Popcorn Gift Card Holder with Free Cut File

***For Paper Made Bakery's December blog hop, please go here.***

The Reveal

I was asked to be a guest designer for CutCardstock's 12 Days of Christmas series. Since I love their cardstock and card kits, I readily agreed. As part of the series, there is a cute Christmas gift or gift wrapping idea each day. Today is Day 4 in the series and this is my contribution. Hop on over to CutCardstock's blog to see the entire series. 

The Details

I wanted to design something practical that I could make in bulk to give out. One thing I like to give are movie tickets or theater gift cards. What better way to package it than in a cute popcorn gift card holder? If you have another present (like a DVD), you can also add an eyelet to the top, tie some twine and turn it into the accompanying gift tag. 

I drew the image on my iPad and imported it into Silhouette Design Studio. The gift card holder is one piece and the popcorn and banner can be popped on with foam adhesive for dimension or adhered flat. All the pieces fit perfectly on one sheet of 8.5 x 11" Basic White 80lb cardstock. As my gift to you, you can download this Studio file for your personal use. It will only open if you have the corresponding software. 

Silhouette Studio Downloadable file: Popcorn Gift Card Holder

This is a print and cut file, meaning you'd print out the image on your printer first before running it through your Cameo. It will be perforated on the fold lines, so most of the work has been done, and there is no coloring involved. The download will look like the following image. 

After you assemble the pieces, you can add your own finishing touches. I mounted the banner on some Basic Black 80lb cardstock to give it a more distinct outline. I added some jewels and stars on the banner to give it a marquee feel. I added some Liquid Appliqué on the popcorn kernels to give it that fluffy popcorn texture. 

This is a great way to add a personal touch when giving out something impersonal like a gift card. Have fun creating your own handmade cards and gifts. I wish you all the best this Christmas season. 

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

XOXO - Sending you some Hugs and Kisses

Shop Hop 2012

How is your summer going thus far? I've visited some of my local scrapbooking stores as part of the SoCal Shop Hop. This year's theme is Wacky Holidays where each store decorates or has a photo op for their chosen holiday. I took my nephew to my home store, Pages from the Heart, where the holiday is Teddy Bear Picnic. I was assured that all the holidays are really on the calendar. 

Literally around the corner, also in Monrovia, is Scrap 'N Yap which featured National Bird Day. My hubby was thrilled to accompany me to a few of the stores.

I also traveled with a more experienced Shop Hopper, my friend and fellow Pages DT member, Becky, to a few stores. This was One Hit Wonder Day at Alhambra Camera. I think the store use to be 100% related to camera sales and repairs, but now the scrapbooking portion has taken over, and it looks to be only 20% camera related. 

While traveling around with Becky, I saw for the first time my first published project in a magazine in one of the stores! It is a framed wallhanging in Create: Embellish Idea Book, August 2012.

I was really impressed by the amount of effort some stores applied to their theme, like Scrapbooking Made Simple in Santa Clarita which celebrated Marry Poppins' birthday. All the employees dressed like chimney sweeps, the owner dressed like Mary Poppins, and they made a sugar garland using over 1,600 packets of sugar along with spoons dipped in glitter. You could also reach into Mary Poppin's carpet bag to pull out a free prize or a hat rack. 

There are 41 stores participating, stemming from San Diego to Bakersfield, but I'll be lucky to visit 10 within the two week window. 

The Reveal

I made this card for CutCardStock.com as a guest designer this month. Since they sell cardstock, I wanted to make something that featured cardstock. I eliminated the use of patterned papers and embellishments so the cardstock would be the star. I used their brown paper bag set for the base and envelope, and I used their metallic cardstock for the squares. There is a beautiful shimmer in the cardstock when you look at it in person. 

I cut out a square window from the center of the card and strung three strands of twine across the card. 

I cut out eighteen .75" squares with my paper cutter and punched out nine X's and nine O's with a hand punch. If you don't have a punch, you can use alphabet stickers. I adhered the X's and O's to the squares and adhered two squares back to back onto the twine. 

The finished squares are actually double sided on the card and can flip around when touched. I wanted to cover up the ends of the twine inside the card, so I adhered some white cardstock strips around the edges of the card. 

I wrote my sentiment using Kraft colored alphabet stickers so it would blend into the Kraft colored cardstock, and not compete with the tic tac toe design in the center. My hubby thought it looked like a Toss Across. You can see this card at Pages from the Heart. 

The Supplies

Cardstock: CutCardStock

Envelope: CutCardStock

Punch: Martha Stewart

Twine: The Twinery

Ink: Prima Chalk Edger

Sticker Alphabet: Jillibean Soup

I hope you are having a great summer. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Michelle

Florida Vacation Mini-Album

 Masculine Card Challenge Update
I made this tie rack card last month for Father's Day and entered it in CutCardStock's masculine card challenge. If you want to make one yourself or see the link to the origami fold, please go here. I ended up winning the viewer's choice award, so I wanted to say thank you to everyone who voted for me.

Tie Rack Card

As an added bonus, CutCardStock asked me to be a guest designer for them this month. I made two projects using their cardstock and invitation sets which will be shown on their blog today and next Saturday.

The Supply Base

For being a guest designer, CutCardStock set me a Priority Mail Box filled to the brim with their products. I was so surprised by their generosity and loved the versatility of their products. My favorite item was the brown bag A7 (5 x 7") folded invitation set. It really does feel like a brown paper bag, being softer than Kraft cardstock and that cut out on the flap is super cute. I decided to create a project featuring the brown bag set. 

Brown Bag Card & Envelope

This month from Pages from the Heart, I worked with two new Echo Park collections - This & That (Charming version, which is boy themed one) and Enjoy the Ride (which is a mini-theme featuring travel).

Echo Park Collections

I paired the solid paper bags with fun images from the patterned papers to create an interactive vacation mini-album. 

The Reveal

I bought a small three ring binder from Big Lots for $2.00 for my album's exterior. I decorated it with the Echo Park papers and stickers, along with some photos and Glossy Accents. 

Orlando Vacation Album

For the inside cover, I covered it with light blue airplane paper and adhered my itinerary for the week. Each page inside the album consists of an envelope. I have 7 pages total, one for each attraction I visited plus a bonus envelope to house unused items like extra postcards. 

Inside Cover and First Page

Inside each envelope is the matching folded card, which can be taken out and opened up. This allows for six surfaces to be decorated - the front and back of the envelope, the front and back of the card, and the interior double panel of the card. This is a lot of room to work with, so I actually used everything I brought back from my trip - photos, brochures, pressed pennies, souvenirs and other memorabilia. 

Envelope Opens with Pull Out Card

The Interior

I'll show you one complete page in my album. This one features a trip to Gatorland. Here is the front of the envelope with has a group photo, description of the park cut out from the brochure, a pressed penny, admittance wristband and real alligator teeth I adhered to the alligator photo. 

Front of Envelope

Real Gator Teeth

The flap opens and you can pull out the card. I brought some 3 x 4" journaling cards with me on the trip which I filled out each day. I cut them in half and adhered them to the inside flap on each envelope. This way, I didn't have to try to remember the details weeks or months later, especially when I'm in the middle of designing a page.

Inside of envelope and card front

The card opens up and I can place the larger items inside. Here I cut out the map of the park, attached a photo with an arrow pointing to the location where the photo was taken.

Inside of Card

The back of the envelope is the perfect size for a 5 x 7" photo, and the back of the card can hold a collage of mini-photos. I used 10 photos, a map, journaling card, brochure, souvenirs, plus my regular embellishments on one "page" of my album. Anything else leftover from my Gatorland visit, I just tossed as I'm never going to use them again.

To see the rest of the pages, they are spread out on CutCardStock's blog and Pages from the Heart's blog. 

This gave me a good feeling of utilizing everything I brought back and a sense of completion regarding scrapping my trip. It was a lot faster than scrapping a 12 x 12" album and turned out to be a fun and interactive album that people might enjoy browsing through. 

You can use any card envelope you have lying around, an empty small binder and a piece of cardstock cut to fit inside your envelope. If you want to use the brown paper bag set that I used, you can purchase the envelope here and the card here. I actually liked them so much, I later purchased the A2 and square set. If you want to see the album in person, please visit Pages from the Heart. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,