques stuff and an anti-waster/hoarder of paper scraps. LOL!

                                                     

 

Gnome for the Holidays

I love this Whimsy gnome stamp set because the gnomes look like shrunken Santas.  I usually get matching die sets but the dies for this set did not cut out the intricate parts so I decided since I would have to do so much fussy cutting I really didn't need the dies anyway.  For the slimline card I started with Lawn Fawn snowflake card stock...love the silver foil snowflakes!  The moon was cut from DCWV pearlized cardstock and the 'Believe' was cut from silver DCWV foil card stock.  The dot on the 'i' was replaced with a crystal rhinestone which is not really red but multicolored.

Of course, I had to make a tag with the leftover paper and cut out gnome image.  The words were heat embossed with Ranger Distress sparkling campfire embossing powder.  Candy cane twine from HM Ben Franklin Crafts added the finishing touch.  I know exactly who will have this tag tied on his Xmas gift...LOL!