On Donner and Blitzen, MasterCard and Visa!

Welcome to the Studio!

The theme this week on the Card A Day Blog is shopping. And with Black Friday and Cyber Monday fast approaching, we're being assaulted by sale ads. Although my "teenage self" would never believe it, I really don't like to shop. I used to be a "mall rat" even up into my mid-twenties. I seem to have lost the gusto. Last year, my Christmas shopping was accomplished in about 90 minutes online. It would've taken me that long to get a parking spot at Wal-mart.

For my shopping themed project, I thought I'd give you a few ideas for packaging, so I've created a pillowbox and a gift card holder. The pillowbox is great to use with a sweet treat for a co-worker, a small bottle of a friend's fave perfume or lovely piece of jewelry. If you have someone like me to buy for, who loves vintage or antique baubles, those items are mostly found on eBay, Etsy, and in flea markets and usually don't come in a pristine box. This is a great way to show someone how much you care by making packaging with them in mind.

I chose some Scenic Route paper that's been in my stash for years. The red gingham ribbon was in my ribbon bits jar and I kept seeing it and thinking to myself, you know, I really want to use that piece on something. I also found some little pendants at Wal-mart a few years ago after Christmas, so I added a Santa pendant and a poinsettia with Glimmer Mist in Burnt Red and a bit of bling in the middle. The pillow box I cut out with my new Zing. I modified a cut file from Bird's Cards. It's a free download and available in many formats. My modification was the "window" on front. I just cut an oval (but you can use any shape) out of the front and added a piece of transparency on the inside of the box held in place by ScorTape.


Now on to the gift card holder. Everyone gives or gets gift cards every year. {My hubby looks forward to an iTunes card in his stocking every year.} It's great to be able to give that person who has everything something they don't have, it's always the right size, plus they get to pick it out;) However, gift cards can seem a bit impersonal. Fix that by creating a gift card holder just for them. If "Auntie Jean" loves to quilt, a gift card to her favorite fabric store snuggled inside a Christmas "quilt" of its own may be the perfect, thoughtful gift.

My gift card holder is sweet and feminine. I love the pinks and teal greens. It's not the usual Christmas color scheme and that's what I like about it. I used a retired CTMH collection named Jingle. The pleated ribbon is from Hobby Lobby. The chipboard snowflake was inked with CTMH Juniper ink with a coating of Tim Holtz's Rock Candy on top. I used a Juniper button from CTMH and piece of pale pink embroidery floss from my stash. The "Just For You" is from the CTMH December 25th stamp set and was stamped in Juniper ink. I used the Stampin Up word window punch to cut it out.

I learned how to make this unique gift card holder by watching Becca Feeken's video on the Our Daily Bread Designs blog. She is an amazing artist and makes some of the most beautiful cards and projects.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, Scrap Sassy!